The Coating 1: The Metal of the HeaVens (Closed)

[A m e n r i a]

Click on the banner to go to the OOC Thread

There's always that feeling you get when you go on an adventure. Your heart pounds to the promise of discovery as you take each step further from your comfort zone. I am Bodhi Kulkarni. I've lived different lives, but I remember that day like it was yesterday

Somewhere in India
??? B.C.

A crowned man leads his group, charging on horseback across the desert. The moonless sky seemed awfully quiet, save for a single streak of light the people were following. The beating of hooves against sand left dust in the warriors' wake as they push through in service of their curiosity about the object dashing through the heavens. It seemed to fly lower and lower as the people closed in, until it finally crashed before them. They felt it in their hearts - it was the start of something big. Was it a message from the gods? A sign? No - it was a piece of a puzzle embedded in METAL.

Box : A character's inner thoughts/narration

[Crysuko]

A materials Lab, central Crysuko
"we are calling it Sample EM1 for the moment" explained scientist Robert Beauregard to his superior who followed beside him. "We acquired it from the mountain ranges in the state of Finaxi, but the deposits are very abnormally shaped. According to analysis, they're not shaped like clusters and veins like most metals, they are found exceptionally pure, and appear in abnormal shapes which look like explosions, I would say"

The two men enter a room after swiping their keycards, a clump of silvery metal sits inside a bell jar. "All very interesting, Doctor, but I have one burning question on my mind. What are it's physical properties?" he asked, gesturing to it. Beauregard reached aside for a report, starting to read it "we have found that testing samples taken from object EM1 are exceptional in nature. very high electrical conductivity with low resistence, very high tensile and compressive strength, almost triple that of aerospace grade titanium, as well as a melting point which requires plasmas in order to cut and shape" he read, a notable enthusiasm in his voice. "I have my own hypothesis to add" he continued "judging by the shape of the deposits and how close they are to the surface, they may well be extraterrestrial in nature, deposted here by meteor impacts."

Martin Freeman, the director clapped his hands together and rubbed them, his face lightening "Then we must set up a mining operating at once! imagine the possibilities, comrade doctor. For science, for industry, perhaps even military. This could well be the ace in the hole needed to make world socialism a reality!"

Several months later, mining operation south of Mazzim
"Comrade Director" a gopher addressed Freeman, holding a report. "the latest incident report has come, there are tremors measuring up to five on the richter scale, as far north as Meinoda, south has given similar reports from Chapparell". Freeman took the report and skimmed over it, unconcerned "Nothing to worry about" he blustered "the quakes are infrequent and low intensity, casualties are few and aren't serious. This project will give us the power we need to liberate the world!", the party line strongly ringing inside him.

Said intern sighed, it was impossible to get through to him. "Second report is that number two coolant pipe is out for repair, one of pumps burst it's safety valve and the entire system has to be checked and repaired". Freeman sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose "fine, fine. Just tell them to get it over with quickly, we need maximum throughput if we are to meet extraction targets for this month"

Somewhere at the back of his mind, Freeman heard a small but reasoned voice. A voice telling him that he was the antagonist in this situation, blindly marching the nation and people into disaster. What callous fool ignores earthquakes? he took a swig of coffee, and began to read the report in more detail, he knew it was all for good, but it never hurt to have all the facts and figures...

[A m e n r i a]

That ship..it was made of Vajra, the very same metal my weapons and armour are. The very same metal that gave me, my wife, and our worst enemy a different path of reincarnation. We keep on being reborn as humans, with our memories intact. Still, when I drifted from one life to the next, I would catch glimpses..glimpses of something...Unthinkably horrible

Bodhi Kulkarni's Vision

The skies burned red as the city was engulfed in flames. Patrolling the streets were guards, covered head to toe in black armour, their bodies shifting as if they were not single entities, but a swarm of small insects moulded into a certain shape. Women in masks chased down men, attacking them with a variety of weapons, from machetes and knives to improvised weapons like bats. Standing tall in the midst of it all was a statue of a winged man spreading his arms with a menacing scowl on his face and antlers on his head.

Bodhi Kulkarni's Mansion, South Asia, Empire of Amenria

The Indian hero abruptly woke up, with his wife still sleeping soundly next to him. He got dressed and headed to his laboratory, where artifacts, mostly Indian are on display in glass cases. He takes out a case from a nearby cabinet and placed it on a table. He opened the case, revealing three pieces of stone, each one with a crude painting, akin to those found in caves. One had a picture of a circle. Another had a crescent, and the last one had a sun. He took them out of the case and found that there were actually four stones. The fourth one had a star on it.

Box : A character's inner thoughts/narration

[Crysuko]

control room, project Inferno
A technician worriedly looked at his screen, of the two pipes bringing the mineral rich slurry to the surface, No2 output pipe was reporting abnormally high pressure, twice that of No1. He sighed, knowing that a malfunction at this stage would be catastrophic. Just as the train of thought went through his mind, it was violently derailed by a loud, echoing bang.

He looked back down, the pressure had doubled again, and this much output and pressure couldn't be handled by the system! A blowout! Every drillers worst nightmare, if Deepwater Horizon had taught the world anything. Shortly after the first bang, there was several more, and the output line supposed to lead to a refinery burst its safety valves before failing completely.

Several workmen were violently thrown back, nuts and bolts flew. This was followed shortly by the same sudden an violent pressure spike on No1 output. Soon, the entire drill head was flooded with sludge.

"Shut it down!" Shouted the foreman over the chaos "cut the power to the drill and seal the line!". As he ordered this, he and a few others, waist deep in hot mud began heaving the manual control of the output valve shut. Eventually, the blowout was contained, but a dozen people were injured, the facility was trashed and they needed answers.

The foreman grabbed the technician by the shoulders. "What happened!? How could a blowout as violent as this have happened!?". The younger man swallowed and formed an answer. "According to my screen, No2 pipe suddenly jumped to twice its normal pressure before exponentially increasing a minute later, followed shortly by No1 pipe. But the pumps never increased in power! I can't explain it!"

It would take weeks to clean the place up and repair everything, and a full report of what exactly happened and how was also demanded. The government and director were shocked, they had taken every precaution against this.

[A m e n r i a]

Somewhere near Mazzim

As if walking through an invisible door, a young Asian woman with blonde, shoulder-length hair seemingly appeared from thin air, visibly worried. "Hey, you guys, you gotta st-oh..I'm too late, aren't I?" she took a while to look at her surroundings. People were hurt, pieces of equipment and tools were scattered about, and before staring at the mess too long, she turned to whom she thought was in charge, the person wearing slightly different clothing than the rest of the crew.

"O-oh, eum, hi! I'm Gatekeeper from the Starchild Sorority!" she bowed to him, then continued before he could reply. "A-anyways, the stuff you're trying to mine here, they're waay unstable, so you gotta leave them alone until Father or anyone else from the Amenrian government says it's safe!" Her phone started vibrating, and she took it out of her pocket, glancing at it before putting it back in her pocket. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I gotta go now. Bye!" She waved goodbye, before disappearing the same way she came in.

Pakochengan, home of the Kochengian Arbiter Troops

A slim woman of average height levitated several centimetres above the floor. She was wearing a skintight suit, which was predominantly white, with parts coloured pink here and there, as well as glowing, pulsing veins of pink along. In the middle of her chest was a circular emblem with what seems like a logo shaped like a cat's head on it. Her hair was long and black, tied in a ponytail. She had a piece of equipment that resembles earphones, complete with a mic and cat ears. "Xiao Mao Mao, I am pulling you from active duty for the time being. I have a special mission for you, a personal one. I need you to keep this arrangement secret, especially from your fellow Earth people." said the deep voice coming from the figure before her. He was the size of a small child and had the tail, paws, fur and head of a cat. His brown hair had streaks of black. His whiskers were long, grey, and curved downwards, a sign of old age among his kind. He had a white robe on, and on it was the same emblem the woman had on her chest. Like her, he was levitating.

"Ehh, this isn't going to be happy and cheery, is it?" the woman replied, stroking the back of her neck. "There is something stirring in the dark, every corner of the universe whispers about it, something coming to your home world.. the cat-like being produces a holographic image of Earth, with a blinking spot on a certain coordinate. "...and we must not let it.

Surprised, Mao Mao was taken aback. "Wait a sec, those coordinates, isn't that-" she was cut short by her superior. "Is there a problem, Miss Xiao?" "No, Sir. Is there anything else?" "Be careful, I've seen various threats to the universe, and I don't know what we're dealing with right now."

blue: spoken in English
green: spoken in Chinese

[Crysuko]

At the apparition, the foreman listened as she rattled off her warning before vanishing. He blinked, and sat down, holding his head before making his way to the infirmiry. "I must've hit my head" he explained "or breathed in some fumes, I saw...a girl appear out of thin air, act kinda skittish and then vanish". the 2 doctors looked at each other.

"Comrade foreman, there may be more to it than that. most of the crew is reporting a similar apparition appearing." explained one of them. "what did she say?" asked the other. the foreman composed himself before answering "Gatekeeper from the Starchild Sorority, the metal we're extracting is dangerous, and to leave it alone unless we recieve permission from the Amenrian government" he stated flatly, as one of the doctors took notes.

The notes were passed on to the director, and from there to the government. by the end of the day, foreign secretary Kadahan Malell was reading them. He picked up his phone. "Secure a diplomatic channel to the Amenrian foreign department, I need to have a word with them and quickly". A pang of anxiety rose in his gut. something, somehow was giving him a terrible feeling about this...

[A m e n r i a]

The Roost, several kilometres off the coast of Greenland

A tall spire stands atop a man-made island, a literal ivory tower glistening under the moonlight. Waves crashed agains the island's borders, but the place was otherwise quiet. Xiao descended from the sky, slowly and carefully, still wearing the same suit. She landed on the concrete surface of the island and started walking towards the tower's front door. She knocked a few times and called out. "Hello, anyone home?" No response. She stepped back and looked up to what seems to be a camera sitting right above the door.


"Huh, that's weird. The thing isn't on. Then again, I've been getting weird vibes about this whole mission. Well, I guess the stealth approach's out." Clenched into a fist, her hand moved before her, creating a translucent pink construct of a mecha engulfing her whole body, which punched the tower's door. Despite its impact, the door didn't open, but showed minor signs of damage. "Might need more power."

Foreign Minister Miao Zeshi's office, Pearl Palace, Empire of Amenria

A man with neat, slicked hair sat on his chair opposite a finely-carved desk. His skin was bright and smooth, even for someone from his nation. He had a thin moustache and a thin body. He looked like a man in his twenties, despite being well over 40. His smartphone, which sat idle on his chest pocket, vibrated and rang, prompting him to pick it up. "Yes, hello." he said to the other person on the phone. "That's unfortunate, but why tell this to me? Mining operations on other nations isn't my specialty...The Starchild Sorority? Why would they be involved...Alright, connect me to the representative from Crysuko, have them tell me their side of the story."

[Crysuko]

"I'll explain it thusly" sighed Malell, resting his chin on a free hand "we found deposits of a new metal set into many small deposits, we injected water into the area to liquefy the sediment, at which point it would be extracted". He paused, choosing his words.

"Some time ago, the extraction pumps experienced a massive power surge causing a destructive blowout, the mess is still being cleaned up even now. Shortly thereafter, this strange individual appeared practically rubbing our noses in it. I'll be frank with you, the state security agency is...unhappy. Many think she, or the organisation she's connected to is responsible"

He took a sip of his drink "now here's the thing, we were pointed in this direction, and here we are." His tone hardened. "Far be it for me to question the black operations of other nations, lord knows my own past is rather checkered, but tell this group that 20 people have been hospitalised, 3 comatose"

Meanwhile, project inferno
"Comrade foreman, we've completed our secondary analysis and...I think we've found the cause of the blowout. You see, one of the tremors we thought was minor actually damaged the control landlines from the power plant, and a second tremor broke the sheath on the cables, causing them to short circuit when exposed to the wet soil. That's why the power skyrocketed and couldn't be brought down from here"

"Are measures being taken to prevent this from happening again?"

"Of course, new cables with thicker, shock proof cladding along with external pads have just arrived and are being installed. Repairs to the extraction head are going on schedule, and the prognosis for the injured is generally positive"

"Good, good. I can only hope this will be the last of our troubles..."

[A m e n r i a]

Foreign Minister Miao Zeshi's office, Pearl Palace, Empire of Amenria

On the phone, the Miao covener listened to the foreman, taking in as much as he could. He was grateful he studied English as hard as his sister in college, and it came to be very useful in his current lime of work. A stern expression came to his face when the other person mentioned the organisation that must be the Starchild Sorority, meaning it must be serious.

He was already given information on the subject beforehand. Not much, apparently, only the fact that the pings on his multiversal map must be watched and protected. No mention of why or what they are. When the foreman is done, he began to speak.

I'm sorry to hear about your men's injuries. To prevent further incidents, I strongly recommend that you keep the site on lockdown for the time being. As Hui Qing, otherwise known as Gatekeeper has mentioned, it would be best to halt excavation until we send our representative there. I would also recommend a security presence along the perimeter. You may not be the only one after those minerals."

The Roost, several kilometres off the coast of Greenland

Maomao floated through the now open door, looking around the large halls filled with various objects, trinkets of the Heavenly Emperor's past battles and friendships. On one wall were trophies small enough to mount on a shelf - the head of a robot that looks eerily similar to a human skull, with red eyes that seem like they could blast anyone nearby at any time, an intricately designed lighter, primarily purple with golden carvings, and other miscellaneous knick-knacks. On the other side of the room were costumes from Tianshi's time as the villain Karma, and..is that a person?

"Okay, time to find out which of these weird creepy stuff got the Kochengian Council worried.." "I'm afraid I can't let you do that." a female voice with a Russian accent was heard from behind Maomao, followed by a quick strike to the back. Thrown several metres forward, Maomao picked herself up, and looked at her attacker.

A round face with a straight nose, long, wavy, black hair parted in the middle showing her forehead. Tall, well-endowed figure dressed in a tight, black bodysuit with the symbol of the Ramadhan Family on the chest and cut in the belly, revealing her Mark of the Starchildand her 11 abs, a dark grey cape on the back, and similarly dark boots. There's no doubt. This was Switch, the nanite princess.

"I'm sorry Miss Xiao, I got orders from Father. Nobody goes in, nobody goes out."

[Democratic Exodian Territories]

New Collective City's "Trade Sector", Drarta Island, Democratic Exodian Territories

"Where you going, Dad?"

William Shang was just beginning to walk out the door, straightening his light blue tie, when his pajama-clad 7-year-old son piped up and hugged his pant leg- William Jr. staring up at his father with those big brown eyes and youthful grin.
'He looked much more like his mother', Shang thought, smiling in return as he bent down to tenderly kiss him and tousled his hair.

"Daddy's going to meet his friend." Elizabeth Shirelle piped up, with 5-year old Harry and 7-year-old Rosella around her as she busied herself with a hearty bacon-and-eggs breakfast for them. "Love you, Willy." Shang strode back into their apartment just to give her a sweet kiss goodbye.
"Tell me how Henry's doing."

"That I will- Love you, Eliza."

"Say bye to Daddy!" Shirelle prodded the children.
"Bye, Daddy"
"Love you, Daddy!"

Shang gave them a cheerful smile as he walked out the door, waving.

...From the years behind the lines Asha-Wang to the years behind the desk as Governor, Shang had never imagined he'd achieve this.
It was all too damn perfect- and he couldn't have asked for more, really.

Taking the elevator down into the street, it was a two-block walk to a private warehouse that he held the keys to. Some people would recognize him- some offering a "good morning" that he returned. Even after his governance he still felt he had to retain his charismatic image- if not to give something new to everyone's day.

Glancing at the trundling, darkly-painted BMW X3 next to the warehouse that he knew were filled with the men in black he'd been accustomed to being protected by, and gave a noticable salute to the tinted glass windshield.

Shang proceeded to then retrieve a key card from a lanyard, opening a heavy security door and slipping inside, turning off the alarm system and letting the automatic lights flicker on.

In here were his rather guilty pleasures, the lavish luxury he helped himself to behind the scenes. The things had long been a passion of his though he'd never gotten the chance to experience it until the success of Golden Star, his former money baby- and such had been put on hold again when his duty as a national servant took hold.
A fourth of his fortune went to his family, a fourth to investments, another fourth to charity- this is where the last fourth had settled.

Shang walked briskly past the lines of vintage cars and high-powered personal vehicles, numbering at least thirty- very little of the overly flashy and garish "modern" sports offerings were seen, with most of his pieces from the 1960s to the 1990s. Moving past a red 1997 Nissan 180SX and glancing at a white Toyota AE86 Trueno and a cream Lada Riva VAZ-2107, he made his choice.

Slipping behind the wheel of a forest-green 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1, he put his messenger bag in the leather passenger seat and started the engine, revving it once before carefully wheeling it out of its place and exiting the garage. The Exodian Secret Service SUV turned to follow him to his next destination- a café on the other side of the city.

'Mutt better have something good.'
Today would be an interesting day.

[Crysuko]

Malell slouched in his seat, supressing a weary sigh "the site experienced a severe blowout due to problems with the power system, the mining union won't begin again until all repairs have been completed as well as a full safety audit, name your representative and I will arrange for an entry permit to prevent them being stopped at an entry point." he paused, not quite believing what he was saying "and no more appearing acts, please. it really upset a lot of people in high positions. it would be better if you came the old fashioned way"

Around the outer edge of the site, a company of militia had been deployed to ensure security. Though any kind of tresspass or intrusion was unlikely, they wanted to be completely certain that there would be no interference of any kind.

[A m e n r i a]

The Roost

Switch turned both of her arms into swarms of nanites, which turned into a pair of machine guns, opening fire at Copycat, who zoomed around the structure, dodging the bullets. Rounds she couldn't dodge were blocked by the shield that materialized on her arm in an instant.

"You don't get it, this could be bigger than you and me, this might be an end-of-the-world scenario!" Copycat attempted to reason. "Yea? Why do you think I was guarding it?" Copycat flew closer, before materializing a hammer and bashing Switch with it, sending her tumbling several metres back. Wiping the dust off her face, Switch smirked, letting out a battle cry as both of her arms merged into a gigantic sword.

Miao Zeshi's Office

"I understand the distress your men feel and I couldn't possibly blame them. However, these are trying times. I hope you could understand our..quick response. My nieces Camilla and Camellia are preparing to enter the site as we speak. Good day to you, sir." Zeshi hanged up. He eyed his computer screen, observing confidential files he received from various sources, trying to piece together all the information.

Somewhere in the Pacific

"The tremors started an hour ago and haven't stopped. If anything, they got worse. I hope the rest of the team evacuated safely. As for me, it's too late. I won't make it, soon the lava will get me. However, I already uploaded the data to the network as I keep on reading it and reading it again. I hope..no, I wish this isn't true. There's something very wrong with the earth's core. People need to know. The metal, there's something in the metal." Lava gathered around him, creeping slowly and bringing the scientist closer to his doom..until a hand reached out.

The scientist screamed in fear. The hand then gave way to a body, and a pair of wings unharmed by the molten rock, which soon disappeared.

"Exalted one?" the scientist asked, both grateful and unbelieving of his luck at the same time. The Heavenly Emperor himself had came to his rescue. "Come, there isn't much time."

[Crysuko]

Malell put the phone down with a sigh, pouring himself a tumbler of scotch while slouching in his chair. He was too old for this.

Meanwhile, at project Inferno

The site perimeter was uunder heavy guard, with razor topped chainlink fences and regular patrols. At one of these checkpoints, one of the gards stopped a pair of oddly dressed individuals. "Halt!" he shouted, not opening the gates. "This is a restricted area, if you want to avoid immediate arrest, you had better provide Identification and explain yourselves at once". At that moment, his radio came to life. "Orders from high command to all checkpoints, Amenrian agents to assist with project inspection and cleanup. Allow them through". Embarressed at his poor timing, he keyed the gates to slide open. "you're cleared, cause no trouble.".

Why were foreign agents being allowed in? wasn't there a strange apparition when the blowout first happened to begin with? he decided wisely not to voice these concerns, people who ask these kind of questions tend to go missing.

[Democratic Exodian Territories]

OOC: /retagging