Blood of a Thousand Stars: The Cactir Massacre (IC)

[Camelone]

The Cactir System was one of the very first systems settled by the exiled humans, it was the closest to the warp gate. Seven planets make up this system with the Soviet Socialist Republic of Fratri holding the 4 innermost planets, the most mineral rich but least inhabited, the Res Commonwealth holds the next 2 planets in the system, the greatest populated and the bread baskets of the system now in severe ruin. The last planet in the system is the only planet under Holy Exul Empire control and is really only a supply depot sparsely populated by underground settlements. Fighting here has already been going on for a few months now and the corpses of starships litter the space between planets along with the near constant flashes of skirmishes, planet fighting has been reduced to trench warfare with the planet of Fuxing being the focal point of all three armies, fighting intense with a few cities reduced to rubble from constant shelling and firefights. Even through all of this something seems off and that has almost every soldier, Exul, Fratri, and Res, on edge and tense. Something is coming and the tidal wave of death is fast approaching.

OOC: http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=368998&p=27766705#p27766705

System: Cactir
Planet: Fuxing
Sherman Argea
The freezing wind seemed to bite into the very core of his body as he sat near the front of the trenches head lowered as he tried to catch some sleep before either the Fratri or Res decided to storm into no mans land like blind fools. Mines were everywhere out there and than there were the machine guns, rockets, snipers, and of course the rifles that will no doubt bark at them if they went over the top, a common circumstance he found himself in, he checked the meter on his computer and saw that there was still poison gas in the air. A cloud of death hung low over the killing fields "Humans always find a way to make everything a death dealer even the very life giving force of the air." He mumbled to himself after a large burst of wind through his plans to sleep into the trash.

Crouching as he got up he went over to the scope to scan the other trenches, artillery rounds were being set off by all sides, noticing the familiar flash of long range artillery he yelled out "Hunker down!" And instinctively all the soldiers in ear range dived down into a small ball or jumped into a sunken patch of ground or even a small room. General Sherman fell down and curled into a ball as the rounds began slamming into and around the trench, thankfully more around than actually in.

It seemed like an eternity before the explosions stopped and Sherman calmly pushed himself off the ground, the cries of wounded and the weeping of shell shocked soldiers replaced the deafening explosions of the artillery. Signaling a messenger over, a more secure means of transmitting information that has a low chance of being intercepted, he grabbed the man by the collar and looked him directly in the eyes "Tell the commanders to scatter their firing to clear out those minefields and keep those bastard's heads down! Mobilize the infantry and armor we will take those trenches by the end of the day! Also blast the March of the Valkyries let them know they are dealing with the finest of Natri!" He yelled as his ears were still ringing from the bombardment, letting go of the messenger and giving him a push he sent him off on his way sprinting through the zig-zag's of the trench network. The faint crack of sniper rifles could be heard as Exul snipers were dueling with their Fratri and Res counterparts, a snipers head flung backwards as he toppled off of his position a gapping hole in his head his partner began screaming "Fuck you!" Wildly as he began shooting randomly into the general direction of the shot that killed his friend. Grabbing the soldier Sherman pulled the soldier from his position a few seconds before another shot ripped through the air where the young man was previously standing.

Slapping the man Sherman screamed "Get a hold of yourself soldier or do you want to join your friend in death? Do you think you can honor his memory by getting a hole in your head also?" The man shakily nodded before he knelt down next to his friend and began crying as medics started to move the body. Sherman returned to the scope and began looking through it again, awaiting for his men to get ready for the assault that would hopefully collapse this front in favor of the Holy Exul Empire.

[Zepplien]

Aleksandra leaned back against the dirt wall of her trench, reading the latest issue of Revolution! a comic book series published by the Fratri Ministry of Information that detailed a fictional Res girl who clambered for revolution against her decadent and corrupt government. Though it was a fiction, Alek felt every success and failure of the Res Comrade as she struggled to free her people, and was constantly harassed and halted by those who refused to see the light of Comrade Stalin. Her smile dissipated as she heard the crack of artillery hurling their payloads high into the skies only to come back to like bats diving onto their prey, killing all who lay in their path. "Comrade Commissar!" came a familiar voice of the gunnery officer that often harassed her to sign off on his orders, the shorter and pudgy man climbing over the collapsed mound of dirt from the side of her trench that she had used to get some privacy. He thrust out some paper that he no doubt wanted her to sign, the font indicative of orders from General Krukov, and her eyes quickly confirmed that to be the case. Her chest heaved slightly "What is it this time Comrade? Why must I countersign these orders?" the Gunnery Officer leaned over her to indicate the order the use of Sarin gas on the Exul trenches, voiceing his fear "Comrade Commissar, I feared using such a weapon without authentication from my local representation of the Will of the Party." he pulled at his starched collar even as she pulled a pen from her pocket, and signed her elegant signature along the page "Please proceed with the deployment of this gas, we will have penal mine stomper battalions here by sunrise to pave the way for our attack on their trenches. Do your job Comrade, the Party smiles on obedience." going back to her comic book as he saluted her. Her ears were used to the sound of their daily early morning bombardments that came more regularly than the trains did on Tereshkova IV, though what she was less used to was the shells actually impacting her trench.

She sprinted for cover, her precious comic book shoved inside her water proof overcoat as she tried to get her way through the narrow trenches with corpses manning the machine guns, and ammo crates that lay where their bearers had dropped them in haste to escape. She felt a weight against her back, and knew she was done for, it was doubt shrapnel that would soon deliver her to darkness everlasting, end her life in the name of the state. When she opened her eyes, she realized that it wasn't the void she feared in death, but just that someone had thrown her to the ground to save her from an artillery shell, the long haired sniper slowly getting to her own feet with a look of wonder as great as Alek's at not being dead. She offered a cocky smile to the commissar, picking her rifle up to return to her post "Sorry comrade, I didn't mean to abandon my post to save your life." the sniper clearly having heard tell of the strictness of their commissar. Alek couldn't help but let a smile appear on her face as took an outstretched hand from the woman to help her get back on her feet "I suppose I can over look this on" she was probably going to say 'once' if an Exul bullet had not torn through the head of the woman she was speaking to.

Aleksandra couldn't remember screaming, but when riflemen came running they told her she had screamed very loudly when the shot meant for Alek had torn through her comrade. Through her shock and nausea she indicated the machine guns to her loyal riflemen, loudspeakers voicing her fear "All troops, adopt full defensive posture, send casualty lists to the central command when runners become available." and like a less dramatic sytheless reaper, Alek went to the bodies of the dead and dying soldiers, making note of each one's name, and putting those who couldn't be saved out of their misery.

Truly, it was a glorious day in the Fratri Red Army

[Camelone]

An hour passed before the messenger ran back to him, this time though he was in one of the command bunkers coordinating the assault with his commanders and logistic officers, a priest stood off to the side praying quietly. Snapping a crisp salute the muddy and exhausted messenger said "Sire the commanders have completed your request and they are in need of new orders for the assault, what should be their time frame for bombardment?" His back straight and in a perfect rest position, he did not want to show disrespect to General Sherman, not because he feared him but because he respected him immensely.

"Tell them that they are to bombard the enemy trenches every five minutes for five minutes than wait five. Lull them into a rhythm but once an hour is reached tell them to focus on the back trenches and scatter shot into the front trenches until I give the signal to cease firing once our troops get to close to the enemy trenches. Understood?" With a nod from the messenger he continued "Now I also you to tell the knights to prepare their spider tanks and speeders, they will muster slowly and scattered around the front during the first stage of bombardment. Once we go over the top they will kick into high gear and pepper the front trenches and also pinpoint and eradicate any machine gun nests they find to pave the way for our infantry. Understood?" With another nod of the messengers head he motioned with his hand that he was dismissed and the young man quickly left to fulfill his duties.

Turning back the map in front of him and the infantry commanders "I want Grenadiers and Crusaders to be near the front with regiments of our rank and file fighting beside them, experienced and green units, the second wave will charge a minute later completely made of rank and file, the exact same orders go for the final wave, tell all men to deploy their bayonets with a full discharger. I want unit snipers to follow the other infantry units but only to get to advantageous sniping positions, they communications network will be synched with that of the speeders and tankers so they will catch where the machine gunners are and aid in eliminating them and taking out enemy snipers."

The commanders nodded in agreement with one of them asking "Sire where will you be during this charge?"

"With the first wave my friend, the men need to know they are not led by cowards and if I die than it is merely the Almighty calling me home." Sherman responded, many of the commanders knew the answer before Sherman responded and they admired him for it "It is also a good thing to die alongside my brothers if I am to meet the Almighty, a son return from hell itself shall be heartily received by Our Lord and St. Peter." He continued before he dismissed them to do their jobs.

An hour later
The pounding of artillery passed the five minute mark, everything gathered together perfectly so far and the banner men of the many infantry regiment took their spots in the formation, their heavy personal shields glowed slightly alongside their attendants, men who would take up the banner if the other was killed so the standard was never left on the ground for to long. Raising his saber the men began crouching a bit to vault over the trench quickly and begin sprinting. With a shout of "God send the right!" General Sherman went over the top followed quickly by the many soldiers behind him the whirling of machinery and engines could be heard as the spider tanks and speeders roared to life and were doing their job perfectly, locating machine gun nests and taking them out with precision and explosive power.

Snipers were keeping heads down and the Grenadiers and Crusaders were launching grenades from their launchers after Sherman sent the signal to halt the bombardment and the dust began settling again to only reveal a hail of Exul plasma and grenades hurtling towards their trenches, grenades landed in the trenches causing immense confusion and mayhem. Screams of charging infantry and the wounded mixed together to produce a horrid song that Sherman was sure would be what the devil listened to. They closed the distance before much resistance could be given due to the shock and awe tactics utilized. Sherman jumped down into the Fratri trenches and saw one of his men stab a bayonet through a Fratri soldiers chest and activated his discharger sending the body off his bayonet and dead, the wound fried from the large amount of electricity used to throw the body off. Turning quickly Sherman parried a bayonet lunge with his saber and put a bullet between the soldiers eyes that tried impaling him. Straightening out he began walking, with his gas mask and the dust in the air he looked like the reaper himself. He whirled his saber around and brought it down as he side stepped another strike from a Fratri slicing the mans hand off and quickly decapitating him before his hand even hit the ground.

[Spindle]

CIC
Vinyard Bat
Cactis System

As soon as the Vinyard Bat broke out of hyper and arrived back into realspace, Allen beheld the beginnings of a total clusterfuck. Across the entire Cactir system, ships were engaging and mauling each other in order to secure the various important assets spread out throughout the system. Planetary populations counted only lowly on the list of important assets, he guessed grimly. Goddamn this war. It was making what should be an easy run into a run through the gauntlet.

So, how to do this? If he went dark and coasted...well, he might make it to the planet's orbit but, assuming no-one set a prize crew on him, he'd still have to get through the AO and AA to get to his target. Frankly, three minutes of being shot at while he waited to reach the surface sounded about as enticing an idea as shooting himself in the hand. So what other options did he have?

Staying lit up would let him build up a sizable velocity for when he hit the atmosphere, but it would also force him to put up the IFF of any one of the three belligerents, inviting anyone from the other two factions to fire upon him, or else put up no IFF and then risk having anybody fire upon him. As a side-option, he could put up any one of the smaller powers' IFFs he had saved to the Vinyard Bat's computers. That ran the same risks as putting up no IFF: if anyone cross-checked them and decided that the intrusion was an act of war, and that the nation he was masquerading as was small enough to not matter, they could open fire with impunity.

So in other words, lighting up wasn't an option and shutting down wasn't much better. Neither was an acceptable course of action. So how could he go about this? Stealth was improbable without going dark and the Vinyard Bat couldn't fight its way through a fleet or three to get to the planet. For perhaps a minute, Allen sat in his seat, staring at the small screen which was showing him the clusterfuck which was the Cactir system. Then, he began to move.

The first thing he did was bring up the dozen or so IFFs he had in his database. Then he split each one into the main pattern which defined it and further split those into hundreds. Then, taking each hundredth, he pieced together a new signal, one which was sufficiently IFF-ish to make it obvious what it was but not affiliated with any political or paramilitary entity that any of the players here would recognise. He had become a total unknown. A small smile flitted across his face as he inputted it as the ship's identification, then he punched a command in to the engines to bring them to full acceleration with a whispered prayer that the people in this system were politically savvy enough to keep their distance. Or at least hold their fire.

[Camelone]

Due to the new IFF popping up on the three belligerents displays their respective admirals called to allow it to pass by but it didn't stop the battle from raging around the planet, Fuxing had three moons and fighting was taking place on those also due to them being staging and repair points for their enemies. Fighters kept up their dogfights flying way to close to the Vinyard Bat but through the chaos pilots could hardly register how to stay alive without having to worry about a new ship on the stage. A Exul corvette was rammed by a Res frigate splitting it into two right in front of the path of the Vinyard Bat another ship was reduced to slag for an instant before hardening rapidly from the sun cannon of a Exul dreadnaught, the gargantuan ship began slowly maneuvering towards a Res wing of cruisers.

This battle was absolute chaos and confusion, fighters zipping back and forth and bright flashes lit up the space either signifying a ship exploding or shields activating in overdrive.

[Spindle]

CIC
Vinyard Bat
Cactis System

When it became apparent that no ships were hitting an intercept course for the Bat, Allen let out a breath he didn't even know he'd been holding. A moment later, the tension returned. He was going to have to make a break for it through the middle of this insane firefight. Not on the top of his to-do list even at the best of times...and this was certainly not the best of times. Not by a long, long way.

It helped that the Bat was operating a military-grade inertial compensator. He was never going to comment to the authorities as to how he'd gotten it, but it certainly helped in the situations were those tiny vector changes made the difference between life and death. And right now, he was glad of the fair number of more-or-less illegal activities which had earned him the damned thing.

The battlespace was pure, unadulterated chaos. He could barely see anything behind the flare of weapons and shields, the infrared band being almost completely swamped by the sheer magnitude of the total discharge...far beyond anything the Bat could do even if her LASERs were firing infrared. And the battle was managing to do that just from the heat buildup on the weapons! It was almost beyond belief, had he not seen it with his own eyes.

Thanks to some deft maneuvering, the worst of the carnage was avoided. Still, so much was going on in such a small volume of space that it was impossible to miss everything and at several points frantic evasion was necessary to avoid a misplaced kinetic slug or missile, or even shrapnel. By the time an Exul Corvette was savagely bisected by a frigate's desperate ram, they were at the edge of the combat, breaking through to the off-blue skies below them.

With a noticeable juddering, the Bat hit Fuxing's atmosphere, engine screaming to slow the ship down, in conjunction with the resistance from the air now tearing around the ship like a pack of daemons. A red glow began to suffuse parts of the ship's exterior and the juddering increased in ferocity. Allen just knew that his quarters would be an absolute mess after this was done...assuming it was still attached to the rest of the ship.

[Camelone]

On the planets surface the fighting was beginning to pick up again on the front due to the Exul charge, the battle was currently raging in the trenches so all the artillery was doing now was to try and keep fighters and bombers away from their friends. Luckily for Allen the IFF that the Vinyard Bat was emitting was picked up by the gunners and they did not open fire on his ship nor did any fighters scramble to attack it due to its unknown origins and no one wanted more enemies to fight as of now.

The city itself was being fought house to house with forward observation posts being moved back and forth nearly every few minutes, here the fighting ranged from knife and shotgun range to sniper duels. Armor was lumbering through to take out any entrenched positions but they ended up being taken out more often than the other way around.

[Spindle]

CIC
Vinyard Bat
Fuxing's Atmosphere

Some of the tension left Allen's body when it became apparent that no-one was going to shoot at him. It was going to be an interesting enough mission without having to deal with a curtain of AA fire on the way down...although he wouldn't be surprised if the thin protection his IFF was granting would dissipate as soon as it became obvious that he was extracting somebody...or earlier if someone looked at it in enough detail. Well, it was a valid assumption that the combatants would have more on their minds than his IFF.

The extraction point appeared below him: the target's house. A grand, sprawling affair, it both rose into the sky and spread into the city, and he could see that there was a fair number of soldiers and a worrying amount of armour headed for it. from all three of the factions by all appearances. What the frag was going on? Perhaps this was not the best situation for him to be landing into...but a contract was a contract, even if it did feel like a suicide mission by this point. Why hadn't the rich idiot moved offworld before the fighting had started? Was that really too much to ask?

The engines roared back into life and Allen felt the g-forces hit him like a physical blow. His body was crushed down into the pliable seat, the chair beginning to envelope him slightly as if about to consume him. He blacked out for a moment, coming to with the slight thud which told him that the Bat had touched down on the ground relatively intact. Or, in this situation, on the landing pad jutting out from the roof of the building. Hitting the quick-release on his straps and shrugging on an overjacket as the ramp lowered. Scanning the rooftop, he saw no signs of his client. Typical. He'd arrived bang on time and the rich bastard wasn't even out here.

"Hey!" He called into his comm, using the band his employer had provided, "I'm here! Would you mind getting a move on? There's the better part of a battalion headed this way and I have no intention of being here when they arrive!"

[Zepplien]

Alek watched her pocket watch from her safe dugout, this was the first time in an hour that the bombardment was not five minutes long. She looked over at the rifemen in the dugout with her as she called "Five." and the bodies silently listened the the gently thumps of impacts far above their heads. She knew the timing of the Exul was never a mistake, and this had to mean something, in her gut she knew it had to mean something, but what. The Ockham's razor told her that it was that they were trying to throw her off of the pattern to confuse her and make her ask that question, but that was just too simple to put past the men who resisted the will of the people this long. It was a hunch, she would be the first to admit, but she was willing to go with her hunch when it came to her life, and lives of those around her "Fix bayonets." to which she silently added 'hope you don't have to use them.'. As she waited however, she felt her usual cough come to her lips, covering her mouth with a white handkerchief, reacting with no surprise when it came away bloody, the heavy industry of her home world leading to a myriad of respiratory diseases.

The impacts died down a few minutes later, and the soldiers filed out of the dugout, one of the snipers climbing to the edge of the trench to watch through his glinting scope, before the gentle tap of their railgun ended the life of some zealot "Comrade Commissar, looks like they are preparing to charge the trench." he reported, causing Alek to nod and point to the large rapid fire railgun "Get on the machine gun, open up as soon as you see them. Take down their banners first, the Capitalists will break and run as soon as they seen the banners of their precious god fall." and when offered by one of her comrades, the young Commissar took the periscope to watch over the trench. She could see them as they came over the top of the trench, a scream billowing from inside her chest "Light them up!" the railgun rattling off metal shards that tore down the men closest to the banner men they had been told to aim for. Her eyes then set upon the spider tanks that climbed from behind the lines to aim for their machine gun nests, and she screamed "Get the second gun ready." trying just to be heard over the clatter of the machine gun. As she predicted her comrades on the machine gun gave their lives for the country, and more importantly they lost one of the few machineguns they had at their disposal.

Alongside a dedicated loader, Alek helped pull the bodies and slag of railgun from the side of the trench, before pointing to the sole other machine gun they had "Set it up, keep firing!" her riflemen doing what they could to stem the tide of Catholics with a death wish, and her hand brushing against the revolver she wore on her hip was enough to force the men to comply with her orders. A messenger came running to her, from father down the trench, the young woman panting as she delivered her message "Their soldiers have overrun part of our trench. They are pouring through!" Alek indicated her comrades with her index figure "Comrades, you will hold this trench for as long as you can, our second trench will mow down anyone who tries to get out of this trench, friend or foe. Better to die for our country than to die a coward." grabbing a rail rifle and checking its charge before running the direction the messenger indicated to rally the troops.

She clasped her rebreather over her nose and mouth as the stench of death grew, and the screams of men became unbearable. She spotted the crusaders who had defiled her countrymen, and yelled to the soldiers following her "Not one step back comrades!" and in typical Fratri fashion the riflemen with bayonets surged forward against the well armed and armored troops. There were no individuals there, it was only a force of nature that poured over the Exul commandos that emptied clips into the tsunami of bodies. It was hard to determine if the Exul soldiers were actually stabbed, or just trampled by the endless sprint of soldiers that poured past their Commissar.

[Camelone]

Sherman noticed that they were losing momentum quickly in the trenches and spotted a counterattack forming, ducking down and hiding in a cleared bunker Sherman gave the speeder knights an order "Knights I need you to power up your lances and carve a bloody path through that human wave, our men can not hold up for long in the open." An affirmative was relayed to him and the general could see the blue glow of the speeders powering up their anti-personal rams, or lances as the knights liked to call them, and begin speeding into the Fratri mass of bodies in a standard diamond formation. Sherman thought he could hear the faint sound of an old Earth song blaring from one of their speeders.

Shaking his head at the eccentric nature of the knights under his command Sherman began rallying the men around him to charge towards the area where the mass of bodies came from. "Forward unto the breach for our Earthly lord and Heavenly Lord!" He shouted as he began sprinting with his men through the trenches screaming as they fast approached a section of Fratri riflemen just about to go over the top and began carving a bloody path through their surprised foes. A shout of "It's Baron Bones!" was heard from a few of the Fratri soldiers as his exploits were widely known and his skull breastplate had a skeleton on it making him easily distinguishable on the battlefield. Though for some reason they thought he was nobility, Sherman was very flattered by that.

"Keep moving men! Keep up the momentum!" Sherman hollered unloading his sidearm down the trench before returning to cover to reload. While he was reloading a Fratri jumped down on top of him and they began rolling around on the ground trying to get the upper hand over the other one, Sherman punched the man repeatedly in the face before his hands loosened up around his neck. Taking advantage of this Sherman kicked the man off of him he grabbed the man's rifle and began bashing him with it until he stopped moving, the bayonet thankfully broke off on his chest piece.

Standing up again he calmly finished reloading his pistol and raised his saber again "Come on brothers we still have work to do!" He shouted before he charged again followed by the cheers and stomping of feet of following Exul soldiers bayonets leveled, their dischargers probably very low on charge, he thought he saw some just charging with a knife and trench shovel.
(song being played by the knight)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVBAeS5t5nc

The Xin Estate
"I apologize but I still need to gather the last of my companies classified technology and maps, if any side got these things would just get worse." The man replied over the comms, a few of his guards came rushing out they looked to be stepping out of feudal China instead of a highly advanced mansion. They ran up to the ship and began signaling for Allen to get ready.

[Spindle]

Exit Ramp
Vinyard Bat
Fuxing

Allen felt his eyebrows creeping up his face when the guards stepped out of the mansion, added with the man's comments to have them stretching his eyes almost comically wide. But really...swords? He shook his head to himself before getting his face fully in order and turning to head back into the CIC. A boom-thwack and the Bat's sudden judderings indicated that some kind of heavy weapon must have hit the building...either a missed shot or else deliberate. Knowing his luck, it was probably a deliberate shot. Which raised all sorts of interesting questions about what exactly it was down here that the factions were so interested in. Technology he could understand, but maps? Maps of what? Or perhaps, maps to what?

"All right." He replied, "But if things get too hot down here, I'm bugging out. With or without you."

The Bat's engines fired up, the wind whipping the guards' hair about and the heat causing the very air to shimmer, like a mirage. The Bat lifted off of the ground slightly, holding itself perfectly still with the entry ramp perhaps an inch off of the ground. Over the lip of the landing platform, Allen could see more and more soldiers beginning to close on their position. Another boom-thwack filled the air and the building shuddered, throwing the guards off-balance. Allen's hands gripped the controls so tight that his knuckles where white. His instincts were screaming at him to go, to leave. To get the Hell oaway from this clusterfuck and live.

"Just a little longer." He murmured to himself, keeping an eye on the rear camera, "Just a little longer..."

[Camelone]

A minute later a man dressed in the clothing of a Confucius scholar came scrambling out of the estate followed by a squad of spear bearing guards. They ran as fast as they possibly could to the ship and the man was carrying a large pack on his back that was slowing him down considerably. When they were halfway through the courtyard Res soldiers burst into the estate, quickly the guards opened fire with the spears firing searing hot plasma at them while they made sure to protect their charge. Thankfully for them Exul and Fratri soldiers busted in a few seconds later leading to a four way fire fight that the man took advantage of and jumped into the ship with the assistance of the two sword bearing guards who quickly redeployed their shields and using their swords to blast plasma at the intruders.

A disciplined withdrawal followed as the guards slowly moved to the Vinyard Bat and jumped in as the other soldiers were occupied with each other. Inside the ship the scholar ran over to Allen frantically saying "Get us out of the city now! We need to go to Huihuai Base in the southern mountains! Punch in these codes!" He handed him the coordinates and slumped up against the wall clutching onto the bag like his life depended on protecting the secrets within it. "They're coming. They're coming..." He repeatedly said to himself disturbed by something unseen.

On close inspection one could see a mental implant at the base of his skull that stretched up to the inside of both of his ears, something odd as the Heavenly King of Cactir forbid any implants whatsoever.

[Spindle]

That minute was one of the most tense Allen had ever gone through. Time had slowed to a crawl, every second bringing with it the promise of death by some, unknown means. Perhaps a SAM, fired by one of those Res soldiers? A shot from a Fratri tank? Or a fighter swooping out of the skies to unleash fiery Hell upon the Bat with missiles and cannon? He could hear his heart, pounding in his ears like some maniac on a drum, thumping louder and louder in a deafening crescendo until it took up his entire world.

The target burst out of a door, almost startling Allen into kickstarting the launch for a moment before he registered them as friendly. And...spears? Wow. These people were really going for the authenticity bit over actual combat ability, weren't they? Allen shook his head once more, a small chuckle bubbling up in his chest, partly from relief and partly from the sheer comedic mismatch of it all. They wanted to fight guns with swords and spears? He hoped they didn't have to.

Another door blew off of its hinges in a cloud of smoke and a section of Exul infantry followed close behind it. The chuckle died in Allen's chest. He needed to get into the air as soon as the people were onboard...sooner if things went South rapidly. And...wait, had that just...oh. Well. Perhaps those spears weren't so laughable after all. How on Earth had they managed to fit a plasma weapon into a spear? That train of though joined the mounting pile of wreckage as more doors blew open and Res and Fratri troops began to pour out. Double-checking that all his charges were onboard, Allen pushed the engines to their fullest and the Vineyard Bat shot away from the rapidly-growing firefight and into the skies, IFF deactivating after a rocket shot underneath, fired from somewhere down below. He wasn't going to keep that bullseye painted on his arse if people were shooting at him now.

The target ran up behind him, clutching onto the back of the chair as he babbled frantically into Allen's ear before collapsing to the ground, gibbering to himself. Allen turned around to argue the point with him before seeing the look of absolute terror on his face and turning back to the front. He was too far gone for any logical argument to sway him from this course. It was odd that he was auged and this terrified. Weren't the auged meant to be able to back themselves up in case anything happened to their body? Allen disregarded the thought with a shrug and turned to the autopilot, punching in the coordinates.

The flight took fifteen minutes, with the Bat cruising at mach three throughout. The only noise that could be heard throughout was the low humming of the engines and the continuous gibberings of the scholar. What had him in such a state that he was incapable of...well, anything? And why was everybody dressed like they were living in old Earth's China? Why hadn't he been told about this mountain base? Who was he actually working for? What was going on? The questions dissipated from the front of his mind as the autopilot beeped insistently. They were there...it was time to get some answers. Or some payment.

"Alright, we're at the coordinates." He called behind him, trying very hard to keep the irritation from his voice, "Now what do we do?"

[Camelone]

The head guard walked over to Allen "You must understand our charge hear has experienced an overload so it will take some time for him to recover. I am Captain Wu of the Gate Guard, we are responsible of monitoring any signs of the ancient Warp Gate reactivating and the Most Learned Xin received a blast of signals and codes from the device. The demons are returning." The stoic captain said over the whimpering of the scholar who began sobbing and saying "They're going to kill us all!"

"I've never seen him like this before, he's one of the wisest men in the system… Come we must speak to the Guardian Council, we will quadruple you're pay for incentive." Captain Wu said before he helped the older scholar up and led him out of the ship the same way a father would lead a child. The guards began filing out of the ship a few being carried out and at least two being given the reverence of a fallen warrior.

[Spindle]

CIC
Vineyard Bat
Fuxing

Allen released his white-knuckled grip on the controls as a system from the mountain took control of the Bat's engines and brought them into a slow descent through the almost-horizontal sleet, headed for a partially snow-covered landing platform which jutted out of a sheer granite face, almost perfectly camouflaged to anyone who couldn't already see it. Allen shook his head in disbelief. What was it with these people and landing platforms that dangled over a sharp drop? Was it just an aesthetic thing, or something else?

Eyes flicking behind him, he saw one of the senior guards approaching him-or at least, he assumed the man was senior. His headdress seemed more ornate than the other guards' and his spear was had the hint of filigree in its recesses, forming a roaring dragon in somewhat flecked gold. Most of the words he spoke simply washed over Allen's head, although 'quadruple your pay' stood out from the rush of words. But for the rest: warp gates, codes, daemons and Gate Guard...it was a lot he had to take in. And a lot for him to be sceptical about.

The best he could make out of it was that these people were some kind of order who guarded some kind of gate...or perhaps they guarded people from it? And a Warp Gate? Allen had heard tell of artefacts going by that name, but he'd shrugged them off as some scientists' wet dream. These people were telling him they were real? And that it had somehow...communicated with the man now on the floor and gibbering like a madman? It sounded far-fetched enough to be true and the money was another convincing argument in their favour, so he kept quiet as they landed, the snow sublimating to steam at the invisible touch of the engines.

Hitting the quick-release button and swivelling out of the control chair, Allen joined the odd procession of people out of the Bat onto the platform, one hand raised to shelter his eyes from the snow and the other lingering at his hip, a finger gently tracing out the edge of a holstered pistol. Whatever was going on here, it was enough to keep a probably sane individual in a warzone for months. That wasn't a reassuring thought. And daemons...well, they didn't exist. So what could the guard have been referring to when he talked about them? What was going on here?

[Camelone]

Captain Wu approached a rather desolate side of the mountain and began to speak in a bizarre language, it was like binary was created into a vocal language. The area began shaking rather forcefully and a doorway appeared where the group walked through into a blinding light.

Within the mountain was a vast garden and a seemingly utopian city, there were people, regular people and powerful ones, from every stellar nation in the cluster. Though the Exul, Fratri, and Res citizens still tended to keep their distance from each other. Walking briskly through the city Captain Wu sent his men to a different part of the city before he gestured to Allen to keep on following him.

The architecture and feeling of the entire place was like a combination of Shangrala and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. It took a few minutes of walking before the two entered a circular empty room with platforms arranged in a semicircle with a large stone arch behind each. "The Council will be convening shortly. Each one of those arches connect to one of our minor bases and their leader will be representing the base in the council. Hopefully the Grandmaster of the Order, Most Learned Xin will recover enough to be able to explain the situation. Monks, scholars, scientists, priests, powerful families, and ancient Guardian families will all be in attendance as they will respectively have domain over their sanctuaries." Captain Wu said turning back to Allen describing the situation. Just as he finished explaining the arches began to activate sending out a rush of water like substance before retracting backwards to form a solid portal. One by one councilors stepped through varying greatly from one another, aesthetically, culturally, and how prepared for battle they were.

[Zepplien]

"Not one step back!" Alek bellowed above the crack of guns, and cries of the young who were sent to die on behalf of Christ and Stalin, the blood of both sides soaking into the ground and making it but mud. She heard cries of fear from those who recognized the general who had defied the might of the Socialist Republics for too long, she knew morale would have to be maintained if they were to win the day. If her men broke rank, and all the numbers of the motherland couldn't hold this trench. Without a moment to let her mind catch her instinct she shoved her way through her comrades toward the front of the line their bayonets passing those of the Exul to stab into each other around her, even as she discharged her pistol into the countless Exul soldiers. Their weapons had likely exhausted their clips, and pausing to reload in the trench meant certain death for any involved in such a reload. With her soldiers being pushed back she threw down her rifle and screamed "Pull back, everyone pull back temporarily. Flamethrowers forward!" pulling back with her soldiers behind specialized soldiers who rushed forward and filled the trench with flames.

When her flamethrowers ran out of fuel, she activated the bright red energy shielding that was a luxury in the Fratri Red Army. With the moment of lulled fighting she stepped in front of her soldiers, yelling at the Exul soldiers "Barron Bones! Show yourself, fight me for this trench!" she threw her pistol away as a symbol, though it was out of ammo anyway. She pointed to the Exul line "Comrades need not die when we can settle this properly!"

[Spindle]

Landing Platform
Huihuai Base
Fuxing

Allen frowned as they drew close enough to the mountainside to see that it had nothing cut into it. He glanced around the other people, sure that they would be as perplexed as he. Instead, they all seemed to be perfectly calm and undisturbed. Was their some kind of hidden mechanism which revealed access? Even if that mountainside was only thirty centimetres thick, it would take an enormously powerful set of servos to open it up to the outside world.

As if reading his mind, the Captain, Wu, began to chant something in a language Allen didn't understand. It was harsh and almost chattering, flat syllables speeding out of Wu's mouth like a stampede. Allen rolled his eyes and waited for something to happen. Of course it was going to be chanting. There would be an 'open sesame' at the end as well, and then the mountain would slide open of its own accord.

When the ground began to shake, Allen's first instinct was to check up on the Bat. The ship was rocking dangerously, looking like it was about to tip over at any moment, but she somehow managed to stay balanced until the shaking subsided and Allen turned back to the mountainside. As he did, his jaw dropped.

The mountain actually had opened of its own accord and the group was now heading through the doorway into the blindingly well-lit interior. Stepping past the threshold, he could see all kinds of people, some keeping away from each other with a fair degree of caution but others mingling like longtime friends. Buildings soared up into the cavernous heights of the mountain and clung to the walls like lichen. For a moment, Allen was simply awestruck by it all, before a thought occurred to him: these 'Gate Guard' had managed to build all of this down here without anyone noticing. Just who were these people?

Before he could ask that, Wu gestured for him to follow, the doorway sealing itself seamlessly behind him. Following the Captain, Allen soon found himself in a circular room, with a semicircle of podiums and strange arches inside it. Allen wasn't going to bet against those arches being something he'd never even heard of before. He wouldn't take a sucker's bet like that. The Captain turned and briefly explained the situation, Allen;s eyebrows creeping up his forehead once more. That gibbering lunatic was the Grandmaster of this organisation? Really?

With a soft fizzling, the arches created some sort of translucent gel and through that gel, figures emerged. Some of them were obviously aligned with one of the three powers, some of them looked like everyday people. Some of them wore robes similar to those that the guards had been wearing, others were wearing jeans and t-shirts and yet more were in full military attire. More than one was armed, and a shiver ran up and down Allen's spine. What was going on here? For a moment he considered asking Wu that, but then he realised whatever was happening here would have some preamble. Hopefully, that would be informative as to exactly who these people were and what they did.

[Camelone]

The Trenches
Hearing the challenge Sherman chuckled as he began pushing his way forward and moved in front of his men, throwing his pistol to the side as well. "You are a brave and stupid commissar dear lady. I do appreciate the compliment of you and your men calling me nobility though, it truly is a prestigious thing for a peasant to be called." Sherman joked with his saber in his hands but at rest, his men chuckled at the joke as they relaxed a bit confident in their general.

"How shall we duel? To first blood, disarm, or death? It matters not to me as I will win by the grace of God and for his Imperial Majesty. The Empire will always emerge victorious if I have to say anything about it! Now sword up I will not tarnish my honor by striking at an unprepared soldier." Sherman said tucking his left arm behind his back and shifting his feet to a dueling position. "Ladies first." He said, if it wasn't for the rebreather he could have been seen smirking.

Guardian Council
A man bellowed out "Captain Wu what is the meaning of this meeting?" He was a high ranking Communist Party member in Fratri.

Looking directly at the man Wu said "Mr. Trotski, and this honorable council, I will inform you of a matter of grave concern due to the Grandmasters current state. We have received information that the gate is reactivating, with much more power than when the Earth sent through spies a few decades ago. It is our fear that the Earth is returning to finish us off, what they could not do to our ancestors. It is my proposal as the messenger and regent for Grandmaster Xin that we activate Project Genome and began gathering up the Enigmas. We actually have one right now, I present Mr. Allen, his genetic make up will allow him to utilize Earth technology without inner knowledge or hacking skills that we must rely on." Upon finishing his speech a debate began to emerge between the Council though it looked like the activation of Project Genome would be a go.

Another man stood up followed by a woman, the man was a Exul duke and the woman was a prominent member of Res academia, the man began speaking "We must first ask if Mr. Allen here is willing to help us."

Nodding in agreement the woman continued from where the duke left off "Yes my privileged colleague here does raise a good point. Mr. Allen would you be willing to help us?" She asked while also insulting the duke. All eyes were now focused on Allen to hear what he had to say.

[Spindle]

Guardian Council
Huihuai Base
Fuxing

It took Allen a moment to process exactly what was going on. These people all seemed to be part of the same organisation, the Gate Guards or whoever the Hell these people were. And they were afraid of...Earth? It seemed like Earth had sent a few spies through the last time this Gate had opened, not that he'd known there had been a last time, and now they...what? Were back to finish off the job? Finish what job? Whatever it was, it made his chances of making it out of this, with or without a pay-packet, seem less and less likely. He shouldn't have taken this job, Godamnit.

And then there was some more stuff...Project Genome? Enigmas? Earth technology? This was getting weirder and weirder and nothing seemed to make sense. After all, what the Hell was he here for? He knew nothing about these Gates. He had no clue about Enigmas or Project Genome. At the mention of his name, his head jerked up, mind replaying through the most recent events. A cold fear settled at the bottom of his stomach. They had the wrong person. That was why he was here. They must think he was a member of their organisation...oh, God. He'd have to explain this to them.

"Umm...you've got the wrong guy." He smiled apologetically, "I'm not an Enigma, or whatever you want to call it, and I don't have the faintest clue about Project Genome. I'm just the guy who was hired to get Xin and Wu here."

[Camelone]

"And you didn't think it was odd to be hired by a man on hardly any government records who communicated strictly over unknown channels? Our technology can pinpoint the genetic make up of an individual and yours fit the programmed perimeters, that's why you were hired for this job." An Exul monk explained to him.

A cough was heard and all heads turned to see Grandnaster Xin entering, each individual giving their cultures form of respect. "Mr. Allen catch." He said before tossing a black ball to him, once it touched his hands it began glowing and slowly started to open. "Operative authorized. You may access any documents this unit contains." The orb said in a synthetic voice. "Tell it to go to Operation Omega." Grandmaster Xin ordered, while friendly it held very little room for argument.

[Spindle]

Guardian Council
Huihuai Base
Fuxing

Allen frowned as the Exul put forwards the eccentricities of this job. So they'd been...tracking him? His DNA? He suppressed the urge to laugh: this whole affair was feeling ridiculous. Like he'd crashed on one of the last runs he'd done and was currently lying in a hospital bed, brain going crazy while in a coma. Actually, that could be it. It might make about as much sense as all of this, at least...

A soft cough came from the direction of the entrance and Allen turned to see the mad scholar who had started this whole mess in the first place. It was only when the people around him began to bow, cross themselves or give any number of honorary gestures that he remembered the crazy scholar was the grandmaster of this organisation...whatever it actually was. A small black sphere sailed through the air and Allen deftly caught it before it began to glow and blossomed open, like a mechanical flower. Glancing up as Xin gave the instructions, he looked back down at the orb for a moment before speaking.

"Go to...Operation Omega." He said hesitantly, the words sounding deafeningly loud in the sudden silence of the room.

[Camelone]

"Operation Omega." The device said before it widened larger presenting a holographic display of the star cluster. "It has been concluded by a census of the hive and the Temporal Authority that the exiles have risen to such a level of power that they may present a threat to the Tranhumanist Sol Republic. Authorization of a preemptive strike has been approved, do not give away who it is, only covert ops are authorized. Subdue the primitives by fear and if any further resistance is given after the initial display of power we are to proceed with extermination."

With that the sphere closed back up leaving its final word hanging in the air and the Cactir system highlighted in a foreboding crimson. Silence hung over the air as everyone took in what was just said. Xin brought the attention back to him by saying "This is why I hired Mr. Allen he not only holds the proper genetic code but also specializes in extracting valuable targets from hard to get to places. I would like the Councils permission to allow Mr. Allen the dossier of the other Enigmas currently on Fuxing and by extension the entire Cactir system."

[Zepplien]

Alek pulled her shock baton from her hip as she watched the Baron of Bones as her men called him. Was he truly going to face her in single combat, she knew the Catholics were stupid, but this was over the top. She watched him over the top of her rebreather, her eyes narrowed in confusion at him referring to himself as a peasant, was this 'Baron' truly a man of the proletariat? She turned her mind away from these thoughts, he was a traitor to the people regardless of how he had been born in his 'Holy' Empire.

"We will stop when you yield, no sooner. The love of Stalin and my Motherland shall give me quality unseen in the Red Army. " Alek said to her dueling partner, activating her shock baton as she readied herself to defend. When he said ladies first she charged, attempting to swing her baton with all the skill and grace of someone who had never used her baton on a moving target.

[Spindle]

Guardian Council
Huihuai Base
Fuxing

Allen slowly paled as the orb laid out the bare bones of what was...what? Some kind of invasion plan, from the sound of it. Whatever it was, it didn't sound good for anyone in the system...especially not since it had referred to them as 'primitives'. In fact, hadn't Wu mentioned that he could supposedly use the Earth tech? Was that why he was needed? And who were the Sol Republic? Why did it matter that they were transhumanists? Wasn't everyone nowadays? Why did this orb raise more questions than it gave answers?

Still, it told him that these people might not just be raving lunatics, a thought which pushed him closer to the uncomfortable idea that they might actually be right about him being an Enigma. Time would tell, he supposed. Not that he really wanted it to. As Xin delivered his proposition to the Council, Allen just wanted to start bashing his head against the nearest wall. The entire planet was a warzone, his IFF was unlikely to protect him any longer and these people wanted him to act as their company chauffeur? He was just as likely to get shot down halfway there as he was to get there and back. They'd better pay up for this was all he was going to say.

"How many are there?" He quietly asked Xin as the Council debated.