Dark Harvest II: War Hawks With Frickin' Lasers [ATTN DH1]

by **YellowApple** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 12:25 am

(OOC: Continued from DH1; need to wrap up some stuff to get things going in another thread)

The evacuations began quite immediately.

Upon the arrival of the Comraden ground convoys, the highest-ranking Japanese officials were offloaded to the Comradens. The remainder boarded the first wave of YellowApplan Puppeteer-II Transport Frigates, which - chock full of TurtleShroomian civilians, began their swift departure out of TurtleShroom, to be replaced with the larger Bishop-class Transport Freighters.

In the Zim Belt, however, groups of TurtleShroomers seeking YellowApplan refuge were questioned regarding their stance toward sapient equines. Depending on their responses, specific groups were kept at the camps while others were promptly evacuated. Specifically, those expressing support of the Dark Harvest act - even slightly - were retained; these individuals were held within the camps themselves. In the other camps, a similar protocol

An encrypted message was sent from one of the camps within the Zim Belt.

YellowApple Aerospace Marines
TO: "*.gph"; "*.ctan"; "*.cops*
ENCRYPTED

ENCRYPTED BULLETIN

The YellowApple Aerospace Marines has begun sorting out innocent
civilians from Zim Belt separatists, anti-pony activists, and slavers.
Those who are found to be legitimately guilty of crimes will be treated
similarly to how we handled the Fantoa conflict of years past with the
Marshites: we'll only preserve the innocents and leave the rest to C'tani
and Herd forces in the region.

Coordinates of the two refugee camps located in the Zim Belt are
attached to this message.  We request that forces seeking retribution
against the slavers and anti-pony activists wait until we've cleared out
the innocents and our own forces.

The innocent populations will be held in the YellowApplan city of
Astleyville, which is currently the nearest city to TurtleShroom.  Other
Coalition members are welcome to participate in final processing to
ensure that all slavers and pony-killers are accounted for and punished
appropriately.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.  Peace and
prosperity.

Evacuations would continue for some time. With Coalition forces approaching rapidly, it was vital that "some time" be shortened wherever possible. It was, however, unfortunately clear that not all TurtleShroomers would be evacuated, and thus priorities began to be set for those which pledged their love and toleration of all species - sapient equines included. Women and children were also prioritized; children could be corrected of any anti-pony or slaver tendencies should they have formed at all, and women were likely oppressed enough in the very agrarian and culturally-conservative TurtleShroom to be able to be swayed by the more metropolitan environment in YellowApple, or at the very least express greater empathy for sapient beings.

The clock was ticking. The operation needed to move quickly, for the sake of both the TurtleShroomer innocents and the YellowApplan personnel.

by **Comrade Commisar** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 2:36 am

Callsign 'Ironside',
Southern Jonesboro,
Turtleshroom

The transfer of the High-Ranking Japanese Officials pleased General Liang, for not only would they gain favor with the Japanese, but they would also possess a powerful asset safeguarding them from foreign engagement. Everything was working out perfectly. Looking off of the Diplomacy Gun Platform, General Liang felt nearly invincible.

"General," Saluted a Red Guard, "The situation in Turtleshroom has changed! Anti-Ponyist Groups have began conflicted with the Turtleshroomian Government and the Ponyist Coallition! Our route out of Turtleshroom has been apparently surrounded!"
"Are we saving Ponyists?" The General asked.
"Negative, we are transporting--"
"Then we shall be fine. Let the Ponyist Coallition take care of it. We are here to only save Japanese Officials." The General stated, uncaring for the Turtleshroomian situation.
"General." Another Red Guard spoke, "Somebody from the Shi Province wishes to talk to you."

General Liang was puzzled, although he was sure it was merely another request for a situation report.
"Wei." The General said into the radio.
"Nihao, General Liang, I am Xin Xingshi from SYSTEM. You may not--"
"Just get to the point." The General asked impatiently, feeling that this was some sort of trickery.
"My, my. That's no way to be talking to the next heir of Shi Leadership." Xin said in a content manner, "I also have good connections with Head Priestess Yue. If I wanted to, I could easily get your position as General revoked. I can even make it so that you'll wish you'd never became a General in the first place, Liang."

"What do you want?" Liang said, threatened.
"You probably think that because you've secured the Japanese Officials, you've successfully completely your mission. Well, I'm simply giving you further instructions." Xin stated, "On your way out of Turtleshroom, save as many Turtleshroomian refugees as possible. Students and Youth take high priority, but even I should know that you don't have the timeframe to do that - with the C.O.P.S. converging onto Turtleshroom. Just save as many refugees as you can."
"That's impossible!" Liang stated, "We do not have the capabilities for mass evacuation!"
"That's alright, because I wasn't asking." Xin stated, "You have seven massive gun platforms, each over a thousand tonnes a piece. I'm sure that you can find the room. You have your orders, Xin out."

General Liang looked angrily at the radio, which was now silent. Looking out onto the horizon once again for answers, he was stuck in between a rock and a hard place. If he secured the Turtleshroomian Populace, there was the potential that the Ponyist Coallition would already begin their occupation of Turtleshroom. If he didn't, he was disobeying orders, and was thus committing treason - punishable by death. Either way, he potentially risked death - something he did not like to think about. Turning around, he addressed his Red Guard aide.

"Have six of the Diplomacy Gun Platforms secure the Turtleshroom citizenry." He ordered, "Youth take priority, however, if it takes too much time, simply accept as many refugees as possible. Ironside 1-1 shall take the Japanese Officials to Comrade Commisar."

Nodding, the Red Guard spread the message to the other gun platforms, while Ironside 1-1 began making its way to the nearest border. The remaining Gun Platforms began making their way around Jonesboro, the speaker towers aboard the massive vehicles broadcasting the same message over and over again;

Citizens of Turtleshroom, Comrade Commisar is securing refugees within Jonesboro. Youth shall recieve first priority, followed by the remaining citizenry. All refugees shall be transferred to the Province of Shi, Comrade Commisar. I repeat, Comrade Commisar shall be securing refugees within Jonesboro. Youth shall recieve first priority, followed by the remaining citizenry. Refugees shall be transferred to the Province of Shi, Comrade Commisar.

...hopefully many lives could be spared from the Occupation.

SYSTEM Building,
Academy City, Shi Province,
Comrade Commisar

Hanging up, Xin Xingshi was quite satisfied that the General would comply. Multiple variables still remained, although Xin was quite hopeful with Turtleshroom. Sipping his afternoon tea, he flipped his cell phone open, calling Yong Shi.

"As I said, I shall be keeping in touch." Xin said, "I've managed to convince the current General in Turtleshroom to save a few hundred refugees. They will be moved to Shi Province dormitories and apartments. Not the best facalities we could provide, but it will suffice. The Ctan and the Greater Pony Herd have not replied to my letter yet, but I am viewing their variable as a negative aspect."

Xin sat back in his chair, reaching for a scroll in his desk. Unravelling the parchment upon his table, he continued.
"The Yue Priestesses and Shrine Maidens have also made an interesting speculation regarding Turtleshroom. 'With the alternate nature of the moon and stars, it is predicted that the worshipers of the Turtle Deities shall come across an event of incredibly massive proportions'." Xin read, "That's the most I can decode from these writings. Since there has been an alternature nature of the moon and stars, I'm thinking that the Ctan are probably planning something massive... but I don't have any substantial evidence to prove that. It could be the Greater Pony Herd's Orbital Cannon that they are referring to... or it can even possibly be our particle cannon... in any case, I'll keep in touch. Take care."

Hanging up, Xin was quite curious about the writtings by the Yue Priestesses. 'The alternate nature of the moon and stars', that simple praise was quite concerning for Xin - but also quite interesting. Smiling, Xin thought that this was too far for even a protigy such as himself to recognize the full meaning behind these events.

by **The Ctan** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 9:54 am

The Herd shared the communications received back with the Necrontyr. They knew about the Moon cannon of course, they had seen it when the Turtleshroomers had used it upon the Decepticon.

The Necrontyr Solarian Patrol Fleet constantly kept ships at earth, enough orbiting the planet to keep a firing line on any part of the planet, and of course, on the facing side of the moon. When the Turtleshroom moon facility began to glow then, there was only one possible response; investigate.

One of the necrons' ships didn't break formation, but rather sent out a small flight of spacecraft, zipping toward the moon at a speed that would make the most advanced rocket that Turtleshroom had ever devised seem like one of the eponymous turtles. Six of them altogether, two night scythes and four doom scythes. If the Turtleshroomers had profiles of the vehicles they would know that two of these were ground transports, capable of holding fifteen robots each, while the other four were ground-attack vehicles, built around a single titanic death ray, was capable of immense destruction, and doubtless there was a risk that they could destroy the moon cannon before it could fire.

The necrons were coming.

Meanwhile, the Orbital Friendship Cannon was joined by the Jalkalaissatana, the vast tombship that had hovered over Turtleshroom before. This time however, it planned to protect something rather than attack it. The ship was miles wide, and roughly flat, it formed a vast plate hovering between the moon and the Kindness satellite, the Orbital Friendship Cannon closest to the moon. There were several satellites that made up the weapon, one for each element of harmony, but the necrons had other ships that were moving to interpose themselves.

War with the Herd was War with the C'tan, and the C'tan would rather be the ones who got shot.

Transmission Source: Royarch Cyash, Nemesor of the Second Turtleshroom Campaign
Destination: Xin Xingshi, representative for the Shi Province of Comrade Commisar
Subject: Your evacuation request.
Security: Unencrypted

We know you have Sim Young, you transmitted that fact unencrypted previously. We will not permit you to evacuate any civilians. If you cross our path or come in range of our guns, you will be fired upon, and, we hope, any civilians you take anywhere, will die.

You could of course, give us Sim Young in exchange for safe passage. Weigh one life against thousands.

by **Ende** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 11:07 am

A few hours after Rafael spoke with the messenger, the drillers were completed. The Drillers were giant machines, nearly an acre in length. They weren't exactly aethestically pleasing-in fact, they looked rather ugly, but they worked. The drill tore through earth like paper, and the Drillers ate their way through the soil. The Endrenians loaded hundreds of their best weaponry onto the ships, and many of their best soldiers into the ships.

And when they arrived, it was shocking. The earth exploded next to the Turtleshroom Border Patrol as the Drillers burst from the ground, their thousand-pound drills grinding soil to dust as they ripped out of the earth. The Border Patrol, and the rebels they had surrounded all backed away and scattered, dropping weapons and smattering dust as they quickly backed away from the two drills that had just emerged.

Suddenly, a third driller burst from the ground, fifty meters away. And a fourth, even further. The soldiers fired a few bullets at them, but no major damage was done, and more continued to rise out of the ground. When a total of around forty drills had appeared, in the side of a hull, a door opened, and several Endrenians leapt out, falling several feet to the ground, and brushing themselves off. The Border Patrol, and the large amount of rebels stared in awe as the Endrenians poured out of the ships, numbering into the thousands. However, if one looked closely, something was wrong. Despite the Endrenians being around twelve feet tall (or the majority of them, at least) and dwarfing the Turtleshroomers, something was wrong. They walked painfully, almost limping out of the ships, and their ribs were easily visible. The captain took a note of this. And then, one human stepped forth. He appeared to be like the Turtleshroomers. Exactly like them.

He spoke.

"Weren't expecting us, were you? I'm Jothern. You're the Turtleshroomer Border Patrol. I'll make this quick. You give us supplies, and we'll destroy those bastards marching around on your land. The C'tan."

The Border Patrol stood there, gaping.

"It's okay. We understand you're surprised. Thirty gigantic vehicles bursting from the ground around you isn't average. But we're here for one reason. Your food. We don't have a large amount of time-our scouts report the C'tan are getting very close, but we have enough time to settle transactions."

The leader of the Border Patrol still stared, his mouth gaping. Jothern walked up to him.

"Look. I know you're surprised. Get over it. You give us two months worth of supplies, and we'll give you enough of our weaponry to stall the C'tan forces. If you don't want to stall the C'tan forces, than we'll leave. But this deal would be very beneficial to you. Give us food, and we'll destroy the Orbital Friendship Cannon."

"The what?"

"You're not a higher-up, are you? You aren't. I'll make this simple. The C'tan are protecting the Great Pony Herd. The Great Pony Herd have a weapon that will steal all of your souls. We can destroy the weapon, and the fleet. Simple?"

"A weapon that will steal our souls?" said the Captain, dazed and confused beyond measure. Jothern sighed.

"I really wish I was speaking to a higherup. Just agree to give us supplies, will you? Tell you what. I'll make the deal sweeter. You give us supplies, we'll give you military aid, destroy the Orbital Friendship Cannon, and evacuate your people."

by **YellowApple** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 11:58 am

Primary Jonesboro Camp

The unencrypted C'tani message to the Comradens was unsettling; these forces marching under the banner of Ponyism didn't believe in Ponyism at all.

Some additional encrypted messages were broadcast, but to a different source.

YellowApple Aerospace Defense Corps
TO: "ironside.cc|range=1048576"
ENCRYPTED

Comraden forces:

Leave the evacuations to us; given our stance with the Coalition
of Ponyist States, we are less likely to be openly fired upon than
your own forces.  Repeat, cease evacuation attempts.  They will
be safer with us.

Gen. Liang:

What is this talk of your boys having rescued Sim Young?  This may
have negative ramifications if you have been found to be harboring
one of the masterminds behind an equine xenocide, considering that
such actions are a direct violation of the Dragon's Fury Pact Charter.
We strongly recommend you cooperate with the C'tani and hand over
Regent Young.

- Adm. Morton Shaker
- YA Aerospace Defense Corps

TO: "*.adc.ya|range=1048576"; "*.am.ya|range=1048576"
ENCRYPTED

ALL UNITS

Three more waves of Bishop-class transport are en route.  After that,
we're pulling out.  Priority is children and those pledging
support for the Ponyist movement.  Those supporting slavery or
genocide are to not board regardless of whether or not there is space
for them.  Repeat, slavers and genocidal individuals are not to leave 
the YellowApplan camps.

by **The Ctan** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 12:20 pm

YellowApple wrote:Primary Jonesboro Camp

The unencrypted C'tani message to the Comradens was unsettling; these forces marching under the banner of Ponyism didn't believe in Ponyism at all.

Of course, the C'tani were not ponyist, not one of the ten thousand necrons involved nor any of the millions elsewhere, professed to such a belief system.

by **YellowApple** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 12:27 pm

by **Urmanian** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 2:27 pm

YellowApple wrote:
The Ctan wrote:
Of course, the C'tani were not ponyist, not one of the ten thousand necrons involved nor any of the millions elsewhere, professed to such a belief system.

I meant the CoPS forces as a whole, which you're fighting alongside (presumably). Sorry for not making that clear.

by **YellowApple** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 2:38 pm

Urmanian wrote:
YellowApple wrote:
I meant the CoPS forces as a whole, which you're fighting alongside (presumably). Sorry for not making that clear.

There are no such forces. C'tan is fighting alone for now.

by **TurtleShroom** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 6:10 pm

OOC: Sim wasn't the man that authored the genocide. He was the only Regent to approve of the bills, zero to one. TurtleShroomer law would have assented the bill if it was 0-0 after a certain number of days.

OOC: Also, I find it very interesting that CTan nows about the TS Moon Cannon, but hey, all's fair.

(I'll post tonight.)

by **The Ctan** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 6:15 pm

TurtleShroom wrote:OOC: Also, I find it very interesting that CTan nows about the TS Moon Cannon, but hey, all's fair.

I'm happy to retcon if you like, but you've said that it glows enough to be seen from earth before firing; I'm presuming that the necrons have gone through their records for known space-incidents relating to TS after getting the message. Up to you though.

by **Comrade Commisar** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 6:29 pm

Seriously, considering investing in an OOC Thread...

by **TurtleShroom** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 7:44 pm

IC:

The Border Patrol listened very carefully to the Enderite's plan. At the time, the news of the Enderites was a military secret; the Border Patrol was de jure civilian, even if they had all the capabilities of two TurtleShroomian standing armies (because they're ranks of two million were twice the size of TS' standing armies), and were far more heavilly armed.

They were terrified by this alien technology and the aliens themselves, but if it was a friendly group offering sweet weaponry in exchange for mere food (which TS would have given unconditionally anyway to testify to them the Gospels), they'd buy it.

The Patrolman removed his walkie-talkie unit from its bag and held up the antenna.

"Sir, you won't BELIEVE what I found within mere miles south of Desert Checkpoint Tower One Hundred Sixty Nine! No, I'm serious. You'll never see anything like it again. ANYTHING. ANYTHING!"

by **TurtleShroom** » Sat Feb 18, 2012 8:01 pm

HOLY REPUBLIC OF TURTLESHROOM
PRIVATE SECTOR
FIRMANENT BUSTERS - PRIVATIZED SPACE PROGRAM

THE FOLLOWING IS A LETTER FROM THE TURTLESHROOMER GOVERNMENT
ON AFFAIRS OF OUTER SPACE. WE ARE THE DESIGNATED MESSENGERS.

Begin message.
URMANIAN:

WE HAVE USED THE PRIVATIZED SPACE PROGRAM'S TRACKING DATA TO PINPOINT YOUR DEATH RAY.
IT IS CURRENTLY POSITIONED OVER THE LAND OF POWER, BUT NOT IN TURTLESHROOMER AIRSPACE.

WE REPEAT OUR WARNING.

IF YOU CROSS SO MUCH AS A SHELL'S LENGTH INTO TURTLESHROOMER JURISDICTION, WE WILL RAIN
METAPHORICAL FIRE AND BRIMSTONE UPON THAT WHICH YOU HOLD DEAR WITHOT MERCY AND WITH
UNPRECEDENTED SHOCK, AWE, AND DECIMATION.

DO NOT TRY US; YOU KNOW THAT WE DELIVER.

DIRECT YOUR SOUL-WARPING DEATH RAY OUT OF THE LAND OF POWER OR FACE AN EARLY TASTE
OF THE PLACE RESERVED FOR YOU AND ALL WHO ARE NOT IN THE LAMB'S BOOK OF LIFE.

JUST TRY US.
-TURTLESHROOM

End message.

Code: Select all
FIRMANENT BUSTERS.(R) Your only source for all space-based advertising, launching, deplyment, and service needs! Contact us today!

by **Urmanian** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 3:09 am

From: Morning Star, the Chancellor of the Greater Pony Herd

To: The Unholy Republic of TurtleShroom, Firmanent Busters

We do not take such threats lightly, however flamboyantly may they be worded. The use of the weapon(s) you are threatening on Herd soil and population or Herd strategical installations will be met with massed WMD retaliation and consequently, the destruction of your civilization.

Consider your chances.

P.S.: The Orbital Friendship Cannon is not in TurtleShroom airspace nor can it be: it is called "orbital" for a reason.

by **TurtleShroom** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 5:11 am

Urmanian wrote:
From: Morning Star, the Chancellor of the Greater Pony Herd
(Image)

To: The Unholy Republic of TurtleShroom, Firmanent Busters

We do not take such threats lightly, however flamboyantly may they be worded. The use of the weapon(s) you are threatening on Herd soil and population or Herd strategical installations will be met with massed WMD retaliation and consequently, the destruction of your civilization.

Consider your chances.

P.S.: The Orbital Friendship Cannon is not in TurtleShroom airspace nor can it be: it is called "orbital" for a reason.

Code: Select all: RE: TO URMANIAN FROM THE TURTLESHROOMER MILITARY You know exactly what we mean. Position that cannon over TurtleShroom at your own peril.

by **Urmanian** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 5:59 am

"Why do I keep getting these letters from these TurtleShroom persons? Are they some sort of a sect or something? Since when did I have a soul-stealing death ray, and why do they threaten fire and brimstone on me? This crap is insane. That's not how you preach."

-John Urmanian, a random human resident of the Eternal Necrontyr Empire of the C'tan

by **Urmanian** » Sun Feb 26, 2012 12:19 pm

Planetal Orbit
Kindness Satellite

The Friendship Cannons that the Herd military satellites were armed with were rather simple constructs to those familiar with magic technology. A spell was loaded into the main magical reactor, where it was stored. When the time would come to fire the Cannon, the spell would first run through a series of magical amplifiers, its power charged up to great extents, and then released upon the planet's surface.

Most of the time the Cannons were loaded with simple pacification spells that could be used even by magic kindergarteners with relative ease. It could be used to pacify riots or guerilla resistances, or were just used to fit the weapon's ironic name. Today such a spell would come in handy, as when used on TurtleShroomer slaver proponent resistances it could help the advancing Necrontyr forces immensely. But of course, the main reason that the cannon was charging up now was to deal a blow to TurtleShroomer morale.

Houston Problem, one of the few ponies that have been manning (ponying?) the satellite sat in front of a massive, rather cumbersome and archaic-looking control panel, frantically pulling switches and pushing buttons as he received orders from the planet's surface. He reclined in his chair and wiped sweat off his forehead as his manipulations brought the weapon into action...

CHARGING THE ORBITAL FRIENDSHIP CANNON: KINDNESS MODULE

POWER LEVEL: LOW

33%...66%...99%

COMPLETE

The Holy Republic of TurtleShroom
The Zim Belt

A brief flash could be seen up in the sky, moments before a field of magic energy came down on the Zim Belt, enveloping miles after miles in a veil of transparent purple light. It was aimed at what was presumed to be a major population center from what the intelligence has gathered, away from YellowApplan refugee camps both to not affect allies and leave the slavery proponents to a worse fate. The effect would probably extend to the nearby forests, presumably effecting the resistance there. It didn't look like a "death laser", though, of course, the Cannon could fire such but it wasn't the aim today.

The beings caught within the effective radius of the cannon then would feel immense joy swelling inside them. They would stop feeling any emotion or having any desire but an immense longing to hug and snuggle any nearby creature and affectionately whisper on their ears while fluffing their hair or what-have-you. Quite possibly, that would be the happiest many of the disgruntled TurtleShroomers have ever felt. They would storm out of their houses, forming large crowds of merrily murmuring zombies, ravaging the city and breaking out of it and wandering aimlessly around in the of search for "friends".

If the Necrontyr forces would stumble upon the city or encounter the affected they would meet no resistance beyond passionate hugging. The affected would remain in that state for many hours on end, or even days.

by **Comrade Commisar** » Sun Feb 26, 2012 3:10 pm

SYSTEM Crime Scene,
Academy City, Shi Province,
Comrade Commisar

Xin Xingshi was investigating a few homocide reports around the city when he was met by another person. A girl, Li Huang, leader of the SCHOOL Group within Comrade Commisar. She had worked closely with him in the past, thus it was no surprise she had shown up at the scene of a homocide. However, with a document in her hand, it was obvious that she was merely delivering a message today. Standing up, Xin Xingshi took the documents, opening them and reading them on the spot.

Immediately, he recoiled back at the Ctan's knowledge of them housing Sim Young.
'They shouldn't have known that,' Xin thought as he stared at the short statement, 'Shit, I didn't consider this variable, they are in a better position then I expected'.

However, thinking closely, Xin still had an advantage in this little game. The Ctan couldn't open fire against the Diplomacy Gun Platforms without potentially endangering the Japanese Officials of the Japanese Dystopia. There also wasn't any hard evidence of the Shi possessing Sim Young, all documents being thoroughly destroyed regarding his transfer to Comrade Commisar. Of course, Xin couldn't recall any documents sent unencrypted regarding Sim Young, so he decided that it was sent by another person within Comrade Commisar - officially, he didn't know they were harboring Sim Young. Still, he had to account for any variables that might exist...

"Huang, I need you to destroy all documents related to Yong Shi within the student archives. Get SCHOOL Personel, SYSTEM, HOUND, I don't care! Just eliminate any documents regarding him. You have my authorization." He said as he handed her the documents as well as a keycard before he ran off somewhere.

"Wonder what he has planned," Li Huang sighed as he went to eliminate the documentation of Yong Shi.

Callsign Ironside,
Turtleshroom

General Liang was quite annoyed at the radio messages and documents. One stated that he must secure Turtleshroomian civilians, the other stated his forces evacuate for face the wrath of the Ctan. It was pretty clear that he was going to flee, his forces had already secured their primary objective. However, he couldn't help but wonder what was going on within the ranks of the upper echelon... he had better report this to his superiors in the Tsao Province...

However, he knew that the Shi would probably not let him get away without 'aiding' the people. Therefore, he dispatched some Red Guard platoons to inform the people about attempting travel towards Comrade Commisar - their potential salvation from Ctani and the Ponyist hordes. With that being done, his forces slowly, but steadily made their way towards the border. That was when he recieved a message from the Yellow Applan faction;

What is this talk of your boys having rescued Sim Young? This may have negative ramifications if you have been found to be harboring one of the masterminds behind an equine xenocide, considering that such actions are a direct violation of the Dragon's Fury Pact Charter. We strongly recommend you cooperate with the C'tani and hand over Regent Young.

It didn't take the General much time to figure out what was going on.
"Ahh, I see." Liang smiled, "I'm supposing my operations here weren't solely for the safety of Japanese Officials after all."

Liang walked back up onto the Gun Platform, looking at the lush forest - or rather the flattened forest - behind them as they reentered the Turtleshroomian desert. The old general leaned on the railing atop the large vehicles, enjoying the little peace they possessed in the barren landscape. Then, quite suddenly, a bright flash of light emited upon the horizon, almost as from the gods themselves. Red Guards rushed up to see what had occured, all of them leaning against the railing adjecent to the bright purple light.

"General. What is that?" A Red Guard asked as the General simply lit himself a cigar.
"That, Comrade, is our enemy... or more specifically, what he possesses." He stated as the Red Guards nervously looked at the horizon, "Let us hope, that one day, such an enemy shall be slain."

Yong Shi Residence,
Academy City, Shi Province,
Comrade Commisar

Xin quickly knocked on the door. When Yong Shi answered, he was crouched down, panting from his run from downtown to the mansion. Many SYSTEM students followed, gathering around the exausted Xin as he took a minute to regain his breath. When he finally could speak, he looked at the former Turtleshroomian regent with a friendly smile.

"Hey Yong," He panted, "You know that vacation in the Yue Province I mentioned earlier? Looks like it's mandatory now."

The young man continued panting, signalling the other SYSTEM agents to get Yong Shi some transport.
"The Ctan somehow found out about you through some loose ends. However, they're running on little to no evidence to back up their claims and have not even pinpointed which Province you would reside in. That's good." He stated as he stood up, "I have some of my best men sweeping SYSTEM and SCHOOL records. Trust me, any records of a 'Sim Young' or 'Yong Shi' are pretty much destroyed by now. We'll edit some records here or there, possibly to make it look like you were executed in Turtleshroom and cremated - hopefully by burning at the stake, even though that's pretty defunct by now..."

A SYSTEM agent pulled a limousine up, Xin acknowledging the man with a nod.
"We'll give you some time to pack some clothes and other things. The Yue People strictly outlaw technology of every kind, so even if the Yellow Applans or some other party come to Comrade Commisar, they'll have to sweep that area manually, and believe me, that's a difficult task even for advanced technology." He smiled, "You'll be headed for Yoitsu, beautiful place with many hotspots and home of the Imperial Shrine. Hopefully we can also get that Turtleshroom-Comraden alliance signed there, too someday. I'll cover up things on our end, you just look out for yourself."

Xin shook Yong's hand in a formal matter.
"It was nice knowing you, Mister Young. I know that you only had good intentions for your country, and that's all one can ever ask." He bowed and begin running off back to SYSTEM Headquarters, "If those Ponyists come looking for you, I'll promise will give them heck! For my honor!"

by **TurtleShroom** » Sun Feb 26, 2012 3:43 pm

Yong Shi sighed as he listened, his hands in the pockets of the same wardrobe he'd donned since entering Comrade Commissar.

"Well, if my life depends on it," he said, removing his crown from his head with his thin arms and fiddling with it, "I guess I'll get packing."

He looked back into the Shi mansion he had been living in for the past month or so. If Xin looked closely, he'd notice premature wrinkles in the young ex-ruler's face, and that his black hair was losing its sheen, becoming drier and less well kept.

Out of habit, Yong licked his re-aligned teeth and thought for a moment as he turned around to face Xin again.

"Will I still get to use technology? My immediate family, my friends, and I, are all rather used to the modern amenities of air conditioning and what-not. Remember, in my homeland, my ancestors rose from humble origins to being the richest family of my racial minority in TurtleShroom. I'm... heh, I'm pretty much a city slicker, to be honest."

His family and friends had peeked in to look at the conversation, mumbling to themselves to get packing.

by **YellowApple** » Sun Feb 26, 2012 4:29 pm

YellowApplan Evacuation Camp Five, Zim Belt, TurtleShroom

The bright flash off in the distance caught the Aerospace Marines on the ground by surprise. The brilliant technicolor beam of light coming down from the sky was certainly quite spectacular. Reports of the mysterious beam eventually arrived at the Aerospace Defense Corps Headquarters in Manzanopolis Prime, which immediately clarified.

ENCRYPTED

BULLETIN
DESTINATION: ALL COMMANDS

Based on field reports throughout TurtleShroom and the surrounding geography, we have 
concluded that the Orbital Friendship Cannon has been deployed in TurtleShroom.  No
YellowApplan forces were directly affected by the strike, and operations will proceed as
normal.  Unicorn Marines are instructed to keep other personnel under advisement, as well
as provide remedial support should the Orbital Friendship Cannon be employed near enough
to YellowApplan personnel to cause behavioral change.

END OF FILE

The camp itself was among the busiest, and among the most disheveled. Prior to the pale violet diversion on the horizon, and almost immediately afterward, Marines were well underway in sorting TurtleShroomians into multiple groups, evaluating them psychologically with utmost precision and meticulousness to create a rather clear divide between those desirable for evacuation and those better left for judgement. Specifically, each individual was subjected to an fMRI/EEG hybrid system - an AppleThink Transcranial Neurological Input Device, to be specific - and examined for specific neurological activity while asked certain questions - namely, activity in the frontal lobe and limbic system; questions which caused disproportionately higher activity in the limbic system were determined to be those which made the subject angry, while those which did not - instead promoting activity in the frontal lobe as the subject thought over the question rationally - were those which did not make the subject angry. Word choice, tone of voice, brainwave activity, and nonverbal communication cues were also taken into account with these observations, with signals correlating to nervousness indicating discomfort or dishonesty. Each method, on its own, would not have been sufficient to determine the personality of each subject, but in combination, the subjects would not even have to speak at all for the Aerospace Marines coordinating the sorting to know precisely where that individual is destined to go.

Children were prioritized for everything, ranging from food to medicine, shelter to evacuation. It was decided that they would at least be impressionable; even if they had developed behaviors consistent with those of slavers or genocide proponents, they at least had the opportunity to be corrected psychologically with minimal behavioral side effects. Those over the age of 12, however, were treated with utmost scrutiny, subjected to continuous psychological examination to avoid the probability of false-positives when determining which were hostile to sapient equines in general. Males were overall found to be the most susceptible to a dislike of equines, expressing clear signs of anger when asked questions regarding sapient equines, Ponyism, or the ideals thereof, though very few continued expressing such signs when asked questions about YellowApplan equines specifically. Females, on the other hand, were overall quite receptive, at least in comparison; less than half were actually opposed to Ponyism or sapient equines at all, at least according to neurological scans and behavioral examination, and those that were opposed were generally older than those who were receptive. A number of individuals of both genders even calmly explained how the ideals of Ponyism line up with those laid out by Christ himself, noting that friendship and harmony correlates almost directly to the teachings of Christianity and the Bible, as do, at least partially, the Six Elements of Harmony, admitting that with an open interpretation, there was little difference between the two faiths beyond precisely who was worshiped; needless to say, these individuals - upon the Marines determining their sincerity in their statements - were flagged for immediate evacuation.

by **TurtleShroom** » Sun Feb 26, 2012 4:41 pm

They didn't! THEY DID!

The mouths or jaws or whatever of every last creature in the privatized space program dropped as the network of soul-robbing satellites positioned themselves to aim a central beam of black magic and pure, unadulterated evil.

Riding out from the sunset, the death beam fired at an angle from the west and creamed the jungles several hundred miles south of Jonesboro, and slightly east. The sight terrified every farmer and village underneath its fury, as it scooted across the sky like a thunderbolt of judgement from God Himself. Many of them fell to their knees in praise as the "judgement" passed them over, the existence of the Death Ray totally classified from the general public.

It wasn't a core of the Zim Belt, but it was a sizable population hub of three thousand from a largely white populace of infuriated rebels that was led by a human by the name of Simon Err. They felt a righteous anger: the government had betrayed them, killed their fairly elected leaders, and BURNT THEIR HOUSE DOWN!

They had fled the marshes, jungles, and deserts of their home and entered deep into the rainforest with their weapons, ammunition, and bitter children, hatchlings, and offspring, now embattled with a guerilla spirit familiar to any RL backwater nation with jungles.
Many had set aside their differences and joined the drug cartels to stick it to the traitors, while others formed roving bands of lynch mobs that caught and hanged any equestrian creature of any kind.

Simon was directing the guerillas underneath his command as they scoured for food and resources to prepare for their deeper journey. Drug cartel members had tipped them off as to the origin of the horses. Apparently, as it had with Hippostania, there was a portal that would occasionally burp them out.

Most of these rebels weren't very religious, though the few that were reasoned that some sort of Hell-like location had been producing and expelling them. If they could find the portal, they could stand guard and butcher every horse that came out of it! Then, the people of TurtleShroom would take them back...

FOOOM!

The rebels looked up, but saw nothing except lush forest canopies, obstructing their view and providing cover at the same time.
-but the ray shot in the blink of an eye, and most of the TurtleShroomer humans gripped their chests and fell to the floor, the color draining from their bodies and their eyes losing any humanity behind them.

Jacob Quick, however, didn't feel these sensations, though his fellow rebels screamed blood curdling pain as the ray dissipated. Knocked to the floor, he clutched his best friend, a turtle named Nangnang, as they endured the terror. He looked at Nangnang, and Nangnang looked back at him, but he fell limp as the sentience drained from his eyes.

Jacob placed his turtle friend on the ground and tried to get his attention, but he walked, staggered more like it, to a glade in the forest, moaning deeply with the others.

Jacob backed away and wept for his friend as he wondered why he hadn't been turned into a... zombie?! Yes! A zombie! Deep in his mind, he knew that it was the ponies' doing.

He looked around, and noticed about ten rebels that were looking around like him: seven mushrooms, another male human, himself, and a turtle. Ten in all.

Jacob called them over as they all watched the zombies moan and shuffle closer together.

"Why do you think the ponies didn't hit us?" Jacob asked the first mushroom that came over.

"I don't have no clue. What do ya'll do in the rebels?"

Jacob shrugged.

"I don't. My grandfather's house was burnt down, and I had lived there. My grandfather had passed away, so I felt it was right to wander the jungle in his memory. I haven't actually fought anyone. My despisal of the demon hawses drove me to roam."

The mushroom thought for a moment as the other "survivors" contemplated their own reasonings. It hit the turtle like a pile of bricks.

"I know why it didn't hit us." the turtle said, idly turning his neck to the zombies that, for some reason, were hugging each other in a group hug, while drooling on each other. Some stumbled and fell on the floor, where they the nearest rock and squeezed it like it was a lifelong friend.

"It's because we're not violent rebels. We're all Christian, right?"

Nods and confirmations of agreement. Indeed, these ten were just following the rebels, not actually fighting or engaging in weapons. They had clinged to their faith and their faith had clung them with guilt. They felt bad because they had not stopped the horse killing, but on the other hand, these horses had destroyedall they had, so they shouldn't have been guilty.

The "survivors" looked at each other. Apparently, they had escaped the Ponyist ray because their will, and their souls, were already given to a different item that gave "eternal happiness": Christianity. God... well, technically, their faith in Him ...had saved them.

They stepped back and hid in a bush as the moaning hoarde of hugging zombies began to walk to the northwest, out of the densest jungles and making their way to the border. On foot, it'd take at least a three weeks to get to Jonesboro, and three months to the border (as the crow flies).

If the ponies' analog screens gave feedback, it'd have read that their ray was a complete success. Targets hit: three thousand, six hundred thirteen. Targets stupified/neutralized, three thousand, six hundred... three?!

by **TurtleShroom** » Sun Feb 26, 2012 5:11 pm

TurtleShroom's top military brass had congregated to officially reverse the "space is a place for peace" doctrine the nation had held since they looked to the stars.

Since TurtleShroom had no Junta, nor a civilian leader of any kind, a joint statement was released in the names of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Armed Forces.

HOLY REPUBLIC OF TURTLESHROOM
ARMED FORCES & CIVILIAN MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
COMMUNIQUE

At roughly twenty one hours, In the cover of night, through a series of methods and motives that are classified to avoid riots and calls of war against other, better-armed nations, TurtleShroom has been attacked from orbit with a death ray that performs actions that are also classified to avoid riots and calls of war against other, better-armed nations.

The Holy Republic of TurtleShroom is hereby forced to reverse its policy of "peace in space" and begin the immediate weaponization of the last unscarred part of God's Creation that we can access. We will not allow this to happen again.

We warned a hellstorm if the ray entered, but its usage has forced our hand. You will experience a TurtleShroomer retaliation from SPACE. Don't say we didn't warn you.

To facilitate this, the military will establish a second space program for orbital weapons development. Namely, our purpose for this militarization is to shoot down satellites that do not belong over TurtleShroom. With lasers.

-Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Armed Forces of the Holy Republic of TurtleShroom

It was a good thing ol' Sim didn't know about this.

by **Comrade Commisar** » Sun Feb 26, 2012 6:06 pm

Yong Shi Residence,
Academy City, Shi Province,
Comrade Commisar

"Technology in the Yue Province...?" Xin pondered the never-asked question as he prematurely tripped, digging his face into the grass.

Dusting himself off and walking back to the former Turtleshroomer, Xin wasn't as certain as he was previously, "The Yue People are pretty unrelenting when it comes to technology, even I have alot of trouble." He mumbled in deep thought, "There's not many places that combine your convenience and safety in one nice bundle like the Shi Province, is there? Tell you what, I'll simply get you some housing between the Yue and Shi Provinces. If anything goes bad, you can easily cross the border with no problems - sounds fair?"

Xin's phone began ringing. Excusing himself, he stepped away to answer it.
"Xin, we have a problem. A really big problem." Came a girl's voice, Li Huang, "The Greater Pony Herd has launched their particle cannon into Turtleshroom. We've calculated around 3,600 Turtleshroomian citizens were engaged, and that Turtleshroom has publically stated they are going to counter this by activating their own particle cannons against entities in their orbital space."
"Understood," Xin said in a whisper as he peeked at Young, "Keep getting this information to be Li, and keep destroying those documents."
"Alright, Xin. It's handled." She finalized as she hung up her end of the phone.

Stepping back, the young man decided it would be best not to inform the Turtleshroomian, as it was becoming obvious that he was undergoing much stress. However, he couldn't lie about the situation in Turtleshroom, as it would arise sooner or later. Instead, he simply told half-truths, hopefully not stressing the former regent anymore than he currently was.

"Simply my girlfriend, you know the story." He smiled as he leaned closer, "Currently, there are much less casualties present then from our predictions. Certainly, this was a gift from a higher being. Turtleshroom has stabilized itself somehow, it seems."

"If you need any help packing, information, or anything. Please ask." He stated, smiling softly.

by **TurtleShroom** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 1:35 pm

NATIONSTATES
SHOOP-DA-WHOOP

It was the night after the usage of the Urmanian Death Ray. All the possible power of the TurtleShroomer military was used to bend the truth and tell-half truths to satisfy the alarmed populace of farmers and villagers that saw a mighty beam crossing the sky the night before. They couldn’t lie, so they fabricated that the laser was a weapons test by another nation to intimidate TurtleShroom. This was true, but naturally, the specifics were classified. This satisfied the people that asked, and they repeated it to every media outlet the next day. Only tinfoil conspiracy theorists and the highest bureaucrats and levels of government knew the full truth.

TurtleShroom wrote:Up in the sky, something you'd never see coming is about to come.

That night, and for two nights more, [...] you can't help but notice that the moon is glowing a bit brighter than normal.

The moon was a waxing crescent on the night of February 27th, 2012 AD. Since the twenty third of that date, observant citizens, geeky stargazers, TS allies, and the C’Tan would keenly note that the crescent moon was glowing far brighter than it should.
In fact, this was reported all over the Land of Power, and even somewhat in Xanadou, Paradoxia, and Minecraftia, the region’s neighbors.

The glowing moon made backstories in most newspapers; its true intent unknown and dismissed.

At the stroke of midnight, the moon tripled in brightness and then returned, just for a moment, to normal, before a portion of it glowed a brilliant sky-blue color for half a second.

Without warning, the MOON CANNON fires! Bouncing off the mirrors at the speed of light and pinpointed on you, you are suddenly bathed in twelve miles' worth of LASER for four seconds, hotter than the surface of the sun.

The Moon Cannon had been fired!

Aimed at the current location of the Urmanian Death Ray, the twelve-square-mile, gigantic blue pinpoint of scorching light blasted the C’Tan shields and every non-TurtleShroomer satellite around it. The mirrors positioned the laser like a pinball game, bouncing the stellar-hot beam on all of the Orbital Friendship Cannon tributary satellites, and, if the C’Tan material couldn’t take it, the Cannon itself.

{OOC: I don’t know how strong C’Tan UFOs are, so I’ll just let him reply.}

From the earth, the Land of Power was treated to an amazing light show that looked like a big game of connect the dots, as a tangle of blue light criss-crossed the sky, starting at the moon before the last mirror sent the beam to the sun, where no further harm could be done.

After four seconds of the Urmanian satellites and its C’Tani being bathed in Moon Cannon wrath, the laser went out, and the moon returned to its normal luminosity.

“Project Lunar Apocalypse” was a total success. The privatized space program and the newly formed Military Fire and Brimstone from Above Space Corps (MFBASC) leaned in their seats, waiting for an assessment of damage.

Was the Moon Cannon strong enough to destroy the Urmanian Death Ray itself? While there was only one of those available to use on TurtleShroom, there were hundreds of feeder satellites. TS sank those, but Urmanian could easily launch thousands more at low cost, because, as intelligence had learned, it was a fairly simple rigging because it simply re-routed black magic.

TS had certainly destroyed all of Urmanian’s feeder satellites that made that blast, but who cared about that?

The data appeared on the screen.

The Orbital Friendship Cannon was…….. it was…. IT WAS…

{OOC: Tell me, C’Tan! Tell me, Urmanian!}

Dark Harvest II: War Hawks With Frickin' Lasers [ATTN DH1]

I'M A-FIRIN' MAH LASER BWAAAH

Who is online