SoMac Christmas Fête [IC, Closed]

[Socialist Macronesia]

Looking for the OOC page? Here it is!

Welcome to the SoMac Christmas Fête!



I suppose this man is the villain of the RP. Screw you, Fred.

December 24th, 2020
9:12 AM
█.██°S, ███.██°E
Socialist Macronesia


John Ross woke up the same way he had awoken for the last two months: wrapped in Ari's arms. Except this day was different. The sun was shining, the birds were tweeting, and that meant that they had fucking overslept. It was Christmas Eve, and Ross had a party planned. At 10:00. It was 9:12. They would need to get ready, and soon. For another minute, Ross just savored Ari's company, soaking it in like the sunlight. Oh, right. Party. Alright, fun time over.

Ross gave Ari a light shove. "Ari... Ari."

She stirred slightly, and then groaned. "W... ugh... what is it, John?"

"The Christmas party starts today. We have to go get ready."

She rolled over, refusing to budge. "Make me."

"Oh, come on." He prodded her with the pillow. "I mean, you wouldn't want to be late, now would you?" He pulled the blanket off of her. She tried to snatch it back, but Ross was too fast. He held it away from her. "Ari..."

"Ughhh. Fine."

She gingerly stood up. Ross smiled.

And then Ross got hit in the face with a pillow.

He quickly swung his pillow to counter. The two began to engage in a vicious pillow war. The bed was quickly stripped, the blankets and sheets used to make fortifications to absorb the barrage of artillery pillows raining down on both sides. It was a bloody and brutal conflict, one that ended in Ari smashing through Ross's well-made blanket fortifications, and gently knocking him to the ground. They began to roll around on the floor, trying to hit each other with pillows, laughing their asses off the whole time. Ah, so this is why I'm with this woman.

"Alright, I surrender, Ari! It's 9:30! We have to get ready!"

"Victorious, as usual." The two locked eyes.

"I love you, John."

"I love you too, Ari."

Ross took a shower and got dressed. He tossed on a pair of khaki shorts and a light button down, threw on a pair of Ray-Ban aviators, and slipped a pistol into his waistband holster. He wasn't bothering to dress up formally; SoMac wasn't a formal nation by any standards. Suits and dresses absorbed and trapped the light and heat like crazy, so most people never bothered to wear them unless they were vacationing in other countries. Which wasn't often, considering that SoMac was an island paradise year-round; most people weren't keen on leaving too often.

December 24th, 2020
5:30 AM
█.██°S, ███.██°E
Socialist Macronesia


Nate Barton woke up much differently.

He didn't exactly remember what had happened last night, but he remembered... well, drinking, and having the worst nightmare of his life, bar none. It was now just a faint whisper at the back of his mind, but he remembered exactly what had happened. There was Ross, as a catgirl, standing over him, the entire world around him crumbling into a shapeless, dark, void. He wanted to scream, but he couldn't say a word, his eyes fixed upon the approaching figure. Ross reached out and touched his arm, and Nate felt a searing, icy cold blast of pain surge through his arm. He was screaming and he was screaming and he closed his eyes

He awoke to his alarm clock, blaring. Faintly, he heard the opening piano keys of "Stop Her On Sight" emanating from his kitchen. He quickly jumped to his feet, disregarding the half-drained bottle of vodka he had knocked onto the floor, and the raging hangover straining his brain. He took a short cold shower, got dressed, and came into his kitchen. Taking off the Edwin Starr LP, he set it down on a nearby table and made himself some breakfast.

Two months. Two months since Halloween. He considered them to be the worst two months of his life. Two months of nightmares, alcohol, wallowing in self pity, and finally acceptance. That had been his life before Halloween, it hadn't changed; it was the fact that he knew that he was now entirely on his own. Patyu had gone off to... that bastard Paris, Ross had left him to spend time with Ari, even a simple dance had been denied to him by Keller. If Nate had nightmares, there was nobody there to comfort him. Ross had a hundred thousand people who were willing to put him at ease. And over time, Nate had grown to accept this. He was on his own. That was just fine with him. But it wasn't fine. It wasn't fine at all. He wanted retribution, he wanted revenge, he wanted to curl up into a ball in the corner of his house and waste away. He wasn't a failure, he had just won at all the wrong things. He shoveled another bite of eggs into his mouth, the heat long since dissipated. He didn't bother to heat them up again.

His phone rang. It was one of the heads at the Ministry of External Security. Nate already knew what it would be about.

"Nate."

"I see you're awake."

"Let me guess: you're here to tell me that the US is doing the same thing they've done every Christmas for the last five years. And you're here to ask me if I can come into work early today, I'm guessing so you can make a briefing and tell us what's going on."

The man at the other end sighed. "Yeah. As usual with him, I tried to call Ross, but he isn't awake yet it doesn't seem like. You mind stopping by to bring him in for the brief before that formal event he has planned starts?"

"He's with Ari. I'd say just leave him be. He'll find out at the airbase."

"Sounds good. Talk to you later."

"Bye, see you at the brief."

"Bye."

He hung up. Nate put his plate into the dishwasher, grabbed a coat, and went out to his car.

December 20th, 2020
11:54 AM
34.██°N, 69.██°E
Kabul, Afghanistan


"████, if you go to Socialist Macronesia, Ross will have you shot. That's a fact. It's not worth it, even if you mean no harm." The Afghan nervously clutched his AKS-74U to his chest. "And wha--"

"Relax, tovarishch. I'll be just fine. Has the transport been arranged?"

"Yes, but--"

"Then I'm going. Whether you recommend it or not, Hafiz, I'm going."

"I do not suggest you go. Whether you listen to me is up to you." Hafiz crossed his arms.

████ grinned. "Alright. See you when I return." He lit a cigar and brought it to his lips. Hafiz gave him a quick military salute, and stepped from the room. Fucking crazy Americans. At least it pays well.

[Enth Arth]

The first people to arrive were four people, dressed in Renaissance Era clothing. At first, people thought that they were just royal Europeans, but when they saw some servant vulpine, mari-, lizard, zebrac, and fowlfolk, they realized that they were not Europeans.

One onlooker, a young boy, asked who they are and where they were from.

Onlooker: Um.. Excuse me mister, who are they, and where are they from?"
Fowlfolk Servant: "The two in maroon are the Premiers of Arth, little one. Premier Theresha and his lovely wife, Descaless Herenia."
Vulpinefolk: "And the two in teal are the king and queen of Enth, young kit. King Ferendelles and our fair Queen Herethia Meleden."

The two servants then gave the boy each a pendulum of there respective nations, a vulpine pendant of the Tribe Vulpec, and a feather from the Tribe Derethia. The boy thanked the servants, and ran back to his mother.

[Brettenwald]

$TIME, over $OCEAN, aboard Falcon One:
"Remind me again why I'm being dragged to some tin-pot Commie island for a holiday we do not celebrate," Marco said, knocking back the last of his whiskey and shifting his beefy frame in the airliner's cushy espresso-colored leather seat. "I've got important work back home, as you should know." His younger (well, by five minutes) brother Paris simply gritted his teeth and mentally cursed him out. Again. "It's not just diplomacy, which if you'll recall is one of the few things you and Dad both agreed I should take more responsibility for. Various...things happened, personal things that need to be straightened out, and the people they concern most are going to be here. That's why I'm here. I asked you if you wanted to come and you said no, but since Helena was already primed for a tropical vacation you figured you'd come too," he finished in a somewhat irritated tone of voice. "Admit it, you'd have missed us," their little sister Helena chimed in, elbowing Marco in the ribs. "Come on, admit iiiiit." He grinned. "Fine, fine, I shamelessly admit that I would miss you both terribly." The big man grunted as he got up. "Aaahh. There are occasions when I think the bastards left a little shrapnel in my leg on purpose. Excuse me." Paris turned his attention to his sister once his brother was out of earshot. "Listen, while he's in the head, I'm going to tell you everything that happened in Western Fardelshufflestein..."

Some time later:
"...You can't be serious." Helena's jaw hung open in shock. He got turned into a lesbian catgirl and had a one-night stand with another catgirl?! "Surely you can't be serious," she eventually replied, voice shaking. Great Mother have mercy. What have I gotten myself into? "Unfortunately, I am. Anyway, that's why I'm here. Thank the gods Marco just thinks I got drunk and attempted to moonwalk and/or made a pass at somebody, either of which would be orders of magnitude less embarrassing where he's concerned." Speaking of the devil, Marco ambled back into their section of the plane. "Henrik says we should touch down around 10 tomorrow morning factoring in a refueling stop during the night; in other words, perfect timing. I'm going to bed, I'll see you both in the morning." He gave Helena a brotherly kiss on the forehead and clapped Paris on the shoulder. She returned to her book, while Paris pressed the "recline" button, put his feet up, and closed his eyes. It's been two months, Vashadri, and it's felt like two years. I don't know your real name, I don't know what you look like as a man, I don't know if I'll even recognize you. All I know is that I've missed you terribly and that I want to make things right between us. It's the least you deserve, and I'll do whatever it takes to make it happen.

[Azur Deutschland]

Before arriving in Socialist Macronesia, three girls stood around an armory, getting gear and weaponry. If they asked someone if they were gearing up for war or Christmas, the answer would most likely fall on the former. That wasn't the answer, though. They were genuinely getting ready to have a fun time at a Christmas party, but some equipment and precaution is needed. The girls really did want to have normal, innocent fun at this party.

"Why are we going there again?" Perfecti asked, slipping on her officer's combat uniform.

"Because we want to have fun and they are the ones who opted to host the party for Christmas." Julienne answered, making sure her combat dress was fitting okay.

"Ah, so, I take it that the stuff we're bringing is for the fun?" Perfecti had asked again while making sure her officer cap was on correctly.

"Partially. For our own safety, but, yes, we can use this for fun too. Really, I just wanted to play games, but I feel like we can also pay back some of what's owed. Sure, the Halloween event at Western Fardelshufflestein was eventful and not boring, but there could of been less... extreme... events and more playful ones." Sylvia said with a smile, grabbing a panzerfaust, handing it over to Perfecti. She also handed over an StG 44 to both Perfecti and Julienne. She then grabbed an MG 42 for herself.

The three girls, all kitted out in full combat dress and weaponry, stood around. They giggled a bit softly to each other as they shouldered their gear and checked over everything to make sure they had all that they needed. Uniforms? Good. Weapons? Mhm. Ammo? Sufficient. Confirming that nothing was out of place, the Rose Twins began to cast the magic that would portal them to their destination.

[The Romanian Confederacy]

Oops.

[Free Ravensburg]

In the omniversal portal station, Amadeus, Adolph, Victoria, Jakob, and Albert were all waiting on Viktor to show up so they could go to the party. Amadeus had a plan to put all of them in a small box, and have Jakob, his nephew, walk in and open the box. The box was a prototype storage container intended to make moving easier, but Amadeus “borrowed” it for this prank.

Amadeus was still in his Raven form during this, and molting for the winter. Feathers were everywhere. He had to pack a vacuum cleaner for the party because of the mess he was making. He also brought that vending machine, his nest, and his eggs. Ravenia was on his shoulder, and she was making sure that Amadeus doesn’t get into any trouble during the party. She was also wearing a collar so that everyone could understand her and what she was saying (thanks to Canadian science).

Adolph was bringing a speech on his final day left before heading off to GRAIL as a representative for Free Ravensburg. Everyone was excited for him and wanted to wish him luck.

Victoria was also making sure Amadeus doesn’t do any stupid shit like last time.

Albert was just there, he heard that he would get to see some new faces, and being the extroverted leader he is, he accepted the invitation before he finished reading it.

Jakob was there to be away from his father, and to spend time with his uncle. He also wanted to know what the other multiverses were like.

Viktor was going to bring the Plasmatic weapons because he heard that there was going to be a shooting range. He also wanted to assert his dominance in accuracy in the omniverse.

When Viktor finally arrived, he was greeted by Adolph, who was very concerned in what took him so long.

Viktor: “Traffic was terrible, and I’m sorry for being late.”
Albert: “You don’t even have a car. How was traffic bad?”
Viktor: “You assume I walked. I took the bus.”
Amadeus: “Is everyone here? Good, now get in the box.”
Victoria: “This better not be one of your pranks, Amadeus.”
Ravenia: “It it one of your pranks, son?”
Amadeus: “Let’s just say, it will be an entrance.”

As Viktor, the last one, climbed into the box, Jakob closed the lid, and walked through the portal. On the other side, he first saw the Queen of Enth and one of her fowlfolk servants.

[Imperial-Octavia]

Local Apartment Complex

The real Jane Edwin really never stood a chance. When she came home on December 23rd after a long day of bill drafting and arguing the last thing she had expected was the death robot hiding out in her closet and after a minute or so of struggling Jane Edwin would never have to expect anything ever again, mostly because her neck had just been snapped. Of course her killer, Ou'Kanu, had expected things to end up exactly like this. The 5'5 robot carried the organic's body up the stairs effortlessly (and was quite thankful that Jane lived alone, Kanu had run into a child when doing this once and it was the most awkward experience she'd ever had as an infiltrator) and would move into Jane's former room. Kanu closed the blinds to the window and flicked open the tip of her middle finger containing a very small, yet still powerful, laser which she would then point at the woman's skull before activating it. After the skull was cut through and the brain exposed, Kanu would pop a plug-like object from her thumb and stab it into the brain where she would begin to "download" all the bio-electric impulses and thus memories that the woman known as Jane Edwin had ever had in her life and giving that knowledge to Ou'Kanu. With that, Jane's body had served its use to the Octavian and with a sprinkling of nanobots from her pinkie finger Jane's body would cease to exist allowing Kanu to subsume her identity completely. Ou'Kanu would put on the skin suit she left in the closet and finally replaced Jane Edwin completely. Now it was time for Ou'Kanu to report her progress.

"I'd like to report that phase one of the infiltration is complete. The organic was particularly easy to kill."

"Very good Infiltrator Kanu. Be sure to secure the information of this Project Delta by December 25th, the Imperium does not intend on spending too much time on this planet. If the distraction we've set up doesn't lead to the procurement of the Delta Protocol, you are to escape immediately. A stealth cruiser will be provided for extraction. "

"Understood, I will be signing off now to begin procuring the Delta Protocol. All Hail!"

"All Hail!"

With that Kanu signed off the Aether call prepared to go out the next day to help her Imperium secure a victory in the war...

December 24th

As "Jane Edwin" walked through the streets of SoMac, she would begin to theorize about any and every method of storage for this "Delta Protocol" whatever it may be. Personally Ou'Kanu didn't see what this primitive organic nation could have possibly made to even be worth looking at by her great Imperium, but they had been surprised by primitives before. As she made her way to the legislative building of Socialist Macronesia, she supposed that the best place to begin her search was through the computer systems of this nation. Upon finding a government computer, Ou'Kanu would impute Jane's credentials and then looked for any details on this Delta Protocol that she could, preparing to crack into the system should she be unable to find sufficient data.

[Enth Arth]

In the omniversal portal station, Amadeus, Adolph, Victoria, Jakob, and Albert were all waiting on Viktor to show up so they could go to the party. Amadeus had a plan to put all of them in a small box, and have Jakob, his nephew, walk in and open the box. The box was a prototype storage container intended to make moving easier, but Amadeus “borrowed” it for this prank.

Amadeus was still in his Raven form during this, and molting for the winter. Feathers were everywhere. He had to pack a vacuum cleaner for the party because of the mess he was making. He also brought that vending machine, his nest, and his eggs. Ravenia was on his shoulder, and she was making sure that Amadeus doesn’t get into any trouble during the party. She was also wearing a collar so that everyone could understand her and what she was saying (thanks to Canadian science).

Adolph was bringing a speech on his final day left before heading off to GRAIL as a representative for Free Ravensburg. Everyone was excited for him and wanted to wish him luck.

Victoria was also making sure Amadeus doesn’t do any stupid shit like last time.

Albert was just there, he heard that he would get to see some new faces, and being the extroverted leader he is, he accepted the invitation before he finished reading it.

Jakob was there to be away from his father, and to spend time with his uncle. He also wanted to know what the other multiverses were like.

Viktor was going to bring the Plasmatic weapons because he heard that there was going to be a shooting range. He also wanted to assert his dominance in accuracy in the omniverse.

When Viktor finally arrived, he was greeted by Adolph, who was very concerned in what took him so long.

Viktor: “Traffic was terrible, and I’m sorry for being late.”
Albert: “You don’t even have a car. How was traffic bad?”
Viktor: “You assume I walked. I took the bus.”
Amadeus: “Is everyone here? Good, now get in the box.”
Victoria: “This better not be one of your pranks, Amadeus.”
Ravenia: “It it one of your pranks, son?”
Amadeus: “Let’s just say, it will be an entrance.”

As Viktor, the last one, climbed into the box, Jakob closed the lid, and walked through the portal. On the other side, he first saw the Queen of Enth and one of her fowlfolk servants.

As Queen Herethia Meleden and one of her servants were carrying luggage from the cart, they saw a young adult, who had just appeared in front of a pillar walking alone. All he was carrying was a black box. Wanting to help the man, the queen and servant walked over to the boy, and asked if there was anything they could do for him.

Fowlfolk servant: "Are you lost, young man? Do you know where your parents are?"
Herethia: "Do you need any help carrying that box, we don't mind helping."
Jakob: "No, but thanks." [Jakob looked down when the servant asked about his parents.]
Fowlfolk servant[noticing the scar]: "Forgive me for asking, but what happened to cause that scar?"
[Jakob didn't answer.]
Fowlfolk servant[reaching in his vest, pulling out a charm]: "Here, I want you to have this, it's a charm that will protect you from harm."
[Jakob accepts the charm, and thanks the servant and the queen, and proceeds to walk to the checking booth]

[Free Ravensburg]

As Queen Herethia Meleden and one of her servants were carrying luggage from the cart, they saw a young adult, who had just appeared in front of a pillar walking alone. All he was carrying was a black box. Wanting to help the man, the queen and servant walked over to the boy, and asked if there was anything they could do for him.

Fowlfolk servant: "Are you lost, young man? Do you know where your parents are?"
Herethia: "Do you need any help carrying that box, we don't mind helping."
Jakob: "No, but thanks." [Jakob looked down when the servant asked about his parents.]
Fowlfolk servant[noticing the scar]: "Forgive me for asking, but what happened to cause that scar?"
[Jakob didn't answer.]
Fowlfolk servant[reaching in his vest, pulling out a charm]: "Here, I want you to have this, it's a charm that will protect you from harm."
[Jakob accepts the charm, and thanks the servant and the queen, and proceeds to walk to the checking booth]

As Jakob walked over to the departure list, he saw that there were other people in his same shuttle to the airport. He asked where the other people were, and she pointed to the group with the people he had just talked to. Sighing, he turned around and greeted himself to the group and explained why he was here.

Ferendelles: "So we are in the same shuttle group, yes?"
Jakob: "Apparently."
Vulpinefolk servant 1: "Is it just you, then? From Free Ravensburg? Aren't there more coming?"
Jakob[lying]: "Yep."
Fowlfolk servant 1: "Are you sure you don't want us to help you with that box?"
Jakob: "I got it, but thank you."
Vulpine servant 2: "Are you okay with sitting with us on the shuttle?"
Jakob: "Yes, I am"
Fowlfolk servant 2: "Do you need anything else before we depart?"
Jakob: "No sir."

The overhead speaker began to call off a list of numbers, then said that those shuttles are now letting in people for departure to the airport. Of those numbers, Jakob's was called. They hurried to the corresponding number as the ticket, and entered the shuttle. As they entered, they were asked to be seated, and they did so. They then went to the airport, exited their shuttle, and were greeted by Ross.

[Voxija]

"W-why am I going here again?" Etor Gurraniz looked around nervously. Two presidents of Voxija were in a private airplane traveling to Socialist Macronesia. He couldn't believe that he was traveling to Socialist Macronesia, home of John Ross. A committer of war crimes, a tyrannical leader, a womanizer (although Etor heard he'd dialed down on that recently), a simp for the Jews, and, much worse than anything else he's done, possibly the source of all those weird dreams Etor had been having since the Halloween party. Oh, the Halloween party.

For two months, Etor Gurraniz had been having dreams. Dreams of catgirls and [REDACTED]. Outwardly, nothing had changed, except for Gurraniz finally signing that far-reaching anti-sexual assault legislation that had been on his desk for six months. But on the inside, Etor was frantically searching, searching for the memories. He knew that he had become a girl. He knew that he had woken up in a pile of ladies' underwear on Nov. 1. He knew that he went shopping with Paris. Everything else was just a big fog.

"It was your idea, Etor," reminded Bixenta Agirre. Bixenta was the former president of Voxija, who'd decided not to run for reelection to avoid a potential second-term slump and get back to her PiffleNet account. Etor and Bixenta were good friends, even if they were prone to arguing about politics. "You wanted to come here, to see if the presence of Ross would jump-start your memories and make everything come back to you."

Etor wrung his hands nervously. "But do I want to know what happened? I mean... Ineko already knows my suspicions. What'll he think if I figure it out for sure?"

"He'll be fine. After all, my husband Mattin," Bixenta smiled wistfully at that, "still loves me, even though I may have had relations with Ander Jasso. A good husband would forgive you for a momentary infidelity."

Etor Gurraniz had very different opinions on what made a good husband than Bixenta Agirre. Etor worried that he himself wasn't being a good husband. He had told Ineko Ivarra everything he knew, of course, but now Ineko was looking at him weirdly. Etor wondered if he needed to have a bigger talk. The president was still unsure, though. "Why do you want to come here, Bixenta?"

"To support you, Etor." Bixenta smiled. "And because I want to see other places." Bixenta may have picked up a small crush on Ross from his photo, but she wasn't going to mention that. She changed the subject. "Did you bring the bathing suits, Etor?"

That was another reason they were both going to Socialist Macronesia. Voxija was in the Southern Hemisphere, and Christmas was in the height of summer there. In both the presidents' opinions, Christmas wasn't Christmas without a beach party. It wasn't cursed to them. And Etor Gurraniz certainly brought the bathing suits.

To an outside observer, this would be strange. Two presidents, one an agnostic and the other an atheist, were going to a Christmas beach party in a tinpot dictatorship. Etor sighed. "Where did my life start going wrong?" Bixenta wanted to tell Etor to go with the flow, but that was terrible advice for someone who'd recently switched genders involuntarily.

---

When Etor Gurraniz and Bixenta Agirre entered the airport, the first there that caught their attention were the bird people. And the fox people. They were carrying the bags of a couple of men and women who were dressed in Renaissance clothing. Of course, the first thing Etor wondered was why the bird and fox people were servants and the normal humans looked to be their superiors. Either that was a sign of speciesism, or Etor had read too much fantasy fiction.

Bixenta, however, had no experience with catgirls or any other kind of animal folk, and she was never as interested in the slight racial inequalities in Voxija as her other pet causes. The former president began to walk up to the group, to say hello and ask about the animal folk, but Etor grabbed her arm.

"No," said Etor. "You'll have plenty of time to talk during the party." Etor was worried about Bixenta messing things up and making things more ruined for Etor than they were already.

Bixenta Agirre walked over toward the Voxijan president and they began chatting, waiting for their shuttle. They each had one suitcase, after all, they were only staying for a couple of days. Bixenta was looking forward to a great party. Etor, not so much.

[Kiu Ghesik]

---

9:31 AM | One of Ross' Innumerable Mansions | Dec. 24

---

Yawning after her intense, pillow-based engagement, Ari stood from the floor and stretched, flashing Ross a tired grin, watching absentmindedly as he stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Smiling, she flopped back onto the bed, sighed, rolled over, and after a moment's enjoyment of the right to the bed she'd won jumped out of it again, extricated a fresh outfit from the closet, and stepped into the broad, richly-carpeted hall outside.

Ross' little house was massive, to the point it was honestly better described as a mansion. In fact it was so large she hadn't bothered to explore it all in the past two months she'd been here. Well, that was understandable- after all, Ross owned rather a lot of them, and they'd been flitting from house to house for weeks- whenever he decided he needed a change of scenery. The only thing that hadn't changed was that they'd been inseparable. Wherever he went, she went, and wherever she wanted to go he took her. Ross had, ah, spent much more time outdoors than he'd expected to, probably, and the only thing preventing the two of them from having spent two months in tents was that his little island was both too small and too humid to comfortably camp on.

As such, she'd briefly exchanged the campsite for the beach, and had suitably altered her appearance; her hair was cut short into a boyish, truffle-brown shock falling across her brow, and her already rather burnt complexion had somehow become even more tan than it had been before she'd come here. The puncture-wounds in her arms and her sprained ankle had both healed up nicely now, only the bullet-hole in her shoulder leaving a scar, and she walked easily, without the slightest hint of pain. Ari paused in front of a portrait mirror in the hall, examined herself, and smiled. This place had treated her well.

More importantly, Ross had treated her well. He loved her. And she loved him.

Ducking into the nearest bathroom she recalled as having a shower, Ari sighed once again, this time at the promise of hot water- it was in all honesty the singular best invention she'd been exposed to yet. Even if she hadn't found the fire used to heat it yet. A few moments later- she was never one for preening- and she stepped out of the shower once more, refreshed, and into the outfit Ross had a few weeks ago suggested she wear- a simple tank-top and a pair of short shorts that lived up to the name possibly a bit too much. It was... still odd, but it had certainly grown on her. And it was certainly rather breezy, which helped with the tropical heat quite a bit. That at least was useful.

With a very fluffy towel the staff had graciously provided to her, Ari gave her hair a little tousle, damping away a bit of the wetness, and quickly ran a comb through it, straightening it out to the point it could just be considered brushed. There was certainly something to the "island" look, she thought, and it wouldn't do to ruin it.

A few moments of retracing her steps through the mansion later and she was back in the room she and Ross had been sharing this past week, just in time to find him putting the finishing touches on an equally-casual beach shirt and khakis. Well, at least it wasn't the Hawaiian print. That had been bad enough. Ari smiled at him, planted a kiss on his cheek, and after a regretfully-short embrace stepped over to the minibar, filling up a glass of ice-water.

The second-greatest invention of this time, that was. Cold and hot water, whenever you wanted it? It was a miracle. She drained the glass in one gulp and shivered, then turned to Ross once more. "So, uh... it's... I guess it's time to go, then."

"Mm-hm." For a moment, Ross stood looking out the window. Then he turned to her, a warm, blissful grin on his face. "You know I love you, right?"

Oh. That. That was what he wanted. The same ritual they'd acted out every day for the past two months. Often several times a day. And... it hadn't gotten old yet.

"Of course I do." She wrapped him in a far too short embrace and then took him by the shoulders, beaming up at him. He thought he was getting away with this, didn't he? Well, he was, but- "You're stalling, aren't you?"

Ross winked. "Mm-hm. And do you mind?"

"Not really." Letting go of Ross, she yawned, throwing her arms above her head, and blinked the last of the sleep out of her eyes. "But I think the bureaucrats might, and they already don't like me as it is. I keep 'taking up all your time', or whatever. So-" Ari stepped to the side and gestured to the door. "-I guess we're booked."

---

9:58 AM | Somewhere | Dec. 24

---

Patyu awoke to a boot next to his head and a gruff, worn face looking down at him with a concerned expression, worry in their eyes. A moment's thought and the fog in his head cleared a bit; this was a man. A very large man. A moment's more and he recognized this man; Khensughin. Friend. And then he realized what day it was, and what was about to happen, and a shock of equal parts anticipation and hesitancy ran down his spine. He curled tighter into his sleeping-bag and pulled the bedroll over his head. And groaned. His limbs felt like lead, and more importantly, it was cold outside. Very cold. Even in his tent he could see his breath freezing in the air in front of him.

"Mmngh... go 'way." With one blanket-swaddled arm he batted at Khensu's boot, pushing the taller man away from him. Khensu didn't react. And so Patyu merely bundled himself up tighter in his blanket and closed his eyes once more. He'd been... so tired ever since that damn party. And lonely. So very lonely. He'd been right all along- he was really a nobody without Ari around. At least he thought so. No one- no one cared about him, so long as he did his work. Maybe Aphadri did. But she'd barely talked to him after winter had finally broke and people had started falling sick; she had enough to do. He'd just... eaten, and slept, and done his chores. Nothing else. It was lonely, and tiring, and he just wanted it to end. And maybe today was the day it finally would- but what if it wasn't? What if the nightmare didn't end, and he would just... hurt himself more?

It wasn't worth it. Patyu resolved, then, to stay in bed. Or, he would've, until Khensu grabbed him by the legs, flipped him out of his sleeping-bag, and dragged him outside his tent into the cold snow. That shocked Patyu awake, and in a moment he was scrambling to his feet, looking at Khensu with outraged eyes. "Wh- wh- what was that for!?" he sputtered, his face flushed red in the cold.

"Needed you awake." Khensu grinned as Patyu turned to walk back inside his tent, then came back out with a pre-prepared rucksack of his things slung haphazardly over one shoulder. He was already dressed for the occasion, and, well, he had clothes for another occasion stashed away at the bottom of his bag, but no one needed to know that. In fact, Patyu himself didn't much care about it, as when he exited his tent Khensu greeted him with a snowball to the face. It poofed into a thousand pieces, whitening his vision and firmly nestling a layer of icy frost in his wispy beard and eyebrows.

Stunned, Patyu stepped back, then blinked once, twice, flicking the snow off his brow. "Wh- why?"

"Just because." His boots crunching in the snow, Khensu turned to look out across the campsite. "You ready?"

Patyu wasn't really sure he wanted to be. "Ready as ever, I guess."

"Good. Because I don't know how to do this." Khensu crossed the few meters between Patyu's tent and his own and emerged with a massive bundle of... stuff under one arm.

All Patyu could do when he saw that was laugh. "What is that?"

"Jus' the necessities," Khensu said nonchalantly, offering up a half-hearted shrug as explanation.

Patyu shook his head in exasperation. "Y- they're providing us rooms, you know." That was- that was definitely the components to a lean-to, and a set of cooking pots, and... a spear? "You're not going to have to forage your own damn food."

"Oh, well." Another shrug. "Anyways, how are we doing this? How do we, uh, get there?"

Huh. Well, um... how had Patyu managed to get to the Shindig, in the first place? It was something involving... plot, and convenience, and contrivance, and... "Just, um, let yourself go, and you'll get there, I guess."

"Sounds dumb."

And it was.

But, somehow, it worked. One moment Patyu was standing in a frosty campsite, a far too familiar setting, and the next he was in some sort of... tropical alleyway, judging by the absolutely oppressive heat that fell on him like a hammer. Khensu was still standing next to him, layers of frost now melting off his boots, an insanely confused look on his face.

"What." It was a statement, not a question. There was no other way to phrase it. "Well, uh... I guess it's not dumb if... if it works?" Khensu turned to Patyu wearing an incredibly stunned expression.

Somehow, Patyu felt a bit of... pride at that. He'd managed to stay stoic through... whatever that was, when Khensu was very clearly floored. That was impressive. Khensu wasn't shaken easily, Patyu knew. And maybe that made him important, somehow? N... no, probably not. Besides, there were more important things to worry about- like where they were, who was supposed to meet them, and how they were meant to deal with this heat- God, why was it so hot?- and how they were going to find out what that rather large field of concrete they could see at the end of the alley was for.

Patyu was about to step forward and take a look when Khensu put out a hand and pressed him against the wall, then unslung that spear he'd brought- why had he brought a spear?- and bent around the corner. Suddenly, his back straightened, and he waved Patyu forward.

"Look," he said, pointing to a gaggle of incredibly casual-looking men and women standing bunched at one end of the tarmac. "I think they might be waiting for us." He brushed a bit of sweat from his brow and pulled Patyu out of the alley- or, rather, a gap between hangars. There was a little speck far off in the sky, an aircraft coming in to land at this... airport, and Patyu could see some sort of shuttlebus making its way through a jungle road off behind this compound. All towards the... reception group, he supposed.

Well, then. At least he knew where he was meant to go.

Confidently, a spear gripped casually in one hand and a Patyughin being pulled forward with the other, a massive bag slung over his shoulder, Khensughin strode over towards the delegation, waiting for his inevitable hero's welcome.

He may have been misinformed as to the nature of the courtesy he was about to receive.

[Romextly]

The Emperor was in his private cabin again. It was luxurious with all the modifications. With ultra soft seats and a bar. A bar. A freakin' bar. Which The Emperor had ordered built soon after he became Emperor. He, in all his years before his rise in power, had never liked Alcoholic drinks as they were too bitter and had no taste. That was until, she had died. That cold winter night. It was close to 2 years after she had died. And always it was the time that he lost his memory. It always went foggy.

He felt a sound behind him and reacted to put his hand on where his sword usually is. But, of course, having a sword with a man was not particularly a smart idea. But the reason of the sound was a waiter standing still

"Would you like a drink sir?"

Diego thought about it. He did feel particularly depressed just looking at the clouds. "Sure. Make it a good wine."

The waiter was gone for a couple of seconds, but soon returned with some red wine. He poured it into a glass bottle. Diego took a deep draft of it. "Ahh." it was very well made. He took another deep draft. It was so good

5 Drinks later
"Wooo! Party!" Shouted the dignified Emperor. He looked very drunk, as 3 glasses would make someone drunk, but 5... That makes it very drunk. Luckily, they still had a couple of hours until they arrived in SoMac. A waiter walked in and saw the Emperor Swinging on the Chandilier and grabbing hold of an aide with his elbow. The waiter quickly exited

---

The Countess of Hangry was hearing all this shenanigan and sighed. She knew why he drank, but they were prohibited from talking about it to others who did not already know. She then heard a dim drunken attempt at the "I want to fly." song and the struggles of another aide. She then saw a waiter scurry out. She sighed. She was supposed to be here to stop the Emperor from becoming publicly drunk and saying some things that should be kept secret. But what she really wanted to do was relax. She knew SoMac was a tropical island and people have always talked on how beautiful those types of Islands are. But it was probably gonna be a diplomatic mess if the Emperor becomes a drunk and calls it a Stalin's villa place. That would probably happen anyways. She just wanted to have fun. She lookedat her watch. 16 hours away. She sighed. It was going to be a long vacation.

[Azur Deutschland]

Stepping through the portal, the three girls started their travel through the boundless space to enter the realm that held Socialist Macronesia.

In one wing of the airport, there was an object, a doorway, of what could be described as light as some sort of magical entity manifested. Suddenly, three figures stepped out of the light. Just as quickly as it came, the light suddenly disappeared. To anyone not paying enough attention, it would just look like three girls appeared out of nowhere with a sudden flash of light.

As they stepped out of the portal, Sylvia, Julienne, and Perfecti looked around. No one immediately grabbed their attention, so they assumed they were maybe in the wrong wing of the airport. With a shrug of their shoulders and a soft giggle from each of them, they marched in sync around the airport to look for any of the other guests.

As they stepped, Julienne started to sing. "Ob’s stürmt oder schneit, ob die Sonne uns lacht, der Tag glühend heiß oder eiskalt die Nacht,"

Sylvia, looked at her sister, smiled, and joined in too. ""Bestaubt sind die Gesichter, doch froh ist unser Sinn, ja unser Sinn.""

Perfecti immediately joined her two friends as well. """Es braust unser Panzer im Sturmwind dahin."""

"""Mit donnernden Motoren, geschwind wie der Blitz, dem Feinde entgegen, im Panzer geschützt. Voraus den Kameraden, im Kampf steh'n wir allein, steh'n wir allein. So stoßen wir tief in die feindlichen Reihn."""

The three girls marched and sung. They thought nothing about what everyone was thinking. It was probably a weird sight for anyone out of the loop. Three girls in military uniforms with weapons, marching and singing.

[Brettenwald]

9:59, what passed for SoMac International Airport:
Falcon One, to Patyu's eyes now an immense jetliner painted in a subdued dark blue with tasteful gold and blood-red pinstripes, came in for a butter-smooth landing with a gentle thump and a roar of tires, waking Paris up from an unsettlingly vivid lucid dream involving catgirls, Gucci, and a vague but terrifying sense of existential dread. "You look like someone just walked over your grave. What's the matter with you?" Thank you Marco, I feel much better about myself now. Thank you very much for that. His brother either failed to notice the annoyed look on his face or ignored it, engrossed as he was in setting his watch to the local time. "Finally. Why does Breitling have to make their knobs so small?" Maybe the fact that you're the size of the Rock has more to do with it? A snarky retort about first-world problems from Helena was cut short by an announcement over the intercom. "Welcome to Socialist Macronesia, your highnesses. I trust you all had a pleasant flight."
"Beautiful cockpit work as always, Henrik, Daneel. Remind me to double your bonuses, I feel I need to make up for how little you see of your families," Paris replied as the big jet swung left onto the taxiway. "Very kind of you, your highness. If you look to your left, I believe those are the other delegates. I would imagine there are some familiar faces for you in there. The ground crew will be meeting us with the stair truck once I get us parked." Henrik clicked off, and Paris stared out the window. An odd assortment of anthropomorphic animals caught his eye, but it was the pair of men emerging out of the shadows between two buildings, one of whom looked disconcertingly familiar, that concerned him the most.

Marco, meanwhile, was merely waiting as patiently as he could to deplane. He preferred the mountains to the beach, but any excuse for a vacation was a good one. Aliana had told him he was working too hard and had done her best to help him relax the last time they'd met (and she was very good at that), but he continued to put in long hours and drink and smoke too much, so maybe a sharp change of scenery would do more for him. It hadn't helped that the dreams had started up again for the past few weeks, images flashing through his mind of fire, the broken, bleeding and battered bodies of dead or injured men, and the bone-shattering cold of the sea that somehow burned even more than its salt water in his wounds. He'd managed to get three of his compatriots to dry land, but had blacked out from pain and blood loss and the onset of hypothermia before- before- before- no, don't think about him, don't go there, don't think about it, just let him and you and what you refused to let yourself believe you were lie there on that gods-forgotten island among the stones, bones, driftwood and sand with him. That which is dead must forever stay dead. His sister took his hand and snapped him out of what was threatening to spiral into a waking nightmare. "Are you all right?" He took a deep breath, then another. "Yes. Yes, I'm fine." She smiled. "Good. Because I think we're running late, and as the oldest and highest-ranking of us it's you who goes down first. Remember?"
"Don't worry, I remember."

The trio were soon descending the stairs, Marco up front looking like a vacationing mob boss with his sheer size and unusually casual outfit of a simple black polo shirt and khakis, Paris in the middle looking like the heat & humidity had already gotten to him, which it had, and Helena bringing up the rear in a pale yellow sundress and looking, as she always did, completely at ease. She shared Marco's genes for that, Paris thought, who merely stood off to one side awkwardly once they reached the main group. According to his therapist he had to work on being more assertive and stand up for himself more, but that was definitely an uphill battle when your brother was as physically and verbally imposing and as unused to taking "no" for an answer as Marco was. Helena was far more subtle and charming about it, but could easily be just as bulldozer-like when push came to shove. She always got her way with Marco, though, and often Paris wondered why he was so different from them, sometimes envying them and sometimes detesting them. It was like they talked- no, existed- on a frequency he couldn't tune into, could never tune into.

[Romextly]

The Emperor was drooling. Yep, for quite a while, by the amount. Hope sighed. Putting a hand to her forehead, she massaged it from the shouts that would come out. Apparently, that was enough and the Emperor awoke. She shook him to wake him up even more, to which he responded with a groan

"You highness, we're almost there." She said softly

"What? Oh." He looked around, but the 16 hours had been enough to make him sober and he had gotten the sharpness in his eyes again. His eyes were still adjusting to the light, but overall he was pretty sober. At least he hadn't drunk the whiskey this time. She thought. The last time that happened, they had to wait for quite a while for him to get sober. He got up and went to change. Shaking her head, she also went to change. She had to take off the dress that would not work in the Tropical island, but it took quite a while. It did get stuck on some of her inner clothing, but she got it off pretty easily. What she put on was a pretty simple light green sleeveless dress with some gold stripes here and there. She put on her sandals and some sunglasses and was ready to go. She went past the curtains to see if the Emperor was done and mentally slapped her face. He had on WW1 British Khakis. Only the shirt and pants, but with some modern boots. She took a deep annoyed breath and walked up to him

"My lord?"

"Yes, Countess."

"May you mind telling me why you are in...that?"

"Well, it's well suited to the climate and-"

"No!" she looked at the shocked face, and hurried to explain herself "I'm sorry sir, but this is out of place. Don't you have something else?"

He stared into her, and she remembered he could read her mind. He then spoke "How is this outfit not good?"

"Well, you aren't exactly known for smart Design options. Do you still remember when you opened Senate? You had on a duck tie."

"Well, it was a good tie, very...animal...friendly." he said as he saw her face. "Okay fine! I'll change." he marched off "Women!"

She turned her head toward him "I heard that!"

After some minutes, he came out. He had on a blue tropical shirt with some tropical plants, white shorts and of course a fedora. She decided not to make a comment on the Fedora. The Plane was to land soon.

30 minutes later
The Emperor was on his phone. Not on a game or anything. He was a leader and it showed when in public. He went confidently. But the reason he was on his phone was to see if he saw any of the guests. Because unbeknownst to basically everyone in the WF Halloween Shindig, There were cameras. Not Police cameras. Telenovela Cameras. And these were reality show Telenovelas. So, they had to take away some partsas they broke unwritten rules of morality, but there was a fair show of skin. And of course all the drama. But there had been not been cameras everywhere, so they did miss some action anyways. But then he saw the man who was obviously Ross, who everyone despised and hated, but was also loved. Mexicali's are weird okay! So he went to Ross and saw a group of Foreigners and knew he was in the right spot. To bee sure, he walked over to some German women who were chanting something about faces. Yep, foreigners. He was in the right place.

[The Romanian Confederacy]

Arrival at Yerevan

Time:10:35 AM
It was a cold morning in Yerevan, and 049 was becoming nervous. Just 6 hours ago he told PASFE that if he were to not come back within 20 days, that they must arm every man, woman and child and take then to every nuclear bunker in Europe, drop nuclear weapons on Ost-Paris shortly after, and hope to God that Burgundy does not respond. Many lives were on the line, and he was quite understandably, stressed.

All he could do for now was walk around Yerevan while the plane refilled. He loved Yerevan, the buildings, Soviet era architecture, and the plains outside the city made it especially beautiful. His favorite part of the city was the Parliament Building. Sure, it wasn't as beautiful as the Reichstag, or as old as the Palace of Westminster, but it was beautiful nonetheless, especially since Yerevan was now considered the bridge between East and West after Turkey had lost full sovereignty due to War of Balkan Unification(Or the final showdown between democracy and authoritarianism as most like to call it.)

Just as he was walking around, he had a flashback to when he was in Site-19(interview takes place in Site-42), being asked questions before killing a man. It went a little bit like this:
(OOC: did I copy it from the SCP wiki on him just because I willingly committed plagiarism was too lazy to write it myself? Yes, yes I did, and I regret it.)

Interviewer: Dr. Theron Sherman, Site-42

Interviewee: SCP-049

[BEGIN LOG]

Dr. Sherman: I need you to explain yourself.

(No response)

Dr. Sherman: SCP-049, you are being directed to explain your actions, and I will remind you that failure to cooperate will result in further restrictions during your containment.

SCP-049: (Pauses) My actions do not need to be explained.

Dr. Sherman: You killed Raymond Hamm and then butchered him until he-

SCP-049: (Interrupting, angrily) Not dead! No! Not… not dead. He is… he is cured.

Dr. Sherman: Cured? Cured of what?

SCP-049: The Pestilence, sir! I had thought you, at least, would realize what luck it is I detected it before-

Dr. Sherman: (Interrupting) What pestilence? You keep going on and on about this pestilence but you have not once been able to properly identify this "disease". What could you have possibly seen in him today that you had not seen so many times before? That it would be worth his life?

SCP-049: He… (pauses) The Pestilence presents and progresses in unforeseeable fashions, and has a queer way of- of creeping into the unprepared, and… (breathing becomes heavier) call it what you want, doctor. It was a mercy I did to him. He is cured.

Dr. Sherman: He is a vegetable!

SCP-049: (Pauses) I… I would not expect you to understand. You and your… your ilk have proven time and time again to be not men of science, but men of- of emotion. You cannot appreciate the horrors I have seen, those many millions who have succumbed to the Pestilence and been changed, who-

Dr. Sherman: Your cure cost Ray his life!

SCP-049: No good SIR I have saved it! You would allow this world to slip back into the, the- the despair of disease and death, ignoring that I have created a miracle and-

Dr. Sherman: (Talking over SCP-049) What disease? What pestilence? He was a healthy man! He was a good doctor!

SCP-049: -am offering it freely to the afflicted! You are not worth this argument, sir. You are shortsighted and foolish. Dr. Hamm was sick, and I… (breath catches) I cured him. I am the only one who can do this. My work must continue, there is so much still to learn, so much to-

Dr. Sherman: I've had enough of this. Consider your allowances revoked. Welcome to containment, oh-four-nine. (Away from mic) We're done here.

SCP-049: -do, and others can be saved! Even you, though you do not deserve it, might be saved! I can save them all! I can cast down this plague, once and for all. I can do this! Only me! I… I… (labored breathing) I saved… I saved him… Dr. Hamm, I… I cured him… he was sick, I know he was sick, I know he was, and I… you are all sick, but I… I can save you. I can save all of you, because I… I am the cure.

He still remembered it in full detail, though he did not show it physically, deep down he regretted it.

"Why did I kill that innocent man?" He asked himself.
"Because he had the pestilence, my dear friend" his mind said.
"Then why did he not show signs of the pestilence?" He soon replied.
After that, the "conversation" went dark, and he was soon notified that the plane was ready.
The journey continues

[Langenia]

The Langenian Presidential Airbus A380, somewhere over the Pacific Ocean

Nicolas Pablo Furia, President of Langenia, looked out the window of the Langenian presidential Airbus A380 plane. What did he see? Just clouds and waves, the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean below. He sighed. How did he even get talked into this? This...guy had come into his press conference in Aragon and asked him how he felt about going in a drunken spree in Socialist Macronesia. His initial reaction had been "What the f*ck?!" When the guy had mentioned tropical beaches, that changed things. He needed a vacation. He desperately needed a vacation. There were many tropical beaches in Langenia, but he knew what his wife would say. You've been working too much. Stop fighting all those wars, doing politics, dealing with finance, and just relax for once! So in Aragon, he had simply turned, called his wife, and said "Honey! We're going to SoMac!" And that's why he was flying to the other side of the Pacific Ocean to a tropical commie island.

"Would you like something to eat, sir?" asked one of his attendants, snapping him out of his thinking.

"Yes," he responded. "Get me a sandwich." The attendant saluted and walked away.

"Finally, you actually went on vacation. Congrats," said a sarcastic voice behind Furia. He turned. In came his wife, Isabella Furia. They had met back when they were in college. She had been an exchange student from Spain, while Nicolas had been...a Langenian fighter pilot simultaneously going to college. Nicolas smiled. "Thank you." "I was being sarcastic," she sighed. Furia beamed "I know." "Just like your younger self," Isabella responded, smiling back.

---

Langenian A380, in the airspace near SoMac International

Furia woke up. It appeared that he and his wife had fallen asleep on the couch watching a movie. The plane had begun its descent. They were probably close to SoMac now. He nudged his wife. "We're going to land soon, honey," he whispered. She groggily woke up and groaned. "Are we really that close?" "Yes, unfortunately." "Fine. Let's go change." Off they went to change clothes and prepare for arrival in Socialist Macronesia. Breaking from his usual tuxedo, he decided on an Aloha shirt and a pair of khaki shorts. Informal clothing, but this wasn't a state visit, after all. No need for all that pomp and formalities. Well, the massive A380 was probably a big example of pomp, as well those luxurious cars of his, but never mind that. He watched intently as the pilots descended and the plane landed on the runway of SoMac International Airport. All of a sudden, he thought, had he ever been to a party like this one? No, was the answer. But who cared? It was his chance to actually relax for a bit! Excitedly, he got out of the plane and walked onto the tarmac, hand in hand with his Isabella, who was wearing a straw hat, sunglasses, and a tropical-style dress. Good, they both fit in with the vibe of the place. And the weather, it was so pleasant! Ah, this was going to be a relaxing vacation...

[Free Ravensburg]

Meanwhile, in the Box

As Jakob began to walk, everyone in the box steadied themselves. Amadeus secured hid eggs, making sure that they won't break. After he did that, he began talking to everyone in the box about what he was planning.

Amadeus: "Now that my eggs are secure, let me tell you what I have planned for our entrance. As you all know, Jakob will have to set the box down. When he does that, we jump out one by one. And yes, this is very much a Jojo reference."
Victoria: "I FUCKING CALLED IT! YOU MOTHERFUCKER! No offense, Ravenia."
Ravenia: "None taken. He does kind of do some stupid shit like this all the time."
Amadeus: "I thought you were supposed to be on my side?!"
Viktor: "Yeah, I'm probably never going to get used to her talking."

The group continue commenting on the plan, when they feel a sudden stop. It feels like they have arrived.

[Enth Arth]

Whilst on the shuttle, A vulpinefolk servant, Vulna, sat by Jakob, who had never been outside Enth Arth before. She had so many questions about what life was like in other nations. She had orange fur, with a white-tipped tail and underbelly, dark brown socks? and tips on her ears, and dark teal eyes. She was about 36 years old, and wore a cyan maid outfit, signifying of her role as a maid, with black shoes and magenta bow tied with a small golden bell on her left ear. On the way there, she asked Jakob about what life in Free Ravensburg was like. She also talked about her personal life in the Norias Palace, where she served for the royal and first families.

When the shuttle finally arrived at their destination, she had asked one final question.

Vulna[curiously]: "So, I have been wondering, and forgive me for asking, but what exactly is in that box you have been toting around? It seems to have given off some obscene language on our journey."
Jakob: "You'll find out at the party, so please, be patient."

[Voxija]

Stepping through the portal, the three girls started their travel through the boundless space to enter the realm that held Socialist Macronesia.

In one wing of the airport, there was an object, a doorway, of what could be described as light as some sort of magical entity manifested. Suddenly, three figures stepped out of the light. Just as quickly as it came, the light suddenly disappeared. To anyone not paying enough attention, it would just look like three girls appeared out of nowhere with a sudden flash of light.

As they stepped out of the portal, Sylvia, Julienne, and Perfecti looked around. No one immediately grabbed their attention, so they assumed they were maybe in the wrong wing of the airport. With a shrug of their shoulders and a soft giggle from each of them, they marched in sync around the airport to look for any of the other guests.

As they stepped, Julienne started to sing. "Ob’s stürmt oder schneit, ob die Sonne uns lacht, der Tag glühend heiß oder eiskalt die Nacht,"

Sylvia, looked at her sister, smiled, and joined in too. ""Bestaubt sind die Gesichter, doch froh ist unser Sinn, ja unser Sinn.""

Perfecti immediately joined her two friends as well. """Es braust unser Panzer im Sturmwind dahin."""

"""Mit donnernden Motoren, geschwind wie der Blitz, dem Feinde entgegen, im Panzer geschützt. Voraus den Kameraden, im Kampf steh'n wir allein, steh'n wir allein. So stoßen wir tief in die feindlichen Reihn."""

The three girls marched and sung. They thought nothing about what everyone was thinking. It was probably a weird sight for anyone out of the loop. Three girls in military uniforms with weapons, marching and singing.

It was indeed a weird sight for Bixenta Agirre. There were these three young women dressed in—were those Nazi uniforms?—carrying heavy weaponry that probably wouldn't be allowed to be carried openly in Voxija. And was that the word "Panzer" in their marching song? And "Kameraden"? Oh dear.

When Etor Gurraniz saw his predecessor's adverse reaction to the Dellamorte sisters and Perfecti Von Blitz, he reached out to her. "These are just the witch ladies. They can do magic, real magic. They are called Sylvia, Julienne, and there's a third one whom I don't know about. They did my hair back at the Fardelshufflestein Halloween party. I looked like an anime schoolgirl after that."

The memories were just pouring right out. Etor remembered the Dellamorte sisters, and how they made Etor f a n c y. That comforted Etor, but at the same time, disheartened him. He would definitely find out more about that party at this party, but was that a good thing?

Etor wanted to reconnect with them. And Paris too, although he was afraid that seeing Paris would bring up some awkward memories. It was Bixenta that tugged on Etor's arm, trying to convince him not to talk to the scary military ladies. But Etor was not convinced, and he strolled up to Sylvia and Julienne without fear. Okay, Etor have have been hiding some fear, but he still wanted to know more about their country.

"Hello again! Sylvia Dellamorte, Julienne Dellamorte. You might remember me as Tori from the Halloween party. And who's this lady with you?"

[Azur Deutschland]

It was indeed a weird sight for Bixenta Agirre. There were these three young women dressed in—were those Nazi uniforms?—carrying heavy weaponry that probably wouldn't be allowed to be carried openly in Voxija. And was that the word "Panzer" in their marching song? And "Kameraden"? Oh dear.

When Etor Gurraniz saw his predecessor's adverse reaction to the Dellamorte sisters and Perfecti Von Blitz, he reached out to her. "These are just the witch ladies. They can do magic, real magic. They are called Sylvia, Julienne, and there's a third one whom I don't know about. They did my hair back at the Fardelshufflestein Halloween party. I looked like an anime schoolgirl after that."

The memories were just pouring right out. Etor remembered the Dellamorte sisters, and how they made Etor f a n c y. That comforted Etor, but at the same time, disheartened him. He would definitely find out more about that party at this party, but was that a good thing?

Etor wanted to reconnect with them. And Paris too, although he was afraid that seeing Paris would bring up some awkward memories. It was Bixenta that tugged on Etor's arm, trying to convince him not to talk to the scary military ladies. But Etor was not convinced, and he strolled up to Sylvia and Julienne without fear. Okay, Etor have have been hiding some fear, but he still wanted to know more about their country.

"Hello again! Sylvia Dellamorte, Julienne Dellamorte. You might remember me as Tori from the Halloween party. And who's this lady with you?"

"""Wenn vor uns ein feindliches Heer dann erscheint, Wird Vollgas gegeben und ran an den Feind! Was gilt denn unser Leben für unsres Reiches Heer? Ja Reiches Heer. Für Deutschland zu sterben ist uns höchste Ehr."""

The trio of German girls continued to march and sing until they started to see some more familiar faces. In fact, one of the guests from the previous party, the Western Fardelshufflestein Halloween Shindig, took notice of them.

"Hello again! Sylvia Dellamorte, Julienne Dellamorte. You might remember me as Tori from the Halloween party. And who's this lady with you?"

Once prompted with a conversation, the twins smiled and their song and march died down so that they could talk.

"Ah, um, hello... Tori? I guess it wouldn't be right to call you that as of now, huh? I remember that your name was Etor, correct?" Sylvia said with a smile.

Julienne started to speak directly after. "It's nice to meet you again. Um... heh, sorry if this sounds rude, but it's a little... weird to see you as a man, heh. I think it's because we didn't get to interact much until after what had happened to you..."

"Mhm." Sylvia then started to introduce Perfecti. "This is our best friend from when the 666th Azurblaue Rozen was first created. Perfecti von Blitz."

Perfecti gave a courteous smile before doing a light bow. "Oberst Perfecti von Blitz. A pleasure to meet you... Etor, I assume I should call you, correct? From the stories my friends have told me, I really don't think calling you Tori would fit with this current visage."

[The Romanian Confederacy]

FINALLY WERE AT THE FUCKING AIRPORT!
Time: 2:07 PM
Fort Ross International Airport

"Finally, we made it" Said 049,who was suffering from jet lag.
"Agreed, Let me help you with that Replied "Spectre" who was a close friend of his.
"No thanks, I can carry it" answered 049.
As soon as they arrived, he and spectre both felt a sense of both calm and uneasiness. Was it because of how cursed SoMac was? or was it something else? Whatever it was, it didn't matter for the moment. All that mattered was that they get in the airport ASAP.
*About 5 minutes later*

Just as they were entering the airport, 049 saw someone that sent a feeling of pure anger through his blood.

It was him.

Heinrich Himmler.

The devil himself was on the same soil as him.

Satan was in the same territory as he was.

How could such a piece of deplorable, genocidal, good for nothing human shit take the bait so seriously that he would commit the worst mistake of his whole life?

He could barely hear them speak, much less understand them because of their strong german accent. All he could hear was this:
"Sobald wir diese Senkgrube verlassen, möchte ich, dass Sie ihnen den Krieg erklären, sie zerstören und den verbleibenden Deplo unerwünschte Konzentrationslager zu verlassen. verschone sie nicht."

He could have killed him on the spot, yet for some reason, he resisted.
"Who was he?" Asked Spectre
"Some neopagan genocidal try-hard LARPer who has a extremely large boner for fascism" replied 049, who refused to go into full detail for he(and the prime minister, thats why he didn't want to come)felt that just going into full detail would be enough for him and spectre to be, hypothetically, cursed.

Before he could notice them, they ran towards the airport entrance, and met up with the rest of the attendees.

[Socialist Macronesia]

December 24th, 2020
10:00 AM
█.██°S, ███.██°E
Socialist Macronesia


The delegates began to trickle in slowly to the gate leading out to SoMac. Some looked appropriately dressed for the weather, some looked like they would've fit right in had they moved to SoMac, and others (specifically who is above my pay grade) were pulled to the side by the MP officers guarding the entrance. After an quick search just to ascertain that nobody had brought hazardous materials, such as anything radioactive or potentially invasive species (and not giving a shit about the assorted weapons being carried into the country), the gates opened.

The delegates were loaded onto a bus. It was quite comfortable, and they would have been entirely at ease if the bus didn't have several heavily armed soldiers standing right next to everyone, rifles at low attention, patrolling the aisle, or if some of the more vigilant delegates hadn't noticed the APCs, light armoured vehicles, pickup truck technicals, and SAM trucks in a convoy in front of and behind the bus. Particularly concerning were the gunners, most of whom were busy smoking cigarettes or cigars, briefly scanning the landscape with their machine guns lowered at unseen targets at the side of the road. Eventually, however, the jungle broke, and the city came into view.

Immediately, to the concern of most people in the bus, the soldiers put out their smokes and trained their sights on the road ahead as though it was a warzone. The convoy broke the outskirts of the city, and began its way down significantly better-paved and less bumpy roads. The roads were empty, most citizens wary of the carrier group posed offshore and the potential for a bombardment at any time. Needless to say, when a country is at war for years and years, you tend to become good at it and more likely to survive. Especially those who are civilians.

The bus continued its journey to the Capitol.

December 24th, 2020
7:00 AM
█.██°S, ███.██°E
Socialist Macronesia Capitol Building


Luckily, the government wasn't stupid. Even if they seemed like it.

Jane Edwin (the real one) had a Level 2 Clearance for her job. The new Jane Edwin, even with computer hacking skills, saw no information in the government intranet involving the Delta Protocol. Even after cracking the server, there was still a lot of encrypted data, but even after some decryption, nothing involving the Delta Protocol or Project Delta. This made her a little more concerned; if it wasn't on the government server, that meant that the data had to be elsewhere. Which meant--

She quickly shutdown her computer when someone entered the room-- several people. She was able to recognize several of them from the personnell files she had seen. Luckily, they walked right past her without acknowledgement.

"I told you already, something just seems up. I don't know what, but I just have an instinct that something's wrong."

"Your instincts haven't been wrong often, Mr. Barton. I'll hear you out."

The group went down the stairs to the basement.

That might be interesting.

[Brettenwald]

10ish, SoMac International/en route to the Capitol:

Marco had to grudgingly admit that this wasn't that bad. Granted, the sheer amount of military equipment that had been rolled out along with the bus was concerning, but when you were at war with - what was it, three countries at once? -that was understandable. The ride was comfortable enough and the bus was air-conditioned, a luxury you didn't get much of back home simply because it usually didn't get hot enough to need it that felt wonderful in this oppressive tropical climate. Helena was looking just a tiny bit scared of the guns and soldiers, but taking her hand in his earned him a sweet smile and restored her look of calm equanimity. She and him instinctively got each other to the point of being able to finish each other's sentences, and Marco thought that she'd have been a far more effective co-ruler for him than Paris, the ineffectual intellectual who preferred diplomatic occasions and spreadsheets to the daily grind of briefings, meetings, and kicking ass that was the core of ruling the empire. The throne needed his iron fist in Helena's velvet glove, not some pansy who had been known to wear bracelets and drank mocha-frappu-chai-whateverthefuck coffees. A few seconds later, he grabbed that particular testosterone-marinated part of his brain by the balls and reminded it that that was his brother he was talking about, dammit, now shut the fuck up and remember your responsibilities. If it was what Father ordered, it was what he was going to do, and he loved his brother fiercely despite their manifold differences.

Speaking of his brother, Paris was not enjoying the bus ride. At all. The air conditioning didn't quite reach back to where he had been forced to sit in the seating shuffle, and to make matters worse the gentleman he was sitting next to was looking even more familiar . . . a little, no, almost like Vashadri. Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no. Gods grant me the strength for what I'm about to do. He took a deep breath, mentally ran through every prayer he could remember at once, and spoke in a shaking voice. "Er, hi. I'm Paris. Paris Cärrino. Don't I know you from somewhere?"
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-

[Langenia]

On the bus from SoMac Internaitonal to the Capitol

Furia and his wife sat down on the bus. The heavily armed soldiers unnerved him, bringing back memories of Afghanistan and Iraq, so he made sure the weapons he had brought stayed close. What? That was a habit now, after being on the ground and participating in the fighting firsthand. He reminded himself that this country was one that had gone through war. Lots of it, like Langenia. Unlike Langenia, it had happened here, nearby, not far away in a foreign country. He took a moment to observe the military vehicles near the bus, identifying and admiring them. Such excellent pieces of engineering. "What's with all those guards and vehicles?" his wife, who was sitting next to him, asked, snapping him out of his thinking. "When you're at war for many years, it's just natural for you to do that," he responded. "War? No one said anything about war. I though this was a normal tropical island in the middle of the vast expanse of the Pacific," she fired back. "Yes, just with the war. Don't you remember the news reporting about all the fighting here some years ago?" Nicolas asked. Isabella thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, some guy called Ross declaring Socialist Macronesia then war." "Exactly." Both of them showed no sign of discomfort from the tropical climate. They did, after all, live in a tropical country with similar weather, so they were accustomed to it. Plus, they were dressed for the weather, expecting for it to be like this.

As the bus ride wore on, Nicolas started thinking about tropical drinks. Ah, that nice, cool sensation of cold fruit juice in his mouth. He couldn't wait to get to the lodgings. He also kept on thinking about seeing the military aspect of SoMac. That was something he would enjoy very much, being a military buff himself. He looked out the window and watched the jungle pass by. Surprisingly, it was not boring to him. Every time he was the landscape of a new country, it was just normal for him to be captivated and watch. "Staring at the view," Isabella said, smirking. "Yes, why not? It's not boring!" She laughed. The bus drove on.