NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC:

Important threads to read:
New Leader, New Era, Yet an Other Coronation Thread (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=101056)
Challenge the Sword(Beginning of the tensions) (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=124904)

This will be the story part of my civil war RP explaining how who became what and when did that happen and why. It is rather closed, since I don't see any possible interactions with foreigners in the upcoming posts. If you do find a way to interact within the limits of reason, feel free.

Remeber: no full scale military meddling into the war without consulting me OOCly first.

Legend:

Text spoken in Russian.
Text spoken in Taraskovyan.

IC:

The water is cold
In the rapid river.
And the evil wind
Chases the dark clouds.
Dark clouds,
Winter Clouds.
Russian Folklore.

Northwind Woods,
30km north of Tin-Vilena,
Break-Away Provinces of Kerathor,
Sisgardia.

The dark night sky was clear of all clouds and the stars were shining bright, illuminating the trees with their silvery light. And the moon, the majestic Queen of the Night, in its full, watching the doings of the mortals below…

- But Your Highness, I still think it is dangerous for you to venture out alone! There might be TDI assassins anywhere and –

Anastasya turned around rapidly and looked at the commander of her personal guard with a fiery, annihilating gaze…

- You may be sure I appreciate your concerns, my dear Vladislav, but I want to walk alone and so shall I do, is that clear?

- Yes… Your Highness…

The Guard bowed, his deep blue cloak for a moment exited the shadow of the pine under which he and his Ruler were standing, the fabric turning into silvery black for an instance. Anastasya glanced and… the commander of her guard resembled a Black Guard, as they were described in ancient legends…
But the fleeting moment was quickly gone. Vladislav slowly made his way back to the small camp on one of the lawns.
Anastasya breathed deeply the autumn fresh air, so cold and yet still warm and took what seemed to be a random direction. The Northwind forest lived with its own millennia old life. When the Grand Duchy received the mandate to annex the unoccupied territory of Aphyr, the first Taraskovyan settlements in the Western Aphyr grew on the edge of the forest. Tin-Vilena, the Little Sister of the now prosperous and mighty Var-Vilena, grew rapidly from a scientific research base to a huge city, which now housed the government and served as capital for the Eternal Realm. The rebellious Archduchess listened for a moment to the soft whisper of trees as she vanished into the darkness of the shadows.
Vladislav in the meanwhile rapidly returned to the camp and called two more guards to accompany him. The men left their cloaks behind. Indeed, even if they were quite resistant(enough to withstand a physical assault of a sharp object of very, very high quality and even stop a ballistic projectile of very, very big velocity), they were a handicap when it came to stealth in the woods. After all, the fabric would get caught into something sooner or later, even if it was made to be smooth and ‘non-sticky’. Needless to say that the guards also left their magnificent helmets back at the camp for nearly the same reasons. Once the quick preparations done(~20 seconds), the small party settled out to trail Anastasya. If she found out, she’d kill them… lots…
But if anything happened to her… the Guards did not even want to think about that…

Anastasya progressed quickly amidst the trees, clearly knowing her path. Vladislav had already guessed that she was to meet someone. But who? A ‘Mainland’ defector? A TDI mole? Or even a defecting member of the Alexander Guard? Well, the latter was very, very improbable, but as for the rest…
A very, very soft sound broke the chain of his thoughts. He and the guards to his left and to his right quickly turned around. The sound was too ‘quiet’ for a normal, untrained person to hear, but for Vladislav and his men, such a noise, in such circumstances was as loud as thunder.
What they saw right behind them were several shadows quickly and stealthily heading towards them, their outfits reminding of dark-black leather armor, with hoods over their heads. They had in their hands something which reminded short blades… A ray of silver light hit one of the objects and all doubts were gone – these were blades, of strange dark-purple color. The ‘shadows’, seeing that they were discovered, immediately dispersed and charged.

The guards quickly seized their guns(silenced, of course) and opened fire at the ‘shadows’. Vladislav hit two: one that was quickly climbing a tree, the other one who was trying to flank him. The two other guards were doing just as well when suddenly, their ammunition began to hit… something…
The ‘shadows’ were now advancing openly, bullets doing no harm to them. Every now and then, a bullet would hit… something… around the ‘shadows’ and… vanish…
Vladislav cursed all there was to curse and took his blade out. His men did the same.
The Guards then stood back to back, forming a circle, preparing to fight. The ‘shadows’ charged quickly, with skill proper to excellent assassins.

- “Curare?” – Vladislav thought to himself – “So it is true, they do exist?”

He raised his blade just in time to repel a direct strike and quickly counter attacked an adversary to the left. He did not look back, he trusted his men to do the job. And doing their job they were – already two shadows were lying on the ground, not making a single move. Vladislav parried an other blow and crossed blades with one of the attackers. A strong wind blew for a moment in the air, shaking the trees, moving the leaves. And just as one of the trees bent, silver light fell on the face of the one Vladislav was trying to kill…
Two blue eyes were coldly looking at the Guard with an icy fire raging in them. The face with a dark-dark-purple skin, frozen in a deadly mask. The look on the face meant only one thing – the attacker will accomplish his mission, whatever it is…
A blow from the right attracted Vladislav’s attention. He rapidly gave a leg blow to the first attacker and made a blow with his blade to the right, hitting air. He quickly glanced at the unmoving body of one of his men. There was no blood to be seen on him…
And then from the left a blow came. Vladislav whirled and parried it, glancing quickly at how the second of his two men was falling down, the ‘shadow’ that brought him down now charging Vladislav…
The Commander of the Guard stepped back and looked around him. He was now surrounded, the ‘shadows’ were everywhere. He also noted that there were female shapes among them.
His two men either dead or unconscious, amidst the unmoving silhouettes of five ‘shadows’. And as full of resolve as he was, Vladislav admitted to himself that he lost the fight…

- “At least, I will sell my life at a high price!”

He was just readying to begin the fight when suddenly all of the ‘shadows’ put their weapons away. A single person stepped out, a man…

- Curare?

Vladislav did not know why he asked that, especially why did he do that in Taraskovyan, nor did he expect an answer to the question. The man, still standing in the shadows, did not make a single a motion, but Vladislav heard a soft, calm voice…

- No. Black Guard.

The Commander of the Personal Guard of Her Royal Majesty, High Queen of Kerathor, felt something hit him in the back and the world ceased to exist, hidden by a deep, thick darkness that no light could ever break. His legs could not hold the burden of his body any longer and he felt himself falling down. He saw nothing, he heard nothing, he could not move one single muscle, but he could feel… he could feel his body touch the grass as it fell. He did not know what of the five senses that ‘feeling’ was, if it was one of the five, but he felt the world around him. He felt the ‘shadows’ vanishing quietly into the night, carrying away their dead. He felt and that meant that he was not dead. He tried to move a muscle but the impulses sent by his brain were lost in the extreme emptiness of his own flesh. There was nothing left to do, but wait…

- You are late, Your Highness…

The voice behind her back was so unexpected, that she halted and quickly turned around, taking out her well hidden dagger and readying to fight. All members of the Dynasty were trained masters at the art of sword fight, only that men were much, much more harshly trained. She never understood why… Nevertheless, she was herself a master of the art, and she would trade her life at a high cost… Oh, where is that Vladislav when he is required?
The person who called her was standing in the shades of a magnificent and ancient oak tree…
He stepped out of the shadows into the spot illuminated by the silver light…

- Da’teril, - Anastasya whispered angrily.

The man bowed to the ground, with a touch of mockery in his movements and gazed her right into the eyes.

- You have summoned me, Your Highness, so I came.

- And about time, too! You have promised me help, but where are your forces? Where are the proud Shakhtal you have promised me?

Da’teril shrugged and smiled slyly. He was rather tall, with a dark-purple skin and long dark black hair, which fell freely on his back. He was dressed in light leather armor, with a short cloak over it… His deep red eyes fixed the oak for a moment, he then turned around and responded.

- We will not fight in a battle already lost by you, Your Highness…

It was clear that Anastasya was appalled. She could not face her brother and his armies all alone. Well, Mikhail would not start a civil war first, but who knows… If there was to be a war, Kerathor would fall quickly. The mutinies in the TSF were subdued by the TDI even before the recent events. Same went for the TNF mutinies. Valery assured her that elements of the TNDF would side up with her. That soldiers and officers would support her. Nothing happened.
Well, the 17th and 19th TNDF Armies stationed in Kerathor did support her… but with 400.000 men against 3 million, plus the TSF? More than that, Mikhail had his loyal NGF dogs. And one of those dogs was worth several TNDF troopers, as trained as they were…
Not even speaking about the TDI Black Wolves Tactical Forces…
Her hopes remained with the hundreds of thousands of warriors Da’teril promised her. She would march through the Duchy, purifying it from the human filth, reinstituting the ancient rule of the Taraskath.
The statement made by Da’teril ruined all her hopes. She did not have the time to say anything when Da’teril took his sword out and made a deep cut on the trunk of the mighty tree. To her horror, the wound… closed right before her eyes in a mere minute…
Anastasya made several steps backwards, and, full of fear, gazed all around her at the calm trees. The entire forest was now a trap. But how? She read the reports given to her by Namellar… this area of the Grand Duchy was not to be…

- I still wonder how could those ‘humanized scientists’ invent such a… thing…

Da’teril was most surely addressing Anastasya, but she was too busy with making cuts in the trees nearest to her. All the cuts closed nearly instantly. Da’teril appeared yet again out of nowhere behind her and quickly took her dagger out of her hands.

- How do they call this… thing… already?

- E… ECTOS…

- Ah! Yes! I have heard they first made it for agriculture… and then they remarked its military capacities… Are you fine, Your Highness?

She was trembling, her gaze stared into the nowhere in front of her. It was all finished before it began. Mikhail was a cunning bastard. He would not risk open war. He would just cause a little ECTOS incident. Kerathor would turn into one giant forest for a period of time… and then everything would be back in order.
Namellar provided her with Top Secret VerTech Experiments logs. She saw how infested persons were literally consumed by the young growth… ECTOS was harmless for now, but just a word from the Master and… all life would vanish. All? Of course not, the ECTOS would remain…
She expected such an outcome, but she thought she could prevent it… somehow…
Or that her brother wouldn't dare...

- But… how did you know that… it was infested? And… is the…

- Yes, your ‘independent’ territory in its entirety is being infested with a separate Entity. And how do I know? I don’t. I feel him...

Anastasya sighed. Great, a drow druid that was mocking her all the way.

- What now?

Da’teril shrugged. He turned away and looked at Anastasya, grinning.

- I can help you. Of course, there will be a new condition…

- Which one?

- The Living Goddess Sathala wants the Emerald Spire.

- I thought she would aim for the Sacred Citadel first…

- Not really, the Citadel of Zynthris is second on the wish list. The Citadel of the Emerald Spire is the priority target.

- She will have it, she can have it. Who am I to oppose the will of a Goddess?

She smiled bitterly… the Emerald Spire. The origin of the Dynasty. The Dynasty that betrayed its people and mixed with the mankind. The Dynasty which banned the Faithful forever. And those same Faithful now came back… Shakhtal…
Da’teril smiled and led her to the oak.

- What better weapon than one used by your enemy turned against him?

She did not understand what he meant to say. She put her back against the body of the infested tree and stepped back. He stretched an arm out and a soft, dark-blue light came out of him and went into the tree. He opened his eyes.

- It will hurt… a little…

She felt something grab her neck from behind, immobilizing the head. Something began enveloping her entire body, consuming her previous costume, sliding on bare skin, enveloping her entirely. The grasp on her neck vanished and she stepped forward. She looked herself over and… froze in amazement. She was covered with a sort of an… armor… only that it was… alive… Little branches moved from one point to an other, replacing each other.
She rose her head and gazed at Da’teril.

– What is this… thing? What have you done in the name of all the gods you worship!?

- And how do I know?! I expected something totally different…

He did not have the time to say what he expected to happen. She felt a burning pain everywhere on her body, as if somebody was ripping the every centimeter of skin apart, ripping the muscles and going through them. She felt something deeply inside her being torn apart, replaced by something else…
The pain was too much, too big to endure, the world in front of her went black and she fell on the ground…

Althena read the data, and tagged it with the Tag of ooc knowledge

Tag

Anastasya’s Palace,
Tin-Vilena,
Break-away provinces of Kerathor,
Sisgardia.

Four days later.

A strong wind was blowing from the North, bringing subzero temperatures into the streets of the city which did not yet have the time to grow into a mega polis with breathtaking skyscrapers. The people cursed Boreas, or whoever there was up in the North as they went on about their daily business. It has been several weeks since the Challenge of the Sword. The TND GF 17th, 19th Armies defected in their entirety and were later on reinforced by battalions, regiments and even divisions from other Armies. The rebel active force was now of around 400.000 men strong. The TNDF deployed around 500.000 personnel in the area of Aphyr under their control, with many more sitting on the transports in the Naval Fleets which took Kerathor into a naval blockade. The entire Aphyr was declared Information Exclusion Zone and was being jammed, all craft traffic rerouted. But no word of an evacuation of civilians came from the other side of the border and so the rebels went on, worrying about nothing. All those who supported the Archduchess were sure that either Anastasya will become a Grand Duchess; either the stand still will go on for as long as the two stubborn children need to finally make it up with each other.

Anastasya was walking through the empty corridors of her Palace. It was already the 4th day since that night in the Northwind Wods… And she spent those 4 days as an exile in her own home. Nobody had the right to disturb her as she went through the halls and the corridors, gazing at the agitated Gulf of Tin-Vilena outside. Winter was coming. Its cold breath could be felt in the air, in the water, on the ground. She gazed for a moment out of the window and then turned around only to stare at herself in a mirror. One of maybe the only surviving mirrors in the palace. She looked at herself and yet again could not recognize the woman which was staring coldly at her from the depths of the other side of the invisible wall.

http://www.digikitten.com/playhousev2/files/Mishgan/Nastya_infested.jpg

She looked over at her ‘armor’ again. For four days she was wearing it and it would not go. She could not take it off. No, in fact, she did not want to take it off. It was as she was it and it was her. It made her promises of power in her nightmares. It corrupted her with every passing second. Something was there and it was swallowing her entirely. She could feel what was around her. She ‘felt’ what was outside, miles away. She stared blankly at the woman in the mirror.

- I will make the bastard pay…

Remarkably, it was the first time since two days that she thought of Da’teril. She stretched her arm and pointed it at the mirror. Branches of her armor immediately came into actions. Like long and thin snakes they moved in on her arm, concentrated, and in one single motion, in a combined spear, ‘grew’ forward at an incredible speed and hit the mirror, smashing it to bits. All happened in a second. She stared at the broken glass and went out of the hall. She remembered the first time she used her armor. She closed her eyes and saw the entire scene again…

- Your Highness! Please answer! Nastya, speak dammit!

The darkness was gone all of a sudden and light broke in. And with it, the sky, the clouds, an eagle flying low to the ground and three faces. She sat up and looked around. Three of her guards were around her, gazing at her with horror hidden in the calm face but seen in the very depth of their eyes. She looked her over. It was the same armor from yesterday. She patted the pauldrons. They wouldn’t go off. She then stood up and looked straight in the eyes of Vladislav. The man’s eyes were filled with anxiety, surprise and fear.

- Your Highness? What happened? What is this outfit?

- Vladislav… Didn’t I tell you not to follow me?

- You did, Your Highness, and I beg your pardon, but we followed you and were attacked by some mysterious assailants. I did not manage to see their faces in the darkness of the forest shadows.

- You shouldn’t have come.

- Your High-

He didn’t have the time to finish. Anastasya, who was standing right next to the Guard made a step forward. Her armor seemed to have become mad. Branches grew out of everywhere in the matter of a several seconds to completely swallow Vladislav. The two other Guards jumped backwards and readied their swords. The Archduchess turned calmly to them.

- Will you attack your Mistress?

She was now facing them in all her terrible splendor. Her armor came to life.

- Your Highness…

The Guards, confused, were struggling between their sense of duty and what they have just seen. They were facing the one they needed to defend no matter the cost. No matter the suffering. No matter the sacrifice. To defend her till their final breath. To defend her till their last drop of blood. Yet, she was the greatest threat they had ever faced. Fail their duty and attack the one they had to protect or fail their honor and fall without a fight? It was a dilemma which nobody would love to face.

- Your Highness!

Anastasya made a step forward…

- Your Highness!!!

The yell brought her back to the real world which appeared in front of her in the ‘face’ of an open balcony. She turned around and faced Vladislav. The man looked at her with a cold, absent gaze. His deep blue cloak was battered by the wind.

- Yes?
- He is here.

Anastasya grinned and went back into the hall of the balcony, then proceeded through endless corridors. Vladislav was all the time by her right side, slightly behind.

[OOC: A little bye bye bump! Will be away till Monday.

Bologna, here I come! :D ]

And under the dark clouds,
A white swan is crying,
A white swan is crying,
Desperately.

Administrative border between Zlatoslavia and Velikoe Severozemie,
Grand Ducal Aphyr,
Grand Duchy of Tarasovka,
Sisgardia.

Five days later.

The entire NGF was deployed the length of the administrative border between the province of Zlatoslavia, on the rebel side, and the Grand Ducal province of Velikoe Severozemie, on the obviously loyalist side. Three hundred thousand men, all 7 Brigades, were stretched the length of the border, the barrels of their cannons pointing into the direction of what was previously known as a ‘Grand Ducal Province’. The only NGF personnel not involved into the operation were the two Outer Detachments, the First stationed on TSC-1 and the Second, deployed to Mars. Behind the line of the NGF, behind the formations of hoverdynes ready to strike, artillery units ready to bring death, mobile missile systems readjusting their attack parameters and aerodynes, stationed on quickly, but professionally set up landing pads, behind this wall of death bringers, this wall of three hundred thousand genetically modified and artificially bred ‘human’ beings, was the formation of two hundred thousand standard, ‘natural’, TNDF personnel. Bases were being set up, heavy equipment brought in. Long range, high altitude bombers were enduring yet another technical revision, terradynes and hoverdynes were ever ready, aerodyne patrols circled above. Nobody expected to actually go into combat; nobody actually expected a real, full scale civil war to happen. Everybody expected a quick entry into the cities, with cheering people in the streets, with rebels surrendering and begging for redemption, for a way to wash off the dishounour. But rumours were spreading. Already, with each passing day, the trees on the other side of the border seemed to grow taller and nearer to the border. Already, with each passing day, the clouds in the skies high above seemed to get darker. The wind from the North was blowing with tripled effort, Boreas not letting the humans let down their guard for one single second. Winter was coming to the Grand Duchy. The wind was blowing through the Aphyr plain, hitting the mountains in the south of the sub-continent, bringing cold and freshness to the air.

NGF 4th Brigade,
Velikoe Severozemie,
Grand Ducal Aphyr,
Grand Duchy of Tarasovka,
Sisgardia.

Brigade General Anatoly Medvedev, a man in his sixties. The high officers of the NGF were natural beings, not the ‘enhanced’ NGF. And Medvedev was a man that just entered the best time of his career. Indeed, with life expectancy for humans in the Grand Duchy reaching at least up to 140 years, the General still had a lot of time to waste on his 'minions', or 'bastard sons' as he 'affectionately' called them. He was, as his name suggested, a typical Russian Bear. 192 centimeters tall, well built, wide in shoulders, a rich black beard covering his face. His eyes reflected his character perfectly well. Their infinite blue depth let out such a light of kindness and joyfulness that everybody doubted that his place was really in the military. Most imagined him encircled by regiments of grand-children, grand-grand-children and so on, but not encircled by pure bred killing NGF machines, that never studied such words as ‘compassion’, ‘mercy’, ‘pity’ during their cycle of training. A true wrath to his enemies, a true father to his soldiers, Gruzov was one of the most respected Generals in the entire TNDF and was known as a true patriot.
The NGF personnel was renewed every now and then, as soon as the research teams at VerTech ‘grew’ an other ‘party’ of ‘killers’. The 4th Brigade consisted of the freshest products ever. The NGF troopers which composed the brigade were the strongest, fastest, most dexterous, most agile, in other words – the best of the best. The 4th Brigade was to strike first into the Rebel territories. Actually, the 4th Brigade was all that was needed to make a push into the rebel territories and reach Tin-Vilena within days.

Nobody would have doubted, that soon, Medvedev would become the 'Butcher' and his men would forever enter the history of the Grand Duchy under the name of the ‘Black Wrath’. But all this would come afterwards, for the moment, the General was sitting in the command center, by his desk, running through several reports. It was the middle of the night, the moon was high. Somewhere, noises of engines were heard as hoverdynes moved around, as aerodynes were flying over the base, on their patrol. The General stood up and walked to the window. It was closed, made out of that TPA from North-West Antarctica and thusly – totally bullet proof. The General opened one portion of the windows and yelled to a sentinel standing on guard.

- Call me Leib-Colonel Raschatov!

The trooper saluted and immediately sent forth a radio transmission to all that could hear him, asking them to send Leib-Colonel Raschatov to the General. Medvedev could have very well asked his adjutants to call the Colonel, but he knew quite well how it was, to stand on guard, in the middle of the night, all alone, awaiting for the change to come, and always on your guard. The NGF may have been pure bred killers, but they still were ‘humans’, and as such, subjects to such a negative feeling as complete boredom. Besides, for a private to talk to a General was rather an honour, so the General awaited until the trooper yelled back.

- He will be at your office within a minute.
- Late, as always. Go on, Private!

The soldier saluted happily, while Medvedev rumbled under his nose. Raschatov was the best of his high officers. Indeed, the Leib-Colonel was a 30 years old human. The youngest of all Leib-Colonels, he still had the spark of youth’s enthusiasm in his eyes and a certain carelessness in everything that he did. But as much as he was young, as much was he ruthless to discipline and duty breakers. And so the General’s rumbling was done in a joking manner. Just as he was closing the window, a wasp flew into the room, made a circle around the office and headed right for the General. Medvedev quickly seized one of the nearest reports and splashed the wasp against one of the walls. But as he was doing that, an other wasp flew through the still opened window and managed to bite him into the neck. The General, cursing, squished the tiny insect and slammed the window closed. He directed himself to a cupboard, from which he extracted a bottle of vodka. He poured some vodka on the quickly heating and inflating neck, the liquid flowing down the skin, wetting the uniform, the beard… And immediately his entire neck was seized with tremendous pain. Something burning spread through his entire spinal column, spreading further down the body until finally, something exploded in his head, knocking him unconscious.

***

- MEDIC!!!

That was the first reaction of the Leib-Colonel when he entered the General’s office. Medvedev was lying on the floor, unconscious. Raschatov rushed to the General, and quickly inspected him. There was nothing, not a single bruise, not a single wound. Actually, the only thing that immediately worried the Leib-Colonel was the open bottle of vodka, half-empty or half-full, depending on preferences, on the table and the fact that the collar of the General’s uniform was wet with a liquid that smelled like vodka, the General’s beard was wet with vodka. The Leib-Colonel sighed in despair and rushed out of the office, yelling to the adjutant.

- Cancel previous order.
- Sire? But…
- Obey!
- Yes, Sire!

The Leib-Colonel reentered the office and directed himself towards the General. It took him a good dozen of slaps, but finally he woke his commander up. Raschatov looked at Medvedev as a father looks on a young son who made a nasty thing.

- My Lord, times are difficult for everyone. We are on the brink of fratricide. But it is not a reason to get drunk! What will your men think? Oh! Troubles are coming, open the vo-

He was stopped in his speech. The General was looking at him. His face, his eyes were not drunk. It was a sober man that was looking at him. Only that the eyes… yes, these eyes… they seemed different somehow…
Medvedev stood up and directed himself to his seat, inviting the Leib-Colonel to do the same. Raschatov followed, silent, trying not to stare openly at the General. It was undoubtedly the General. It was the man with whom he served for already 12 years, from the very moment when he got enrolled into the TNDF and Medvedev was a Colonel in a ‘natural’ TND GF division. But this time, the old man was different. The General smiled broadly.

- A momentary weakness, my dear comrade, which I swear to never reproduce again. Now, report on the deployment of your division. I also want to know what is happening on the other side of that border. Those Headquarter rats have sent me wrong data!

Now this was the General as he knew him. Raschatov calmed down and began his report…

bump

TSFS “Slava”(Glory),
TSF 3rd Battlegroup,
High Orbit over Sisgardia.

The stars were shining calmly from the endless depth of the universe, their cold light illuminating the shapes of the mighty dreadnaught and of its escort, in formation around him. The 3rd Battlegroup was assigned with the task of holding position over the Aphyr Information Exclusion Zone and let nothing neither enter nor exit the IEZ. Be it a physical craft or a transmission. The rebels were in a complete blackout. Admiral Nekrasov, the commander of the 3rd Battlegroup, a human in his fifties, of Russian extraction, was in his apartments, busy with his favourite occupation – poetry. And this day his muse treacherously abandoned him to his fate. The words seemed to be fleeing him, the rhymes did the same and not a joyful or warm thought or idea seemed to make their nests in his mind.

Finally, after several hours of struggle with his pen, after turning his study into a dump of used paper, the Admiral sighed, sat back in his armchair and reread what he wrote.

I can see the stars so bright,
Shining calmly in the night,
And their precious light, so cold,
Cannot warm a heart, so bold…

I want to howl at the moon,
And run, eyes blinded till the noon,
Just to escape this silent yell,
Words of which I cannot tell…

I see faces all around me,
I see walls and they surround me,
I want to scream, to run, to flee…
The stars are watching with a glee…

I see the stars in silvery light,
Shining brightly in the night,
Mocking me, my mortal soul…
Mocking me, my fate so foul…

Nekrasov sighed deeply and sent the sheet of paper into the pile of his colleagues over the rubbish bin. Just at that moment, the voice of the ship’s BSI broke the silence in the apartment.

- My Lord, incoming Strij class dropship directly from the IEZ. Orders?
- Identification?
- No response, Sire… Bioscans indicate 5 on board. Orders?
- Establish contact. If not, shoot it out.
- Yes, Sire… contact established. Should I pass it onto your private holocron?
- Yes, go ahead.

The synthetic intelligence was prompt in executing its duties and orders and immediately the communications device on the Admiral’s table turned on and Nekrasov saw…
He couldn’t believe it… from the holocron, right at him, was staring, smiling, the former High Marshal of the TNDF, Leib-Duke Valery Berilov. One of the oldest and best friends Nekrasov ever had.

- Valera? Is that you on that ship?
- Yes, Kolya. As you know, we are on different sides of the barricade… but… I have some important information to communicate. I request docking authorization to the Slava. And I request audience…
- Of course, I will give the orders. I will inform the command…
- No, please, do not inform anyone just yet. First listen to what I have to say… Then, do whatever you wish.
- Good then. Do not do anything foolish, friendship or not, I will personally put you a bullet between the two eyes…
- Of course… always the same, good old Kolya.

Berilov erupted into a laughter just as the holocron was switching off.

- Glory?
- Yes, My Lord?
- Order to let the dropship dock at the ship. I want a squad of troops in the hangar upon the arrival of the dropship. I will meet the guests there.
- Yes, My Lord.

Yet again, the BSI was prompt in executing its orders. Somewhere inside the ship, a squad of TSF Troopers was dispatched to the docking bays just as the Admiral was leaving his apartment.

***

Anastasya’s Palace,
Tin-Vilena,
Break-away provinces of Kerathor,
Sisgardia.

- As I see things are progressing well enough, Your Highness.
- Yes. The entirety of Kerathor has been contaminated and soon Mikhail’s men will follow my lead!
- I am glad to hear that, Your Highness. And I am sure that She will be glad to hear that, too.
- When is She coming?
- She will come when She deems it necessary, Your Highness.
- When will your warriors come?
- You must take care of that Psionic Rig of theirs first… and wipe out those critters that dwell beneath the surface, Your Highness. Then will our warriors come in their thousands, unseen. The element of surprise will be preserved.
- The Skaven?
- The simple mention of their name fills my heart with disgust, Your Highness…
- I agree… well then, so shall this soil be purged from their existence.

***

TSFS “Slava”(Glory),
TSF 3rd Battlegroup,
High Orbit over Sisgardia.

- Commander on deck!

The officers of the command bridge saluted as the Admiral entered, followed by his ‘guests’. There were two of them. One of them was the former High Marshal of the TNDF, Leib-Duke Valery Berilov himself. The Admiral immediately ordered the BSI to establish contact with all of the Battlegroup’s ships.

- I want the commander of every vessel subordinate to me to come to the Slava immediately.
- Yes, My Lord.

The officers of the bridge did not pay much attention to the Admiral’s request. After all, if the Admiral wanted to see the commanders, he must have had a good reason. Nekrasov gave a cold glance around the area and then grinned maliciously to Berilov, who nodded slightly and raised his right arm. And that moment was when every single officer of the bridge stared in awe at the scene in front of them. Indeed, the second ‘guest’ was ‘opened’ from inside and an entire swarm of flying insects rushed forward. Just at that moment, the Admiral and the former High Marshal each took out an SMG and opened fire at the guards closest to them. Everything happened too fast. In manner of minutes, the entire personnel of the bridge was lying on the ground, shaking in spasms. And then, they all began to stand back up…

Deep inside of the ship’s belly, in a docking hangar, the cargo bay of Berilov's dropship opened slowly as massive swarms escaped…

Provincial District Capital of Srebrograd,
Grand Ducal Provincial District of Maloe Severozemie,
Grand Ducal Aphyr,
Grand Duchy of Tarasovka,
Sisgardia.


What once was a bustling and prosperous city now lay in ruins. Precisely at 5.43am, the TND GF, AF and NGF elements positioned on the border with rebellious territories turned around and broke into the loyalist territory, accompanied by Rebel elements. They met no resistance in their way as they rushed through Aphyr, crushing the cities. In their trail followed dark clouds of insects that overwhelmed the civilian population, subduing their will, torturing their souls…

Within 5 hours from the start of the hostilities, the rebel elements have already captured more than a half of the loyalist Aphyr. The strategic port city of Vnutrenemorsk was in their hands. The TNDF only managed to halt the rebel advance in the city of Srebrograd, with hastily deployed Marine Infantry regiments, accompanied by Airborne divisions. The troops were paradropped directly into the city and the losses were tremendous. The 14th, 15th and 16th Marine Infantry ceased to exist. The 76th Airborne division, recently withdrawn from Mars, was trying to hold its district of the city. Eight thousand men were facing several hundred thousand. The 5th and 6th Airwings, thrown into hastily struggled to keep the air superiority over the city facing an enemy overwhelmingly superior in numbers. Everything available was tossed in to halt the rebel advance and give the main forces disembarking in Var-Vilena the time to regroup. Nobody asked anyone to surrender. No one even thought about surrendering.

The battle was lasting for already three hours. What once were gorgeous skyscrapers were turned into rubble. From every single window or hole in the wall bullets escaped. The intensity of the battle was incomparable to anything known before. The entire battlefield represented an apocalyptic scene: the skies were dark with smoke incoming from the fires that erupted everywhere in the city, corpses of soldiers, both loyalist and rebel, corpses of civilians, women, children, covered the streets as one massive carpet. Blood flowed freely. A rain of shells, missiles and ammunition rained down upon the city. Death reigned free.

And as the rebels advanced, the TNDF personnel did their best to accomplish their primary duty – save the lives of their people. The evacuation was relentless. Dropships took off from every spot in the city to ferry the civil population out to safety.

- Mama! Where are you?

The girl was standing by a pile of debris, all covered with dust, tears running down her cheeks. She was 4 years old and had the whole life in front of her. Efreitor(Caporal) Kiril Smakovsky, 20 years old, of the 10th Marine Infantry regiment noticed her as his platoon was rushing to reinforce a position close to be broken.

- Sire, code 5!
- Got it. Good luck!

The trooper rushed off in the direction of the child, grabbed her into his arms.

- Calling all available transport. Have code 5, one. Request evac.
- This is Gamma #126. Closing in on your position. Rendez-vous at the Grachev Square 5 minutes North-North-East.
- Affirmative.

Kiril grabbed the girl tighter and rushed off. The visor of his helm was showing him an exact map of the city, his position, and the position of the destination. All he had to do is to think about where he wanted to go and let technology do wonders. And so he rushed off. The girl clutched to his armor as he passed ruins of buildings, carcasses of dynes, corpses of soldiers and civilians. Buildings around him collapsed, melting metal emitted a hellish heat. And as he was running through what once were streets, he saw TISD police officers fighting side by side with Marine Infantry. He saw Airborne paratroops fighting side by side with armed civilians. As he ran, the radio frequencies erupted in dreadful calls.

“Cannot hold, cannot hold!”

“Request air support…”

“Street breached, we are overrun!”

“Request emergency back up!”

“Enduring heavy artillery fire, request air strike at…”

“Incoming enemy aircraft!”

Most were cut before being finished. Somebody to his left yelled…

-SWARMS!!!

Kiril turned around and saw them. An entire cloud of wasps heading into his direction. The soldiers did not know why these wasps were there, but every time they bit somebody, that somebody began shooting at his own comrades. And so they were a threat. Kiril looked around. Several steps away from him was a defensive position held by a squad of paratroops. The spot was on a Y-type road crossing, with heavy machine guns covering all three streets leading to the crossing. He rushed off to the troopers. They were twelve in total, heavily armed. Two of them grabbed portable flamethrowers and stood facing the wasps. Just as the cloud was close to enveloping them, they pulled the triggers, releasing fiery death.

- What the hell are you wetty doing here?

‘Wetty’ was how the Airborne called the Marine Infantry. Indeed, the two corps were very similar. Both were elite, both were very well trained in beach breaching and parachute dropping, only that the Marine Infantry was usually deployed from carriers by Naval Aviation, while the Airborne was delivered to its destination by the Air Force. Kiril motioned at the child in his arms.

- There is a transport waiting for her at the Grachev Square. I must get there!
- Impossible. The Grachev is under heavy attack. The street leading to it has been breached, there are rebels everywhere!
- But I must get her to the transport! Code 5 dammit!
- F*ck it! Kolya, Gena!
- Yes?
- Help that guy!
- Right away!

And so the three men rushed off. A Wetty and two Aeries. The three men run across the street, in the direction of the square when suddenly, a hoverdyne appeared right in front of them, along with five rebel troops. The troopers immediately spread out, opening fire at will and killing one rebel soldier. They took shelter, as the hoverdyne released several plasma charges into their direction. A gun battle erupted. Kiril was pressed against the wall of a building whose walls were still up. Kolya was by his side, shooting short bursts at the rebels, while Gena was on the other side of the street.

- What do we do now? - Kiril heard in his helmet. It was the paratrooper named Gena.
- We must break through! I only have 46 seconds left!
- And how will you take it out?
- Guys, down!

Both Gennady and Kiril followed Nikolay’s advice and dropped down as a TISD Police Urban Pacification Aircraft(UPAC) roared above them, releasing several missiles into the hoverdyne, which promptly exploded. Immediately after that, the bursts of fire from a heavy machine gun were heard from the building by which Kiril took shelter.

- Area secure! You, troops, move out! - Kiril heard a calm voice in his helmet.

He looked up. Out from what once was a window the barrel of a heavy machine gun was overlooking the street.
The Wetty and the two Aeries ran out of their shelter and as they were progressing towards the square, Kiril turned around and caught a glimpse of a man in the light armor of a Special Intervention Eskadron(TISD SIE) operative taking defensive position.

They were at the square in time. A small Krechet class gunship, that could carry 6 passengers, was waiting. The square was held by a platoon of Marine Infantry and several dozens civic militia, supported by two assault terradynes and several police APC’s. Kiril rushed off to it and just at that time, a salvo of artillery ammunition rained on the square and fire erupted from advancing rebel infantry. The Marine Infantry and the civic militia that were holding the square fired back. Gennady and Nikolay immediately joined in the defense of the site as Kiril rushed to the gunship which was already taking off. The hatch opened and somebody grabbed the child and took her into the interior.
Kiril watched as the gunship took off into the skies and vanished into the smoke. He smiled to himself and rushed off to help in the fighting. 2 minutes later, the Grachev Square was turned into a pile of rubble and overrun by the rebels. The two Aeries and the Wetty died fighting side by side, they were the last to fall…

And as the gunship was flying farther away from the city, with five civilians and a military paramedic onboard, the little girl looked outside of the window on the city and froze for the city she once knew was no more…

http://img26.photobucket.com/albums/v77/Namellar/burning_city.jpg

The paramedic sat her down. She closed her eyes and fell asleep, silently…

The city fell hours later. Surrounded, cut off from the exterior, the defenders fought to the last. The reinforcements were not able to break through and were massacred in their heroic attempts to take off the siege…

None surrendered.

A city of 5 million people was wiped out from the map.

The rebel forces immediately regrouped and advanced southwards.

Towards Var-Vilena.


[OOC: The TNDF High Command in Vigvar going 'WTF?!' and the Grand Duke tossing lightning bolts of anger and rage around to come in the next post.

I guess that from this moment onwards, all those who have contact with the Grand Duchy will surely notice that something is "wrong". ]

<Tag>

SFN nations:
I am actually expecting some emergency transmissions to the High Council and the TNDF High Command from your humble selves in which you ask precisions on the recent outburst of 'activity' in Aphyr. Will allow me to make my upcoming post even bigger :P

The Triluminarium, DA

The three councilleaders sat around the table, discussing. The windows were closed, so were the curtains.

Neither one of them liked what happened.

"This is... unfortunate, to say the least." Althena said, looking over the information they had.
"Indeed." Clark answered, Desty was, as usual, fairly... uninvolved in the whole matter. "This early... We`re lucky it didn`t happen during the conflict on Mars."
"Yes." Althena sighed, sipping from her glass of wine. "In any case... The satellite footage is rather... obvious. Although a couple details...
"Yes, it`s strange. The footage... A psionic attack, perhaps?"
"Probably." This time, it was desty speaking. "Although, to the best of my knowledge, the GDT never invested much time into psionic research. I would guess it is something else."
"Mhm... True. Well, for now, all we can do is ask."

From: The Corporate Oligarchy of Der Angst
To: The Grand Duchy Tarasovka
Subject: Rebels

"We noticed the Kerathor rebels moving on your own territory, or at least it seems they do... Please, more information would be... useful to formulate a Sisgardian response.

~ Mr. Morden



Elsewhere

Sakurai wasn´t present at the meeting, probably because Althena had some sources indicating that Sakurai was indeed willing to sacrifice the Grand Duchy (And DA`s vital interests) for her youthful idealism.

However, she was informed about the events... Not as detailed as soldats, but detailed enough.

I hope you succeed... I really hope you do...

High Command of the Taraskovyan National Defence Forces,
Vigvar Head Quarters,
Capital City of Vigvar,
Grand Duchy of Tarasovka,
Sisgardia.

All of the superior officers of the TNDF were present in the Main Operations Coordination Center of the building. The center was a giant hall, with giant tactical screens at every step, with hordes of tactical officers behind their screens, several BSI’s aiding this swarm of humans and coordinating the income and outcome of information. And this day, the information flow was comparable to one of a river escaping from a broken dam. The Grand Duke, the Leib Marshal, the Commanders of the TND AF, GF, NF, tactical officers, all this crowd was standing around a table, with a gigantic map of Aphyr on it. Actually, the table was a giant monitor in horizontal position, which allowed the officers to move little figurines on the map to get a better ‘grip’ on the situation. And right now, the map was updated in real time, as the combats around and inside of Srebrograd intensified. All the north part of Grand Ducal Aphyr was now in the hands of the rebels. Cities and garrisons surrendered without resistance in most areas, some minor resistance was opposed in certain cities, but quite soon it was clear that the Grand Duchy did not control the situation in the said areas any longer. The focus of attention was now Srebrograd. Its defenders gave the main forces at Var-Vilena the time to regroup and prepare a counter offensive. And so, all available infantry assets were thrown in to defend the city. The flow of reinforcements ceased only when the rebels circled the city and the dropships could not break through their blockade any longer. The defenders were left to die.

In fact, the 3rd Battlegroup was supposed to reinforce the ground defenders with orbital bombardement of hostile elements and by deploying SODAT detachments to assist the ground forces, but… The 3rd Battlegroup did not obey a direct order and instead of assisting the Grand Ducal forces it opened fire at the 4th Battlegroup, which was in the vicinity. First, the NGF turned against the Central Government, now an entire Battlegroup went against the will of the Grand Duke. Something has gone terribly wrong somewhere. But that did not matter, the military’s main objective was to repel the assailants and to evacuate the civil population in areas still under its control. The TSF was busy ‘calming’ the rebellious group, the battle was still on. The TSFS “Noch”(Night), the Thylacin of the 4th Battlegroup was now nothing more than a pile of debris floating in high orbit over Sisgardia. Its escort did not present a much different view, indeed – the 4th Battlegroup was annihilated in the matter of minutes by a surprise outburst of fire from the 3rd. The 2nd and the 5th immediately scrambled, joined by the 7th. The rebellious Battlegroup was being finished, all that remained of it was the “Slava”(Glory) and several of the Emerald Spires escorting it.

On the naval front, the situation was not bright either. The 2nd Naval Group, stationed to the north of Kerathor was wiped out by repeated missile and air attacks. Of course, the damages inflicted to the enemy were much higher, all the western coast of Aphyr was a burnt out desert. The Grand Duke personally gave the order to withdraw the two other Naval Groups. The Taraskovyan Navy was small, very small. With the appearance of capital class ships in the Space Fleet, the Navy saw its numbers diminished dramatically. Needless to say, that the technological improvement of the fleet also ‘stagnated’ as funds were diverted to the TSF, the Airforce and the Ground Forces (especially the NGF Corps) instead. And so losing it stupidly would not help the situation.

The losses were tremendous. Nobody actually counted them yet. All TNDF servicemen received a special nanite implant that transmitted their ‘state’ to the Central Personnel Database, the implant being destroyed once the person quit military service. The CPD itself was not one single compilation of data files, but a rather complex system, including both open (for standard TNDF personnel) and closed (NGF personnel, SpecOps personnel). The most ‘secured’ personalities were, of course, strictly closed and their data was accessible only to a trusted few. Although with the recent ‘unexpected’ events, the entire CPD was locked down and only very rare elected few had access to it. And so, those very few selected ones (or whatever you wish to call them) were completely overrun by the increasing number of names in blue letters (alive) going red (wounded) or black (dead).

When the sun finally vanished behind the horizon, it was clear that Srebrograd had fallen. Out of 5 million people only 8% were successfully evacuated. Those were the first real casualties in this war that nobody expected to happen, nobody even thought it was possible. The military losses were still increasing as the last remnants of the Srebrograd defenders fought valiantly and died. All in all, the city was defended by two Airborne divisions (16.000 personnel), one SODAT regiment (1.500 personnel), twelve Marine Infantry regiments (12.000 personnel), plus several other army groups(several Airforce wings, for example), civic militia formations, police forces, etc. etc.
Also count the 4th Battlegroup, the 3rd Battlegroup, losses in the 2nd and 5th Battlegroups... And don't forget the 2nd Naval Group...
None of the defenders on the ground were expected to survive. And those who did… were they themselves after that? Recent events indicated that something was wrong. And the Grand Duke knew what was that ‘something’. Although, he was not certain. He had to be sure. And to be sure, he’ll have to sacrifice lives. Black Wolves. Their time has come. Mikhail exited the MOCC and went to his office. The Grand Duke had a spare office in every single governmental agency, be it the TDI, the TNDF or any other department. In his office, the Chairman(High Commander, Big Guru, God, whatever) of the TDI was already there.

- The groups have been readied at your orders, Your Highness.
- Good. I want them in there right away. We need to be sure if that is really the…
- … ECTOS brain control? It would appear so, Sire. My druids will find the answer in no time.
- Anything on the invisible front, apart that?
- No, Sire. Surprisingly enough, it would seem that our total information lockdown on Aphyr was successful. No international remarks on the situation in Aphyr so far. Not even from SFN allies. Except for Der Angst…
- Well, well. Who would have doubted. They have us under their watchful eye it would seem. They want answers, I presume?
- Yes, Sire.
- Then give them answers.
- Sire?
- Report #0.41 on the ECTOS capabilities.
- Are you sure, Sire? That Report contains some delicate data…
- If we cannot trust our Pact allies, who can we trust?
- Nobody, Sire. We cannot even trust our own selves. Not after today.
- Anything else I should be aware of?
- Well, the DDR has invited us into the Knootian International Stabilization Treaty.
- Hmmm… a bit of Stabilization would be more than welcomed around here…

The Grand Duke only shook his head. Sineglaziev grinned and went out of the office.

[OOC:
DA: the report I've promised will come a little later.]

From: Chief of the TDI, Leib-Duke Alexander Sineglaziev
To: Lady Althena, Soldats
Subject: Rebels

Dear Lady Althena,

We have received a query from one of your associates, Mr. Morden, about the situation in Aphyr. And indeed, the situation is very, very grave. The information I will give you now is highly confidential to the point that the Government denied any existence of it.

You already know of the ECTOS project. This project, very simple at first sight, offers endless possibilities. Be it military or civilian applications, the potential of the ECTOS technology has never stopped surprising us and will be surprising us for some time to come.

Some time ago, the VerTech Eco-Tech Research Laboratories have began a top secret project, under the TDI’s orders, to study the possibility of ‘influencing biological life forms’ with the use of ECTOS technology. To spare you useless official names, I will henceforth call the process ‘mindcontrol’. I believe you understand fully the potential that such a… power… would grant the one who controls it. Indeed, an ECTOS can be deployed anywhere at any time, unseen it would infest the area. But just infesting it would not be sufficient. Gaining control of the local population was of the greatest priority. I will spare you the list of the goals that the TDI wanted to achieve with this project; I believe you fully understand them.

The project was still in testing phases when we decided to deploy an ECTOS Entity in the rebellious Kerathor. Indeed, we wanted it all to go swiftly and rapidly. Something went wrong. We do not know the causes, but we already see the consequences. Special TDI druid teams have been dispatched to Kerathor to investigate. I do not think many will survive, but the ones that do will allow us to learn more…

Attached to this letter you will find a brief résumé of a report on the project as it was presented to our Grand Duke when he was still the Chief of the TDI, the rank now occupied by your humble servant.

With all my respect,
Chief of the TDI,
Leib-Duke Alexander Sineglaziev.

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

VerTech Eco-Tech Research Labs
Report #0.41
Classification: Top Secret

Personally to the Chief of the TDI, Archduke Mikhail Shakhovskoy

Possibility of using ECTOS based nanites in direct influence of biological life forms.

Résumé.

Preamble.

Recent studies have indicated that it is possible to influence the behavior of different life forms by subjecting them to various inner factors. Such as integrating a nanite population into certain muscles would influence the moving capacities of the subject. This project has been furthered into the research of nanite influence on brains and nerve systems and possible use of a new type of nanites in controlling biological life forms through the local ECTOS entity.

Henceforth will be exposed the process.

Process.

During the project, the researches have led us to test two schematics of direct influence of a biological life form.

The first schematic was integrating local nanite populations into the muscles and connecting them in a nervous center from which the host would be influenced. The center would give an order and the local nanites would contract the muscles in the way that was ordered. This schematic, dubbed ‘Marionette’, was rejected. Indeed, it would take time to integrate the nanite populations into the muscles and the practical results indicated that even then many problems occur, such as a resynchronization of the movements due to the nanite nerve system entering into conflict with the natural nerve system.

The second schematic consists of integrating nanite populations into the nervous system of the host. A special type of nanites, already in final stages of development, would settle in the major nerve routes of the body, such as the spinal column. They would replace the natural neuron net inside of the body. Another type of nanites, similar to the previous, would settle in the brain, replacing the connector neurons. The ‘Brain Nanites’(henceforth dubbed ‘BN Type’), integrated into a central entity inside of the host’s brain, would emit the needed order. The ‘Connector Nanites’(henceforth dubbed ‘CN type’) in the host’s brain would then transmit it to the spinal column. The ‘Spinal Nanites’(henceforth dubbed ‘SN type’) would then forward the order through the natural nerve system. The host would thus present a combination of natural and nanite nerve systems, operating together. The major drawback in such a schematic is that the current BN, CN and SN types require a rather massive amount of energy to function, draining it from the reserves of the body. More than that, the influenced host often has an outburst of adrenaline into the blood vessels, thus making him more aggressive and stronger, but also draining the reserves of the body. These two factors combined indicate that currently, an influenced host would have an average life expectancy of 10% compared to an uninfluenced subject.

Henceforth will be exposed the different phases of testing.

Phase 1: basic life forms.

The basic mono cellular life forms are immune to any types of influence to the absence of nerves and/or muscles.

Phase 2: insect life forms.

The insect life forms, due to an often basic nerve system, are easily influenced. Indeed, the testing phase with the insects is already over and is a complete success. Life expectancy of an influenced insect compared to a sane subject: 20-30%.

Phase 3: animal life forms.

Due to an often highly developed nervous system, the influence of animals is difficult. But we have solved the problem by increasing the multiplying rate of the nanites by using the body of the host to offer them enough material to reproduce. This, of course, drains the body reserves and deregulates the natural balance of the body. Tests so far have been successful.
Life expectancy of an influenced animal compared to a sane subject: 9-14%.

Phase 4: humanoid and non-humanoid advanced life forms.

Due to the fact that the humanoid life forms present one of the most advanced nervous and brain systems, influencing them is hard. The solution was reached by applying the same method as with the animals, but on a greater scale and by totally replacing the connector neurons in the brain and the spinal column by nanites. This makes the host vulnerable to the disappearance of the nanites, which would lead to an immediate death of the host. Another draw back is the impossibility to cure an influenced subject. Once the nanites are withdrawn, the host dies.
Successful experiments have been conducted with the following humanoid and non-humanoid advanced life forms: humans, native taraskath, elves(different species), skaven.
Life expectancy of an influenced subject compared to a sane one: 4-7%.

We are ready to conduct experiments with any other available races if such are provided.

Phase 5: sub aquatic life forms.

So far, the sub aquatic ECTOS technology needs to be perfected. Once that done, influencing sub aquatic life forms would become possible.
Please note: here are mentioned the species that only live in the aquatic conditions and not both aquatic and ground.

Conclusion of the résumé.

The Eco-Tech Research Labs have made a major breakthrough in the direct influence of biological life forms using the ECTOS based nanite technology. Right now, the researches are concentrated on the problem of communication between the ECTOS entity and the subjects under its influence but we believe we already have several possible solutions.
The Eco-Tech Research Labs request additional funding of 245 million Taraskovyan Franks for the needs of the project and authorization to use up to 2 more native taraskath subjects, 46 elven subjects, 57 human subjects and a couple hundred skaven subjects for the needs of the project.

[OOC: For those who didn't get it, this report is strictly confidential and was included into the message to Althena. So only I and DA ICly have it and even know ICly about it. ]

Dear Leib-Count Kenthadith Shekas, there is a growing concern among myself and my people about the situation in your nation. So far we have seen your ships fall from the sky above us and an entire city become obliterated. So you will understand our concern.
I hope to hear from you soon Leib-Count.

Tauretári Taurevanimë Wintiliel Hendulaica nos Fingolfin.

High Orbit over Aphyr,
Sisgardia.

- Target acquired. All squadrons, into formation!

The Wolf and Blade squadrons deployed from the TSFS “Krasota”(Beauty”) of the 5th Battlegroup and the TSFS “Svoboda”(Freedom) of the 7th Battlegroup charged what remained of the rebel fleet. The TSFS “Plamya” of the 2nd Battlegroup was already down. It went off all of a sudden, in a bright flash that gifted the inhabitants of Sisgardia with a second sun for a matter of seconds. The ray from the “Slava’s” main N-PBW cut through the already heavily damaged dreadnaught as through butter…
The Dreadnaught that survived the horror of the Martian Campaign fell, downed by a brother…
And only the TSFS “Slava” remained of the rebellious 3rd Battlegroup. Surrounded by uncountable debris and bodies, the Thylacin beast continued to pose a threat. All of its cannons were firing at the Grand Ducal forces in the vicinity. The losses were tremendous…

***

High Command of the Taraskovyan National Defence Forces,
Vigvar Head Quarters,
Capital City of Vigvar,
Grand Duchy of Tarasovka,
Sisgardia.

- Your Highness!

Mikhail turned his gaze away from the tactical map representing the space battle in orbit and looked at the adjutant who was rushing towards him through the MOCC. He seemed to be holding some sort of a rolled scroll in his hands.

- Your Highness, letter from the Tauretári! Adressed to Leib-Duke Shekas. They must not know all of our customs to have addressed a letter written by a Ruler to a High Councilor…
- Thank you. You may dispose.
- Yes, Sire!

The Grand Duke rolled the parchment and read the letter. He frowned. It took them sometime to react, but they did. SFN reactions were more numerous. The Grand Duke sat by a table nearby, threw all the military documentation(folders, maps, berets of the tactical officers) on the floor. There was no paper of the official ‘Letter to a Ruler’ format, so the Grand Duke just grabbed an empty A4 sheet close by…

***
High Orbit over Aphyr,
Sisgardia.

- Target within range, all units open fire!

The fighter squadrons followed the order. Plasma pellets, missiles, rain gun ammunition hurled upon the damaged rebellious dreadnaught. The “Krasota” and the “Svoboda” unleashed all their arsenal upon the “Slava”. All N-PBW’s, all missile tubes, everything was emptied, hurled at the target in one last onslaught…

***


Your Highness Tauretári Taurevanimë Wintiliel Hendulaica nos Fingolfin,

Allow me to reassure Your Majesty that the situation in Aphyr will be under control in due time. I hope Your wisdom will shine on the matter and it will bring faith to your people that no threat menaces them and that they can continue to sleep in calm.

With all my respect,
As an Equal to Equal,
Grand Duke of Tarasovka,
Mikhail Shakhovskoy II.

***

High Orbit over Aphyr,
Sisgardia.

- Target eliminated, repeat, target eliminated!

Indeed. It did not take long. The “Slava” followed the “Noch” and the “Plamya” into the emptiness of space. The flash of the explosion was most surely visible everywhere in the night sky of Sisgardia. When the light vanished and nothing more than silent stars remained, the crews of the Grand Ducal ships gazed into the void of space. No triple ‘Hoorah!’s were heard. No joy. Not a single smile…

Peace Palace, The Hague, Knootoss
Galadriël watched the satellite images in horror.

“the destruction… how awful”

She shoved the pictures away, a small tear came down over her white cheek as she thought about all the lives that had been lost. The world stood by as Tarasovka devoured itself and she could not bear it.

“What of our own ships?”, she asked van Mierlo who was standing next to her, “Can they not make a difference? If those wretched contraptions from Melkor could ever make a difference it would be now!”

The foreign minister who also had Defence in his portfolio shook his head. Sending in the gravships is what he had considered too, even if it could probably not tip the battle decisively. “They don’t want us in. There is nothing we can do.

"But how can we?", the elf asked. "Surely we must be able to do something."

Hans van Mierlo sighed: "We can only make sure that Europolis is safe… if Sisgardia does not act then we can do nothing. Think about what their defence grid would do when we send in our troops alone?”

The Elvish Prime Minister silently turned away, and stared outside the window to the street in The Hague where mankind went quietly about their business.

Sisgardian Orbit

It had all been so... So fast.

They came a bit late, though this had a reason: They didn´t know who was who, they didn´t knbow which ones were the rebels, nor which ships were under loyalist control...

Heck, they didn´t even know which side they were supposed to support.

Now, what to do?

No idea... But look, seems the battle is over.

True... Ok, Rheinland... You ask.

Me? WHY? You know I`m shy...

ASK!

Bleh, assho-

WHAT?

Nothing...

The Rheinland moved closer, asking what happened... If they were the wrong side, they would just fire at him, so it was ok... Well, at least for his cursed commander.

It was an annoying job, indeed, being a warship.

DA, Sisgardia

The information they had got was... Concerning, at best. Immediately, they begun their work, trying to find ways to stop it...

Still, it would take time.

In any case, contact with the relevant taraskovyan laboratories had to be established, to coordinate the whole operation... Perhaps, just perhaps, people could be saved... if not... Their extermination would be... Necessary.

However, Desty Nova was pretty certain that some ways could be found... Immunity would be good enough.

His largest concern were Angstians... they did incorporate some sort of Nanotechnology in thir bodies, to enhance their ability to withstand injuries or diseases (Though it never worked perfect, annoyingly), the question was... Could they withstand ECTOS?

He didn´t know, but he would have to know soon.

Elsewhere

The different Mercenary Corps were organising... Soon, their help would be requested, and, while being small in numbers... They would have to do it. Especially with the rest of Sisgardia sleeping peaceful sleeps.

Still... Basic operations could be organised.

And while the six smaller stations in earth orbit hadn´t yet been finished... Two where there, already preparing for orbital warfare.

Gandhi, despite being preoccupied with the Glorious Humanity situation, was organising frantically.

Electronic warfare, blockades, and so on... He would start soon.

However, by now, the most important point was something different.

"I NEED to know if they have access to the Sisgardian defences. Or could have it. We need to change the codes. Now, instantly. We can`t risk them using this defences against us, or even taking them out beforehand. It would be a disaster!"

But his orders, as much as they were followed, had problems.

For Sakurai blockaded any kind of useful action. They were ready to start the first, minimal- deployment operations... But they didn´t do it. First of all, because their cooperation with the loyalists wasn´t yet working the way it was supposed to work...

The second reason was that Sakurai didn´t support the loyalist.

She supported the rebels.

Rightful heir to the throne... I shall help you.

Too many people with too many opinions... It was the old problem.

However, things begun to move, Althena and Clark had already propared to... 'change' Sakurai`s opinion.

However, if they didn´t succeed, the civil war would probably spread, and turn DA into chaos, as well.

Tavaroth,
Capitol city of Achabar,
The Jade Palace,
The Enduring Empire of Tarakalar.

Silence.
Emperor Arnaud Taurain examined the information provided to him in complete and utter silence. Satellite info, news, even non coded radio transmissions, he tried to examine them all, though the sheer number made that impossible.

The connection between the Enduring Empire and the Grand Duchy was... well aside from the fact they hailed from Sisgardia non existent.

"Handalar to the north... The Sea of Aelios to the west. And misery lies beyond both of them." Muttered, frustrated words softly filled the air around the emperor as he spoke, his finger tracing both the region of Handalar and the Sea of Aelios on his computers monitor."

He had tried to ignore the events as best as possible, the Enduring Empire had to look inside to strengthen the bonds... But the people began to question the Taurain blood. Began to question his resolve. All that he seemed to do resulted into failure, or a costly half-victory.

A choice had to be made. If the knowledge he had was true, then both Loyalist and rebel leaders had a right to claim the throne and leadership of the Grand Duchy. So the question was; would the Enduring Empire send help north across Handalar to the Rebels. Or would the Navy patrol the northern shores of the Sea of Aelios.

Morals were irrelevant, he was the servant of the People and therefore all that he did was morally correct. So what mattered was, how could he make the best image? Aiding the rebels could seriously weaken his relationship with the other Sisgardian nations...

"What relationships? CainTarra is nothing but a group xenophobes packed togheter. The Vortex Corporation has fallen silent, and so even making my situation worse by not aiding in the modernisation of my nation. Zethkur? Do they even know of our existence? Taurenor... They know of us, but I doubt they care... Most don't care. No, their approval is irrelevant."

It was clear then. he would aid the rebels. Their hold on Aphyr grew steadily and the Loyalist there grew weaker. Indeed satellite reports indicated that Var-Vilena might be crushed sometime soon as well and if that happened then Loyalist survivors would flee across the Sea of Aelios, or try to reach the land bridge connecting Aphyr to Handalar, and by that time the Enduring Empire could already have easily established an small outpost there to 'defend' the neutral non-uniformed Handalar governments against potential dangers from Aphyr as well as arrest any enemies of the ‘rightful heir to the throne’ of the Grand Duchy. All that was needed, was quick acting.

Pressing the on button of his intercom, the Emperor began to make arrangements.

................................................



Honor to you, Archduchess , she who rightfully lays claim to the throne of the Grand Duchy.

The Enduring Empire has watched on silently so far as your beloved country is being sundered by the arrogance of your enemies who seek to deny you your rightful claim as Grand Duchess of the Grand Duchy.

But we can only watch on for so long and do nothing, moved by your plight the Enduring Empire shall take some of our own swords to aid you. Indeed, as you bleed, so do we offer to bleed with you.
For when we look west across the blue emerald that is the Sea of Aelios, we see the clouds of poison far away, tainting the air. Should you fall, our nation itself might be poisoned.

Therefore we shall set our naval forces out to patrol the sea of Aelios and create a blockade, preventing maritime based support to reach what remains of the ‘Loyalists’ on Aphyr. Furher more we can easily establish a strategic base in Handalar, preventing any Loyalists to flee within the non unified lands and from there attempt to wage guerilla war fare on you.

All that we ask, is that you accept our support and remember us on the day you claim that which is yours.

Arnaud Taurain.
Emperor of the Enduring Empire of Tarakalar.
Servant to the People, Bearer of the Moad'Kaan and Abann'at of Eratinel.

((OOC: And now I am off to celebrate me birthday. Huzzah!))

High Orbit over Aphyr,
Sisgardia.

The remaining TSF ships in high orbit over Sisgardia were regrouping when the formation was approached by the DA warship. It asked them what happened? And how could they know what happened, when one of theirs opened fire on them all of a sudden and slaughtered many! The crew of the “Krasota” explained as best as he could.


Came under attack by a rebellious Battlegroup.
All threat neutralized.
All rebel orbital assets eliminated.
All remaining Space Fleet elements loyal to the Grand Duke.
Have suffered heavy losses.
Be advised, space over Aphyr insecure due to the presence of anti-aerospace systems in the rebel territories, systems presumed to be under their control.

***

Anastasya’s Palace,
Tin-Vilena,
Break-away provinces of Kerathor,
Sisgardia.

Everything was going beyond expectations. The infestation of Mikhail’s forces happened so quickly that they were taken in total disarray. Srebrograd has fallen. Var-Vilena would fall soon and the entire Aphyr would belong to her. And then, it would only be a question of time before Cardinia fell. And then, Vigvar…
Nothing would stop her. And what could? The Skaven have been wiped out. Indeed, she infested a part of the population and caused a major subterranean civil war between the clans, a war that was stopped by a chemical attack carried out by the Grand Duchy. Indeed, Mikhail did not need anarchy right under his feet when he was already losing the battle in Aphyr. She grinned wickedly when she imagined the gigantic piles of vermin corpses… and the stench… yes, the stench would be horrible. Too bad she could not feel the smells any longer. Indeed, her new ‘shape’ granted her powers beyond the reach of mortality, but it has also had some negative aspects.

She was walking through her palace calmly. In her head, an infinity of images sped by, replacing each other, overlaying each other, vanishing, appearing. She did not need tactical officers, she did not need giant display screens with the maps of the areas, she did not need a chain of command. She was everything that in one person. She gave an order, and somewhere, the 4th NGF Brigade began the storm of the Trident Pass, the last natural barrier before Var-Vilena. She gave an order, and from all over Aphyr, swarms of creatures began assembling in the south-east of the sub-continent. She grinned, and a salve of missiles rained down upon the Trident Pass. She felt the pain, the death, the horror, and she could not get enough. Her appetites were growing each minute. Queen of Kerathor? Too puny. Grand Duchess of Tarasovka? Too small… Empress of Sisgardia? Not enough…

Sisgardia, that region of nations brought together with no common goal. And it was already seen. Her thoughts wandered a moment to Der Angst, to that young girl. A possible trigger to use in the future. Or maybe not…
What is that?

One of her minions received a message. It was from the Enduring Empire of Tarakalar, an offer of assistance to her… They were courageous. She adored courage. She gave the order to the 8th Air Wing to enact full scale bombardment of the Trident Pass. The loyalist responded to the beginning of the assault by a counter-offensive from the Pass. Their aircraft were bombing the minion forces grouped close to the mountain spine. All at the same time, one of her minions was writing a letter to Tarakalar. What’s that? A SODAT drop near the Trident Pass! The SODAT’s landed right in the middle of the 8th Division of the 2nd NGF Brigade and now were bringing havoc to her formations. Intolerable! A hundred humans clad into ‘Tsar’ Personal Armor would not stop her! Normal humans would most surely be crushed in a complete disorder… which was the thing the SODAT’s exceeded in – bringing disorder to an enemy formation and slaughtering them. Yes, with normal humans, that would work. But not only the NGF weren’t normal humans, but they were also Her minions. She simply gave the division’s artillery detachment to open fire and to her soldiers to finish off the survivors. There, nuisance taken care of…

***


Glory to you, Emperor, He who proudly leads his people to the light of wisdom.

It is with great joy that I accept your generous offer of assistance. Indeed, time has come to end the poisoning of my dear homeland, perpetrated for generations by incapable rulers. The winds of change are blowing from the North and I am their messenger.

I fully support your idea of establishing a barrage in Handalar to prevent any of the wronged ones to flee. But I insist that you inflict the less harm possible to those that the one who claims to be my brother has kept in the dark. It pains my heart to see my people fall, but the survival of a people, of a history often passes by blood. Already enough blood has been spilled due to the stupidity of the one who claims to be my brother and even more will be spilled because of his arrogance!

I am also grateful to you for your offer of naval assistance. Indeed, I cruelly lack naval assets in my endeavour, which makes certain simple things complicated. I was counting on support from some of the naval officers, but it would seem that the TDI has done some ‘cleaning’ shortly before the one who claims to be my brother was illegally crowned Grand Duke. All I can do is pray for the souls of those who suffer in the iron grip of the TDI. As you have seen, I did manage to get some support even in the TSF! But, alas, my orbital assets have fallen heroically in an attempt to prevent the ones loyal to the one who claims to be my brother from releasing death upon my innocent people!

Time has come to end this travesty, to end this treachery! The more time we lose in useless fights, the more innocent fall! And the more blood is spilled, the more he, who claims to be my brother, lusts for suffering of the people that he is to defend till his final breath! You can be sure that my people will never forget your generous help.

I hope that other SFN nations follow your honorable example, My Friend, and see the light of righteousness in the darkness that the one who claims to be the Grand Duke has cast upon them!

Yours in fate and faith,
Grand Duchess of Tarasovka by Right,
Anastasya Shakhovskaya.

***

The Trident Pass,
Aphyr,
Grand Duchy of Tarasovka,
Sisgardia

- Left flank! Left flank!
- Request artillery fire at coordinates 7:5! Request arti-…
- Down! Down!

The Trident Pass was the only valley leading from the Illuthiid province to the rest of Aphyr through a spine of high mountains. The Pass was a major transport artery of the Grand Ducal Aphyr, for the concentration of MagLev lines, roads, tunnels, and other communications here was one of the densest in the Duchy. It was called the ‘Trident’ Pass because it circled a high mountain, crowned with three peaks that looked like a trident from afar. And now, this Pass was defended by the 74th Airborne division, dislocated on the slopes and tops of the mountains, pounding the advancing rebel forces down below with everything they had. Behind the spine, the military long range missile artillery was covering the loyalist paratroops. So far, the situation was stable. The 2nd NGF Brigade that was on the rebel side was stuck in the valley. They were not taking overly heavy losses, for they were out of the range of most of the loyalist weapons systems, but at least they did not push forward. It all changed when they were joined by the 4th Brigade and the 8th Air Wing of the rebels began pounding the loyalist positions. The Grand Ducal forces immediately reacted with their own aircraft and the airspace above the pass soon turned into a melee between loyalist and rebel aircraft. The rebels were much better coordinated between themselves, coordination impossible for normal humans; even flying aircraft packed with enough AI’s to form a battalion in human equivalent. And on the ground, the situation was not better. The NGF Brigades began the storm of the positions held by the loyalist forces with a synchronization that would make the Swiss watch makers become green with jealousy.

The TSF attempted several SODAT drops in the middle of rebel positions, but they were unsuccessful. Quite soon, it was apparent that the situation was becoming critical. The 74th was ordered to begin a tactical retreat. And so, taking losses, the paratroops abandoned their positions and began retreating higher into the mountains. The Air Force bombed the Trident Peak. The marvel of nature, that was existent long before any living soul came to the region, was brought down in matter of seconds. The giant mass of stone hurled down upon the valley, blocking it. Special charges placed by the paratroopers into the slopes of the mountains were also triggered, bringing down tons and tons of stone, earth, trees into the valley. It was not long before the only way leading into the rest of Aphyr was blocked. Roads, MagLev lines, everything was destroyed. The rebels were blocked for a time, yes. The Grand Ducal artillery continued to pound the valley, the Airborne divisions were controlling the mountains and the anti-air systems were in full strength. In the Great Strait between Aphyr and Cardinia, the Navy was regrouping. In Cardinia, additional forces composed of reservists were readied to de deployed into Var-Vilena.

***

Anastasya’s Palace,
Tin-Vilena,
Break-away provinces of Kerathor,
Sisgardia.

She fully expected such an outcome. Fools, that little barrage would not stop her for long. She sighed and began regrouping her forces. Her lack of Naval assets made the Trident Pass of the outmost importance. Well, if it can still be called the Trident Pass, of course. It did not matter. The swarms would bypass the blockade and infest the defenders of Illuthiid, at least – the local population. And once that done, it wouldn’t take long for Var-Vilena to fall…

- It would seem, Your Highness, that your dear brother does not want to give up the throne easily…
- Da’teril! Why can’t I ever detect your presence in my lands? I even know where the puniest cockroach is!
- Then I must be even punier than a cockroach, Your Highness, - the drow smiled. – But I have good news for you. My warriors are already on their way. Now that you have cleared the Skaven out… or should I say your brother wiped them out… and the Psionic Rig in decay, we can enter unseen.
- Better late than never, my dear Da’teril.
- Indeed, Your Highness. I bring news from Her. She says that you will be soon faced with a critical decision and that of your choice will depend the fate of many. Of your choice will depend the outcome of this war. And She hopes you will make the right choice.
- She would facilitate my task by stating clearly what will be the choice to make.
- I am only a humble servant, Your Highness. I am not in position to ask Her questions…
- I know. I hope She is satisfied with our progress so far.
- Fully. And the news that the ones Sisgardians are becoming divided even more rejoices Her. But now, I have to leave you, Your Highness. So I request your forgiveness for abandoning you for some time.

As always, the drow vanished in one flash of dark-purple light. Anastasya grinned. Da’teril’s words about that ‘choice’ did not worry her. After all, she would not find the answer by herself, so why overcharge her already busy enough mind with such futile thoughts? She had other things to do, such as hammer out the remnants of the 74th Airborne in the Trident Pass and take over at least some of the mountain peaks.
And so death continued to reign free…


[OOC:

Here's a map of the area. (http://img26.photobucket.com/albums/v77/Namellar/Aphyr_front.png)
In red are shown the provinces controlled by the rebels.
In blue is shown the province controlled by the loyalists.
In white is shown the North Spine, it is the mountains where the combats are going on right now.
The black crossed circle to the east of Srebrograd shows the location of the Trident Pass. ]

Your words are as flattering as the desert snake's radiant scales in the setting sun, rightfull heir to the Grand Duchy.

Naturally we shall not bring any excessive harm upon any of your brother's followers. A far better policy is to capture them and hand them over to the rightfull government of Tarasovka, you.

Already as I prepare this message for you, the Enduring Empire's forces are being mobilised to either establish a foothold on the landbridge between Aphyr and and Handalar or to secure your coasts. Naturally should our vessels succeed in securing resources for your brothers forces in Aphyr, they shall be send to one of your ports instead.

May your and your People's blood be strong in these trying times.
Arnaud Taurain.
Emperor of the Enduring Empire of Tarakalar.
Servant to the People, Bearer of the Moad'Kaan and Abann'at of Eratinel.

......................................

The pristine waters of the Sea of Aelios were cleaved in half as half a dozen aircraft carriers and several dozen support ships, ranging from quick submarine hunters to the large and powerfull dreadnaughts, ships that always been popular in use combined with aircraft carriers by the Tarakalarians. These ships would patrol the passage of the Sea of Aelios between Aphyr and Cardinia. Though they certainly weren't the most advanced ships compared to the rest of Sisgardia, they could still pack a significant punch. And the aircraft brought along were more advanced, including several Aerodynes that were at least one result of the interrupted TVC and Tarakalar negotiotions.

And even as the marine forces moved out, air transports were already moving the first groups of soldiers to the far north of Handalar, were they would set up the beginings of a outpost for when the rest of the forces arrived by land.

All of these actions were done under the speeches heard on the televion and radio, as government officials openly announced Tarakalar's aid to the true heir to the Grand Duchy's throne; Anastasya Shakhovskaya.

The affect was proving to be exactly what Arnaud Taurain had hoped for, after more then three-thousand years of relative peace save for the overthrowing of the false coportate government some ten years ago, the people had grown restless in their peace. Warriors, defenders of peace still need a cause to fight for. And with all the similarities that the government officials were making between the rebels of Tarasovka and the imperial family's plight itself over the centuries, support was great indeed for both the military mobilisation as well as the Taurain family itself.

...................

Non unified lands of Handalar -
Military Troop Transport plane GH/45.

Her'Yan Ochernas watched her platoon members silently as she sucked on the Bezyu seed, the soft acidic burn on her lip made her use her tongue to move the seed, the buzz of it sharpened her senses drastically and the woman was convinced she could hear the engines of the other planes even though they were a significant ammount ahead of their own plane.

Looking down on the electronic padd, she read the current mission objectives again. Securing a base area near Aphyr... How difficult could that be really?

Looking up through her shades, still appearing as if she read the padd, she looked at the imposing black and red figures sitting seperatly from the rest.

Six of them.

Six Jaiden if the colors were an indication. But rather then tradional armored trenchcoats or basic body armor, these ones were sitting in what Her'Yan was convinced was power armor. Well over 2 meters in length, the looming suits hummed softly with power. The weapons they carried looked like they were only marginally slimmed down vehicle equipment. At least they didn't seem to have jet packs on them unless those were build into those ammunion backpacks that were fixed directly into the armor.

Power armor, seemed like a big waste of money really, no way people can miss seeing them... But then perhaps that was the idea, intimidation and all.

Maybe someone up the ranks expected that all of this would be tougher then Her'yan did.

Throne Room
Laicairin

Taurevanimë din't expect much different a reply from Mikhail, but part of her still hoped he would be completely honest. She looked at Urion who stood at her side. "So, what is your take on the situation?" She asked, looking curiously into his eyes. "Well, our intelligence reports show that these rebels are easilly pushing back the GDT forces." Urion said, sounding a bit concerned as he looked over some images taken from orbit, showing the heavy fighting. "We were also able to spot a fleet of ships heading from Tarakalar to Aphyr." He said, showing her another image, with a few smile dots on them and long trails dragging behind them. A small enlargement in the corner, showing what the fleet was made off. "They must be out there to assist one of the two sides, but which one?" She said as she studied the images more closely. "Who can say, they might even just be there to stop the rebels from moving via the sea to them." Urion spoke softly and handed Taurevanimë a small stack of images, all showing images of the same area taken at certain different times, a clear difference in vegetation density showing. "What magic is this?" She said and looked at all the images. "No tree, bush or shrub grows this fast." Urion slightly raised his shoulders and shoke his head. "We do not know what did this, and even if it was magic, it seems look a waste of power during such a war." Taurevanimë nodded. "I agree. I will write a letter to Mikhail emediatly." She said and walked into her personal study room.



Dear Mikhail, I thank you for your letter of reassurence, but sadly a change in those events have not helped to reassure me and my people. I am here refering to the constant loss of ground by your forces in Aphyr, and the foreign forces heading for Aphyr, though their intentions are not clear.
I hope to hear from you soon.

Tauretári Taurevanimë Wintiliel Hendulaica nos Fingolfin.

Sisgardia,
Non unified lands of Handalar,
EET outpost; Tarsis.

The branches of the tree’s around them waved around frantically in the strong winds that rushed past them. Drops of rain fell down as deep dark clouds passed over them high above. Even with the machinery they were using, the weather caused the creation of the outpost to slow down, and with the prospect of enemy troops arriving soon that was not an acceptable situation.

Men and women shouted out directions to the construction teams, doing their best to provide as good as possible guidance and speed up the building process. Creating a landing ground for the cargo planes had been relatively easy, if not physically demanding, but it had ensured that there were sufficient building materials and machines as well as allowing the transport of the six artillery vehicles that were currently being moved out of the camp site to be hidden out of sight. They knew there orders were to attempt and ensure minimal casualties on any Loyalists that would attempt to go across the land bridge, but if the loyalists succeeded in bringing heavy fire power with them, then ensuring their own survival was the primary concern of the Tarakalarian soldiers.

Jarian D’nall, Twelfth of the Jaiden ‘Adder Tongues’, and second highest ranking officer in the outpost frowned behind the helmet of his power armor. The work was going to slow for his taste, and to make matters worse, according to the data feed build in his helmet, a Sisgardian commercial satellite would be passing over their section of Handalar in a little while.

“Hurry up with those camo nets! We got a satellite passing over in twenty minutes! And cover up those vehicle tracks! I do not want to let anyone know we are here already.”

His words had immediate effect as several groups of soldiers immediately began to collect the camouflage nets and began the process of setting them up to cover up as much as possible of the base from observers in the sky, unless people knew exactly what too look for when the satellite came over, it was unlikely anyone would realize there was currently a nearly completed Tarakalarian military base there.

…………………………..

Sisgardia,
Sea of Aelios,
EET marine taskforce,
The Justifier, aircraft carrier

“Thirty six ships. No offence, sir. But I am finding it too hard to belief that thirty six ships of us could oppose thirty six of the Grand Duchy’s ships. And most likely they will be using more then that.” Lieutenant Denile squinted as he looked out from the windows of the Justifier’s bridge across the pristine water of the Sea of Aelios.

“We wouldn’t, lieutenant.” Gerdal, Captain of the Justifier spoke calmly, almost relaxed as he stood beside the Lieutenant. “Our mission is to stop any Loyalist transports too, or from Aphyr. Nothing more. I am not going to allow hundreds of people die because I feel the need to confront actual military vessels of the Grand Duchy if were outnumbered. No… Our stay here is a short one. Soon Aphyr will be entirely under Lady Shakhovskaya control and we will move back to defend the borders of our own nation once more. The only reason we have thirty six ships under our control at the moment is because the Admirals are well aware of the advantages the Grand Duchy has over us in terms of marine power.”

“Ah. Yes sir.” Much as Denile hated to admit it, he felt immensely assured at his Captain’s words. The young man really wasn’t in the mood to have his first true combat situation be his last as well. And looking out the window at the other ships, the five aircraft carriers, six dreadnaughts and the four submarines that were already deep below the water’s surface as well as the range of smaller support ships, all specialized in dealing with either ships, submarines or air units, the young lieutenant realized all to well that despite the visual impression of the ships, they really weren’t on par with the Grand Duchy, maybe if they had a few hundred more ships in the area though…

“No, with the size of this part of the sea the GDT would hit a ship with every single shot…”

“What was that Lieutenant?” Looking down at Denile, Captain Gerdal arched his eyebrows curiously as he heard the muttered words of the Lieutenant.

“Oh, uh nothing sir. Just thinking out loud.” Denile waited for a few seconds as his Captain continued to look at him before the older man gave slight shrug and returned to look back across the sea and Denile rolled his eyes in exasperation. He really needed to stop talking to himself.

The Eye

It spread out, with all its sensors, telepathic ones, electromagnetic ones, others.

Searching for energy emissions, for concentrations of people, of minds, of matter, iron, vehicles... Anything.

It connected to the various satellite hives in orbit, it connected to independent listening posts, sensor arrays and others.

Its mind, enslaved, unable to leave the eye, for the shock of leaving this vast array, this nationwide construction, his mind turned from a giant into a nothing... it would be too much for whoever was in there... He, or she, had lost his or her individuality, anyway.

And it collected data... Numbers, movements, concentrations, equipment, statistics, irrational events. Tarakalar forces... Intriguing. Data about them... Collected as well.

However, right now, the data was useless, for it wasn´t used... Just collected.

The Grand Duchy Tarasovka

Georg and Asaraki were walking down the streets, amusing themselves... Seemingly the only ones doing it.

Angstians were free to travel in the Grand Duchy, even now, in this time of war... it was only logical, with them being... well, closely allied to each other, having worked together on many occasions.

Of course, the Grand Duchy had made a mistake... its own system being far more controlled, far more restrictive than the Angstian...

Nobody would have thought that Angstian mercenaries could be hired by the opposing side, using this loophole?

Well, in the loyalist territories, apparently no one.

However, in Kerathor...

Both chuckled. Fools.

Soon... Soon, their time would come. Together with their comrades in Kerathor, waiting for their use... Granted, they were a minor corporation, without space assets... but did it matter? They made money this way... And they were good. Well, at least for mercenaries.

"Ok... Something to eat... i wonder if they have pizza?"
"Lets ask."

It was strange, the whole thing... so innocent, so peaceful... But they would change that.

DA, Triluminarium

"So? Why am I here?"

Sakurai was furious. Her plans were... close to succeed. She had made the necessary connections, hired the right people... People who knew about this, about war, about battle... She was ready. If necessary, she would take out the others... She would succeed, since Angstians... Most Angstians... Were cowards. And now this. The invitation she had got from Althena and Clark was... Not much different from an order.

And right now, she couldn´t say 'no', it was still... a bit early. She cursed, wondering if they had been faster...

"We need to discuss some matters... The Grand Duchy, Your father... Griffith."

Sakurai blinked. "I fail to see how the three are connected."

"Very simple, actually..." Althena sat back. She knew what Clark had promised her... Their relation had become far better during the more recent time, unlike the beginning. Now, he was sacrificing Griffith... For his own, and DA's good. Not to mention hers...

Sakurai, however.... Well, she would see.

With this thughts, she begun to explain her some things... About Griffith plot, how he killed her father with the 'hacked' pilot, when he returned from the Grand Duchy... For a moment, she pondered adding parts about Anastasya cooperating with Griffith, but she decided that Sakurai wasn´t that naive. So, she just told the truth... Though she left out the parts were Clark supported Griffith.

After about an hour, an hour in which sakurai ddin´t say a word, didn´t even nod... Didn´t move at all, Althena finished.

"So..." Sakurai looked different... as if her youth had been taken from her. "What do you want me to do?"

Clark chuckled. "Take your revenge. I know... I have been working with Griffith, but I would never have thought... i would never have endorsed this plan..."

"Because Aramaki was going to die soon, anyway?" Sakurai remarked, slightly sarcastic.

"That, too."

Althena sighed. The two really hated each other... "We offer you a chance to get yur revenge. But it has a price... You know which one."

Sakurai sighed, too. Foolish, to think I could outsmart them in their own game. "Why should I?"

A bit annoying, her resistance.

It will work out. Somehow.

Clark handed her a little datapad. "The ways 'Nastya' works. You will find the ECTOS tech to be... Intriguing."

For a couple seconds, Sakurai was busy, uploading the data into her cybernetic brain... Then she finished. A few moments later, she nodded.

"Your point is... well taken. I think you... You`re right." She spit out the words, still... Something in her... Rebelled.

"Not that you need to tell 'Nastya'... Not right now." Althena smiled. "That would be foolish."

Sakurai nodded, then left the room. A destiny had to be fulfilled. It would be a lot of work...

(Bump)

OOC: No need to bump stuff up. A post is forthcoming. :wink:

South-east of Tal-Nathil,
Breakaway provinces of Kerathor,
Aphyr,
Sisgardia.

The two stealthy “Moth” dropships cruised in on low altitude, to avoid any possible detection, their plating absorbing even the moon’s dim light. They passed the Grand Ducal Strait, separating Cardinia from Aphyr and broke into the rebellious airspace. Navigation was done through satellite positioning, for it was impossible to navigate by ground repairs. Indeed, right below the dropships were huge, endless forests, that stretched all the way from the water and into infinity. The surface below was one single sea of leaves battered by the winds, coming from the North. Boreas was angered that night, and his anger was felt throughout the Grand Duchy, not only in Aphyr. Winter was coming earlier than expected this year.

The two dropships broke formation and headed each their way. To give the expeditions a greater chance of success and to be sure that at least one survives and finds out the needed information they were each deployed into a different area of Aphyr. In total, there were ten expeditions. Each consisted of six SIR(Special Infiltration and Reconnaissance) operatives and two ‘druids’. All in all, eighty personnel were deployed, not counting the pilots of the dropships.

One of the “Moths” headed towards Tal-Nathil. The city was right on the coast and easily accessible. The TDI operatives had to investigate what happened to the densely populated areas in the rebellious territories. Satellite surveillance indicated that the cities were literally swallowed by the ECTOS. And indeed, it was true. Tal-Nathil was no more. Instead was a sea of leaves, whispering each other stories and complaining about the wind. Even the skyscrapers were infested by different growths.

- Reaching drop zone in 2 minutes, all personnel get ready!

In the passenger compartment, the SIR operatives adjusted their equipment. Their light armor was covered with a special ‘substance’ that was similar to the one on a chameleon’s skin. It changed its color depending on the surrounding areas, enabling the operatives to proceed with maximum invisibility. Of course, the ‘substance’ had its limits and the operatives were still clearly seen, alas the Grand Duchy does not yet possess personal cloaking devices, but in the middle of the night, hiding in the shadows, the operatives had the odds on their side. That is, against a normal enemy. And nobody knew what enemy they were facing in Aphyr.

The commander of the unit was the last one to put on his helmet, adjust it in the good old Taraskovyan way – via a good blow with the fist into one of its sides. Immediately, all the marvels of technology included into the helmets came to action. Different visors, communications, real time update on the location of the teammates, etc. etc. Everyone checked his weapons. Assault rifle, handgun, grenades, flares, knife, spare ammunition. And all the other toys that make his day for a living killing machine.

The dropship slowed down and began a vertical descent. The back hatches opened.

- Drop zone reached. All units - move out!

The commander of the TDI unit was the first one to jump on the soil and nearly drowned in grass that was reaching up to his torso. The rest of the squad followed. The dropship took off and set course back to the loyalist Cardinia. Actually, dropships would be on constant stand by to intervene if any squad needed emergency evacuation. But for now, the operatives and the druids were left to fend for themselves.

The commander verified the coordinates and, being fully satisfied with the precision of the drop, gave order to move out. That squad was to investigate Tal-Nathil.

***

1st Naval Group,
South of Var-Vilena,
Grand Ducal Strait,
Sisgardia.

- What do they think are they doing?

The Admiral’s question was full of sense. Indeed, entering Grand Ducal territorial waters, packed with surface detectors, submarine detectors, detectors on the very bottom, mobile coast guard patrols and the still remaining Naval Fleet was suicidal for any hostile fleets. And the Tarakalarian fleet was to be treated as a hostile one, a hostile that would enter Grand Ducal territorial waters quite soon. Approximately 30 ships. The 1st Naval Group numbered fifty, fifty surface ships oriented on one thing – murder, slaughter, massacre. Not counting the dozen submarines beneath it. There were a few carriers, but they weren’t very important, besides, their armament was purely defensive one. Well, the Grand Ducal Navy was far from being the best in the world and with time it lost its status of ‘offensive force’, but it could prove to be highly resourceful when doing ‘defensive tasks’. But these fifty ships would not even have the time to enter the battle. First of all, the enemy would be attacked by the 1st and 2nd Submarine Detachments. The Grand Ducal Naval Fleet relied greatly on those in time of need. Indeed, these SD were outfitted as a standard surface fleet. They even had submarine carriers. But in the present case, the attack subs would do the job. Once the first sweep done, the coast guard would send in the ‘Hunters’, highly mobile hovercraft armed with enough weapons to face any enemy. Well, one ‘Hunter’ was nothing compared to a frigate, of course… but the ‘Hunters’ never operated alone… Maybe the enemy forces would be annihilated before the coast batteries would have the time to enter the battle. Or maybe the coast batteries would be the first to open fire and then would come the SD’s and the ‘Hunters’. And not to forget the Air Force, that would most surely toss in a couple Air Wings…

Whatever the tactic used, entering Grand Ducal territorial waters was suicidal. And so the Admiral shot off a demand to Vigvar, asking what was he to do. The response was very simple. “Do not engage first. If the hostile elements enter the Strait, eliminate all trespassing elements.” The Admiral only shrugged. His Group was already on interception course of the Tarakalarian one.


You are forbidden access to the Grand Ducal Strait.
Turn around now or face dire consequences.

***

TSF 1st Battlegroup,
High Orbit over Sisgardia.

The Battlegroup left the vicinity of the Mainland station and quickly repositioned itself in high orbit in the immediate vicinity of the Enduring Empire of Tarakalar. There it remained, in combat formation, fighter patrols all around it, counter measure drones deployed. It did not enact any orbital bombardments, did not annihilate the Tarakalarian satellite networks. It simply remained high in orbit, awaiting its time.

***


Your Highess, the Emperor of the Enduring Empire of Tarakalar Arnaud Taurain,

In the name of the Grand Duchy and of the Gods you pray to, I personally demand that you reconsider your involvement into an interior matter of my Motherland. Should you strive forward in your wish to aid the rebellious criminals of Kerathor, I will have no other choice than to unleash the might of the Grand Duchy upon your soil. Remember, that if the presence of my own people in Aphyr binds my arms and forbids me from taking radical action, I will not think twice before showing you and your people the true military potential of the Grand Duchy of Tarasovka. Nor will I have any regrets afterwards for the sufferings inflicted to your people.

Yet again, I call to your reason and your sense of responsibility in front of your people. Do not force me to make them suffer.

As an Equal to Equal,
Grand Duke of Tarasovka,
Mikhail Shakhovskoy II.

[OOC: In case you wonder, no, the TNDF doesn't know about that base in H-something. Too distracted with many things lately.

Reply to Taurevanime upcoming in the next post. Or in the post after the next... Need to RP the finds of that TDI expedition first... ]

((OOC: Handalar, my dear Sisgardian friend. Heh, right on the map of us it is. ^^))

Tavaroth,
Capitol city of Achabar,
The Jade Palace,
The Enduring Empire of Tarakalar.

“Much as I hate to admit it. They outclass us in every possible way save the possible number of actually military men and women, their equipment most likely requires more maintenance, and financial upkeep then ours after all… But that doesn’t change the fact they would kill more of our men far easily. And then there is the fact we possess no non atmosphere bound vessels. There is nothing we can do against those ships of them above our nation.”
Tatiana Taurain read the message for a fifth time, subconsciously feeling the need to see if there were any parts she had perchance missed even as her father watched her from the leather chair he sat in behind his desk.

“And I certainly don’t doubt the fact they would take the battle to us if their pressed for it.” The woman’s voice was laced with bitterness at those words as she looked up at her father. “at least it appears their unaware of the outpost we have established in Handalar. Course, they could just be trying to see what we do with it, seeing how Handalar is an non-aligned land they can’t force us out of it unless war is declared.”

“And if we declare war, daughter of mine. Then we face the unrestrained might of the Grand Duchy and whatever allies may decide to take up arms as well. I am aware of that.” Where Tatiana spoke with a bitter tone, Arnaud Taurain, emperor of the Enduring Empire, spoke with an calmness that almost made one think he was planning a simple interview concerning the latest internal policies of the empire.

He wasn’t exited about the situations developing so much as being… comfortable, but Tatiana noticed a distinct increase of activity in her father as he ran scenario after scenario through his mind, even though he admitted most of them ended badly. It was mildly worrying that her father seemed more at ease at the prospect of governing his nation through a war then through the peace he and her had worked so hard to establish not ten tears ago.

“No, we cannot declare war. Not yet anyway. But we do not have to hide the fact that we feel that her Ladyship Anastasya carries a greater right to the throne of the Grand Duchy. While it would certainly incense the Grand Duke, there is nothing he may do against political images that don’t agree with him. It would cost him his support with the rest of Sisgardia if he attacked for merely that against a fellow Sisgardian nation. Further more he is not aware of the existence of our Handalar outpost, he would have demanded to know why we had established that as well.”

Furrowing his brows as he stood up the middle aged Emperor walked from behind his desk to one of the walls of his room, admiring the reliefs in them as he often did when he ordered his mind.

“Trickery is likely to back fire against the Grand Duke, and I give him the credit of realizing this. Therefore he would have announced the existence of the outpost if he had known of it, not plotting in the dark like we are doing.” Now was the first time that a tone similar to his daughter’s had entered the emperor’s voice, but it was gone as quickly as it came.

“As for our naval force. I admit, I had underestimated the swiftness of their reaction, perchance even miscalculated their actions. I would have expected them to fight at all costs to attempt to maintain their hold on Aphyr… But it seems they differ from us there. No that was a mistake on my part. But they served their purpose well, further demanding the attention of the already being overwhelmed Grand Duke’s resources. Besides…. Look how close they are too us. Is it truly that unusual that we would send naval forces to patrol just outside their waters, to make sure no forces approach us? We don’t have the benefit of their technology. We have to get close, very close to make sure everything stays safe. They may not like having a military task force just outside their waters, but their international waters, they don’t have claim on that.”

He spoke far more then normal. It was yet another sign to Tatiana that her father was actually starting to feel comfortable, much as he did when they fought the Tandori Corporation that had dethroned and executed his parents.

“I shall send a message back to the good Grand Duke and inform him that we have no intention of currently entering the war. Despite the media’s calling it that, after all free media forces always exaggerate a little.”

He licked his lips as his eyes followed a set of deep engravings in the wall.

However we will be keeping a close eye on his forces to make sure there are no… accidents. Our forces will remain in neutral territory and not trespass, for that very reason. And of course I will make sure that he is aware that we do not support him politically or in any other means.” Turning around, Arnaud smiled at his daughter as he watched her pensive face, she wasn’t to sure of her fathers plans, he didn’t mind. It only made her more reliable if he knew he could count on her to stop him from making certain mistakes that he missed for some reason.

“You may inform the naval taskforce that it is to make certain not to enter GDT waters, or interrupt any possible transport ships to and from Aphyr after all. They must however maintain observance on any loyalist ships that are within sight or that enter international waters of the Sea of Aelios. Have them use the available Aeodynes at their disposal to observe events from the sky.”

A curt nod was all that Tatiana gave her father before make a sharp turn on the spot and made her way out of the room to contact the marine taskforce with their orders.

………………………………………



Mikhail Shakhovskoy II, current Grand Duke of the Grand Duchy, I greet you.

Despite the image that we seem to have created I can assure you that the Enduring Empire harbors no current hostile intent to your well being.

The marine taskforce in the Sea of Aelios lays within international waters to ensure that no hostile fire from your side would find itself accidentally directed in the wrong way. Such things can happen after all.

However due let it be known that while we shall not start any military actions against you or your forces, we do side, politically only of course, with the so called rebels and your sister.

The People of the Enduring Empire shall make no harmful maneuvers to you first, Grand Duke. But let it be clear that any military action on side of your forces that make way towards the Enduring Empire shall be detained for questioning and to verify that there is no ill intent due to our choice of acknowledging your sister, and not you.

Arnaud Taurain.
Emperor of the Enduring Empire of Tarakalar.
Servant to the People, Bearer of the Moad'Kaan and Abann'at of Eratinel.

……………………………………

Sisgardia,
Sea of Aelios,
700 meters from GDT waters,
EET marine taskforce,
The Justifier, aircraft carrier

Lieutenant Denile, let out a small sigh as he watched the ships slowly come to a halt, they had actually backed up a bit the moment they had been given the warning by the Sud’Ba.
The return message had been a simple one that they were here to ensure that no military escalations would enter international waters or traverse towards the Enduring Empire, much as had been the orders they had received from Tarakalar. An apology had been added as well, giving the reason that their had been a slight miscalculation which resulted in their going to close to the Grand Duchy’s waters.

They now lay a small distance from the boundary between international and GDT waters, closer then Denile really liked as he could make out the outlines of many vessels in the distance.

Non the less, the majority of the task force that was aware of the exact situation was more then grateful for the change in orders, and all the ships were not patrolling the area of international Water they resided in. Careful not to venture closer then the 650 meter mark to the GFT water’s.

………………………………….

Tavaroth,
Twenty kilometers west of the city of Etion’Del,
Galren military and information center.
The Enduring Empire of Tarakalar.

Silence filled the room as six staff members examined the satellite pictures they had received not a small while ago. Surprise, shock and even a sense of horror showed on the faces of the officers as they examined photo after photo detailing Tal’Nathil.

“How… How is such an thing possible? An entire city devoured by plant life in a matter of a few days, if even that.” General Adaare examined yet another photo showing the fate of the city.

“We don’t know general. Something like this is unprecedented to us. But I sincerely doubt this is a natural event. From the looks of it, the Grand Duchy has developed, well an new form of biological weaponry. If the Grand Duchy is behind it of course. But I find it hard to belief the rebels would inflict these kind of things on their own cities. As it seems similar things might be happening in other places.”

“Have copy’s of these photo’s send to the Emperor as soon as possible. Whoever is behind this… bioweapon, we better remain on guard for it.” General Adaare frowned as he looked down at one of the photo’s again and mumbled “How can anyone imagine to control something like that?”

City of Tal-Nathil,
Breakaway provinces of Kerathor,
Aphyr,
Sisgardia.

- This is completely… this is totally… this is… gorgeous!

Well, at least, that was what the ‘druids’ thought as the squad made its way carefully through the city. The SIR operatives really did not enjoy their ‘walk’. Indeed, they were trained to expect danger everywhere, be it in mountains, forests, urban environment or underwater. But nobody ever trained them to fight in a city literally infested with vegetation to the point that hundred floor skyscrapers were turned into huge flower bushes. Everything was so unrealistic, so… ‘abnormal’, that the gun barrels hovered rapidly from window to window, or, better qualify them of ‘opening’ to ‘opening’. The two ‘druids’ assigned to the unit were doing their job. Taking pictures, video feeds, making notes, etc. etc. The SIR operatives had no idea what the ‘crazy ecologists’ were doing, but it wasn’t what the command sent them here for. The entire thing was far too easy. And what worried every single operative was that the city was totally deserted. It used to count several million inhabitants before the war and now… not a single creature neither in sight nor on scanner. Not a single human, not even a single bloody cockroach! Something was wrong, something was very much totally and utterly not like it was supposed to be. The streets were plunged into darkness, not a single ray of light escaped anywhere. “Are the power stations out of order? If yes – why… the TSF did not yet begin the orbital bombardment… Or is the electricity being diverted elsewhere?” The commander of the squad did not even want to imagine what creepy vegetables would need electricity for. More than that, the sun was rising. Its rays slowly brought some colour to the surroundings, painting the ‘botanic life forms’. The suits of the operatives immediately began adapting to the changing environment. One of the operatives, that was standing near a bush full of flowers of all possible colours, began resembling a rainbow. His teammates would have most surely laughed at him, but not today, not here.

As the unit progressed deeper into the city, the vegetation began to be ‘weirder’, if you could qualify it of that. The stems of the plants, that before were totally ‘natural’, meaning ‘botanical’ began slowly to turn into something… ‘biological’. The druids immediately dubbed them ‘arteries’. And all Seven Deities be witness, the operatives did not like the allusion. Arteries and veins ferried blood through the body of a living being. Inside of the body. And these arteries seemed to be going right into the CBD. It took the squad several more hours to make it to their destination. Tal-Nathil was only a dozen years old, it was built by ‘modern’ standards, as such it was easy to find your way through it. There, an other surprise awaited the expedition. Indeed, the vegetation completely infested the skyscrapers to the point of connecting the buildings into one ‘structure’. A giant wall of stems and leaves(the smallest being the size of a human being) barricaded the interior of the structure. The ‘arteries’ went in right through the wall in many places, but there was no opening large enough for a human being to get in. As the old Taraskovyan proverb says: “If you don’t see a way in – make one.” In matter of seconds an explosion ripped the wall apart, making an ‘entrance’ large enough for the squad to get in. Well, the ‘entrance’ began closing itself from the very first seconds, so it took an other charge of explosives for the entire squad to finally find itself out in a huge ‘structure’. The roof was made of the same stems and leaves. They were standing on what was sometime ago a ‘street’, between two skyscrapers. High above could be seen the ‘high level way’ proper to many Taraskovyan cities, where traffic was often done on several ‘layers’ of roads, distant from one an other of several dozen meters. The walls of the skyscrapers were circled by arteries, going up and down, left to right, in and out of the buildings. But yet again not a single soul neither in sight nor on scanner.

The expedition progressed further in the ‘structure’, finally entering one of the buildings located in the center of it. The scanners finally came back to life, indicating not only the presence of ‘organic life’ in the area(which was pretty much obvious…), but the presence of ‘mobile biological life’. Always on alert, always ready to open fire, the operatives made way into the entry hall of the building(which was a hotel sometime ago) and immediately wished they never entered. The entire room was crossed with arteries, from which were hanging myriads of cocoons. Tiny ones(the size of a human finger) regrouped into giant grapes to ‘containers’ double the size of a human being. The druids immediately put themselves to work, under the watchful eye of the operative squad.

- This is, this is impossible!
- There must be an explanation. Only a IVth Evolution ECTOS is capable of developing such functions.
- And the IVth Evolution was only attained in the labs! And only for minutes before it simply died out because of self-consuming!
- The very existence of the IVth Evolution is in mere theoretical stages.
- But then… how… Did they deploy the prototype?
- No, the TDI protocols indicate the deployment of a IInd Evolution ECTOS in Aphyr.
- It passed from the IInd to IVth in matter of weeks? This is purely impossible! The farthest an ECTOS can go for now is IIIrd Evolution! Which means it has the capacity to infest…
- Maybe the Eco-Tech Labs missed something? The ECTOS is a weapon of unlimited potential. So maybe it can evolve from one Evolution to another in the shortest period of time.
- By skipping an entire stage?
- But who said that it skipped it? After all, it did infest and ‘influence’ hundreds of millions of people!
- Well, we did know that the ECTOS could condense thousands of years of evolution into mere months, but… the union of botanic and biological life forms is not matter of thousands of years! It is either the beginning of all life, basic bacteria that are present in the Ist Evolution, either the…

The commslink went silent for a moment as the two druids looked upon one an other. If the visors of their helmets were totally transparent, it would have been possible to see the outmost horror in their eyes.

- But, if the IVth Evolution means union of botanic and biological life forms… then… the Vth Evolution…
- But the Vth is not possible! Besides, what makes you think that the Vth Evolution does not mean death? After all, ‘death’ is the final stage and logical ending of all evolution! The ‘perfect’ stage!
- Maybe you are right. But what if… Hell! We thought the IVth was not possible, since it would consume itself!
- Maybe that’s what the electricity is for…

The two druids looked up at the SIR operative that had just spoken.

- What?
- The entire city was dark during the night. Even the emergency power sources were out, and these are produced by independent Interior Security Department generators that are used in times of war to ensure the functioning of the basic infrastructure.
- Wait a second…

One of the druids came up to an artery. It was huge, well the size of an outstretched human arm in diameter. But all around it were tiny filaments, made of metal. The druid stepped back, taking his handgun out and shot a bullet at the artery.

- Bliad’!

Indeed, out of the opening poured a dense liquid of a brown-crimson colour. But that was not what caused the druid to use vulgar language. The impact of the bullet was accompanied by numerous electrical sparks on the artery, similar to those when a power cable under tension is cut in two. However, the opening of the artery soon closed itself and the sparks vanished.

- Increased organic regeneration combined with mechanical nanite reconstruction. All this fed from power generators. Maybe the Vth Evolution is not too far away.
- The TSF must turn the entire area into a desert. Every single square millimeter! We cannot…
- Incoming signals! Approaching our location!

The druid was interrupted as the two operatives left outside the building for lookout broke into the commslink. Indeed, the scanners became agitated, indicating numerous signals approaching from all sides. And when it said from ‘all’, it meant it – there were signals approaching from the top and the bottom. In other words, the squad was not only circled, but literally taken into a ‘sphere’. But there was still a chance to get out. The commander of the unit passed on the secured frequency.

- Operation Command, this is Unit 2. Requesting emergency evacuation at coordinates…

The coordinates were given as the squad ‘rushed out’ from the building. Well, the organized retreat from the building in an advanced tactical formation that allowed the unit to react appropriately to any incoming threat.

- Unit 2, this is Operation Command. Request granted, proceed to coordinates.

However, Unit 2 never made it to coordinates. Just as they were making their way towards the wall of the ‘structure’, a strange vehicle came out from beneath the ground right in front of them. And then several others all around them. As the squad regrouped into a circle, back to back, guns pointed at the ‘potential threat’, bright lights shot out from the vehicles, immediately compensated by the adaptive visors of the helmets. Figures in black armor came out.

- Drop your weapons and get on your knees!

The figures spoke in native Taraskovyan. And their ‘request’ made it clear that their intents could be qualified of ‘hostile’.

- Did you crazy ecologists transfer all the data to Center?
- Yes, Sire.
- Good. All units, fire at will!

The gunfight was short. Circled, outnumbered and outgunned, the eight men were eliminated in matter of seconds. The “Moth” dropship charged with evacuating Unit 2 was ordered to turn around and head back to base. Towards the end of the day, all of the ten expeditions were lost, but the data they managed to transfer to the Center was vital in defining the strategy and tactics to come. And these tactics would surely have nothing refined about them. They would be barbaric and blunt and they will present the best solution to the crisis.

***

High Command of the TNDF,
Capital City of Vigvar,
Grand Duchy of Tarasovka,
Sisgardia.

The Grand Duke read through the latest reports, watched through the information acquired by the TDI expeditions. He did not know what went wrong. An ECTOS was to remain stealthy and undetected. What was happening in Aphyr could be qualified of anything but stealthy and undetected. Unit 2 of the expedition reported that the ECTOS was combining botanic and biologic life forms. Unit 10 reported that the functioning of the ECTOS appeared to be ‘centralized’ and that ‘order impulses’ went and came in the direction of Northern Aphyr. Possibly Tin-Vilena. Tin-Vilena… Mikhail raised his gaze to look at a tactical map of Aphyr. There it was, blinking in red. Mikhail returned to the documents. Once finished with them, he raised his gaze and looked over each and every one present by the table the Grand Duke was occupying. Senior TNDF, TSF, TNSD, TISD, TDI officers.

- So, gentlemen. What do we have so far? A strange breed of ECTOS that not only appears to be conducting experiments of its own, but also appears to be centralized…
- Our personnel are already studying every bit of information forwarded to us, - a TDI officer, responsible for the liaison with the Eco-Tech Labs , immediately reported.
- Great. Then. We have several Units being intercepted by these strange attackers that speak Native Taraskovyan. I want to know who they are and where do they come from, for one thing is sure – they are definitely not Taraskovyan!
- Yes, Your Highness!
- Now, we have Tarakalar playing with fire by sending a fleet into our vicinity…
- And setting up military outposts in the direct vicinity of our borders.
- What?
- Latest satellite feed, Your Highness. Detected while we were studying possible retreat routes for the 74th Airborne.

The Grand Duke put his hands on his face and sighed deeply. He was tired beyond imagination. He needed to rest. He looked over the satellite surveillance. The scanners picked up a large concentration of ‘mobile life forms’ and ‘mobile equipment of various sizes’ on the land bridge between Aphyr and Handalar. A deeper scanning of the area revealed that the stated ‘concentration of various equipment’ was nothing else than a fully equipped military outpost.

- We could dispatch a cruiser and conduct a bombardment of the area. Or maybe deploy a SODAT detachment…
- They are in neutral territory. We cannot simply go and kill them, although I really wish to give that order…
- What then?
- I will write to that ‘Emperor’ of theirs.

Mikhail stood up and looked over the tactic screen again. The infestation was spreading, he knew it. It would not take long before the rest of Aphyr was taken over. They had to retreat and then burn everything. Turn it into a desert, make sure that nothing survived. But he could not allow Cardinia to be infested. He could not call back all of his men, for some may have been compromised. His enemy was cunning.

- Did our forces regroup in Var-Vilena as ordered?
- Yes, Your Highness. The civilian population has been evacuated.
- Order a general military retreat. Leave the 74th Airborne in cover. They are too close to an infested area and may have been… compromised… I want every single ‘veteran’ in Cardinia mobilized. I want every single civic militiaman to report to duty. Open the reserve armories.
- Yes, Your Highness!
- Of course, Your Highness.
- Now, let us proceed to Tarakalar. I want a squadron of Hunters to position themselves in neutral waters in order to clench the Tarakalarian naval detachment from both sides. As of their military outpost. Let it remain. I may have use for it… later…
- Your Highness, should we contact the SFN?
- No.

Just at this moment, an adjutant from the Winter Palace came forth to the Grand Duke.

- Your Highness, urgent news of outmost importance!
- Go on.
- Your father, His Highness Honor Gran…-
- I know who my father is, get to the point!
- Euh… Yes, Your Highness! Well, your father just took one of the leib-guard’s dropships and, accompanied by the squad of Leib-Lieutenant Nekshas Tanathir, set course towards Aphyr.
- And you did not stop them?
- But, Your Highness… we could not disobey the will of the Honor Grand Duke!
- I am your ruler and only I give you orders! Where are they now?
- They are crossing out of Cardinian space, Your Highness. Should we intercept them?
- No… no… leave them. Leave them… if the old fool wants to die, let him meet his fate. Let him meet his fate…

The Grand Duke sat back and closed his eyes. He needed to rest.

- I will be leaving for the Winter Palace for the night. Order the forces in Var-Vilena to evacuate progressively. Call me if anything of outmost emergency happens.
- Yes, Your Highness!

The Grand Duke stood up and directed himself out of the giant MOCC room. The High Command members gave each other once last glance and went on with their duties.

[OOC: Post not entirely finished yet, more coming up.]

Anastasya’s Palace,
City of Tin-Vilena,
Breakaway provinces of Kerathor,
Aphyr,
Sisgardia.

The dropship with the banner of the Dynasty landed on one of the helipads in the Palace. Nekshas was the first to jump on the ground before the steps were lowered. He looked the ‘welcoming committee’ over from under the black visor of his helmet. They were two guards from Anastasya’s private “Duty and Valiance” Battalion, with their T-visors shut by black glass. The Leib-Lieutenant quickly made a scan, revealing a full arsenal on the two guards (well, he himself was not entirely unarmed, and he was sure they have already conducted the scans of our good friend themselves) and then contacted the rest of the squad.

-I deem it relatively safe for the Honor Grand Duke to come out. V-formation around him. Be prepared to open fire upon any threat.

There was no confirmation of the order. The Honor Grand Duke of Tarasovka, Mikhail I Shakhovskoy simply exited the dropship, dressed into his parade uniform, wearing a deep blue cloak, followed by the squad. Nekshas took position on the former Shokath-Kshas’es right hand side, slightly in front, a member of the squad on the left hand side and the rest of the squad behind them, forming a V, with the former ruler in the middle of the letter. There were seven guards in total, all voluntary for the operation, which they felt was their last one. The group moved out, guided by the two locals. One was in front, the other one remained behind the formation, and so one of the back guards had to constantly keep an eye on him (or a small camera hidden in the back of their helmets that relayed the image of what was happening behind to half of the visor, of course this device was useless when the visor wasn’t shut).

They went through corridors, halls, up and down some stairs and did not meet a single living being. The Guards clenched tighter to the rifles in their hands as the noise from their paces echoed in the emptiness of the palace. Finally, they made it into a large hall. The ceiling was high and the hall featured a walkway in the upper half of it, with wide openings giving into the hall. A perfect place to place some gunners. Nekshas quickly scanned the potential ambush zones and found no traces of life. Well, it did not make things better – the gunners could just break in. In the center of the hall stood a long wooden table with the Archduchess Anastasya, self proclaimed Queen of Kerathor, sitting on the end of it. She was wearing a thick cloak black cloak that contrasted greatly with her pale face. Her eyes resembled glass and no emotion could be seen in them. Only the dead looked like this. But the dead usually remained where they were buried and only came to life in fairy tales to scare little children. The two “Duty and Valiance” soldiers joined up with the self proclaimed Queen, standing on her flanks. Anastasya motioned slightly with her head, inviting her father to take a seat. But before the former ruler of a once unified nation sat down on the opposite end of the table, one of his guards came forth and inspected the chair, the sides of the table, looked beneath the table, moved the chair, inspected the legs of the table and, finally satisfied, nodded. The Honor Grand Duke sighed, shook his head and sat down, his guards forming a defensive perimeter around him, covering all possible directions. He and his daughter stared at each other with looks expressing no emotions, silence befell on the room. Finally, she was the first to break the silence.

- Well, Father, it would appear that you do not trust me.
- And how could I trust you, daughter? You look like a shadow of your past self, and I never trust the shadows.

She only smirked.

- Why have you come here?
- To ask you to stop this madness.
- You could stop it long ago. But you did not. You chose him, you broke the ancestral laws…
- I acted as I deemed best and in the interest of my people and my Motherland!
- I am what is best for this country!
- You really are, – his words were full of sarcasm – , and I could notice that by myself. A realm of shadows and silence, is that what you want? Well, I don’t, and neither do my people!
- Your people? They are my people, every single one of them. They will soon all belong to me.
- Just listen to reason! Stop this madness… I know not how you managed to overrun the ECTOS and take control of it, but I appeal to what is left of human in you…

He did not have the time to finish, for she stood up abruptly.

- Human? Human? How dare you insult me with this filth! You know not what did it cost me to get purged from what is human in me! And all this I owe to you and to your ancestors, a bloodline of traitors that have fraternized with the slaves!
- Nastya! Filth or not I am still your father and…
- Silence!

She gazed at him. It would have seemed as if she was hesitating. Her eyes were filled with sorrow for a brief moment, but then, it was all gone. She was yet again a being expressing no emotion. She finally spoke in a dreadful, official manner.

- Mikhail Shakhovskoy, First of the Name, Honor Grand Duke of Tarasovka, Former Shokath-Kshas of the People, I, Anastasya Shakhovskaya, Shokath-Kshas by right of my People, Protector of the Ancestral Law, declare you guilty of high treason to the kin.

Her voice seemed to shake for a second…

- May your blood wash all your sins away and let your soul rest in peace in the realms of Sathala!

Just as she finished speaking, Mikhail’s guards shot dead the two of Anastasya’s ones and immediately opened fire at the group of “Duty and Valiance” soldiers that broke into the hall from the doors by which they first entered. The Alexander Guards immediately broke up. They took position against the walls, covering the upper walkways and the entry into the room, just as the Honor Grand Duke took his sword out and rushed at his daughter. It was clear that they were outnumbered, but they fought to the last. They did not shoot at the Archduchess. Indeed, when the first two enemy troopers were shot, Nekshas himself released several bullets straight into her head. They never reached her. He did not know why, but it was useless wasting ammunition on a target that could not be shot while there were plenty of standard targets to be dealt with. Ropes darted from the upper walkways and men in the armor of the 4th NGF Brigade descended. Some were shot ‘in flight’, others came down safely. One of the Alexander Guards rushed at two of the enemy troops. In a spin of his cloak, the head of one of them rolled on the ground and the second one was impaled on the bayonet of the rifle. Geich-djung, as they called it, an ancient martial art that was kept secret by the Guard. The battle went into a melee. The Guards dropped their assault rifles down and seized the handguns, concealed under the cloaks. They were definitely cut off from the Grand Duke now and had no other choice but to form a circle, back to back. That was possibly what the enemies wanted to do – cut them off from the one they had to defend and what they very well managed to do, at the expense of useless loss of life, of course.

She was still standing by the table. She took her cloak off and tossed it at the Honor Grand Duke, who cut it in flight. Her ‘outfit’ came to life, branches began crawling all over. She dodged the first blow, parried the second one and immediately several branches darted forward from her armor and enticed around Mikhail’s neck. In a second, the former ruler of the Grand Duchy was beheaded.

***
The entire battle took only several minutes. Finally, the last shot resonated through the room as one of Anastasya’s Guards made a control shot into the head of who not so long ago was a Leib-Lieutenant in the 1st “Silence and Death” Battalion of the Alexander Guard Honorary Regiment, full of potential, dreams and who was also dubbed as the future husband of Arcduchess Vethara Shakhovskaya. But now Nekshas was nothing else than a corpse, with bullet impacts all over his armor, now of dark purple colour, his forever frozen gaze fixing the ceiling, blood running down his forehead.

- How unfortunate, you just left the Dynasty without new blood.

Da’teril looked down on the officer, then on the corpses of other guards and soldiers.

- And you just had to cause a bloodbath. Ah, Your Highness, I must admit that such a barbaric sight does have some pleasant side to it, although I still do not entirely agree with such… ‘procedures’…
- Let’s just say that this blood is in honour of Sathala…

She tossed the head of her father to Da’teril. Actually, she rolled it down what remained of the table.

- Was that the ‘choice’ you have told me about earlier?
- Yes, Your Highness. And it warms my heart of ice that you have taken the right one.
- Yes, the right one…

[OOC: No, the post is still not over. ]

Vigvar Winter Palace,
Capital City of Vigvar,
Grand Duchy of Tarasovka,
Sisgardia.

Slightly before the events at Tin-Vilena.

The personal fighter craft of the Grand Duke (he had a bad habit of piloting one himself) landed in the concealed hangar of the Winter Palace. The entry to the hangar was situated in the wall of the cliff on which the palace stood (the engineers that put it there had to solve a brain crushing puzzle of placing a fully equipped military hangar for the need of the Guard under the centuries old palace without ‘breaking’ something, or into something for that matter), defended by heavy doors that could well resist a full scale artillery onslaught well, they were there for that after all, right?). In fact, the hangar had many other ‘concealed’ exits, the main one being used for ‘official needs’. Nobody knew out of which corner of the Palace or of the Great Gardens a fighter craft or a dropship could pop out should an emergency arise. The Grand Duke directed his craft into one of the side pads, landed it (not in the most professional of ways, but he was so tired he didn’t care if he scratched something or smashed a maintenance bot for that matter). A guard from the 3rd “Glory and Courage” came up to the craft and waited for the Grand Duke to come down. Mikhail made a dismissive gesture with his arm, the mastodon in power armor only nodded (due to the fact that to his right arm was attached a portable rail gun, saluting properly would have been ‘delicate’) and went back to his duties, which consisted in staring at the hangar doors and be ready to repel any possible agressors. It was never quite sure what the 3rd Bat troopers were doing in a closed space anyway, since they were comparable to the military SODAT’s – do as much damage as possible during the first wave and let lighter troops handle the survivors(which meant they were assault troops, should the Grand Duke decide to go in for some ‘extreme sports’). So if these guys began shooting at will in a hangar, the hangar would surely not fall into enemy hands since it would be obliterated. But by tradition, the entire area of the palace was defended by all three battalions, and so the 1st and 2nd Bat soldiers carried on with their duties, hoping that with all the automated defenses mounted into the cliffs, the enemies would not make it into the hangar to trigger the 3rd Bats into opening fire. Well, of course, all this was slightly exaggerated – the 3rd Bats were not as ‘heavy’ as the SODAT’s and were quite ‘maneuverable’ in a closed space. But, traditionally, every battalion deemed itself as best (friendly competition) and always made up rumours about the other one, such as when a Lieutenant from the 1st Battalion spread a rumour that the steed of a 2nd Battalion soldier broke out of the stables and bashed into Archduchess Vethara. Needless to say that the joker-lieutenant was not only stripped of his rank, but also of his title and was kicked out from the Alexander Guard into a Mechanized Infantry division (which is comparable to a VerTech manager getting demoted to salesman in a candy store).

Mikhail took an elevator to the upper levels of the Palace and immediately took the direction of his apartments. It was a rather long walk through the palace, and so he took the Balcony walkway. The “Silence and Death” guards were there, on duty, a guard every seventh column. They were silent, as always, and Mikhail walked past them, lost in his thoughts. He looked out on the gardens outside and spotted Vetha sitting by a fountain, looking at the water. Mikhail made his way down to ground level and exited the Palace into the Gardens, going for the fountain. It was a rather old monument in honour of Grand Duke Kaithashir who ruled over the Grand Duchy a good thousand years ago. The Grand Duke was known for his passion for literature and it was thus only logical that his persona was ‘depicted’ holding numerous rolled scrolls. Beneath him were little rabbits that spit water into the fountain. Mikhail never understood why was the Grand Duke depicted in the company of the long eared little furry animals, but he really did not care. The Palace had so many mysteries and was rebuilt over and over again so many times that solving every of its riddle would take their lifetime to the entire Vigvar Governmental University. Or the Taraskovyan Academy of Science, History Branch. Whatever.

Vethara was clearly sobbing, her right hand plunged into the cold water of the pool, causing little waves on the surface. Mikhail came up and stood, looking at her from above. She did not look up, simply stared at his reflection in the water for a second.

- Misha, they… they…
- I know…

She looked up at him, her eyes wet, tear traces running down her cheeks. He sat down and pulled her close to him, his hand rubbing her back.

- Be strong, Cossack, and you’ll become an Ataman.

She faked a smile.

- I tried to stop them. But… Father would not listen. And Nekshas… why did he have to go?
- I know not, but I will find out. I will find out why a squad of the Guard left the Palace without my approval. And once I find out…
- No… don’t do anything harsh. The guards were doing their duty. Nekshas… he… he was doing his duty.
- Yes, I know…
- Do you think they will return?

Mikhail looked down at his half-sister, she looked back. He could order the extermination of millions of living beings and not feel a single remorse, but at this very moment courage failed him. He was tempted to reassure her, that everything would be fine. But he knew it wouldn’t. Not after he saw the TDI reports. He shook his head.

- I am afraid not.

She did not respond. She simply stood up and walked away, vanishing in deep greenery of the Garden woods. Mikhail looked into that direction for a second and then stood up and made way to his apartments…

***

Field Command of the TNDF,
City of Var-Vilena,
Grand Ducal Aphyr,
Sisgardia.

- We are to what?
- Such are your orders, Marshal. You are to begin the progressive evacuation of all Grand Ducal forces from Var-Vilena to Cardinia.
- But… what about those on the front lines?
- They have been compromised and there is a threat of spreading the contamination to Cardinia. They are to be abandoned.
- But… I cannot abandon my men! I will burn in hell for that!
- General-Lieutenant, you will worry about redemption at a later date. Obey your orders before I demote you further!
- I am sorry, Sire, but I refuse to abandon my men on the battlefield!

Leib-Marshal Nevsky peered coldly at General-Lieutenant Ustinov from the screen of the communications device..

- You refuse to obey a direct order from the Grand Duke, General-Colonel*?
- Ripping the stars off my shoulders is not going to correct the situation you have put us into! I will order the retreat. But the deaths of those spilling their blood on the frontline are on your conscience!
- I will roam forever in the Underworld of Sathala.

The device turned off immediately. Ustinov muttered something under his breath and gave the appropriate orders...

[OOC: Still have some things to add, but out of breath to type for now. So I will simply make an other post sometime later.

*Yes, a General-Lieutenant in the TNDF is higher than a General-Colonel, while a Colonel is higher than a Lieutenant.

I will not post the full ranks now, but here are the highest ranks:

Leib-Marshal(commander of the TNDF, equal to 'Minister of Defense' in other countries)
Marshal
General-Lieutenant
General-Major
General-Colonel
General

Thank you for your attention. The naval and space fleets, of course, have their own ranks.]

ooc: With permission from Tarasovka, naturally

ic:

Vigvar, GDT

Though there was war... The people didn't seem to notice it. Children still went to school, adults still went to work, there was flirting and amusement...

Granted, it wasn't as innocent as it had once been, it looked almost as if the people tried deliberately to forget...

Georg chuckled a little, looking at the clock.

Which was a mistake. "Queen B2."

"Wha?" He looked at Asaraki, shocked. "Goddamn it." He wuld need to be cunning... The situation wasn't good for him.

"Well..." Asaraki looked at a group of people, entering the office of the building less than a hundred meters down the street. A government agency. It's almost time... Three... Two... One... He continued the coundown, telepathically, it was safer, this way.

Georg didn't listen. He had just found a way...

The next thing was a flesh of light. And with the thunderous explosion, the screams, the cries, the people running, fleeing, he moved. "Check and mate."

He sipped from his drink. "You know... We should probably look nervous. And shocked, perhaps."

---

This wasn't the only case. Four explosions it Vigvar, all of them hitting Government property... Not the excessively secured ones, but acceptable targets. Important, without being excessively secured.

The main point was, in any case, chaos, not actual destruction.

The aim was to make them feel vulnerable.

To spread fear.

And with that, they had certainly succeeded.

ooc: Yes, short, and there are basically one or two more things I should add, but meh.

Offices of the EcoFinDep Investigators,
Capital city of Vigvar,
Grand Duchy of Tarasovka,
Sisgardia.

Be it war or peace, there was always work for the Investigators of the Economical and Financial Department (also known as the Department of Economical Security and Development). Be it tax evasion, major monetary fraud or sorting out shadowy contracts, the Investigators were on the frontlines of the monetary warfare and always did their duty efficiently. The building which served as central office for the EcoFin Investigators was situated in the ‘memorial’ part of Vigvar, also known as the ‘Old Center’. This part was situated on a high plateau overlooking the Silver Horn Bay. The ‘outer ring’ of Vigvar, which consisted of kilometer tall skyscrapers, circled the Old Center, separated from it by the slopes of the plateau and located down (more or less) on sea level. Several bridges led out of the Old Center into the Outer Ring (and rather immediately split into several layers of roads) and then over to the rest of the Duchy. The Old Center did not have buildings taller than 9 floors (GDT system, ground level counting as Floor 0, since the ground floors rarely had anything on them but entry halls and some utility locales).

The Offices were located in a three floors high building (GDT system, of course), rather small and modest. The maybe only thing indicating that it was a Governmental Agency was the sign on the façade wall “Grand Ducal Administration, Economical And Financial Investigation”, a rather bored police officer on the outside and the coat of arms of the EcoFin Investigators over the door. The coat of arms was a circle, with silver scales in the middle (the support of the scales was actually a sword, with the plates attached to the sides of the hilt). One the left plate was a pile of coins, on the right side was the Taraskovyan symbol of justice – a sun (with rays going into every direction) with an eye in the middle. And the Sun was clearly weighing more than the pile of coins. A police hovercar (which was actually a modified scout military hoverdyne) stopped near the entrance to the building. Two men came out.

- Change of shift!
- God be blessed, finally!
- Anything special today?
- Same thing as yesterday and the day before – nothing.
- Well, we must remain vigi-

The officer did not have the time to finish his phrase as flames burst out of the building, with shattered glass and metal shards flying into every direction. The three men dropped on the floor, their armor protecting them. In mere moments, the entire area was sealed off as rescue, medical and police personnel arrived. That day, simultaneously, bomb blasts happened at four locations in the Old Center of Vigvar, all hitting property considered as Governmental.

***

Head Quarters of the Taraskovyan National Security Department,
Capital City of Vigvar,
Grand Duchy of Tarasovka,
Sisgardia.

- I want a total blockade of all exits from the Old Center into the Outer Ring! Maximum filtration, contact the TISD and tell them to take appropriate measures.
- Yes, Sire!
- Surveillance data, everything is to be reprocessed. I have contacted the Grand Duke and he allowed me to invoke Directive 6.
- Supreme authority? This hasn’t happened in awhile. Usually the TDI was getting it.
- This time we have bombs going off in the very heart of Vigvar and of the Grand Duchy! All air traffic outside of Sisgardia is to be redirected to Bogatyr International Airport. The passengers will be transported by our companies to their destination in GDT from there.
- Yes, Sire.
- Uhm… count all air traffic coming from Sisgardia into that, too. I want maximum filtration.
- Of course, Sire! Anything else?
- Reinforce security at all government objects. Reinforce security overall. Coordinate with the TISD. And reinforce security of foreign diplomatic compounds. Embassies, consulates. Last thing we need right now is outsiders poking their nose around. How many dead so far?
- Hospitals indicate 83 casualties so far, but the count will surely rise.
- Zynthris watch over them…

***

Taraskovyan News Wire Emergency Broadcast.

“The Capital City has been shaken today by several terror attacks with initial reports indicating that 83 people have lost their lives so far. We will be joining shortly our correspondents on the ground, but at this time we will bring you the official appeal of the High Council to the population. We remind our viewers that the High Council is now in emergency session.”

The image changed to show the High Council Press Secretary giving a conference in the High Council Building.

“The High Council and the Grand Duke appeal to the people and ask them to remain calm and alert. The High Councilors for National Security and for Interior Security have begun a reinforcement of security measures. The recent attacks are believe to be directly linked to the Aphyr uprising and only prove the criminal character of the self-proclaimed Queendom of Kerathor. The Grand Ducal authorities will find those responsible for the dead and will punish them according to the Grand Ducal law and traditions. The National Defense Forces have retreated to Cardinia from Aphyr and will shortly begin a full scale counter offensive on Aphyr in order to reclaim the territories and end with the criminal regime of Anastastsya Shakhovskaya.”

The man hesitated for a second and then spoke again…

“Alas, these are not all the news I have to tell you. Indeed, the Honor Grand Duke of Tarasovka, Mikhail Shakhovskoy, First of the Name, has attempted to solve the conflict peacefully by personally going to Tin-Vilena with minimal escort. Our beloved former ruler was beheaded by his own daughter and his escort treacherously slain. The heads of Mikhail I and his escort have been delivered to a naval cruiser in the vicinity of Aphyr. The rebel personnel have been detained. For that, the High Council has sentenced one Anastasya Shakhovskaya to death by impalement and has stripped her off her title and her family ties with the Shakhovskoy Dynasty. More than that, one Anastasya Shakhovskaya has been declared ‘shakhtal’(pariah) by the High Council.

Thank you for your attention.

May the God you pray watch over you.”

The image changes back to the studio, with the presenter clearly shocked and in disarray. She looks from right to left as if seeking advice and then the image changes to one of the correspondents on the ground. Behind him are seen police and medical vehicles, firefighters, still smoking ruins of the buildings, victims carried out…

Vigvar Winter Palace,
Capital City of Vigvar,
Grand Duchy of Tarasovka,
Sisgardia.

Mikhail was standing still in one of the rooms of the palace, looking at a table with eight round objects on it. It was a rather small room, lost somewhere in the gigantic palace, with a small window for only source of light. Mikhail was standing still, covered with shadow, staring with no emotion at the heads of the eight people that left Vigvar only several days ago. He knew them all personally. He knew every guard in the regiment.

-Nekshas, Keithad, Kiril, Nikolay, Aorin, Peter, Liran…

He paused for a second as he looked at the eight head. A tear escaped his right eye and left a wet mark on his cheek. And then, nothing. The Grand Duke was long ago emptied of all feelings, only giving orders that would cost their lives to thousands, millions, feeling no remorse. Only hate. “Zynthris, what have I become?” He looked at the last head.

- Father…
- Your Highness!

Mikhail turned around to see the commander of the Alexander Guard standing in the door. The man was in his armor, which differed greatly from those used by each of the three battalions(since the Commander was above all three battalions and not part of one) and only it’s deep blue color and the insignia of the Alexander Guard on the shoulder indicated that he was from the Guard regiment. The entire Regiment was equaled to officer rank, so a simple ‘soldier’ was equal to a ‘poruchik’ of the regular forces. Which made Leib-Colonel Shirkhit Theral much higher in the ‘regular’ ranks.

- Yes, Colonel?
- Your Highness, the situation is degrading. I have nothing for certain as of yet, but rumours are already running that the men want to go to the front lines to avenge the Honor Grand Duke and that the only thing which prevents them is the absence of your orders. I have ordered the officers to double vigilance. The last thing we need as of now is a revolt in the Leib-Guard.
- I will talk to them.
- And, Your Highness, are we going to…
- Burry them? How can we… we need the bodies…
- Yes, Your Highness, of course. The Prelate of the Order of Seven has requested audience with you.
- Where is he?
- His craft landed a minute ago; the Prelate was escorted to the George Hall.
- Good, I will be there in a minute. Colonel?
- Yes, Your Highness?
- I would ask you to call in the palace medics and tell them to conserve these… remains… we will give them a fine burial once we get the bodies back.
- Of course, Your Highness.

Mikhail exited the room and took the direction of the George Hall. That hall was named so in the honour of Grand Duke Georgy II who first turned the confederacy of fiefdoms that was the Grand Duchy into a more or less centralized state by stating that the Fiefdom of Vigvar was above all other fiefdoms and was to be obeyed, respected and… feared. Considering Georgy II ruled some 700 years ago, ‘fear’ was still a rather effective mean of insuring that something or someone did not cause trouble. The hall was, as were all halls of the palace, richly and finely decorated with paintings, tapestries, gravures and whatever came up to the mind of those who were decorating it. The guards saluted the Grand Duke as he passed by the doors, entering the hall. The Prelate of the Order, who was always the High Templar of Zynthris, was sitting by a table in one side of the hall. He was wearing a long robe of dark green color, with the hood covering entirely the head of the man and hiding his face in the shadows. The George Hall was, among other things, used for ‘public’ events, and as such it had a rather large number of sitting places. Needless to say that it’s size was also rather impressive. Mikhail came up to the Prelate and sat by him. Nobody bowed to no one, after all, both the Prelate and the Grand Duke were equal in ranks, considering that the Sacred Citadel was actually a sovereign state inside of the Grand Duchy. And it was not time to the formal etiquette anyway. Just the standard greetings were observed.

- May Zynthris watch over you, young Shokath-Kshas.
- May the Order prosper under your guidance, Your Most Holiness. May I inquire into the reasons that bring you to Vigvar?
- Yes, young Shokath-Kshas, but first, I will tell you something.

The Prelate sat back, his blue eyes looked at the Grand Duke from the shadows of his hood.

- Tell me of the Coming, young Shokath-Kshas.
- Tens of thousands years ago, Seven Deities, four Gods and three Goddesses, came down to this world inhabited by barbaric tribes. They chose one of the tribes, the Taraskath, the skilled warriors of the night, and bestowed their knowledge upon them. And the Taraskath conquered and subdued the other tribes and integrated them, forming one nation under the Shokath-Kshas Uidath Karetsah of the Emerald Spire, the first Supreme Lord and Ruler of all people. From that time on, the Taraskath have lived and prospered. Only a major civil war, that erupted a thousand years go because of the ‘human’ question was the main change in the evolution, but the wounds were quickly healed.
- Yes, that is how the history says it. And now let me tell you how the ancient manuscripts describe it.

The Prelate looked at the Grand Duke again and smiled from under his hood.

Everything began 45.000 years ago, when a major war divided the four peoples inhabiting the territory of the Grand Duchy. Taraskath, Setari, Amalori and Kath waged war upon each other for centuries, forging temporary alliances against a common enemy and then turning against their former allies. And the fact that each people was furthermore divided into city states did not help the matter for the latter warred with each other every time the opportunity presented itself. Among this chaos and… mess… from the Realm of the Stars came down the Seven Deities. Seven superior beings that chose one warrior, Uidath Karetsah of the Emerald Spire, a small, but rich and powerful city state. Aided by the Gods, entrusted with their wisdom, knowledge and (most importantly) power, Uidath subdued the other Taraskath city states. Sometimes by diplomacy, sometimes bu cunning military actions, soon Uidath’s army marched on the Black Citadel of the Taraskath, the main city state of that ‘nation’ and conquered it. Uidath became the Shokath-Kshas, the supreme Lord and Ruler of the Warriors of Darkness and led his warriors against the other peoples. In matter of centuries, the Setari, Amalori and Keth were subdued, slaughtered and erased from the face of the world. The brutality with which their champion got rid of his foes impressed even the Gods, who entrusted him with a sword of their forging, a sword that would become symbol of power and leadership in the Grand Duchy ever since. Uidath established the Namel Zethani with capital at the Black Citadel, a centralized state that knew a time of peace and prosperity for thousands of years. The Gods watched over their ‘disciples’, aiding them in a bit every single aspect of their life. And in return, the disciples worshipped the Gods, providing them with sufficient energy for their deeds. Apart from minor ascension skirmishes from time to time, the Namel Zethani(the Grand Duchy) evolved and prospered. Until the time when the warriors sailed to lands far beyond and returned with ‘men’. These beings, inferior in everything to the Taraskath, were used as slaves. Unfortunately, the slaves had a tendency to die out quickly, having left behind a rather important number of children. In matter of centuries, the Grand Duchy was overwhelmed with slaves; rebellions erupted and were drowned in blood. And even more and more slaves were ferried in. Quite soon, a group of Taraskath began spreading abolitionist ideals and calling for an integration of the slaves into the society, which was soon divided into two camps – the Abolitionists and the Defenders of Tradition. Tensions accumulated and finally burst out when Grand Duke Ketharin Karetsah died, leaving a single daughter behind. Left without a male heir, the Defenders of Tradition crowned the daughter of Ketharin to be Grand Duchess and wrote the ‘Law of the Eldest Heir’, which stated that only the eldest of all heirs, be it a son or a daughter, may inherit the Sword. However, what they did not foresee was that Grand Duchess Amala Karetsah married an ‘integrated man’, one Mstislav Shakhovskoy and took his name for hers. The Defenders tried to oblige the Grand Duchess to reject her husband, but failed and the Grand Duchess eventually gave birth to a male heir. Baffled and insulted, the Defenders attempted to take over the Black Citadel (which was still the capital of the Grand Duchy at that time) and execute the Grand Duke and the Heir, but failed. In return, the Abolitionists (which by that time represented a major portion of the population) began to attack the Defenders every time the opportunity presented itself. It did not take long before a major civil war erupted. The Army, which was itself torn apart by the soldiers joining one of the two sides, could not prevent the escalating of the situation and was finally dissolved. The war lasted for 4 years and the Defenders lost. They were dubbed Shakhtal, pariahs and banned from the face of the world. The Shakhtal were given a fleet of vessels and shown the direction of the Moonrise. They were never heard from again. The Black Citadel was destroyed during the battle and was abandonned in favour of Vigvar, which became the new Capital City. The ruins simply vanished some time later, leaving no traces what so ever of any past events.

The Grand Duke only nodded. Everything so far was as he learned in history books. The Prelate smiled.

- You are impatient, young Shokath-Kshas. But worry not, patience can be learned.

He yet again sat back and continued the story.

Indeed, what the history books did not tell was that the Gods themselves became divided. Their ‘representation’ in the realm of the mortals – the Order of Seven - itself plunged into chaos as Sathala led her most faithful disciples to aid the Defenders. Yes, Sathala, the Goddess of War and Death, sided with the Defenders. The other six Gods sided with the Abolitionists. When the final battle was waged at the Black Citadel, Sathala faced the other six Gods in battle and killed them. However, before falling, the six Gods managed to inflict mortal wounds to Sathala who could not survive. As such, she separated her spirit from her body and fell into slumber, trying to regenerate. From that day forth, the Order as such did not exist, for the spirits of the Gods, while still being present, lost their mortal shape and could not any longer accomplish deeds in the realm of the mortals. But the surviving High Templar understood that the vanishing of the cult of the Seven would only trigger further division and violence among the people and decided to keep on as a single, unified Order. Indeed, the semblance of unity of the Order gave to the people the will to strive forward and the Grand Duchy prospered again. However, left without their Gods and their aid, the Taraskath were soon integrated with the humans. The religion of the humans (mainly the Orthodox faith) became predominant and the Order slowly faded away to only accomplish some minor traditional rituals, such as the handing of the Sword to a new Grand Duke or Duchess. But during the Handing of the Sword, something happened. The High Templar of Sathala became furious and acted as a true Defender of Traditions. More than that, the former Archduchess Anastasya herself has shown a clear ‘Defender’ behavior. The Order was yet again divided and the disciples of Sathala yet again supported the Defenders, all this could only mean that…

- Sathala has returned?
- We fear so, young Shokath-Kshas.
- And you think that she chose my… former sister as her mortal shape?
- No, we do not think so. We fear that something worse is at hand. We fear that the Shakhtal are returning and that they are already in Aphyr. Remember those assailants, young Shokath-Kshas.
- Yes, but… how do you know?

The High Templar only smiled.

- I am the Prelate of the Order after all, young Shokath-Kshas.
- Well, the Order is not to meddle into the affairs of the Grand Duchy so I will take measures once everything is over. After all, what do we have to do? Kill a Goddess again? Simple.
- Not quite so, young Shokath-Kshas. I am afraid that we must not allow Sathala’s spirit to flee this time.
- I do not seem to understand…
- The spirits of the other Gods have awakened. But this time, they chose to be united against Sathala rather than suffer defeat one by one as during the last battle. And they have already chosen their mortal shape, young Shokath-Kshas.

The Prelate stood up abruptly and put his arm on the Grand Duke’s shoulder. Mikhail did not have the time to react. Actually, he did not even want to react. He simply felt as something came though him, as if washing all the dirt and filth he had inside, purifying him from the inside. The feeling was indescribable. He closed his eyes and fell into slumber. The doors of the room immediately burst open and Guards rushed in. One pointed the barrel of his rifle at the High Templar, yelling out a standard polite invitation to stand still and not make a single gesture (“Don’t move!”) while the second one rushed to inspect the Grand Duke. He stood up and nodded to his colleague.

- His Highness is all right. He is simply sleeping.
- We can’t even leave the Grand Duke alone with His Most Holiness now! Where is the world going!?

The two guards looked at the calm High Templar from behind their black visors. One took position behind the man while the second one called in the palace servants and a doctor to further inspect the Grand Duke.

- You are under custody, Your Most Holiness, until the Grand Duke either wakes up, either…

The Prelate did not react in any way. He did not even utter a word or move a muscle; he simply let himself be led to the room where he’d be detained pending further developments.

[OOC:

For all you guys wondering:

Yes, the Grand Duke just received uber powers,
and
No, the Grand Duke will not be around after the civil war, since he will be 'sacrificed'(sort of) in order to keep the Order alive.

So this post is the beginning of the end of the Shakhovskoy Dynasty(sort of).
Everything will become clear in the upcoming posts. ]

Bogatyr International Airport

Georg and Asaraki didn't know where the others were. Neither did they care about it. Their only interest was to, well, 'get out'.

And with the (now) finally significant security measures... It was certainly safer.

Information about them? Unlikely that they knew. Of course, it wasn't impossible that they had overseen a camera, or some other thing... But it was unlikely. After all, they were professionals, and the targets had been rather simple.

Waiting for their flight, they would have to go through security, though. Not all at the same time... They were the first group. If they failed, the others would likely stay until the war was won.

Nevermind it being annoying, being catched, should it happen... But then, they were augmented for a reason or two.

Somewhere over DA

Griffith was sort of, well, busy with his preparations, operations to intervene in Tarasovka... He didn't even notice it, not util it was to late...

With a psychic scream that shattered the area around the plane, he was gone.

Sakurai didn't get much of it. Only a faint echo reached her, and this she noticed only because she was waiting for it. She sipped a glass of wine, smiling.

Everyone gets what he deserves.

Eco-Tech Research Laboratories,
City of Srednegrad
Grand Ducal Cardinia,
Sisgardia.

The lecture hall of the laboratory (in which the heads of the projects usually used to brief their dear Frankensteins on how to rape nature and find new ways to do it more and more efficiently) was bustling with activity. Men in white gowns mixed with men in black (TDI) and dark brown (TNDF) uniforms as everyone was staring at some data or map or whatever there was to stare at and discuss. A group of scientists was talking with some tactical TNDF and TDI officers. It is, of course, needless to add that the room was perfectly protected from any spying systems and with all the security outside, no one (or nothing) unauthorized could know what was happening there.

- Yes, we are absolutely positively positive that this is a IVth Evolution. The ECTOS evolves following different stages, each stage getting major new capacities. Well, of course, that is our system of counting it, as you understand, so someone may say that the Aphyr ECTOS is in 567th Evolution and they wouldn’t be wrong. Now, from the Spore Colony to the IVth Evolution the ECTOS passes by a series of ‘improvements’ that make him more and more like a sentient living being, as crazy as it sounds. The only way to obtain a IVth Evolution so far was in laboratory conditions and the prototype died out since it lacked energy to upkeep itself and it committed a clear act of self-consuming, or cannibalism if you may call it so. Indeed, the IVth ECTOS combines botanic tissues with biologic ones to improve his capabilities. However, the fact that the ECTOS is not a living being, it cannot have such ‘organs’ as ‘lungs’ or ‘heart’. These organs are very complex and require a full set of other factors to work properly. And since the major part of the energy produced by the cells of a being is due to breathing…

One of the TNDF officers suddenly looked surprised.

- I thought that it was by eating or drinking something that we gained energy!

The scientists looked at each other and blinked. They clearly did not expect such a… question.

- Captain, how skilled are you in basic biology?
- Not much and it’s not my job. My job is to plan the best way to get rid of that thing with minimal casualties on our side. You are the lab rats; you are to know such things!
- Euh… yes, yes, of course. Well… I don’t know how to explain it so that it be understandable to your blunt head that clearly received a direct hit with an artillery shell into it... When was the last time you ate something?
- Three hours ago, why?
- And you are still able to utter something. Now, try to not breathe…
- Oh… yes, point taken. Uhm… hey! That’s why we breathe faster during sex then, right?

The entire room burst into laughter.

- Well, anyway, back to our infestation. The druids (let they dwell in paradise) managed to transfer to us sufficient data that the ECTOS on the ground used the local power generation systems in order to compensate for the energy loss. I must admit that we never thought of simply plugging the IVth Evo. prototype into the power system. However, what remains a mystery is where the ECTOS got the sufficient data to begin the evolvement. Indeed, either he deducted it by himself, which is highly improbable, either somebody communicated him the needed parameters. This is mostly probable, but that would require a high knowledge of the ECTOS technology, meaning that someone from the Eco-Tech Labs could have aided the rebels. But the TNSD has investigated on all our active and retired researchers and concluded that this was not the case. As such, we are at a loss.
- So you mean that somebody can simply enter the needed parameters to force an ECTOS to evolve? Like into a… computer?
- No, not that way. You see, each ECTOS spore colony, out of which one can ‘grow’ an ECTOS, contains the data transmitted to it during the creation of the colony. In laboratory environment it is your humble servants who ‘program’ the ECTOS spores and transfer all the known data that the ECTOS will need. In natural environment it is the parent Entity that ‘programs’ its future child Entities. Without any data, the ECTOS will simply not know what to do in the very first stages of his evolution and will simply die out before even reaching bacteria level.
- But we thought that thing was intelligent and knew what to do by itself!
- Yes, but without initial data, it can do nothing. You do take off the security on your gun before shooting, right? Well, let’s compare the initial programming to that.
- Euh… right…
- Now, if I wasn’t interrupted every minute, I would even manage to finish my briefing! Anyway. Once an ECTOS is deployed, it either infests the botanical life already present on the ground, either, if nothing is present, it begins evolving its own botanical life basing itself on the data it has. Without any data, as I have said, an ECTOS could not ‘grow’ anything, because it needs to know what to grow or to ‘decide’ of the best modification of something already present in his data base. If his data base is empty, he cannot grow or modify anything. Now, once the ECTOS infests the local botanical life, it immediately adds its parameters to the database and thus can modify and reproduce the local species. Which enables him to remain ‘stealthy’.
- Well, the Aphyr ECTOS is anything but stealthy!
- Of course! He entered, if you wish, a ‘combat mode’ or something. Uhm… what is more powerful, a scout hoverdyne or a heavy assault hoverdyne?
- The latter of course!
- Which one is easier to hide?
- Ah, point taken.
- The ECTOS entity in Aphyr is comparable to a heavy combat ‘thing’. It does not need to hide any longer because it launches a full scale onslaught. But what we cannot understand was where he took the botanical/biological unity parameters.
- Primary bacteria?
- No, they are too ‘negligible’. Something must have been ‘infested’ by the ECTOS.
- You mean ‘influenced’?
- No! I mean infested. Influencing is when an Entity takes control of a biological life form. It is comparable to a marionetist and his puppets – they are not a single whole, but the puppets obey every wish of their master. I literally mean – infest. This means that something becomes integral part of the ECTOS. However, infestation of a biological life form is rather impossible.
- But you managed to do it in laboratory environment, if I am not mistaken.
- Yes, we did. We integrated biological tissues, not separate cells, into an ECTOS and forced him to ‘unite’ with them. The product died out in matter of hours.
- So somebody forced the ECTOS to ‘infest’ a biological entity?
- Yes, that is a possibility. However, such a procedure requires extensive equipment, energy and many other different parameters. And Aphyr does not possess all of them. And none of the people connected with the ECTOS project were nor are in Aphyr.
- Hmmm, whoever or whatever did that is a priority target on our list now.
- Yes, oh, and a rather important thing to add.
- Which one?
- Well. A standard ECTOS presents a decentralized ‘entity’ which only evolves to adopts itself to the environment. The Aphyr ECTOS seems to be getting centralized. Indeed, orders within a standard ECTOS are generated spontaneously and locally, while the Aphyr ECTOS seems to be generating them from a single point. The druids have detected tiny energy charges running up and down the Aphyr Entity, comparable to how the brain impulses run down the spinal column in a human being.
- You mean the thing has a brain now?
- We fear so, yes.
- A possible location?
- Hard to say, but the North of Aphyr seems to be the generating point.
- Are you certain?
- As I have said – we aren’t sure of anything! We can only guess.
- Hmmm… wait a minute… the thing is getting a brain… getting centralized… you mean it is beginning to resemble a single organism now?
- We fear so, yes. Indeed, the main advantage of a decentralized ECTOS is that you have to destroy every single part of it to actually stop an infestation. The major drawback is that without a centralized system, the treatment of data and information is done locally and then transferred to the other parts. In a centralized being, like me and you, the main advantage is the rapid coordination of movements and treatment of information. The drawback is that if I cut your head off, you die.
- Cut the head off… so if we destroy the ‘brain’, wherever it is, we actually stop the infestation?
- That is a possibility, yes, but we are not certain.
- Well, let’s hope the thing does not start growing ‘other’ organs. Which would make him a real ‘him’.

The TNDF officer gave a wry grin to his colleagues who burst into laughter.

- This is a possibility, too.
- Damn, that’s sick.
- Yes, it is…
- An other question. The expeditions reported a total lack of inhabitants in the cities. Not a single being. Any ideas?
- It's rather simple, in fact. We fear that the biological life forms were 'reprocessed' to suit the Entity's needs. The biologic proteins being used to 'build' such things as the 'arteries' or whatever else he has there. If you wish, the people were dissolved, turned into building material and then used again.
- Euh... that's sick, crazy and we should probably shoot all of you once everything ends so that you never reproduce such a horror again! Anyway, gentlemen, get to work. As of you, my dear lab rats, the National Defense Forces are eternally grateful for your help.
- We are simply serving the Motherland.

***

Bogatyr International Airport,
City of Bogatyr,
Grand Duchy of Tarasovka,
Sisgardia.

The City of Bogatyr was situated to the north of Vigvar and often served as scapegoat for the capital’s urgent needs. As such, becoming the center of international air traffic heading in and out of the Grand Duchy was perfectly well worked out before and was working perfectly well now. The security was tight, all incoming passengers were checked, re-checked and checked over again, while the outgoing passengers were scanned through the TISD, TDI and TNSD databases for a possible belonging to one of their numerous ‘bad no good people’ lists. It was of course obvious that a pair of Der Angstian citizens that had no weaponry on them at the time of the checks had nothing to fear. So they passed the controls rather easily (their parameters being added to the databases ‘just in case’, as were those of all other foreigners leaving the Grand Duchy those days) and boarded their plane. Georg and Asaraki made it safely through the Security Net, since the security services did not yet have the time to analyze all surveillance feeds and remark the presence of Der Angstian citizens near each target and begin to wonder whether it was a coincidence or… Well, needless to say that Der Angstian nationals weren’t the only ones to soon fall under suspicion and the Security Net became even harder to get through.

[OOC: I have skipped the detailed warfare RP, since I see no reason to detail a schyzophrenic war between me and myself. Besides, I am running out of time and had to skip many things anyway.]

Vigvar Winter Palace,
Capital City of Vigvar,
Grand Duchy of Tarasovka,
Sisgardia.

Mikhail woke up in his chambers and the first thing he saw was the relieved face of the Head Leib-Healer of the Palace. The old doctor, who became the head of the medical personnel of the palace under Mikhail I sighed with relief and immediately proceeded with some basic movement coordination tests. Finally making sure that the Grand Duke was not paralyzed, hurt or whatever, the old man smiled. And immediately the door into the rather spacious chamber broke open as the Leib-Marshal of the TNDF burst in, accompanied by several other high ranked officers. The Head Leib-Healer immediately darted away from the bed, furiously yelling at the Taraskovyan equivalent of Minister of Defense.

- How dare you enter here! I ordered the Guards to let no one into the Grand Duke’s apartments!
- Yes, and the Guards tried to prevent me from entering. Unfortunately for you, my dear Sir, I happen to be a High Councilor, which gives me a certain weight in the Grand Duchy.

Mikhail did not react in any way. He stood up from his bed, put his uniform on, readjusted it in front of a mirror and turned around to face Alexander.

- So, what news does my faithful Leib-Marshal bring to me?
- Well, Your Highness, the Tactical Command has developed the best strategy to take Aphyr back judging by the last information and data we acquired and…
- Wait! Wait! You had the time to do all that? How long have I been cold out?
- Five days, Your Highness.
- Oh. Is the High Templar still here?
- Well, the Guards took him under custody, but the information somehow got out and we had faithful to the Seven demonstrating in front of the Midnight and Midday gates telling us to release the High Templar and… then there was some pressure from the Citadel and…
- They let him go away?
- Yes, Your Highness.
- What has this country come to…

Mikhail shook his head and sighed.

- We will discuss everything at the MOCC.
- Yes, Your Highness. Our transport is waiting.
- Lead the way.

***

Main Operations Coordination Center,
Head Quarters of the TNDF,
Capital City of Vigvar,
Grand Duchy of Tarasovka,
Sisgardia.

Operation “With Fire and Sword” was to be quick, swift and provide maximum efficiency in solving the Aphyr problem. After the ECTOS scientists reported that there was no way to ‘cure’ and ‘influenced’ subject, the military finally had its hands untied. It could not risk full scale bombardment of the territory earlier for it would have endangered lives of Taraskovyan citizens on the ground. However, with all the new information they had, it was clear as sunlight that Aphyr had to be turned into a smoldering desert. This task was bestowed upon the TSF and it’s orbital assets. Ortillery satellites have been ‘called in’ from ‘other points of assigment’ and placed to orbit Sisgardia. The ships were grouping. So far, the rebels did not open fire with the Anti-Space Defenses, most surely not to give away the location of the major stationary ones and, of course, of the mobile ones. But once the first blast would occur on the surface, they would surely come to action. In the meanwhile, the Navy turned the beaches of Var-Vilena and Tal-Nathil into perfectly flat debarkation points for the ground forces to move in. The ground assault force consisted of two groups – the North Group debarked at Tal-Nathil and the South Group at Var-Vilena. Both consisted of regular TNDF elements reinforced with the reservists which were recalled into active duty. The two groups would then begin systematic elimination of everything organic in their path, nothing must survive nor escape. For that, they were equipped with all sorts of massive heat generating weaponry from 'advanced' plasma to 'basic' napalm (hey, everything works when it comes to burn something down). The Air Force, aided by the Ground Forces eliminates the ASD Systems and the TSF begins a full scale bombardement of the surface, preparing the ground for the advancing forces. The North Group pierces way to Tin-Vilena and secures the Northern Aphyr while the South Group advances from Var-Vilena and does it’s share in the cleaning process. Once the North Group has besieged Tin-Vilena, it waits for the South Group to take position before…

- No.

The Grand Duke pointed at the screen on which was shown that particular phase of the operation. The Command only blinked (all officers at once).

- Your Highness?
- The fleet does not bombard Tin-Vilena and the Groups do not burst in destroying everything. I will lead the Guard in the assault on Anastasya’s palace.
- But, Your Highness, we cannot risk your life! Your direct intervention is impossible!
- Gentlemen, I am still your Supreme Lord and Ruler and as such I give the orders and you obey.

With that, he turned around to face the officers. His eyes seemed to gloat as he continued.

- We will kill her ourselves. She will not cause any more trouble.

With that he turned around and faced the screen again. Nobody really paid attention to the Grand Duke’s sudden jumping from Russian to Taraskovyan (both languages were official national ones anyway) and only thought that ‘we’ referred to the Grand Duke and the Guard and the ‘her’ to Anastasya. Of course, they couldn’t have known then…

Mikhail suddenly spoke again.

- One more thing. I have called in the Order to aid us with their own forces.
- But, Your Highness…
- So I said and so it will be!
- Yes, Your Highness. Do you approve of Operation “With Fire and Sword”?

The Grand Duke’s answer, with which he signed the death sentence to millions of people in Aphyr in the greatest slaughter of the history of the Grand Duchy (at least during the last couple millennia), was short and dry, with no emotion contained in it.

- Yes.

***

Outskirts of Tal-Nathil,
Break-away provinces of Kerathor,
Aphyr,
Sisgardia.

It took several more weeks to prepare the final plans for the operation “With Fire and Sword”, to regroup the forces, to equip the new regiments formed out of reserve personnel. But finally, the naval fleet opened the hostilities. The submarine detachments circled Aphyr from the north, while the two remaining surface fleets began preparing the ground for an offensive. Tal-Nathil, Var-Vilena and their outskirts were heavily and densely bombarded. Incendiary ammunition and plasma charges set fire to the infested areas. Ground was covered in ashes. The rebel forces and their coastal defenses (the ones at Tal-Nathil mostly, since those near Var-Vilena were destroyed by retreating forces) opened fire at the ships. Some were sank, others damaged, in other words – the operation was going as planned. While the Navy was clearing out the beaches, the Air Force did more ‘in depth’ bombing of the enemy territory. After the ground was judged acceptable, the Marine Infantry did the first breaching. Their task was to set up the platform for heavier equipment to arrive. Enemy resistance on the burnt out territory was minimal. Towards the evening, the Marine Infantry already controlled enough territory and heavier equipment became to arrive.

The smoke from the fires was black and thick, covering the sky and hiding the stars that were most surely glowing brightly (at least judging by the words of the pilots). The Ground Groups were deploying. Mechanized Infantry, Armored Divisions, support personnel, to make a long story short – everything required for an operating army group. The deployment was only 43% complete at Tal-Nathil when suddenly something went wrong. The ground burst open under the feet of the soldiers and ‘vehicles of unknown design with a clearly hostile intent’(as was later stated in a report on the war) dart from beneath the ground. They were of dark black color and looked like spires. Hatches opened and ‘elements in black combat armor with a clearly hostile intent’(look above) came out. The enemy transports came out in key spots of the deployment ground and the assailants clearly knew how to operate. First forming circles around their vehicles, they quickly moved out, eliminating everything in their path. The Grand Ducal forces, taken in disarray, fought the best they could, but restoring a battle order was proving to be complicated (especially since the combat was often going into direct melee, because the attackers also happened to have rather sharp swords that cut through the Grand Ducal soldiers with relative ease). The assailants were counted in thousands and even more and more continued to arrive, new transports bursting from beneath the surface. They did not have ‘heavy’ equipment, no ‘tank’ (or its equivalent) burst from under the ground, but the Taraskovyan forces could not use their own heavy weaponry themselves – they risked slaughtering their own men. And even though the Taraskovyan troopers knew how to wield cold weaponry, they only had knives (rather long and very sharp ones, true) and could not fight properly against a sword (to tell the truth, no TNDF tactical officer ever thought that in an era of space ships and long ranged weaponry, somebody would use swords) and the attackers operated in great coordination. Using rifles and other ‘ranged weaponry’, they circled groups of Taraskovyan soldiers and then engaged them in a melee fight. The result was obvious. And while the black armored attackers were busy fighting the Grand Ducal soldiers in the center of the deployment area, the 4th NGF Brigade attacked from the perimeter. In the Field Operations Command currently based in the City of Narojnakh in Cardinia, the Command was busy trying to find a solution to the crisis when the Commander in Chief, Grand Duke of Tarasovka, His Highness Mikhail II Shakhovskoy found a radical solution.

- All the available personnel in the area are to take perimeter position around the battle scene and engage the Kerathori NGF Brigade. Only leave the infantry in there. Once that done, two full scale artillery salvos on the area with everything in stock.
- But that will decimate our own soldiers!
- It will, but it will also decimate enemies and disorganize their offensive. Once the salvos are over, the perimeter forces are to move in and eliminate all remaining foes.
- Yes, Your Highness!
- What is the status on the rebel orbital defenses?
- Most were eliminated during the bombardment. They still have a number of mobile installations that we are tracking down and eliminating as we locate them.
- Good, drop a SODAT battalion in the vicinity of our Tal-Nathil Group and order them to engage all enemy personnel. This point here has been ‘cleared’ out during the bombardement and would suit nicely.
- Your Highness, with all due respect, dropping SODATs without support right in the middle of hostile territory, cut from the lines and…
- Gentlemen! The SODATs were created with the sole purpose of being dropped in the middle of hostile territory with no back up and causing maximum damage before being evacuated! Besides, we have three Battlegroups up there, why aren’t they conducting orbital bombardment?
- It is not time yet, we have to respect the schedule and…
- To all seven hells with the schedule. If we wait longer, we will lose!
- But if we open fire now, we risk losing numerous ships!
- More than that, by our estimates the rebels still have numerous mobile Anti-Space systems!
- And if we do not open fire now, we risk losing the Grand Duchy. You seem not to understand the importance and the responsibility bestowed upon you, Gentlemen. We are a nation at war and you are the warriors. If you do not feel like warriors, you have nothing to do here. Leib-Marshal Nevksy!
- Yes, Your Highness?
- I hereby take full command of Operation “With Fire And Sword”. Each and every of my orders is to be obeyed with no delay. You and your Command remain in tactical coordination.

Silence befell on the room as the Grand Duke turned back to facing a screen. An adjutant came up to him.

- Your Highness, the Leib-Guard has been deployed to Narojnakh, awaiting to be moved in Aphyr. The Palace security is ensured by the cadets of the Palace Academy.
- Excellent. Status on the Order forces?
- They are ready to intervene and have been placed under your direct command, Your Highness.
- Even better. Dismissed.
- Yes, Your Highness!

The adjutant saluted and went out of the FOC. The Grand Duke continued to monitor the situation.

***

City of Var-Vilena,
Grand Ducal Province of Iluthiid,
Aphyr,
Sisgardia.

While at Tal-Nathil the Grand Ducal forces were engaged into full scale combat, at Var-Vilena the South Group only had to finish off an already decimated 2nd NGF Brigade. The Marine Infantry soon took control of the landing zone, opening the road for heavier equipment. And while the bombing campaign intensified, troopers cleaned out the cities of every life. Sometimes moments of hesitation happened when the soldiers had to open fire upon ‘influenced’ civilians, but in the end, the local commander always gave the order to ‘Fire at will!’ Women and children were shot dead, their corpses burned. Some soldiers dubbed the entire operation ‘Black Death’, in honour of the terrible plague, and the unofficial name quickly spread through the formations. With each passing hour the morale of the troops was falling catastrophically. Not only were they walking on the ashes of their own land, but they were also murdering their own people because the Command ordered so. Because the Command said that the ECTOS had infested them and there was no cure but death. The Grand Duke had foreseen it and that is why ‘With Fire And Sword’ was a true blitzkrieg. While the North and South Groups advanced forward, annihilating everything in their wake, supported heavily by the Air Force and the space fleet, Airborne and SODAT detachments were dropped deep into enemy territory and began clearing out their areas, soon regrouping with either the North or the South Group as it advanced forward. Each time an enemy defense line was located, the Air Force and the Space Fleet turned the area into ashes and the ground troops moved forward. The advance, although rapid, was costing many lives on the Grand Ducal side. More than that, the closer the Ground Forces got to Tin-Vilena, the more aggressive the ECTOS became. Horrible breeds of plants coupled with humans or beasts hurled in myriads upon the loyalist forces and were consumed in a fiery wall. And yet again the Grand Duke was right not to have waited longer before moving out. Should he waited longer, and Anastasya’s minions would have been much greater. All in all, it took a week for the Grand Ducal forces to clear Aphyr out. From space, the entire area was nothing else but a thick black blanket of smoke, hiding everything beneath it. On the Ground, the night seemed to never end. Visibility was low and each trooper had to rely on different visor scanners to find his way through the wall of smoke. The ECTOS was created to resist high temperatures, after all. The burnt out territories regenerated and had to be put ablaze again. But as time went by, slowly, the infested area became to retreat, leaving nothing behind but smoldering ashes and ruins of burnt out cities.

***

Outskirts of Tin-Vilena,
Break Away Provinces of Kerathor,
Aphyr,
Sisgardia.

A week later.

Eventually, exhausted, living behind a trail of death and destruction, the Grand Ducal forces made it to the direct vicinity of Tin-Vilena and lay siege to it. The city was shelled mercilessly and reduced to rubble when the final order to attack was given. The rebels still had rather vast forces at their disposition. The 5th NGF Brigade, all of the Order’s military that was worshipping Sathala fought alongside the rebels and as always these unknown people in black armor. Expertise on the dead foes showed that these enemies were in all points similar to the ancient Taraskath. But none of the Taraskath were taken alive for questioning. Even gravely injured, the enemy soldiers preferred to end their lives than to surrender. News spread thought the Grand Duchy quickly and made people shiver in fear. And the storm of Tin-Vilena was the moment the Order entered the war on the side of the Grand Duke. Disciple fought against disciple, those loyal to Sathala fought against the followers of the six other Deities. The Alexander Guard Honorary Regiment began the assault on Anastasya’s Palace.

The Guard regiment, led by the Grand Duke himself, landed all around the palace, in gardens and on roof and infiltrated from every possible entrance. The heavy 3rd Battalion guards were busy with getting rid of enemies outside and making sure nothing entered the Palace if it wasn’t loyal to the Grand Duke. The 1st and 2nd Bats stormed in. Every corridor was barricaded, their enemies fighting to the last man with zeal that exceeded that of any normal being. The entire Guard regiment broke into smaller squads that occupied room by room and progressed hall by hall inside of the palace. Mikhail was leading a group of his most trusted men straight towards Anastasya’s apartments. So far, all they have encountered were the Taraskath on her service and infested NGF troopers. The losses among the guard were great, but the soldiers of the Grand Duke advanced steadily. Finally, the first members of Nastya’s private guard – the “Duty and Valiance” Battalion. Recruited from the veterans of the Alexander Guard, they proved to be the hardest barrier on the Alexander Guard’s path to victory. They fought to the last, engaging into melee whenever possible.

Mikhail and a handful of men finally burst into the main hall of Anastasya’s apartments. What happened next, nobody knows. The soldiers outside were still busy fighting their enemies, when the latter began to collapse all of a sudden. When the first guards made it to Anastasya’s apartments, they saw the hall painted red with blood, bits of flesh covering everything in the hall. Bits of blue and black armor, pieces of cloth, broken weaponry and three corpses in the middle. One was the beheaded corpse of Anastasya, the second one a slain young Taraskath female, the opening in her body (done with something very sharp) was going from the right hip to the left shoulder. The third one was the body of Mikhail. The surviving four High Templars – those of Zynthris, Nethaila, Atagath and Kethala – were on their knees around the body. The High Templar of Zynthris looked at the Guards from under his green hood, covered in blood splatters.

- [color=purple]The Grand Duke of Tarasovka, His Highness Mikhail II Shakhovskoy was slain in combat and died for the glory and survival of his people. By ancient laws, he, as an acting ruler having given his life for his country, will be put to rest in the Sacred Citadel.

And so the unanimated body of Mikhail was taken away by the High Templars that flew away to the Sacred Citadel. On the ground, calm and silence befell. All of the infested rebels were now dead. The only remaining enemy forces were the Taraskath and the followers of Sathala, that refused to give up and had to be eliminated. Everything ended abruptly, and the order to ‘stop offensive actions and proceed to humanitarian operations’ followed. The soldiers and the entire nation, learning the death of their Grand Duke, were in shock. Morale was low. Rumours and doubts began to spread. Was the ‘Black Death’ necessary? Was there no other mean? These rumours spread all over the nation in matter of days. The Council of Duchy demanded explanations from the High Council. Demonstrations erupted spontaneously throughout the Grand Duchy. Somebody told the angry mod the exact locations of the local TNSD and TDI posts and the mobs attempted to storm them, but were repelled by riot police. The Civic Militia refused to obey the High Council and different formations began a rampage through their areas. A group of Russian nationalists formed the White Legion 88 organisation that quickly gained support. Ethnic clashes began to happen, with the police being either overrun or police officers themselves joining the warring sides. It only took a week for the territory directly under the High Council’s authority to be reduced to the Old Center of Vigvar. Those forces loyal to the High Council were positioned on the bridges leading from the Old Center into the Outer Ring, the Airport was taken under heavy protection. It was clear that if nothing was done, the nation would soon implode even further, driven apart by ethnic and religious clashes. And three high ranked officers of the military took the initiative. The General-Colonel Ustinov, as Acting Commander of the Ground Forces, ordered the forces loyal to him in Aphyr into Cardinia and Dakathia. The deployment was swift, rapid and effective. Local Civil Militiamen were disarmed or arrested, order was restored, a curfew put into place. The local police cooperated fully with the military, not to talk about the local military formations. But Ustinov was not the only in this endeavor. Indeed, from above, he was supported by the men of Leib-Admiral Puchinov. And the entire operation was coordinated by Voevodov’s Tactical Division. Not to mention the priceless intelligence provided by the Kaskad, TNDF’s Intelligence Service, led by Colonel Voronov. Some speculated that it were Kaskad’s tip offs that allowed the rioters to locate the TDI and the TNSD local services. Everything went as smooth as knife on butter, until the three commanders (Ustinov, Puchinov and Voevodov) arrived at Vigvar. This was the moment when everything went wrong. The soldiers felt guilty and ashamed to have to occupy the Capital City and Fiefdom of Vigvar, the personal Fiefdom of the Grand Dukes. The forces entered the city in total disorder. Hopefully, no resistance was encountered and soon the forces loyal to the three commanders occupied the entire city, including the Old Center.

The High Council was dissolved, the High Councilors being taken under surveillance. The three commanders dubbed themselves as the Emergency Ruling Council and took direct control of things…

***

Vigvar Winter Palace,
Capital City of Vigvar,
Grand Duchy of Tarasovka,
Sisgardia.

To say that the Guard was on highest state of alert was to say nothing. The surviving Guards of the Alexander Guard Honourary Regiment as well as the cadets of the Palace Academy were out in full strength. Armor and weaponry was handed out to everybody. Actually, every cadet at the Academy had already served two years at least in the TNDF, so wielding weapons was not new for them. And even if they weren’t as trained as skilled Guards, they knew their job perfectly well. More than that, some of the former Guards that finished their service long ago came in to aid. The Winter Palace was turned into a fortress. The Midnight and Midday gates were closed, assault hoverdynes took position on the Moonlight square inside of the Palace Gardens. Light armor was stationed everywhere inside of the Gardens, troopers with Portative Anti-Air Systems were stationed on the roof, barricades were ready to be placed everywhere throughout the Palace.

The Guards had all the reasons to be worried. With the Dynasty not being the most favourite of families in the Grand Duchy after the recent events (the people thought that the Grand Duke has lied to them and betrayed them and they weren't totally mistaken), many of the relatives of the Grand Duke and his family fled to Svarog and Dajdbog. The forces loyal to the Ruling Council encircled the Palace and nobody knew if they would begin an assault. But should they begin, the Alexander Guard would defend the Palace to the last.

Vethara and Ekaterina remained in the Palace. The bastard daughter and the lonely mother. The Honor Grand Duchess, who in the matter of weeks lost not only her husband (with whom she spent over a century, so to say that she wasted her most beautiful years on him was to say nothing) and her son by the hands of her daughter who she always loved the most, was only a pale shadow of her former self. She closed herself in her apartments and would not respond to anyone. Finally, the Head Leib-Healer, worried about her health, ordered the Guards to force the door. The Honor Grand Duchess was found in the main hall of her apartments, sitting by a table. She was leaning against the back of the chair, her face looking up at the ceiling, her eyes closed. In front of her, on the table, was a glass with some wine. The Head Leib-Healer took it and, after a short examination, only shook his head. He looked back at the Honor Grand Duchess, who seemed to be peaceful, she even seemed to be smiling. He served her husband even before he became Grand Duke and was still a little boy running around the Palace with a sword(a weapon still widely used a century ago), he knew her as a young beautiful Countess, always full of energy and lust for life. One smile during a ball and the Heir was conquered. And then the Heir became Grand Duke and raised his nation from the dirt it was standing in and made it a power to be reckoned with. She was always by his side, giving precious advice. But he could not remember seeing her so peaceful ever before. Behind, he heard a quiet sob. Turning around, he saw Archduchess Vethara standing in the entrance, a single tear running down her cheek. She did not say a word. She could not even say ‘mother’ to the Honor Grand Duchess. At least, not while the Guards were present. Vethara’s origins were maybe the most shameful and yet the most thrilling of all secrets held by the Winter Palace and that secret was kept only between the rare few that had access to the information. Even the Alexander Guards thought that she was true child to the Honor Grand Duke and Honor Grand Duchess.

The Head Leib-Healer faked a smile and walked out of the apartments, calling the Guards to follow him. The two women never spoke much. After the events that led to Vethara’s appearance, the Honor Grand Duchess attached herself even more to her true daughter – Anastasya. But after the recent events Ekaterina's honour was baffled, her trust slain, her kindness rewarded with betrayal, her soul taken away from her... Vethara remained behind for a moment and then came out, her face calm, her eyes burning with a cold fire. The Head Leib-Healer felt as a shiver ran down his spine. The Guards went in to carry the body of the Honor Grand Duchess out. She had been a follower of the Orthodox faith and the ceremonies for her funerals would be held at the Pokrov Cathedral in Vigvar. And if somebody dared even squeak about preventing the ceremonies because of some administrative reason, the Alexander Guard would tear him into pieces.

Only once could I see my dream,
Never did I feel small beneath the stars.
Once I got bars to my cradle,
As a prisoner there I'm writing a letter.

Vigvar Grand Ducal Cemetery,
Capital City of Vigvar,
Grand Duchy of Tarasovka,
Sisgardia.

The Honor Grand Duke (whose body was recovered from Tin-Vilena) and Honor Grand Duchess were buried in the Vigvar Grand Ducal Cemetery, in a mausoleum built specially for them. Two coffins were put to rest one next to the other in the same grave. And above was a simple plate carved out of white and black marble. On it was carved a black wolf, lying on the ground, his head turned to face the viewer, two eyes made of pure sapphire glowing with ferocity and anger in the dim light of the mausoleum. And over the terrible beast was a white swan, its wings embracing the black wolf, its emerald eyes glowing softly and warmly in the light. Apart from that, the interior of the mausoleum had nothing else. No exaggeratedly rich decorations, only simple engravings running the length of the wall. And a plate, made out of silver, with words carved on it:

“Here rest His Highness Mikhail I and Her Highness Ekaterina.
Their rule over us was bright, wise and just.
Let us honour their legacy.”

That is it. And as a last sign of respect, two Alexander Guards would keep watch at the door of the mausoleum. The first ever shift was standing still, in the early winter wind. The sky was grey and the first snow was already falling down on Vigvar. And among this dull mix of white and grey, were all the warm colours of flowers, myriads of flowers all around the mausoleum as people came forth. The stream of those coming to honour the former Grand Duke and his wife was never ending…

Lord, let me come to you to be what my child thinks I am...


***

The beauty of the world is in you,
From which Death made me an artist.

Sacred Citadel of Zynthris,
Grand Ducal Cardinia,
Sovereign Territory of the Order,
Sisgardia.

Mikhail II was ‘buried’ following the ancestral traditions of the Grand Duchy. He was given a small, modest ceremony, with minimal attendance. His body was put to rest into a cavity in a wall of a hall deep inside of the Citadel, side by side with other famous Grand Dukes that gave their life for their people. A cavity in the wall, a small gate to enclose it and hide the coffin, and the emblem of the Dynasty on the façade of the gate. A Black Wolf, walking calmly towards the viewer, sapphire eyes glowing with fury and rage. Beneath the wolf was a graven Sword of Ruling, the symbol of power in the Grand Duchy that replaced the so called ‘crown’ used in other nations. On the sword was carved in silver:

“Here rests His Highness Mikhail II,
the youngest of all Shokath-Kshas to have given
his life, blood and soul for his people.
Let his sacrifice never be forgotten.”

The same day were buried the High Templars of Amathir and Nahashir were also put to rest alongside the past High Templars. After some deliberation, the High Templar of Sathala was also buried following the traditions of the Order. An offer of reconciliation was issued to all the followers of Sathala.

However, on a night several days later the High Templar of Zynthris himself, accompanied by two other men and a woman, descended into the Hall of the Shokath-Kshas and directed himself straight towards Mikhail’s grave and opened the gates. The coffin was extracted and opened. The High Templar looked down on Mikhail’s corpse. He was cold, pale. He was dead. And yet, he wasn’t. No, his mind was still present and his soul was still inhabiting the mortal flesh. One of the men next to the High Templar whispered slowly.

- Let the Gods forgive us…
- It was their will. The young Shokath-Kshas will serve as prison for all of them for all eternity. An eternal combat, unless their dispute ends in reconciliation.
- Then why not leave the Grand Duke rest in peace?
- Yes, it would be the best choice…

The High Templar suddenly turned around, his eyes throwing lightning of anger from underneath his hood.

- The Shakhtal have reappeared! I know not if their entire force was annihilated in Aphyr or should we prepare for the worst! We cannot allow the Grand Duke to fall into their hands. You are the new High Templars of your respective gods…
- We were named without consultation with the gods themselves! How can we even dare think of bestowing their power upon our people?
- Time is not for doubt, Brothers and Sisters. The Order must not fall. Should it fall, the Grand Duchy would be plunged into complete chaos. We cannot allow that to happen…
- Yes…
- Of course…
- Then so shall it be!

The High Templar of Zynthris got hold of the corpse and carried the former Grand Duke out, accompanied by the High Templar of Sathala, while the High Templars of Amathir and Nahashir sealed the coffin and put it back to its resting place, closing the gate and sealing it forever. The four High Templars took the direction of the deepest part of the Sacred Citadel, a forbidden place that enclosed many secrets that no mortal was allowed to know. The Seven High Templars had a ceremony to perform that night…

Lord, let me come to you to be what my child thinks I am...

***

Vethara assisted all of the funerals, the Ruling Council allowing her a certain freedom of movement. She stood still and calm as the members of her family were buried. Her eyes emerald eyes were dry, for she had no more tears left to cry…

I made my own heaven here…
Let me get out…

[OOC:
Original lyrics from Kuolema Tekee Taitelijan, by Nightwish.
Special thanks goes to Sensori for the translation effort, since the original lyrics are in Finnish! :)

Kuolema Tekee Taitelijan

Kerran vain haaveeni nähdä sain
En pienuutta alla tähtien tuntenut
Kerran sain kehtooni kalterit
Vankina sieltä kirjettä kirjoitan

Luojani, luoksesi anna minun tulla siksi miksi lapseni minua luulee

Sinussa maailman kauneus
Josta kuolema teki minusta taitelijan

Luojani, luoksesi anna minun tulla siksi miksi lapseni minua luulee

Oman taivaan tänne loin
Anna minun päästä pois ]

[OOC: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v77/Namellar/SiriFoxBanner.gif

As you understand, I did ask Siri’s opinion on the matter before writing the post. ]

Vigvar Winter Palace,
Capital City of Vigvar,
Grand Duchy of Tarasovka,
Sisgardia.

Vethara was silent. Actually, the entire Palace was silent. Several servants were busy doing their job in the middle of armored Alexander Guards. No laughs, nothing, just silence. She felt like she was buried alive in a coffin.

She took up the glass of wine from the table in front of her and returned her gaze back on Sineglaziev.

- What you offer me is to… flee? Run away? Like a coward, turn my back and… run?

The young Leib-Duke and Head of the TDI nodded.

- Yes.

Vethara laid her elbows on the table and hid her face in the palms of her hands. She remained silent for a moment. Sineglaziev spoke again.

- What I am worried is your security, Your Highness. You are obsolete to the Ruling Council. The Dynasty is not the favourite of all families in the Grand Duchy. Of course, you will be spared a public trial which will make you a scapegoat for the mistakes committed by your brother… And I am even sure you’ll be left with your title and land… but you will be isolated. You will have no weight in the Grand Duchy.

She listened without interrupting. Then, she finally opened her face again and looked straight at Sineglaziev.

- I will thus have a peaceful life. Away from the stupidity of intrigues and the exhausting politics…

- If all was so simple… You are the rightful Heir to the Sword. As such, you will always present a threat to the Ruling Council. Even the High Council presents a threat to them and I am afraid that within days, I and my former colleagues will be taken away for ‘questioning’. Understand, Your Highness, that you, as a person, only have a symbolic value. But it is easy to lock you up in the ‘Hold’ and replace you with a clone. Trust me; they have the means to do so.
- The ‘Hold’?
- There are many things you know not of, Your Highness. It is not the time to talk about them.
- Yes, I understand…
- So, do I have your agreement?

Vethara stood up and headed out of the hall, onto the balcony, which gave a view on the Great Gardens. Sineglaziev followed. Vethara looked out into the far.

- Alexander?
- Yes, Your Highness?
- The swans… they are flying away…

Sineglaziev looked up and stared in awe. The Palace Swans, brought into the palace by the former Grand Duchess Ekaterina, have lived there ever since, never leaving the Palace. Nobody knew why, but they simply remained there, generation after generation. The Palace Engineers even had to install a warming device into the large pond so that it didn’t freeze over during winter. And yet, this day, they were flying away. It was not rare to see them flying over Vigvar, but this time, something told Sineglaziev they were not coming back. He looked back at Vethara.

- Your Highness?
- Yes. I will go.

Sineglaziev smiled for the first time in several days.

- Good, I will arrange everything!

***

Two days later, late in the night, Sineglaziev returned to the Palace secretly and was led to the Archduchess’s apartments. Vethara was not sleeping. She could not sleep. Each time she closed her eyes; she saw Nekshas and knew that she’ll hold him close again. She saw her father and knew that she’d never listen to his stories again. She saw her brother and knew that no one would advise her and support her ever again. She was tired, but she somehow managed to remain awake nonetheless and have enough strength left to do anything. She did not understand why. Sineglaziev entered the apartments.

- Your Highness, I have arranged everything. After looking through the available possibilities, I have chosen to extract you to Menelmacar. I have contacted MISSION and they understood my ‘concerns’.
- Don’t they risk alienating the Ruling Council?
- They do, but the Ruling Council will not be able to do much… The Grand Duchy and the Eternal Noldorin Empire are totally economically independent from each other; as such economic sanctions from either side wouldn’t do much. Militarily speaking, the Grand Duchy is not able to wage an offensive war against Menelmacar for the moment. Besides, the Ruling Council would lack valid reasons. Attacking them simply to get you back? It would get the Yut on their back. So all you have to fear is the Kaskad, but I have taken several precautions and dispatched several of my personnel to our Embassy in Vinyatírion. They will meet you when you arrive there…
- And just how will I arrive there?
- The Dynasty does have a large number of supporters throughout the nation. I have managed to find a squadron of assault aerodynes belonging to the 7th Airwing that would risk their lives for you. The 7th Airwing is stationed in the Vigvar International Airport, so it will be a short ride from here.

He called out and another man entered the hall, holding a bag. Sinzeglaziev opened it and took out a pilot suit. Vethara looked up with surprise.

- What does that mean?
- It is too dangerous for you to use a transport of a large size. You will be aboard a two-seated tactical bomber. And at the speed these things fly, you’ll need this.

Vethara shook her head. She pondered for a moment and then took the suit.

- Give me a moment.

With that, she left the hall and entered one of the side rooms. She came out soon enough, dressed into the suit of a fighter pilot. Sineglaziev nodded.

- Alexander… why are you doing this?
- Me and your brother have been friends ever since we were little children, Your Highness. Besides, I owe my honour to your father. I can never repay the debt, but at least I can do something for the Dynasty…
- And what will become of you?
- That doesn’t matter. Now, we must make haste. There are soldiers loyal to you that will guarantee us safe passage through the military ring outside of the palace. From there, we will make way to the airport in a military vehicle.

Sineglaziev led the way, the Arcduchess followed. They made it out into the Great Gardens and took the direction of a section in the wall. There, well hidden, was a secret door Vethara never knew of. Alexander simply grinned as he imitated an owl. His call was answered and several TNDF Troopers came forth. The Archduchess was led away to an APC that immediately took direction of the Airport. It made it safely though the checkpoints on the roads and on the bridges from the Old Center into the Outer Ring and ended its journey in the Airport. The Archduchess was led through the security checkpoints, which were infiltrated by loyal personnel, and led towards a group of attack aerodynes. An air force captain met her and led towards one of the aircraft, a two-seated tactical bomber. They entered the cockpit from the underneath and took their seats (which were located side by side). The pilot put his helmet on, Vethara did the same.

- Leave the commands to me, Your Highness.
- Of course. When do we take off?
- Now…

The pilot ran through the controls, the vehicle’s central BSI confirmed the aircraft’s readiness for take off and the pilot waited no longer. Softly, the bomber took off. All around it, attack aerodynes took into the air. Vethara immediately heard a voice in her helmet.

- Squadron Dagger, Squadron Dagger, you do not have permission for take off! You do not ha-

The transmission was cut and replaced by the voice of the Squadron’s commander.

- All units proceed as planned.

The pilot turned to face the Archduchess and winked. His visor then closed. Vethara’s did, too. Neuronal control, she wasn’t used to it.

- Brace for acceleration, Your Highness.
- Brace for what?

She did not have the time to be surprised as the aerodynes were already high enough to hit the acceleration. Vethara was pushed back into her seat, unable to move, as if somebody was holding her back. When she could finally get back into a normal sitting position, she looked on the ground beneath.

- Where are we?
- We are soon to cross into Tarvalak, Your Highness.
- Tarvalak? But that’s a territory belonging to Zethkur! Do we have permission to enter their airspace?
- Well, the civilian air traffic is rather free, but I believe we have to coordinate any military over flights with the local authorities and…
- Did you coordinate?
- Nope.

Vethara sat back and closed her eyes. The voice of the squadron’s commander broke the silence.

- We have crossed into Zethkur airspace and have a tail. Grand Ducal aircraft… Kiril, Erkshas, win us some time.
- Yes, Sire!
- Affirmative!

The Archduchess saw on a little screen showing the tactical situation of the area showed as two blue points broke formation and headed towards a dozen other blue points.

- They dare try to intercept us in Zethkur airspace… well…
- Why are they shown as friendly?
- Simple, we did not have the time to recalibrate the ‘Friendly/Hostile’ system. But… ah, there, the commander has set them as hostile manually.
- He can do that?
- Yes, each Air Force aircraft is a mobile command center.
- So they can do that, too?
- Yes.
- That’s not good news…
- Do not worry, we have no payload, as such we are lighter then them. Meaning faster…
- What do you mean by no payload? How will these men stop our followers then?
- With their plasma guns.
- Plasma guns? Against missiles?
- Your Highness, you forget that you are escorted by the 7th Airwing! We’re the best the Grand Duchy has in the air.

Vethara only sighed. Hopefully, those loyal to the Ruling Council did not have the time to use the surface to air defenses. Or maybe she should thank Sineglaziev for that, too? She knew not…

Sometime later, they would cross out from Sisgardian airspace and enter that of the neighbouring region of Tareldanorë. It was not long before the commander of the formation transmitted a request to enter Menelmacari airspace. All that the pilots hoped for was that Sineglaziev arranged everything on the Menelmacari side and that the elves did not forget all about it. The two pilots dispatched to stop the hunters never returned, but the hunters turned around after the fight was over. And the last thing everybody wanted was to get stupidly shot down so close to objective…

The "Eastmarch" part of the Sentinel line was primarily over the bit of the Atlantic Ocean between Menelmacar and Sisgardia to the east. It ran from the Dawn Wastes in a wide arc to the south, following the edge of Menelmacar's EEZ, and the "Southmarch" sector took over approximately where Menelmacar's territorial waters met those of Lavenrunz. All of the Eastmarch Sentinel towers were constructed atop oilrig-like platforms in the sea, one every ten kilometers; they bristled with sensor arrays, comm antennae, and weapons emplacements, and were charged as the first line of defense on Menelmacar's borders.

Each tower was manned by six Elves, in three rotating shifts of two each; despite the towers' distance from land, it was only an hour or two's commute by gravcar from the nearest major city to any tower, so isolation was not really a problem. Most of any tower's day was filled with occasionally logging a passing freighter, checking civilian aircraft flight plans, spotting a few anomalous contacts that more often than not turned out to be flocks of birds, and playing video games or checking stock portfolios during the long spans where nothing was happening. Occasionally there'd be something more interesting, like spotting a refugee boat or a Knootian drug-runner, and these, of course, would be reported to the fleet, and a frigate would be sent out to pick up and repatriate, or mercilessly sink, as the situation dictated.

Today, however, Eastmarch Sentinel Tower 495 got something more interesting... a flight of GDT fighters in an escort formation around one tactical bomber, incoming fast, whose flight plan was noticeably absent from the authorized list for the day. Sentinel Commander Nandorion reached over towards the comm control, but just as he did, the incoming craft contacted him, requesting permission to enter Menelmacari airspace.

"Menelmacari Border Control to incoming Taraskovyan aircraft. Please identify, and state your purpose. As far as we can see, your flight plan is not authorized at this time, please respond."

What remains of the Dagger Squadron of the 7th Airwing,
Somewhere to the east of Tareldanore,
Somewhere between Sisgardia and Tareldanore,
Somewhere on Earth.

The commander of the squadron responded calmly.

- Menelmacari Border Control, this is MISSION flight "saving the swan from the raven", Dagger Squadron of the 7th Airwing of the Grand Ducal Air Force. Repeat, MISSION flight "saving the swan from the raven".

He left the commslink open for an incoming transmission. And hoped that the code phrase given to him by Sineglaziev was the correct one...

Nandorion gulped... a MISSION flight. Probably arranged directly by the higher-ups... ridiculously secret. He very, very carefully, typed the code phrase into the search function... if he didn't get it precisely right, it wouldn't show up...

Searching....
...
...
...
Confirmed.

MISSION-authorized Flight, Classified Infrared-Prime, Vigvar-Vinyatírion.

Mission Profile: Evacuation, 1 VIP.

Authorized craft 1 bomber, up to 12 fighters, designated Dagger Squadron, 7th Air Wing, Grand Duchy of Tarasovka.

There were only ten fighters left - it must be a big deal indeed, since Dagger had evidently taken losses. Nandorion opened the comm once more. "Confirmed, Dagger Squadron. You are to proceed directly to Vinyatírion Gravport for a discreet but very official welcome. Transmitting your directed course data now, please do not deviate. Safe journey, Border Control out."

A now rather safe Dagger Squadron,
Menelmacari Airspace,
Tareldanore.

The commander sighed with relief as he received the confirmation. The pilots set their aircraft on the exact approach vector, without deviating, and let the AI's in their machines be guided by the Menelmacari air control. In other words - they simply put the autopilot on.

It didn't take long for the squadron to touch down in Vinyatírion Gravport. The captain that was piloting the bomber in which the Archduchess was landed his aircraft on the landing pad and sighed with relief.

- That was a flight... I don't remember any Grand Ducal aircraft ever running this fast. Not even during the last Tilsitsinian expedition.
- What do you mean?
- Euh... nothing you should worry about, Your Highness. Well, I see the locals have prepared a welcoming committee for you.

The pilot pushed some buttons and the hatch under the cockpit opened. He came down first and helped Vethara get out...

The landing pad was about as far from the terminal as the gravport had available. As the aircraft set down, a comfortable-looking but not overly out-of-the-ordinary gravcar skimmed up, followed by a van, probably to carry the pilots. One of the car's doors opened, and Lady Sirithil herself stepped out, and she approached Vethara.

"I cleared my schedule as soon as I heard... welcome to Menelmacar, Archduchess. I hope your flight was uneventful... I promise, you'll be safe and comfortable here for as long as you wish to stay."

Vethara took her helmet off and bowed to Lady Sirithil.

- I am honoured by your presence, Your Majesty. As of my flight...

She turned around and looked at the pilots who escorted her.

- These men are to be thanked for my mere presence here. I would simply ask for them to be treated as guests and be provided with all the service they require.

Sirithil nods. "They will have just about anything they desire," she says. "I heard of your losses, and I am deeply sorry." She gestured to the car, letting Vethara get in first, and the van's driver got out and slid the side doors of his vehicle open for the pilots.

A truck was approaching, as well, on its bed it carried a dozen absolutely massive tarps, that the GDT craft might be hidden from the watchful eye of satellites until they could be moved to a more secure location.

Vethara smiled faintly as she took the seat in the car. She was only know beginning to feel tired. The pilots took place inside the van. As sign of courtoisie and good intent, they handed their weaponry in to the Menelmacari guards. A handgun and a combat knife each.

Sirithil climbed in next to Vethara; the Menelmacari thanked the pilots for their cooperation, and the two vehicles moved off, headed for the city.

The ground crews began to pull the tarps over the aircraft... they were the same color as the landing pad itself, for some degree of camouflage from above.

The gravcar moved out onto the streets, sliding effortlessly through traffic amid the stunningly beautiful buildings and beneath a peaceful blue sky. Sirithil glanced over at Vethara and smiled. "You and your men will have accommodation in the palace," she said, "and you can wander the city as you please. I'll assign a Mornahossë security detail to you if you like... and be sure to let the palace staff know if there's any comfort you require. You should rest now, though... you've had a long day."

- A neverending day for the last several months, Your Majesty. A neverending daytime nightmare...

Vethara said that as she leaned back against the back of hear seat and closed her eyes.

- It is winter in the Duchy, - she whispered for no apparent reason, - for the first time the swans are flying away...

"The swans?" Sirithil asks softly, concerned, but also mildly confused, knowing not the significance of such things.

- My... my... mother... was of the Bielolebed' Family. Means White Swan when translated from Russian. She brought the first swans to the palace. And they have settled there ever since. They never left it, not even during winter.

Vethara smiled for a moment and then her smile faded away.

- But this winter, they left the Palace. And I left my motherland... as a pariah... a Shakhtal...

She made a faint smile again.

Sirithil nods. She of all people knows the significance of such symbols and omens.

"Do not mourn overmuch, Vethara," she says in a soft voice. "Every winter, no matter how long and cold and dark, is followed by springtime. Someday sooner or later, it will be safe for you to return home. And perhaps then the swans will come back."

Vinyatírion,
Menelmacar.

Vethara smiled again and whispered quietly.

- Maybe, I am just tired...

***

Former Palace of the High Council,
Capital City of Vigvar,
Grand Duchy of Tarasovka,
Sisgardia.

- What do you mean by she’s not there any longer?

Ustinov was furious. Hopefully, he was alone in his office, talking with someone over a commslink. Otherwise, he would have surely killed someone.

- And just where did she go then? You will find out? When?! Why haven’t I been told? Thirteen aircraft leave Vigvar without authorization and you do not report? Of course these were deserters! Why weren’t the shot down? What do you mean by you received an order not to open fire? Under whose authority? What!?!

Ustinov slammed his fist on the table.

- Since when does the TDI order the TNDF around? Where did they go? Where in Menelmacar? What do you mean by you didn’t locate them yet? Blasted! Get me Voronov on a secure line.

The General-Colonel sat into his armschair.

- Peter? Yes, you heard the news I presume? Yes, I am getting tired of the TDI and the TNSD meddling in our affairs. We will need to talk to Voevodov and Puchinov on the matter and I have an idea. Creating a centralized Secret Service. Integrating the TDI and the TNSD into the Kaskad. Don’t worry, Voronov, getting some additional responsibilities will only be good for you. What do you mean? Seven Foreign Protectors vanish from our Embassy in Vinyatírion? Strange. And with that 7th Airwing squadron deserting… yes, she is in Menelmacar it would seem. Try to verify that. What? The seven Foreign Protectors shot the military attaché dead ? So you lost your main spy. I hope he left a record of his contacts and agent net… But yes, that will slow our work considerably, especially with the TDI refusing to cooperate… Yes, arrest Sineglaziev. Actually, put all of them High Councilors under arrest. I have discussed it all with Voevodov and Puchinov and they agreed. You know where to take them. Yes. Keep me updated on the matter. No, leave the Palace alone. It has no value for us.

Ustinov turned the commslink off. He was not worried. If the Foreign Protectors decide to defect - it was their business. He will track them down for murder under Grand Ducal law.

He never knew of the TDI's Curare unit, for only a select few knew about it. None of the four actually knew it. And none would find the truth about the seven so called 'Foreign Protectors'(security guards at Grand Ducal Embassies and Consulates). Sineglaziev had already made sure of that. All the vital and most secretive data was destroyed. All those that had access to the sensitive data on the Curare unit were eliminated...

Sineglaziev and the rest of the High Council were arrested. The administrative body that for centuries decided on the fate of the Grand Duchy ceased to exist in a matter of hours, and was replaced by the Ruling Council of the three military commanders: General-Colonel Mstivoy Ustinov, Leib-Admiral Konstantin Puchinov and Marshal Vladimir Voevodov. But the arrests came too late; and the High Councilors had the time to give some final orders to those loyal to them.

The Ruling Council would eventually learn everything of what happened in these days.
But they would learn it at their own expense…