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Sentinels of Arcadia
E.D.Os, or Extra Dimensional Organisms, are creatures that originate in a different universe from our own, and come to our world through rips in the fabric of reality known as Rifts. Despite the fact that they have visited our world countless times, E.D.Os where only first officially documented on the 30th of June 1908, in Tunguska. Yes, the first officially documented E.D.O was witnessed during the Tunguska event. It was witnessed by Doctor Dante Day, a British member of a team of biologist visiting the region.
They were woken up early in the morning by gunfire, as the mercenaries had engaged with a strange beast noticeably larger than a man that had just appeared seemingly out of nowhere. The guns of the mercenaries who were hired to protect the biologists seemed to do nothing against it, as the beast tore through the mercenaries with ease. At this point many of the biologists had started to run, only to be ambushed by more of the beast. Dante could only watch from the bush that he fled to.
As one of the beasts neared him, they all stopped as something got their attention. It was then that another creature came from seemingly nowhere. This one could have been mistaken for a human at a distance, but Dante was close enough to tell it was no human. All Dante saw next was the humanoid engaging with the beasts and the sky started to crack before he blacked out. Dante would wake up a day later, in the bed of his home back in England. At first, Dante thought it was a dream, but eventually figured it was no dream.
While this was the first documented account of E.D.Os, as it was documented by Dante, no one would believe Dante when he spoke of what he witnessed. That would not stop Dante from investigating what happened himself, leading to a discovery that would shake him to his core. Dante was saved by the humanoid as the humanoid caused what would become known as the Tunguska event. He learned this when the humanoid came to him at his home, providing answers and offering to aid Dante in protecting his world.
Dante would try to inform the British government of what the humanoid told him, but of course they wouldn’t believe him, and soon after Dante found himself locked up in a mental institute. That would however change during the First World War. There were reports of strange beings from both Allied and Central Power forces, however the large majority of these were seen as delusions. Until 1915, when something would happen that would open the eyes of the British government.
On the 12th of August 1915, one fifth of the Royal Norfolk Regiment were isolated during an attack during the Gallipoli Campaign, only to disappear. That is the official story. It is also said that this fifth managed to drive back their attackers and pursued them through the mist into a burning forest, only to disappear. While this is closer to the truth, the truth was far less mysterious. This entire fifth did not disappear, as survivors of this fifth of the Royal Norfolk Regiment returned and told what really happened, only for the British government to cover up what happened.
The fifth of the Royal Norfolk Regiment that disappeared did in fact follow their enemies through the mist and into a forest, but the forest was not burning. Not long after entering the forest did gunfire and screaming from the Turkish force they had repelled begin. They were not firing at the fifth of the Royal Norfolk Regiment, no, they were fighting something else. Something lurking in the mist covered forest. Eventually the gunfire and screaming ceased, and the fifth of the Royal Norfolk Regiment found the remains of the enemy they had been following. The Turks had been slaughtered, with limbs, blood and gore everywhere. It was then that the fifth of the Royal Norfolk Regiment was attacked by whatever was lurking in the mist. The survivors only survived due to luck as they fled from the mist covered forest.
Events of similar strangeness to what happened on the 12th of August 1915 occurred, within 22 days of each other. The first was on the 17th of September 1917 when the Zebrina was found beached on Rozel Point in France without her crew and no official trace of what happened. Of course, what happened was covered up after the only survivor told the British government what happened. The second was what would become known as the Mystery of Celtic Wood, when 71 men of the 10th Battalion of the 1st Australian Division disappeared on the 9th of October 1917. Like with the “disappearance” of the fifth of the Royal Norfolk Regiment, what truly happened was covered up as a mysterious disappearance. However, there were no survivors to tell what happened, but the corpses told a good enough story.
These three events would lead to the British government returning to Dante, and willing to listen to what he had to say. So, Dante explained everything he knew, and was asked by the British government to aid them in investigating and defending against what would become known as E.D.Os. And so, the highly classified the E.D.T.A.E.D., or the “Extra Dimensional Threat Assessment and Elimination Division”, was founded during the First World War on the 2nd of November 1917 with the purpose of; investigate, study and protect. the E.D.T.A.E.D. would spend the next few months investigating and studying events caused by E.D.Os, as they did not yet have ways to detect, capture or kill E.D.Os.
However, in late February 1918, Dante and a team of scientists employed by the E.D.T.A.E.D. developed a way to predict the appearance of an E.D.O, track E.D.Os and kill E.D.Os after consulting the humanoid E.D.O that saved him before. This lead the E.D.T.A.E.D. to engaging and killing their first E.D.O, on the 6th of March 1918. The E.D.O had attacked the USS Cyclops, and slaughtered the entire crew before the E.D.T.A.E.D. could arrive. But once the E.D.T.A.E.D. arrived, a battle for the USS Cyclops began again. The force sent by the E.D.T.A.E.D. would come out victorious, but suffer heavy losses. Knowing that there would be questions regarding what happened to the USS Cyclops, Y suggested that the E.D.T.A.E.D. and the British government not hide what happened from the American government, and to reveal the truth of E.D.Os to the American government, especially since they had physical proof in the form of a body.
And so, the truth of the E.D.Os was revealed to the American government, and the E.D.T.A.E.D. was introduced to them. The American government was not the only government that the E.D.T.A.E.D. would reveal themselves and the truth of the E.D.Os to. By the end of the First World War and the founding of the League of Nations, the E.D.T.A.E.D. and E.D.Os were known to the governments of all the major powers among the Allies. In the interwar years, the E.D.T.A.E.D. would be reorganized from being an agency of the British government to an international organization that received funding, manpower, and equipment from the League of Nations and its members while remaining secret from the public. With this reorganization, the E.D.T.A.E.D. would also experience a change in names, turning into the I.C.E.D.I.S., or the “International Commission for Extra Dimensional Investigation and Security”.
The I.C.E.D.I.S wouldn’t get involved in politics, as its job was the same as it had always been; investigate, study, and protect. Politics are unavoidable however, as during the Second World War, the Axis had not only pulled out of supporting I.C.E.D.I.S, but had begun to experiment and had success with summoning and controlling E.D.Os as weapons. This forced I.C.E.D.I.S to aid the Allies in the war, countering Axis controlled E.D.Os. These E.D.Os were not always the monstrous E.D.Os, in some cases, the E.D.Os possessed humans and other creatures. However, with the aid of I.C.E.D.I.S, the Allies would still win.
The years after the Second World War saw I.C.E.D.I.S oversight being transferred from the now dissolved League of Nations to the newly founded United Nations. Due to the increased prevalence of E.D.Os during the Second World War, I.C.E.D.I.S would receive greater support and funding from the United Nations. However, as the years passed, the number of E.D.O appearances and E.D.O events started to decrease, and due to the decrease, funding and support started to dwindle. It continued like that till the turn of the 21st century, when the I.C.E.D.I.S was barely even a shadow of its former self. The only reason they were not disbanded was that energy signatures used to predict and detect the appearance of E.D.Os never disappeared, indicating that there was still a chance they’d reappear.
But things are looking to change once again, as of the year 2051, these Extra Dimensional energies have been starting to increase, in a very specific area of the world. This increased activity has drawn the attention of the I.C.E.D.I.S to this very specific area. This very specific area is a massive artificial island city floating around in the Pacific, the city of Arcadia.
Work on the artificial island city of Arcadia started in 1974 by an unknown organization, and continues to this day. As of the present, the artificial island city of Arcadia is considered its own sovereign state as it floats around the Pacific,and is about 7,500 square kilometres with a population of about 25 million. The city has become a centre of learning and technological advancement, making it incredibly wealthy for its size, as well as well defended.
Anyways, as of the year 2051, the Extra Dimensional energies have been starting to increase in intensity around Arcadia. It would build until midnight on New Years Eve of 2051, and therefore the start of New Years Day of 2052, when there was a sudden burst in the energies, unnoticed by the general populace due to New Years Day celebrations. It was however noticed by the I.C.E.D.I.S and other organizations. It was unknown at the time, but a new type of E.D.O, similar to the possessive E.D.Os witnessed in the Second World War had come to our world with that energy burst.
This type of E.D.O would only get named once the first one made its appearance, a few days after the initial energy burst. These became known to I.C.E.D.I.S as S.E.D.Os or Symbiotic Extra Dimensional Organisms. The first S.E.D.O was discovered when I.C.E.D.I.S detected the arrival of another E.D.O in Arcadia, only to detect the sudden arrival of what they fought to be a second one in nearly the same exact location as the first. Upon investigation, I.C.E.D.I.S agents found a dead E.D.O and an injured civilian looking down at it as Extra Dimensional energy that was detected emanating from the civilian disappeared. After questioning the civilian, and running a few tests, the first recorded S.E.D.O was discovered. The S.E.D.O discovered was also found to be sentient, and explained that they came to help protect the world from a threat far greater than the world had ever faced, a new threat from the beyond. The S.E.D.O also told I.C.E.D.I.S that it was not alone in coming here, that a number of its kind also came, some to help protect the world, some to see its end hastened, and some to establish a new life for themselves.
Two months later, a few more S.E.D.Os have come to the attention of I.C.E.D.I.S but others remain dormant. The I.C.E.D.I.S has made it their responsibility to find out the identity of every S.E.D.O that arrived in Arcadia, who is serving as their hosts, and what their intentions are. They are ready to stand with those wanting to protect the world. But will it be enough?
Rai “Volt-Strike” Raider
23:36, January 16th, 2052
Random Construction Site
Section 297, Arcadia
23:36, January 16th, 2052
Random Construction Site
Section 297, Arcadia
“Another night, another fight…” The silver haired young man sighed to himself as he stood outside one of the many construction sites of Section 297. He stood there, in the starless, rainy night for one reason, and one reason. The boy with the comic book name, Rai Raider, was here to do what he was being paid to do. Investigate and eliminate E.D.Os. Though, with Rai it was more eliminate than investigate. As he stood there, Rai reached into his pocket and pulled out a rather simple looking earpiece with a mic. After putting the earpiece in and activating it, Rai spoke again. HQ. Volt-Strike here. Construction site. Rainy night without a single star. Not a bad night for hunting E.D.Os. Do you have an idea on the numbers? Alright… I can handle that alone.”
Without giving them time to respond Rai removed the earpiece and returned it to his pocket. He knew what they would have said; wait for support, do not engage by yourself, and other variations of such sayings. While he could understand why they insisted on having no one engage with E.D.Os alone. But Rai didn’t care. He would fight them alone, and come out either stronger or deader.
”I’d understand maybe two or three… But seven? Isn’t that a bit much?” A familiar voice rang through Rai’s head. ”I may have granted you power, but you do have limits…”
“Limits are meant to be tested. Limits are destined to be broken.” Rai spoke, addressing the voice in his head, “Call it arrogance. Call it foolishness. Call it whatever you like V-Load, but it won’t change a thing… nothing will.”
”I know. I know.” V-Load spoke with a sigh, ”But… you know, just remember our deal.”
There was no response from Rai, instead he just started to walk forward. Into the construction site, with electricity sparking from around his body, Rai went, ready for a fight. The only light was from street lights outside of the construction site and from the electricity sparking from Rai’s body, leaving Rai to fight with rain and relative darkness. While not ideal conditions, it didn’t matter. The E.D.Os would come to him, and he’d take them.
Not long after entering the construction site, Rai cane to a stop. Standing in the open, surrounded by equipment and the framework for the under construction building to his back, Rai heard them. Through the sound of rain splashing off of the steel of the framework and of the equipment, he heard it, footsteps. Turning around to the footsteps, he saw them crawling out from the dark as he slipped on his brass knuckles.
E.D.Os. Specifically F.E.D.Os due to their size. They were about the size of a grey wolf, and even with the limited light, Rai could make out some notable features. Their head looked to be a mix between a skink and a wolf, covered with what looked to be rough, fleshy scales that almost looked to be rotten with a necrotic black colour. The lower teeth protruded from the mouth, with the two front lower teeth being the largest . The four eyes glowed with an ice cold blue with horizontal slit irises. Its body was gorilla-esque with the necrotic black rough, fleshy scales. The arms were relatively bulky, covered by the same necrotic black scales that covered the majority of the body. The arms ended in hands that looked to be a mix of a gorilla hand and the feet of a komodo dragon covered in blood red smooth, almost plastic looking scales and ending with black claws. The legs were just as stumpy as a gorilla’s, but more reptilian, ending in a more reptilian foot, but sharing the same colouring and claws as the arms. Finally, the F.E.D.Os Rai was sizing up had tails. The tails were reptilian, and lacked any strange features while the necrotic black scales continued down it.
A moment after the silent stare down, the F.E.D.Os, that Rai would start thinking of as Necro-Apes, roared and started to charge towards Rai. Seven in total, three coming straight at him, two swinging to his right, and two swinging to his left. Even though Rai waited for a moment, he wasn’t going to just wait for the Necro-Apes to be on top of him before he acted. Especially since they looked to be attempting to surround him.
With a tap of his right heel, Rai was off. Surging forward with inhuman speed, he allowed electricity to shroud his full body. His surge came to a stop as his left fist made contact with the head of one of the Necro-Apes. The electrical shock along with the speed of the strike and the brass knuckles was enough to knock the Necro-Ape to the ground. Lifeless.
One. Rai thought.
Rai then instantly turned to drive his fist into yet another Necro-Ape that leapt at him, knocking it back into a solid beam of the framework with a whimper. The instant after Rai’s fist made contact with the Necro-Ape, he pulled his elbow back, into another Necro-Ape, knocking it away. He used the momentum of the elbow to turn himself around to face the other four Necro-Apes as they ran towards him rather grouped up.
Once again, Rai surged forward, and struck at the nearest charging Necro-Ape. But not with his fist. No, this time he drove his right knee into its neck, knocking it a foot or so back to the ground lifeless.
Two.
The instant that Rai’s right foot returned to the ground, he swung both of his arms out to his side and upwards. In doing this, he drove the outsides of his fists into the sides of the lower jaw of two Necro-Apes that where now beside him. This was followed by a notable snap and a whimper as the two unfortunate Necro-Apes staggered back, now with broken jaws.
As the two unfortunate Necro-Apes staggered back, Rai was forced to jump back, as the fourth charging Necro-Ape lunged at him, with its claws outstretched. With the speed and agility granted to him through his powers, Rai was easily able to avoid this Necro-Ape, however, he would not be able to avoid the Necro-Ape, which was the one that he knocked back with his elbow previously, lunging at him from behind.
That doesn’t mean that the Necro-Ape would draw his blood. As Rai jumped back, he heard a bullet wizz just past his ear, and landed right between the eyes of the Necro-Ape behind him, rendering its head into pieces of gore covered in green blood. Rai did not panic however, as he had a strong feeling that he knew who it was that fired the shot, and could not afford to panic at the moment.
Two to One.
As Rai’s feet touched the ground, he surged forward to the Necro-Ape he faced, as the Necro-Ape smashed its hands to the ground in rage. The Necro-Ape showed no discipline, but what could be expected from an animalistic monster, and so in its fit of rage, it left itself open. Once again, Rai drove his fist into the head of the Necro-Ape. And once again, the combination of speed, electric shock, and brass knuckles was enough to knock the life out of it.
Three to One.
As Rai turned to face the remaining three Necro-Apes, yet another shot rang out, as a bullet took out the one that had just recovered from being knocked into a beam of the framework, it’s green blood splattered onto said beam with its head nowhere in sight.
Three to Two.
The remaining two Necro-Apes wasted no time, as the moment the shot rang out, they charged Rai in sync, and when they were close enough, one leapt at him, while the other remained on the ground. Rai had no time to surge forward, and even if he jumped back, he’d still get nicked. So instead, he raised his arms up to protect his face, jumped back and prepared for the pain that was coming. Another shot rang out, as the Necro-Ape on the ground fell to the ground, headless.
Three to Three.
Rai remained silent as he felt the claws of the remaining Necro-Ape cut his arm. However, the cut was not severe due to the fact that Rai had jumped out of the way for the most part. But the pain was incredible. Far more painful than such a cut should have been. Being distracted by the pain, Rai fell onto his back. The Necro-Ape took this opportunity, and lunged once again at Rai, landing on his chest, digging its claws into the young man. Rai would've punched at it, if it hadn’t pinned his arms with a strength beyond its size. All Rai could do was struggle as the Necro-Ape opened its jaws, ready to bite through his neck.
And then one final shot rang out, the Necro-Ape’s head was no more and the bullet struck the ground a foot from Rai’s head. Covered in the gore and green blood of the Necro-Ape, Rai pushed it’s lifeless, headless corpse off him, and slowly stood up.
Three to Four.
”I know your listening. I said I could handle this alone.” Rai spoke in his head, looking to the direction that the bullets came from. A nearly completed skyscraper from the looks of it.
”That was handling it? You were lucky I was in the area.” a female voice spoke within his head. ”Look kid. You die, it makes my job harder. Besides, it is I.C.E.D.I.S policy that you never engage E.D.Os alone. Plus seeing that you don’t understand what is possible, someone’s gotta make sure your ass survives.”
”Ah, why don’t you just fuck off? Old hags like you should be knitting sweaters…” Rai spat back, raising his middle finger towards were the bullets came from, before turning his back and walking away.
”Excuse me? I’m only 10 years older than your ungrateful ass.” the female voice shot back, ”Your lucky we are on the same side and that I have a policy of not eliminating non-targets even if they piss me off…. I’ll make the report, you just get your ass back to HQ to get those wounds looked at.”
”Yeah. Yeah. Whatever.” Rai spoke one last time before disappearing into the rainy night.
Director Kahlan Day
09:25, January 17th, 2052
I.C.E.D.I.S Headquarters, Director’s Office
Section 4, Arcadia
09:25, January 17th, 2052
I.C.E.D.I.S Headquarters, Director’s Office
Section 4, Arcadia
Section 4, one of the first sections of the city of Arcadia. It was constructed with many green spaces, and plenty of space for residences and the business and services needed to maintain the green spaces and provide for the residents of Arcadia living on Section 4. And so, a certain property found on the edge of Section 4, was not too suspicious. That being if one was willing to look past the heavy security gate and ten foot security fence around the property.
This property was an office building belonging to the Arcadian Department of Waste Management. At least that was what the public knew about it. In reality, this building was just a cover for something much greater. This building was the tip of the iceberg that was the I.C.E.D.I.S Headquarters. Below the simple office of the Arcadian Department of Waste Management was a sizable base under the surface. The I.C.E.D.I.S Headquarters was equipped with the most advanced technology possible, and its own power supply. It also had many facilities such as an armoury, training facilities, a medical facility, a containment facility, barracks, an automated factory, garage and command centre along with other facilities and offices.
One of these offices obviously belonged to the Director of the I.C.E.D.I.S, specifically the office that looked over the command centre. A single, large wooden desk could be found, with a window overlooking the command centre behind it. On the desk was just a computer, a few writing instruments and a cigar ashtray. Multiple chairs could be seen around a coffee table in front of the desk. Two bookshelves could be seen against the walls, with an alcohol cabinet between them. Diplomas, metals and pictures could be found decorating the walls. However, the two largest pictures could be found in frames on top of the alcohol cabinet, one a full family photo of four generations of Days and the other being a photo of the Director’s daughter.
And behind the Director’s desk, one would find her. The eighth Director of I.C.E.D.I.S and the youngest person to take up the role of Director up to date. Kahlan Day. One of the most field active Directors since the founding of the E.D.T.A.E.D, while also being a single mother. Anyways, her she was, in her office, looking over a report regarding the appearance of a group of E.D.Os the night before. Of course, she was not alone.
“So first off… Rai. How are the injuries?” Kahlan said as she put the report down, looking straight into the eyes of Rai Raider, who was sitting down on one of the chairs in her office. “I assume you had them looked at?”
“I had them looked at.” Rai said with a sigh, “And I’m alright. Got all patched up. Nothing fancy about the claws of those Necro-Apes, other than they seemed to be able to stimulate the pain receptors beyond what is normal.”
“Very well then…” Kahlan said with a sigh before glaring at Rai with the ‘you’re about to die’ look that she was well known for. Even after two months, Rai had yet to get used to it, and still shrank back when she gave that glare. “I am getting tired of telling you this… For the nth time, I don’t care how skilled you think you are, I don’t care that you are a S.E.D.O host, you can not fight ANY number of E.D.Os of ANY classification alone. It is to great of a risk. Look kid. You got potential. Potential that I’d hate to see wasted when you get your ass killed because you are to damn arrogant for your own good. And if that happened, I’d kill your dead ass twice over. Understand?”
“Yes.” Rai said with a shrug, “I understand what you are saying. But, you also should realize that I’m not going to just change like that. Call it arrogance. Call it foolishness. Call it whatever you like, it won’t change it…”
“And nothing will. You say that all the time…” Kahlan said with a sigh, “But I doubt that. Listen up kid. Until further notice, I am removing you from the field. You will be confined to HQ and will only be approved for field operations by me. Approval will only come once you have learned that we do not engage alone, or during emergencies. Do you understand?”
“But…” Rai stood up now, before sighing, “Understood.”
“Excellent.” Kahlan said with a smirk, “Now, you are free to go.”
With that Rai left her alone in her office as she stood up and looked out the window of her office down on the control centre.
“Hopefully that will help him.” Kahlan sighed, “Hopefully.”
