Voyage Through the Multiverse (Ended) [IC]

[Parcia]

Shadows of the Empire
Coruscant


The St. Augustine would see the ship trying to make an evasive maneuver as they become visible to it. The terrorists pilots in the ships cursing in every language he knows as he tries to turn the ship away from the other ship. The massive craft was sadly not a very maneuverable one, its three large engines while designed to give it great forward momentum meant that if it wanted to turn around it would have to do so slowly and carefully. As it list to the left side it was still moving forward to the cruiser.

The inertial compensators and gravity plating was what kept the passengers and the terrorists from becoming a blood smear on the ships walls, yet enough force was still applied to make a few terrorists lose their balance and nearly fall until they grabbed on to whatever near by objects were there to prevent them from falling to the ground and giving any passengers ideas of trying to be a hero on fight them.

The terrorists all got word from the pilot of a smaller craft exiting from the mystery ship and that it was heading for them. "You two are with me." Said one of the terrorists as they rushed down the hall. A few terrorists that remained in their locations either grabbed random passengers and used them as shields while waiting for the boarding party or they sat with the passengers to try and ambush them.

As the boarding party explore the halls of the ship they would hear footsteps approaching to them quickly. Before they can formulate a plan to attack they would see that it was civilians running towards them. They would hear blaster fire and see a couple of civvies being gun down by terrorists who were after them. Others who were not shot went down as they hope that by acting they were shot the terrorists would ignore them.

The act in truth would have failed but with the survivors down it did allow the terrorists to see the boarding party to which they promptly turn their blasters at them and began to open fire on the group. To make matters more difficult some of the terrorists had bomb vests on them. From the other side of the hall a few terrorists were hiding behind cover ready to ambush the team should the group they are facing fail to kill them.

The pilot in the meantime had an E-11 blaster to use should they reach them. But they were guarded by two terrorists with bomb vests, they can use the threat of them blowing up to slow them down. The pilot let a wicked smile form as he felt his trump card in his pants. The switch to activate the bomb vests in his guards.

Shadow of the Empire
In high Orbit of the planet "Courscant"
UNSC St.Augustine

Cue the Music...

Helen was an ONI AI, a devious one with out many of the moral and ethical constraints her Brothers and Sisters Suffered under, which meant she could do a lot more in these situations. While the Transport began to lumber around, the much more nimble Corvette Kept on its side, the 50mm RAMPART Class Gun turrets came to life and painted the ship with targeting scanners, the pair of ARCHER missile pods doing the same.

The AI, while controlling a large portion of the ship, initiated a broad frequency Handshake with the Transport's ship board computer and audibly chuckled when she was met with rather rudimentary Electronic defenses. Starting up a rather Simple brute force attack, she was able to secure the connection and began to force her way in to the ships basic Computer system with a good portion of her vastly Superior processing power.

She found the rather disconnected and tangled mess of subsystems rather disheartening, finding her progress not blocked by Fail safes or Fire walls, but by malfunctioning connections and simple bad workmanship. Sighing, she pushed on and probed the transports sub systems, finding one thing of use: The Lights.

With a smile, she sent a message to the boarding team. "Detla, get your VISRs ready, im turning out the lights." she gave a countdown and when it hit 0, the lights across the rest of the ship began to shut off. She made a point to get every light system bar things important to life support. She would have loved to shut the ship's engines down, but found her progress blocked by a Fire wall of some what considerable strength, one that would take some time to crack.

Back on the transport, the sudden call out made the ODSTs stop, drop, and take a knee to properly switch their VISRs over to low light mode, doing so just in time for the ships lighting systems to turn off. Turning a corner they found them selves staring down a pair of people. One was obviously an enemy combatant, as he has a pistol to the head of a younger girl, in her Early to Mid teens in the darkness. slowing down, the front two centered their sights on the pair, one Trooper sighting the mans Groin, the other on his head. The tactic was simple, they both fire, odds were one of the two would connect. Getting with in 5 feet of the man they could hear him start to panic and in doing so, shifted the barrel away from the girl's temple.

Seeing their moment, they both fired, cratering the man's Groin and head with a pair of clean shots. The girl yelped and screamed, going to the floor and sobbing. Lilly took a moment to kneel down and turn her VISR translucent, showing her impish features. "Hey, hey, everything is good now, the Hanger should be safe, hug the wall and head down that way and you should be fine." They left her there, sobbing and sniffling. They began to make good time, using the darkness and their near silent step to their advantage.


On the other end of the vessel the Spartan Was making even better time...by using the super human reflexes and 35mph Run speed, on top of Superhuman strength to tear her way through the Enemy as best she could. Normally Petra would never move this recklessly, but these "First Order" shit heads were...they gave the insurrectionists bad names with how poorly they were trained. She dispatched most them with single and double shots to the head or chest, slowing down slightly to aim for the ones hiding behind Hostages or Bomb Vests and doing her best to keep Civilian casualties to a low.

The ODSTs also could never really keep up with her in her full speed and so she never got to let loose like this. After 2 years of being cooped up in slow and steady assassination missions, it was nice to sprint down the hall for once. She arrived ad a door, one she recognized as the one leading toward the small bridge based on the Translated script on the panel next to it. Trying the keypad, it was locked.

Sighing, she retrieved her personal toy: A captured Type-1 energy sword. This was on old prize from killing an Elite Ship master during her days as a Headhunter. Flicking her wrist, the red blade came to life in her hands. While She doubted she could "melt" through it, she could slash it open.

Meanwhile, at the engineering section, the 4 ODSTs entered and the open Engineering bay. As soon as they opened the door, they were met with a hail of red energy weapon's fire, causing the, to dive for cover. They began to pick off targets one by one. They advanced like this too, using the low flight and flicker protection their helmets gave them to disregard the negative effects of the bright bolts of energy. Moving forward, they were presented by a man, clad in a bomb vest with a dead man's trigger. Glancing at each other, Cartwell ordered Lily to ready the "Boomer." with a school girl giggle, she loaded a Non lethal EMP round in to her M319. Aiming center mass, she fired and with a thick "Plunk" the man was on the ground, wheezing.

He gasped and kept trying to detonate the bomb, only for sarge to knock him out. He radioed in to Petra. "Engineering secured, be advised, we do have bomb ves-" He was cut off by the sound of a man screaming bloody murder.

Back in the control room, Petra left the upper body of the man drop, holding the smoking and crackling Energy Sword in one hand, the mans severed Hand (still clutching the detonator, in the other.

The Man groaned and gasped on the floor, the melted remnants of the door be hind her, as well as the smoking corpses of the other two men. "roger that, Bridge is secured, Helen, point me to the Nav Computer and i will get you your star charts."

[Korhal IVV]

Shadows of the Empire
Hosnian System

The Andromeda shuddered as the Musashi slammed her with its super gravity cannons, the red beams of gravitational mass destruction striking the Andromeda's shields like a great hammer of the gods. The bubble shields of the Andromeda resisted and heaved as the stream of gravitons pushed against the defensive barrier of the Andromeda, and when Musashi's unholy barrage of graviton beams subsided, 50% of the Andromeda's shields were down.

Grand Admiral Yi Sun-shin knew what to do. The enemy fleet intended to drown the Andromeda in fire as it was the one of the most powerful warships allied with the New Republic. The Andromeda swiftly engaged its backward thrusters, the blue flames pushing the massive battleship backward as the two Prosperity Class Battlecruisers and the Lunaven moved to cover its retreat into safer space in order to regenerate its shields. The Prosperity Class ships would then give their own surprises as their bows pointed towards a formation of First Order and Venomian ships, which were protecting the Interdictor.

“Ready the Graviton Collapse Cannon.”, Captain Andrea Otero ordered as she stood on the bridge of the Time of Ending. Soon enough, the reddish glow of the spinal cannon glimmered as graviton particles gathered towards critical degeneracy, but as they did so, the mystery ship would be… reformed? And then, the Interdictor was destroyed in a flash as if it never existed. The ship was bodily torn apart, its constituent atoms ripped away from each other like lovers that will never meet one another ever again.

“Abort firing sequence!”, Otero ordered as the window of escape presented itself. As the cannons stopped charging, the entire Terran fleet would align towards a singular direction, and quickly disappeared into hyperspace, never to return.

The Watchers

Ahijah watched the blue cascades of hyperspace pass all over his dreadnought, which was surrounded by a rather small fleet, which was small at least by Terran standards. It was composed of a Solar Class Dreadnought, 12 Murakame Class Standard Cruisers, and 72 Corvettes, half of which belonged to the St. Gloriana Class, and the other half to the Koenigsberg Class. It was just one month after the catastrophic fall of the Intergalactic Alliance to the Abyssal Swarm; the Andromeda fell as those who survived scrambled to flee aboard ships equipped with the newly mass produced multiverse drives, which allowed them to smash through the barrier between universes to enter other realms. Millions of worlds fell and were consumed as the unsatiated hunger of the Swarm drove it forward, and the last bastion of the Federation were Sol, Alpha Centauri, and Epsilon Eridanj, where the surviving fleets and populations of the Terran Federation converged to flee. The other members of the Alliance have either fled through the multiverse barrier, or were wiped out to the last man. In any case, the nations that survived are but a shadow of their former glory. In mankind's case, several billion out of the many trillions managed to escape aboard massive arkships, but even so, the race of man has been humbled by insects and monsters. Still, the fragmented government of humanity hopes to recover its legendary admiral of ages past, and has sent Ahijah, the Defender of Sol, to seek out Yi Sun-shin so that humanity can make use of his talents once again.

“Admiral, the signature of the Andromeda has been detected.”, a voice suddenly called out in the Solar Defender's bridge to Ahijah. It was time.

“Where is it?”, Ahijah asked as he scrambled out of his chair. “Tell us, quickly.”

“Universe 1463, it seems.”, the man replied. “Coordinates are 1376434943.”

“Activate multiverse engines. We are finishing our mission.”

“Aye!”

Trouble was brewing, however… as the ships all diverted their course, an unforeseen catastrophic event will make their stay a much longer one.

[Menschenfleisch]

Dead Man's Party | Avenoir and Mnemosyne

Marcus knew what was coming as soon as Katya made that first statement. He tackled Mnemosyne to the ground just as the corridor exploded, propelling a massive wave of heat and pressure down its length. Polly was too slow to move and was completely bowled over, sent flying down the hall and losing hold of her gun. She lay amongst the shattered remains of a ceramic pot, covered in splinters and shredded plaster. Visibility was essentially nil, as the torn up walls and floor formed this irritating fog that physically hurt to breathe. Mark pulled his sleeve over his mouth, wondering where Delilah's mask was. He checked up on Mnemosyne, who was dazed, but alive. She tried to gasp a question, but he put a finger to his ear, telling her he couldn't hear anything. The eruption had damn well near deafened everyone, the sins included, he assumed. Polly ran through the haze despite her state of near immobility, stumbling and bleeding. She picked out splinters with one hand, and aimed into the dark with the other. He fell in to her side, marching as far in as they could, hoping to find Miria before anyone else.

L-fel | Cassia

Cassandra thought about the question for all of zero seconds before answering. "I can transform into pretty much anything. I'm sure I can fit in your pocket, if that's what's necessary."

[Skylus]

Ganon & Ammy
Dead Man's Party

A flash of white fur. Claws striking the wooden floor.
Then Miria was sitting on Ammy's back, the wolf already running back the way she had came, past Ganon, who was already walking backwards towards the others.
Eventually the group had gotten back together and Ganon looked down at Miria, then Polly and Marcus.
"Are all of you alright?"

Issun was bouncing up and down on Ammy's head yet again.
"DID YOU SEE THAT?! THAT WAS AMAZING! The thing went boom and.....Is it just me or is the hallway now on fire?"

[Naval Monte]

Shadows of the Empire

As the speeder's electronics malfunction due to the force lightening the speeder would speed off and crash into a nearby building. Rohan and the other terrorists would all throw more explosives as he and the others continue to flee. Rohan and the others would see a larger speeder and believing that this was their getaway vehicle the group ran towards it. Just as they are close the group would see a Morrgian gunship shimmer into existence as it's minigun retract open, pointing down at them.

The terrorists aim their blasters at the gunships but before they can shot at the ship the gunship would begin to rain down bullets at them. Rohan and a lucky few would evade the attack by running away while most perish. As Rohan and the others tried to run to an alley they would see several soldiers from AEGIS emerge from the shadows and aim their guns at them, their bodies having red dots painted on them from the laser sight of the guns.

The soldiers all began to open fire at the terrorists, yet none of them were lethal shots. Each one brought down the terrorists but would leave them alive. As the terrorists were down on the ground screaming in pain the gunship would move close to the soldiers and begin to land down. The soldiers looked at Dakoolon. "We need these people alive to get information out of them. But you have our thanks for leading them to our trap." the soldier told the sith lord as the soldiers began to arrest and pick up the terrorist to drag them to the gunships.

---

Ben would see a few drones move forward. "Follow the drones and they will take you where you are suppose to go." the soldier mention as the drones took off. The group didn't follow as another team was sent to deal with the hostage situation. They also don't know that Big Chill can turn invisible like them but for now it was too late to say that for now. The soldiers now were guarding the civilians and making sure the terrorists they caught wouldn't try to break free.

Within the halls of the temple the sounds of chemical rifles and blaster rifles could be heard as bullets and plasma flew in the air. Most of the terrorists fell due to AEGIS’s training in dealing with close quarter combat and fighting at the squad level, the tactical advantage of the thermal-optic camo system installed in their exosuits also gave them an edge. Yet for AEGIS they still moved carefully and were cautious on every movement they made as they knew that one blaster bolt can either severely injury or kill them. This battle would continue on throughout the temple.

Big Chill himself would see a few terrorists wearing old clone and stormtrooper armor firing at the halls, trying to get a few soldiers hiding behind cover as the drones reveal their own miniature weapons and began to open fire at the troopers, getting their attention and making them open fire on the drones and alien.

[Menschenfleisch]

Shadows of the Empire | Avarice and Tone

"Hello."
"Get away from me, freak. Stay back, I've got a gun!"
"Look, I'm trying to help you. Wendy, can I come a little closer?"

'Knox' held up the detonator in her hand, the sky at her back and Avarice at her front.

"Don't you dare. Don't ypu dare use that name! H-how do you know it, anyway!?"
"I know a lot about you, Ms. Saegon, and I know that you don't want to do this."
"Why are you saying this? I just watched you kill five of my friends."
"They're not dead, just-"
"Good as dead! You handed them over to those bastards on the ground. Do you seriously think that they're better off now?"
"They're breathing. They're away from the empire."
"Away from their home. What they've been fighting for."
"No, they're free now. They can't be radicalised any further."

Wendy took a step back, hanging on the precipice.

"That's what you think? That anyone who fights you is just misguided?"
"Anyone who fights, period, is a victim."
"That's not how the world works. Tim, whose nerves you replaced with steel, did this for his family. The First Order offered him healthcare, and a paycheck. This is the right thing to do!"
"You're killing thousands. Can't you see the bigger picture?"
"It must be nice, being that powerful. From up on your ivory tower, you can see us ants running around, fucking and murdering each other. You say I should look at the bigger picture? And then what?! Watch my daughter die, because the Republic doesn't give a shit about the outer rim? Nobody would choose to save a dozen strangers, and have to live through that. Having to experience their world withering, dying for some 'greater good'. What kind of world is that, where we should give up our children for the sake of nobodies? Rich assholes, any one of whom could've paid for her treatment!?"
"Taking life is always wrong, no matter who it's for."
"I don't care if it's wrong!" she screamed. "My child, my family, is more important than me!"

She raised her pistol, and found herself frozen.

"I'm sorry. I've scoured billions of universes, seen almost everything there is to see. I'm above you and as admirable as you are, so small yet so brave... I know what's best."
"That's exactly why you couldn't possibly understand." she strained against the forces that kept her down, trembling. "You think you can just freeze every battle? Take everyone's freedoms, just so they can't hurt each other? If you really knew what was best, you'd convince me. No powers, no inhumanity. You'd talk to me, and convince me that I'm wrong, rather than forcing me to comply!"

Wendy found herself free. An explosion enveloped the tower, shattering dozens the building's supports, obliterating it all. Avarice stood above, watching as the empty spire collapsed beneath her. She clenched her fist and for a moment, the skies seemed just a little bit darker.

[Naval Monte]

Shadows of the Empire

Coruscant's Orbit

While the ODST and SPARTAN took out the terrorists within the liner one blockade runner was close by to see them deploy a pelican to board the liner. After watching the liner and not seeing the ship was now motionless the captain of the ship sent a message to Home One to let them know what was happening. The modified MC80A star cruiser would be an easy target to spot from the bridge, as any ship whose length stretches to kilometers would do.

The crew would get an alert of the large ship wanting to send the crew of St.Augustine a message. Should they accept the message they would see the holographic projection of an alien with salmon-colored skin, webbed hands, high-domed heads and huge, fish-like eyes wearing a white and cream colored uniform sitting on a metal. "This is Gial Ackbar, Supreme Commander of the New Republic fleet. I don't know how your ship manage to arrive without us detecting you earlier but seeing as you somehow manage to stop that vessel from activating it's hyperdrive and ramming into another ship I will assume that you are not working with the First Order."

The Mon Calamari waited for a while to let the captain of the ship to speak. Once they were done he would tell them what is going on. "This planet is called Coruscant. It is the capital world for the New Republic. Right now terrorists tied with an organization called the First Order have hijacked several civilian transport and liners and used them to ram into both buildings and other ships. Other terrorists have planted explosives in public areas and have started mass shootings." he typed down a few buttons on his command chair and a new holographic projection appeared showing a few locations.

"These are the locations that are still seeing combat. The one seeing the most combat right now is the Jedi Temple as only one of our new allies is there to deal with the terrorists that have enter the building. We suspect that they are using some of the tourists that were on the temple before the attack as hostages. We can use your help on rescuing the hostages." The alien would type in more commands and layouts of the temple would appear. "These should aid you on navigating through the temple." Another ringing noise would be heard coming from Ackbar's end.

The Mon Calamari would look at the new screen that was visible from his end and whatever he was seeing made him frown. But he didn't show it for too long as he turn to face the captain of the St. Augustine "Looks like I have other matters to attend to. If agree to help us with this mission than I wish you luck."

[Parcia]

Shadows of the Empire

Coruscant's Orbit

While the ODST and SPARTAN took out the terrorists within the liner one blockade runner was close by to see them deploy a pelican to board the liner. After watching the liner and not seeing the ship was now motionless the captain of the ship sent a message to Home One to let them know what was happening. The modified MC80A star cruiser would be an easy target to spot from the bridge, as any ship whose length stretches to kilometers would do.

The crew would get an alert of the large ship wanting to send the crew of St.Augustine a message. Should they accept the message they would see the holographic projection of an alien with salmon-colored skin, webbed hands, high-domed heads and huge, fish-like eyes wearing a white and cream colored uniform sitting on a metal. "This is Gial Ackbar, Supreme Commander of the New Republic fleet. I don't know how your ship manage to arrive without us detecting you earlier but seeing as you somehow manage to stop that vessel from activating it's hyperdrive and ramming into another ship I will assume that you are not working with the First Order."

The Mon Calamari waited for a while to let the captain of the ship to speak. Once they were done he would tell them what is going on. "This planet is called Coruscant. It is the capital world for the New Republic. Right now terrorists tied with an organization called the First Order have hijacked several civilian transport and liners and used them to ram into both buildings and other ships. Other terrorists have planted explosives in public areas and have started mass shootings." he typed down a few buttons on his command chair and a new holographic projection appeared showing a few locations.

"These are the locations that are still seeing combat. The one seeing the most combat right now is the Jedi Temple as only one of our new allies is there to deal with the terrorists that have enter the building. We suspect that they are using some of the tourists that were on the temple before the attack as hostages. We can use your help on rescuing the hostages." The alien would type in more commands and layouts of the temple would appear. "These should aid you on navigating through the temple." Another ringing noise would be heard coming from Ackbar's end.

The Mon Calamari would look at the new screen that was visible from his end and whatever he was seeing made him frown. But he didn't show it for too long as he turn to face the captain of the St. Augustine "Looks like I have other matters to attend to. If agree to help us with this mission than I wish you luck."

Shadow of the Empire
In high Orbit of the planet "Courscant"
UNSC St.Augustine


The Captain was...dumbstruck. "I...alright then, I guess, I'll redirect my forced planet side..." The Message shut off and he looked over to the Holograph of Helen who, despite sporting the full Greek Women Look, was also surprised. "How...what..." The AI Shook her head. "No Works, Captain, no words."

He blinked twice, and ordered the Pelican to pick up the Team. "Right, Delta, change of plans...it appears the Military Authority in Command has...for no reason I can honestly think off. You will be deploying down to..."The Jedi Temple" what ever that is, and aiding in Anti-insurgency operations. Same ROE, ID your selves as Friendly and insert. Helen will transmit a map of the area to your HUD and you can enter there."

With that order, Whisky landed back in the Transport, the boarding team taking all of 10 minuets to get the ship's controls back over to the Civilians while hog tying a pair living terrorists and throwing them in to a pair of Cryo pods to keep them from getting in to trouble.

The Decision was made to make a show of force, and banking off the idea that the...Non Human Admiral..."Ack-Bar" would notify the Forces on the ground of their trouble. Accelerating to full speed, the St. Augustine, along side the Pelican would descend in to the atmosphere, taking a few evasive turns to avoid other ships.

After 5 or so minuets of travailing, the Corvette descended from the clouds and hung roughly 800 feet above the steps of the temple before canceling out its burn and stopping. Activating its RAMPART guns, the Captain radioed down over open Frequencies, "Be advised Allied assets, We are hear under orders of an Admiral..."Ack-Bar" to provide mission support, will secure the Airspace and deploy counter insurgency team."

He paused. "Is there any one down here who can give me a situation Report?"

[Rostavykhan]

Dead Man's Party

Miria's eyes slowly opened, one after the other. Her vision was blurry, even with her glasses on, although blinking again seemed to clear it up a little. Her hearing was a little dull, too. It was a big explosion, so she would probably be disoriented for a minute. Fortunately, it wasn't as bad as it could have been, and although Miria continued to struggle with her vision for the moment, she wasn't too worried about any permanent damage. She did feel sick, however, from breathing in so much gas...well, and being thrown across a hallway by an explosion. She wasn't as small as Issun, but she was still pretty small, so the force hit her pretty hard. If she hadn't been in Wex's clutches when Katya opened fire, she'd have probably been embedded in the nearest wall.

She adjusted her glasses, which were currently hanging below her nose, and took in a deep breath; the place smelled like smoke now, but it was better than gas.

She felt a sudden lurch, and nearly puked. Her stomach was exploding! Oh, wait...no, she was being bounced around, carried on Ammy's back. Miria was surprised that the wolf didn't send her barreling into Polly and Marcus when they escaped the bad guy's, as fast as they were going. Being dragged and bounced around still hurt, though. Her entire body hurt, so it wasn't a big deal, at any rate. The young woman groaned, and climbed off of Ammy once they were in the safety of their group of friends , tumbling over onto the floor and lying on her back.

"Uuuuuugh, I, like, never wanna do that again."

She coughed, and turned her head to one side, staring up at the two Humans. She still had to squint, but her vision was clearing up. She grinned, showing that she was alright, and turned her head to the other side to look towards Ganon and Issun...then, she jumped up, stifling a scream. She hadn't noticed the dead valet slumped against the wall, with a bullet hole in his forehead.

"Marvelous shot, is it not?", Katya's sing-song voice called behind the group. She stood up, ignoring the pain of banging her head on the floor, and dusted off her blazer and skirt. She'd shown her anger when she'd thought their little friends had made a fool of her, but now she was trying not to grin ear to ear, as pleased by her bombastic - if foolhardy - display as Issun. "Smashing! Absolutely smashing!", She exclaimed, clapping her hands together, pistol still clenched in her left. "Now, that's one down, and we're in the lead! Shall we make that three while these two are down? I have plenty of ammunition to spare!"

[Naval Monte]

Shadows of the Empire

Jedi Temple

The Pelican would not hear from anything from the ground for a while. Instead from the temple they would see a soldier walking out from the building. Their rather drab uniform had the frame of an exoskeleton over them, the visors of their helmet hiding their face. It was clear from the uniform that this soldier did not belong to this high tech world, if anything they seem to have leapt out of the pages of the history book as the uniform look to be a 21st century soldier wearing an exoskeleton that look like something made from the same era.

The soldier pressed his fingers on something with the helmet and soon they would hear an electronic modified voice, making it difficult to tell the gender of the speaker. "I guess the fish wasn't pulling our leg. Glad he advised us about your presence, most of us would have thought you were backup sent to help the terrorists." the soldier said, their voice sounding more mechanical than human.

"Right now in the room that was once used as a meeting room for the council chamber for the monks that use to live in this temple there are hostages in there. The terrorists are most likely using them to talk their way out of this or are just using them as shields to buy themselves some time. Regardless we are going to be sending in a team to take them out. Be advised that our enemy is using direct energy weapons and so far if they don't severely burn you they will kill you. We're planning on distracting them by talking with them about their demands so our team can think of a way to quickly eliminate the targets and save the hostages." the soldier said as they walk to the steps, still keeping their eyes on the ship, stopping as they were close to the edge.

"We got reports of bombs being planted in the temples, a few were already set off but we suspect there is more that haven't. Some of the civilians who survived the attack told us that some of them are planning on destroying the archives to erase whatever information the archives still have. We suspect the hangers might also have terrorists in there as well, no doubt they want to either destroy or steal whatever is left in there. So far these guys are wearing armor from older armies that are now defunct. They seem to be useless against kinetic based firearm which is perfect for us."

The soldier felt wind being blown as some of the gunships that dropped them off were taking off to give the new group space to land. "Be careful though, these guys are a bit different from the other terrorists we've dealt with. They got some training before doing this attack. It isn't much but it's enough to make us cautious on whatever tricks they have up their sleeves. Something tells me this place wasn't attack solely to give the New Republic a symbolic middle finger. This temple might be hiding some treasures left behind by the old order. Well that is what I believe after learning about the history of this place. Either way that is where we stand. A whole temple crawling with maniacs with some spots drawing them together like moths to a flame."

[Parcia]

Shadow of the Empire
"Courscant" Above the Jedi Temple
UNSC St.Augustine


The slate Black ONI painted Pelican would hover for a few moments before moving forward and turning, facing away from the temple as its back end opened and the Ramp came down, the ODSTs The Spartan fallowing close behind. They would fall in to squad formation and approach the man. The Sargent, making his helmet visor translucent and eyed the Solder. "Sargent Cartwell, 173rd Orbital Drop Shock Regiment, that Ship." He pointed to the Corvette. "IS the UNSC St. Augustine, shes here to secure the sky and provide support as needed. Were Special Operations troops trained in Counter Insurgency operations and Situations much like this, My Captain tells me I'm to aid you, so point me and my squad in a direction."


Back on board the Ship, Helen, who had been lazily laying on her simulated reclining couch when she perked up. "Captain...I was monitoring local communication Feeds as you asked me to...I found something you might need to see."

She went on. "I was looking through Advertisements, just out of sheer curiosity to get a feel on their economy...and I came across an Alien message regarding what I think to be advertisements for explorers...Nothing of importance save this." She played the message and paused it towards the middle. "Do you see it?" He blinked and shook his head. She zoomed in on the still frame. "There, in the corner, maybe 20 by 20 pixels...is Hexadecimal code, something that as far as I can tell, doesn't exist here in any form."

The Captain sat up and blinked. "So, I took a few seconds to translate it and I found this:" She translated the Code in to a set of numaric digits and Sean began to translate them.

"21-14-19-3 20-8-5-18-13-15-16-25-12-1-5 3-1....Wait...no...." She nodded, the numbers morphed in to readable letters.

"UNSC Thermopylae CA-143. Phoenix Class Support ship, built by Halifax Ship works in 2476, decommissioned in 2499 as a Civilian ship and refitted along her Sisters the Phoenix - lost in combat over Harvest, Spirit of Fire - Declared missing and lost with all hands in 2534, and the Thermopylae, Last updates had her missing after the battle of Reach, with ONI thinking she was lost in orbit over Visigrad Fleet yards."

He paused. "How is she here?" the AI shook her head. "I don't know, but I also found, in the vary next frame, a set of coordinates. These are standard GEO tag style locators hidden in every program, picture, and video on the Holonet, allowing for Security officials to track these things. Who ever set this message also sent this advertisement, which means they knew they it would automatically generate the coordinates of its origin when it was launched."


He leaned back in his chair. "Holy shit."

[Slenderman The CreepyPasta King]

As the terrorists fired on Ben/Big Chill, none of the bolts would hit as as soon as they began firing the alien went intangible while still staying visible. After he did that he just began walking forward. “You guys are just are firing bolts like it’s the new hottest thing to do, now let me tell you something m. That’s not cool” Ben quipped before blowing on the nearest terrorists with highly consenteated sub -50 Celsius air before going invisible and turning a few more terrorists into frozen statues from the inside out before stopping, looking back and saying, “please tell me this is the way to where the hostages are being kept? Don’t want to freeze people if I can help it.”

Meanwhile Dakoolon just nodded at the law enforcement taking away the terrorists.

[Naval Monte]

Shadow the Empire
Coruscant- Jedi Temple

The soldier looked up as the pelican dropped down to deploy the soldiers, their eyes lingering on the green giant with the group. "Nice ride you got there. You can call me Commander Archer, Specialized Task Force EC-41, "Marauder's Dagger". Counter-espionage, terrorism, and insurgency is my unit's main operations." The group would see two more troopers approaching them.

"These two will lead you to the archive. Keep your eyes out for any bombs planted because we got reports that the enemy still has some left and are using them as traps." Archer warned them. "I will stay here to lead my squad through the HUD. Also if you see a giant blue moth man don't shoot him, he is with us." Archer told the group, either unaware or most likely not caring for how absurd the last parts of his sentience sounds.

Inside the temple the frozen terrorists all kept silent. Ben would need to do more to make them talk. The shapeshifter would hear more footsteps as more people were running fo his location.

[Parcia]

Shadow the Empire
Coruscant- Jedi Temple

The soldier looked up as the pelican dropped down to deploy the soldiers, their eyes lingering on the green giant with the group. "Nice ride you got there. You can call me Commander Archer, Mobile Specialized Taskforce EC-41, "Marauder's Dagger". Counter-espionage, terrorism, and insurgency is my unit's main operations." The group would see two more troopers approaching them.

"These two will lead you to the archive. Keep your eyes out for any bombs planted because we got reports that the enemy still has some left and are using them as traps." Archer warned them. "I will stay here to lead my squad through the HUD. Also if you see a giant blue moth man don't shoot him, he is with us." Archer told the group, either unaware or most likely not caring for how absurd the last parts of his sentience sounds.

Inside the temple the frozen terrorists all kept silent. Ben would need to do more to make them talk. The shapeshifter would hear more footsteps as more people were running to his location.

The Sargent nodded as the team walked up the steps of the temple. "Couple questions, how many civilians are we looking at, Are These Archives EMP shielded, Can we shut off the lights to the archives...and because we highly, highly dislike Blue on blue." He paused and tapped the side of his helmet, sending hits IFF system in to search mode. "Our IFF system is in search mode, we link em together and prevent any friendly fire incidents."

He paused and reached the top. "Petra, the mean gal in Green here, can come in from the top and soak in any damage if she has too. Plan we have so far is to hit them in from multiple angles, cover the exits. The map I have here says there is 2 ground level doors. We shut off the light, toss in a few EMP nades mixed in with some 9-bangs, storm in and take down any one who isn't on the ground puking."

[Naval Monte]

---

"So far ten are confirmed to be hostages but I wouldn't be surprised if the number is larger. We have no clue if the temple's achieves are EMP shield but considering the significance of them they most likely have those shields, than again we aren't taking any chances with them which is why explosive and gauss weaponry are off limits in that room. We don't need to destroy the thing we are trying to save my accident."

When the suggestions of linking their IFF systems came up Archer was silent. During his silence he loo, over to Petra. "Normally what I'm about to do is frown in my organization but because I don't want friendly fire at much as you I will allow our IFF systems to link up. As for lights our hackers manage to get into those systems and a few others." Archer shook his head.  "Their work was rather slow because none of the computers were networked with each other. Right now your idea can work. Our soldiers would sneak into the room unseen and find the right position to take out the enemy in one shot."

[Parcia]

---

"So far ten are confirmed to be hostages but I wouldn't be surprised if the number is larger. We have no clue if the temple's achieves are EMP shield but considering the significance of them they most likely have those shields, than again we aren't taking any chances with them which is why explosive and gauss weaponry are off limits in that room. We don't need to destroy the thing we are trying to save my accident."

When the suggestions of linking their IFF systems came up Archer was silent. During his silence he loo, over to Petra. "Normally what I'm about to do is frown in my organization but because I don't want friendly fire at much as you I will allow our IFF systems to link up. As for lights our hackers manage to get into those systems and a few others." Archer shook his head.  "Their work was rather slow because none of the computers were networked with each other. Right now your idea can work. Our soldiers would sneak into the room unseen and find the right position to take out the enemy in one shot."

He nodded. "Sounds like a plan, if you can get your troops in unseen and ready, we can hit them with shock and awe before they have a chance to detonate."

With that, the team Folded in to the Allied team and awaited the start of their operation.

[Prusselanden]

L-Fel
"Let's yote this trip then." Alemayahu held her hand out to have Cass turn into something that could fit in her suitcase. Jules gently took a seat on Aestus's ray and got ready to take off. The professor in the room fainted.

"Oh shit is this some magic kind of shit?" One of the assistants remained calm and started fanning the professor.

"You're not surprised?" Alemayahu asked the assistant.

"Oh no, I just saw this giant snake god battling this eldritch deity the other day. It's chill yo." He sipped his oversized starbucks coffee. "Just gotta take care of the Dr. here."

"Ok, well...guess we're off then." Alemayahu sat on the back of the ray.

[The Palmetto]

L-Fel

The Lab

Aestus’s axe flew from his back, softening up into a more organic form. It was various shades of gray, and though looking flexible, it still felt hard and armored. Its fins were covered in barnacles, and the ray smelled like a tide pool. It had turned from Aestus’s weapon of choice into a companion and mode of transportation, and hovered just a few inches above the ground. Seeing the professor pass out, it snickered, earning it a glare from Aestus.

“It’s not magic, but the explanation would take too long. Once I know where we’re headed, I’ll get us there in no time,” Aestus said, deploying several crustaceans from his armors. A swarm of crabs dispersed from the god’s armor, spreading across the room in search of any sort of reference. After a few moments, they retreated back into his suit, and he knew just where to go.

“Hold on tight. The ray will protect you, but it’s still a bumpy ride!,” Aestus said, stepping on the ray and making sure everyone was secure. The ray, noticing this, nodded, and tore through several walls in order to get out of the building. Everyone was still secure, thanks to the ray’s complex workings, and after they had left the building, it broke the sound barrier. With a loud bang they were off, and several bangs later they were rapidly approaching California.

After half an hour, they finally arrived just outside of San Francisco, in the Bay Area. The ray flatly touched the ground, and let everyone get off before returning to Aestus. The ray returned to its axe form, and rested on Aestus’s back. Aestus himself stood there in awe of the city, having never seen such a large, modern city in his life.
“So….this is San Francisco? Wow….”

The Park

“I feel the same way,” Irwin replied to Ackermann, watching as she meddled with the baggies. They’d very quickly dug themselves into some sort of conspiracy, when they had just been plopped into a new world. The latter would’ve been bad enough, but now they were under attack by all these random people.

“This is a load of kangaroo shit, ain’t it lass? We might as well keep it, we’re on the run no matter what judging by what happened earlier,” Irwin shrugged.

[Menschenfleisch]

Dead Man's Party | Avenoir and Mnemosyne

Marcus jumped out of Ammy's way. Polly was not quite as jumpy. She stepped to the side, lurching as the wolf's paws scraped across her shins. The goddess was strong, but a little foolhardy. Smoke and plaster lingered in the air, clogging their noses with soot. Mark leaned against a wall to cough into his elbow, wiping grit away from (probably into) his eyes, blinking and pinching the bridge of his nose. The aura of the place was buzzing down, leaving him lethargic and frustrated. The tension in the party had been released, but nothing of note had really happened. They'd only discovered two of their enemies' faces, and in turn, revealed their own to their hunters. It was no use knowing who they were looking for now, because they'd lost the element of surprise altogether. Like prey digging itself out of the snare in front of its predators' very eyes, rather than laying in wait. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, as illogical as it was.

"Thank god you're alright, Miri." Polly sighed, slipping her gun into her pocket. The handle still hung out, presented just in case anyone wanted to start trouble. There wasn't much of a reason to hide it any more, considering their present company. Known enemies, or circumstantial allies. Either side would hardly be swayed by the sight of such a mundane firearm, especially not when such entities like Ganondorf and Amaterasu were with them. "Well, I'm glad that we're all reunited. We don't have to worry about the leak, right?" "I wouldn't be surprised if that blast sealed the leak. Or, at the very least, gave it a means of escape. Even if it made things worse, don't you think you should be paying a little more attention to your wound?" he silently put a hand to a slash on his wrist, grunting as he sank against a wall. His skin was rife with splinters, and endless rivers of blood seemed to seep through his skin, and pool at his fingertips. It was pure coincidence that it hadn't hit an artery. He'd stepped in front of Polly just as the blast had occurred. Unlucky for him, lucky for everyone behind. "Polly. You know first aid."

"... shit. I didn't notice the injury, up 'til now. Lemme patch that up." she ripped one of her shirt sleeves off while Mnemosyne stood by, looking at Mark. The injury was a slash. A deep, coarse one with many frayed edges. Yet, she saw no fragments of debris large and bloodied enough to have caused the injury. He shook his head subtly, and so she moved on. "Christ, I-" she looked away from the valet, half shutting her eyes. "I didn't think it'd be so soon. God, I haven't seen something that... visceral before. I dunno. Maybe I was just a bit jaded when I met ole Czerny." Polly looked up for a moment, examining the corpse. "If you're heading down there, I'm going with you." she tapped Nem on the back of her hand, pointing at Marcus' half tourniqueted wound. The rest was just grunt work, surely. "Don't. They know who we are." "One of them's a sin, for christ's sake. They're going to pin this on us, and make the people of this fine establishment turn against our little cabal. Now, I don't plan on being hanged. What do you say, Kat? Are we ready to move?"

L-Fel | Cassia

A cashew.

Cassius was literally a nut.

On a woman's lap.

Fin.

[Rostavykhan]

Dead Man's Party

"Move? We have two more of these scoundrels right here!", Katya said, approaching Wex and his lady friend, who were beginning to waken. "We'd do good to snuff them out, then return to the lobby to search for the rest. The valet was a fool, and these two aren't very bright either. I do believe that if their incompetence is anything to go by, then this endeavor may be easier than we originally thought."

Miria piped up, sitting on the floor by Marcus, with her arms around her knees. "I think she's right.", She said, gulping. "I don't like to say that, but, tactically speaking, it's best that we eliminate them now. It gives us a numerical advantage, and it should scare the others, too."

She nodded, letting her head rest on her knees. "Besides, even if they were dumb, they still almost killed us. I think that gas leak was one of their powers. It sounds stupid, I guess. I didn't think to check the room for traces of magic, though. Should I?", She asked. "That was an oversight on my part. Ugh, I was distracted when we had to get the door open!"

While Miria pondered her mistake and whether or not to go recheck the now-blown-open maintenance room, Katya stepped forward until she was mere feet from the disoriented hunters. Without hesitation, she leveled her pistol on the woman, and put her finger on the trigger.

[Prusselanden]

L-Fel
Alemayahu had decided to tuck Cassia into her coat pocket instead of her bag as to not lose her. She then held onto Jules as the manta ray took off, and within a short amount of time they had landed in San Francisco. It was sunny with a 77 degree Farenheit temperature. Pleasant as San Francisco tends to be.

"We need to see where Medex headquarters is." Alemayahu got off of the ray and started typing furiously into her google maps. Luckily, they landed in a rather empty part of the city, so not many witnesses were there to see the giant ray fly in from miles away and shift into an axe.

"Wait, but what are we going to do once we get there?" Jules asked. "They'll be suspicious if we just show up there, if they're supplying materials to L-Fel...they probably know who you are, detective. Plus, I'm also from L-Fel and someone could recognize me...."

"Hmmm...what if...we pretend to be somebody else?" The detective took Cassia out of her pocket, waiting for her to change back. "Someone like potential business partners?"

"Hm?" Jules cocked her head. "What do you mean? Impersonation?"

The detective smirked. "Come on Cass, we're going on a shopping trip."

Iowa
"I see." Ackermann put the object in her pocket. "Then we're facing fate now no matter what."

"I think we'll have to travel if we're getting to the bottom of this. But my King is injured. He can't come with us." The bodyguard sighed. "Without me, he'd become too easy of a target..."

Just then, a heavy British voice rang out behind them.

"I see your brains still haven't grown all despite that time you spent with us." Newton stared at Ackermann with a discerning eye. "Have you forgotten that 5/7 of the Western team exists?"

"Terribly sorry, sir-"

"It's no problem. Anyways, I think you'd better leave this to the professionals and have us go on this mission instead. You and this convict can stay here to watch over Frederick."

"Oh...I guess that's alright, too."

Ackermann turned to Irwin. "Let's go back to the hospital. We'll stay put for now."

[Menschenfleisch]

Shadows of the Empire | Avarice and Tone

“Something foul, this way comes
On pauper’s tongue, an untold tale lurks
In foul smelled oceans its strange song thrums
For lifeblood’s ichor, the beast ever thirsts”

A man knelt in front of an archivist, a little blue tablet in his hands. He was dressed differently from his men, who wore the colors of a First Order legion. He was in civilian plainclothes, a grey shirt and torn red overcoat. He wore thick and somewhat loose khakis, black socks and loafers hanging from his feet. “Y’know, the story always fascinated me. The Nihilous Maw, given a voice and will by people’s belief.” he held the pad out, smiling and licking his lips before speaking. “I know you’re scared. I’ve been there, too. I’m sorry about this, I truly am, but… I need the lockdown override. Otherwise, I can’t be outta your hair.” an administrator to the man’s left spat, leathery throat growling and gurgling. “The keys will never be yours, nerf herder. The safety of Coruscant shall ever evade your grasp.” he slicked back his golden hair and sighed, shaking his head slowly, shutting his eyes. “Look, I’m trying to be nice about this, but there comes a point where responsibilities outweigh kindness. We’re not after your launch codes, or anything like that. I just want the rest of that story.” the grizzled librarian who’d spoken before, with four other hostages on his left, snarled in response.

The man straightened his back, and clenched his jaw. This hall, with two open floors, and a central corridor down the middle, contained the sum total of all galactic knowledge. It was an archive of every war, every person, every journey ever documented. A single volume within its vast data vaults could sell for billions of credits on the black market. “Funerals are cheap, but life’s priceless.” he drew a pistol from his pocket, an empty leather strap laying around his waist, and pressed the muzzle against the elder’s head. “You’re an old man. You’re wise, and smart, and experienced. Surely, this archive isn’t worth your life.” the grouch closed his eyes, breathing in, and out. “Oh. Sacrificial. I’m cool with that, too.” three shots, “NO!” the fourth shot, delayed. “I’ll tell you! Don’t-” bang. Last one dead. Silence, for a peaceful second “Wh-why? You monster! I have no reason to help you now!” the shooter polished the back of his firearm, blowing noxious vapor from its barrel. “Yeah. I know. You’ve got no choice in the matter, though.”

A trolley rolled in, pushed by strangers in thin black garments. Green tags on their wrists and silicon lines up their necks betrayed how much say they had in what they were doing, eyes flicking back and forth between the sky and themselves. Long insane, the biotomata were little more than puppets. Between them, though, was a far greater aberration. Serpents, nested within one another. The elder looked between their bodies, and saw something shine. Endless parapets overlooking a courtyard of dreams. Bastions, holding in the sum of all thought. A brew of [b]concepts[/i], mingling with the rain. There was a storm above, an ebb and flow of reality’s water. Distilled creation, falling off universes’ tree branches, and gathering in pools. Life was one of many ဥယျာဉ်တော်s birthed from these ponds, the number of which escapes the boundaries of linguistics. Their scale, their scope, can only be synthesized through the reader’s will. And so, imagine your world. The sum of every memory, every thought, every detail of your life. Think of all you can picture, from the core of the earth to the fringes of the universe. Beyond that, find more to absorb. Other universes, eldritch continuums, fragile timelines, God. Breathe in infinity, and never stop. Keep going until your head is bursting.

Rippling tides of undulating brine, a galaxy expanding away from its core, tossing stars and black holes into the endless expanse. Creatures of bone and plastic, writhing as they ascend through the skies of a billion, billion foreign worlds. A tear in the fabric, a planet’s core bursting. Three thousand goldfish, a number undefined. Electric sparks between universes, tying them together in one enormous spiderweb. Predators and prey playing cat and mouse, hopping from island to island amongst a vast collection of the gods’ junk. Gods, thinking like you and me, with more above and below them than they could ever comprehend. Vortices in space, train stations at midnight. A spiral staircase going up and up and up until the floors peel away and you are left floating, facing the true face of creation, something which nobody should be able to see; the other side of the mirror.

You are one of the countless. You are one, and a member of infinity. Everything you can think of, everything you can’t, are infinitesimal. You are in a room with everything. You are in a room with nothing. “This planet doesn’t matter. When this one dies, quintillions still live on.” the old man would’ve wept, but he saw no point in the gesture. “Give up the code.” he spoke with the whisper of a thing. Not a force like the wind, not a creature like a man, but a thing. Like a stone. A yes or no variable. Acting, or waiting. Dead, or alive. He flipped the switch of his own accord, falling limp as every cell in his body decided at once to simply stop what they were doing. The bacteria, the strings, the very components of his existence, found themselves bereft of purpose. His history, people’s memories of him, simply washed away.

There was never a man. There had only ever been the code, tucked away in the recesses of the interrogator’s mind. The drones sealed the crucible, and stepped away. Now, looking at an empty patch of floor, he suddenly remembered that he didn’t need to torture anyone. He’d always known the password, after all. But… had that man always been there? Blue aura, exasperated face. His men levelled their rifles and opened up, red bolts streaking across the open hall. They splattered like paint against his body, impotently raining sparks upon the ground. The hunter clicked his fingers, and a shimmering patch of air emerged from his palm. They collapsed, one after the other. Toothpicks, blown over by the breeze. The man stepped back, speaking into his ear. His retinas lit up, a blinding light invading his vision. The contacts he wore could only pick up this man’s readings, overwhelming all else. The gunfire dwindled, and at last, he ordered his drones to open the container. Valerian looked over and raised his blade, but he was too late to act. The chamber broke open, revealing the shapeless horror.

He looked into it, and spoke thusly. “If you think that’s news to me, boy do I have something to tell you.” he took the man by his throat, and pulled him across the floor, clutching the back of his head, and digging into his skull. “I first looked into that thing when I was twenty nine, sitting by my wife’s bed.” he put one finger on the man’s eye, struggling and screaming. His hands clawed at Valerian’s arm, trying to pull him off. For all his squirming, he couldn’t move or turn his head his head. Not one bit. “It took away my chance to live my life. To be a husband, to be a father.” he peeled away one lens, letting the man shut his eyes. He reached under his other eyelid, forcing the flap of flesh up. “I’ve had my turn, fighting the apathy. It’s time for you to share in the experience.”

They both looked up, and saw a young woman. Blonde, pale, red-eyed. Avarice. ”What are you doing, Vic?” the statement was terse. Quiet, and booming. ”So, you finally found me.” ”I knew from the beginning. I only just figured out why you’re here.” she interrupted, taking one pace toward him. ”I’m still trying to figure out this whole… emotions thing. It’s god damn confusing, you know that?” he tilted his head, taking a cautious step back. ”Not really, no. I kind of had it down, like most humans do. So what now, ‘Ava’? Are you here to kill me?” she twisted her lip, as if considering the possibility. ”I learned something today, Valerian. I learned that finite minds are irresponsible.” she waved her hand, tearing the roof of the archives away to reveal a grand galactic vista, a battle of unimaginable magnitude playing out beyond the aperture. ”I learned that they were fickle, unkind, and not worth admiring.” she clenched her fist, and the scene shifted. The window overlooked some thirty billion people, watching as a green dot built up in the skies. ”And yet, I also realised that there’s nothing noble in saving them.” ”Why are you telling me this?” he stammered, hand trembling ever so slightly. The face of his hatred, the thing in his dreams. He saw it now, and was sorrowfully unprepared. Despite all the centuries he’d had to confront it in his head, the real thing was just so markedly different he - it only occurred to him now just how angry it had made him, not facing a monster. This woman, this perversion of life, it confused and enraged him at once. ”Life is beautiful, and flawed. I don’t want it to be perfect, yet I don’t want it to destroy itself, either. I want to redeem it.” she drew a line in the floor with her foot, pacing erratically. ”I don’t know whether that’s possible. I don’t know whether life will ever be able to survive without cannibalizing itself, and that leaves me with a dilemna. I can’t decide whether to try to redeem them, or to force peace upon them.” she looked right at him, and reminded him of fear. ”I guess I just needed someone to vent to.”

He lowered his hand, squinting. She slouched, and sat upon a bench. ”Why are you-” ”Because you’re the only one who’ll listen. You’re the only one who’s got a perspective like mine. Ancient, and above these things.” ”You are not above them!” his voice echoed, and his heart pounded. ”You are not some better thing, or a more ideal entity. You are flesh, blood and spirit, just like the rest of us!” she nodded, but did not agree. ”I’m objectively not. I’m not sure how to feel about that, honestly.” she reached out, and opened her empty palm. ”Can you… teach me?” he let go of the man clutched beneath his arm, letting him run. ”Teach you what?” she gestured at the sky, looking up. ”What to make of this. How to justify a path. Any path besides simply standing by, and watching.” she took in a deep breath, but paused midway. ”I don’t- I can’t come to terms with it all. The violence, the nonsensical brutality it just- none of it makes any sense. Is this what logic leads to? Is this the system that good people create? The natural outcome of trillions of lives, all wanting to do good?”

”I would never tell you!” he screamed, voice hoarse and hollow. ”You deprived me of everything!” and finally, boiling hate overcame melting fear. He threw himself at Avarice, throwing a fist through her cheek. She stood, and he plunged a knife into her heart, grabbing her by the shoulder and pressing her up against a shelf. ”I watched them die. I watched them burn. I couldn’t save them!” he slashed her head open again and again, spilling chunks of skull all across the floor. He huffed and gasped, putting every effort into each of his motions. ”One hundred and eighty years!” he drew his sword and rammed it down the crown of her head, pinning it to the ground, and forcing her to kneel. ”Walking on foreign soil, gathering ‘information’.” his next blow sent her through the wall, shattering the archive’s walls, and spilling his quarry out onto the street. ”Two, fucking centuries, seeing what you’d done, and doing nothing about it!” he stood above her body, pristine, and uninjured. ”I thought I wanted you dead, but I never acted.” he leaned down, pulling his blade from her spine. ”Can you even feel it?” he examined the tool, shining with blood and sweat. ”Do you feel an iota of what you’ve put others through?!” she stared right up, eyes unfocused. The hunter raised his weapon, tip pressed against Ava’s heart. ”You’ll never understand, until you suffer!” he plunged it through her chest, and she flinched.

Her fingers, lathered in blood, gripped the blade and took hold, until its edge sank into her joints. ”I can learn, and I will.” the item began to cook, bleeding black smog that choked the skies, and billowed out like ash from a funnel. ”When I inevitably understand, I will act upon what I believe.” the blade, strong enough to rend universes, fell apart in her grip. ”Think about what you’re teaching me, Valerian. I’ll remember it..” he was stumped. What could he do? He couldn’t kill it, couldn’t break it. Only turn it in one direction, and say “go”. Was it really trying to integrate itself into society? It had no reason to. In fact, if it had wanted him gone, it would’ve killed him a long time ago. He didn’t want to believe it was possible, but, if this thing was really trying to be more like humanity, he needed to be there, watching over it. AEGIS would weaponise it, other groups would try to take it away. Logic overrode emotion, and so he- ”Thank you.” she took his hand, and pulled herself up. ”Lead the way.”

Avarice and Valerian, side by side, walked through the floor, and popped into existence just beyond the council chambers, where terrorists made their home. Deimos, Hex and September were already there, awaiting a breach. “Oh. Valerian? Are you-” ”The situation’s handled. The archives are secure.” Hex shrugged. No need to look a gift horse in the mouth, after all. “Well, if you’re sure, then buckle up. Looks like the whole gang’s here.” suddenly, in a poorly conveyed switch from third person immersion to fourth wall breaking superprose, the characters in question turned toward the possibly metaphorical door which would lead into the next plot relevant location, and began to stride forward.

[Naval Monte]

---

Archer had his head on his helmet, an AR screen appearing from his visor. "Good news. My team has reached the archives. They are just now getting into position and waiting for the order to open fire. Right now we just need your team and we can get the show started."

Archer put down his head. "So how are we going to link up our IFFs? Will our computer hardware and software even be compatible with each other?" The soldier would soon hear another ring from his comm unit. "Wait for a moment." he would get the call. He would be silent as the caller at the other line told him something as he let out a sigh, the commander turn to face the new team.

"Looks like someone else took out the terrorists inside of the archive before either of us can do a thing. However I got reports that one of them manage to alert their buddies that they were being attacked and reinforcements are arriving. You guys are to head there to fight off the next wave. My people are already inside waiting to ambush them." Archer told the group as a quad duct fan drone floated towards the group. "Just follow the drone and it will take you to the archive."

With Ben he would find that the footsteps approaching had no visible source that he can see. But he would see a group of soldiers appear before him. "Thanks for capturing them... whatever you are. We'll deal with them." The soldiers would say to Big Chill, allowing him to go on with his path. In the entrance towards the council chamber the small group of AEGIS along with Valerian and Avarice would find themselves with barrels of blaster rifles pointed at them as other blasters were pointed at twenty other people trapped in the room.

The circular chairs remained in place despite imperial rule and due to renovations looked as good as the days when the Jedi use to live in the temple, a state that can be said for everything in the room. But the main focus was the terrorists wearing old phase II clone trooper armor and old imperial stormtrooper armors, each wielding blasters fitting the different soldiers that once used them. The other soldiers from AEGIS remained cloaked as they waited for the order and time to strike. One of the terrorists bearing a clone trooper armor with the fading markings of the 501st legion stepped forward while still keeping their blaster at the group. "If you people do anything funny than you and the hostages are dead!" he threaten, the other terrorists aiming at the hostages. "We have a few demands. If you follow through with them than we will spare the hostages."

[Slenderman The CreepyPasta King]

“No problem” Big chill said in a chilly tone before going invisible then intangible and going through the walls and floors of the temple until he found the council chambers, once he did he breathed in and exhaled. However once he did he could only freeze two of the terrorists before a bright red flash was seen and he reverted back to Ben. “Oh come on! Now!?” The teen yelled to the watch on his wrist.

[Naval Monte]

Shadows of the Empire
Jedi Temple

Before anyone can try to reason with the terrorist a blue moth man would appear and freeze two of the terrorists before a strange mechincal beeping can be heard coming from the mothman before a red flash appeared and a teen age human now stood before the group.

The terrorists at first stood dumbfounded by what happened, many trying to comprehend what just happened and what sorcery the human that just appear done. "Die Jedi!" One terrorist wearing clone trooper shouted before he shot Ben at the abdomen with his blaster.

The other terrorist broke it of their stupor as the apparent leader shouted. "Kill the hostages and the pawns of the Republic!" The hostages screamed in horror as blaster bolts went off and began to hit their bodies. September fired off her gaius rifle, the bright flash going off as well as a sonic boom as the ferrous round flew through the chest of the leader and a few other terrorists behind him before it broke through the glass to continue flying away.

September tried to go invisible but was hit by a few blaster bolts on her left shoulder and hips, follow by her right knee and finally her chest. The woman went down screaming as her thermo-optic camo began to flicker on and off repeatedly. The woman was now lying prone on the ground, her suits healing system was still functioning as it began to inject various medical chemicals and remedies into her body to stabilize her body and increase her chances of being treated by a doctor.

Hex had her camo active just as she jumped and rolled away from several blaster bolts. The reaver open fire with her rifle and the armor piercing rounds tore through the plastoid armor plates and tore through the flash of the terrorists. The terrorists began to fire their blasters wildly to try and hit the invisible Reaver. Deimos was hit repeatedly by blaster bolts, far more than the others due to the wild spray the terrorists were firing at. Blaster bolts flew to Valerian and Avarice. Jeremoch, the Coruscant guard, manage to get one shot from his blaster pistol before he two went down due to a few blaster hits.

Hex used one of the chairs as cover as she waited for the bolts to cease. But as she saw a few troopers approaching her location she was forced to open fire on them and give away her position. As the terrorists began to move to her location the other soldiers who were invisible threw flashbangs and just as Hex ran out of her location, firing and taking put a few terrorists while also being hit by a few bolts from her opponents a bright flash would engulf the room.

The unseen soldiers rushed in and not only did their visors protect them from the flash bangs but their HUD help picked up the best spots to hit, making the soldiers quickly dispatched the terrorists quickly before they can kill anymore people. "Area clear of all hostiles. Our mission was a failure." One of the soldiers said as they report their mission to Archer. The combat medics of the teams rushed to everyone in the room to treat those injuries before they can be moved to the gunships for medical evacuation.

Hex was having the same issue with her camo system flickering due to malfunction. While he fabric of the chameleon cloak was lighter and stronger than kevlar and can repeat itself if torn or cut did not do so when burn, a the material was never made to deal with thermal based weapons like direct energy weapons. Several patches of the suit was burnt and Hex can feel her body was burnt to but the Reaver's enchanted endurance made it that she can still operate despite the pain.

The Reaver looked at the hostages, most of whom were killed by the terrorist with only a handful surviving but in critical condition. She look over at September, medics appealing medigel and medical nanites as they tried to gently remove the exosuit as it fulfilled its finally duty of stabilizing her. The Reaver walked to where Ben was as one medical was treating his wounds with the same tools as the others. Hex put away her rifle and took out her pistol. When she was next to Ben and aim the gun down at Ben.

"Do you have any idea what you have done?" The woman's face may be hidden behind her mask but the rage in her voice made it clear how she felt. "We had the situation under control before you screwed everything up! We could have saved these people on our own but instead you decided to play the role of a hero." She pointed at the dead hostages with her pistol. "Look at what playing hero got us."

After Hex gave Ben some time to think over what he did she would cock her gun, aiming it at his head. "Give me a good reason why I shouldn't put you in the morgue like everyone else who died in this room." The Reaver threaten. The medic was still, too petrified of the Reaver's rage to perform his duty. The other soldiers looked at Hex, unsure whether to get in the way of a pissed off Reaver or avoid getting caught in the crossfire and letting Ben suffer through Hex's judgement.