Secrets of the Damned(IC/Open)

[Haktiva]

OOC is up

Citadel, Haktivan Capitol. 1900 Hours

The sun was beginning to set over the city, the deep shades of orange, red and purple reflecting off of the windows of the many skyscrapers that dominated the city. Tenzin Moyase, Chairman of the Moyase Group, and conglomerate of agriculture, medicine and energy technology, paid little attention to it, choosing instead to relish at the message displayed on the black tablet he held in his hand.

We've found them

Across the room, a weathered, dark skinned man of the Eastern Province, shook as he tried to release himself from Tenzin's guards. The men were stark contrasts from each other, yet they spoke the same language, though their accents and attitudes were quite different. Tenzin, born in the West, was a tall and fair skinned man with fierce red eyes that likened to a predator's. His jet black hair was smoothed towards the back of his head, completely exposing his forehead, though it did not go past the top of his neck. He was dressed in a black suit, matching his hair color, a stark contrast the the white undershirt he kept unbuttoned, revealing a bit of chest hair.

The Easterling was a far cry from his "host". Certainly much older, as his thin combover of grey hair, milky brown eyes and wrinkled face showed. His attire was little more than a tan robe with red piping likely as old as he was. The guards that held him were dressed in black, two-eyed balaclavas hiding their faces. These men were mercenaries, typical of their sort as they proudly displayed their body armor, sidearms with little regard for subtlety. Their lime green berets displaying the Moyase logo, a white lotus flower surrounded by a coiling dragon. The old man continued to resist, despite his considerable disadvantage.

"Those lands are cursed, Tenzin! If you set foot there, you'll doom us all!"

"Oh please. We cannot afford to hold back humanity, and certainly not our country, because of your superstitions"

"The records of what happened are well recorded! Fire would rain down from the sky, the ground would split open and Javik would have us all burned from existence"

"You can't be ignorant enough to call holy books accurate historical records? Honestly, Hakim, I thought a man of your prestige would be more enlightened than that"

"You insult not only me, but the very Gods that rule us!"

"They rule you perhaps"

"You think Yahweh can compare to the Old Gods?"

"No, but I believe His people can become closer to Him and surpass those Old Ones of yours"

"You... You are a demon! You would have humanity lead to ruin!"

"And you would have it stagnate! It's because of men like you that humanity has yet to reach its full potential. I will see to it that humanity claims its rightful place in the universe, with Haktiva leading the helm, of course"

"You- Oooooof!", Hakim protested, silenced by a punch to his solar plexus. Tenzin jerked his head to the side for a moment, both guards nodding in recognition. Another strike left Hakim unconscious as he was dragged out of the room, Tenzin smiling in satisfaction. Finally turning back towards the setting sun, Tenzin typed in his reply on the tablet.

Commence retrieval.

[Page]

The Citadel

In the backseat of a taxi weaving aggressively through the streets of the Haktivan capitol, Eris braided her hair into a manageable form and tried to keep her mind on all that had changed since she'd last been here; that helped fight the jet lag and gave her something profound to think about. Considering the contrast of the new and old architecture and the skyscrapers that had once been empty space in the skyline was easier for her than letting her mind drift back to memories of dogfights in the sky. Or - and the thought kept creeping up on her - how this is the first time she'd ever flown into Haktiva without letting her mother and father know. Both of them, she knew, were still firmly dedicated to their respective military careers, even as they aged. She didn't have time for a visit though, at least not until she was done with Moyase and his plans.

The unlikeliest set of circumstances some time ago brought her into contact with Lady Alison Riveri, the daughter of Page's former monarch. The friendship they formed continued to the present day and Eris felt only a small bit of guilt in asking Alison to help fund her latest adventure, a request which Alison gladly obliged. Not only was Eris set for herself, but she had enough cash leftover to convince Tenzin Moyase to bring her along lest he consider her dead weight. That assumption, she knew, would be dead wrong. Eris was fully capable and she didn't have to be arrogant to know she'd be an asset. Still, the daughter of two nations an ocean away from one another wasn't famous or even known to most, so making a contribution to Mayose's cause would be useful.

Eris began reading what Mayose had to say about the Empire of the East around a year ago, the time when Queen Amlyn Tiridyn was crowned and her house's ancestral seat of Tamarai became the new Pagian capital. Lady Alison had even invited her to attend the coronation, but Eris was occupied with a new husband at the time. For all the negative things one could say about the world, Eris had to hand it to the world that it was never predictable. Flag-waving nationalists had a lot of power in Haktiva these days - a surprise to her who as a child had always felt her father's homeland was more worldly and less stuck in a single-minded, patriotic rut than the land of her mother. Meanwhile, Page's confederation experiment was short-lived and the people willingly invested their voice again into the throne for the sake of holding it all together. The Tiridyn family, the only other noble house with the blood of the first Pagian king running through their veins, had taken over. King Vincent was a good, diplomatic man but his reign ended abruptly in an Aliin Vol - that's a Pagian tradition of swordfighting that tends to shock foreigners. It was just an accident though, but it left his daughter to take over as the first queen regnant in the nation's history.

But what Eris was about to find in the old East, she believed with all her heart that may be more important than anything else on the world stage. She would hope Tenzin embraces her as a comrade, and that the wrath of the old gods would be another peril she'd survive and be stronger for. Eris finished up her hair as the cab pulled up to the address she was given - it was a pain to braid up in her air force days and was even worse now, but she hadn't cut it in three years and she couldn't bring herself to anytime soon. She stepped out into the Haktivan sun and realized she'd need sunscreen to - her time in Page had once again made her fair enough to turn red in an afternoon. That would have to wait, though.

[Haktiva]

Tenzin's office was like a small museum unto itself. Artifacts from all over Haktiva lines the walls, sealed in sterile cases, almost preserved in the dust they had lied in for centuries. Half-rotten tapestries, shattered shields and swords, old bits of buildings that fell long ago. Although the artifacts were from all over Haktiva, they all shared the same ruined form in one way or another. It was ironic that a man who looked towards the future kept to many relics from the past in his possession.

Tenzin eyes Eris like a predator, his cold eyes boring into her as she sat down in front of his desk. Tenzin stood, not out of politeness, but as a display of dominance. Tenzin could recognize a half-breed very easily, her Pagian features contrasted with the Haktivan ones in a very subtle way, although Tenzin found himself pleased rather than disgusted.

"You remember the Mendrovski Administration, Eris?", he asked her, stepping out form behind his polished oak desk. "A few good wars, strong ties with noble allies, a bustling economy.... it certainly helped my company grow, but I have my reservations when people call it a "golden age". A country has to be defined by more than its borders and economy. It's defined by what it stands for. Of course, you'll get a different answer from whoever you ask, but I'm curious, what do you think Haktiva stands for?"

Tenzin placed his hands behind the small of his back, arms hanging loosely as he stooped over slightly, his form still far taller than that of Eris'.

[Page]

The enigmatic man Eris had so longed to meet was now standing before her, and he shocked her by not having the quiet grace she'd expect of such a learned man but instead a fire in his eyes. Then again, that was often the Haktivan way, and maybe it would provide her with the "right" answer to the question.

"My benefactor, Lady Alison, who gave me the funds to join you in the old East, certainly believed herself that Mendrovski presided over a golden age. It's quite rare, you know for Pagians to revere someone outside their borders so much. He was honorable to the highest degree, and that's what Pagian folks admire so much. Haktiva instilled me with a sense of honor too, but our country stands for more than that, right?"

Our country, yes. I was born here Eris said inside her mind. This is as much my country as his and I don't care if saying so offends him.
"After the Pagian Civil War, my mom was barely 18 years old - she'd left her homeland for the worst of it and came back, but found herself arrested because her father had fought on the wrong side. When she defected to Haktiva, she was given the chance to start over. And today, soldiers follow her orders not caring where she's from or anything about her past because she earned her place. I think Haktiva stands for power and opportunity for those who deserve it, those willing to work for it."

[Haktiva]

"Exactly!", Tenzin proclaimed, standing up to his full height, grinning like a wolf. "Honor and courage are two of the Haktivan tenants, easy enough to remember, no? It's practically beaten into us when we go through our military training, and reinforced throughout our life, provided we're honest about it. But, you forgot the third tenant", he stated, stepping in front of the window, his for blocking the sun as Eris looked at him.

"Brotherhood", he said, holding up a clenched fist for a brief moment before dropping it back to his side. "Or comradeship if you prefer the gender neutral term", he added, rolling his eyes at his utterance of politically correct speech, something he found highly unnecessary. "I consider that to be the most important tenant. We have no honor if we do not stand up for our comrades, nor bravery if we forsake them. Perhaps that is why Pagians admired Isidore so much, because he looked upon everyone as a comrade, certainly very admirable and a good role model for the young full of piss and vinegar"

Tenzin recalled the accounts of Isidore leading the charge to drive out the Arcadians during their invasion, photos of him bleeding in the trenches with his men and the Pagians as they fought them off skyrocketing moral, and certainly guaranteed cooperation for years to come even for a short while after his death. "Indeed, Haktiva welcomes all who would risk everything for these ideals. Of course, our sense of patriotism will often get in the way, particularly in a nation as proud as Page. Nationalism isn't really a bad thing, one should have pride for their fatherland.... or motherland or homeland, whichever you prefer", he added, his tone becoming annoyed again before his grin returned. "But of course people take it too far and develop a sense of exceptionalism, considering themselves to be apart from the rest of the world. You've seen it here too, haven't you? As hard as it is to believe, Haktivans are not immune to it. Hell, sometimes we may slip back into sectionalism, the independent regions soon developing secession movements, though thankfully those never get off the ground, probably because a common goal soon arises to make the people forget about such things. While I do believe in sovereignty, especially coming from the West, we would lose far more than we would gain if we were to separate and forsake our unification"

Tenzin wasn't kidding. More often than not several powerful groups in the West started clamoring for complete independence, wanting to claim themselves as their own country. Haktiva's system was already a very loose confederation, with the balance of power being even among the regions and kept in check by the shared sense of honor and the considerable amount of military resources afforded to the small central government, which could crush an insurrection if need be, but such fighting would doubtlessly result in catastrophic destruction and would indeed cripple the rest of the regions for years. The West was more or less known as a breeding ground for such ideas, owing to the West's very small sense of same group preference, mostly arranged around families rather than land or the nation as a whole.

"This is why I've put together this endeavor. Human exceptionalism has held us all back for too long. Look at what three nations accomplished by working together! The world was saved from disaster and was allowed to make leaps forward in technological and social advances. I fear we may be going backwards now as people have become complacent. I want to stop this from happening. I want humanity to keep going forward, and I believe Haktiva can lead its comrades into the future. And you would be a part of this, else you wouldn't be here in my office, correct?"

[Page]

Inis Nuira, Page

The majesty of the subarctic wilderness was something the Rangers did their best not to disrupt, but even the disciplined special forces of Page had left their camp looking more like a university campus by dawn with beer mugs scattered throughout the woods and even their fatigues laying around the woodland floor - for swimming in the icy river at midnight was an important holiday tradition. It's called Witch's Moon, the first full moon after the last snowfall of spring. The end of the winter obviously was as fitting of a reason to party as any for the residents of this isolated island. The Rangers stationed here had partaken in the yearly gatherings for more than 200 years. This morning though there was far more bothering James Corentin than a hangover.

He never imagined himself lying to his wife when he first married Alison, but he never imagined that he'd be forced to choose between honesty with her and his orders either. Not a choice to feel ok about but it was an easy one to make - he would always be a Ranger first, and what Alison didn't know wouldn't hurt her. When she had informed him that her friend Eris was looking to make an expedition into the Haktivan East under the leadership of a man named Tenzin Moyase (the sort of remark that would only elicit great boredom in most men), James immediately reported this to his superiors, for this Tenzin was the same man that his father had commissioned a secret surveillance mission on a year earlier. He did not know the reasons then and he was not much clearer on them now.

It was rather common knowledge that the Rangers held an interest in occult and ancient texts. Whatever inspired Chandler Corentin to track this Tenzin, James found out in a meeting months ago had something to do with a tome his father had studied on "first men." Jotun, a legendary Pagian warlord of the Bronze Age, was said to have sailed across the world with a spice trader and that "he walked into the mouth of a dragon-god those people called Javik." Chandler emphatically told James this was more than a mere story, and he would understand the significance in time. James had been an atheist all his life, but he took a leap of faith when he placed a nanotech tracking device in Eris' locket. He chose the object because she stated in passing conversation that her mother had given it to her and that she never parts with it. Carefully concealed underneath the picture of her father, mother and brother was a 2 million stryyva piece of tech that would lead his comrades to whatever it was they sought. For now, James would have to wait.

Citadel, Haktiva

"Yes, that is exactly why I am here. So into the mouth of Javik we go!" Eris smiled at Tenzin but couldn't help but wonder how she came up with that phrase. Where did she hear it before? Some bedtime story her father once read to her? No, that didn't seem right. It came from somewhere in her subconscious, that's for sure, she knew. But no point worrying about it now. "And for the record you don't have to pay attention to words with me. I'm not the type of woman who gets upset if a man holds a door open for her, I'm just the type of woman who doesn't want to walk through the same damn door every day. Though if you light a cigar and I glare at you, it's not discomfort at the phallic imagery, I just really fucking hate those things."

And with that, they had broken the ice quite nicely.

"I meant to ask you something else, Tenzin. Every since the end of our 'golden age', they're a lot stricter about transporting arms between Haktiva and Page. So I came here unarmed, and while I know this isn't a military mission, we're still going to a potentially dangerous place. That and ever since my service, I've felt naked without a gun at my hip. Think you have a spare?"

[Haktiva]

"A woman after my own heart", Tenzin said. "Come, best get you set up now. I do hope you aren't the only one wishing to help in this endeavor, but that just means you get a better pick of our gear, including some of the prototype items we haven't started selling to the military yet"

They made their way down the hall, technicians, secretaries and mercenaries darting around them as they set about their tasks. The rest of the building was more akin to a military bunker, ultraviolet lights replacing the natural sunlight in the walled off corridors. They were immediately let into the armory, wall upon walls of weapons armor and tactical gear before their eyes.

"Please, take your pick", Tenzin said.
----------
Military Intelligence Bureau Headquarters
"Oh come on! We all know you're banging that blue blood!", Zen teased his comrade, poking his side.
"I am not!", Alex growled, kicking Zen away from his rack, the larger man just laughing as he retreated.

"Hey you dipshits!", Sohara said as she entered the room. "We got a brief, so quit screwing around and come on"
"Got it!", the two Spectres replied.

The Spectres of Noveria Team were all dressed in "boots and utes", their grey skivvies shirt contrasting nicely with their camouflaged fatigues and black boots. The halls were relatively quiet today, most of the unit having liberty on the weekend with only a few Teams and security personnel left as a skeleton crew. It wasn't so bad, having almost free reign of the facility to themselves with almost no chance of getting in trouble. Kalros Team challenged Tuchunka Team to a mattress joust in full gear, the end result being about Cr 20,000 worth of damage and a few broken bones. Discipline was more relaxed in the Spectres, which allowed for more stupidity to break through on a regular basis. A small price to pay for elite warriors being effective at their jobs, at least when they didn't put themselves out of commission.

The Intel Officer handed had decided to subject the Spectres and attendant staff to death by powerpoint, too many slides to explain a small issue. Moyase had been making a little noise that the feelers could pick up on. Internal Affairs was handling it for the most part, but the MIB was on standby in case anything went wrong. Alex had to actually slap Zen in order to wake him up because he had started drooling on the table. Max and Sohara both rolled their eyes in unison as their younger team members continued to argue and harass one another.
"So what was her name? Pigeon?", Zen asked as they walked out of the briefing room.
"Partridge..... I think", Alex replied.
"Oh so you don't even know her last name? That's cold"

"Idiots", Sohara grumbled.
"Ah, they're young", Max replied. "They'll run out of piss and vinegar eventually".
"What? like you?", Sohara asked.
"Hey now don't you start too!"

[Page]

"A fine selection" Eris said with approval. Once again, Tenzin had surprised her. He was surely an intelligent man but far more than that, and Eris realized the stakes of this mission were perhaps even higher than she once thought. The first task she set upon was to find a pistol with a good capacity and a reasonable amount of stopping power. Choosing the firearm took less time than choosing a holster. She focused on what strap would sit comfortably but securely around her waist. Keeping one at the ankle, she felt, was too risky to rely on.

"You remember, Tenzin, the Pagian professor and diplomat who were taken hostage by mercenaries a few years back?" Eris asked as she stared down the sight of a Styer AUG, one of her favorite pieces. These were standard issue in the Pagian Infantry and although she served for Haktiva and never carried one while in uniform, she had the great pleasure of firing one at a private shooting range where she had better results than she could have hoped for.

"I can promise you that I won't be caught dead sobbing on camera and begging bandits for my life. Tali knows my brother would never speak to me again."

[Haktiva]

"Ah yes, I remember that. Quite bad for relations at at the time, but a lot of secrets were found under the dome", Tenzin replied, checking the charging handle on a TAR. "Oh and about your brother, he's still missing isn't he?"

Benjamin was serving as an guard on a government freighter, escorting sensitive cargo, but the ship had gone silent after it had reached international waters. That was four months ago.

[Page]

"Benji and I were raised by survivors, and we're survivors ourselves. And without me knowing anything, I have to believe he'll come back" Eris told Tenzin. She said it with conviction, with a firm tone that no one could doubt she at least believed her own words. Of course she believed he'd be fine. The only thing that truly hurt was knowing how much riskier of a life she had led than her more level-headed brother - just evidence of a total lack of rhyme or reason to the universe, she felt.

Eris opened her locket and pulled it from around her neck. There was a picture of her family from a camping trip her parents and brother had gone on while she was making up some high school exams she'd missed due to a particularly bad case of the flu. Illness was another thing that always vexed her, more evidence of the unfair nature of life, that there were things a gun or knife one couldn't seek protection from.

"So I take it" Eris said, hoping to change the subject, "that a man as well equipped as you has some classy transportation ready to go when we head out. As you know, I do know how to fly."

[Haktiva]

"From private trains to helicopters, I have it all, or rather the Moyase Group does", Tenzin replied. "However, what we'll be taking depends on where we're going. Now the artifacts we're looking for are spread throughout the world. How they ended up there is still to be determined, though traders, looters, natural disasters and human stupidity can certainly be counted among the most likely of reasons"

Tenzin produced a tablet form his coat pocket, tapping it a few times and a small holographic map being projected, a subtle blue light filling the armory. tenzin tapped the tablet once more, and several red dots appeared on the map as well, several landin in countries other than Haktiva.

"These are the points we've been able to decipher. As you can see, a lot of them are outside out territory. Now I've tried to get things done smoothly, but of course governments and locals have been less than cooperative", Tenzin said. "As a Haktivam I can you can imagine how we'll have to go about this at times".

[Page]

"You would know better than I where we should start" Eris admitted to Tenzin. And if any of the artifacts wound up in Page, we can save those for the peak of summer, she thought too. Lady Alison still held some diplomatic sway and Eris was optimistic she could be of help if they wound up crossing borders; then again, it seemed to her that it was the Haktivan nature to do what needed to be done rather than ask permission, and maybe that is what Tenzin truly meant.

[Haktiva]

"We'll hit the ones closest to home, of course, but in the meantime we have people scouting the suspected sites", Tenzin replied, leading her out of the armory. "We'll be sure to set up labs on sight, rather than risk bringing them all back here, and hopefully we'll pick up more people like you along the way"

Tenzing grinned at Eris' perplexed expression. "No I don't mean I'm making this known to the public, but I find that when you set yourself on something, someone is going to take notice. And when they do, well the old saying is to offer one hand but arm the other right?"

As Tenzin said this, they stepped out into a loading bay more fit for a military base than a corporate headquarters. VTOL aircraft were powering up, mercenaries and scientist were filing in and machinery was being moved. It was if Tenzin was planning his own invasion.

"And certainly have quite a few hands, don't I?"

[Haktiva]

MIB HQ, 1700Hrs
"Noveria! Moyase's on the move and so are we!", Sohara announced as she stepped into the room, adjusting her body armor as she did so. The rest of the team immediately dropped what they were doing and begin to don their gear, retrieving it form their wall lockers with practiced speed.

"Where's he headed?", Zen asked, grabbing his weapon and performing a quick functions check.
"A little island just off the Western Coast. It saw heavy fighting during the Arcadian War, so expect some leftover ordinance and a lot of mercenaries mixed in with the wreckage", Sohara replied.
"They didn't think to fix the place?", Alex asked, tightening the straps on his helmet, making sure it held close to his head, down past the ears with enough room for his communication devices.
"The Moyase Group bought the damn place, so it's been closed to the public while they've been digging up Tali know's what", Sohara stated.
"Don't they have drones or satellites watching him? Why do they need us?", Max asked, tightening his boot laces.
"We're the rapid response team in case something goes crazy. We're not to engage unless necessary"

Satisfied, the Spectres finished gearing up and sprinted to the helipad, knocking down several technicians and analysts as they did so.

Their uniforms were the iconic digital camouflage of light to dark green, brown and tan in random patters, their helmets and gear matching their trousers perfectly. Their body armor was among the best in the world, able to stop even some of the new Pagian armor piercing rounds made from materials extracted from Mars, though that was mostly in theory. The armored vests also featured a load bearing system remarkably improved over the MOLLE system used by most militaries, a type of lock system that went limp when needed and tightened up on command, controlled by mostly idiot proof locking systems on the inside just next to each arm strap.

They jumped onto the waiting aircraft as its rotors were already spinning, kicking up dust and other debris around the area. Sohara made a few hand signals and the pilot nodded in response, the helicopter taking off and the doors shutting, their path already set by the data they had gotten from the Moyase Group fleet.