Voyage Through the Multiverse (Ended) [IC]

[The Japanese Americans]

Shadows of the Empire
Coruscant
Jedi Temple

The soldier looked at the coat that Lee summoned from his pocket dimension. "We better find a way to seal access to that dimension of his before he brings out something more destructive like a nuke." he thought as he took him into the gunship.

Now inside the pressurized interior of the gunship, a feature made to protect against CBRN based attacks and to travel at higher altitudes, the group would sit on the chairs line up. Once the pilot was sure everyone was seated on the gunship he would close the back door and begin to active the wing duct fans and the ramjet engines.

As the craft rose up in the air neither Lee, Link, or Doug would hear any noise being produced by the machines as the gunship rose up. The craft would fly away from the temple in great speed, a few more following behind it. Back in the temple the reaver was glad that the strange doctor was now going to let them go, but not before he issued a threat to them all.

"You think a threat like that will scare us doctor? We have comb through the eldritch secrets left behind dark gods, witch cults, and antediluvian civilizations. If we want to we will do the same with the omnitrix." She told Paradox but the time traveler already left the temple before he can hear her words.

"He probably knew what I was going to say and didn't want to hear a repeat." She turn her attention back to Terraspin. "Nice to know you're willing to go with us. But we need you to change back into your human form now because we aren't sure if you can fit in your current form." Hex explained.

It was an honest concern on her part. But another fear is that if they place the geas on him than he may escape from its effect once he returns to normal. They are hoping that since he is human that if he was effected by the geas in human form his alien forms will also be affected.

Hex would get a message from implant. Commanding the message tomoorn she saw the contents from it by her AR contacts. "Valerian it seems Deimos wants to see you and September once she us recovered." She told the conceptual hunter.

Lee was surprised that the craft was silent, despite him not feeling much magic with his weak sense. He assumed that this group was very advanced in technology. He turned to one of the soldiers. "So what can you tell me about your group?" Then he turned to the Hylians. "And who are you two? I can sense some magic from you two."

[Nagakawa]

L-Fel
Iowa

"Well", said Henry to Irwin, shrugging and glancing furtively out the window, "we're still waiting for info from our client, so we haven't got much to do now. I think we can stay and help you for the time being."

"Still nothing from the boss herself", Steffen added, beaming to himself as his hands finally found a scrap of paper in his pocket, on which he proceeded to scribble with his pen. "If Yotsuha needs us, she'd have told us long in advance. That's how she works."

"Guess that means we can stay."

The room fell into an awkward silence again, as nobody in particular knew what to say. From the outside, Xiao-song's snoring began once again.

"So what's the deal with this empire?" Henry asked Frederick. "Or are you not allowed to tell me?"

...

[Menschenfleisch]

L-Fel | Cassia

Cassius instantaneously compressed himself into a bundle of gore, with many lengths of bone and rigid tissue sticking from the near perfect sphere at odd angles. The resultant slurry of blood and meat was pulled into the central mass, which pulsed at an increasing rate, slowly pulling in its calcium extrusions, the unmistakable sound of chewing and crunching emanating from its core. A fine layer of pink foam surrounded it, followed by a self-weaving series of fibres, forming a red, rubbery layer around the whole thing that kept every last drop of fluid inside as it transformed. It grew hard metal edges and plastic sheets, building up springs within itself as the thing sprouted two long limbs which curled around and attached to itself in other locations, keeping their positions by digging into the meatball's skin using endless bony fishhooks. Green, woven texture swept across its face, and all the outlying bits of polymer and putrefying flesh sank into its surface like they were being pulled beneath a static wave, the object wobbling and warbling a bit as it solidified and adopted a firm, fatty consistency.

When all was said and all was done, there was a parachute on the floor lying in front of Alemayahu, faintly speckled with crimson.

Scourge of my People | Cherry and Nomad

"So, eh, how're you doing?" neither of them had anything to pack, nor anything they'd let leave their own persons. The Seed, the anchor... pretentious fucking names, aren't they? "Do you like dogs? I don't. They're too... warm." he shifted his weight from side to side, tossing the little steel bauble between his hands. "Look, just... open up, alright? I can tell you're not on board with the op either. You're a migrant, like me!" Cherry, for the slightest moment, raised her head and locked eyes with the android, a glassy red meeting nebulous blue. "What drives you?" she drew herself up and glanced at the door, still looking at Alastair. "What is your imperative, the command given to you?"

Nomad's response was snappy, immediate, practised. "I'm here to explore. To gather information on the living, and to ascertain a point from which Unity unity may be brought forth. I've heard stories of interuniversal unions; networks of information and technology. I, and all my people, want to have that." he beamed at her with the widest smile his musculature could produce, the pistons in his cheeks threatening to tear his skin in two. Cherry nodded, and looked down at The Seed, rested between her knees. "I'm supposed to carry this chrysalis, and to plant it somewhere safe. It carries the thoughts and ideas of a generation." he slid forward on the bed, spilling dust from the timbers of the empty bunk above him. "Found any good places? Suitable for colonisation, I mean." she half nodded, the gesture transforming into a subtle bobbing of her head. "Dozens." "Why haven't you finished your task, then?" she sat there, and slumped a little, lips tight as overstretched tendons.

---

Nomad stood at one end of the room, feeling the floorboards with his feet. Cherry stood at the other, sitting in a cheap plastic chair and waiting for their mission to be announced. Their silences presided.

[Prusselanden]

San Fran
"I think we should look for people acting erratic and overly aggressive, performing superhuman feats...and people with collars that look like shock collars." Jules outlined some ideas for Aestus to look for in the sea lions. "Here's the L-Fel symbol by the way..." Jules scribbled a logo down on a napkin. "Also scan their visual cortex for this logo, please." She showed the drawing to Aestus.

Banana Republic

Everyone started staring at Alemayahu, so she quickly slapped her cash on the register and grabbed Cass, running out of the store with the clothes.

"Hey, I didn't mean transform in the store! Now you've gotten us unwanted attention." She sighed. "I hope since it's California everyone there just assumed they were high on weed and hallucinated your transformation, or else the CIA is going to be on our asses."

Of course people were still staring at her, now that she was talking to a parachute. Alemayahu decided to enter a dark alley and made sure no one was watching.

"Ok, you can change back. I didn't buy these clothes for nothing."

[Nagakawa]

Scourge of My People
On board the Kamui

“First of all, welcome aboard the Kamui, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for accepting this job offer.”

The mild voice of the soft-spoken Yotsuha Ikegami, it seemed, was more than enough to silence the rabble gathered before her.

“As some of you may have already realised by now”, Yotsuha continued coolly, “this isn’t a movement to put down an insurrection. In fact, we are the insurrection.”

“I fuckin’ called it”, said Rygan very loudly to Nomad, next to whom he was standing, mistaking him for Yukio. “Oh... um... yea. Hi. My name’s Rygan. Pleasure to meet you.”

Yotsuha took a sip of clear liquid from her glass and cast a glance at Rygan. The lanky, silver-haired young man got the message and apologetically quietened down.

“As I was saying”, she continued, “due to the sensitivity of our planned operation, it was necessary to disguise our message as was done, so as not to reveal our plans to our targets. Since you have all signed up for this mission, however, it is befitting that I reveal the relevant details to all of you.”

Dead silence.

“The Intergalactic Security Enterprise, or IGSE, has been expanding rapidly via military and economic means. As someone who was once the victim of its senseless and destructive ambition, I, Yotsuha Ikegami, chief of the Niijima-gumi Yakuza clan, have taken it upon myself to assassinate Nu, the Chief Secretary of the IGSE.”

A low, anxious murmur erupted from the crew gathered before Yotsuha. Even the first mate Itona appeared to be mildly shocked; evidently, Yotsuha had not revealed the full details of the plan even to him, up till now.

“Some information about our target”, Yotsuha carried on with her briefing as two of her yakuza grunts pulled open the projector screen at the end of the room and set up a slideshow consisting of a single, overcrowded slide, of which the most space was taken up by an organisation chart. “Nu is the Chief Secretary of the IGSE; her position is equivalent to a military’s chief of general staff, and she is the direct superior of the Chief Secretaries of the Research and Military Arms, Iuzun Nebra and Dar Brexit. She answers only to the Chief Executive himself, which means that as far as the IGSE’s leaders go, Nu is by far one of the most high-value targets.

“While she has never been seen in person by anybody outside of the organisation’s top leadership, my source within the IGSE reports that Nu resides in an undisclosed military base somewhere in Realm I of the Manichaean Plane. It is from this undisclosed location that Nu issues her orders to Chief Secretaries Nebra and Brexit. As for her exact whereabouts, my double agent is one of six people in the IGSE who know where she is, but will only reveal it to us in person. As such, our first stop shall be the ice planet Niflheim, where we shall rendezvous with him at his holiday home. I will elaborate further on the next two stages of our plan after we have met up with him, as he will give all of you information that will help set the wider context of our operation.”

She paused to let the information soak in, downing her glass of liquid, before setting it aside and clearing her throat. At the same time, a low rumble began to rise from the engine below them, as the Kamui took off and began exiting the atmosphere of Kanegi, making preparations for a dimension jump as it did so.

“Any questions?”

Yukio, still dressed in his uniform, raised his hand.

“Mind if I ask who your double agent is?” he inquired, his tone implying some amount of skepticism about Yotsuha’s willingness to divulge such information.

“It’s Dr Jeon Il-hyuk”, Yotsuha replied bluntly. “Formerly the Director of Research under the Research Arm. He’s recently been promoted to the position of Director of Intelligence of the Military Arm, because the IGSE has been undergoing a leadership reshuffle, based on what we can see and also through what information he has given to me.”

“We have the Director of Intelligence on our side?” Rygan burst out in shock.

“He was a colleague of Dr Lam Jih-yeung”, Yotsuha explained further, “who, as you know, was the previous director of research. Shortly after the defeat of the Chimaera, Dr Lam died. Dr Jeon is his replacement.”

Rygan puckered his lips and nodded in approval, clearly very encouraged by the prospect of having a powerful contact within an otherwise seemingly impenetrable monolith.

“Any other questions? If there aren’t any, I shan’t hold you for too long. We will reach Niflheim in about 20 hours.”

...

---

Niflheim
Regnbåge Fortress

Il-hyuk,

First of all, by order of Chief Executive Isaiah Haikarakainen, I will be moving my base of operation to Central HQ. Hiborall Base shall be destroyed as quickly as possible.

Secondly, Brexit and Nebra have both been informed of my activation of Death Squad Jaldabaoth. Nebra in particular had reservations about the activation of Jaldabaoth to hunt down Saladass, but I shall see to it that he is reassured.

For the moment, I will need you to remain on standby to ensure that the death of Harakiri Haikarakainen, the activation of the Jaldabaoth, and my shifting of my base are kept STRICTLY CLASSIFIED. None below Clearance Level 6-2 are to receive information on either of these.

Best Regards,

Nu
Chief Secretary of the IGSE

"Sir, shall I shred the letters after scanning them, as usual?"

"No", Dr Jeon replied, setting aside his glasses as he began cooking up kimchi fried rice in his kitchen, listening to relaxing jazz as he did so. "My contact will be arriving by tomorrow evening, and I should like to pass them a copy of today's information."

"Very good, sir. In addition, we will-"

Dr Jeon's butler was cut off abruptly as the sound of a ping echoed through the kitchen. Turning off the fire with a disgruntled grunt, Dr Jeon snapped his fingers, indicating to his smart home AI that he wished to read the new message that had just come in.

"Good grief!"

il hyuk, i need urgent medical attention now, so i cant meet you just yet, but once youre done with your holidaying, come to central hq asap. there are important things we need to settle fast.

- dar brexit

...

Several kilometres away from Regnbåge Mountain

Barely out of reach of Dr Jeon Il-hyuk's fortress' security drones and radar, a team of three operatives had set up a discreet, nigh invisible patrol base, some distance away from the cable car guardhouse at the bottom of the mountain that was the only way into the fortress.

As darkness fell, the lights coming from the fortress became brighter amidst the otherwise starless night sky. If one looked closely, one could barely catch a faint red light coming from behind a rock, unremarkable amidst the random lights scattered all across the snowy steppes. The men at the lower guardhouse, private bodyguards hired by Jeon Il-hyuk (for he did not trust the IGSE's Reapers), found the light intriguing, but opted not to pursue it as of yet.

"The final stage of the mission", came the frigid whisper of the leader of the trio of operatives hiding behind the rock, as his trembling hand, frostbitten and fatigued, held up a red-filtered torchlight over the map. "We will scale this mountain on the other side of the cable car, and from there, we shall infiltrate the building and kill Jeon Il-hyuk."

The other two, equally-fatigued men looked at the chart, forcing themselves through sheer willpower to remain awake and alert amidst the howling, frigid gale and the darkness of the impenetrable Niflheimian night.

"You know the plan", the team leader added, his voice hoarse from the cold. "This is our moment. If we take out their Director of Intelligence now, it will be a terrible blow to the IGSE, and our Master shall have his chance to deal them one final blow."

Nodding in affirmation, the three men clambered to their feet and pounded their chests with their right fists.

"From delusion lead me to truth", they recited in unison. "From darkness lead me to light. From death lead me to immortality.

"He who knows both knowledge and action, with action shall overcome death and, with knowledge, achieve immortality. In him are woven the depths of the sea and the firmaments of the heavens, and in him rest the mind and all the essence of life. Know him as the ONE and leave aside all other words. He is the bridge to immortality."

The winds slowly began to die down. Soon, it would be time to ascend the mountain.

"Beyond the senses is the mind, and beyond the mind is reason, its essence. Beyond reason is the spirit of Man, and beyond this is the spirit of the Universe, the great All. When the five senses and the mind are still, and reason itself rests in silence, then begins the Supreme Path, and when he is seen in his majesty and transcendent glory, then shall the ties that bind the heart be unloosened, the doubts of the mind be erased, and the law of Karma be no more."

And with that done, the three made their way around the long road of the mountain, past the unsuspecting guards protecting the lower guardhouse, towards the most punishing and impenetrable face of the mountain, to begin their fateful ascent to the fortress of the 29th Director of Intelligence of the Intergalactic Security Enterprise.

"Long live the Manju. Long live the Chimaera."

...

---

???
A military base in a secret location

In a faraway dimension, there was a world that had once thrived, but now languished in ruins.

It had once been a populous world, inhabited by some hundreds of millions of people for centuries. Out of the blue, a massacre was perpetrated, a weapon was tested, and the very core of this world itself was damaged beyond redemption. Its rotation around its axis permanently changed, half of the world now burned in permanent day, and the other half lying in deep, eternal darkness.

It was along the thin, habitable band of the world frozen in sunrise or sunset, where the temperature remained just right for comfortable human habitation, that a small, barely-noticeable IGSE shuttle came in to land, right next to a grassy hill on which a small sentry post stood.

Violent winds swept across the plains, bringing trails of leaves as it went. The doors of the shuttle opened, and from them stepped forth the figure of Isaiah Haikarakainen, wrapped in a fur coat, his face covered with a scarf. Accompanied by two black-clad bodyguards, the new Chief Executive of the IGSE walked up the hill to the sentry post, where another similarly-dressed guard clicked his heels and saluted the young man as he went past, paying no attention to the lowly subordinate.

At the top of the hill was an opening with a flight of old, mossy stairs leading straight downwards into a bunker, which the young Isaiah hastily went down, accompanied closely by his bodyguards. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, where a glass door stood, he pressed his retina against the detector, and access was granted to him into the sterile bunker.

The bunker wasn't particularly large; aside from several storage rooms and an accommodation bunk for the permanent staff, the only other room was the control room, the door to which was kept under lock and heavy guard at all times. Upon the door was a simple, ominous sign.

Nu
Chief Secretary of the Intergalactic Security Enterprise

"Let me in", said Isaiah to the two guards standing by the door. "I've come to pick her up."

The guards, clearly terrified by the appearance of the volatile new Chief Executive, hurriedly unlocked the doors.

...

[Nagakawa]

Iowa

The awkward quietness in Frederick’s ward was abruptly broken by the sound of a rhythmic tapping on the door.

“Is there a Mr Steffen Lunes in there?”

Perplexed, Steffen stuffed all his banknotes into his pocket and headed for the door. A senior nurse had come to the ward to find him, for one reason or another.

“Yes?”

“There’s a man in the A&E who wants to see you”, the nurse replied. “Darsmond.”

At the sound of the name, the colour drained from Steffen’s face, and he hurriedly rushed to Henry’s overstuffed backpack, digging about haphazardly and tossing out heaps of the trash that Henry kept stashed inside, before taking out a rather crumpled formal dinner jacket, which he haphazardly pulled on, and Dr Lam’s thesis, which he passed to Henry.

“Hide this”, he said. “I’ll be back in a while.”

...

The A&E was empty save for Darsmond himself, a pale, long-haired, fatigued-looking man dressed in a black T-shirt and jeans, clutching his abdomen in pain and sitting on a waiting chair balled into a semi-foetal position. At the sight of Steffen, who had rushed into the A&E with a plastic bag of potato chips and sweet tea bought from the convenience store, Darsmond perked up and forced a pained smile.

“It’s been so long, Steffen”, he murmured, grimacing from the pain he was evidently in.

“What the fuck are you doing here??” the clearly distressed Steffen hissed, plonking the bag of chips and tea into the seat beside Darsmond and taking a seat beside him in an interrogative manner. “Why do you think you can just show up here after everything that’s happened and...”

“Look”, said Darsmond, clearly desperate, “I’m really sorry, old friend. I know you’ve all been fucked over by my guys pretty bad the last couple of years, but I’m gonna need your help, just this once.” He lifted up his shirt to show Steffen his wound; a scar that extended directly around his abdomen, still caked in dried blood and held together by black sutures that, if one looked closely, appeared to be emitting a dark aura of some sort. “I’ve fucked up pretty bad, as you can see. Got fucked over by the Hotel Gods and all, you know. Please, I need your help. Just this once. From another brother in arms.”

Steffen sighed in reluctant affirmation and, reaching across Darsmond’s lap for the bag of potato chips, which he pulled open and began to eat from. He offered the bag to Darsmond, who refused.

“I knew I could rely on you”, said Darsmond in painful relief, slumping down in his chair and looking up at the sterile fluorescent lights on the ceiling. “Even when everybody else has betrayed me, the blood of the covenant truly is still thicker than the...”

“Enough”, Steffen cut him off sharply, suddenly scrambling to find words as his face sunk into forlorn resignation. “It’s just... Since when did my detachment commander... become this ruthless warlord...

“Since when did Staff Sergeant Darsmond become Dar Brexit, Chief of the Military Arm of the IGSE?”

“I did what I had to”, Darsmond replied, pulling his shirt back down to cover his scar. “After we parted ways... it was just one betrayal after another. I could trust nobody, not even my mother and father and wife and children. Nor could I trust the Chimaera, that I had pledged to serve so naïvely. I had no choice but to betray them all. A painful choice, but... they all betrayed me first.”

Steffen released a deep sigh.

“Then what makes you think you can just come back to me and ask me for help after all the fuckshit you’ve done to us the past fuck knows how long?”

“Trust me”, Dar replied, “if I’d wanted to betray you too, none of you would be alive now. I did my best to keep you alive. You and your friends. I know how much they mean to you...”

“Me and my friends?” Steffen raised an eyebrow incredulously. “Henry, Tanakamaru, Gönad, sure, but what about the others!?”

“I-“

“What about Issei and Yuusei? Or Raj? Or Salamandra?” Clearly agitated, the red-faced Steffen turned away briefly to wipe away his boiling tears. “What about Ceiji? Your little bitch Aesyrgamud fucking lobbed her head off in front of us all while she was defenceless... How can you... Dar Brexit...”

Darsmond fell into silence and placed one hand on Steffen’s lap.

“I’m so very sorry, Steffen”, he murmured. “I... tried my very best not to harm you or your...”

“I don’t know how I still can trust you”, Steffen choked. “Not after all that...”

“I promise you, I will try my very best to make amends”, Darsmond replied, grimacing through his pain. “Please, Steffen, I beg you... please don’t betray me too...”

Steffen descended into bitter silence, the corners of his cheeks and mouth twitching as he reached deep into his pockets and took out a wad of ¥10,000 banknotes, which bore several penises and vaginas scribbled in permanent marker.

“Go change some money and get yourself sorted out”, he said, defeated. “But don’t stay here. Once you’re done... leave.”

Darsmond smiled.

“I don’t know how you can answer for your crimes”, Steffen added, staring blankly, “but... I... I can never forget the countless times we... saved each other on the battlefield. Count yourself lucky...”

Darsmond quietly accepted the wad of defaced banknotes Steffen had passed to him, counting them and arranging them into a neat stack.

“Energetically will I meet the enemies of my country. I shall defeat them on the field of battle for I am better trained and will fight with all my might”, he quietly murmured. “I will never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy, and under no circumstances will I ever embarrass my country.”

“Readily will I display the intestinal fortitude required to fight on to the Ranger objective and complete the mission”, Steffen completed, sitting catatonic in the waiting room and gazing out into space, “though I be the lone survivor.”

And the next moment, Darsmond was all but gone. Quietly, Steffen opened the bottle of sweet tea, but finding himself unable to consume any of it, closed it back and threw away both the bottle and the half-eaten bag of chips, slowly making his way back to Frederick’s ward.

...

---

The Hotel

The banishment of Dar Brexit from the Hotel had caused quite a stir among the spirits inhabiting the world between worlds, and as word went round of the awakening of one of the five Gods of the Hotel, the lights began to flicker even more than they already did, signifying the coming of some great reckoning in the future.

In the centre of the Hotel was a magnificent throne room, in the centre of which was a circular pedestal hewn from a massive block of red granite and polished to glimmering perfection; upon this platform sat six granite thrones, all of which were engraved intricately and embossed with gold. One of the thrones lay in ruins, its rubble strewn across the pedestal in a haphazard manner.

Upon the remaining five thrones sat five ethereal figures, formed seemingly out of air of various hues, deep in what seemed to be a meeting of sorts as other lesser spirits, felt only by a gentler presence, crowded round the pedestal and listened in on the conversation.

"The IGSE has become too bold", said one of the figures, one composed of what looked like shining white light. "That much we can all agree on. I do not believe any of you have any objections to Granir's action."

"Not to his action per se", said another figure, one also made of light, but a gentler, less harsh light, "but we must take caution against acting too far outside our domain. The Demiurge granted us godhood only within the Hotel, and should we push too far outside, the Deep Magic will be violated, and the Hotel as we know it will cease to exist."

"Ludwig, I admire your adherence to the Deep Magic, but you have to remember; it's only a matter of time before the IGSE learns of the Deep Magic and uses it against us. We have maintained the balance of power in the outside for time immemorial simply for the sake of protecting our domain, and if that balance is broken, the end result would be the same. That is why I cast Brexit from the halls of the Hotel." The third being spoke; clearly, it was the semi-corporeal figure of Granir, the God who had thrown Brexit into the earth.

An audible murmur came from the spirits gathered round the thrones.

"Something has to be done", said the brightest figure. "But either way, we may only act within the Hotel, or we risk violating the Deep Magic."

"There is another way", said the figure of gentle light, Ludwig. "But... it is painful, and it is arduous."

"You don't mean..."

"Yes. Let us retire and discuss it in private."

And the hall fell into silence as the figures on the thrones disappeared in a flash.

...

[Parcia]

In transit to the Fortessa

"Here is the Game plan, and I will be rather upfront with all of you. The last reports from hold told us Reach had fallen, and the Inner colonies were falling with it. FLEETCOM has moved back to Australia and anything not Vital was being shipped Earthside."

There was a pause over the UNSC formation as they flew through slip space. "With this revelation of multi-dimensional Travel...its...its entirely likely we could go home. How ever, I will simply draw attention back to the fact that we might as well not have a home if we return..." The Captain paused, becoming a bit emotional as he continued. "I am going to do something that I wouldn't normally do. I'm putting it up to a vote among the 11000 of us here.

Option A: We keep trying, keep doing our best to get back to our universe and get in the Fight.
Option B: We...We try to find some were new. Hopefully some were we can set up the on board pre-fabs and infrastructure we have to establish a permanent Settlement and start again."

"Helen will send each of you a message containing a vote, pick your choice and sign with your IFF tag."


With that, the captain signed off and quietly retreated to his quarters.


Oh the things to come.

[Trapoletanius]

Coruscant System

Another Earth? A new universe? Stanij had a feeling they just stumbled upon something. He would have to figure out more later, perhaps at this meeting that was apparently being held. "Well, my ship is indeed capable of faster than light travel, but we need time to resolve some minor issues in our engines." He thought for a second before continuing, "Perhaps we could attend this meeting through some holonet communications while the engines are inspected? After all, I assume being in physical attendance isn't required, and I'm sure you have access to some sort of interstellar communication given your advanced starship technology, no?"

[The Palmetto]

L-Fel
San Fran

“Ahh, just like the person who attacked you the other night. I’ll make sure to look out for that logo, should be a dead giveaway as to what’s going on if I find it,” Aestus replied to Jules, taking the napkin and putting it up to his helmet. After the lesser god analyzed it, he found that, as expected, he didn’t really recognize it. He made sure to memorize it to see if he’d find it in the pinniped’s memories, and then placed it back down on the table. He didn’t have anywhere to keep it on him for safe keeping, and he might look ridiculous with a handbag. Not as ridiculous as he looked in the small chair he was in, though, which was why he was glad to finally leave the bubble tea shop and walk around the docks.

Upon arrival, he wasn’t too impressed, to say the least. There weren’t any large, magnificent beaches or crystal clear waters abundant in wildlife. No, it was mostly the man-made docks and seagulls looking for food or trinkets. One of them attempted to approach Aestus and eat one of his fish, but it was quickly devoured by the host of animals orbiting him. Other seagulls looked noticeably less interested. What Aestus did find amusing, however, was the large amount of sea lions lounging about. He wasn’t used to seeing them back in the tropical Svakarta, which was too hot for pinnipeds to comfortably live in. Regardless, Aestus managed to access their memories, and looked to Jules.

“The pinnipeds here saw some people with collars, looking aggressive and all. I think I even saw the symbol in their memories, though none got up close so it was a bit blurry. I didn’t catch them saying anything, but if you think they might’ve said something important around here, I could check again,” Aestus told Jules.

However, he noticed something odd. A small porpoise was there, having swam there after Aestus arrived in this world. Reading its memories about the near-extinction of its species, Aestus felt remorse, and decided to help the best he could without derailing his current mission. He quietly gave his axe the orders to get the orca population to defend the vaquitas and make sure they can breed safely, while also telling it to kill the poachers itself. The axe sprung back to life as a manta ray, and dove into the ocean. After swimming far enough away, it moved to sonic speeds, creating a massive wave in the water. After several minutes, it returned to Aestus covered in dried blood, and contently returned to his back.

[Prusselanden]

San Fransisco
"So they are hanging around here." Jules rubbed her chin. "I think we may have better luck now if we probe those Seagulls. we need to look for where those people with collars or the logo are heading to."

As the small porpoise swam up to them, Jules knelt down towards it and frowned. "Poor little thing. It's a Vaquita. They're going extinct because of unethical fishing methods." When Aestus told his axe to go off into the Gulf of Mexico, Jules was a bit curious to as what he was doing, but soon it was clear when the axe came back with blood on it.

"....oh."

She always despised poachers, but she was also not comfortable with such quick and indiscriminate slaughter. These people needed to be gotten rid of, but surely there were other solutions than killing them.

Iowa
Ackermann, seeing Steffen had gone down for a long time, decided to check on him. She excused herself from the room and walked over to the hospital convenience store, finding him with an ice tea.

"You ok? You look shaken."

[Naval Monte]

Shadows of the Empire

Coruscant Orbit

Dakaloon would have been picked up by a U-Wing who would take him to Home One. Ackbar heard from the St. Augustine about the predicament on the lost ship and told him they would go after it. Ackbar let them go but made sure to send a fleet with them.

He wasn't going to make anyone abandoned one of their own if they can save them, if he was in their shoes he would do the same. But the fleet sent had a dual purpose. Not only where they sent to aid them in Wild Space but he sent them to keep an eye on their new guests.

Right now they showed that they can be trusted in saving innocent lives, far better than AEGIS. But this allegiance was still to new for him to feel comfortable on letting the group alone for long periods of time.  

Ackbar waited for everyone on the ground to finally be picked up. For some unusual reason the group in the Jedi temple was taking a long time to arrive despite their claims of having the temple clear? Could it be that maybe it wasn't as clear as he told him?

Eventually the supreme commander would hear a voice coming through. "Sorry for the wait. Our team down in the temple is finally leaving the site." Sato's voice came through the comms. "What was the delay? I thought you had everything mostly cleared in there?" He asked her.

Whether Sato felt that Ackbar was judging her people or not her tone made no hint on her feelings as she calmly say. "We had another unwanted visitor in the temple. Thankfully they didn't cause any issues but we brought them with us because like us they don't belong in this universe."

Ackbar had a feeling there was more to her story but he didn't sense any deception coming from the woman about there being another interuniversal visitor. "I see, hopefully our new guest can aid us in the war." Achbar looked at the fleet.

When Stanji told him that his ship was FTL capable but his engines need to be inspected. But he then suggested on using the holonet to communicate by hologram for the meeting. "That is possible. I will send you the coordinates for where you can use to communicate with us."  The bridge officers follow through his words as they sent the transmission to Connacht.

"All ships we're moving out to the Fortressa. Follow these coordinates on our star charts and we will decide on our next plan of attack." Achbar ordered the ships of his fleet to prepare to jump into hyperspace. The fleet would turn away from the planet and once the were far away would vanish into hyperspace.

---

Fortressa

When the fleet all emerged from their various FTL systems they would see many stars dotting the pitch blackness that was space. They would see gas clouds that was no doubt creating many new stars that will eventually lead to the creation of new planets and with luck maybe new life and civilizations in the distant future. Yet these wondrous sights of the cosmos were not the main center of attention for those who are use to the mundane sights of the cosmos. No, their attention would be on the large vessel before them.

The Fortressa was a modified Hoersch-Kessel Drive, Inc. Lucrehulk-class LH-3210 cargo freighter. The old cargo freighter was commissioned by the megacorp known as the Trade Federation to haul much of their wares across the galaxy. The Fortressa was modified to serve as a warship when the megacorp gained approval from the then Galactic Senate to raise a military arm to better defend its convoys. She and many other ships of her line would transform into the infamous Lurcehulk-Class Battleship.

This moving fortress not only held large reserves of resources and materials to keep it running for years before being restocked but it can hold many fighters along with being a might wall. The Fortressa like all Lurcehulks fought for the Confederacy of Independent Systems once the Trade Federation ceded to them.

The old battleship would survive the war and the nationalization of the Trade Federation, being sold off by the Galactic Empire who saw no use for ships of her type. But the Rebel Alliance did and not only stole her when the Empire wasn't looking but modified her more, following in the footsteps of her previous owners.

Like with the Clone Wars the Fortressa survive Galactic Civil War, mainly because she served more like a command ship and space borne fortress and base than as a battleship. The Rebels knew that back in the Civil War the old ship would struggle against newer warships fielded by the Empire and even now those sentiments are even stronger due to the technological advancements that have occured during the Galactic Cold War.

The Fortressa bore the red colors and iconography of the Rebel Alliance. Surrounding her were ships that not only served the rebels but newer ships made by the New Republic. A few ships from the new Star Defender line can even be seen acting as capital ships for the Fortressa defense fleet. The sight would have impressed Ackbar if he wasn't use to it by now. Instead he contact the command bridge of the aging battleship.

"This Gial Ackbar to the Fortressa. I request clearance to board on the hanger with our guests." The Mon Calamari didn't need to wait long for an answer. "You and the rest of the fleet are clear. The Chancellor is waiting for you all." The message would be heard for everyone in the fleet.

"Affirmative. I will be going down right now." Ackbar said. He would get up from his seat and walk out of the bridge. The trip was short as he would find a Lambda-Class Shuttle in the hanger and board it. The shuttle would fly out of Home One and join the other shuttles as they flew to the hanger of the Fortressa.

Once they reach the hanger they group would see fighters of many kinds within ready for deployment and armies of technicians and engineers moving about with pilots. While a few starfighter were throwbacks to the Civil War most were Star Fighters made by the New Republic. True most resembled their older counterparts, with some like the Y-Wing and B-Wing not only being made bigger due to their new roles, but some had no connection to older ships like the K-Wing and V-Wing.

Once the shuttles land they would be greeted by a humanoid robot with gold plated armor, save for the left arm that was red. By his side was a blue and white smaller robot"Greetings. I am C3-PO, human-cyborg relations. This here is R2-D2". The astromech gave the group a few beeps. "We are here to guide you all to the chamber where the Chancellor and others are waiting."

The droids would begin to lead the group through the large hanger to one of the many doors into the labyrinthine hallway of the Fortressa. The walk through the Fortressa's halls would reveal many droids and species, not just humans. Seeing so many aliens in the same place was an odd sight for Sato, even stranger was how all of them have a humanoid build. The aliens she encountered in her world were truly alien in both physiology and psychology, she was sure that if she let these aliens meet the ones in her world they will feel the same way about them as most humans from her world.

Sato watch as a green Twi'lek woman walk by. "It's strange how human they look." The woman muttered to the human members of MUDP. "Even the Cornerians have human proportions when you look past the animal traits. I wonder what occured in their past to make it that their genetics made them gain such traits." Sato said.

The group would be lead to a sliding door and as the doors open they would find a large room with a silver table at the center and seats. Entering in they would find Mon Mothma sitting on a chair facing a glass window showing outer space. She was with several high ranking members of the New Republic; these individuals included Leia Organa, Garm Bel Iblis, Airen Cracken, Ponc Gavrisom, Jan Dodonna, Borsk Fey'lya, and Adar Tallon. Once everyone was seated Mon Mothma would speak.

"Greetings all of you who are new to our universe. I am Mon Mothma, Chancellor of the New Republic. I thank you all for helping us with bringing justice against these terrorists on Coruscant. Unfortunately these good news are sullied by the fact that First Order and their Imperial allies have taken Hosnian Prime. Not only have they cut off a major trade route of ours they now are poised to invade the rest of the Core Worlds."

Cracken would soon speak. "It's even worse than that." He would press a few buttons on his seat and a holographic projection of the galaxy will appear above the table. The group would see the Inner Rim turning red slowly, the side were Hosnian Prime was had a large push towards the planet. "The First Order is pushing into the Inner Rim to reach the Core Worlds. As you can see most of their forces were diverted to push towards Hosnian Prime."

He explained as the spot where the planet is located was consumed by a ride ride on the map. "So long as they have the planet they have the perfect outpost to invade the Core Worlds. Worse so long as they continue to push into the Inner Rim most of our trade routes will be cut off. Right now we are using our stockpile reserves but they will not last long." The leader of the intelligence department told the group.

Not the best way to start the meeting but they needed their allies to know what was the current state of the war. Sato look at the map and noticed something with the map. "It seems that some parts are moving much slower." She said. Dodonna was the next one to speak.

"We suspect those fleets might be decoys. For most fronts the First Order and their Imperial allies are using lightning warfare mixed with some tactics we used back when we were the Rebel Alliance. That strategy was used precisely to reach Hosnian Prime. I suspect they are trying to quickly gain victory because they can't win a war of attrition. So far none of their allies seem to be the more powerful Warlords like Zsinj or Cain."

[Apto]

Shadows of the Empire, Fortressa
Helen of the Mysterious Castle

The group would be lead to a sliding door and as the doors open they would find a large room with a silver table at the center and seats. Entering in they would find Mon Mothma sitting on a chair facing a glass window showing outer space. She was with several high ranking members of the New Republic; these individuals included Leia Organa, Garm Bel Iblis, Airen Cracken, Ponc Gavrisom, Jan Dodonna, Borsk Fey'lya, and Adar Tallon. Once everyone was seated Mon Mothma would speak.

It was really quite strange, the feeling of falling through the air. Helen had lived in a floating castle-turned-prison all her life, but she had never quite experienced something like this. Watching the ocean grow ever closer with each second, the intense rush of the wind against her person and the way her hair moved...

She wondered what would happen once she made contact with the sea water. What did it taste like? Why was it so blue? And how long was she gonna keep falling? That and many more questions rushed through her mind far faster than any arrow, the elf's expression nonplussed as she headed for what would be a very long nap.

She wondered what would hit the surface first if she drew her bow then and there and shot a arrow.

Suddenly, her fall slowed to a crawl.

Her mind screamed for her to move, to dodge out of the way, but it was no use. Something grasped her very soul, feeling very much like the Frozen Yasha's touch as the world around her faded, the familiar colors of the midday sky disappearing until-

Pwuff! Went the sound of a elf meeting someone's lap interrupted the serious air in the room.

"?" Color returned to her vision, and Helen's eyes were assaulted by a array of lights far too drab than what she was used to. At least the lap of the lady she had gently fallen on-top of was nice! Sadly, she couldn't stay idle, and Helen stood up to her not-very-impressive height between the chairs of important personages.

The Elf was obviously armed, with one sword and a dagger by her left hip, and two swords to her right, while a bow was worn across her shoulder, but curiously missing a quiver to accompany it. Yet, the girl's rather small stature, the doe-eyed and curious look on her face that only curious children could really muster, and the way she tilted her head to gaze her surroundings did a lot to disarm her of any threatening visage she might have held. "?" Hello! The elf opened her mouth to speak, a unintelligible noise coming from it, yet in the minds of those who listened, they heard a voice greet them, friendly, cheerful, and almost visibly bright as Helen smiled, completely unawares of what she had just fallen into.

[Menschenfleisch]

L-Fel | Cassia

Cassius burst from the pack, rapidly reincorporating its plastic pieces into his skin, and beaming at Ale. "Back alley? Cool. I'll put the stuff on." he put the stuff on, filling each pant leg with his legs, and putting his outermost digits, then his fingers, then his palms, then his wrists, then his forearm, then his elbows, then his biceps, then his triceps, then his shoulders, then his shoulder blades, then his hair, then his head, then his ears, then his eyes, then his nostrils, then his nose, then his lips, then his mouth, then his chin, then his neck, then his ribcage, then his torso, then his abdomen, then his hips through the shirt he'd been bought. Tl;dr he put some clothes on. "So! Where to now? If we've got some time to kill, I know a great way to make some meth with nothing but a matchstick, two sheets of paper and nine gallons of assorted biomatter. Want me to show you?"

Scourge of my People | Cherry and Nomad

So, this was an assassination of some sort. Already, Cherry was running out of reasons to stick around. This was an unnecessary risk and almost certainly not going to get her anywhere near a habitable, uncolonised planet. However, she had noticed that several interdimensionals were on board with her. if she blended in for a while, there was a very slim chance that either Nomad or The Celestial Order's employees could find her some resource. A survey cache, or even an interdimensional travel device. Currently, she was basically just leaping throughout space and time and hoping for the best. Despite how much her situation was deteriorating, she still had the faculties to consider the situation. The vast majority of habitation candidates she'd found had been in the last 30 jumps. In terms of interdimensional travel distances, those were paltry numbers; therefore most of the worlds which she might settle were in startlingly close proximity to this one which just so happened to be a multiversal hub. Striking at the IGSE's leadership would necessarily throw this multiverse, or at least a quadrant of it, into conflict. Therefore, its expansion into neighbouring universes might be halted. Truth be told she had no idea how much damage she could possibly do, but she seemed to accept her circumstances without much regard for risk and reward. Her hand shot up. "You seem very confident in the mission. I assume this isn't a suicide attack, so how do you expect us to reach our target? Through physical, diplomatic or circumstantial means?"

Nomad, meanwhile, took a look at Rygan, the relative 'native', as well as his current most reliable source of info. He really had a low bar for helpfulness, didn't he? "Hey. My name's... Alastair. Nice to meetcha, Rygan. So, who is Yotsuha? Or, more importantly I guess, what's the IGSE?"

[Parcia]

The Fortessa.

The Pelican came in quietly and landed with out incident. With a whoosh the landing ram came down to reveal the Admiral, clad in a crisp, white UNSC flag officer's dress Uniform. He had chosen this uniform as the way he saw this meeting, it was a stately visit during war times, which mandated him appearing in proper uniform. The only modification being the leg holster which held an M6D sidearm. Flanking him were two OSDT staff sergeants and taking the lead was the 7 foot tall Spartan, her large frame and gunmetal grey armor throwing interesting shadows in the Ships interesting light.


With his escort taking a quick yet keen glance around the room, the Admiral entered and took a seat, listening to the Women speak. Getting up he approached the Hologram and studied it closer. "Blitz warfare requires strong supply lines and escorts for them, I would blunt these fake out attacks with minor units, System defense forces and the like, they are likely using large amounts of lighter units, Corvettes, destroyers, the like to inflate their Sensor presence."

"As for the faster, more aggressive pushes, I would meet them in smart locations, blunt any deviations from their current course and force them in to a stand up fight in a fortified system with a fleet of heavy units. Force them in to a kill box were you can outflank and corner them in a gravity well or Asteroid field, if you have a mobile means of FTL interdiction, all the better. Once you do so, it would be prudent to form a set of "Raiding" fleets, forces comprised of smaller, lighter craft and ships able to quickly dive in to their supply lines and cut them off repeatedly. Their Blitzkrieg tactics depend on keeping their momentum up, as well as their supplies full, kill their momentum and their supplies and you kill their attack."

He said this in a matter of fact tone of voice, more so as a instinctual depiction of the situation at hand rather then something that was well thought out. In a perusing moment of clarity, he looked around and Spoke. "I apologize if I spoke out of turn." Clearing his throat he sat back down.

[Korhal IVV]

Shadows of the Empire
The Solar Dragons and Searchers Fleet
The Fortressa

The others would, upon their arrival to the immediate vicinity of the Fortressa, find the Terran fleet waiting for them near the modified Lucrehulk Battleship, the larger and and more imposing ships of the fleet having assumed a defensive formation near the Fortessa, while the smaller and more numerous corvettes were stationed farther out, wandering around in small groups of three as the light of the nearby star glinted their ivory surfaces like sunlight on a mirror. The corvettes were tasked with watching for potential spatial anomalies like interdimensional rifts, hyperspace windows, and incoming warp jumps with the aid of the hypersensitive sensor arrays mounted on some of the Koenigsburg Class Corvettes, which were intentionally modified to be glorified space radar stations that could detect almost anything that comes around in their area of effect.

Watching over them like a father and mother over their children were the experimental battleship Andromeda and the system defence dreadnought Solar Defender, which were stationed near the Fortressa like two great shields of metal. Flanking them were their attendant destroyers, frigates, and cruisers, the latter of which were the excellent and modern Murakami Class, which could easily spar with the likes of an Imperial ship of the line with a more or less even match. These black clad cruisers stood out from the more rustic and vintagesque ships nearby, as they looked very new, if one ignores the fact that each vessel has brought down at least a thousand Swarm Hive Ships in the entire duration of their service to the Terran Federation during the Swarm Wars. The red hue of the two Prosperity Class Battlecruisers shined from behind the Lucrehulk, as the Time of Ending and the Affluence rested in their laurels for now, confident that none are foolhardy enough to execute a blind jump to such a secret location that it is not known to begin with. Finally, the golden colors of the Lunaven showed itself, the mighty battlecarrier seemingly silent as it sat there, doing nothing.

As the involved parties arrived on the Fortressa itself, they would find a familiar sight greeting them: Grand Admiral Yi Sun-shin’s Jocasta Gunship waiting in space, though there was another small ship near it: Ahijah’s personal transport shuttle. Near them were four Remoranth Starfighters. It appeared that the the Grand Admiral and the Commander were just waiting for their allies to arrive. After all, they got here ahead of the rest.

Later on in the conference room, all would see Yi wearing not his signature purple, but a more casual grey trench coat. It seemed that he had his own tastes that he wished to expressed.

As he entered along with everyone else, accompanying him were Aurelia Icebreath, Ahijah Ben Gera, and three of his best Haeresi High Seers: Yare-Loken, Siracuse Von Manstein, and Monserrat Del Fero. If anyone else there were capable of detecting power levels within living beings, they would see that the three black sorcerors had incredible power in them, as well as the elf like alien with the glowing eyes.

And thus, the meeting begin in earnest. As the UNSC captain finished, Yi spoke. “I see. They intend to take the planet as a base of operations to strike at the Core Worlds... hmmm.”, he thought for a moment before continuing. “My starfighters and support ships can hit their supply lines with greater frequency and precision, as our hyperspace engines are far more sophisticated than the ones here, and if we can track the movements of their supply convoys, the Terran fleet can more or less cause disruption in their supply line, and stretch them thin. My Andromeda, with some of our destroyers, can wreak havoc with impunity at a major supply route. The rest of the Solar Dragons and... my friend’s Searchers fleet here,”, he said as he he motioned towards Ahijah. “Will coordinate with you all to disrupt to disrupt their supply. If we are fortunate, we can cut off their forces in Hosnian Prime and surround them with a pincer attack.”

Then, out of nowhere, an elf fell out of a rift.

Instinctively, the three Haeresi ignited their plasma blades, pointing them at the elf lady with apprehension, while Yi and Ahijah drew their swords as well. “Who are you?”, they questioned.

[Naval Monte]

Scourge of My People
On board the Kamui

The three representatives of the Celestial Order stood from the back of the group as Yotsuha made her announcement. Sekhmet stood close to Nephthys as the woman kept her eyes on the Yakuza princess. Anton was leaning against the wall, with a flask in hand as he watches the rest of the group before looking at Ikegami.

When she told everyone that the real reason they were called was not to put down an insurgency none of the Order members looked pleased about the news. It was clear they dislike being tricked into this quest but the more they hear about this IGSE the more they understood for the need of secrecy. "So you want to use us to get revenge against mega-corporation that is bitten by a serious case of imperialism?" Anton said as he unscrew the flask lid, taking a swing at it as he drank down the alcohol.

"I don't appreciate the deception but right now I can't turn back as not only can I not return empty handed, I refuse to be seen as a coward." Nephyhs stated. Next to her the taller amazon finally spoke. "I will stay by my mistress side regardless of whatever dangers we face." Sekhmet  said, a deep, but feminine sounding, voice was heard coming from her.

What all these didn't say was that they felt that they need to strike at the IGSE has not only does the Order have extradimensional holdings that would be threatened by the company's aggressive expansion but they might find and invade their home universe. Striking out and weakening the IGSE is an imperative for them. It's a shame they don't have enough Order members on their side.

"How advanced is the IGSE when it comes to technology and magic?" Nephyhs asked. "I want to know what sort of weapons we are likely to see them us." After her came Sekhmet. "How powerful and numerous are their soldiers?" Afterher came Anton. "So how many worlds did they conquer and what can you tell us about the world we are going to?"

[Naval Monte]

Shadows of the Empire
Fortressa

Leia had a strange feeling that something was going to happen, she sensed. While she didn't take the full training to be a Jedi like her brother she had Luke taught her enough about the Force to still be a capable force sensitive, she just wasn't confident in using those abilities in combat like Luke yet.

Right now she felt a disturbance in the Force; it felt as though a wound was opening up in the Force itself? Leia looked confused and concerned by what she was feeling. Ackbar noticed how Leia was acting and the old Mon Calamari was going to ask her if she was feeling fine when the source for the disturbance finally showed itself. By falling on top of her.

While Leia sensed Helen's arrival she was not fast enough to react to it, as such the small elf landed on her lap. Leia was startled by the sudden appearance of the long ear humanoid, enough to offset the pain and discomfort caused by her rough landing on her lap.

As the humanoid got up and stood up Leia got a good look of the young girl, and girl was right. The long ear humanoid barely seem to have left her teenage years. She still had enough soft and what many would consider child-like traits that made her appear adorable and young, the curiosity coming out of her doe-eyes only serve to reinforce that image as well as her height.

While she was armed no one in the room felt practically threaten by the minor. Yet Leia felt something strange coming from the girl. She couldn't put her finger on why the Force felt different around this girl? When she spoke everyone heard two different things, one was an unintelligible noise that some questioned was even a strange new language they were hearing for the first time, the others were words in clear Galactic basic being heard in their heads.

"A telepath?" Sato said with shock. "No, mind magic. Of course the elf would know magic." The woman looked at Helen. "Can you communicate with us besides speaking into our thoughts and can you see what we are thinking?" The woman asked, though her tone made it sound more like she was demanding answers from her.

"This girl hasn't been here for five minutes and already your interrogating her like she was a threat?" Leia chided at the bespectacled woman. "If she was a threat she would have attacked us the moment she appeared but she clearly didn't."

Sato adjusted her glass. "Sorry, I just feel anxious around telepaths is all. I don't like the idea of people reading into my thoughts or changing it. I just need to be sure she won't do that to us." Sato explained. Leia could understand some of her fear over that; she saw Luke use the mind trick several times after all. "I can understand your concern but let's get to know this girl before we label her a threat."

With Sato dealt with she turned to the Terrans. "The rest of you, put away your weapons. The girl is obviously confused because of these rifts taking her from her home. Just like with Sato if she wish to harm us she would have done so already." She told turn.

Leia turn to Helen, giving her a smile. "Hello dear. My name is Leia, What's yours?"  Borsk Fey'lya, the sole bothan in the room, snorted at the sight. "Great, we not only have to fight for our survival but babysit as well." He muttered as he shook his head.

Dodonna heard what the Admiral said about the Blitzkrieg and how to counter. "So far what you said are plans most of us have agreed on. So far the First Order tactics match with what you have stated, they are even use some of our old tactics against us to not only weaken our forces but disrupt our supply lines. We bolstered the defense forces of our worlds during the Cold War so those being used as fake outs can fight on their own for a while, but the ones actually being targeted would need our assistance."

Dodoona typed in a few commands and a holographic image of an Interdictor appeared. "The Empire made Interdictor technology to stop our hit and run attacks. The ships projected an artificial gravity well that would immediately trigger the safety systems installed into every hyperdrive. The Empire made enough Interdictors thst by the time they fell we had enough ships to reverse engineer their technology. We created a few ships with interdiction capabilities."

The old strategist told the admiral and the group. "As for the raiding fleet this will be old hat for us. But I believe in these mission we can use your assistance so we can have more ships to attack multiple supply chains at once."

Yi soon chime in on his fighters being perfect for the raiding missions. Cracken spoke up. "My people will aid all of you on finding out possible locations to strike in. However I believe we should reserve battleships like yours for the defense of major worlds and for out counter attack to push out the First Order from the Inner Rim." He told Yi as Dolonna took over. "The First Order will no doubt use Star Destroyers to defend some of their supply bases but unlike the Empire they cannot afford to mass produce Star Destroyers. They are forced to use the amount they have into strategic locations. Right now we suspect most will be on the offense as that is the primary role for Star Destroyer." He told him.

"However I believe if we must use larger captial ships Battlecruisers are perfect for our raids. They possess firepower equal to battleships and speeds to quickly engage with the enemy and flee. More importantly the presence of Battlecruisers in our raids may force the First Order to send some of their own capital ships away from their invasion to protect their supply lines, weakening tjeyr charge. Once we have forced their supply bases into a few fortified facilities we van deploy our battleships on them. "

[Nagakawa]

L-Fel
Iowa
A&E room

“I’m... it’s ok”, Steffen replied Ackermann, clearing his throat and thrusting his hands into his pockets. “It’s just... yea, ran into somebody I’d rather not talk to...”

He furtively looked over to the other side of the A&E; there, the pale and shaken-looking Dar Brexit had just checked himself into a ward, and in a split second, he cast one final glance back at Steffen and at Ackermann before finally disappearing behind the corner of the wall.

“Let’s head back up”, said Steffen, beckoning to Ackermann to leave the A&E and running one hand through his thinning hair. “I think we ought to discuss our next course of action. As it is, what with Henry holding on to a sensitive document and all, I’d rather not continue staying here indefinitely.”

...

nu,

firstly, do not allow isaiah to escape from your grasp. the achievement of our objective is dependant on how well we can rein in his worst excesses, and as much as i want to honour the old boss’ wishes, we have to accept that the whelp was not the best choice of successor.

secondly, have the jaldabaoth death squad on standby, but do not activate them just yet. the thesis is fragile, and i do not want to destroy it along with saladass by sending artillery where a pistol can adequately do the job.

i will send the trinity instead.

-dar brexit

...

L-Fel
San Francisco

Seeing an axe transform into a manta ray and then return bloodstained was hardly a feat for the magicians back in Yrjo's world, but in a different dimension where he'd initially believed magic of that sort did not exist, the sight of Aestus' feat certainly piqued the curiosity of Yrjo, who'd suddenly perked up upon seeing the bloodied hatchet return, quite unlike the rather put-off Terasaka.

"Say, Aestus, may I perhaps... learn a bit about how that works?" he asked, mesmerised by the feat and clearly uninterested as to the reason why Aestus' axe had returned with blood dripping from its service end. "I haven't seen this done in a world without any discernible magic veins..."

Terasaka swallowed, unable to take his eyes off the dripping gore on the weapon. His face turned pale and sweaty, and then as he attempted to speak, the blood rushed from his head, and he crumpled into a limp heap on the ground, breathing heavily and laboriously.

Looking at his severely haemophobic friend lying on the floor, Yrjo shook his head.

---

Scourge of My People

“We have three plans”, Yotsuha explained, smiling at Cherry. “Two of them being contingencies should the main plan not work.

“Our main plan relies on the information that Jeon Il-hyuk has been providing us. So far, what we know is that the IGSE is undergoing leadership reshuffle of some sort. He does not want to reveal too many details of the transition just yet, but as of now, the important bit of info we have is that Nu is currently shifting her base of operation.

“Based on our intel and on Dr Jeon’s leaks, we know that Nu is physically handicapped to some extent, and requires constant medical attention, thus making long-distance dimensional jumps impossible. As a result, her shifting her base leaves her vulnerable, because she has to make several stops before reaching her final destination. Our first plan will thus be to take her out at her first stop, while she is outside of the IGSE’s most heavily fortified base.

“At the moment, she operates from Hiborall, a barren planet located in a chaotic corner of the multiverse, but very soon, she will be making her exit. Her route will take her through three dimensions before she reaches the IGSE’s central headquarters, which means we will have three chances to get her.”

Turning to Anton, Sekhmet, and Nephthys, Yotsuha cleated her throat.

“Pretty damn advanced for technology is all I can say”, she replied Nephthys, “though I could give you a more specific answer if you asked a more specific question. As for magic, they don’t use it much themselves, but a lot of their mercenary forces specialise in combat magic, so there’s that to look out for.

“As for their numbers, it’s hard to estimate, given the secrecy of their information and the fact that they hire mercenaries and bounty hunters like nobody’s business, so I’m afraid I can’t give you a definitive answer on that. Nor can I tell you exactly how many worlds are under the grasp of the IGSE, again because it’s hard to tell, what with some being partially autonomous and others being fully under their grasp and all.”

While Yotsuha answered the questions of the others, Rygan leaned in closer to Nomad.

“The IGSE is an arms manufacturing corporation founded around 70 years ago by a warlord and scientist named Vudhtresk Haikarakainen”, he explained. “They’ve grown to become one of the largest political forces in this corner of the multiverse, and they’re known for conquering big chunks of the multiverse and for... well, engaging in questionable research.

“As for Yotsuha... Nobody really knows who Yotsuha is”, he continued, keeping his voice down given the rather awkward situation of the subject being in the room. “She’s the boss of the Niijima-gumi, which is a yakuza group that famously opposes the IGSE. Rumour has it that when she was a child, her family was massacred by an invading IGSE force. Other than that... she was the second-in-command of Akira Niijima, who was the previous boss, and then took over after he died at the battle of Kisegaeisei...”

Hearing the conversation, Yukio leaned in, tugging on the end of his maroon beret and shaping it, as he habitually did.

“I think you’ll have to give them a bit of context about Kisegaeisei”, he said to his silver-haired buddy. Turning to Nomad, Yukio smiled awkwardly in greeting.

“Basically, for most of the last thirty years or so, the multiverse was dominated by two powers: the IGSE, and a cult group called the Chimaera. Nine years ago, the Chimaera’s chief strategist defected to the IGSE, and then the Chimaera was crushed. Afterwards, when the IGSE tried to continue expanding, a bunch of people joined together to form a Grand Alliance to stop the IGSE from expanding any further. Rygan and I were serving under a government-in-exile that was part of this alliance, in fact.

“So the Alliance engaged the IGSE’s fleet on and around a planet called Kisegaeisei, but our supreme commander disappeared mysteriously, and we were all crushed...”

[The Palmetto]

L-Fel

San Fran

“It is quite unfortunate. Not only negligence, but many poachers want to harvest them for usage in ‘traditional medicine’. It’s sad, really, people are willing to let an entire species vanish forever simply because they don’t trust what a real doctor said,” Aestus said, letting out a sigh. He knew all too well what that train of thought could lead to, nothing but extinction in the wild and suffering in society. As a protector of marine life, he found much of this world’s practices abhorrent, though he sincerely appreciated that many people worked their hardest to stop it. Seeing Tereska’s reaction, he allowed his ray to wipe itself clean before returning to his back once more.

“Oh, sorry! I didn’t think anyone here would’ve had such a bad reaction. If you’re curious about how I did it, though, I can explain,” Aestus said, approaching Yjro to stand in front of him. A few of Aestus’s floating fish ceased their orbit to go to Tereska, trying to comfort the haemophobe.

“I’m the Lesser God of Marine Life, designed protector of marine life on my homeworld and guardian of Svakarta, my homeland. I was blessed by the Higher Goddess of Life, Biota, with a variety of powers that ultimately are a core part of my being. I don’t need any foreign sources of magic to operate my main abilities. I can control and read the memories of marine life, even give them long term orders. For example, I commanded a pod of Orcas to patrol the Gulf of California for poachers. Likewise, I can genetically modify organisms, an ability I used to increase the genetic diversity of the small Vaquita population. Back home, I can become much more powerful, being able to bless others myself and kill Higher Gods, but I don’t need that sort of power to live happily,” Aestus told Yrjo, speaking with light enthusiasm. He was confused by Yrjo’s concerns about “magic veins”, and just assumed he meant magic in the world around him. A lot of magical creatures and items in Physis, including himself, operated on their own sort of magic, so requiring something like magic veins to function was a new concept to him.

[Slenderman The CreepyPasta King]

Shadows of the Empire
Coruscant
Jedi Temple

The soldier looked at the coat that Lee summoned from his pocket dimension. "We better find a way to seal access to that dimension of his before he brings out something more destructive like a nuke." he thought as he took him into the gunship.

Now inside the pressurized interior of the gunship, a feature made to protect against CBRN based attacks and to travel at higher altitudes, the group would sit on the chairs line up. Once the pilot was sure everyone was seated on the gunship he would close the back door and begin to active the wing duct fans and the ramjet engines.

As the craft rose up in the air neither Lee, Link, or Doug would hear any noise being produced by the machines as the gunship rose up. The craft would fly away from the temple in great speed, a few more following behind it. Back in the temple the reaver was glad that the strange doctor was now going to let them go, but not before he issued a threat to them all.

"You think a threat like that will scare us doctor? We have comb through the eldritch secrets left behind dark gods, witch cults, and antediluvian civilizations. If we want to we will do the same with the omnitrix." She told Paradox but the time traveler already left the temple before he can hear her words.

"He probably knew what I was going to say and didn't want to hear a repeat." She turn her attention back to Terraspin. "Nice to know you're willing to go with us. But we need you to change back into your human form now because we aren't sure if you can fit in your current form." Hex explained.

It was an honest concern on her part. But another fear is that if they place the geas on him than he may escape from its effect once he returns to normal. They are hoping that since he is human that if he was effected by the geas in human form his alien forms will also be affected.

Hex would get a message from implant. Commanding the message tomoorn she saw the contents from it by her AR contacts. "Valerian it seems Deimos wants to see you and September once she us recovered." She told the conceptual hunter.

“Yeah sorry but I can’t really change from alien to human unless the watch times out.” Terraspin said, “But I can turn from alien to alien. But just because I’ll go with you peacefully does not mean I’ll do whatever you say or suggest.” As they began to leave Ben followed.

[Naval Monte]

Scourge of My People

When Yotsuha revealed the three plans on her plan to strike at the ISGE the three Order members can feel assured that the leader of this little group was smart enough to create contingency plans and not be reliant on one plan to succeed.  

As they hear that the IGSE was going through a leadership reshuffle they suddenly felt more confident on their chances of succeeding. If the IGSE was like any of the groups back home all it would need is to remove the heads to either destroy the organization or leave them severely weakened for rivals to finish them off.

When the question on their technologies was answered it was Sekhmet who spoke first. "How advanced are their weapons and protection based technologies? Do they create exosuits and super soldiers?" Nephthys saw the question coming, after all the woman was her bodyguard, she needs to know how powerful the enemy will be for her duty to protect her mistress.

"They seem to have access to portal based technology. Can they use it as a means of teleportation and as a weapon? Do they have spaceships? What powers and makes their technology? More importantly do they have means to counteract or nullify magic?" Nephthys ask.

Anton was next to speak. "What is their medical tech? Because if it's really good we may have to target their medical facilities to weaken them. I suppose if you can tell us on the tech behind their commerce and logistics that will also be useful. But more importantly for us what is the state on surveillance, stealth, and detection tech?"

The three knew these were a lot to ask for, especially against a secretive organization. But they need the information to hopefully relay it back to the Order to warn everyone about the IGSE before the IGSE finds out about their world.

However as they discussed about the world none of the three would know that in the new world they would be in would have something from back home. This could become either a potential asset in the war or a powerful threat in their mission in this frozen world.

[Menschenfleisch]

Scourge of my People | Nomad and Cherry

It was a surprise to Cherry that this ragtag bunch was being hired to take down one of the most influential leaders in this universe, and probably a dozen others too. While Jo appeared to have this entire scheme planned out in her head, she notably provided only a barebones explanation of why their target was vulnerable, and not how they were, say, going to find out precisely where she was, how to get past two dozen layers of defence, and then manage to off the target herself while not being seen. At best, this was a suicide mission deliberately staffed with expendable interdimensionals. At worst, this was a room already infiltrated by IGSE agents attempting to carry out a sting operation upon mercenaries and assassins willing to hunt IGSE personnel. Frankly, the stringency with which Jo went about recruiting people for her cause was far too lax. "If we kill Nu, what happens then? Is this part of another party's game, or is it a personal mission for you? I'd like to know that we won't be messing with things greater than ourselves when we do this."

Nomad nodded enthusiastically at Rygan and Yukio, the two of them giving him just about everything he needed to hear in order to make his conclusion; this universe was kind of shit. Hyperexpansionist entities? Paramilitary groups advertising in what were essentially airports? It actually shook him a bit, knowing how ingrained warfare was in this... well, not just universe anymore. Multiversal cluster? Local reality? Who knows, just assume that you know what I'm talking about. "So our 'boss' has a vendetta against the IGSE. I guess Nu must've been important back when she was still in the fight, otherwise she'd probably be going after someone a little more important. So what you're telling me is that the IGSE is unstoppable, and has managed to steamroll countless empires, nations, corporations and militaries even when they were united. I mean, I know your commander disappearing is a bad thing, but the outlook couldn't have been good if his disappearance spelled the end of everything. Who's left, beside the IGSE? It seems like even if we kill Nu, they won't be hurt at all. We'll just have made a couple billion enemies, and taken down their most elderly, physically disabled leader."

[The Palmetto]

Fortressa

Pisto’s head filled with nostalgia for better times as he walked through the Fortressa. Despite all of its modifications, it was still a Lucrehulk, a ship he’d spent a lot of his early existence on. Most importantly, it had reminded him of Saal Vel, his master during the Clone Wars. It had been a long time ago, but it felt like yesterday he was trailing the ambitious officer to whom he’d been newly assigned. They went through everything together, from crushing defeat to overwhelming victory, but unfortunately Vel would die during his last, losing battle. One of the things Pisto regretted most was this simple fact, though it had been what motivated him to secure a future for the Separatists in Vassek. That, with the help of many people, he had done, but the job wasn’t over yet. The First Order made sure that the years long rest of the Separatists wasn’t going to last forever.

With the droid general were two security droids and two organics, one a female Kaleesh by the name of Seeth Tid. She was tall with a slender upper body but thick hips and meaty legs. She was raised in a more urban area of Vassek in the aftermath of its liberation, and her attire reflected this. Seeth was wearing a formal green suit, complete with white complements and golden buttons as per usual VCIS attire. Despite her city-dwelling nature, she still wore a mask that concealed her face except for her yellow eyes, and through her parents felt a bond with more rural and tribal peoples. Though not around when the VCIS was first established, she became an important diplomat crucial to peacefully securing the VCIS’s territorial integrity by supporting compromise between rival factions, and of its expansion by convincing other worlds that they could join without losing their traditions or heritage. Pisto’s revolutionary zeal could make this difficult at times, as he was critical of tribalism, but Tid managed to convince him that tribal society could eventually lead to modern civilization.

The other organic was an ancient Harch who’d participated in several galactic wars, Admiral Furrow. As a Harch, he was a sturdily built, spider-like humanoid with six arms and two fanged mandibles. In spite of this, he still wore normal clothing, specifically, the traditional blue and white robes used by Harch within the old CIS. They were still well-kept despite being decades old, and he had been very stubborn about continuing to use his traditional uniform. He had graduated from the same naval academy as the infamous Admiral Trench, and was almost as skilled. He was an officer for hire before joining up with the CIS, and fought with them all the way until the Battle of Coruscant saw them scattered. He assisted Pisto in evacuating as many ships as possible after the deactivation order, but departed to the Slice to assist the Harch and Aqualish in their fight against the Empire. He led the Noolian Crisis, which saw several planets taken by rebels, before the rebellion was quickly squashed. At that point, he and his forces fled to Vassek, and proved vital in building up the VCIS’s navy.

“I am going to be entering negotiations with one of the many groups assembled here today, AEGIS. I trust you two to represent the VCIS accordingly, and to keep quiet about said negotiations. Understood?” Pisto asked his two associates. Both quietly nodded, before entering the room where their guards would pull their seats out for them. Seeth Tid sat down, her meaty thighs spreading over the seat, while Furrow stubbornly pushed in his chair and opted just to stand up. The two listened closely, and were deeply concerned, even scared, by the details they received on the First Order’s invasion. Seeth had been born after the empire had been driven out, and hadn’t grown up with the threat of invasion looming over her head. Furrow scratched his mandible, contemplating how the VCIS should respond. His first instinct was to simply focus on defending the VCIS’s core territory, but of course if the First Order won their war with the NR, they’d go after the VCIS next. The two paid no mind to the newcomer elf, not seeing her as an issue as plenty of people from other universes were here.

“I am Admiral Furrow of the Confederacy of Independent Systems based in Vassek, but, tsk tsk tsk, most youngsters and outsiders tend to call us the VCIS these days. We’re native to this universe, having fought the empire to retain our independence even after the Clone Wars. I have decades of military experience, and I’ll admit that our Separatist fleets used similar tactics as the First Order is using to secure our territory. Tsk tsk tsk, you’re all about right with your strategy for their defeat. I must say, it is quite bold of them to go straight for the Core Worlds. They’re trying to quickly take out the New Republic’s industrial capability and use it for themselves, tsk tsk tsk, things look bleak but it’s not as bad as it may seem. The VCIS was able to use such tactics in outer worlds geographically distant and unimportant to the Empire, going for the most populated part of the galaxy isn’t very wise of them.

Tsk tsk tsk, I do believe that targeting their supply and forcing them to focus more on defense is the best option here. Their plan is to quickly occupy the territory they want and capitulate the New Republic’s forces, and their strategies and fleet are likely designed accordingly. Once they lose momentum, it will not be difficult to push them back if not destroy them entirely. In the meantime, I would suggest defending Coruscant and the rest of the Core Worlds, while seeking to disrupt them from behind the frontlines. I would suggest supporting partisans within their occupied systems, it would serve as a distraction, and the rebels could be ordered to destroy industrial targets. Certainly would be ironic if a group trying to revive the Empire was brought down in part by what killed it in the first place,” the arachnid admiral said with a chuckle. He was quite impressed with the other tacticians in the room, and felt confident that the First Order would be brought down.

Seeth Tid rose, her thick thighs jiggling as she stood up, and pulled out a holographic map of the galaxy. Regions of space bordering the VCIS were colored in red, while the Imperial remnant states in gray.

“I don’t think the Imperial Remnants should necessarily be ignored. While it looks like they will stay neutral for now, we should make sure they stay that way. I would suggest sending a team of diplomats to each group to see if we can prevent any factions from joining up with the First Order. With the galaxy at stake here, we can’t afford to take any chances.

There’s several planets from Trenwyth to Bakura that are sparsely populated or too small to defend themselves, all with some Separatists tendencies. I should inform you all that we will be making moves to place the regions in red on the map under the VCIS’s protection. Speaking of my home country, I’d like to propose a formal peace treaty between the VCIS and the New Republic, each side giving the other full recognition and forgiving each other for any crimes committed in the war by either side. It’s binding but mostly symbolic, to secure a peaceful future,” She said, walking over to Mon Mothma to hand her a holographic document. Her massive thighs continued to jiggle wildly as she walked, though she didn’t seem to notice.

[Nagakawa]

Scourge of My People
On board the Kamui

“I suppose you could say that this mission is partly motivated by a personal desire for vengeance of mine”, Yotsuha replied Cherry in a bluntly honest manner. “I do apologise for the rather secretive manner with which we went about recruiting you all, but it was the only way I could be sure that we weren’t drawing the attention of the IGSE. They don’t bother themselves with the disputes of small, insignificant worlds.

“Anyway, to answer your question: the existence of Nu is, if you will, the weak point in the IGSE’s chain of command. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before, but the IGSE is split into two branches: the Military Arm, led by Dar Brexit, and the Research Arm, led by Iuzun Nebra. Neither arm is fully aware of the activities of the other. Both, in fact, function together largely through coordination from above, namely, by the person to whom Brexit and Nebra both report: Nu. Taking out Nu would throw the Military and Research Arms into disarray, upon which further plans can then be made to strike harder. No doubt, there are other powers that are looking to bring down the IGSE who would benefit a lot from our mission, if it is successful."

"Why would they want to organise the whole thing that way?" asked Arunachalam.

“This, I believe, was a structural flaw intentionally implemented by the Chief Executive of the IGSE, Harakiri Haikarakainen, in order to keep the two branches separate", Yotsuha replied. "According to Jeon Il-hyuk, Haikarakainen believes that doing so will allow both branches to focus wholeheartedly on what they do without having to fret over the constraints of the other, but my personal suspicion is that he does not fully trust Nebra and especially not Brexit with full power, which is why he placed them both under a genius strategist who is physically incapable of ever supplanting him.”

Arunachalam appeared to be rather suspicious of the business he had just found himself in, but said no more. Checking her watch, Yotsuha then turned to Anton, Sekhmet, and Nephthys.

"The IGSE's portal technology is based partially on their research on magic, and it's sufficiently advanced that they can transport entire fleets across rather large inter-dimensional spaces", she said to them. "As for their other tech levels, I'm afraid I'm not particularly knowledgeable on these myself, so you'll just have to ask Dr Jeon when we touch down in Niflheim."

The room fell into an uneasy silence underscored by a low, murmuring chatter in the background. A brief jerk was felt, indicating that the ship had passed into dimensional travel, and the hum of the engines became louder, rather like the inside of an aircraft.

"In any case, I shan't take up any more of your time", said Yotsuha, smiling at the crew and bowing politely and formally. "We're estimated to reach Niflheim in about a day, so in the meantime, make yourselves comfortable, and prepare your equipment if you need to. As for payment, we can discuss it later, after we meet with Dr Jeon."

And with that, Yotsuha Ikegami quietly retreated into her private room, and the crew dismissed themselves, going about their own business.

...

Kamui
Medical bay

With some amount of struggling about the rather narrow corridors of the Kamui, Yukio had dragged his mattress over into the back room of the Kamui's medical bay, only to find that Arunachalam, the middle-aged Indian nurse who had come crashing through the minibar, had set up a sort of makeshift room there too, complete with a gramophone blasting Wagner.

"I see you've had the same idea as me", said Arunachalam, cracking his knuckles.

Yukio chuckled.

"Truth be told", he continued, watching as Yukio dragged his mattress to the other end of the back room, "I have my doubts about this whole thing. I have this feeling that we're signing ourselves up for a trap... or a sting operation by the IGSE."

"A little too late to turn back now, I'd reckon", Yukio replied, shrugging and taking off his shirt, revealing a lean body bearing the vestiges of a horrible rash contracted on some cursed tropical planet years ago. "I mean... what's the worse that could happen?"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little red daruma doll, one eye left blank and the other eye filled in, placing it gingerly on the main desk in the medical bay.

"We shall have to see, then..."

...

---

???

"So you've finally arrived, Isaiah."

This was the first time Isaiah Haikarakainen had ever laid eyes upon Nu herself, and the sight of her was absolutely terrifying, so much so that the rambunctious and hot-tempered Isaiah himself fell silent upon entering her chambers.

Nu was, in fact, the highly-deformed lovechild of Iuzun Nebra and an unknown woman who had long since been swallowed by the ever-gaping maw of history's forgotten, little more than a pulsating brain growing in an acardiac twin body that had consumed its pump twin and then stayed alive through the intervention of the then 25-year-old Iuzun. Appearing to be little more than a mass of flesh with two stubby legs and the ghost of a grotesque, eyeless face upon its bloated belly suspended in a viscous medical syrup and covered in electrodes and wires, one could never have guessed that the parasitic mind locked away in the deepest bowels of the IGSE's most obscure worlds was the mastermind of its iron fist.

"Yes", Isaiah said, almost fearfully.

"Your tardiness has not gone unnoticed", Nu's robotic monotone echoed through the room in a controlled, sterile tone. "I should expect more from the new Chief Executive of the largest organisation in the multiverse."

"My apologies", Isaiah replied, bowing sheepishly. "In any case... I have your escort ready. Let's set off now." The guards and medical personnel who had begun filing into the room set about disconnecting Nu from the computers to which she had been painstakingly hooked up.

"Before we leave", Nu's voice crackled to life again, just before she was disconnected from the speakers, "tell me what has become of the man named Junichirō Koizumi."

Isaiah smiled wryly.

...

---

L-Fel
Iowa

Upon returning to Frederick's ward, Steffen collapsed back into his seat and began nervously peeling his fingernails while muttering incoherently to himself.

"I think it would be good if we can think of something to do soon", said Henry, waving his hands about as he always did, for some reason. "Somehow, I have a really bad feeling about staying here. Yuuuge danger, yuuuge risk, also because we have this document with us, very important..."

"Close the curtains", said Steffen.

"Huh?"

"Close the curtains", Steffen repeated, before standing up and storming over to the window, whereupon he forcefully pulled the curtains shut and then headed over to the other end of the room, flicking off the light switch and plunging the room into darkness. "I think there's somebody watching us."

...

"Hello, Phantom, this is Messiah. I've lost my visual on Saladass. Over."

"Phantom to Messiah, maintain your position. Bishop is entering the building. Over."

[Prusselanden]

Iowa
Ackermann nodded at Steffen. "Alright, I'm going to get my iced coffee first. Then we can head up." She walked over to the cashier and gave the girl the money for her drink and another one for Steffen.

"Here, this should calm your nerves." Ackermann offered him a can of iced Mr. Coffee coffee and smiled. "It's pretty good, and I'm lucky this store has it cause it's hard to find in the states."

When they went up, Steffen only seemed to get more nervous an he hastily ordered the curtains to be closed. Ackermann was very confused as a cold sweat broke out on her back. Was there a threat nearby? Someone watching them?

"Steffen." Frederick looked at him from his bed, his lighthearted and cheerful expression replaced by a menacing scowl. "What have you gotten us into?"
L-Fel
"EH!?!?!?!" Jules yelled as Terasaka fell to the ground. "H-hey, you ok?" She turned him onto his back and started to check his vital signs. "It merely seems he suffers from a kind of panic disorder..." Jules took off her doctor's coat and put it on Terasaka to hopefully calm him down. "Does he have any prescriptions on him, maybe some central nervous system calming medication?" She asked Yrjo.