The Ascension of the Imperium IC (All Tech, TG for interest)

by **Imperial-Octavia** » Mon May 25, 2020 4:24 pm

Ridley's Rest

The battle only increased in intensity as LA reinforcements arrived behind the Octavian battle lines starting a general consolidation of the line into the void testudo stacking the power of all the shields in the 490 ship strong fleet making sure they were able to withstand the next set of attacks. The initial LA attack came before they could do this though which while many ships could survive their planet cleansing beams, multiple were already injured by Zravvisk arms and this broke the shields leaving the hulls to face the beam causing severe damage and even destruction of multiple ships. Elsewhere on the battlefield once the first "civillain" exploded so violently the fleet knew something was up and so a group of 12 corvettes and a few hundred Drone fighters were sent to go deal with them and reveal what they really were. Another task group made up of 10 corvettes, 5 Frigates, a cruiser and 2 strike teams of Drone Fighters were sent to deal with the Dagger. The Drone Fighters force that was once prevalent on the battlefield took some massive hits and what remained focused on trying to deal with the disruptor missiles swarming around the station by shooting them down with their own missiles. The Artillery ships which were already turned around opened fired on the warminds having enough numbers to fire multiple shells on each warmind as about 20 of the K'onqesta dreadnoughts moved over to the back to fire off their missiles at the warminds while also strengthening the back of the formation with their shields.

Inside the Sword, it was absolute carnage. The Zravvisk proved rather crafty and even dangerous to the Paramount's Chosen, but the numbers difference was massive. For every Chosen that went down another two would be moved from their boarding docks and sent into the brutal fight. Blood and metallic chunks littered the hallways of the once sterile ship and reminded Tal'Talen that she should have waited for the nerve gas deployers while in dock. Tal'Talen was also reminded that the main thrusters were absolutely wrecked, another thing to repair once this incident was over. And then the Captain of the Dagger showed up. While the "bridge crew" comprised of AI and screens Tal'Talen was a different matter entirely, "Your ship? I'd laugh if it weren't so pathetic. Let me show you how much of this ship is yours. Engage Bridge defenses!" while it was an impressive feat that Tal'Talen was able to say this mid-fight with the captain, what was more impressive was the variety of turrets rising from the ceiling of the ships. Now Talen was far stronger than most Paramount's Chosen and her hand to hand combat was superb meaning that the captain most likely bit off more than she could chew as Talen slashed bits and pieces out of captain.

This act served as the final straw for Talen however as she called forward all of the Paramount's Chosen via an Aether order. If the Zravvisk weren't having issues with the numbers of Paramount's Chosen before they certainly would now as a super-dreadnoughts worth of Chosen were called forth to stop these boarders from doing any more damage then they already had. The new non-Zravvisk arrivals were mostly ignored, there were more pressing concerns to Talen then some humans watching her fight some space dragons and download some data.

Mining Planet 112

Though Kranz had lost his body, he had completed his mission and he was satisfied. As he spawned into his new body he laughed a bit as he realized what the Zravvisk would be dealing with. The 180 ship large fleet was made up from what was in the area so it's fleet composition was quite odd. 34 Corvettes, 50 Frigates, 50 cruisers 10 Battleships, 20 Artillery ships, 10 Dreadnoughts, 15 carriers, and the Voidscreamer. The fleet immediately opened up with a general volley at the Zravvisk fleet and watched as thousands of Drone Fighters deployed themselves and began to engage what they could.

Across Earth

The attack drone force marched throughout the planet capturing all the land it could while also blaring recruitment propaganda for...stand users? Though the common person would be confused the Imperium knew that there were more stand users on this planet and they would find them. Attack Drones would spread this propaganda everywhere they went promising stand users money, power, and whatever else they may want. Stand users that would accept would be placed in transports and flown off to Italy where they could be deployed later unless their request would go against that in which case they'd be allowed to stay where they were.

Italy

"Yes, we suppose we could get a few Chosen over here to guard us." The Paramount followed Doppio and so did J'eil being sure never to walk in front of The Paramount. In time few Paramount's Chosen unconnected to the Tactical Codex would appear to guard the bunker. The Paramount would wait for the rest of the organization to appear.

Wessex

Drones had noticed some commotion near a Speedwagon foundation and were sent to investigate. As they walked through the raided building their scanners found that this wasn't an act from any of the organics of the planet as the Ion burns showed. Traversing through the building it became more and more appearant that a advanced army had been through here. More investigation and they found the hairs of some type of oversized avian creature and a computer. Moving to it they found it was unlocked and began downloading the information from it hoping there was some camera footage. There was not, but what was there was far more important. 1000s of files of information on stand users and the other supernatural entities on this planet. This would be sent up the chain of command for future use...

Across Skyhooked

The invasion was as swift as it was brutal. Imperator class Attack Drones rolled down roads laying down oppressive amounts of fire as MK3s pushed forward and fired their back mounted motars. Those charging the drone force would find it extremely hard to reach the Drones without being shot down and even it they did reach them only those with the most advanced melee weapons would be able to pierce through the drones armor. The guerrilla tactics were more effective and caused a little more disruption and slowed down the invasion significantly. At the moment the main goal of the drone force was to track down and capture the council members of Skyhooked knowing that without their leaders resistance would at least be severely hampered.

With the magicons

As promised a fleet of around 140 ships was deployed with the Magicons comprised of mostly cruisers and other smaller craft with a few battleships and Artillery ships along with a good heaping of Drone Fighters. They were aware they weren't going to be harming the orbs, but in the case of any conventional force it would serve it's purpose.

The Worldeaters

Thank you for the Worldeaters, they will be put to good use

The Worldeaters would be deployed to systems in the core and mid-rim that served no real purpose to the Imperium and would entirely consume the uninhabited planets and take a bit of that suns energy producing plenty of ships for the Imperial war effort and fast. This cemented the Deceptions position as trusted allies.

by **Il Passione** » Mon May 25, 2020 5:49 pm

Imperial-Octavia wrote:
Across Earth

The attack drone force marched throughout the planet capturing all the land it could while also blaring recruitment propaganda for...stand users? Though the common person would be confused the Imperium knew that there were more stand users on this planet and they would find them. Attack Drones would spread this propaganda everywhere they went promising stand users money, power, and whatever else they may want. Stand users that would accept would be placed in transports and flown off to Italy where they could be deployed later unless their request would go against that in which case they'd be allowed to stay where they were.

In response, the select few stand users who weren't currently involved in the conflict soon found themselves in a situation they could not escape from. Some went into hiding as the public finally became aware of the existence of stands, while a number of others, some who haven't seen activity since the last great ventures of Jotaro Kujo and the Stardust Crusaders coming back, especially in the location of Cairo, Egypt, where numerous familiar names began showing up to sign over the first day alone; Mariah, Midler, Oingo & Boingo and Steely Dan.

Meanwhile, Jotaro himself was in a nearly terrified state at the display. He quickly evaded a few attack drones, and saw the propaganda displaying recruitment for stand users... which meant that, in the case of this invasion, there was a visible concern for his family back home, especially his daughter Jolyne in the care of Tomoko, who was mostly likely in the SWF's Stand User database in relation to him, and the last thing he wanted was his own daughter being used against him. How did they even know of Stand Users...?
Among these names, all the way in Dallas, Texas, another familiar figure who had somewhat aged since his last mighty appearance came along, in a cowboy-esque outfit, went to approach an Octavian officer
"Howdy." He said with full confidence, lifting his hat up to show a familiar face. "You wanted stand users? You got one, partner. The name's Hol Horse."

Morioh, Japan
Things grew weary around the small town, especially due to the already existent amount of stand users there being quite concerned about the intentions of these Octavians, as well as their treatment of human beings. There were some who considered joining for either the thrill, the rewards or to simply not die, but there were some who were contempt with their lives as they were, splitting the town ideologically in two; do you fight the enemy or join them? Those were the only options.

Jobin Higashikata would not be deterred from this. He knew that he had a bartering tool for any empire that might come by, though he wouldn't just give it away; he was a family man as much as he was an oppurtunist, and the curse that befell the Higashikata family, he prophesised, was to befall his son Tsurugi. Luckily, he had secured the New Locacaca, as well as a couple regular Locacaca fruits from deals against the Rock Humans, who strived to take the Locacaca fruits, especially the secret New Locacaca due to them being immune to the effects of "equivalent exchange"; a great power or goal to be granted in exchange for something of equal value, for example his wife Mistuba exchanging her nose for her unborn child to live, which the Rock Humans could somehow evade the negatives of the exchange, resulting in an accumulation of power.

Jobin knew that at this point the Octavians would have found the relics via. the Speedwagon Foundation, which included the Locacaca, which Jobin could offer himself. All he had to do now was await the Octavians and arrange a deal behind the scenes that both benefited his family, the new Locacaca, and his very security.

Imperial-Octavia wrote:
Italy

"Yes, we suppose we could get a few Chosen over here to guard us." The Paramount followed Doppio and so did J'eil being sure never to walk in front of The Paramount. In time few Paramount's Chosen unconnected to the Tactical Codex would appear to guard the bunker. The Paramount would wait for the rest of the organization to appear.

An hour or so later, a large number of gangsters appeared who appeared to be in the Primo Capitolo. La Squadra Esecuzioni was the first to turn up, followed by Bucciarati's team, the Narcrotics unit, Unita Speciale, the Squadra Reserva, even standless units such as Revy and Rock, as well as lieutenants Seroglio Lopez and Pericolo. The only ones who were missing from the meeting were Polpo and Luca, who Reaper had taken out, and Mista, whose body was concealed, to the concern of Bucciarati's team.
"...I knew that beam was going to add up to some sort of pointless meeting." Risotto mentioned. "Now, what's this about?"

Arosa, Switzerland
"FIRE AT WILL!"
The large numbers of men firing at the vampires in medieval armour on the backs of vampirised horses, showering them in bullets, was only just effective on the basis that they had to focus ridiculous amounts of firepower in order to take down one vampire at a time. Even if the worst thing they had to worry about at this distance was the longbowmen raining arrows upon them, that didn't excuse the fact that the large amounts of vampire hussars, somehow immunised to the sun by Kars's creation of a "magic sunscreen", were charging towards the enemy at speeds that could be comparable to a Formula 1 racecar with animalistic cries of "Do ataku, za pana Karça!", followed by infantry and downed horsemen running towards them at the speed of a cheetah with swords and spears in their hands.
"Th-this is horrfying! We've shot them god knows how many times and filled them with bullets, but they just keep getting back up and charging towards us!" One Swiss commander noted.
"Keep your discipline! They may seem supernatural, but our technology can triumph!" Another commander stated, going to an intercom. "Lt. Mann, fire off the artillery!"

And so, a few moments later, missiles rained down upon the battlefield, blowing the vampires and their horses to shreds. Some of them reformed, but a large number of casualties were still delivered, until the arrival of the angelic, muscular Ultimate Lifeform Kars, soaring forwards as a sonic boom erupted before it hovered over the army firing towards him, Kars twisting and contorting it's body in horrific, disgusting ways to evade the bullets before molting its' wings, turning into a fungal orb which released a disgusting, thick cloud of smores which impaired the sight of Swiss troops, then landing and preforming a dance of blades on his arms as he slaughtered scores of infantry by himself, striking fear into the hearts of the onlooking generals, before he emerged with the mangled body of a female combat medic.

"Lt. Ziegler was her name." Kars said, looking at the name tag. "Quite unusual she put up slightly more of a fight. Infact, I might give her a second chance in my vampire army."

"Wh-who are you!?" The general said, pointing a pistol at him as the being approached along with several armoured vampires, the Pillar Man grabbing him by the collar, as he placed a mask on Lt. Ziegler, recovering her wounds and resurrecting her as she gave a hungry look to the group.

"I am Kars, your one and only god." He simply stated, throwing the general at Ziegler's feet before the vampire girl shrieked with a starved fury and jammed her fingers into the general's jugular, draining him of his blood as he screamed in terror before her vitality returned, making her nearly normal were it not for her red eyes, pale skin and fangs as Kars looked on, before turning his attention to the town, civlians scattered and clearly terrified of these vampires and their godlike leader.

"...I feel as if you deserve a reward, my immortal friends." Kars smirked, standing back in an epic pose as his vampire army made its' way into the defenseless village. "Have a nice feast."

Brittany, France
Necron continued to work on resurrection. Out of interest for these Stands, he’d revive them from the dead, place hypnochips on their brain to ensure they were under their control and then take DNA samples from them. After this, they could become either decent test subjects or soldiers. He would also probably continue to clone them, in part through scrubbing these artefacts and taking blood samples; maybe in the future, the Decepticons themselves could use their technology.

He placed his hands together, sat down, and began to slowly levitate, seeming to mutter something. He continued to levitate, a dark greenish aura pumping throughout him. After a few more seconds, it burst, and the dead began to rise. He raised his hands and, focusing on some Stand users, began to try to teleport them to him, hypnochips at the ready.

First came a boy with long, wavy red hair and a green Japanese school uniform, as well as a Middle Eastern man of some spiritual background and… a Boston Terrier? As they were all suddenly summoned in front of the machine, they were initially confused, and when Necrom remembered… their names would have been Kakyoin, Avdol and Iggy?

That wasn't all the Stand Users. An old man, a ship captain, an orangutan… Then came by a chubby little boy with an unusual spiky head, as well as a man in a white suit and a tie that displayed a skull pattern… Shigechi and Yoshikage Kira, right?

Necron was interested and continued to see who else would come, his hands still aiming to teleport more people in. As they arrived he would begin to place the hypnochips on them
A few notable names would appear. Jonathan Joestar and Erina Pendleton, William A. Zeppeli and his grandson Caesar, Dire, Tonpetty, Loggins, the meddling Robert E. O. Speedwagon and his two Ogre Street companions, Rudol von Stroheim in his cybernetic glory… there were the two legendary dark knights Bruford and Tarkus of Windknight's Lot, the short but elusive Wang Chan, the SS commando Donovan and the vampire Wired Beck…
...then came more. A man with two right hands and a woman in the same condition, a beautiful lady and a blind traveller, a pair of Romanian twins, one with an axe and the other with a Browning M1918 BAR, a man with a school uniform and yellow, tall hair, a stylist, a falcon and a cursed puppeteer with scars all over him… What was it? "J Geil, Enya, Nena, N'Doul, Hansel, Gretel, Keicho Nijimura, Aya Tsuji Pet Shop and Devo?"

The final cherry on top, however, was the appearance of a certain, yellow clad figure, and a few of his followers.. one that stunned the whole group.

"Fate is quite an interesting mistress. It can betray you time and time again, but it rewards you eventually to some equal value…" He said, before the final group had been summoned.

Wamuu, Esidisi, Vanilla Ice.

"... and this reward alone shall be claimed by I, DIO!" He had proclaimed, a much more primitive, standless version of himself standing beside him.

“Excellent,” Necrom said. He thus began to take samples of blood and/or hair of these specimens. These would be uploaded to an efficient genetic catalogue soon after, which Necron and other Decepticons could use and experiment with.

DIO hissed as a hair sample was taken from him, as his younger self did as well. Scoffing at the machine for a moment, he then looked to the idle clones. "Hey! Machinoid! What is the meaning of this…? You're bringing back… entities from the dead!?" DIO said, slowly approaching the machine. "What are you to do with them?"

“Hm… I am interested in these Stands Kars brought up,” Necrom said. The mentioning of Kars would alert Esidsi and Wamuu. “As for the clones and the resurrection? The original ones can be under your control, I suppose.”

DIO's face twisted into an emotion of pure joy as he looked at the array in front of him. He then erupted in a mighty amount of laughter, almost maniacal as Wamuu scoffed
"I-Is this a sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare!? I, DIO, have complete and utter control over my fallen minions and enemies alike!" He smiled, brushing Jonathan's hair with a twisted glee. "Even JoJo has become a subordinate for me… the fun I'm going to have…" DIO said, before turning around, seeing two muscular figures walking away

"... there must have not been enough hypnotic devices to go around. Well then…" He chuckled, before standing atop of a rock. "... I'm still happy with my selection
"Attention! You may be struggling to comprehend your situation, but you are all under control of me, DIO! Now, follow me onwards, and with some… hopeful assistance from my summoner." He said, looking back at Necrom. "...we will take the world for our own! And our greatest priority? The destruction of the Joestar bloodline!" He roared, the hypnotised group cheering with him.

"So if you see anyone by the names of Josuke Higashikata, Jotaro Kujo, Joseph Joestar, Jolyne Cujoh or Holly Joestar-Kujo, destroy them however you see fit." He then fully turned to the robot.."I fully thank you for bringing me back to this world once more."

“You’re welcome, ah… DIO,” he said. “Oh, as well. Two things. First, there’s three Autobot prisoners who have escaped. Their names are Hot Rod, Kup and Blurr.” He pulled out a Cybertronian-sized image of the Autobot insignia. “You can either bring them back to this ship or do as you wish with them. Also, I came to this planet as a result of our alliance with the Octavians. You can help them out if you wish, but that isn’t mandatory.”

"Your Autobots will most likely be scrap heaps by my hands, and as for you and your allies, I have no reason to attack you… though I will also provide you one request." He said, before lowering his collar slightly, revealing a star shaped birthmark. "Should you see anyone with this birthmark, bring them to me. I desire to have them to me personally. I'll handle the rest of whatever comes towards me on my current quest." DIO explained. "I'd also like to know who this 'Kars' is. The name sounds too familiar…"

“He also hates the Joestar bloodline,” he said. “You may be able to create an alliance with him, you may not, but you share the same goal.” He turned to Wamuu and Esidsi. “Oh, and by the way… you may find this useful.” He entered his subspace storage pocket and pulled out two Stone Masks and the Red Stone of Aja.

DIO gasped in shock, looking at the relics as the two Pillar Men took ahold of them.
"We had spent all our lives looking for the stone… and here, we are finally rewarded." Wamuu said, looking up.

"Though it will only be useful later… the sun is gone." Esidisi had noted.
“By the way,” Necron said. “DIO… I raided Speedwagon Foundation. That’s where I found the stone. Do you want the diary back as well.” He also proceeded to pull out DIO’s diary.

The vampire was eager to take it, if only because he was suddenly reminded of his grand plan. "... it's a miracle. The Speedwagon Foundation was caught so off guard by something so minor, I bet… and now it is time for my plan to go into fruition."

"Wait!" Esidisi yelled at the vampire, going into a menacing pose. "You have control over Stroheim, and the Hamon users. Their UV light will benefit us, won't it?"

"Oh? And why would I help anyone who could threaten my absolute domain?" DIO scoffed, walking away. "You are no member of my legion. Just await sunrise, you simpletons."

"Don't we have a common enemy in the Joestars?" Wamuu said, before DIO stopped and slightly turned to them. "Indeed, but soon you'll find, we have very differing endgames once the Joestars are through." DIO mentioned.

The Magicon decided to have an input as well. “Surely if you team up, it’d be easier to take down the Joestar bloodline. For one, I should warn you that the hypnochips aren’t invincible, though I can provide you the means to create more of them if you wish. It’s 2000 - I’d assume that the Joestars have only got stronger. You can deal with each other later once the Joestars have been taken out. Oh, and, there’s a planet-wide conflict as well. Might want to be careful there.”

DIO gave it some thought, before looking to the Pillar Men and then grimacing mildly. "...fine. But I'd rather heed to Kars that my grudge with the Joestars is far greater than his. As you two wish, then." He said, Esidisi putting on the mask as DIO raised a hand, causing Stroheim to smile as the UV lights on his shoulders activated.

"PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR A NEW KIND OF POWER, MADE ONLY POSSIBLE BY GERMAN SCIENCE!" Stroheim screamed as Esidisi put on the mask, blasting him with UV and leaving the wiser, elder being in agony for a moment before he was filled with the same power that befell Kars and Santana, before Stroheim's lights went to Wamuu, who quickly wore his mask as well as the Red Stone… the two would eventually find themselves having ascended to the status of the ultimate Lifeform.

"Lord Kars… wherever he may be. May he find in us a new kind of power." Wamuu said, before turning to DIO. "And for now, this might be where we part ways, save for a few of your people to be deployed to Italy."

"As to you lot too." He said, before looking at Necrom one last time. "Oh, and one last thing… do you have a telephone of some sort?"

“Yes. I can access communication channels and whatever else internally,” Necrom said. “It’s a benefit of being mechanical.”

"Ah, thank you… send out a message to a Diego Brando in Allen, Texas. Tell him to seek to Enrico Pucci in Florida and prepare for my arrival. Gather my old minions, and sons as well." DIO commanded. "And no Joestar will get in my way this time."

“Right. I’ll tell them to head to you,” he responded. “Oh, and by the way. I was on the database I found someone called “Enrico Pucci”. If I may ask… do you have a plan for him still?”

"...That, my metallic friend, is not any of your business. Pucci and I will regard that for our own." DIOs said, walking away as his small army followed. "Maybe if there's any Octavian or Decepticon convoys, I'll take a shortcut through your ships. If I'm not welcome, though, that's fine. Just let them know who I am." DIO stated as he looked on, Wamuu and Esidisi sprouting wings before looking down at Necrom.

"I thank you kindly for this gift of godhood, Necrom. May we meet again and share our own stories!" Wamuu said before flying away.

He waved at them, before turning back to DIO and Dio Brando. “By the way… both of you are vampires, right? I can cast you both a spell if you want help against the sunlight, as well as any other vampires in your army. That should be one obstacle out of the way.”

"Ah, the sun… a terrible obstacle in my path all these years… very well then." DIO said, his younger self being present, as well as Vanilla Ice, Wired Beck, Tarkus, Wang Chan and Bruford lining up for the spell.

“Alright.” Necrom raised his hands above him, and a whitish, greyish aura surrounded the vampires and zombies in the ship. Soon after, they would be given protection against the sun and ‘sunlight magic’. He put his hands back down. “There.”

DIO took a deep breath as he smiled, laughing briefly. "Thank you kindly. That is all. There are Joestars to maul." He said, walking away with his group. Necrom then nodded back and began to contact Diego and DIO’s allies, as well as considering whether or not to allow a Decepticon ship to ferry the Pillar Men and DIO’s group.

by **TheMandate** » Mon May 25, 2020 8:08 pm

Sol 233
Near Mars
Grand Fleet Expeditionary Force Linse Fleet
Dreadnought "HMS Indefatigable"
Flag Bridge

Deep within the 2km long vessels aft section was a cavernous armoured compartment dominated by an enormous holographic display of the system around which were arrayed consoles and smaller holographic displays focusing on more minute aspects of the system and the fleet all watched over from the raised command platform towards the rear of the compartment. The displays flickered for a second as the display became a live feed showing all 493 ships of the fleet emerging from the large jumpgate that had appeared shortly before the fleet itself. From the raised command platform High Admiral Marc Linse gazed down upon the Sol system, the notations flashing up to tell him that the Octavians and the Aquarians had stopped fighting one another were hardly needed given the icons had changed to reflect their new status of not being in combat.

"Aquarian cowards" muttered Linse glaring at the Aquarian icons on the display "surrendering while there are so many humans in danger beneath them. All ships are to advance on Earth at once, if they see an opening they are to drop marines onto the planets surface to establish spaceheads and aid any resisting human groups".

"Signal coming through from the Arkwright rearguard" called one of the officers below the podium "they want to know if we've successfully arrived in the system and if we require reinforcements".

"Sideburst back that we have made a successful transit and do not currently require reinforcement" replied Linse manipulating forces on the tablet in his hands "tell them to get the ground troops ready to come through as well".

"Yes sir" came the officers reply "They say they'll have the ground troops readied within the hour and that they're eager to come through".

"Of course they are" said Linse with a derisive snort sliding a message from his tablet to one of the consoles below "they think they'll get mining rights for the system. Someone broadcast that message to all humans on Earth and give final confirmation to engage". A round of acknowledgements greeted his orders as the fleet raced at 0.8c towards the Octavian ships above Earth, as soon as they entered range the fleet opened fire firing heavy plasma weapons, 0.6c railguns and large torpedo volleys into the Octavian fleet. Whilst the fleet began its fatal duty a Lieutenant Commander below the command podium began recording a message for the people of Earth that the Mandate had come to save.

Code: Select all: People of Earth. This is Lieutenant Commander Matvei Salkov of the Mandate Grand Fleet, we are here in response to the sudden Octavian expansion into this sector and the threat they present to people like you. You are the ones the Mandate was formed to protect, those who cannot protect themselves against the predations of these metal monstrosities. They will claim to save you or to preserve you for eternity but in reality these soulless monsters will do nothing but destroy you and plunder your world. We will not allow this, nor should you. Resist these rogue machines, show them that soulless machines cannot defeat their human betters. As soon as we have cleared the debris they call a fleet from orbit we will deploy the Grand Army to assist in the defence of your world. Help is coming. We will get you out of this and you will never again be threatened by this metal menace.

by **Bloodshade** » Mon May 25, 2020 8:34 pm

Somewhere in Deep Space

Vishala was rather perplexed by the handshake aimed towards her by Mark. For a second, she thought he mistook her for Ambrosia somehow. The Countess was the one everyone wanted to talk to, not her. However, it seemed like the Ausar was adamant. She could read his type of gaze. To her, it seemed like he wasn't comfortable in her sitting on the sidelines and Vishala thought of this as an opportunity. One chance for someone to either satisfy her ego or spur her onwards. She wanted a challenge. Ambrosia tediously accepted that Vishala had surpassed her and while the lapine had no reason to feel threatened or urged to battle the Countess, she just wanted someone to stroke that arrogant persona of hers. She had no qualms with being called an arrogant, haughty persona. She knew it and no one would change her. Now that Vishala's train of thought was close to an end, she pushed herself upwards so she was level with Ausar's chest. God, everyone had to be taller than her! She'll knock his ego down when she has her way with the Paramount. Her ears prickled with frustration but she decided to channel that energy into pure snark

"Good to have you onboard, old man. No need for pleasantries. We both know you're not that type and I'll tell you from now, I'm not as eloquent as Ambie. You've got a sailor's mouth. I like that. You're nowhere near as boring as the rest. Come here, furball!" - Vishala

Vishala enthusiastically took Mark's hand with her own and decided to have a bit of fun at his expense. Clutching it tightly, her free hand was quaking intensely, appearing as a blur, and the vibrations were sent over throughout her body until that energy was zapped over to her other hand, sending a relatively small but noticeable shockwave into Mark's body. It was nowhere near lethal but in case the Ausar was falling asleep, she definitely caught his attention now, whether he liked it or not.

"Now I'm no elitist or anything but the only weapon I'm going to be using is this killer body of mine. How about I make this interesting for you? Want to know what I do to people that cross with me?" - Vishala

Ambrosia couldn't do much to reel her in at this point and she simply ignored Vishala. That girl did as she pleased and it was too frustrating to try and keep her behaviour in check. She decided Vishala was of no concern if she was just being a harmless tease. There were more important matters to attend to.

"I'll have you know! The fleets are on the way to the affected Ignisian colonies already! I just needed your say so and I didn't want to waste any time. Bureaucracy is a pain, no? In any case, they'll be taken care of! I promise!" - Ambrosia

An anomaly on the ship's long-range sensors picked up an anomaly in the so-called 'Solar System'. It seemed that it was none other than the Paramount's energy. Such a shockwave sent the ship's system into a hissy fit for a couple of seconds. The energy readings were off the charts or simply immeasurable. Ambrosia shot up to examine the results and came to the exact same conclusion that was lingering on her mind. The Paramount was on the move and it seemed like his newest target was a planet called Earth. Vishala's initially chirpy expression was switched over to a solemn, vexed display of emotions. In just a split second, the lapine looked like she was about to calmly strangle someone.

"Thousands...No, millions are dying every minute we spare sitting around like a bunch of idiots. I can feel people's souls being snuffed out over and over...CAN WE GET OVER THERE NOW?" - Vishala

The lapine's body was trembling with rage and for a second, it almost looked like she was about to snap the vampire's neck for wasting precious seconds examining her precious data. Ambrosia's gaze shifted towards the Ignisian duo, a vexed undertone accompanying her speech.

"Alright, time is of the essence. You can get out of my ship right now and meet us there or you're in for a quick trip to Earth." - Ambrosia

Ignisian Space

Around four or so Bloodshadian generation ships had arrived at the battered Ignisian colonies in the hopes of evacuating and transferring as many refugees as humanly possible back to Yvresse, the home planet of Bloodshade. Perhaps the Makers would be kind and accept the Ignisians on the ringworld, at least temporarily. Dozens of frigates and cruisers had been accompanying the migration fleet, ensuring that there would be no room for surprises on the ferrying between Yvresse and the Ignisian colonies. Ignisitarian aid had also been dispatched along with the generation ships, with billions of metric tonnes of nutritious, long-lasting foodstuffs, the necessary equipment and tools to create and maintain temporary settlements on the Ignisian colonies and a million-strong contingent of special arcane military engineers who'll be responsible for distributing and setting up the infrastructure to keep the people from suffering needlessly.

The Dwarven commander of the fleet, Drostar Fireborn, would be the one responsible for ensuring that the Ignisians would not be left to fend for themselves. Before officially engaging in any operations, the Dwarf sent a message to Ignisian authorities that still remained standing.

"Hello ta any o' ye that may be still standing. I be tha commander o' this fine fleet an' today be your lucky day. Wou' ye kindly officially allow us ta lend ye a helping hand? Bureaucracy's a bitch, ain't it? Please act fast now." - Drostar

Utaris Complex, Sildora Prime

Victoria was taken aback by the Archon's hospitality and grace. To her, politics was a dangerous back and forth but right in front of her, the Archon's heart and soul had been exposed momentarily. A sense of joy had sneaked into her heart and she couldn't help but sneak one beaming genuine smile in response to the Archon's enthusiasm.

"Rest assured, with your support, the Octavians will be ground to dust and perhaps this could pave the way for a future that is friendly for the both of us! We will stay by your side till the very end!"

Madame Hoffmeister enthusiastically extends her arm to the Archon as a symbolic gesture in which they would seal their alliance until the vampiress remembered her diplomatic training. What an embarrassing display. She quickly retracted her arm back to her side and instead, she pulled out an interactive tablet, seemingly sending details and co-ordinates to the top brass of Bloodshade's Void Fleet.

"Oh dear, I apologize for that embarrassing display. In any case, rest assured, the Void Fleet is approaching Sildoria's space borders soon enough and fear not, our fleets are rather flexible. At a moment's notice, our arcane frame-shift drives would allow our fleets to respond to any threat at a moment's notice. We won't be sitting ducks and you'll be sure that Octavia's fleets will suffer for its transgressions. Unless you have any more questions, I'll take my leave. I wish you good luck in the battles to come."

Approaching the Delara system, Sector V

Detatchments of the Void Fleet had been arriving gradually to the Delara system. A varied, thousand-strong detachment of Bloodshadian cruisers, frigates and corvettes had arrived first and kept their distance from the Sildorian fleet while signalling their arrival, with the bulk of the Bloodshadian fleet still on the way or lingering on the fringes of Sildorian space in case there were any shenanigans to be had from the tin cans. Local superiority would be the tried and tested method of defeating Octavian fleets. However, in the thick of it, the Bloodshadians knew that being outnumbered would be a great possibility and as a result, overwhelming, concentrated firepower would need to be used on Octavian weak spots whenever the chance arises while hit and run tactics would goad the Octavians onwards into making brash and expectantly, brutally humiliating mistakes, only if they took the bait. The Void Fleets arcane frame-shift drives must be exploited to its greatest extent in order to confuse and confuddle the Octavian battle lines while approaching them through unexpected means. All in all, the Void Fleet was here to punish the Octavians for any mistake, regardless of size, and punish them appropriately.

by **The-International Space Organization** » Mon May 25, 2020 9:41 pm

Imperial-Octavia wrote:
30 seconds. 30 seconds was the difference between a total, campaign changing failure or the continued success of Octavian operations. In those 30 seconds the fleets were able to activate their FTL drives and run into the next system and prepare in the event that the ships followed. Shielding and point defense systems were overclocked made to exceed what they were meant to do by 10 times and though it may damage the systems it wouldn't be any worse than being attacked by that slavo. The ships would also form themselves into a shield wall of sorts positioning themselves where their shielding would be layered and thus strengthened both the front and the back making them far more resistant to attack. Hopefully these measures would protect the fleets from any future slavos and let them let a few of their own out before the engagement was over.

SUB-TASK FORCE 38 - SILDORIAN SECTOR V

Space fell silent for a few seconds as the ISO ships found their broadsides streaking uselessly into the void- And then sensors leapt into life. Tracing the ships that had fled, as the ISO ships began to turn. Lining up to bring themselves for another jump to chase the running Octavian fleets down, and further chase them out of this sector of space- Engines flaring, and guns preparing ammunition as the ships began to leap forward again. Blunt-Force-Drives roaring as they leapt ahead-

And then right into broadside range of the Octavian fleets. Noting the new defensive positions, as gunnery officers made the call, Skip-Shells being slammed into place as targets were drawn up by each Elephant, each strike-force of two cutting the fleet in half among it's targeting sensors to ensure the maximum destructive force possible... And then the Void split open again, as across the sector, ISO broadsides lept into brutal life again, shells singing out to target the Octavian fleet, missiles mere milli-seconds behind... ISO ships flaring their own shielding to full, and captains throwing ships into harsh and sudden defensive maneuvers, the massive ships displaying agility more typical of a fighter as they entered these harsh maneuvers, to avoid any incoming hostile fire.

Imperial-Octavia wrote:
The battle only increased in intensity as LA reinforcements arrived behind the Octavian battle lines starting a general consolidation of the line into the void testudo stacking the power of all the shields in the 490 ship strong fleet making sure they were able to withstand the next set of attacks. The initial LA attack came before they could do this though which while many ships could survive their planet cleansing beams, multiple were already injured by Zravvisk arms and this broke the shields leaving the hulls to face the beam causing severe damage and even destruction of multiple ships. Elsewhere on the battlefield once the first "civillain" exploded so violently the fleet knew something was up and so a group of 12 corvettes and a few hundred Drone fighters were sent to go deal with them and reveal what they really were. Another task group made up of 10 corvettes, 5 Frigates, a cruiser and 2 strike teams of Drone Fighters were sent to deal with the Dagger. The Drone Fighters force that was once prevalent on the battlefield took some massive hits and what remained focused on trying to deal with the disruptor missiles swarming around the station by shooting them down with their own missiles. The Artillery ships which were already turned around opened fired on the warminds having enough numbers to fire multiple shells on each warmind as about 20 of the K'onqesta dreadnoughts moved over to the back to fire off their missiles at the warminds while also strengthening the back of the formation with their shields.

COMMAND DECK OF THE ICN 'SCARS OF IGAL' - LEADING TASK-FORCE 'STARBOUND' - SITTING IN IGNISIAN SPACE, OVER AN INDUSTRIAL PLANET

"Sir, we've got something from command." An aide called, turning from his station to face Admiral Novum. "They've picked up a large fleet battle happening in a sub-cluster. They're requesting we deal with it, as Talon is entrenched with fighting the Octavians elsewhere." The aide, finished, turning back to his station, as Novum nodded.

"Bring up the L1N squadrons... Forty should do the trick. No use putting anything heavier into that battle-field, it appears our allies have it covered." He turned to other tasks, putting the battle out of his mind as ships began to deploy their L1N groups- Readied for war, of course, as their BFDs spun up, purring idly as crews prepared for combat. Fighter crews rushing into their launch bays, as mechanics rushed about with last minute checks, gunnery officers pre-selecting ammunition chains, and the shields being reinforced as each one prepared to leap off into the void, engines suddenly ticking over-

And then they were gone and elsewhere almost before Ingisian sensors could register it...

And then Ridley's Rest gained another forty signatures- Broadcasting as friendlies to the Zravvisk and LA, before they swung into bear. Engines kicking into full, as they swung about- Broadsides far smaller than their larger cousins roaring, targeting the light ships of the Octavian fleet. Missiles streaking out into the void of space, as they began to fall into skirmishing arrays, shields flaring to full...

And then, fighters began to drop from the under-bellies of certain L1N units, engines kicking on as they soon began to roar into the rapidly moving swarms of Octavian fighters, all systems fully online, and weapons roaring.

"All systems, green Sarge. We're ready for launch and subsequent operation!" A junior officer called as the L1N-3Rs sirens roared. Constant alerts ringing out over it, but those had long since been tuned out by the marine combat teams preparing for action- As they finally stepped into the dedicated shells.

"Good! All teams, brace for combat!" And then said shells slammed into dedicated guns, rotating as they locked onto the distant Octavian dreadnought, the L1N-3R rotating to give those guns the needed firing angles. And then tubes recoiled, as shells were sent flying- Leaping out of the barrels at speed, and then warp-drives kicked into life. Slamming the shells from their position to where they were meant to be- In particular, inside the Octavian ship.

And then the shell's advanced systems kicked into life, recoil dampners flaring as the shells popped open. Marines dropping, in full armor sets, right into a corridor- The technical team rushing to put together the two small Tankettes, as others watched the ends of the corridors. The moment the all clear was given, the teams dropped back into formation around the Tankettes, and began moving further towards the rear of the ship- One tankette leading the way, and the other watching the rear- Both with shields at full, and ready to slice down anything hostile that stopped them from reaching the Zravvisk...

BRIDGE OF THE ARK-ROYAL - OCTAVIAN SPACE - 848.3EZ

Grayson barely shifted from his command chair as the Ark Royal, and it's escorts, delved back into real-space. Coming out in orbit over another planet, which Grayson noted with an idle frown was now shielded... "Well, damn. There goes that strategy. Sensors, are we looking at a hostile defensive fleet?"

"That we are, Captain. Marking it for the Yamato and Bismarck now." The sensor officer called, as the Ark Royal's vast fighter-swarms began to deploy. Looks like the quick and easy strategy of torching and running had left the table, Grayson mused as he turned to look at a display- The distant hostile fleet now illuminated, as the Yamato and Bismarck swung into broadside positions, preparing to unleash living hell into the defensive fleet.

"Get the fighters running intercept missions. And start poking that shield with the Iowa's missiles. If it comes down to it, we'll just bust open a hole long enough to drop a few dozen Monarchs and crack the planet's continents clean in half... And get our Allies to help keep this system on lock-down. I want to know if an asteroid moves in even a remotely unnatural way."

"Aye aye, captain!" The bridge responded, leaping into life. Orders being transmitted around, as the ships swung into action. Fighters leaping out into formation, engines gunning it as they prepared to attack anything that the big ships weren't about to take care of, as the Iowa's missile targetting software began to target the shield around the planet... And then unleashed carefully targeted Salvos, testing the shields strength as it does so.

GREATER ANDROMEDAN UNION OF PLANETS INTELLIGENCE OUTPOST 5.3E-KZ - WARP-POINT 4.E3 - FLEET ANCHORAGE 4.L5

The Union had taken notice of the unusual ISO fleet movements- How could they not? Another War was expected any decade now, and even the smallest movement could indicate that it was about to begin. They had to be fully aware and alert- So when the Organization and United Government had begun to funnel ships to a distant galaxy, the Union had watched carefully. And then they had seen the unmistakable flashes of ISO ships sending broadside after broadside into a target. The impossible to miss fury of H-palm as it ripped away at a planet's surface. Eternal fire scorching away a planet, for what?

Well, that had been easier to answer. Agents had spoken of an 'Octavian Hivemind'. Assimilators. And then the Council had retreated into debate- Helping Assimilators went against everything the Union stood for... But this was a chance to snub the ISO. A chance to drop a hammer that the ISO could not deal with, without attracting the eys of the Brisan through a fleet numbering in the trillions.

The long hours of debate had finally ended with an agreement. A dreadnought, and a handful of escorts- A smattering of cruisers, destroyers and a few supply ships. A balanced fleet composition, and a chance for the Abiding Justice to familiarize itself with new targeting software, and new battle coordination software. The orders were sent- And then the Abiding Justice and it's carefully chosen escorts began to prepare... It was an unusual fleet movement, but happening under the guise of a 'Fleet Training Movement', the Brisan wouldn't give it a second glance, all hopes given...

by **Sildorian Empire** » Tue May 26, 2020 2:00 am

Ziamon Starbase, Ziamon System

The Ziamon Station was operational. It wasn't at full capacity -the shields were still at 71% and the armor still under repairs, and the destroyed fighters had yet to be replaced- but it was operational on a system level. Hours after the battle in Ziamon that pulled Sildoria into the Octavian Imperium's apparent war against civilization in the Galaxy, Major cur'Sene was optimistic -for the first time that day- that she was not in any trouble. She became even more optimistic upon being notified that a fleet-level naval-spatial formation was located just outside of Sildorian Space and that apparently it was friendly.

Under her command, the Ziamon Station's chief communication officer relayed the following transmission back through the same channel the Laniakean Alliance had dispatched their own message through.

Code: Select all: FROM Ziamon Starbase; Sildorian Empire TO Laniakean Alliance The Sildorian Empire gratefully accepts your offer of Humanitarian Aid and Military Support. On behalf of the Armed Forces of the Sildorian Empire and the Office of the Archon, we welcome you to the Ziamon System and request that you continue your journey along the Ziamon-Delara Hyperlane to the Kleon System or the Delara System.

Battle of Kleon
Kleon, Sildorian Space

Kleon was, like Ziamon, a frontier system in Sector V, Sildorian Space. Unlike Ziamon however -which was a system with a habitable, colonized Gaia World at the edge of Sildorian Space beyond which began the vast expanses of unexplored, unclaimed space- Kleon was of less importance. It had some minerals that many companies in Sector V made a point to exploit, and it was an important "final stop" along the Ziamon-Delara Hyperlane, but its lack of strategic importance meant that it had practically no defenses whatsoever. A small outpost manned by 20 crew and as many engineers was what passed for its Starbase. The Kleon outpost had only two kinetic projectile launchers, one cutting laser turret and a single hangar, hosting a fighter squadron made of 12 Fang-class fighters.

As such, when the Octavians made a jump from Ziamon to the next system along the Ziamon-Delara Hyperlane and when an unidentified other civilization also breached out of FTL inside Kleon and immediately began attacking the Octavians, the commanding officer of the Kleon outpost (a Captain Rophart of Mal Zianam) did not order 'all fighters to intercept', he did not open a comm. channel and he did not open fire on the Octavian survivors of the carnage in Ziamon. He only made a call for Delara and requested reinforcement. If the Armada did not arrive in Kleon, they'd probably still intercept the Octavians in the next two systems.

Delara System, Sildorian Space

Seconds after the Bloodshadian Void Fleet breached into the Delara system, the Sildorian voidcraft began pouring in. While the Flagship -and the largest portion- of the First Armada had began her journey from the Sila system, the Armada had ships from most of the Sildorian Empires hundreds of different-sized fleets. From the small 126^th Fleet made of 40 White Wine-class Artillery Destroyers and a Dark Nebula-class Field Cruiser and 492 hangarcraft to the gigantic 1^st Fleet hosting 400 taskforces of different sizes and its thousands of hangarcraft, Sildorian Fleets breached into Delara one by one.

IVC Lothal, escorted by the 1^st Fleet, was neither the first that arrived into Delara nor was it the last. Upon breaching out of Hyperspace at the edge of Delara's gravitational pull, its commanding officer opened a secure channel to that part of the Void Fleet that they could locate on their sensors. "Attention, Bloodshadian Void Fleet, this is Aschla Rubyclaw, Grand Admiral of the Sildorian Navy and Commander-in-charge of the First Sildorian Armada. The Kleon Outpost, a starbase located at the edge of Sildorian Space and one jump away from Ziamon, site of the first battle between the Octavian Imperium and the Sildorian Empire, has informed us that it is becoming the site of a further Octavian incursion in Sildorian Space. Following the prior agreement made between our respective polities, I am requesting your presence, alongside this Armada, in the Kleon system."

by **The Zravvisk** » Tue May 26, 2020 2:01 pm

Mining Planet 122
The incoming fire hit the Armada hard, though thankfully most of it was aimed at the tougher ships that could afford to take a hit or two. As damage control teams rushed to fix the damage, most fleets might have considered retreating. After all, while they had more ships than the Octavians most of them were of lighter classes. Then again, most fleets didn’t have the Dragua II.

The Dragua stood proud, its strong precursor shields handling the assault of several dreadnought hots and what head engineer Tiamat called a knock off titian lance very well. It took a moment to target an enemy dreadnought before unleashing its full armament. The three titian lances fired, each sending raging rivers of raw energy able to vaporize battlecruisers downrange. Then the secondary armament of nine heavy lances fire, a barrage most battleships couldn’t hope to match with their own main guns. Finally, its many plasma and ion cannons fired, sending an unending torrent of fire towards the Octavians as it advanced.

The battleships formed a battle line, excluding the Hammerfall which advanced on the enemy to use its powerful broadside guns. None of them aimed at the Dragua’s prey. They all knew that it didn’t need their help to take down another nation’s so called “dreadnought”. They and the factory ships and freighters behind them instead focused another dreadnought with their powerful long-range guns.

No one had any idea where the Dutchman went. It dropped completely off of all sensors like it so often did. Though everyone had an idea that it would reappear on the Octavian’s flank or even behind them which suited every captain in the Armada just fine. Weird things happened around that creepy ship and the further away from them it was the better.

The destroyers and armed mining ships rushed forward, ion cannons and laser cannons blasting all while. Along with them came the legendary Auxiliary Fighter Corps with their fighters and heavy bombers filled with swarm missiles. The Lunastria engaged frigates with its medium lance and plasma cannons until it got it range into teleport into the Octavian navy. To absolutely no one’s surprise, it reappeared right in between two dreadnoughts for a point-blank torpedo run while pelting them with fire focused on roughly the same spot they found the destroyer’s AI core.

Meanwhile, back on the planet the engineers were halfway though disarming the shield generator’s self-destruct when it activated. The engineer dropped what they were doing and jumped away from the generator as it went up in smoke. When the smoke cleared, the shield generator wasn’t too badly damaged due to the work they did on the self-destruct. Sure, it wasn’t in working condition, but they needed to only replace a few internals compared to the rebuild they would have to do if the self-destruct went fully off. One engineer began making a list of parts that needed to be replaced while the other began harvesting parts off the surrounding dead Octavians.

Ridley’s Rest
The station master thanked the ancestors for their generousness, two new allies coming out of nowhere to turn the tide of battle. Truly, this could only be their work. Sure, they would lose who knows how many resources in free refits, maintenance, and refueling them after the battle was over, but Ridley’s Rest would stand. The station master was so optimistic that he began to consider routing power to interdiction to keep the Octavians from escaping.

The allied forces were rallying even more with the addition of yet more allies. Some ships even began putting all they could into weapons, confident in their allies. The Fighter Auxiliary Corps with the reinforcements even began attempting to escort heavy bombers to Octavian ships. They were ready for a bit of payback.

The Hellburners rushed towards the Octavian backline afterburners burning, uncaring of the incoming fire. Why should they after all when the operators were safe back on Ridley’s Rest. The incoming fire quickly wiped out the shields of another one and detonated it. The explosion was so violent that the shrapnel from the ship took out any nearby fighters. Halfway to their targets, the second to last Hellburner met a similar fate. Almost to its target, the shield of the last Hellburner failed and it took a hit to the engine, wrecking it. However, it had more than enough momentum and the ship shaped missile slammed into its target. The explosion was so powerful that one could see the ripples from the blast wave flow though the armor.

Being right next to the Sword’s engines the Dagger quickly noticed the little ship trying to sneak into the engine. And they especially noticed the explosion they made. After the Dagger focused her anti-fighter cannons in that direction, a group of zravvisk followed the shuttle in. With the incoming force, the ship decided that it was time to pull out. It started out on a vector while still visible before turning on the stealth shield and taking another route. The zravvisk boarders would have to make do with the last of its support.

The new zravvisk group in the engine room decided to ignore the shuttle there and flank the last defenders between the engine team and their goal. With a final push the engineers were in the engine room and it was theirs. While the engineers worked on getting one final jolt out of the engines to rotate it away from the station, the warriors began securing the paths in. They had the room, now they had to hold it. And from the sounds of it the owners of the ship weren’t happy about that idea as they heard a large assault coming.

The weapons team on the other hand was bogged down by the constant reinforcements. With progress not being made and the other team confirming they had reached their objective; it was decided to bunker down in the rooms they currently controlled. The engineers bypassed closed blast doors open functions making them impossible to open by commands. It wouldn’t stop them from cutting though, but it would buy the zravvisk more time to rest and set up explosive traps. The most wounded rested and regenerated while their healthy allies held off the incoming Chosen in the chokepoints of the hallway.

Meanwhile, on the bridge, the Captain’s guard turned their attention to the turrets. Many turrets were immediately hit with tank destroying plasma while other were rushed down by the zravvisk to be rendered by their claws and fangs. Of course, there so many turrets that a few got some shots off before being destroyed, but they were the lighter turrets the zravvisk considered to more of an annoyance. The zravvisk noticed the strange running up to the computers, but they were interrupted by the sound of in the coming Chosen to worry about them. The Captain’s guard took up positions near the bridge’s doors to keep the Chosen from reinforcing Tal’Talen.

The Captain had not expected Tal’Talen to put up much of a fight, and the injuries she was taking was the price of that arrogance. But she was not helpless. She launched a small point-blank fireball, not enough to really hurt either of them, but enough to allow her to disengage and get some meters in between her and Ta’Talen. She examined her injuries for anything serious before smiling and assuming a proper battle stance. It was rare when an enemy warrior was a match for her.

by **Ignis States** » Tue May 26, 2020 2:39 pm

As Zakruho gets up from the command console to stretch, another signal comes in, this one from the Laniakean Alliance...? The hell are they? Whatever.
The Magister Militum sits back down once more, somewhat irked by the amount of requests coming to him. Nothing he can't put up with, though...

"Request accepted. Enter when you see fit." Just like that, another transmission. This time from...huh. Looks to be a ship from Bloodshade. Time to answer that.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

"Old man? I may be 73, but time flies when you're immortal. And yeah, I can tell you aren't as proper and dignified and a bunch of other words that mean jack shit. If that means you think I'm not boring...questionable taste, but I can appreciate it."
Mark's eyebrow raises as Vishala delivers the shock to his system, so to speak. What kind of vibrational sorcery was just employed...? Well, that doesn't need to be answered. The Ausar knows exactly what was just employed.

"If you can do that, I see why you go unarmed. I already have a few good guesses as to what you do with those who fuck with you, but I'd definitely like a demonstration."
Strein shakes her head, clearly embarrassed by Mark's antics. She glances over at Ambrosia, trying for a polite smile once more.
"Good to hear! I just need to say it again: Thank you, Ambrosia. If you and Seren weren't there for me, I don't know where I'd be."

Around her, black fog appears, swirling into the silhouette of a familiar Ignisian: Zen. Eyes of pure green gaze into her own with clear hostile intent, though he doesn't make a move.
Mark levels his sword at Zen's chest...but he doesn't attack. The fox stares down his target, a portal forming behind her.
"Archangel of Order. Your destiny awaits. You want to destroy me...so I will give you that chance."

The wolf looks to be at a loss for words, her heart pounding. How is she going to do this? Is it even possible...? Whatever the case, this is a fight she has to get over with. For Seren, for Ambrosia, for Ignis...
"I don't know when I'll be back. Take care until then...alright?" Without wasting a moment, she steps into the portal, fading into the shadowy depths. A second later, Zen vanishes along with the gateway.

Mark doesn't seem perturbed, but he certainly seems pissed. Grumbling, he lowers his sword, looking back at the others. His stare has hardened significantly, battle instincts ramped up fully.
"...If that prick wants to get his shit kicked in by Strein, so be it. I'll stay with you, if you're wondering. It's easier to coordinate that way."
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Zakruho looks at the transmission he received from Drostar, perking up as he realizes what this entails. Instead of having to manage ships, a grim reminder of the reality his country's going through, he's actually getting help for that reality.
"Yes, please, we're accepting any kind of help from you! You officially have clearance to help without any kind of restriction! Thank you for doing this, everyone here appreciates it!"

by **Gladian Imperium** » Tue May 26, 2020 3:46 pm

Ziamon System, Sildoria

As soon as the Sildorian transmission reached the Alliance's transmitters, the Humanitarian Fleet went on the move. First was the cumulated Escort Fleet. 198 Warminds began breaking formation, before vanishing outright, reappearing in the Ziamon System in an instant, the Drive Signatures not matching that of the Octavians, ISO, or any species known to the Sildorians.

Then, the Generation Ships entered the system. Forty vessels, over a hundred kilometers long, appeared in the same fashion as the Warminds, followed by ten vessels over a thousand kilometers long. The unifying trait of the smaller and larger vessels was their apparent lack of armament, but also their ovoid shape, in contrast to the Warminds, which appeared similar to massive fortresses torn from the ground and placed among the stars.

Finally, two massive FTL signatures manifested, spontaneous eruptions of lightning before massive vortexes opened in space, two absolutely massive structures "dropping" from their respective portal and coming to a halt. As the last vestiges of arcing electricity flickered out of existence, the Ziamon starbase would receive a transmission from one of the two planet-sized vessels;

LANIAKEAN ALLIANCE|LAMH|DECISIVE BATTLE
"This is the LAMH Decisive Battle, representing the First Linnaeris Humanitarian Fleet. I would like to request a communications line directly to whomever our positioning may concern. Our aim is not to actively fight the Octavians, but to aid your nation in halting their advance and ultimately repelling them from your volume, alongside evacuating your civilians."

Ignisian Space

On the Ignisian Periphery, the second humanitarian fleet would arrive in the same fashion as their Sildorian counterparts. Once the two Travelers settled in, the following transmission was sent to Ignis;

LANIAKEAN ALLIANCE|LAMH|CANNED MONKEYS
"This is the LAMH Canned Monkeys, representing the Second Linnaeris Humanitarian Fleet. Requesting data and locations of planets affected by the Octavian Infiltrator attack."

Ridley's Rest

The Artillery Ships saw their hits land home on the Warminds, but sudden and erratic emissions of electromagnetic radiation from around the vessels indicated the shielding systems had not been overwhelmed. In response to this, the warminds began rotating, bringing their full frontal armament to bear against various Artillery vessels as the now-clear broadsides began to focus their devastating power on some of the Dreadnoughts.

The Drone Fighters would be equally as unlucky, the Disruptor missiles seemingly unfazed and suddenly shooting towards them, cleaving clean through the fragile spacecraft in an instant as they moved and pivoted in manners that the Drone Fighters simply could not match. Some of the missiles from the Kon'Questas would be intercepted and destroyed as well, but a majority made it through the net and impacted the Warminds, having their explosions overshadowed by the flashes of light that followed. The shields remained up, however. It seemed as though the Octavians would have to focus more firepower on the Warminds and away from the Zravvisk if they wanted any hope of taking the Mark VIIIs down a notch.

Stormrider

Around the same time that Strein left the Stormdrider, another would board it. A tall, slim figure, wrapped in scarlet fabrics that resembled a funeral shroud. There was no sign of its arms or any other appendages, and where its face would be was a pale carnival mask, an emotionless smile, and blackened eye sockets on a plain white surface. It said nothing, did nothing, only stood in a corner, head bent down as though it was examining the floor rather than the other inhabitants.

848.3EZ, Mossflower

The five Warminds would do as their orders instructed, moving to maintain overwatch over the Task Force, even as their planet-facing broadsides opened up and began pummeling away at the shields of the planet before them. Should anything undesirable show up, they would alert the Elephants and swing their own weapons to bear and begin firing.

AW-VIII 'Twas But A Jest and IMC Blind Prophet, Interstellar Space

Having, hopefully, cleared enough space between them and their previous location to avoid being chased, the Arsenal Barge and Warmind began preparing for their previous plans. As Jest began tapping into the Sentinel Arrays and their Impositions, Blind Prophet resumed loading, arming, and programming their missiles. Each Effector Warhead was calibrated to turn all silicon-based objects within their blast radius into a useless melted paste, in order to cripple the heavily automated Octavian Shipyards.

It would take some time, but the duo would potentially become a notable pain in the Octavians' side, distracting their forces from other fronts.

by **Il Passione** » Tue May 26, 2020 9:17 pm

Venice
The now elderly Joseph Joestar sat near the canals as he watched the crystal-clear water flow through them, along with vibrant lights in the sunset. Joseph seemed to have fond memories of this place in his youth; after all, it’s where one of the most important arcs of his life would be until he was summoned to Egypt to defeat DIO.
A brief shadow swooped over, but Joseph initially mistook it for a bird… until a cold, rage-filled hand gripped his fragile shoulder.

“Long time no see, JoJo…” Kars said with determination in his eyes as Joseph slowly turned around before his face froze in horror at the vision before him. This was just another nightmare, just another nightmare, this wasn’t real…

“OH NO! OH MY GOD!” Joseph screamed, falling off the bench and pointing to Kars, who was tailed by his comrades Esidsi and Wamuu.

“B-but this is impossible! I KILLED YOU OVER 60 YEARS AGO! I SHOT YOU INTO SPACE, KARS! Wait… no…” Joseph said, his breathing turning into a hyperventilating panic. “Nonononoooo! Those aliens must have found you and brought you back, and somehow resurrected your little friends too! And there was a break-in at the Speedwagon Foundation, which means Santana must be somewhere too… oh no…”

“Very perceptive of you, Jojo. Even in your miserable, elderly state, you seem to possess a knack for figuring things out.” Kars mentioned.
“Whatever happened to your Hamon, Joseph? You look as old and miserable as a rotten prune.” Esidisi said.

“I found love, and decided to grow old with my new wife… because after DIO, I never thought I’d run into you clowns ever again!” Joseph stated, before some purple vines emerged from his hand. “But not to worry… I have a new ability that’ll knock you back to Mars! Take this!”

”HERMIT PURPLE AND HAMON!” Joseph said, the vines shooting out towards Kars as he grabbed onto them, tying them into a knot and then holding onto it, surprising Joseph.

“W-what? That’s impossible… only a Stand User can see a stand!” Joseph proclaimed, Kars inspecting the vines with a giggle.

“Hermit Purple… so this is the power that these so-callled ‘stand users’ have.” Kars chuckled, before yoinking Joseph into the air with it and then fiercely slamming him into a telephone pole, crippling him as he cried out in agony, the three PIllar Men approaching.

“And I was told you were getting stronger, Joseph Joestar…” Kars said, taking in a death breath as a familiar rainbow glimmer came over his hand. “I’d love to finish you off myself… but I made a deal with an old friend of yours… and brought another old friend of yours to finish you off before your very eyes…” He said, stepping out of the way as a familiar visage came towards him, sparkling with Hamon as Joseph’s eyes filled with tears.

“C-Caesar…?” Joseph said tearfully, watching Caesar approach him with deep Hamon breaths as there was an unusual red glow in his irises. “Caesar… no… please, don’t do this… you remember me, don’t you?” He sobbed, pleading for this to just be a bad dream.

“I’m sorry, JoJo, but I must carry out the will of my masters, for the sake of my honor and theirs!” Caesar then towered over the crippled Joseph, going for a Hamon-powered axe stomp to his head. “OVERDRIIIVE!”

Before he struck Joseph, a large robotic lifeforms jumped in and kicked him away. If Joseph looked up, he’d see a large greenish Autobot: Kup. Something about him gave off an old and wise vibe. The Autobot pulled out an ion pistol.

The Pillar Men seemed to be shocked at the sight, before Kars made an insightful discovery. “So… you’re one of those Autobots they told me about, by the insignia I see before me?” Kars stated, Caesar going into a fighting stance behind him.

“Wh-what’s happening?” Joseph said, clearly frightened by the situation.

“Seems like they attacked ya,” he said. “Reminds me of somethin’ I saw on Golgaira V, back when I was fightin’ with my Autobot squadron. We… ah, right.” He gestured towards Caesar. “Is he a friend of yers?”

Joseph nodded. “He used to be, anyway. I thought I lost him when he gave his life to try and defeat Wamuu. He gave me his Hamon power and ultimately lead me the strength to destroy him… now he’s back to life somehow, and I don’t know why he’s trying to kill me like this…”

“Sorry to hear that,” he said solomnly. “Might have an idea…” He began to walk towards Caesar.

“Don’t you dare approach me, cazzo!” Caesar said with a threatening expression, clapping his hands together as some soap bubbles started forming in his hands, slowly pulling them appart until they formed a sort of wall of bubbles, toughened to a consistency similar to that of flexible steel with his Hamon. “I can turn you to scrap in a near instant if that’s what you wish for!”

“Who’re you callin’ such insultin’ language?!” Kup responded in a grouchy manner. “You whippersnappers never woulda survived back in my days, I tell ya! You need ta respect yer elders!”

“Back in your day? Ha! Don’t try and make me laugh, you rustbucket! You might have the experience and technology, but I have the will to kill you and this old vine-sprouting scrotum for Lord DIO!” Caesar yelled, causing Joseph to freeze in horror once more as Caesar then raised the bubble mass, shooting it out as it appeared to be a cluster of fast moving projectiles towards Kup, each feeling like a cannonball striking him rapidly. “BUBBLE LAUNCHER!”

Kup was pushed back some by the offensive. “Alright, kid - if I hafta do this…” Kup quickly pulled out another blaster, putting the ion him back. He set it onto stun and fired a bluish laser at Caesar.

He attempted to block it with the Bubble Barrier to no avail, as the lightwave was stopped but soon passed through the Hamon and penetrated to him, knocking him out of the fight quickly. Kup then proceeded to quickly grab the Hamon user and dashed over to Joseph, grabbing him. He then proceeded to place the two in the safety of his subspace storage pocket. He then had an idea. He pulled out an electro mesh prison and threw it at the Pillar Men. Regardless of whether or not it hit them, he transformed into his car mode and drove off.

The Pillar men were initially stopped, but quickly broke out of their prisons as Kars dug under it before emerging in front of it, then pullling the other two out as the lasers did some damage, but not too much. Kars yelled out in anger before tearing a street light from the ground and slamming it into the canal, throwing it like a javelin. “DAMNIT! Once again, i am robbed of my final victory against Joseph Joestar… Perhaps I should have done the job myself.”

“We will have a later opportunity to take care of Joseph. Our priority is checking on Santana, for now.” Esidisi advised, looking to Wamuu. “Maybe Wamuu can relay a message back to those Decepticons that they might have an issue that requires their attention.”

“Of course, Lord Esidisi.” Wamuu bowed, before running off as Esidisi and Kars took flight.

Somewhere else in Venice

Looking up at the skies and seeing the wave of ships going by, even a few distant battles, the trio were caught in an unusual situation.
“Man, pinch me if I’m dreaming, but we’ve got aliens up in here!?” Okuyasu said, the three bringing out their stands.
“Yeah… and by the reports I’ve got, they’re not nice people, either. Apparently this Passione group that Reaper guy was going on about was the thing that got them into Stands in the first place, and the raid of the Speedwagon Foundation was most likely their fault as well.” Jotaro stated.
“Whoever these scrapheaps are, they’re not taking over my planet, and especially if they’re terrorising Morioh!” Josuke said, the three having their stands at the ready

The Mechanator squad walked through the streets of Venice quite arrogantly. After all, there were only normal organics around here, none of those somewhat interesting Stand users they had heard so much about. The squad - made up of about four Mechanators had been together for a while - about 50 years which when considering the state of virtual immortality most Octavians had wasn't all that long. Rounding the corner of their stand user hunt, they saw two teenagers with two floating beings around them. Bingo. A Mechantor looking much like a dog spoke first, "Hey! Are you two Stand users? The Imperium needs people like you right now!" They didn't exactly expect their message to go over so well with the locals considering the circumstances so they began readying their weapons. Hopefully, they wouldn't need them.

“Yeah, and we don’t need glorified tinmen running our business,” Okuyasu said. “What we do need is for you space rocks to get your sorry Martian butts back to Alderaan or whatever sorry iPod factory you were born in!”

“Nice improv there, Okuyasu,” Josuke said. “But the kind way I’d put it is that we’re not interested in your offer, so you can go speak to someone else.”

“What’s going on over there?” Jotaro asked from a distance.

“Don’t worry, nephew, we got this covered.” Josuke said.

"Are you sure? The Imperium can make all your wildest dreams come true," The group was about to raise their weapons but gave the group this last chance to reconsider.

“You know what? Fine. I’ve got four things I’d like to request, or more so an ultimatum. Number one is if you have any troops stationed in Japan, you get them out of there and leave the denizens of Morioh to their own lives. Number two is you leave Mr. Kujo, his family and mine alone for good. Number three is once all this is over, everything goes back to normal and I don’t have to answer the leader of this Imperium or his ugly face. And number four? A year’s supply of Mountain Dew Baja Blast from Taco Bell,” Josuke stated. “That’s all I want, and all I need.”

“God damn, Josuke… you’ve got some balls,” Okuyasu stated with a smile.

“It’s in the blood, baby. Joestar blood,” Josuke said.

The first request would probably be unable to be done because the Imperial army was fairly sure that there were stand users there. The second and third requests were more than possible, however. "Perhaps you could take the latter two requests alone? I'm not in charge of the empire." The guns only were more prepared as they didn't see this going over well.

“Well… I’ll be satisfied then.” Josuke said, closing his eyes as he approached them. “You’ve convinced me enough. I’ll cave in if there’s Baja Blast.”

Okuyasu looked at Josuke in shock. “N-what!? You can’t…” He said, before Josuke gave a wink to him, Okuyasu smiling knowingly.

Suddenly, a transmission beamed into the intercoms of the division.

“Urgent transmission. Josuke Higashikata, Jotaro Kujo, Joseph Joestar, Jolyne Cujoh and Holly Joestar-Kujo are to be captured or terminated under the orders of our allies in Kars and DIO. If any are captured, report immediately to command and have everyone but Joseph transferred to DIO in Miami, Florida. If Joseph if found, he shall be detained in the Turkish city of the same name. If resistance is a major issue, you have a right to authorise summary execution.”

"Good to se-" as the Mechanators began to drop their weaponry the message arrived and the group began scanning the two boys cross-referencing their appearances across all remaining national databases. The two were found in Japan, one Okuyasu Nijimura and Josuke Higashikata. This proved interesting, they could get one Stand user for the Imperium and provide their sudden ally with one of their wanted. This would certainly be a promotion! "Excuse us, we just got a message. Now, let us escort you to a ship where you'll be processed elsewhere. I'll assume your friend is coming with you?"

“Yeah… and we’ll be taking a few names as well.” Josuke said, his eyes opening before Crazy Diamond appeared in a flash and started punching away at… their weapons.

“Well, not names, moreso guns. I never was a fan of guns; always causing a ruckus in places that made them available to anybody. So that’s why I’m just disabling yours,” Josuke said, as the guns would suddenly spark and change form to look more like toys, even the wires and chips shifting around to function more like a toy laser you’d get at a store.. “Because I think the Imperium is full of computerised, quantum bullshit.”

It was certainly unfortunate that the Joestar had decided to turn on them, the squad had really gotten themselves excited about a promotion. They tried to open fire only to find their guns firing lights...that was certainly bizzare. They switched over to their arm mounted cannons (back mounted for the Kwoof) in their ranks and began to move away from the two organics hoping that they could try and capture the Joestar still.

“HEY! Where the hell do you think you’re going, dumbasses!?” Okuyasu chuckled, using The Hand to scrape away space to teleport the group back towards them., as Jotaro suddenly appeared nearby them.

“Hell, I assume. If they even can go there… but for now, it’s the soup can factory!.” Jotaro said, before unleashing Star Platinum in all it’s glory.

”ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAAA!” The stand cried, launching an intense barrage of fists straight at the group, each hitting with immense force.

The Mechanators were thankful that they could not feel pain because that looked like it would have hurt badly if they did. Their bodies were highly deformed and 2 of them had already already left their bodies and another one would be trying to crawl away, but the final and fourth one, the Kwoof, would stay in her extremely deformed body and let out a distress signal letting all the forces in the area that there was something wrong. With her barely functioning leg she crawled along trying to bite the ankles of the one that had beaten her into a modern art project. The group would only have a few minutes before who knows how many Mechanators and drones rushed the area and opened fire. After all the Mechanators already knew one of them was a Joestar.

Okuyasu looked down at the literal ankle-biter, The Hand picking her up. “Adorable little thing, aren’t ya?” He said, before the stand punted her like a football.
This would take out the Kwoof Mechanator, but as she transfered bodies in a faraway system she could at least take solace in the fact that that Joestar had a lot coming for them.

Jotaro looked to the two as he started to walk away quickly, Josuke and Okuyasu tailing as suddenly, Koichi and Yukako came from around the corner.

“You caught sight of those alien robots too?” Koichi asked in a panic.
“Yeah, I’ve got a feeling that there’s gonna be more of them after us, if they know what we can do…” Josuke said.
“Holy shit, this is awesome but scary at the same time…” Okuyasu said, the group running down the street towards the canals.
“Next plan of action is to get the old man and figure out how to take these bastards on.” Jotaro said to the team. “They’ll most likely have a large number of Stand Users by their sides already… and I’ve got a feeling this is the beginning.”

A few minutes later
A small force of attack drones and Mechantors arrived at their last known location only to find broken metal bodies and no organics. A single Mechantor began walking forwards, "Come on then! Spread out and find them!" This was an Abbadi Mechanator Kosk, the current head of operations in Venice. The force listened to his directions and spread out in all directions running at full speed looking for Josuke Higashikata and Okuyasu Nijimura. The mechanators doubted that the organics could have gotten very far and prepared to shoot on sight/.

Luckily, Jotaro and Josuke were in an area near the canals as they tried to hide from the machines, Josuke punching a bullet-hole covered wall to extract some shells and bullets and restore them to rounds as he pocketed them.
“Alright… Josuke, keep an eye out for the machines. I’m gonna head back to the apartment and look for the old-”
“Shi-shi-shiii!” A familiar voice cooed from the other side of the street, along with a flood of bees, causing Josuke to choke back in shock.
“Wh-what!? It can’t be… but you…” Josuke said, the entity seeming so familiar to him, it’s almost like he saw a ghost. “...Sh-ShigechI?”

“Josuke… I’ve missed you so much! Why didn’t you answer the door? Couldn’t you hear me screaming for you on the other side?” Shigechi said, his colony stand Harvest following behind me. “You didn’t want me around because I was being so greedy, wasn’t I? You just had to let me die to that monster!”
“Shigechi, I-” It was then Josuke saw the red irises Shigechi was sporting, as well as the visage of a green entity following a student with red hair.
“Josuke, what’s” Jotaro said, before turning his attention to the other companion, causing him incredible amounts of shock as he nearly fell over.

This had to be a stand ability… this couldn’t be…

“Jotarooo… guess who’s back?” the taller boy said. Josuke went forward, but a green spark had burned his arm to stop his advanced, revealing a large green barrier of tentacles.

“Kakyoin? Wh-why are you… you’re… I… g-g-good grief…” Jotaro said, holding back tears. “What are you doing?”

“Just my part for the war effort. Don’t feel so bad, jotaro, you had a good run.” Kakyoin said, raising up as he prepared an odd attack from Hierophant Green’s hands. “How about a little Emerald Splash? Because you deserve a quick death!”

The emerald projectiles were cast out, Jotaro managing to deflect them all with his extremely fast Star Platinum, as he noticed some projectiles going beside him and barely a few being aimed at him.

“Shishiii! Don’t worry, Kakyoin! I’ll cover what you missed!” Shigechi said, Jotaro barely noticing the Harvests lined up behind him with Kakyoin’s emeralds in the slot Shighechi would have rather put coins if he were his old self, firing them up into Jotaro’s back as Star Platinum only deflected a few, the rest pushing him upwards and doing a fair bit of damage to him.

“I’ll let you do the honors of finishing Mr. Kujo, Kakyoin.” Shigechi said, stepping aside as Kakyoin put his foot on his head, which is when Jotaro noted something about the young boy...

Jotaro gritted his teeth, before looking upwards as Kakyoin slowly put more pressure to try and snap Jotaro’s neck, before a sudden “ORA!” managed to hit the side of his knee, breaking Kakyoin’s leg and causing him to fall to the floor.
“There was something a bit off about that look in your eyes. I do admit, I was willing to put you back into the grave and just let it all out later… but then I remembered the first time we met, and the memory of your flesh bud… that look in your face was the very same.” He said, before noticing a small chip behind his ear via. Star Platinum, and then pulling his head up and yanking it out, knocking the boy out cold, before turning to Shigechi, who looked afraid for a moment before seeming determined.

“Looks like you got some detective work, but I’m in control! HARVEST!” He said, a swarm approaching Jotaro as he suddenly… teleported out of the swarm?

“Star Platinum: The World.” Jotaro said afterwards, before yanking out the chip from Shigechi’s ears as well, causing him to faint as he slumped over.

Just as the fight concluded a group of MK3 Attack Drones were able to track down the group before they were able to leave the area, "Joestar detected. Open fire." As the drone said this the drone force would begin firing lasers into the group of stand users focusing a lot of their fire onto the identified Joestar.

Jotaro froze in place as the guns began firing, before an orange and red car zoomed by, blocking the bullets. He then proceeded to transform into his robot mode, revealing himself to be a large robotic lifeform: Hot Rod, the Autobot that saved his comrades from the Decepticons.

“Good grief… you saved us?” Jotaro said, staggering back along with the other two. “...Who the hell are you?’

Hot Rod confidently cracked his joints. “The name’s Hot Rod. I’m an Autobot. Have you seen any of them Decepticreeps around?” He turned to face the attack drones. “Eh, maybe later. Hold on, I’ll take ‘em out.”

He then proceeded to use the photon eliminators attached to his arms in robot mode, firing streams of powerful orange voltage electricity at the attack drones.

The Drones would rush back for cover though a few would find themselves disabled from the Autobot's blasts. Sending the current location of these attackers to the searching mechanators and drones the gang would once again find themselves in a position of being hunted down by a larger more informed force. While they waited for reinforcements the MK3 drones would lay down suppressive fire on the Autobot and Stand users.

Crap! Hot Rod cursed under his breath, rummaging through his subspace storage pocket. Sure hope Blurr or Kup’re near by…

Jotaro and the gang ducked for cover as Josuke went to heal Kakyoin and Shigechi. Jotaro looked on, hoping Kakyoin would wake up soon if removing the hypno-chip wouldn’t kill him… the best he could do, in the meantime, is take about 10 bullets from Josuke’s pocket and use Star Platinum’s thumb to detonate the primer and fire it similar to an actual bullet, the same way he did when he went rat hunting, until he ran out of bullets.
“Come on, Kakyoin, stop fucking around and get up…” Jotaro said silently, gritting his teeth.

Though usually bullets were useless against the drones the enhanced firing speed granted by Star Platinum would make them largely more effective leaving few large dents in the drones armor and with some lucky placement taking out one via a weak point in the neck. However by now some Mechanators were already filing in and joined in with the drones yelling multiple variants of, "Surrender and we'll let you live." at the group.

Suddenly, a lime-coloured light shot up ad Jotaro’s eyes widened, coil managing to take out a few rounds that were fired at it before the visage of Kakyoin had appeared in midair with his Hierophant, the red eyes turned to a regular shade of green.

“You’re in no position to ask that! EMERALD SPLASH!” He said, a large volley of emerald projectiles emerging at breakneck speeds down at the Octavian droops for a few seconds before Kakyoin darted midair into a building nearby with an open window, Jotaro’s eyes collecting small tears as he looked on at Kakyoin, the boy turning back with a smug smile.

“Kakyoin…” Jotaro said, a tearful smile encroaching his face, confusing the other two cowering boys.

The green orbs were surprisingly penetrative and the results showed. Drone and mechantor alike were littered with holes and while some were lucky enough to have most of their vital components avoided, many others did not have that sort of luck and were left as slag. The spontaneously assembled task force would follow the stand users to the best of their ability as more of the hunters joined in the chase, firing their laser rifles at the fleeing team.

Jotaro and the others fled into a nearby connected building, Jotaro punching a nearby door with Star Platinum and blowing it apart, with Josuke fixing it up and even shifting the lock to be tighter and of a different type, before the group made their way upstairs and attempted to get onto the roof in order to take a giant leap to the one nearby, taking cover from the bullets. Kakyoin provided overwatch with a helpful dose of Emerald Splash from a nearby window, and Shigechi, who was in Okuyasu’s arms, was slowly coming to.

Hot Rod looked ‘round his surroundings and found some antifreeze. “Is this helpful?” he asked.

“What the hell’s that gonna do?” Okuyasu wondered before Shigechi hopped off, looking up at it, then down at the troops, before a smile enveloped his face as he unleashed his Harvest once more.

“Shi-shi-shiii! Thanks for pointing out that bottle!” Shigekio said, about 150 of these tiny, bee-like, round units drinking from the bottle and then flying out from a vent towards the Octavians, going to swarm, bite in their weak spots, do whatever they can to disable them.. “Don’t worry, fellas! My Harvest has enough range to cover the whole city, and as long as I have one Harvest left, I’ll be completely fine! Let’s make a break for it while they’re distracted!” Shigechi said, Jotaro taking the notion as the group of Stand users ran off out of the other side of the building, away from the cloud of Harvests defending them.

Hot Rod transformed into his vehicle mode - a sleek sports car - and followed them. “Want a ride?”

“Yeah, why not!” Okuyasu said, the group then jumping in as Shigechi waved back at the group that was attacking them with his signature laugh! Hot Rod then drove off as fast as he could while the Octavians were distracted.

The Octavian forces were severely caught off guard as what seemed to be bees swarmed them and began injecting antifreeze into their innards. While this was more annoying than lethal those who already had holes blasted in them would find their already large list of technical problems grow. The swarm would be swatted and shot at until they finally were all gone, but at that point they were gone. Octavian Aether comm networks would fill with the reports, "All Octavian personnel, illegal stand users are on the loose. Among them at least one Joestar. Autobot presence confirmed as well. Their appearances will be wired to you." With that done news of the event would be transferred to the Deceptions, DIO's Florida estate, and a physical emissary would be sent to Kars via a drop ship. The group collected here would not be allowed to disrupt the invasion.

After some time had passed, the Autobot noticed a large greenish robot standing beside an old man and a bound young man with blonde hair. He stopped himself and, as the group left the car, hopped back into his robot mode.

“What’s up, Kup? Ya still grumpy?” Hot Rod joked. “Oh, and have ya seen Blurr around anywhere?”

“Hrn…” Kup was about to respond with a typical tirade about the “youth” when he relented when he heard about Blurr. “I haven’t - yet, at least. Doubt he’s dead, at least.”

“Yeah, that ol’ speedster can outrun anything!” He turned to the two humans. “Who’re these guys?”

“The name’s Joseph Joestar… and uh…” He looked to the right, seeing Caesar struggle in the chains. “Caesar Zeppeli.”

“LET ME GO, YOU ANIMALS! I’LL DECIMATE YOU ALL!” Caesar screamed, trying to use his Hamon breathing to free himself.

“Why’s this guy bein’ such a pain in the aft?” Hot Rod said.

“I was having a look at the kid,” Kup said. “I noticed a hypnochip on ‘im. Haven’t managed to remove it yet, though. Wanted to be careful.”

“Hypnochip? I’ll get it off,” Hot Rod responded. Before Kup could finish shouting “Wait!”, Hot Rod pulled the chip off of Caesar.

Caesar immediately was knocked out cold, his eyes open briefly before shutting as he went into a state of sleep, Jotaro only being able to say “good grief” to the whole situation. Josuke went forward and healed whatever wounds they both had, reluctantly doing so for Caesar.

“There’s more to this than you all could have imagined...” Joseph said, looking somewhat traumatised as Jotaro went to comfort him. “I can’t emphasize what a nightmare this will become…”

“You coudla killed him, you idiot!!” Kup scolded Hot Rod. “Relax, he’s just sleepin’, ya ol’ vet! He’ll come to,” the younger Autobot responded.

Kup sighed and turned to Joseph. He waited in thought. “Those guys noticed… the Autobot symbol I had on. If I had to guess, they may have met up with the Decepticons at some point. Meaning they were on the planet.”

Jotaro got up, inserting his own input. “Decepticons… they might also be the reason why everyone’s coming back. We just had our old friends Kakyoin and Shigechi come back and try to kill us, and both had been dead for a while…” He said, grimacing as he briefly flashbacked to the death of his friend Kakyoin. “...my guess is that Caesar guy was also dead at some point, since we found our friend with similar chips attached as well.” He said, throwing the two chips at Kup’s feet, who picked them up.

“Yep. That’s definitely the Decepticons’ handicraft,” the old robot responded. “Back in my day, I remember the Decepticons using this on another Earth to brainwash humans into pulling a planet near Earth to create energy and transport it back to Cybertron… somethin’ like that, at least.” He was about to continue his flashback when a bluish Autobot zoomed past, nearly knocking him over. “Hey! Watch where ya goin’, ya idi-! Bluur!”

“Hi-kup-hot-rod!” Blurr said, speaking at an extremely fast rate. “Glad-you-too-are-alive! Been-running-over-all-of-europe-for-you!”

The group were somewhat confused at this, but then suddenly Joseph spoke up once more. “And those three aren’t the only ones who had awakened. Those Decepticons you’re talking about must have raided the Speedwagon Foundation, because I was awaiting your arrival until suddenly Kars and his cronies came back somehow, all as Ultimate Things! I wanted to believe it was a hallucination or a bad dream, but that’s not the worst part of all!” Joseph said.

“How crazy can this fuckin’ scenario get?” Okuyasu said.

“The most dire part of it all was what Caesar said when he was about to try and defeat that green fella. He said something about killing us for Lord DIO, which means that whoever’s responsible must’ve made the mistake of bringing HIM back as well!” Joseph stated, causing Jotaro’s eyes to widen in the sheer horror of the scenario.

“D-DIO?” Jotaro said.

“By-the-way-i-found-someone-you-may-be-interested-in,” Blurr said, rummaging through his subspace storage pocket, before pulling out an unconscious Victorian-dressed swindler and a cybernetic Nazi general.

“I-found-one-of-those-hypnochips-on-him-after-he-attacked-me-so-i-pulled-him-out-and-ran-for-it. Found-the-other-one-a-bit-later-while-on-my-travels-in-germany.” He placed them on the ground gently, Joseph inspecting them as he seemed marvelled.

‘Robert Edward O. Speedwagon, and Rudol von Stroheim… DIO must be getting desperate for us now.” Joseph said, looking over as he realised the gravity of the situation. “Whoever’s reviving everyone is definitely cooperating with Kars and DIO, and we’ll have to stop them before this escalates any further.”

“When do you reckon they’ll wake up?” Hot Rod asked, somewhat concerned.

"I'd estimate an hour to a night. I reckon Kakyoin and the others woke up quicker either due to the enhanced awareness gifted to stand users, or acceleration through Crazy Diamond's ability. Those two don't look worse for wear, so we'll have to find somewhere safe for them to rest until they wake up." Josuke noted. "And we're running out of safe places on this planet."

“We can’t take you where we live - yet, at least…” Hot Rod pondered. “Is there, like, a cave nearby or something? We can keep a lookout if it’s not big enough for us.” He looked around and found a rather large and deep cave. “Actually, might’ve found somethin’. Come with me.” The group followed Hot Rod as he headed towards the cave. “Should be able to fit us all. We can stay here until they wake up and plan our next moves.”

“Good call…” Jotaro said, looking at the photo of Polnareff. ‘...and while where at it, I wanna get the blue bot on a little errand.” He then took the photo, handing it to Blurr. “We are also here to look for a lost friend, by the name of Jean Pierre Polnareff.”

“Alright-thank-you-I-will-look-for-that-tall-white-haired-compadre-of-yours-Joseph!” he said, as rapid as usual. Before zooming off into the distance, he was stopped by Hot Rod for a second. “Where did you last see him?” he asked.

“Me and him split up go looking for the Arrows; a relic that could grant one a stand if their will is strong enough. He went to Italy, and the last message I got from him was on November 1997. My theory is that a mafia sect of Stand Users called Passione were behind his disappearance, but if he was dead, the Foundation would have found his body by now.” Jotaro explained carefully. “I could be wrong, but it’s the best assumption I have.”

Blurr nodded thankfully and zoomed off, heading in a southernish direction. He would begin by searching all of Venice, and then, if necessary, all of Italy.

Jotaro, in the meantime would look back at Kakyoin with a surprised, but grateful look as suddenly Caesar woke up,
“Ugh… what the hell?” Caesar said, still bound as he looked next to him. “Who are you, you old man? Are you some kind of hermit?.”
‘Hmmmm.. Close but no cigar, Caesarino.” The elderly man said, winking as Caesar suddenly recoiled.
“J-JOJO!? B-but… you can’t be! You’ve gotten so old… even if it was the future, you couldn’t have possibly aged that-” Caesar said, before gritting his teeth. “...You really abandoned Hamon, didn’t you, JoJo?”

‘Yeah… Hey, Suzi Q can age, so can I. It’d just be awkward if you saw me married to a girl looking like I was her son!” joseph said. “Also, it’s been far too long since someone called me JoJo…”

“You are quite an honorable yet complex person, JoJo… it seems age has done you a bit well.” Caesar said, looking around. “As for everyone else?”
“The name’s Jotaro Kujo. I’m this old fart’s grandson.” Jotaro said, Caesar looking surprised once more.

“GRANDSON!? JoJo, you had children!?” Caesar said, seeming puzzled before looking to Josuke. “You must be his grandson too, right?”

“Actually, I’m kinda his kid-” Josuke said before Joseph put a finger to his lips.
“Yeah, I don’t wanna talk about it…” Joseph said, before Caesar sighed, looking to the robots.

“Okay, I don’t want to kill you all, now can you please uncuff me?” Caesar said, looking up at the autobots.

“Yeah, hold on,” Kup said as he carefully removed the electro mesh prison around Caesar.

He then got up, giving Joseph a bro-hug after missing him for so long. “I’ve missed you, JoJo…”

“C-CAESAR! M-my ribcage…” Joseph said before Caesar let go. “...damnit, I ain’t as strong as I used to be… well, except for this one little trick I have.” He said, showing off Hermit Purple to Caesar as he stood back.

‘JoJo, what the hell is that!?” Caesar said, seeming alarmed as Joseph laughed it off.

“Relax, Caesar, it’s just my Stand, Hermit Purple. They’re the new thing all the kids are using these days.” Joseph said, inspecting it. “I might have preferred good ol’ Hamon duels, but got damn, this thing comes in handy alot, You should see the others’ as well!” Joseph said, the other stand users showing off their own as Caesar seemed alarmed.

“S-Stands? They’re… they’re quite nice to have, I’d imagine. Honestly, as tempted as I am, I’ll just take my Hamon for the moment.” Caesar said, looking off into the distance. This was about to become more difficult than they could ever imagine.

by **Imperial-Octavia** » Tue May 26, 2020 11:37 pm

Co-write with Me and Passione

Passione Bunker
Naples
"The first order of business then. My subordinate has something to show you all, J'eil?" J'eil still holding the body of Mista placed him down onto the table, "I-I did my best to save him, Reaper he-he did something with time…My stand can't bring him back unfortunately…" The Paramount looked at the body with some interest. On the one hand this body looked mostly intact and with a brain, essential for any post mortem assimilation and on the other wondering what this organic had done to get J'eil so invested. The Paramount would stay quiet for now to gage the gang's reaction to this casualty

Bucciarati’s team was in shock, tears flowing from Narancia’s eyes as Bucciarati looked extremely regretful about how had happened to Mista, how he sent him on a solo mission that put him up to something he wasn’t equipped to fight. The others, however, felt little to no emotional connection due to the rules of the Boss rarely allowing teams to interact.

“This… this is my fault…” Bucciarati said, Abbacchio putting a hand on his shoulder.
“I’m sure maybe we can recover Mista, right? Bring him life?” Abbacchio asked J’eil.

"...Perhaps my liege coul-" The Paramount cut him off, this Mista seemed important enough and reviving him would endear The Paramount to this squad, "We suppose we could assimilate him post mortem. He might be metallic, but there's nothing an Infiltrator suit couldn't fix. Besides he'll be better that way." Tapping the side of his head The Paramount would call in some mechanators to come pick up the body and activate a mobile assimilation station outside the bunker, "Don't worry about him. We doubt any of you would like to see brain surgery performed in front of you."

“I would!” Cioccolata said, before he was promptly slapped by Carne.

“Anyways… the Boss never gets us into one group unless a capo has died. He’s been so strict and isolationist for all these years, so I’m not sure why he’d decide now is the time to unite us over something such as siding with alien invaders that might hinder his progress..” Risotto mentioned.

“I assure you, the Boss and Octavia are under a mutual agreement of cooperation, so keep your big-girl panties on, Risotto.” Cannolo stated. “Right, Paramount?”

"Exactly right. Octavia and Passione have an agreement. If you provide us with the stand arrows and the occasional job, we'll give your boss something important and you will are be wealthy beyond belief among other things." The Paramount looked around the room and saw that most of the gangsters around him had a very stern look about them...except that green haired one that wanted to see brain surgery, he looked like he wanted to eat the entire room alive. Regardless The Paramount waited for gang's response to this deal.

“Well, we can’t really argue with the Boss’s orders. We know what he’d be like if there was a traitor anywhere within our ranks.” Fugo stated.

“And besides, you said something about an arrow being a part of the deal.” Bucciarati said, putting a zipper on his hand and pulling out a Stand Arrow, handing it over to the Paramount. “I assume he was talking about the one Polpo had kept until his untimely demise.”

“And another issue of the deal.” Doppio mentioned, pulling out a photo of Jean Pierre Polnareff. “The Boss had been fretting over this guy for 3 years. He won’t tell me why, but he wants him dead. No imprisonment, no trial or torture, no questions to ask. My guess is that you’ll be searching for him as well, right?”

"Of course, the Imperium has ships above orbit right now. We should be able to scan the planet down to find this one man. It isn't like he's the fastest person on the planet." The Paramount chuckled mechanically at his cripple joke. "In all seriousness he should be dead by tomorrow." The Paramount's tone immediately changed to a far more grim one and waited to see if the group would accept the offer now

“Well, I’m not sure I want to thrust my team into a type of warfare unknown before… but I’ll take this challenge for the sake of my subordinates.” Bucciarati stated.

“I second this. Besides, perhaps this time we’ll actually get what we deserve.” Ghiaccio mentioned, looking to Risotto as the man nodded.

“And if you need someone to torture information out of an enemy, or simply devastate a world far, far away…” Cioccolata chuckled, petting Secco. “...just give me a call. You don’t even have to pay me for it either. As long as I can bring Secco and a camera, I’ll do whatever dirty jobs you won’t.”

“Yeah, don’t trust that guy, he’s an absolute creep.” Revy mentioned, shuffling slightly away from him. “Also, you might wanna pick up this Russian girl in this city called Roanapur in Thailand. She’s probably shitting herself and might have already shot a prisoner or two because her drug and arms trades are getting disrupted by the whole invasion thing.”

"...Noted. We'll go and pick her up. We assume this means your group is accepting our offer, yes? No points of contention?" J'eil shifted his scanners around looking to see if any of them had any sort of distress on their faces. None yet.

Some members of Bucciarati’s team seemed to be in distress, as well as Pesci who’s fear was off the charts, as well as Sorbet and Gelato, though Ghiaccio stepped forward.

“Yeah, I’ve got one thing. After this whole thing blows over, what’s gonna happen to the planet, and our organisation? You gonna turn us into robots, take us to Verizonland and then blow the planet up?”

The Paramount almost laughed, "of course not. That's no way to treat an ally. The planet will probably used for mining for a bit and the we'll leave. As for after we leave, we don't know. Perhaps you could take up some land, it matters little to us. You will be provided protection of course in the case something happens here that would endanger you all."

“Oh yeah? Well, can you provide that to my family? I have a mother and little sister who rely on what I earn alone to get by, and if your enemies come over here and turn them to glass sculptures, I am gonna fuckin’-” Ghiaccio said before Melone shushed him.

“Sorry, he has anger issues. I think what Milhouse here was trying to say was that some of us don’t just want our security provided. We have demands of our own, and I’m sure providing protection for family outside the famiglia is something that won’t conflict with your interests, right?” Formaggio mentioned.

The Paramount was rather surprised at how quick the blue haired one became enraged asking a simple question. It was something to note, "Yes, your families will be protected, transported off world if needed. Anything in our power will be taken to protect your interests. We could provide other things as well if needed. We're sure we could find something to satisfy all your various needs." The Paramount looked over at the one that wanted to see Mista's brain surgery wondering what exactly he had promised.

Cioccolata’s face twisted into an excited smile as the team came to a small verdict, Doppio nodding as he looked to the Paramount.
“Seems that we’re in.” Doppio mentioned before he began maing the telephone imitation again, confusing nearly everyone in the room as he went over to Fugo and looked down.
“Oi, you! Give me your shoe!” Doppio said, Fugo seeming confused.
“Wh-wha..” Fugo was suddenly met with an enraged look by Doppio, like that of a drug-addicted, crazed mugger needing a wallet.
“GIVE ME YOUR SHOE, FUGO!” Doppio said, Fugo quickly reaching down and sliding off one of his shoes, handing it to Doppio. “Hello? Boss?”

“Oh, Doppio… I need you to relay this demand to the Paramount.” The voice called again. “In your pocket, there should be a key. The key belongs to a turtle-esque entity entitled Coco Jumbo, which can be used for concealed transport. Inside the key as well is a ‘note’ that only the Paramount or whoever is to deliver me to my new form may read. Nobody else may know who I am. Another thing to consider, Doppio… is that we cannot call after I phase into my new form. We can communicate through whatever manner the Octavians provide afterwards, however. That will be all.” The voice said before Doppio nodded, pretending to hang up before giving Fugo his shoe back, acting kindly as if nothing happened, before relaying the message to the Paramount and handing him the key.

J'eil and The Paramount watched the display with a mix of inquisitive curiosity and shocked silence and The Paramount just took the key and paper read them and nodded his head in agreement obviously still shocked from what he had just seen. As The Paramount nodded, a reborn Mista came walking down the stairs identical to his old body except for the fact it was completely synthetically created. His skeleton was metal, his flesh fabricated, and his skin copied from his now deceased body. "Ah, look. It's that organic that perished. How are you feeling…"

"It's Mista my liege"

"Mista! Isn't it amazing what Octavian technology can do?" J'eil would wave at the newly assimilated Mista. He would have done more, but he didn't want to upstage The Paramount in any way.

“I… I-I feel…” Mista said, before looking at himself. “...FUCKING AMAZING! It’s like I died and came back stronger!” He said, picking up a golf ball and crushing it between his thumb and forefinger, surprising everyone. “I love this so much!”

“Woah… Mista didn’t just come back to life, but he came back stronger?” Narancia said, smiling slightly.

“But how? It should be scientifically impossible!” Fugo asked.

"Scientifically impossible by your human metrics. Octavian science can record all the bio-electricity that a brain produces and records it allowing it to be placed into a chip, bringing someone back to life ten times better than they were before!" The Paramount said, obviously proud of what his nation could do.

“So you’re saying you put some kind of a chip into my brain and it somehow amplified my ability!?” Mista said, flexing his barely visible muscle. “This is so fuckin’ cool! Can you do this to just about anyone!?”

"First let it be known that the chip is your brain. You are fully synthetic in all but looks. Secondly, yes we could do this to almost everyone."

Mista’s face shot up with joy. “So I’m like the fuckin’ Terminator too!? Holy shit, this just gets better.”

“Y’know what? Sign me the fuck up.” Revy asked. "I don't care if I have to lose a limb or two, if he can crush a golf ball, just imagine all the fun I could have."

“I dunno… how can we be sure you’re not gonna start remote controlling us?” Ghiaccio asked.

The Paramount was surprised that another organic had volunteered themselves. Most fleshpiles had some significant resistance to the idea of assimilating, but these ones were already prepared to assimilate. "The Imperium would never do such a thing. To `remote control` someone who was assimilated would be like kicking a puppy or drowning a baby, it's simply reprehensible." Mechanators would begin to escort Revy out of the bunker to be assimilated like Mista

"Now with that outta the way, where do we go next?" Illuso asked the Paramount.

"Well, I've been recently told there are a wanted group among some of our allies. They look like this
", The Paramount would project an image of Jotaro's team "You are to hunt them down and capture the ones with the star birthmarks and deliver them to us. The rest you can do what you want with. We'd prefer if you captured them so we could `convince` them to join us. You will have support from my Mechanators and Attack Drones in the region. After this Jean Pierre Polnereff, is to be found and killed. There is also the chance that certain nations come to this planet seeking to invade it, ensure that they don't succeed. That is all we need you to do for now." The Paramount turnt his head to J'eil, "You are to accompany them and aid them wherever you can. It seems you have some connection with that Mista character, you should join his squad."

J'eil would shift his way to Bucciarati's team, "What a strange coincidence that he decides to pair me up with you guys isn't it?"

Abbacchio narrowed his eyes at J'eil, while the others seemed to look somewhat welcoming.

"I'm officially thankful you showed up, because hoo boy… I fucking love this new bod! Oh, do I get any built in weapons? Please tell me I get wrist blades or a jet boosters or something!" Mista said. He was usually a serious, laid back man, but here he was acting like a small child getting a new superhero toy on Christmas morning. "If I don't, that's cool too…" He said, following the rest of the crew out of the bunker as he looked to a body that was mangled by some kind of blast.

"Oh, hey, guys!" Mista chuckled, snatching some cracked sunglasses off of the corpse and wearing them as we went into a pose. "Hasta la Mista, baby!" Mista laughed, Narancia chortling as Fugo gave him a disgusted look.

"... you're so fucked up, Mista." Fugo mentioned before shaking his head

J'eil snickered along with Mista and Narancia, this seemed to be a fun group despite the incoming battles against who knows what. Corpses didn't mean too much to J'eil as he had seen so many of them in his career. "Haha, no Mista, it's unlikely you have any weapons built into it, that's reserved for mechanators. You can probably see in a few different modes now. Try X-ray or something. Ooh,why don't you tell your crew about some new color you can see now that they can't?"
"Really!? That's awesome, I wanna try-" He said, activating some form of X Ray vision and then freezing in some disturbed yet fascinated expression as a number of members turned to face him.

"Something wrong, Mista?" Bucciarati asked.

"Uhhh… y'know what, I prefer normal vision!" Mista said, his eyes unable to help but look downwards. "Ah, shit! This is so awkward, get this outta my sight!" He said, closing his eyes before rubbing his head.

"... okay, that X Ray module might have to go… I'm probably not gonna sleep now considering I may or may not have just seen my entire team butt-naked." Mista said, rubbing his eyes.

"It might come in handy at some point. I know it's saved me once or twice. Though I guess it's easier for me to say since I don't have to worry about seeing my allies' gentialia… You could try and erase the memory, but be careful with that. You don't want to do it too often or else you might damage your consciousness as a whole." The Paramount had left the bunker to scan the stand arrow as Revy also returned to the bunker newly assimilated.

"Holy shit! You're right, Mista, I feel like a fuckin' demigod!" She said, looking at her arm and flexing her hand, Mista smirking devilishly as he got an idea.

"You know what, J'eil? You're kinda right about how that can come in handy…" He said as he stared at Revy, going to activate it as suddenly Carne went in front of him with a bag of chips.

"Hey Mista, how's it feel being a robot and all?" He asked as Mista shrieked in horror and fell to the floor, desperately trying to look away while Revy turned with some mild concern.

"... I wonder what's Mista spazzing out about?" She asked herself, before shrugging and walking away into the ship with everyone else.

by **Eisenstern** » Wed May 27, 2020 10:04 am

【⚙】Beyond Conventional Space【⚙】
【Void】

The first thing one will notice about the Void is that it isn't actually black. Countless cultures, countless timelines, ascribing the darkest of all hues to this place beyond mortal understanding - and yet to ascribe any color to it is inherently fallacious.

Nor is it empty. The name is misleading in the extreme - it's practically brimming with life... of a sort.

And here, amidst the ebbs and flows, the eddies in the current of amalgamated thought and conceptual essence, floats something that resembles a tower. It's practically the only thing here with any real shape - of course, it is bound to elicit curiosity from all it passes. But the multitude of things have long since learned to steer clear - to them, its walls are poison.

But now, we peer past the poison walls. Past the whorls and twists of the warped space within, to a core that seems almost normal by comparison.

We come to a room.

【♜】The Tower【♜】
【Guild Hall, Core Control】

It was expansive, bedecked in brass and polished redwood. Instruments lined the walls - everything from whirring assemblies of clockwork to the sort of imaging interfaces one would expect to see on the bridge of some transophont warship. And amidst it all scurried figures - some humanoid, others less so, tinkering and twiddling and fidgeting with every available bit of instrumentation, to ends unknown.

At the far end of this room stood a throne, of sorts. A massive, brass-bound seat, with cushions of red velvet. Golden thread, embroidered into patterns of gears and buttresses, walls and doorways, criss-crossing the cloth. And on this throne sat two.

One, reclining in it as any typical occupant would - a towering man, even when seated. Gray-black hair and a sizable beard, matching his attire in shade. At his side, propped against the wall, a massive, bandage-wrapped slab of a sword, practically as tall as himself. An arm clad in blackened metal, tapping away at a tiny keyboard of brass.

At his side, another - perched lightly on an armrest. Petite by comparison, and shrouded in a baggy grey cloak. Pale, delicate hands grasping a simple staff of iron. Silvery-white hair, flowing past the confines of the half-propped-up hood.

The second speaks. Her voice is ringing crystal.

"Here."

The first tilts his head quizzically. He waits a moment before responding.

"A thread?"

"The beginnings of one. Something for the Vault."

"What can you say of its significance?"

"Precious little. But... there is potential here. For something great. An oppressor, yet at the same time a unifier. Both under, and against. A clash."

"Good enough for me."

He turned to the remainder of the room.

"You heard her, people! Back into the corporeum we go! Someone give me a preliminary opzone analysis, if you please."

A masked figure strolled over, hefting a stack of odd, engraved tablets, cast of glowing stone.

"A limited-scale conflict appears to be ongoing. A single assimilator-polity, backed by a few scattered allies, versus various opposing states that presumably don't want to be assimilated. Standard starfarer tech bracket, for the most part - a few outliers, but nothing special. Initial scans aren't bringing up much in the way of interest points, save for a single planet, plus some odd wake-sigs on what we presume to be a cluster of spacecraft. That said, their design is unconventional, and their m/o is unknown."

"Get echo-traces on the latter as soon as we've breached the brane. I think the former will need a more personal touch."

"Sir."

The room's bustle intensified as preparations were undertaken. The Guild was... not back in business, because it was never truly out of business. That would go against the very nature of the thing. But there was certainly business to be had here.

【✦】Milky Way Galaxy, Outer Arms【✦】
【Interstellar Space】

First, there was nothing. Then, there was a tower.

There wasn't much in-between, on the whole. It's just that a region of space that had been more or less empty became, quite suddenly, full of dull grey walls. A metalloid prism, perhaps a hundred meters or so in height, beveled so as to approximate a cylinder. Atop it sat toothed battlements, of a sort, and its surface was adorned with a multitude of smaller, nigh-imperceptible embellishments. And that was more or less it. Externally, the prism didn't do much else - it merely sat there, in the somewhat more true-to-form void of interstellar space (as opposed to the quite un-voidlike Void it had just exited). But it marked a coming, to any who would be adequately-equipped to see.

The Guild of Eisenstern had well and truly arrived.

by **Visoran** » Wed May 27, 2020 10:12 am

Hub 00

The situation had continued to shift. Some portion of the Allied Fleet had been destroyed when coordination had fallen apart, and the Hivemind found itself increasingly frustrated at how slowly the Octavians and Allies seemed to be responding to the rapidly growing threats all around. The Cruiser was rapidly becoming the least worrying thing arrayed against them- Some Organization had brought in hundreds of ships wherever the Octavians were popping up in the frontier. And from the quickly observed battles, this Organization clearly out-matched the Octavians in any kind of reasonable engagement. And that was just one ally in the coalition. More ships would be needed, that was one fact that could not be denied.

But the lacking coordination was what worried the Hivemind as a whole, and 001 found itself in agreement with that... Ships would have to be retrofitted to work with the Octavian control grid, temporarily. There could be no middle-step anymore, if the Octavian Empire was to have a remote hope of succeeding. Shipyards grumbled to life across the Horde, quickly producing retrofitted ships to the template now laid out.

And then it began to forward those ships forward. A retrofitted WK replacing the one already sent in a single instance- Along with retrofitted slabs, drones, and everything inbetween. Well... Minus the Visoran Swarm Units themselves. Those could be deployed as needed- If the Octavian Empire lasted long enough to warrant it- later...

To complement this, a message was sent to the Octavians...

The Hivemind has dispatched orbital reinforcements that will work with the Octavian Control Net. These units will be available until the Octavian Empire has brought this war to a close. Reinforcements will arrive every 7 Impulses, to replace units destroyed in combat.

by **Skyhooked** » Wed May 27, 2020 2:27 pm

Skyhooked in Flames

With some of the noncombatants evacuated, it became easier for both professional soldiers and random dudes with guns to maneuver. After all, less people running around, less chance to get compromised. With lots of dead people it was established, that drones are far harder to overwhelm, than it was expected. Drones were hard to kill, requiring either storm of armor piercing bullets, plasma, lasers, explosives and most powerful melee attacks, such as ramming them with a pickup truck or slashing with energy katana. A squad of them could obliterate a village or large camping site quickly.

Many villages, towns and even few cities have been destroyed, with their resistance reduced to ashes and sent to whatever paradise or hell they belived in.

However, despite heavy losses, Skyhookedian people, knowing, that this is their last stand, fought even more fanatically than before, striking back and attempting to take as many hostiles as they are able, mixing offensive with guerrilla in rural areas and going more defensive/guerrilla in urban ones.

The Imperator class drones would be periodically engaged by military lighter tanks and APCs and militia's pickup trucks, which would attack from afar with mounted rocket and missile launchers and quickly disperse only to quickly arrive to another landing spot, MK3s would be ambused, with attacks and retreats being as brief as possible. And every time enemy drone was disabled and captured, Skyhookedians would try to fix and use it's parts to emit Octavian signature signal and thus avoind being shelled at. The streets in the cities would be constantly barricaded, to reduce enemy ability to maneuver there.

Meanwhile, the Overboss and the Council didn't even try to evacuate to hide in a bunker. Instead, they were on the frontlines, using their combat experience and skill to organize and lead warbands to battle, losing First Leader Seth in the proccess. Yes, the leader of the revolution has died the second time, being hit with multiple plasma charges. This would at first hurt the morale, until lust for revenge in fighters will kick in.

After surviving several engagements and gaining a few new wounds, the Overboss Shawn Bjornson noticed, that Octavians go for the leaders first, assuming, that their death will cripple Skyhooked.

Due to semi-anarchist formation with high degree of self-organization, Leader's death would not be too devastating, besides, Skyhookers had nothing to lose now. With this, four remaining leader dudes would try a new tactic, based on enemy focus. More enemy forces would concentrate to get them, so why not lure the enemies into various traps and ambushes or from badly damaged Skyhookedian warbands and settlements, thus giving them time to recover? With this idea, four leaders set off in four directions.

The fortifications, despite being bombarded, still held the line. Three of them fared the best: Fort Liberty in Skyhooked city - the main base of Capital Minutemen, Ira (Wrath) district in New Sodom - a district dedicated to defense and guns, and SAA (Skyhooked Arms Association) estate. The cities held the line as best as could, with defenders fighitng furiously for every building. Sadly, Petit Lyon and Kropotkinsk have almost succumbed.

by **Imperial-Octavia** » Thu May 28, 2020 12:21 am

Visoran ships

Truly, the Imperium had some wonderful allies. These ships were far more powerful than anything the Octavians had in stock at the moment and that would be a powerful asset. No time was wasted with these ships, their drives activated near instantly to fight the battle the Imperium was afraid to.

Ridley's Rest

More forces had to be diverted from the actual combat at Ridley's Rest to the backlines to open fire on the warminds and the new ISO reinforcements. The Sword unable to quickly turn fired another planet shattering shell at Ridley's Rest before firing a large volley of missiles at the the Warminds behind them and yet another at the Liners on their side. The fighters were torn up by the disruptor missiles and with that they would begin moving back towards the fleet and focused on defense. A few more dreadnoughts would make their way over to the back to fire on the many threats now behind the lines of the Imperial fleet firing off their own missiles at the Liners.

On the inside of the Sword all that could be seen were awaken Chosen. Tactics were not a consideration anymore it was just the simple charging of what seemed to be innumerable numbers of Chosen firing and entering melee with Zravvisk and ISO elements. With the entire boarding force deployed inside the ship and any group that didn't have some major firepower behind them would find themselves overwhelmed. Meanwhile on the bridge Talen would push directly through the plasma ball seeking to pierce her hand directly through the captain's chest. In moving past the fireball her synthetic skin mask covering most of her face was melted off showing the mechanical insides of her face. Using her other hand she would grab the melted synth skin and through it into the eyes of the captain.

2 Visoran ships jumped into the system with an caster barrage into the rear of the Warmind formation using the PDVA drives to fire a barrage that could cause the most possible damage to the LA craft. 2 was determined to be enough in this situation.

Somewhere in the Aether, something was moving. Unknown and undetected it would begin to move itself inside a liner in physical space. With a few alterations in the information in the area, a moderate quantity of anti-matter would appear in the bridge of the craft quickly expanding in a massive explosion across the inside of the vessel. Then darting over to a warmind it fired off multiple strengthened space torpedoes in the Aether which soon found their way into a VES generator destroying it in a single volley. In response to the Warminds broadside, there was an attempt to suck it into the Aether, unfortunately the rift was only large enough to catch a single round before suddenly closing. The back of the shield wall barely was able to stay up with the absolute stream of lead, but a general overclocking would give the void testudo, a little more time if it would make any difference. The prototype had probably stretched it's luck with that one. Regardless The Aether swimmer's first action in this battle seemed to be generally effective, but for now it would shrink itself down to a microscopic size to make it easier to transfer it's information somewhere safer in the Aether, far, far away from here...

Mining planet 112

The Dreadnought's shields managed to survive the attacks levied against it with some difficulty and returned the favor with multiple missiles, a few broadsides, their forward facing mass drivers and the most flashy of all the Voidscreamer's Ion cannon aimed at the Dragua and in the case of the broadsides the Lunastria. Drone Fighters far out skilled the auxillary fighters due to their mechanical nature, able to perform each and every one of their movements perfectly and outnumbered them as the carriers produced more fighters leading to a grim outlook for them. The frigates took some losses as their shields buckled under the lance fire but would respond in turn by firing their torpedoes and particle cannons. Artillery ships would open fire on the mining ships and destroyers surely causing some distress among them. Cruisers would also begin EW on theses ships looking to overwhelm the electrical components of the ships. Inside the Voidscreamer they had been given information on the situation in Ridley's Rest and the Chosen were already prepared along with H'Krell in his battle form ready to stop any similar strategies.

Kleon system

The skip shells did some major damage to Octavian fleets destroying hundreds of ships in each formation and the situation looked grim as the same could be seen all across Sector V. Combined with the additional firepower granted by the Sildorian station though reletively minor would have caused yet another retreat, but just in the nick of time 2 Visoran BAK-5s appeared behind the elephants and while one opened up with a general caster barrage the other would begin spawning strike craft who would utilize their caster arrays to work on tearing the elephant apart with the perfect counter to their armor. The remaining Octavian ships would split their focus between the station and the elephants with the remaining heavy firepower focusing on the Elephants while the faster and lighter ships would use their long range weaponry on the station. The same sight would be seen all across Sector V with more or less Octavian weaponry

Paraoon
Trade center

Yet another system was under siege by the hated Ark Royal, destroyer of the 14th fleet and glasser of the frontier, but this time this important trade hub had come prepared with many layers of shield generators. In the week that it took for it for the Ark Royal and her fleet to arrive a few hundred generators were produced and were able to survive the attack by the ISO fighters, but they knew that they would not be able to hold on when the true bombardment began. The Aether escape would have begun, but then signs of aid came. But what in the Octavian fleet could stand to what Greyson the Glasser had brought? What could The Paramount have created that could stand to the monster of the ISO? With a massive broadside of casters it was clear to the ships already there that this wasn't Octavia. The WK world ship of the Visoran had just opened fire on the ISO formation while letting loose millions of fighters onto them which would be complemented with millions more from the smaller BAK-5s in the area numbering about 5. There was also a large number of Octavian ships, around 700 mostly drawn from the large reserves of Octavian ships. These ships would also been carried with many more Octavian drone fighters to serve as cannon fodder for the Visoran ships. Truly this will be the end of Grayson the Glasser... Right?

Interstellar space

After the incident in that system the Octavians knew they could not let the Warminds go unmolested. A force of 500 and the final 3 remaining Visoran BAK-5s were sent to go find these Warminds capable of wiping entire fleets. Surely they would pay for that destruction of resources.

Over Earth

It would seem as if some force had begun to engage the Octavian fleet. Being geared mostly towards bombardment and fighting (the now dormant) Aquarians fleet it was a decently sized fleet of 340 ships with a fair number of capital ships and some lighter ships with a good bit of point defense able to shoot down many of the torpedoes approaching the fleet allowing many of them to explode on the shielding of the fleet. The railguns would also hit causing considerably more damage to the shields but leaving most intact. The Battleships would fire off volley after volley of missiles while the destroyers would fire at the larger vessels in the Mandate fleet while the artillery ships fired at whatever presented itself. Lighter vessels such as corvettes and cruisers moved forward to harass the ships while Frigates fired torpedoes at the Mandate forces. Simultaneously Drone Fighters would harass the force as thousands of them attacked the ships with missiles rated to cause damage to ships and also skirmish against any Mandate fighters. A classic Octavian naval tactic proven time and again, hopefully it would prevail against these unknown attackers.

Skyhooked

Skyhooked was proving particularly hard to crack even after a an attack that would leave most primitive nations in ruin. Even after killing one of their leaders they continued with the same, if not more, of the fervor that they started with. They're tactics were initially effective as the drones looked to find if it would take the death of another leader to break their anarchist spirit, but as the drones ran into more and more traps and orbital bombardment was disrupted by the battle they gave up on this goal and focused on trying to weed out the guerillas. The few hundred drone fighters left on the Earth would focus their attention on Skyhooked scanning the grounds below for any one who looked suspicious and then bombing them or strafing them with laser fire. Meanwhile in the cities, the armor facing Imperator drones would find anti-tank rockets fired at them made for tanks far more advanced than theirs painting a grim picture for them if they were unable to escape in time though their repeated attacks took a few down.

Meanwhile Spawner IFVs accompanied with MK3s would loop around Fort Liberty to try and encircle it as Drone Fighters bombed the area repeatedly showing the signs of an assault. A force would be sent to test the strength of the fort's defenses made up of MK3 drones, Imperator drones, and even a Grinder class tank which was sent in the hopes of smashing through whatever starter fortifications they had. Truly the battle for Skyhooked had begun in full.

Air Supplena Island

Air Supplena Island was under siege. Black speedboats had picked up multiple Paramount's Chosen along with a few newly recruited/hypnotized stand users of Hol'Horse and Arabia Fats along with a non-stand user known as Roberta Cisneros on contract with Passione. The Chosen would remain deathly quiet on the way there and upon landing on the island would open fire on whoever and whatever they saw. A planetary sensor search had located someone who looked extremely similar to Polnereff and as requested by Diavolo he had to die and the Chosen were there specifically to kill him. Of that there would be no question.

Morioh, Japan

Drones marched through the city on the hunt for stand users with a Mechanator going door to door asking for stand users to join the Octavian cause with varying responses. Those who rejected wouldn't be shot yet, after all the stand users here didn't seem to be actively dangerous to the Octavian occupation. Reaching a house who's door he forced open it seemed to be rather nice for this small town. It seemed to the Higashikata estate. Well he started he still had to search for stand users in the home, "Hello, this is the home of the Higashikata's yes? Any stand users in your family will greatly enhance your position in the years to come! Any request can be fufilled by our great Imperium!"

The bunker

Walking out of the bunker The Paramount felt good. Two organics had assimlated themselves and he gained what he was looking for, the stand arrow, was in his very hands. Giving it a quick scan The Paramount found some sort of bacteria on the tip of the arrow...odd. The information was transfered into the Aether to AI who would work on recreating it while also sending the information to their allies. Looking to the two Chosen next to him he stabs both with the arrow in quick succession seeing one fall to the ground clutching at his fusion core and the other...with a bright orange glow coming from where his core should be culminating in an explosion from the chest area leaving the Chosen's body disabled. It was a good thing they had consciousness backups. After seeing the other Chosen slowly rise to his feet, The Paramount scratched the arrow against the area around his core. He had fallen to his knees, but could feel something growing inside him. This looked to be a turning point in his plans...

by **Bloodshade** » Thu May 28, 2020 3:42 am

Stormrider, Deep Space

Vishala could only snort mockingly in response to Mark’s snark and playful tone. Looks like she’s met a kindred spirit. She couldn’t help but stifle a giggle and assumed a rather playful posture in response to Mark’s inquiry.

“Oh? Big boy wants a demonstration? I don’t know. Think I’d be way too fast for your body to register, assuming those Ausar thighs of yours survive the process.” - Vishala

“He’s married, you pig!” - Ambrosia

“What?! He asked for a demonstration. Some people just can't handle a joke...” - Vishala

Ambrosia dismissed the lapine once again and simply focused on the wolf, a beaming smile sported on her face. Her heart almost drops from the adoration she had for Strein as the white wolf couldn’t help but express her admiration of the vampire. Ambrosia would’ve replied back with genuine praise of her own until Zen suddenly decided to rain on their parade.

“The fuck are you doing here, cunt basket?!” - Ambrosia

The first statement to come out of the vampire’s mouth almost frightens the lapine, who’s ears perk up in response to such an irate statement. Vishala felt embarrassment and shame on behalf of Ambrosia. This came out of nowhere. However, it seems like Strein’s explanation cooled the vampire down, although a sombre appeared on her face. Should the lapine intervene? Was it truly worth it? She did initially detect the fox’s energy formulating inside of the ship but saw no need. Vishala thought: “Aren’t these people kin? Then why is this ‘reunion’ so tense?”.

“Uh, not my business so I’m not bothering. Let’s wrap this up please. See ya later, wolf girl. We’ll meet you back on Earth. Try not to die. I still want to size you up.” - Vishala

Upon hearing Mark’s reassuring comment, Ambrosia simply nodded in response and waved him away, preparing to man the controls until another anomaly entered the ship. Another one? Dear heavens, it seems like Stormrider was the galaxy’s hotspot right about now. Ambrosia’s senses were on high alert the moment she felt the ship’s atmosphere change with the addition of another being’s presence but the moment Ambrosia registered his presence, Vishala was already on him, shifting over to the intruder’s position like a blur and appearing as if she had teleported in front of that thing. Her imposing figure was situated uncomfortably close to the stranger, virtually blocking all paths of evasion and ensuring he’d be forced to direct all his attention towards her.

“I don’t like uninvited guests. I treat them rather poorly in-fact. I’ll give you thirty seconds to explain why you’re here before I turn you into roast Juggalo meat. Starting...now.” - Vishala

To signify the beginning of the time she allotted for the creature, the lapine slammed both of her white-gloved hands onto the wall behind the creature, narrowly missing its face in the process. The force from such a gesture made the entire ship abruptly veer in the direction of the force she applied, causing Stormrider to groan and rumble in the process as the ship’s lights flickered temporarily in response from the sudden momentum gained.

“I’m reconsidering giving you those thirty seconds...” - Vishala

Ambrosia was taken aback by the lapine’s actions. There was no telling what she’d be doing and she had no idea how or, more importantly, why this creature was on her ship? First, Zen comes in to swipe away Strein and now this happens? While she wasn’t exactly supportive of Vishala taking the reins and potentially subjecting the creature to a significant degree of stress, she silently applauded her reaction time. Then again, Vishala’s not the type to allow something to cross her senses, especially considering the speeds she’s able to reach as well as the senses that she needs to react during a state where she goes beyond speeds that are incomprehensible for a biological being to attain.

Ambrosia sidles up right behind Vishala, with the EEF sheathed and equipped by the vampire in one hand while the other rests on Vishala’s tensed-up shoulder, who only growled in response but allowed the vampire to come close.

“Hey Hey! Why are you on my ship?...Vishy, did this thing speak to you?” - Ambrosia

“Clearly not...ten, eleven...” - Vishala

Vishala goes silent once more after uttering those two numbers, indicating to the creature that a third of his allotted time has expired. Ambrosia huffs in response to the lapine’s brief reply and attempts to continue observing the thing in front of her, hoping it doesn’t pull off any shenanigans.

“Get over you old fart! MARK! Are you going to keep your eye on this Juggalo with us or are you going to sit around, twiddling with your dick all day long?” - Vishala

Ignisian Themata: Pyrsayus and Segnos

Drostar’s expressions indicate a state of perplexion but then he began to pity the Magister Militum and his people. It truly seems like chaos has gripped the entire organizational structure of the Ignis States to the point where they were more than happy to accept any and all kinds of help. The commander would’ve intensely scolded Zakruho for his willingness to be so open to foreign aid but now wasn’t the time, people were starving and cold, without a roof over their heads. Time was of the essence.

“Dinna worry, me friend. We be going ta help ye from tha mess ye've been put in!” - Drostar

Three generation ships each were assigned to themata: Pyrsayus and Segnos. These themata were the ones most battered by the Octavian’s sleeper agents. They’ll be the ones relieved the most by the Bloodshadian sophontarian carrier fleet. Tens of thousands of transport shuttles, carrying a combined total of 5,800,000,000 tonnes of foodstuffs and medicine, to ensure that the health and vitality of the population were maintained momentarily. A task force of civilian cruisers would make its way to the surfaces of both themata, with the sum of the sophontarian aid workers disembarking and beginning their noble work.

The sophontarian land force would split up into multiple groups, with each one following an identical plan. First and foremost, these divisions would begin by setting up the infrastructure that would allow them to efficiently support their efforts and start forming a base that would grow progressively to meet the increasing demands of the population. The support force would begin by sending recruiters to mingle amongst the Ignisian population, initially enlisting engineers, doctors, nurses architects and technicians to aid in the development of the refugee centres scattered across the planet’s densely populated areas. However, as time went by, the need to distribute supplies was greater and greater so any responsible and adult Ignisian that wished to volunteer would be allowed to do simple tasks such as transporting food, medical and building supplies to the relevant areas. An office of outreach would be built to engage with the populace of the Ignisian themata, ensuring that any criticism, advice and tips would be heard and applied. BDF soldiers would search and locate for Ignisian law enforcement and martial agents. Bloodshadian personnel would begin to organize, advise and guide such remnants, forming the ‘Ignisian Bureau of Order’. This organization is essentially a temporary Ignisian Gendarmerie designed to combat crime, rebellions and any other divisive movements formed from the chaos of the Octavian terrorist attacks.

The collection of refugee centres would be a project that would eventually blossom over the course of a day but still remain in its infantile stage. Multiple settlements, clinics, plumbing networks, sewage treatment plants, telecommunications infrastructure, roads, water supply infrastructure and power plants would be laid out across the themata and when possible, Ignisians would be recruited to fill such positions. This was a good start but there was more work to be done. Those that wished to flee were given a two-way ticket onto the generation ships and ferried back to Bloodshade, where the Ignisians would await a promising stay, away from the worries and trouble of the frontline of the war.

Delara System, Sector V

“Reading you loud and clear, IVC Lothal. You are speaking to Captain Alfred Weindorf of Task Force Archangel. The bulk of the Void Fleet will be arriving at the Kleon Outpost through alternatively. Rest assured, you have the finest Task Force at your disposal. We are more than ready to support the Sildorian Navy in combat. The Void Fleet is neither early nor late. It arrives precisely when it means to, assuming we’ll even need them in the first place! HAH!”

Indeed, Task Force Archangel was one of Bloodshade’s finest, consisting of ten Saurian-class dreadnaughts, twenty Valyria-class cruisers, forty Anaconda-class frigates and sixty Python-class corvettes. There was a grand total of twenty-thousand Viper-class strike craft split between the dreadnaughts, cruisers and frigates as they are the only types capable of fielding hangers in their hulls. What mattered more than their numbers was the Void Fleet’s arcane frameshift drives, manoeuvre warfare, deception and tactical restrainment.

Cruising alongside the Sildorian Navy, Task Force Archangel prepared its hyperdrives and Captain Weindorf opened up communications with IVC Lothal and its commander, Aschla Rubyclaw, once more.

“We are standing by for your green light, Commander Rubyclaw. Ready when you are.”

by **Pax Cybertronian** » Thu May 28, 2020 4:45 am

The campaign for Earth seemed to be a success – the same, Bombrunner hoped, would apply to the rest of the galaxy. The Octavians’ victory was in their current interests; of course, if it became blindingly obvious that they would fail. He viewed their failure as a potential blight to the Decepticon Empire – who knows if their allies would retaliate? It was too late at this point, he believed, to convincingly turn sides. No matter. He assumed they were now trusted allies of the Octavians now that they had sent some Worldeaters to aid rapid production of new Octavian technology, and was ready to order some more if the need arose.

There was, however, one issue – the Earth attacked was the home of the Aquarians, a long-lasting Decepticon ally. This wasn’t good.

With a sigh, Bombrunner quickly decided to personally send a message to the Octavian government.

Code: Select all: ”Greetings. We’ve found that one of the Decepticon Empire’s allies – the Aquarians – are on the planet you are in the process of assimilating. It would be in both our best interests to ensure that the Aquarians are not targeted by your forces, at least. In fact, it may be possible that the Aquarians can become strong allies of yours, in part due to their long-standing alliance with the Empire.”

The message sent, Bombrunner continued to work rapidly. A message he sent earlier to the Decepticon High Command proved that Megatron was still reluctant to send much resources his way, though he had begun to step it up slightly. Bombrunner believed that, judging by some enthusiastic interjections on the viewscreen, a few high-ranking commanders had seemed to have taken specific interest in the galaxy, especially since some forces in the galaxy were recognised to also be in Cymopolia. This was in contrast to Megatron’s lack of care towards the Milky Way, at least at the moment. Hopefully, a consistent amount of victories could change that.

For one, it had been noticed that Octavian forces were embroiled in a rather serious conflict in the Ridley’s Rest system. It was then decided by Bombrunner to send a smallish group of Worldsweepers –around fifty – over to Ridley’s Rest to aid the Octavian fleet. They jettisoned from different parts of the galaxy, even, with some help from the Warren, outside of the galaxy.

In Ridley’s Rest, a moderate group of Worldsweepers entered the system. Detecting damage on the Sword, presumed to be this sytem’s flagship, a largish group of Decepticons quickly boarded the Sword and went to work on repairing it. The Worldsweepers then began to fire on the enemies of the Octavians. More Worldsweepers would be warped in if necessary.

Some time had passed since DIO met Necrom. He had been busy sending a message to DIO’s family members that would help him and his former surviving minions, as DIO had asked him to do. Chief among them was Diego Brando, who Necrom sent this message.

Code: Select all: ”Greetings, Diego Brando. This is Necrom. I have been in contact with DIO Brando, and he wants you to go to Forida, find Enrico Pucci and prepare for his arrival. Oh, and he wants you to gather his old minions and his children as well.

Having sent the message, Necrom continued to quickly work to ensure that the minions of DIO ended up in Florida. On his orders, several airborne (which doubled as spaceborne vessels, if necessary) convoys were sent DIO and Kars’ ways.

[Reminder: Edit in Magicons later]

by **Eisenstern** » Thu May 28, 2020 5:31 am

【♜】The Tower【♜】
【Guild Hall, Meeting Room】

Around the room-length brassbound table sat a rather motley bunch. Armor and robes, interspaced with jeans and hoodies - none marked, save the occasional flash of a Guild seal. Faces of practically every shape and size were turned to the Guildmaster, and to the hooded figure at his side. He waited for everyone to settle in before clearing his throat.

"Thank you for heeding the call so quickly. We have a limited window of time, so I will be brief. This is a standard requisitions op - the subject is displayed here."

A hologram-esque projection sprang up above the table's center, with no clear source - though somewhat fuzzy and indistinct, it displayed the Arrow with relative clarity. One of the attendees - an asian man with long, tied-back hair, tapped his chin with a finger.

"An arrow?"

"A bit more than just that. And perhaps not intended for the same purposes to which one would normally employ one."

Another spoke up - a woman. Black-haired, with eyes that were blacker still. Orbs of void, amidst a pale face.

"Is it held securely?"

This time, the reply came from the hooded figure.

"It is grasped by one who is strong. But his resolve wavers. In making use of its power, he has created an opportunity to strike."

The black-eyed woman nodded, making way for the Guildmaster once more.

"Team Sparrow will lead the extraction. In and out as quickly as possible, with little to no combat involvement. Opposing forces are largely robotic - operative Dalai is hereby charged with coordinating a distraction."

A masked woman, clad in synth-fabric and metal, gave an affirmative nod.

"In the event that things do not go as smoothly as desired, Team Rondel is to remain on standby, and to aid in resolving any potential difficulties. Any questions?"

A hulking, power-armor'd figure, far too squarely-proportioned to be human, raised its hand politely. It spoke in a voice like thunder.

"What will we be facing, sir?"

"In the event that things don't go smoothly? A bunch of robots, for the most part. A few individuals with... oh, something like magic. Inherent, primitive. Soulbound. You have Weston coverage, so you should be fine."

"Understood."

"I am reserving a special-alert Legion detachment, if worst comes to worst. At the same time, this is meant to be an extraction. If we can avoid turning the opzone into a smoking crater, I would prefer it to be so."

The hooded individual tapped her staff on the floor, eliciting a hollow bong.

"I will watch your path. My guidance is faint, but I will provide what I can."

The dreaded black-iron hand of the Guildmaster, famed for tearing down fortress gates and crushing the necks of dragons, patted her gently on the head.

"Hear that? Alea's got you. You're all more secure than... well, certainly the arrow you're about to grab. So get out there and grab it, if you will."

A round of salutes from around the room, to varying degrees of attention. One by one, everyone filed out, leaving only Kresge and his companion. She spoke first.

"They will pull through."

"Oh, I know they will."

"But there will be complications, later. Their form, I cannot discern."

"We will face them as they come. As we always have."

"Yes."

【♜】The Tower【♜】
【Auxiliary Wings, Rift Rail Staging Chamber】

The three currently-active members of Team Sparrow were performing final checks. They made for a curious trio - anyone seeing them on the streets of their destination might have mistaken them for cosplayers.

The first, blue-skinned and pointy-eared, with porcelain-white hair tied back into a ponytail. Her garb consisted of assorted leather, reinforced with a metal plate here and there. Knives and flasks, tucked away under belts and in pouches.

The second, the same black-eyed woman from before. Her clothing was simple, and wouldn't look too out of place on a crowded metropolitan street. She appeared to be unarmed.

The final member of the trio still wore the black facemask she had sported during the meeting. Glowing inlays and metallic components dotted her clothing in a haphazard fashion. A holster at her waist held what seemed to be a compact submachine gun.

Somewhere, in a very similar room, Team Rondel was undergoing their own set of prepwork - hopefully, they wouldn't be needed. The black-eyed woman stepped on over to the Rail interface first. She turned to her companions after giving the controls a brief inspection.

"Everyone ready?"

"Just about." came the reply from the elf. She tucked one last dagger into its sheath, before dusting herself off and stepping forwards.

"Though I feel as though I won't be much use. You'll be doing the actual grabby bit, right? You're good at grabbing."

"Correct. And Tasha will provide concealment."

The masked woman nodded.

"That I will."

Her voice sounded vaguely modulated - just a hint of synthesized speech.

"Bolt-buckets are more or less my specialty, after all. Though I guess I won't have too much time to mess around."

"No. We're on a schedule. No sense in lingering."

"Egh. I'll settle for a projection, then."

The three of them stepped towards the far end of the room, where a seemingly empty doorway awaited. The black-eyed woman tapped a small device on her wrist - almost immediately, the space within the doorway began to twist and distend.

"Operative Aya, Team Sparrow, reporting for insertion. Operation is a go."

As one, the trio stepped forwards into the twisted space... and vanished.

【♜】The Tower【♜】
【Guild Hall, Council Wing】

Alea stood in the room's center. Kresge was leaning against a wall, a little ways back - when she spoke, he nodded in affirmation.

"They are on their way."

"Can you guide them?"

"Yes. I will... set up the confrontation."

"Aim for it to be a brief one."

"I will try."

Around her, the air seemed to curve into symbols - eldritch, illegible scribbles that pulled at the eye and clawed at the soul. A faint whispering began to permeate the chamber. And then it stopped, as suddenly as it had begun. Alea lowered her staff.

"I have done what I can."

He stepped forwards, embracing her.

"Thank you."

"Do not thank me yet. The arrow is not yet in the Vault."

"Ah, I wouldn't worry about it overmuch. Considering who it is I've sent... well. I don't envy whoever is holding onto it at the present time."

by **Skyhooked** » Thu May 28, 2020 1:43 pm

Good ol' Skyhooked. Still kickin'!

Lighter and faster combat vehicles ruled the Skyhookedian composition of mechanized troops, with heavier tanks being hardly used, due to their low lifespan, since Octavian anti-armor tech could easily penetrate most armors Skyhookedian industry ever produced. One hit delivered by Imperator class drone would guarantee serious damage or destruction of a tank. Luckily for all the road warriors of Skyhooked, the military doctrine emphased on agility, speed and offense over armor, developing tactics around those things, this mitigating losses caused by heavy drones and possibly inflicting more damage in response.

The Council did a good job herding hostile forces, however, one hour they noticed, that tactics changed, and they are no longer being chased. Instead, drones decided to play a whack-a-mole game by bombarding possible guerrilla infested places, including a hunting cabin, eco settlement, an abandoned amusement park and even an illegal dump. At first time, it did hurt guerrilla fighters and because of this setback, several villages were taken over and destroyed, and Foxstone castle, a tourst trap and minor defense point was encircled and would soon fall. Azure Beaches Five Stars resort - a place, where Skyhooked repealed crusader invasion, had to fight again, now against metal men, who used plasma guns instead of swords. As for Petit Lyon... It fought brave, but c'est la vie, it fell into enemy hands. At least Kropotkinsk was partially reclaimed. Pyongyang, Skyhooked city and New Sodom fought and held the line.

However, this new tactic was a double edged sword, as bombing of every damn place was a dead giveaway. It became far easier for defenders to pinpoint enemy location and routes. And with better intel, came better tactics. By spreading out even more, Skyhookers would hopefully make drones split up in smaller groups, and whenver a group would come to investigate a seemingly populated encampment in a convenient spot, in most cases, they would see only heated mannequins before being pounded with artillery fire. Not only this, but also, enemy search and movement patterns would be more easily observed and learned.

Meanwhile, the fallen drones would be ruthlessly stripped down for components, that could help to fend them off. Armor plates were crudely attached to vehicles and personal armor of infantry, while weapons would be refitted for human use by skillful gunsmiths. Whatever energy core robots had, Skyhookedians would either use for generators or attempt to turn them into explosives. As for more advanced components, whatever more advanced components were at least partially intact, would be sent to Technocrats clan underground lab facility, so they would study them and possibly develop a way to tap into Octavian network and watch their every step. Just like during the revolution, desperate people used everything they could loot from enemies. Now, advanced Octavian technology was used agaisnt it's owners!

Meanwhile, Fort Liberty, one of the most important military structures, was under a coordinated attack. Not only Imperator and MK3s were sent in rather large quantities, but also supported with a Grinder tank - a formidable opponent even on it's own. Several shots from dual guns have already reduced several fortifications and damaged the wall. Unless dealt with quickly, it would make Fort Liberty fall. It's armor was too tough to penetrate, however, the landscape underneath this behemoth, was not, so it was decided to concentrate most fo the fire around this thing to make the landscape as impassable as possible and possibly even make it stuck in a pit, while several guided missiles were launched, targeting it's gun. Possibly, those guys and girls, who launched them, thought, that if they hit it enough times while it fires, it will go boom.

Together with them, Skyhookedian military Magnum Opus - The giant scorpion mecha awakened and fired a plasma beam from it's tail right at the Grinder. After that, it would come closer and fire it again, all while air force didn't just sit and watch the show with popcorn, but tried to bombard hostile forces too.

by **Gladian Imperium** » Thu May 28, 2020 3:45 pm

Stormrider, Deep Space

The figure was unperturbed by Vishala's actions, even as the vessel was rocked by the aftershock. Vishala would be overcome by a brief headache before the intruder... Spoke? The voice didn't come from it specifically, but it didn't come from within her head like a telepathic message would. As if the air itself was being bent and distorted to produce sound.

"You are lucky you didn't hit me, Vishala. Your hands would have certainly been destroyed from the aftereffects, and from what I have come understand, is that you would prefer not to lose them, even if regrowing them is...a possibility."

After this statement, it turned to Ambrosia. Although it lacked eyes, one could figure that it was staring at the EEF.

"So that's the trinket Utopia designed for you. I must say, a bit too much effort into something so simple, but I can see why they were so...intent on such a device."

The figure disappeared from Vishala's grasp, reappearing a respectable distance away and eyeing the two.

"I do admit, I must apologize for my sudden intrusion. Your vessel's destination bears some unusual characteristics I would like to investigate myself, and it is less expensive to come aboard this vessel myself rather than go directly to the destination, thus provoking the Octavians further. Who I am is not something any of you should or need to be concerned with. Know that I am a mere spectator, and my motives are neither benevolent nor malevolent." The figure was then silent, waiting for each person aboard the ship to respond.

Ridley's Rest

Five incidents happened, in short order. A vessel from the ISO was struck by some form of telefrag weapon, one of the Warminds was struck by a similar attack, the Sword of the Imperium fired its main weapon, Decepticon warships arrived, and two unidentified vessels matching those that had previously attacked the UG Cruiser had appeared and opened fire on the Warminds.

In response to this series of events, the Warmind struck by the telefrag weapon suddenly had one of its RKKVAs fire in a random direction away from the battle, a sustained beam lasting several seconds before it flickered out of existence. Outside of that, however... a segment of its armor glowed a dim red, but there weren't any inherent issues otherwise. From the outside, at least. There was some notable damage to the internal structure, but thanks to rapid reactions and channeled overflow regulations, the Warmind was able to spare itself from destruction.

Meanwhile, the planet-busting superweapon aboard the Sword of the Imperium would fire, sending a massive shell barreling towards Ridley's Rest with immense speed, closing, closing, closing...
The hit never came. Instead, the shell vanished completely, before one of the Worldsweepers closest to the Sword of the Imperium...exploded. Its hull was obliterated, large chunks of debris flung away as the mighty warship was ripped asunder by some unknown force...but for the Octavians, they would know the signatures involved matched that of the Sword's ordinance. Hopefully, the Worldsweeper's seemingly-instant destruction, coupled with the ensuing bombardment from the Warminds, would convince the Decepticons to retreat.

The arrival of the two Visoran vessels would draw special attention from the Warminds, although they'd fire several barrages of VES Micromissiles at the hostile vessels, One Jump Ahead would be the primary response. Space around the vessel would shimmer and distort, before settling as the Caster shots impacted the rear hulls of three of the Warminds, seemingly going straight through the Aegis Shields and disintegrating their armor, being stopped by some odd, white layer of material. The trio would do full 180 turns, bringing their hefty forward armaments and unloading their full firepower on the Cubes as they began accelerating towards them, just as One Jump Ahead completed their manufacturing. In seconds, numerous Effector Warheads were accelerating to the Visoran Cubes far beyond the speed of light. Once they got into range, each one would detonate, firing a Beam-pattern Effector Blast that would riddle each Cube with numerous pockets of antimatter, hopefully destroying or at least heavily damaging the hostile vessels with said attacks.

Paraoon

The group of Warminds had been prepared for the event anything without a friendly IFF signature popped up. Just as the Caster shots were nearing the Warminds, they vanished, reappearing a few seconds after the shots had left their previous locations. Opening fire on the hostile Octavian vessels, one of the Warminds, Ol' Reliable, opened a subspace comms link, beyond the range of what the Octavians could detect, and called in for assistance...

Interstellar Space

'Twas But A Jest received the hail and forwarded it to Blind Prophet. A request for a strike in a system with a hostile vessel of unknown configuration backed by several hundred Octavian warships was...a tempting offer, to say the least. But there were things to consider.

After the elimination of the Octavian fleet on the periphery, the Sentinel Arrays alerted the pair of vessels that a substantial fleet had been mobilized to track them down. If Blind Prophet fired off its missiles through a wormhole, they'd most certainly be detected. If they didn't, they'd remain near-impossible to detect by the fleet hunting them. However, on the other end, if Blind Prophet fired off a strike, it'd most certainly damage or even destroy the hostile vessels. Which would deal a decisive blow to the Octavians. After a discussion between 'Twas But A Jest and Commander K'Thor, the two agreed to confirm that a strike was inbound, but they wanted to leave a surprise for when they repositioned.

The four spacecraft 'Twas But A Jest had constructed detached from its hull, beginning to fire out beams of winding strands of quark matter and from that creating...something. Whatever it was would be revealed in due time, as Blind Prophet began warming up its wormhole drive and reprogramming and arming one of the many Effector Warheads within the silos dotting its hull.

by **Imperial-Octavia** » Thu May 28, 2020 11:33 pm

A co-write between Passione and me

Air Supplena Island
Polnareff was a bit on the edge with how current events were coming along. Seeing the dozens of ships coming by and many landings being made along Venice’s coast meant the situation was desperate by ten-fold. Lisa Lisa wasn’t entirely happy herself, as she feared that her Hamon students wouldn’t be enough to defend the island, and the relic that beheld him, that arrow…

“...I’m not sure how long this will last, Master, but we will make it if we stay low, I’m sure.” Messine said, looking to Lisa Lisa and Polnareff.

“I just hope Jotaro and Joseph are okay amongst all this.” Polnareff said, sighing.

The transport boats dropped the 8ft Chosen on the shores of Air Supplena. It didn't seem like the organics here had expected to be found out so quickly and that worked in their favor. It was time to start the assault. Calling in Arabia Fats who was sitting on a speedboat some distance away from the island a Chosen said, "Activate the sun. The attack has started." Chosen would begin rushing into the main building of the island from all directions accompanied with the stand user Hol Horse and a non-stand user named Roberta. Hamon students watching the coasts would be given reason for concern.

“Ah, shit… looks like we’ve got company.” Polnareff said. “And in more familiar ways than one.”

Hol Horse chuckled. “Alright, buddy, come on out. We’ve got y’all surrounded, at least from this side! C’mon, Pol-Pol, ol’ pal!” He giggled, summoning his gun-esque stand, the Emperor as Roberta looked on emotionlessly.

“...what the hell do we do!?” Messina asked, Lisa Lisa simply putting on her scarf as she peeked her head outside before being met with a burning heat that was so severe she could have sworn a few wooden structures were burning, as well as a laser suddenly being blasted from the Sun as she ducked back just in time to evade it.

“...damnit! They must have gotten their hands on some of DIO’s old cronies… though I don’t remember the one in the maid outfit.” Polnareff said, sweating nervously as he took a deep breath. “I’ll go out there and face those bastards myself to hold them off! Messina, stay here and hold onto the arrow! Whatever happens, don’t let anyone take it!” Polnareff said, throwing it at the trainer’s feet as he took a ramp down to the bottom floor, Lisa Lisa trying to stop him before sighing. “And Master Lisa Lisa, you lower the doors and get whichever students you have out indoors! The sun is currently under the control of an enemy stand user, and if you don’t get everyone inside, they’ll all be fried to death.” Polnareff said, making his way to the bottom floor with a quickly thought out plan as Lisa Lisa thought for a moment… then grimaced as she went to a lower floor to activate the intercoms.

“ATTENTION, STUDENTS! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK BY A FOREIGN ENTITY! DO NOT ENGAGE THESE PEOPLE, AND ESPECIALLY DO NOT GO OUTSIDE! STAY LOW, STAY COOL AND ONLY DEFEND YOURSELF IF ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY!” Lisa Lisa would say.

Meanwhile, Polnareff made his way to the bottom floor, using Silver Chariot to peek through a window. “O-oi! What are you doing here!? Explain yourselves!” he requested.

Polnareff would only be answered with a hail of cannon fire breaking the glass and leaving some decently sized holes in the wall around him. Now having confirmed that their target was here they charged towards Polnareff's position in the window, firing their cannon bolts. Strangely it would seem like they were going to charge through the wall while disregarding any and all forms of cover provided on the island. At that moment it seemed like it was because their target was unarmed but if this were to continue it would seem like Polnareff would be facing a dangerous group…

“D-damnit!” Polnareff said, a bolt grazing one of his arms and leaving a nasty burn there as he looked to the walls behind him and all. “This can’t be happening! I feel like this is Passione’s doing… but they don’t care about who the guy is. Fine… I’ll just face them myself!” Polnareff said, wheeling forwards as he looked to the enemy. “SILVER CHARIOT!” He said, summoning his stand as it stood at the ready, deflecting a few cannon shots with its’ rapier before removing its’ armour and appearing to turn into multiples which were really afterimages and going to slash at the enemy.

"CONTINUE THE ADVANCE MY SYNTHETIC BROTHERS!", The slashes did a good deal of damage on the Chosen, but still they charged forward with a fanatical fervor switching to the hidden electro-sabers in their arms looking to engage the Polnareff himself all the while shooting at the afterimages of Sliver Chariot. Though the Chosen's armor was thick this stand was going through it at an alarming rate, hopefully he could be subdued before they broke through and that the organic help they brought along would be able to aid in the killing of Polnareff.

On the other side of the island, the Chosen knew that the other squad was under attack by Polnareff, but in order to make sure that there were no surprises inside the building. For all they knew the stand the other squads thought they were fighting were the secret stand of someone inside who was actually Polnareff! Charging inside the building with the hamon students they would open fire on anyone they saw and begin clearing the building.

The students went to attack them but were promptly cut down one-by-one. Some who did get in distance found their lackluster Hamon ineffective and were also slaughtered, though suddenly a small yellow light seemed to emerge from the floor above as some footsteps could be heard, Lisa Lisa suddenly kicking in a window in an attempt to engage the group before charging her fist with a powerful amount of Hamon.
“INDIGO BLUE OVERDRIVE!” She yelled, slamming her fist into the floor and creating a wave of blue Hamon energy that came like a shockwave around her to try and dispose of the Chosen before removing her scarf and charging it full of Hamon to try and block any bullets coming her way.

The Chosen's bodies surged with Hamon energy sending many to their knees as they struggled to use their bodies and a few would collapse from the deep internal damage caused by the strange energy. After the energy subsided many Chosen began firing into the ceiling while one took a unique approach to the problem. With a single leap he crashed through the ceiling and drew the electro-saber in his arm, "Face me organic!" With that he would stab at Lisa Lisa with the plasma tip of his saber.
Lisa Lisa rolled back, bringing her scarf up as the blade managed to thrust a wound on her upper arm, causing her to yelp in pain before she went to expertly wrap the scarf around the Chosen, hoping he wouldn’t break free. “This scarf conducts Hamon at 100%, amplifying my already unique level of power!” She then took a deep breath before delivering an electricity-like Hamon surge through the scarf.
The Chosen was able to survive the electricity though the amplified electric hamon did some damage to his internal components. Using what remaining strength he had in his body, the Chosen swung his body around seeking to throw Lisa Lisa around while she held on to the scarf. He would also try to break out using his enhanced strength but this scarf was surprisingly strong. Another Chosen would jump through the hole provided by the former chosen and began firing into the frey.
Lisa Lisa was initially slammed into one wall, but being swung into another allowed her to time a landing this time, spinning herself and going into some kind of a screwdrive kick, focusing Hamon on the toes of the foot that would kick out into the Chosen’s face before landing back and laying onto her back, the fight already exhausting her.

“These aliens… they won’t relent…” Lisa Lisa said, panting.

With the screwdrive kick the first Chosen was down having his consciousness chip fried from the inside out. With Lisa Lisa on her back the newly arrived Chosen would stab his electro-saber down onto her chest looking to get a killing blow.

Lisa Lisa shifted slightly upwards at the last moment as the blade came down, putting a nasty wound inside her, but not in a vital organ. Luckily, it should have been only one thrust… eventually a Hamon user could heal her if they returned…

Polnareff managed to fight off a bunch of them and take them down with ease as his stand was easily faster than light itself, though a surprise emerged as something that hadn’t been stated in the initial arrival came forward.

“So you’re that Polnareff guy, hm? Apparently you and Jotaro Kujo were best friends, and you searched the world for some relic that the Boss now wanted you dead for.” a man in a black suit with a cobweb pattern stated, a creepy monster-like stand appearing next to him as Polnareff recoiled.

“Th-the Boss…” Polnareff said, his eyes widening. “Wait… you work for him, don’t you? You worked for that monster who nearly killed me!” Polnareff yelled, pointing at him as the stand then suddenly released a mist that stung against Polnareff and smelled of vinegar and ammonia… and caused his skin to wrinkle as his nails grew. Polnareff’s bones started to ache as he grew skinnier, the poor Frenchman gasping for air as this stand iterally aging him to death, even quicker than what should normally be capable.

“I-I’m...a...aging… no!...” Polnareff wheezed, reaching out to Prosciutto. “You… need to know who your boss is… I know… who he is!”

Hol Horse then shot a bullet towards the building as he made it go around it before it went through a window… and shot Polnareff in the chest, piercing his heart and knocking him out of the wheelchair.

“M-Messinaaa… hide the arrow… destroy it if you have to… keep it safe… and find… Jotaro…” Polnareff said before his breath finally was cut short.

Hol Horse chuckled, spinning his revolver and then holstering it, putting his finger on an earpiece. “We got that ol’ cheese stick once and for all. He said somethin’ about an arrow, too, and some guy named Messina.”

"Target down, all units move to secure building. Arabia Fats, you may remove the sun from the area." With that the Chosen would take a picture of Polnareff's body for evidence of his deaths and pushed into the building heavily slashed and damaged by Sliver Chariot's attacks leaving a couple diced up Chosen on the beach. A few hamon students were seen preparing some sort of defense and shot them down with a quick blast of cannon fire.

Messina heard the commotion and the order, and needed to think quickly. He usually wasn’t one to run away from a fight, but it seems the only plan left was to escape the island with the arrow and Lisa Lisa. He went to run downstairs, grabbing the arrow and then slinging Lisa Lisa over his shoulder. He would try and go for Polnareff, he thought, but it was too risky. There were just too many troops down there and if a certified master of Hamon couldn’t take them down, neither could he. He simply grabbed Lisa Lisa, slung her over his shoulder and jumped out the window, running towards a speedboat.

Chosen seeing Messina began chasing them with unnatural amounts of speed for their size all the while firing at Messina's legs. Some would even throw grenades at Messina dedicated to stopping his escape.

Lucily, having trained under intense conditions for eighty years allowed Messina’s footwork to be at the apex for a hamon user, allowing him to utilise afterimages in order to confuse the Chosen. Roberta then gave chase, her cyborg features allowing her to approach Messina with unnatural amounts of speed as Messina rolled to the side once she pulled out a SPAS-12 shotgun.

He initially wanted to go onto a boat, but Messina then went to the water, using a grenade blast to propel himself slightly away before going to land onto the water, using his Hamon to proel him from the water’s surface and thus allowing him to use the water as a hard ground to run on towards Venice. He was crippled by some shrapnel dug into his right arm and back, however, but managed to try and keep going on while expending another bit of his Hamon in healing Lisa Lisa.

"All operatives, move to the boats! An enemy is escaping!" The Chosen leapt into the speedboats and began chasing after Messina over the water firing their cannon bolts at his legs. The Chosen would try and surround his sides and stop any evasion. Roberta would be allowed onto one of the speedboats and was allowed to do whatever she had to to take the escapee down.

She put a foot up on the bow as she racked an AK-47 assault rifle, firing at Messina with precision as she managed to put a few bullets up in his shoulder. Messina cried out in pain; but he was nearly at the coastline. If he could just make it… if he could-

Roberta then managed to pull out a hand grenade from one of the Chosen, removing the pin before throwing it at Messina like a shot-put, the grenade delivering a blow to his back before detonating, splitting the poor Hamon trainer in two as he threw Lisa Lisa with whatever superhuman strength was left, throwing her body onto the coastline as the blood was present and clothes were torn on her, but her wound had completely healed.

Messina turned around, discovering the lower half of his body sunken into the water as he was slowly sinking down himself. He couldn’t keep his balance up when he was slowly dying even with his Ripple supporting him, and even if he could fight back he’d stand little to no chance.

“Master Lisa Lisa… I’ve served you for the longest of ages, ever since the turn of the century. I had taught your finest students under my belt. Joseph Joestar, Caesar Zeppeli… and my partner Loggins, in order to defeat world-ending threats. Had they shown any sense of honour, I would have decimated them, but they truly do believe the ends justify the means.” He said, before he sank into the water, the arrow in his hands.

“Polnareff had stated that, before I died, I must keep the arrow safe… and at that, too… I must… use the last of my Hamon… to save… Master… LIsa…” He said, his body suddenly glowing a bright yellow as it sparkled, his hair slowly greying as his pupils began to fade. “DEEP PASS…. OVERDRIVE! TAKE MY HAMON… MASTER… LISA LISAAAA!” He cried out, the light suddenly shooting into the sky and blasting onto his master’s body before the halved Messina eventually smirked, closing his eyes and sinking into the water, letting the ocean take him and the arrow down to the deep abyss.

The Chosen were busy reaching the shoreline and getting out, but they were not ones to let the arrow escape. They had heard that there was one on this planet, but they would not pass up on this second one. Diving into the ocean and grabbing it , a Chosen scanned it's tip, noticing some type of bacteria. Cross referencing it to the one already in Octavian databanks it was similar, but somewhat different. It was sent to the same AI the original AI was sent to to try and replicate it. Finally the woman from before had managed to survive somehow, probably the organic's technique gave her life again. It didn't really matter as the same Chosen with the arrow stabbed the woman in the neck before chucking her barely revived body into the ocean.

A Chosen began to raise his cannon, but it was put down, "She's dead, no reason to waste the shell." With a Aether transmission to all parties involved the same Chosen spoke, "Mission accomplished. Leave everything and everyone else on the island alone and take the bodies of one of the students for examination. " With that the remaining Chosen followed this order returning to their speedboats with the body of a student on hand and returned to the mainland. With that the raid of Air Supplena Island was over.

Cioccolata's home
A Command Drone walked into the home of the Passione member Cioccolata and took account of the impressive quality of the home that this criminal held. Passione clearly paid well, something to keep in mind to keep their loyalty. Scanning the house and strangely finding the residue of...blood on some of the walls the drone would ask, "Is the Passione member Cioccolata here? The Octavians require your services."
Some muffled screaming could be heard from the basement, as well as a brief conversation, before Cioccolata emerged, going through the house as he removed his gloves, opening the door and still wearing his viscera-covered surgical smock.
“Oh, my dearest apologies. I was in the middle of a fun session with one of the locals!” Cioccolata giggled, Secco crawling up behind him and hugging his leg as he acted adorably shy in the face of the drone. “So there’s something about my services you require?” He asked, an oddly enthusiastic look on his face, like he was awaiting a million-dollar prize after finding out he won the lottery.

For a moment the entire Octavian military gestalt consciousness had a "what the hell" moment viewing the display in front of it. It quickly recovered and spoke, "The Imperium is having issues breaking the morale of an organic nation called Skyhooked. We have heard you may be able to aid in breaking it." The Drone awaited a response expected some sort of joy to come from the human in front of him.
Cioccolata didn’t disappoint, and a clearly excited smile of anticipation overcame him. “Breaking morale? You mean your super advanced technology hasn’t done that already!?” He chuckled, Secco laughing with him maniacally before Cioccolata calmed down, looking at the drone. “In all seriousness, i’d be delighted to help you all out any way I can. There’s nothing I love more than watching the faces of those in despair, after all, and watching an entire nation in agony under my hand would just be simply orgasmic. I’m in.” He stated, grabbing a leash and putting it on Secco, and grabbing a camcorder as well. “So, what’s your plan anyways?”

The Tactical Codex believed it could not feel fear or discomfort and yet through the eyes of this one drone it thought it was well reaching that point, "...We will need you to use your stand to show the Skyhooked forces that their resistance is pointless. There will also be some more personal methods employed on their leaders. We believe a week is all the time that will be needed for the operation to succeed. You will be moved today."

Cioccolata simply was barely containing the level of excitement. He never got to use his stand due to its ’destructive potential, but now here he was, overwhelmed by this opportunity to test-drive his Stand on a utopian place such as Skyhooked, to see its denizens in despair as they fell apart like a Jenga tower. He then pinched himself under one of his pecs and twisted, his face twisted in a masochistic pleasure.
‘G-GOOOOOD! Good, good, good! I’m sorry about that, but… it’s just that I had to check if I was dreaming or not… I get to decimate their people and have fun with their leaders!? Oh, this is just… I almost feel like singing a song of joy over this… this is going to be a Caribbean vacation nobody will forget!” He said, Secco calmly cheering along with the doctor as they headed out.

“Did you charge the camera, Secco? I want as much footage as possible of this moment! Infact, I want to see if they can get extra cameras of high quality, maybe have little robots flying around filming all the people dying on the streets to my Stand! Plus, maybe if there’s any survivors, I’ll let you play with them!” He said, Secco cheering as he nodded to the idea, crawling along as Cioccolata held him by the leash. Not even the most powerful of ammunition could wipe that twisted smile off his face, it looks like.

The Octavian transport was already waiting outside as it rested on the street, "You will be transported to Prongyang to deploy your stand. We will slow down bombardment to ensure you aren't injured in a friendly fire incident, but you must be careful of enemy airpower and artillery. You'll have some help though." Inside the transport was a bird and two Japanese men. "This will be your team. Be sure not to maim them."

“Oh, goody! Friends, Secco!” Cioccolata said, chuckling as Pet Shop looked on somewhat stoically being a falcon, and one of the two seemed mildly unnerved while the other, clad in overalls, seemed to scoff at the notion. “Alright, everyone, here’s the plan; we’ll simply get up onto the tallest building in the city. Birdie here can provide air support for us, and you two can, uh… do whatever it is you do.” Cioccolata said. “I’ll be doing the forefront of the work with my wonderful Green Day. it should trust you all, so you’ll be safe from its’ effects.”

“I dunno about this guy… something’s way off about him. That ain’t the face of someone who’s getting paid in money, I’ll just say that.” One of them said, his nametag stating “Ojiro Sasame”.

“Nonsense. I kinda like the cut of his jib, as much as he ain’t my style.” The other one said, flexing his arm, entitled ‘Anjuro “Angelo” Katagiri’. “Lucky that Alessi guy got me out of that rock. Never felt more happy to be back out there doing what I love.”

‘You think you’re thrilled?” Cioccolata stated, looking out the window. “Once I’m done with Prongyang and the leaders stationed, it’s going to be something I wish I could just do over and over again. Even if they don’t pay me too well this time, that’ll be fine… the payment will be that euphoric sight of death and despair.” He said, giggling like a madman as Secco cuddled up to him. “Don’t forget the extra cameras. I want to remember as much as possible.”

The squad would find themselves placed into a building in an Octavian position in the city where they'd be mostly safe from enemy fire, free to commit what would undoubtedly become one of the worst atrocities on this front. In preparation for the arrival of the squad drone numbers in Skyhooked controlled Prongyang began to swell as they would in other areas…

“...it’s time for you naughty boys to learn a little lesson.” Cioccolata said with glee, Green Day emerged as he arrived.

Cioccolata's contagious, painful flesh-eating mold would begin to infect all biological life beneath him in a 1km radius and be affected by altitude, spreading around if they did as much as lower their hand, save for his comrades, and spread further and further with every infected corpse. Angelo would immediately get to sneaking his possessive stand Aqua Necklace into the water supply as Ojiro planted Fun Fun Fun so he could control the body of anyone on the floor beneath them, and Pet Shop provided overwatch in the sky, conjuring giant icicles to take out planes

Skyhooked
The Grinder tank's unfortunate dive into the ground taught a lesson to the Octavian forces in Skyhooked. That these organics could not be underestimated at any costs lest your tanks be buried under their streets. However the attack had to continue on. The defense of Fort Liberty was fierce but with the numbers the Octavians had they would focus on overrunning these defences. Imperator class drones would focus fire on the giant scorpion as it would cause massive damage if not stopped. Drone Fighters would begin to attack the bombarding Skyhooked planes. Thousands of MK3 drones would fire their back-mounted motars into the fort and began to charge at the fort, climbing it's walls of the building in an attempt to overwhelm them.

With the arrival of the stand users at Prongyang, a massive push would be held as millions of drones drawn from the areas around Asia as the area of Korea would serve as a good placement of inter-contental artillery. There was a large portion of armor drawn up from wherever it could be grabbed as IFV's and Grinder class tanks would be present in the hundreds. Angelo's mission to the water supply to supernaturally alter the water so Angelo could control the Skyhookians through the water, was escorted by a sizable number of Paramount's Chosen numbering about 100. With the supernatural aid of the stands the assault was hoped to be effective.

The guerilla warfare was getting quite irritating. As Octavian forces found mannequins and instead found artillery shells destroying them and as they began using Octavian tech it became a massive concern. Obviously attacking the guerillas was a fool's errand and so the drones would move away from trying to snuff them out personally and allowing the drone fighters to harass them when they could. For now the drone force in mainland Skyhooked would be focused on attacking places like Azure Beaches Five Star Resort and reclaiming the rest of Kropotkinsk. As soon as the the battle above the planet was over, Skyhooked proved itself worthy for another oribital bombardment...

by **Eisenstern** » Fri May 29, 2020 4:36 am

【㊏】Earth (Raptureverse)【㊏】
【Naples, Passione Bunker】

In the bunker's entry-room, two rather bored Paramount's Chosen stood guard. There'd been an influx of odd individuals in and out of the structure for a while now - while there was some discontent with their general presence, at least they seemed to be dissuading any attempted entry from unwanted parties. Besides, someone would have to track the place down before actually attempting to gain entrance to it. And yet, when the bunker's security system informed them of their liege's apparent fit of weakness outside, their first thought turned to an external attack.

What neither of them actually expected, as they rushed towards the reinforced door, was for the entire room to seemingly flex in on itself for a brief moment. The pressure-wave staggered them both, despite the impressive bulk of their robotics - as they spun around to the apparent source of the disturbance, they came face to face with a woman in a long, electronics-adorned coat and black synth-fabric facemask. Before either of them could react, she gave them a quick wink, followed up by a nonstop stream of holomemetic basilisks beamed directly into their ocular sensors. The two machine-men collapsed to the floor, their control systems temporarily out of order. And this was when the second woman stepped over their bodies, her eyes still black as night. She knew where her target was - just through this here reinforced door. She leapt forwards, passing through the metal as if it were just a discoloured patch of air.

Outside, the Paramount had barely had time to comprehend the impulse of weakness inflicted by the Arrow, when a rather indistinct, black-clad figure emerged from the bunker's solid-steel door, dashed up to him, and grabbed it by the shaft. As the foreign hand came into contact with the object, he could feel it somehow losing cohesion - a moment later, the shaft of the arrow simply phased through his fingers, as the figure leapt back. He turned his head to try and get a reading, or even just a more accurate glimpse of whoever the hell this was - and was hit, full-force, alongside the small band of Chosen alongside him, with a second blast of disabling memetics - this time transmitted wirelessly, and seemingly half-routed through some band of the Aether. Its effect on him was less profound than it had been on his comrades within the building, or on the individuals that still lay convulsing around him - clutching a head that seemed to somehow ache despite lacking the capacity to feel true pain, he rose to his feet.

But by then, the figure in black would be long-gone. As would its compatriots - aside from two still-dazed Chosen, the bunker was devoid of any evidence of foul play.

【♜】The Tower【♜】
【Guild Hall, Post-Ops】

Aya strode into the bustling chamber, arrows still in hand. The wall-to-wall row of booths was a busy place - operatives came and went, handing in items of note and informing their handlers of task completion. Checks were exchanged. She made her way to an empty booth, and to a waiting service-golem. Her two colleagues followed suit.

Though it had no face, save the thorned sigil of the Guild that had been engraved into the blank surface of its head, Aya knew that its attention was focused on her. It spoke in a voice that managed to be devoid of both gender and emotion.

"Operative Angal'ku-Aya. Rank: Gold. Current Task Parameter: Retrieval. Status?"

"Completed."

She slid the arrow across the counter. The golem grasped it gently with one black-metal hand, turning it around for a meticulous examination. A moment later, it was deposited in a small chute-tray, and sped away on a clockwork conveyor. The golem addressed Aya once more.

"Remuneration processed. Account updated. Passive standby for remaining tasks advised."

"Thank you."

Aqqasen tapped her on the shoulder.

"We done?"

"Yes."

"Anything else they've got for us?"

"Not now. Passive standby is advised."

"Bah, all that means is that we have time for a drink before they cram more errands into our hands. You with me?"

"Sure. Tasha?"

They both glanced at the third member of their little party. She shrugged her shoulders in lieu of an answer, and made a following motion.

"Good enough for me. To vanquish sobriety, ladies!"

While neither of her companions seemed to share the elf's enthusiasm, they both tagged along - down the maze-like mess of streets and corridors and everything in between that connected the Guild Hall to the city proper. A night out on the town indeed.

by **Il Passione** » Fri May 29, 2020 8:21 am

Imperial-Octavia wrote:
Morioh, Japan

Drones marched through the city on the hunt for stand users with a Mechanator going door to door asking for stand users to join the Octavian cause with varying responses. Those who rejected wouldn't be shot yet, after all the stand users here didn't seem to be actively dangerous to the Octavian occupation. Reaching a house who's door he forced open it seemed to be rather nice for this small town. It seemed to the Higashikata estate. Well he started he still had to search for stand users in the home, "Hello, this is the home of the Higashikata's yes? Any stand users in your family will greatly enhance your position in the years to come! Any request can be fufilled by our great Imperium!"

A man in a puffy vest with long hair had answered the door, and he himself seemed to be confused by the proposition.
"Uh... well, I really am a family man, and I don't want to really leave the folks behind to-" He said, turning around and flinching as he saw Jobin behind him.
"Excuse me, father. I'd like to talk to the machine." Jobin said, looking up at him. "In private. I might have a deal for him."
"Jobin, for the love of god, what's this gonna be all about? You understand I don't want the family involved in any of this in case their enemies come after us!?" Norisuke asked, Jobin putting a hand on his shoulder.
"I am certain we'll be fine. Just... let me discuss matters personally." Jobin then nodded to the Mechanator, inviting him in. "Mind if we discuss manners in my bedroom?"

Pax Cybertronian wrote:Some time had passed since DIO met Necrom. He had been busy sending a message to DIO’s family members that would help him and his former surviving minions, as DIO had asked him to do. Chief among them was Diego Brando, who Necrom sent this message.

Code: Select all
”Greetings, Diego Brando. This is Necrom. I have been in contact with DIO Brando, and he wants you to go to Forida, find Enrico Pucci and prepare for his arrival. Oh, and he wants you to gather his old minions and his children as well.

Having sent the message, Necrom continued to quickly work to ensure that the minions of DIO ended up in Florida. On his orders, several airborne (which doubled as spaceborne vessels, if necessary) convoys were sent DIO and Kars’ ways.

\

Miami, Florida
"Make way for Lord DIO!"
Most of DIO's closest comrades managed to arrive to a giant mansion that was seized shortly after his arrival. Numerous hypnotised servants and zombies lined up, ready to serve their master in all his powerful display, consensual or not.
"We are proud to be in your gratious presence, Lord DIO." They said, with no hint of remorse and only sheer, genuine gratefulness in their devoutness as they kneeled to DIO's feet, although this holy display was interrupted by a man in a jockey outfit who appeared to be one of DIO's relatives, as well as a past version of himself before he gained a stand. DIO looked back up, somewhat disappointed, but ready to engage in a good, genuine conversation.

"As crass as ever, Diego." DIO said to him. "Could you at least apologise?"
"Family is a fair bit different than some drugged cultists, 'Lord DIO'." Diego playfully scoffed, before stepping aside to reveal three of his finest subordinates; Father Enrico Pucci, Vanilla Ice and Enya Geil had bowed in respect to him, giving a bow.

"Ahh... It's good to see some of my old compatriots." He said, approaching Pucci and brushing his short, white hair. "Especially you, Father Pucci."
"It is truly a sight to behold to have you in my presence as well, Lord DIO." Pucci nodded as DIO suddenly looked to the side.
"Are my descendants here, as I requested." DIO asked as Diego shrugged, looking down the hall to see four teenagers making their entrance.
"Ungalo, Rikiel, Donatello Versace... it's good to finally know you in the flesh." DIO said, approaching the teens as Ungalo appeared intimidated, Donatello seemed curious yet defiant and Rikiel remained stoic, along with a fourth boy in a blue suit.
"...and who would you be? I don't recall you on Pucci's dossier." He said, the boy stepping forward and revealing the purple star on his neck, identical to DIO's.

"...my name is Haruno Shiobana." He stated simply. "And I have a dream."

by **Skyhooked** » Fri May 29, 2020 9:20 am

Skyhooked. Yes, it still open for business!

Grinder tank succumbed to shrewd attacks and use of enviornment, yet for the Fort Liberty, this was only the beginning, as thousands of MK3 drones started to test it's durability on extreme mode. Despite the fort firing at enemies with high caliber armor piercing bullets from heavy machine guns, complimenting this with rockets, one of the walls eventually succumbed to the assault. Already damaged by the Grinder, it couldn't hold anymore and collapsed, allowing hostiles to get inside in overwhelming quantities. But Fort Liberty wouldn't be finest fortification, if it didn't have the second circle of walls. Still, the defenses were unable to serve all robots with bullets and rockets in time, and thus, another several breaches on the first circle of walls appeared from different sides. Higher ground helped, but not that good.

Meanwhile, Giant Scorpion got damaged by advanced anti-armor projectiles, fired by Imperator class drones and was staggered for a while, as it's armor was penetrated in many places and lots of systems had to be rerouted. After rerouting however, it walked closer to the Fort, and fired several shots from it's tail at Imperator drones. And when the main weapon was needed cooling, it fired massive amount of 25mm grenades at MK3 drones. All this, while air force still bombed Imperator drones, although with less efficiency, since even with fighter escort, bombers had to try and avoid histile attacks or be shot down. Some of those "birds" fell down.

The good news count grew, as enemies diverted their attention from guerrilla fighters to go forth and try to take various cities. In Skyhooked this is a huge mistake... Especially, when technicals and infantry would equip themselves with salvaged and hastly refitted Octavian guns and armors. Due to haste, Octavian weapons, refitted for human use lacked reliability, yet still were able to feed Octavian invaders with their own medicine. With sporadic harrasement instead of full destruction of anything suspicious, forces moved easier than before, and as soon as large drone force striked at Azure Beaches Five Stars Resort, it would be encircled and attacked from all directions. Besides, Skyhookers managed to salvage enough advanced shells from Imperator drones and enough grenades from Mk3s to make hastly adapted cannons for them and start using them against the enemy.

Unfortunately, Kropotkinsk center was captured, and only separate districts still tried to hold off, with minimal success. Some crazy priests rejoiced, as New Sodom recieved another portion of orbital bombardment, which partially devastaded thee districts: Acedia (Sloth), Luxuria (Lust) and Invidia (Envy). Superbia (Pride) and Ira (Wrath) were only moderately damaged.

In the meantime, the Council decided, that it's time to attempt to unite humanity, and so, several warbands were sent to the South America and Florida to provide local civilians and military with weapons and use their speechcraft and charisma to rally them under the black banner. No more fighting alone!

Jose "Buckshot", whose mission was just to scout the situation in Venice and get the hell outta there at first signs of problems was sent to Florida to try and aid locals in fighting the Octavian menace.

Skyhookedian North Korea

And this awesome place, made into a tourist trap, was about to become a hellhole, which wouldn't accept any toursit, possibly due to the drone infestation, as countless robotic legions were drawn there and orbital bmbardment was employed upon infrastructure. Alone, this part of Skyhooked would never hold, and as humiliating as it was for proud warriors, some of them dispersed, took nice protion of supplies, such as weapons and moved ASAP to chaos ridden closest places in South Korea, China and Russia and started rallying local desperate people and uniting some of the cities under Skyhookedian banner, trying to give them at least some hope. Since governments were probably in total disarray, they probably wouldn't mind if Skyhooked tries to unite at least part of humanity against common threat. And since more drones were drawn to Korean region, there were probably less drones in other regions of Asia, thus making it easier to liberate. However, uniting it would be a slow proccess.

The rest of the fighters would try to make up tactics for handling large army of drones and Grinder tanks. They would try the same tactics against Grinder tanks, that was used for handling one in Fort Liberty - to lure it on a landscape, which could be easily damaged and make it stuck in the holes. And when large Octavian army would arrive to the first shore city on their way, they would find, that it's defenders and remaining non-evacuated civilians are running from it and take it over, facing token resistance. Only to realize, that this is a trap, as they would face severe shore bombardment from the Korean chapter of Skyhookedian Squids navy. Not to mention extensive guerrilla warfare, but with slightly different tactics. Still, given the numbers of drones, it would probably only slow them down... The only hope of getting at least a chance of winning this was to use the opportunity to rally Asian people and encircle all this army. A risk and totally insane plan, proposed by Stan Dixon and Casey James, who were fighting in North Korea. Yet the insane times required insane measures.

And like this is not enough, the enemy started conducting some sort of special operation. Had they just sent an agent, taught to act like a drunk pothead with a gun, their plan would have gone totally unnoticed, however the insistance on a large escort of elite troops, plus an entity, hurling icicles at aircraft, which comes too close to specific area, and an area not being bombarded from orbit gave away, that the area near Pyongyang would be a starting ground for some sort of vile plan. Possibly even nuke in a briefcase or something. The measures had to be taken, and thus, the location of Paramount's Chosen deployment was bombarded, while several elite squads, such as Battle Bonded warband or Lambda Squad, led by Casey James and armed with best Skyhookedian weapons, such as PL-74 mk2 plasma rifles, gauss rifles or energy katanas, would go and investigate the area after the short bombardment ended. Hell, who knows, maybe they will meet Angelo and get surpried.

by **Eisenstern** » Sat May 30, 2020 6:57 am

【♜】The Tower【♜】
【Guild Hall, Council Wing】

The arrow made for a curious centerpiece atop the great, carved-stone table. Eight pairs of eyes had made their examination - the item had been passed around, peered at and pored over for quite some time now. Deliberations were in full swing - the Guildmaster took the floor.

"It is a curious thing. A key, of sorts - it serves to unlock latent power in those with the fortitude to wield it. The end-result is a crude sort of soul-projection - a tulpa under another name. Capabilities vary, and seem dependent on the user."

"So... it's like a miniature ascension?"

The woman who had piped up seemed almost bored - intermittently, she would draw a machete-esque implement and polish its blade, before replacing it within her cloak. Sparks sprung up in her hair on occasion.

"Not quite. More lens than battery - the capabilities it grants are technically already present. It just recombines existing assets. The actual mechanism is tied to some form of microorganism bound into the arrowhead."

The next speaker was shorter than the others - a pair of goggles perched precariously on her forehead, her bandoliers and toolbelts looked somewhat out of place among the room's remaining occupants. She had spent nearly the entire meeting fiddling with a tiny clockwork box - only now did she truly turn her attention to anything else of note.

"Contagious? Weaponizeable?"

"No and potentially, respectively. I've already sent analysis requests down to your department - you should find them upon your return. I'm sure you'll have plenty to look into. But that isn't the problem at present."

Kresge motioned to a gaunt, black-clad individual at the opposite end of the table. Their face, concealed behind a porcelain mask. Their voice, so quiet as to nearly be inaudible.

"There are more."

The first woman cocked her head.

"More problems? Or more arrows?"

"The latter. Five that we are immediately aware of."

"Ah. And I'm assuming we want to keep up demand for this thing."

Kresge nodded to both of them.

"Indeed. Most of them appear to be in the possession, to varying degrees of directness, of the Octavians and their allies."

"Ah. That'd be the murderbots?"

"Yes, them. A potentially useful market, so I don't want the relevant bridges just yet. At the same time, this is an interesting curio. It would do well to corner the market for it."

"Are they all on this one planet?"

"It would appear so."

"So... would a diversion help?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Weeeell, making the overall situation more chaotic would make it easier for us to jump in there and snatch up all the arrows."

"Correct. Though we'll be aiming to obtain as many as possible through more diplomatic means, I seriously doubt we'll be able to get them all. I still don't quite get where you're going with this, however. Are you offering to create a diversion?"

"Sort of. See, I've done a bit of digging into the situation, and I see an opportunity for a bit of a side project. Would help us get a chokehold on the overall situation. As an added bonus, we'd be destabilizing that big ol' gangster collective, which seems to be the primary operative arm the Octavians have got on this planet. And we'd be doing it clandestinely."

"Elaborate."

"Well, Vinz, y'see - criminal syndicates tend to generate a fair few loose ends. Ruthless hierarchy, ascension through backstabbing - that sorta thing tends to sow discontent. Usually that's kept in check via the usual pre-established structure, intimidation, random acts of violence... in this case, it helps that the guy at the top of the totem pole is really sneaky, nobody's ever actually seen him, and he most definitely has access to some kind of funky top-of-the-line... stand? Is that what they're meant to be called?"

"Apparently so."

"Yeah, one of them. Except now we have the means to generate more. To grant power without the need for lengthy training or demon pacts or anything. Not much use to us, but think about what an internal malcontent could do with that sort of thing."

"And you've identified one such malcontent?"

"Several. One or two stand out, though."

Reaching over the table, Kresge picked up the arrow between two fingers. Giving it one final twirl, he handed it to the now-grinning woman.

"I'd say something along the lines of "I hope you know what you're doing", but I know you know what you're doing. I hereby grant full clearance for whatever you've got planned, Ari."

"Much obliged, Vinz."

"And with that, I believe we're done. For now. That being said, follow-up ops will be brought up for execution within the foreseeable future. Any suggestions are to be routed directly to me. I thank you all for your time, ladies and gents."

One by one, they filed out of the room. And thus, things began to tick along.

The Following section was co-written with Il Passione.

【㊏】Earth (Raptureverse)【㊏】
【Hotel Moscow, Roanapur】

No news was good news anymore to Balalaika.

First she had to deal with this god damn alien invasion and the earthquake disrupting everything, then the shield came down and… the struggle was not pretty, and she lost way too many men to this whole calamity, until they told her it was too late.

No compensation from the boss, no fucking chance she gets to have a word out. At least that Mr. Cheng fucker had the balls to make a rash decision to fight back even when it fucked him over. The only reason the Boss wasn’t impaled on a radio tower with his scrotum shoved down his throat was the fucker was a Stand User; and that wasn’t something Balalaika could fight against, seeing what Ghiaccio did when she tried to retaliate by refusing supply and killing off a couple who were hired as enforcers.

She was hearing reports from both her subordinates and the news; Skyhooked was falling to some kind of mold, Switzerland had just fallen to some demigod and an army of vampires, and even before Revy, Rock and Roberta were recalled to Naples, they were sent to investigate a hole that got blasted several kilometers into the ground from orbit; and the last straw was when they got her further in chastity by allying with the Octavians.

Why her, of all people? Just because she was the biggest, cheapest druglord of Southeast Asia with ties to the Russian mafia, now nothing but a bitch in the face of a bunch of Italian wardrobe malfunctions with Ben 10 aliens floating next to them?

Her musings were interrupted by a light cough, followed by a casual “Hey there. Got a minute?”

Spinning around, she preemptively drew her pistol, leveling it at the shadowy figure in the corner of the room in under a second. Oddly enough, the figure clapped.

“Color me impressed. Guess the desk job hasn’t gotten to you yet.”

Balalaika seemed somewhat unnerved by the newcomer. “Well, what can ya do when all you’re left with a city that’s festered with crime like a leper’s sores… who the hell are you, anyways?” the Russian vet asked.

“At the moment, that’s not a very high-priority question. What matters is that I know who you are, what you’ve just been put through, and, more or less, what it is you want.”

Stepping out of the shadows, the intruder shrugged off their voluminous hood, revealing flowing black hair. A pale, surprisingly delicate face presented itself to the mob boss.

“And, lucky for you, I’m here to offer you some help.”

“Do you now?” Balalaika asked. “Give me one reason why I’m gonna trust some Assassin-lookin’ stalker who’s only achievement I know of is probably being the world’s greatest hide-and-seek player.”

“I’ll admit, this might not have been the greatest choice of entry. But I didn’t really have the time to go down to your reception, set up a meeting, get turned away by some goon, have to hold said goon at knifepoint until he actually lets me into the building, deal with a bunch of guards… I’ve run this sort of rodeo quite a few times. Not much payout. Anyway, you’ve been playing second fiddle to some Italian fashion model and his alien overlords, and now on top of taking your profits and control they’ve also taken some of your best subordinates. That sound about right?”

Balalaika lowered her pistol slightly, looking at her in a pleasant surprise. “...looks like you got the big picture of it… but what do you want with me, of all people? Are you fighting these bastards too?”

“Yes and no. I represent a group that hasn’t taken any sides in this whole alien invasion fiasco, and probably won’t. Taking sides isn’t really our schtick. This being said, I’d be willing to help you out for… oh, let’s call it “personal reasons”. Got a few questions for you first, though. First one being - do you want to get the Italians off your ass, your employees back in their rightful places, and some semblance of control over what’s technically meant to be your little slice of criminal empire?”

“Yes. Yes. And yes.” Balalaika said simply, tucking her pistol away. “And I wanna scalp the fucker who put me under this shit in the first place… that ‘Boss’ guy.”

“Good answer. Question numero dos - do you believe in magic?”

She threw her arms wide, wiggling her hands a little for mock-theatrical effect at the last word.

“Cheesy, I know. But a serious question.”

She chortled, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Yeaap… I’m guessing you’re one of those ‘Stand Users’, as they call it? Because the only reason you’re here is because that gay stripper showed up with one and now I’m stuck being his narcotics team’s healslut.”

“Nope. I’d never actually heard of a Stand until… what, two days ago? Ish. Anyway, no - my stuff’s my own. As it happens, these Stands are fairly crude and inflexible in the grand scheme of things. There’s many more worthwhile avenues of power. This being said, they’re kind of like a shortcut. All you need is a suitable trigger, and bam. Cool powers at your command. Granted, you have to survive the process, and what you actually get varies wildly. Whether or not the resultant ability is actually of any use is more or less up to luck.”

Balalaika then conjured up an idea. “Soo… what say you could help me by getting me one of those Stands? Or have you got some crazy, magical better idea?”

“As it happens, I brought a sample of sorts.”

Reaching into her cloak, she withdrew the Arrow.

“As I understand it, you just need to suffer a wound from this. Doesn’t have to be deep or life-threatening - a simple cut on the hand should be enough. As for alternatives, we could probably set you up with some additional stuff in the long-term, provided this little venture pays off. I’ll give a few warnings right now, though. There’s a chance you’ll just die painfully. Or end up with a power you can’t control, which ends up slowly killing you anyway. It all hinges on willpower, and a wee bit of luck. Also, I’ve taken the liberty of setting this up as a contract of action - don’t worry about what exactly that means. All you need to know right now is that from the moment you stab yourself, you’re obligated to go along with the deal. Which means all the usual stuff - silence clauses, implied loyalty, yada yada. And deviating from any of that can have fairly nasty consequences. Got all that?”

She took the arrow off of her, looking up at her with suspicion. “Alright… and what’s this deal exactly? This gives me a stand, you get my girls back here… what’s the catch?”

“It’s not actually set in stone yet, and we can work out the exact details once we’ve actually got everything in swing. Two things are important now, though. One - the aforementioned silence thing. This whole operation is between you and me. You’ll get resources, powers, whatever. Anything you’ll need, we can provide. But mentioning anything about where you’re getting any of this support, or anything regarding the deal at all, to anyone not involved, is an automatic deal-breaker. And two - we might ask for favours, on occasion. Directed strikes, hits, the smuggling of specific goods to specific places. Stuff you usually do, just with a specified target. You’ll have to follow along with those requests, no questions asked. We won’t be asking you for anything outside your typical bracket of operations or comfort zone, so don’t fret in that regard. And that’s about it, for the time being.”

She sighed, looking to the arrow, before snapping her fingers as two goons armed with Kalashnikovs arrived. “Alright… I’m gonna try this whole arrow thing. I’ll take your deal if that means I’m gonna kill the boss… but should this arrow kill me instantly, Vladimir here…” She said, the troop going behind the intruder and pointing the gun at her head. “...has every right to blow your head off, rape your ass, do whatever the hell he wants. But I’m sure you’ll take him out… after I’m dead. We go by a code of honour, and if he fucks up and tries to screw you over and I’m still alive… make sure he’s the test subject of my stand.” She then aimed for her stomach, jamming the arrow in and yelling out in agony as a new kind of energy overwhelmed her, the guards standing by as she slumped back in her chair, blood coming out initially as the arrow then pulled itself out… and then her wound quickly healed itself, leaving behind a mere scar as she fainted thereafter. One of the goons checked her pulse…

“...lucky girl. She’s alive, just knocked out for the moment. You’re free to go.” He said, Vladimir throwing down his gun in disappointment and stepping aside.

“Hmm. Seems she took to it. Oi, Vlad - here.”

She drew a playing card from within her cloak, and handed it to the Russian. It seemed to be a wholly ordinary, if somewhat ornately-designed, Queen of Spades.

“Tell her to burn this when she wants to get in touch again. A bit archaic, but hey.”

And with that, she walked out into the corridor, pausing next to Balalaika to pocket the Arrow once more. Anyone attempting to follow her would find her to be inexplicably gone - seemingly vanished into thin air as soon as she was out of sight.

Vladimir put the card on the desk before he nodded, looking at each other, unsure of what to do but wait for their boss to awaken again.

The Ascension of the Imperium IC (All Tech, TG for interest)

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