Ascension

[yk001nul]

The trio arrived in Sarah’s make-shift laboratory in one of the extra room in the complex. Sarah gave her two associates copies of the mission briefing given to her by the Order spokesperson. The two associates read the notes for some time. She could feel the aura of doubt rising from them.
The larger of the duo, a gigantic figure fully clad in linen rags, slowly slipped his copy of the mission briefing into the folds of his linen robe and turned towards Sarah. Fine grain of ash occasionally leaked out from nooks and crannies of his extensive linen sheet wrappings. A deep commanding voice emanated from him.

“Forgive me, Exalted Teacher, but I must know why the Order insisted on sending only us to intervene in the wars of the foreign nation. Even a well-placed small group of Order assassins would readily vanquish all …”

Sarah silenced her associate’s banter with a flick of her finger. She tapped the large figure’s face to reprimand him, and giggled heartily.

“You still have a lot to learn, Falafel. Remember, in our faith, any war is inflicted in order to achieve justice for all with minimum casualties to both warring sides. Now read the section on the current casualties statistics.”

The giant Falafel then pulled out his copies of the mission briefing and flipped to the section of the briefings describing the current conflict casualties. The Soul Search Sacraments incantation inscribed into the pages of the papers constantly changed the numbers of casualties based on the chant’s scan upon the afflicted lands. The numbers of casualties in the regions closest to the Packilvanian territory seemed to rise at light speed, it made the glowing green light of the digits seemed nothing more than a blur.

“It seemed that you are right, teacher. But then, why do we have to bring him?”

The remaining member of the trio, a tall and thin cloaked figure who was standing beside Sarah, fidgeted as it was pointed to by Falafel. Its face was completely hidden by the large shawl it was wearing, and only two glowing dots were visible in the shadow of the shawl. It seemed to vibrate incessantly for a while, making a low but annoying noise of banging metals, before Sarah put her hand onto its shoulder and calmed it down.

“Aw, don’t harass Cyrus. He also has an important task to complete in our mission.”

The tall Cyrus turned his head towards Falafel and emitted a low rumbling purr, apparently meant as an insult towards the giant. Falafel shook his head and ignored him, preferring to wait silently for Sarah to finish packing up her stuff.

“OK, now that I’ve finished packing up my stuff, I will brief you on my plan for this mission. Our only goal is to find survivors and teleport them to a safer place. This means that combat must be avoided at all means.”

Sarah pointed towards Falafel and continued her briefing. “In the event that combat is inevitable, that’s where you’ll be in charge, Associate Cleric Falafel. At all time, do NOT uncover yourself in the vicinity of humanoids unless absolutely necessary. When you have to, please inform me so that I can pray for the necessary shields. We don’t want any unnecessary bloodshed here.”

Falafel nodded and tightened the linen wraps on his head. He would have to be a mummy for a long long time. Cyrus beeped in cynical amusement.

Sarah tapped Cyrus on his head to reprimand him. “Stop and listen here Cyrus. You will be our most important agent for this mission against the unknown mental entity pulling the strings behind the Packilvanian attacks. I trust you already had the knowledge on the belligerent troops?”

Cyrus nodded. He moved around and performed a series of strange movements that left Sarah and Falafel confused for a while. It took several minutes for them to realize that Cyrus was demonstrating a strange kind of dance he discovered from the culture books, a dance mimicking movements of primitive mechanical beings.

Sarah shook her head. " I think you really should put a Primeval Voice incantation into your avatar, Cyrus. However, I’ll assume that you are already quite knowledgeable about the foreign nation’s technologies then. If you are, then you will know that the belligerent armies use extensive mechanical technologies, which you are an expert in. We’ll need you to establish some kind of contact with the foreign technologies once we arrived. Is that clear?"

Cyrus did not answer, and lay silent for a while until Falafel lightly slapped his head from behind. The slap apparently drove Cyrus into activity, and he immediately nodded. He took a big bag filled with unknown items, slung it over his shoulder and gestured his readiness.
Sarah nodded. She unfolded a map showing the afflicted nations, and cast her glance on a place called Tassalvaltar. She closed her eyes and meditated for a while, her hand firmly planted on the map. The map rippled and vibrated as her prayers reached the final crescendo. With her eyes still closed, she motioned for her associates to come closer to her.

“Everyone, stay near to me. We will be landing directly into the combat zone. Brace yourself.”

The two associates stood close to the praying cleric. Soon, a dazzling white light enveloped the trio, bringing daylight into the dark interiors of the small laboratory. A strong gust of wind whipped the room as the white light exploded violently, leaving only traces of white smoke in place of the now-disappeared clerics.

[Todd_McCloud]

Provinsk, green-light district, Vekaiyu

“It’s a business, really.”

A middle-aged vulpine male paced around the room, his hands behind his back as he stared in front of him, thinking and debating within the confines of his mind. “A business that is perpetuated by friendship and trust. Two generations ago, our families formed Y’velsi for the purposes of starting a business. We hard narcotics, and people wanted to buy it. We then moved on to other things, growing with each generation, until we finally arrive to today.”

He looked around the table, staring at the respective ‘first families’ that sat together. Each one was the same – husband, wife, kids. All were dressed sharply: men in black suits, women in dresses with colors of red, white, and black. Some looked at the middle-aged vulpine, others stared at the table, and still others smoked, drank, or wrote notes on a piece of paper.

“We aren’t the strong organization we once were. The emergence of Listonia has really puffed up their orgs real fast. I’ve never seen Sipani pulsoks* speak to a Vekaiyun sect like they did to Lovirenzi, and Yu Levolar… simply amazing how they pushed the Vekaiyun turf back to the border. The moment they cross the Vekaiyun border, there’s going to be one hell of a war.” He looked up and noticed one of the men remove his cigar. “Yamano?”

He leaned back in his chair, swiveling it around to face the middle-aged man. “Isoli, why are we pretending that Listonia is the only nation close to Provinsk?”

“I am not getting into Packilvanian affairs, if that’s what you’re suggesting,” Isoli countered.

“That’s why we’ve shrank as an organization, Isoli. Your father may have had a lot of promise in you, but unlike him, you do not change to fit the situation. Listonia’s a nation now. You have three options: fight them, do nothing, or change the game. Don’t cut your dick off because you’re afraid to tap into the Hive’s resources.” He leaned forward on the desk, setting his elbows on the wood. “Do it. No one’s tried it before, and we have enough power to try it.”

“I’m not selling this family to the dogs.”

“So you’re going to let it rot instead? Makes a lot of sense, Isoli. We either stay here and let those Listonian bastards push in, or we work over the Hive. All it takes is once. Just one particle canon. We get it, then sell it to the highest bidder. The sky’s the freaking limit on those! And that’s just a canon. There is so much technology in Packilvania you’d be brain dead to not go for it.”

“I’m not going to go on a suicide mission!”

“This isn’t no damn suicide mission!” A younger male shouted. “I say we do this. I volunteer for this. I want to get my hands on one of those particle canons. We get two – one for ourselves, and one to sell. And we don’t sell it to those Listonians!”

Isoli sighed. “The Uveriste family will therefore volunteer, if only because I’ll never hear the end of this shit. We’ll divide out the org numbers later, but you leave tomorrow night. I want as much as you can pick up. Pull some strings, move in, then move out. I want… the best on this, because if we get caught, we’re going to be in it deep. And if we are caught,” he added, pointing directly at the man. “I wouldn’t come back, Vanyo. The Uveristes will be smoked out.”

[system]

ELF Flash to U81 Kalypso, South Keigan Sea (near plot #69)

Z97914ZORID
TOP SECRET THEO
FM: COMSUBFOR
TO: KALYPSO

//NOOOOO//

HIVE MOBIL
1.FPS REPORT JOVIAN GATE AC-
TIVE ABOUT 2115Z 21AUG. CON-
TACT EVALUATED AS  PAXFLEET.
FPS MOBIL. EMFLEET LAUNCHED.
2.TRANSIT LAZANT.SPEED TWELVE
DEPTH THREE HUNDRED. PATROL
EAST DRAK. PURSUE AND INVES-
TIGATE .
3. KETO RDV SEVENTY-TWO HOURS
GRID BRAVO THREE SOUTH SHIVAT
FIFTY NM.
4. SUPPORT CIVILIAN TRANSIT.

[packilvania]

Jarx was busy destroying yet another hut, and laughing as it burned. He briefly heard the barrage hit the ground around him, and managed to get one glimpse upward as he burned…

Noi stood over a large map of TEP. The green areas off the Tassalvaltan kingdom were turning black… The problem was she didn’t authorize the attack… Her admiral spoke up.

“Ma’am, we have reports from the surveillance net of the ships that attacked the Tassalvaltan landscape.”

He brought up the video of the ships leaving. Noi swore.

“Shit. This is erupting faster than I thought it would. Send a message to the East Malaysians that they can evac whoever they want. I don’t think that many are going to be alive after that. What were our casualties?”

“25% of the invading force has been destroyed or incapacitated. The invasion fleet is still incoming, so we aren’t decimated, but I don’t think there is much left to invade…”

Noi sighed and expanded the map from Tassalvalta.

“Spread before us is the entirety of TEP. We have the Dovakhanese to the East, The smaller nations of the west. We have our friends poised to strike at FPS if need be, and possibly friends to the north, or maybe not. Contact Alghenny, and Veakyu. We may be able to cow them into an alliance. See if Drakkenguard feels up to a protracted war with FPS, and I want a report of the western front. We have the resources for an expansion. I see no reason not to use them.”

Her invasion commander asked “What about Tassalvalta?”

“Get the garrisons set to defend the area if needed. Stop the lines where they are, and withdraw from the north. There is nothing left there, and we may be able to negotiate some sort of agreement with the north to secure an alliance. Otherwise, prepare for offensive drops from the fleet.”

Noi smiled.

“One will become all.”

[Emjay]

Eastrovia
Aerospace Navy Defense Command - War Room

Sipping on her coffee, enjoying the bitter taste, Glendale was looking at the screen to her left as a officer ran into the room with a PADD and handed it to Admiral Juneburg. Glendale tensed up and gave Juneburg a inquisitive look.

With a very confused look on her face Juneburg spoke, “we’re green to evacuate anyone who’s left. This is coming directly from their command…”

Glendale almost spit her coffee out of her mouth as she sat her cup down and stood up. “Something is not right about this but send in the ships on standby and make sure they display the CHAO and EMRC flags with the holopaint. I still want them to only be there for no more than a few hours because something just does not feel quite right.” She moved to the screen on her left and started to pull up some information, “In the meantime lets look into Pax ship movements over the last six months and do some research.”

E.A.N. Assurance
Bridge

Walking around the bridge Captain Maria Hanson was giving her bridge crew a preparation speech.

“We have the green on moving in and evacuating survivors of this. Remember we are going into a war zone and we could be attacked even though we are a medical ship. Our goal is the evacuate as many as we can in a limited amount of time. The hospital part of the ship will take care of the injured and our cargo bays will serve as a temporary place for our guest. All major parts of the ship have been sealed off,” as she finished she stopped by her chair and took a deep breath then sat down. “All hands Blue Alert; prepare for casualties.”

[drakkengard]

In the Drakkengard Foreign Affair Office, the increasing turmoil in the region kept being managed as best as possible.

Officers rushed everywhere sending reports such as…

"To the Vekaiyu field commander,

(…)

Therefore, we assure your people that we mobilized to your border only due to our ally request, and with defensive intention. We shall send a representative as required, to ensure our goodwill."

"To Pax liaison overlord,

(…)

So, we inform that, as predicted, Allegheny mobilized part of their forces in a show of force. What is the answer desired to that action?
Regarding Vekaiyu, they´re requesting a meeting with their field commander. We agreed on our side. Will you send a representative as well?
And since we once considered an invasion on FPS, i assure you the planning for such an act already exists and can be set in motion with minimal adjusts. However, given our current membership in EPTO, we´d rather let them fire the first shot and then rush to your defense accusing they of unprovoked agression. Nevertheless, if a pre-emptive strike on them is desired, it shall be done."

[Reziel]

Seawolf class Archangels’ submarine «Sicarius»
150 kms west of the coasts of the Lyon Federation – 800 meters underwater

Suddenly, the 52,000 hp of the nuclear engine relaxed. The submarine had reached its battle position. From that moment on, it wouldn’t have moved so much. In the end, it was nothing else but one of the numberless chesses on a regional-wide chessboard. Countless chesses which had been positioned with enviable quickness and ability, a display of military efficiency which had been triggered by an apparently insignificant order flatly commanded by Colonel Lachdanan «Storm» Uth Reiser in New Irem and silently seconded by Grand Duke Elistar «Dragonhunter» Reziel with a simple nodding.

Then, Operation Block-after-block had begun. The assumptions which had lead to its preplanning were rather simple. First: despite their particle cannons weren’t Tep Forum | 404 - Link Expired Packilvania enjoyed an unmatchable space predominance, which granted them an immense strategic and logistic advantage. Second: due to the presence of an unreliable nation as Drakkengaard inside EPTO, the whole chain of command of the Organization could have been unreliable. These premises had two direct and immediate consequences.

First: a front battle was out of discussion, as large concentrations of troops could have been wiped away by quick nuclear strikes coming from outer space… a region were the Grand Duchy and the Empire of Michelsland couldn’t wage war. Second: EPTO couldn’t be trusted as an effective counterbalance. Single nations like FPS were an unquestionable ally… but the Organization wasn’t.

Therefore, Operation Block-after-block was the one option left. Thirty seconds after the command, all of the Archangels anywhere in the region had been given their orders. The real-world answer to this simple fact had outperformed the more optimistic computer-based simulations. Within seven hours, 85.78% of the effectives had already been equipped and deployed. Within nine hours, the percentage had increased to 93%, which had become 98.7% within ten hours. Eleven hours after the order, what could have well been described as the whole Rezielan elite army was either deployed or en route to its final battle positions.

The whole process had developed along a main strategic and logistic guideline which could have been summarized in two words: divide and disperse. And indeed, with the exception of a very limited number of principal infrastructures (basically, three in the whole TEP), all of the Archangels were operating on single-unit level. Small pack of Delta Force intruders. Naval units made of no more than two/three ships. RT-2PM2 Topol-M - Wikipedia operating on solo-missions. Small groups of tanks. Pairs of helicopters scattered everywhere. Even the planes had been dispersed as much as possible. In two words… either the Pax had bombed the whole TEP, or single autonomous and yet interconnected units of the Rezielan elites would have survived, ready for what they were best trained for.

Guerrilla tactics. Because if the Pax wanted to conquer the region, they would have had bowed to do it Block-after-block, wasting kazillions of resources in the process… and a ton of time. Its engines being slowed down, the submarine «Sicarius» appeared to be one of the last tesserae of the mosaic going into place.

[yk001nul]

A small puff of white smoke erupted in mid-air over the sky in the middle of the Tassalvaltan fields. Sarah, Falafel and Cyrus emerged from within the clouds … and plummeted straight into a sea of fire.

“What the heck is going on here? This area is not supposed to be invaded yet?”, Sarah gasped, as she and the rest of the team sky-dived towards the flaming ground.

Falafel hugged Sarah and Cyrus tightly as the ground grew closer ahead of them. Out of the blue, two great dark wings sprouted from behind the giant. Flapping slowly but surely, the winged giant slowed down the descent and flew over to a nearby hill which was yet to be consumed by the sea of fire.
Flapping down to safety, the trio landed on the craggy hill overlooking the sea of fire that was engulfing the Tassalvaltan terrain. Sarah looked up to the sky, and managed to observe a fleet of sky-ships disappearing beyond the clouds. It was too distant for her to notice any flag, but she assumed that it must be coming from a force hell-bent to stop the progress of the invaders … even if it meant destroying a land.
Falafel drew back his wings into his body and meditated, sharpening his sense towards finding any survivors in the scorching heat. He immediately sensed life signals everywhere within several kilometers of him. Waning signs, but alive still.

“Exalted Teacher, I sensed survivors in this land. Should we rescue them, or should we leave them to their fate?”, he asked.

Sarah looked at her surroundings. The flame ocean was eating up everything in its path, and would likely make the land uninhabitable for years to come. The ones pouring down the flaming fuel really did a good job at ensuring the the flame would not stop too soon. Halting the flame would be necessary, but so was saving the people of the land.

“Falafel, you are allowed to use your natural abilities until the end of our circumstances here. I’ll need you to first consume the flames within radius of a kilometer of our position, which I’ll designate as our camp. Then both of us will speed-move to the locations of the life-signs, and quickly speed-move the survivors back to the camp. Cyrus, guard the perimeter around the camp, and watch out for any signs of invaders.”

Without hesitations, the trio moved about to implement Sarah’s order. Falafel calmly descended into the midst of the conflagration further downhill from their camp, and unwrapped the linen bandages wrapping around his mouth. Immediately, a powerful blast of wind rushed into a dark hole where his mouth was supposed to be, sucking along the flames and embers around him. He sprinted in a circle around the hill, absorbing the flame into himself, until he created a smoking circular area free of flames.
His work now done, Falafel gestured towards Sarah and Cyrus. Sarah nodded, and started focusing on the life signs. She disappeared into a puff of smoke, followed by Falafel as both of them sped towards the remaining survivors.
Falafel was the first to return to the camp barely four seconds after he sped off, clutching three infants and two screaming women as he emerged from the speed-move smokes. One after another, survivors started rushing in from the smokes of the speed-move incantations, confused by their circumstances but otherwise mentally sound.
It was clear that the survivors did not escape unscathed; several of the survivors sustained major burns, and some lost their limbs in their attempts to escape the flames. Cyrus immediately tended to the injured, chanting out the Rejuvenating Benedictions as he walked around the camp, followed closely behind by curious children. The incantation drew a mysterious mist that descended upon the camp and mingled with the smokes from the flames, sluggishly healing the injuries of the survivors and regenerating the lost body parts of those who sustained grievous injuries.
Sarah brought in the last of the survivors, an old man who clutched adamantly onto a sheep. She looked on to the flaming areas beyond their camp, and uttered a silent prayer as the last of the life signs faded into oblivion. Falafel approached her, and inquired on her next decision.

“We have done all that we could. What is our next course of action?”

Sarah drew a deep breath. Something had been bothering her for quite a while, and it would need a more drastic action. She glanced towards her companions, and calmly stated her decision.

“We will disappear from here…”

Cyrus beeped a long screech of disbelief. Falafel looked towards the survivors, and inquired on the basis of her decision.

“Exalted Teacher, we have many survivors here who are trapped without any food and water. Without further protection, the invading forces will notice them. I cannot predict what they would do once they discovered the survivors. Surely we cannot leave them to their fate. I would prefer them to be transported to our refugee quarters back home, but first, I would like to know why you chose to disappear.”

Sarah giggled. Her companions took her words far too seriously. She patted Falafel on the shoulders, and calmed him down.

“By disappearing, I mean that we’ll use the Veil. Get it? We cannot elaborate too much, since the enemy would likely have ears in the air.”

Falafel stood silent for a while, and slowly nodded. Cyrus seemed to get the idea as well, and emitted a melodious tones of beeps and honks as he put down several pieces of himself into the ground, for some reason.
Sarah waited for his companions to be ready. Once they were, she whispered some prayers and weaved a pattern in the air using her hands. At the end of her meticulous movements, a shrill sound pierced the air, alerting the survivors who turned towards the direction of the trio.

In front of the bewildered survivors, the trio slowly faded from view, disappearing completely into thin air…

[Todd_McCloud]

The Levenasi, southern border

Despite it being the dead of night, lights near the main camp remained on, dousing the surrounding areas in constant light. Here, no one really slept that well, and if they did, someone was always available to take their place, at least for a few hours. But, with the constant buzz around the ‘small village’, it was easy to lose time in one’s work.

Bre’digoor Commodore Jamano Ikarov monitored the status of the various outposts located on the Vekaiyun-Packilvanian border, thinking of a message to send to the various checkpoints with the intention of wiring them over to the other side.

“Attention outposts. Please be advised that the Drakkengard side has not voiced any intentions of attack. However, that is not a call to lay down one’s guard. Remain on alert. That is all.”

He then grabbed a microphone which would broadcast his message across airwaves and certain megaphones located near the border. Unlike the last transmission, this message was in English. “Members of the Drakkengard military: Vekaiyu is requesting to meet with involved parties at a pre-determined station located in the Vekaiyun border town of Hisurinavi. Vekaiyu will send a diplomat to the station at 1800 Vekaiyun Standard Time tomorrow. We will now announce the coordinates of Hisurinavi.” He proceeded to recite the number given to him on a piece of paper. “That is all.”

[packilvania]

Noi sighed. She was beginning to think that the people of TEP did not deserve to become part of the fold she had helped nurture. Years of slavery and bondage had led to the beginnings. Massive war had forged the empire’s strength in the middle. What would secure the empire now? More war? Noi sighed again and smiled at her overlords. They knew what she was thinking, but before they could act it was to late. Her body convulsed under the strain she placed on it now, and eventually she abandoned her physical form altogether.

‘One becomes all and all shall become one.’

The thought rang out in her mind and across the Hive. It echoed in her mind over and over. She was attempting to truly assimilate the masses. Her commanders didn’t see it coming, and had fallen with surprise. Their minds were hers, and their bodies lay lifeless on the floor. She reached out to the rest of the Hive…

Outside
The Hive nodes pulsed with power. They all began to activate as Noi’s conscientious moved through them.

[yk001nul]

Still inside their invisibility Veil invocations, the trio waited for any surprise attacks to come. The survivors should be a good bait for the invading armies.
No attacks came up. Instead, a psychotic wave of mind attack suddenly blew up through the land. The survivors didn’t seem to notice that, but the mentally-attuned clerics cringed up under the nauseating effect of the mind attack. It was a cacophony of voices and mechanical screams coming out from somewhere in the sky. It was so loud, their Veils started rippling out and shattering under the intense mental pressure.
Sarah quickly weaved a pattern in the air while whispering the Recitations of the Seven Heavens. A shimmering globe materialized around the clerics and slowly dissipated, releasing its mind-defense essence into the mind of the clerics. The voices faded down, right until a single word can be clearly discerned from among the random noises.

“One becomes all and all shall become one…”

Sarah gave a knowing glance at Falafel. The cloaked giant nodded back in acknowledgement, and slowly stood behind her. He gestured for Cyrus to continue supervising their surroundings, and put both of his hands on Sarah’s shoulders. He tapped her shoulders to signal that he’s ready, and Sarah started her chant.
Her chant grew louder and louder with each passing moments. At the same time her voice also seemed to have lower and lower octaves as she continued her long chant. When smokes started appearing from her body, Falafel broke his silence and recited the Divine Protection invocations. Smokes gave way to visible puff of flames, and soon Sarah was partially engulfed in a cloak of flame that somehow seemed rather harmless.
Sarah abruptly finished her chant. Immediately, all the flames and smokes disappeared into thin air, as she fell over unconscious. Falafel gently held her body, knowing that she had successfully located the source of the mind waves and was now traversing through the hive mind in her mental avatar. He had no worries though; the ritual was specifically designed to coax her elemental heritage into protecting her avatar while she walked through the mental landscape, preventing her for being consumed from whatever that lurked inside the hive mind.

After 10 minutes, Sarah woke up. Without telling the rest of the clerics what she experienced during the mind walk, she quickly stood up and packed up her belongings. Falafel raised a hand in preparation for a question, but Sarah quickly hushed him down.

“I will tell you all later. Right now we’ll need to report to the Order. Now.”

Falafel nodded and grabbed a sleeping Cyrus as he chanted the quick walk invocations. It wasn’t too long before the only sign of their arrivals on the Tassalvaltan plains was a thinning wisp of white smoke.

[Todd_McCloud]

Vinsent Uveriste led a short convoy of three semis, barreling down the E-7 freeway, literally minutes away from the Packilvanian border. Throughout the entire trip, he wondered if going the sure-fire route rather than a backroad would be the best approach. Yet, with Ikrisia running the nation into the ground overnight, would anyone even care if a few Vekaiyun trucks meandered over the border and into Packilvanian terrain? At least the trucks were, for the most part, painted white and not giving off any particular ominous vibe. They didn’t look too threatening.

“What’s the plan again?” a human male asked. He manned the passenger seat of the first semi, probably because if they ran into any trouble, he’d be the go-to muscle.

Vinsent tossed out a cigarette from the window as it struck the pavement behind them. “It’s simple. Just get the fuck in there, take whatever’s lying around, but most of all, look for this.” He pulled out a blurry photograph of what appeared to be a weapon. “We cannot leave without a few of those. That is the whole reason why we’re here.” He looked over the horizon and cursed as soon as the border was in full view. “Fucking roadblock. I should’ve known.” He eased on the brakes as vulpine soldiers wearing the more modern uniforms that protected against most types of chemical attacks approached the first vehicle.

“State your intentions!” one of them ordered.

“Transport from Packilvania,” Vinsent replied smoothly.

“Transporting what?”

“Scrap mostly. Anything we can get to make a few veskonos, you know.”

The soldier stepped back slightly. “We have orders from Kivia Levinile to confiscate any weapons that can be obtained from the Pax. Rather than scrap, if you obtain such devices, the reward would be worth your efforts. You cannot cross here, but arrive at the border town of Nisolesi, about 250 kilometers thereabouts.” He pointed to the east. “There you will be able to find others to work with.” He paused. “This conversation never transpired.”

Vinsent was impressed at the soldier’s honesty - it was either the truth or a trick. “Very well then.” Vinsent radioed in. “Check your maps for a town named Nisolesi. That is our new destination.”

[packilvania]

Note* Pax roads are almost non-existent. A substantial rail system is in place. There would be paths graded out for military traffic to move if need be.

[Todd_McCloud]

— Begin quote from ____

Note* Pax roads are almost non-existent. A substantial rail system is in place. There would be paths graded out for military traffic to move if need be.

— End quote

((Yeah, lol, I remember that. I was going to have the road end abruptly if they progressed, which would’ve been very interesting))

[Free_Pacific_States]

“What exactly do these images mean?” Kroidrik asked, gesturing to the image on the project screen at the end of the conference table.

The Commandant of the Armed Forces highlighted the hive node, at the center of the image, with a laser pointer. “The blue color is not a failure on the part of the satellite that took the photos,” he said, “but an actual representation of what is there. The building is turning blue, indicating a much higher level of activity within the node, which…well, isn’t good.”

“What do you mean by that?” Kroidrik asked.

Samantha McClellan, the Blue House Chief of Staff, sighed. “The Pax are gearing up for something,” she said, flatly. “We have no way to know what. But, clearly, its something big.”

“Indeed, sir,” the Commandant agreed. “We need to take the last few steps of preparation, sir.” An aid placed a set of orders in front of the President. “We won’t attack, but…we will be ready to.”

“I thought we already were…” Kroidrik murmured as he read the orders.

“No, sir,” the Commandant stated as the President signed the papers. “But, now, we are.”

---

“…alpha tango tango bravo six. Please confirm receipt and acknowledgement.”

Captain Donald Rusk crossed out the last word in the code book for the day, then looked to partner. “I confirm. Do you confirm?”

Captain Chris Dietzel nodded. “Yeah. That’s the code for the day.”

Rusk touched the “transmit” button on the radio. “This is Silo Four Eight, confirming and acknowledging receipt of message.”

“Copy that, silo four eight. You are ordered, at this time, to open silo doors, and prepare for attack on Pax fleet. Transmitting target coordinates now.”

Rusk looked to Dietzel, who studied his computer for a moment, then nodded. “Got them.”

Rusk again hit the transmit button. “Copy and confirm. Proceeding as ordered.”

Standing up, Rusk retrieved a key from his pocket, while Dietzel retried a key from a chain around his neck. The two went to different sides of the room, inserted the keys, then turned them simultaneously. Each then returned to one of the two main work stations in the small command room.

A few moments later, the six nuclear missile silos overseen by the two officers opened, and the rockets within turned on, awaiting instructions to launch.

[Emjay]

E.A.N. Assurance
Bridge

“Alright, we have overstayed our visit for as long as we can,” Captain Hanson spoke as she was looking at the time on her console. “Issue the order to withdraw to designated medical transfer sites.”

“Aye,” spoke her communications officer, “orders have been sent, all ships are responding.”

“Thank you Ensign,” Captain Hanson spoke as she heard a few alerts go off to her left at the operations station and looked over. “Report.”

“Sensors are reading a massive build up of energy in the Hive Nodes. The power readings are off the scales; the sensors are trying to compensate,” he spoke as he was working controls at the station directly behind him.

“Don’t worry about that right now, just directly rely all data to command and get all ships back to our territory. They have the same data, the few ships still on the ground need to hurry up and lift up with or without everyone.” Captain Hanson spoke as she left her chair to review the sensor data.

“Captain, I am reading that Free Pacific States have readied their nuclear missiles,” her tactical officer announced.

“Monitor the channels the best you can and rely the data to command,” Captain Hanson spoke as she kept her cool to not worry any of her crew.

Eastrovia
Aerospace Navy Defense Command - War Room

“This is getting hotter by the second it seems,” Glendale spoke to Admiral Juneburg as the new data was coming in, “I realize that we could be pulled into this by our membership in the EPTO. I want our facilities ready if the EPTO HQ is compromised and bring fleet 2 into the system as a precaution.”

[Todd_McCloud]

“Thank freaking Almighty.”

A small gathering of trucks had reached one of the Hive nodes… suspiciously with great ease. All along the dirt path, graded out a few miles from the Vekaiyun border, there were various weapons and tools dropped. All proved to be interesting, as some of the vehicles stayed behind to quickly grab some laser guns and rail guns to quickly return to the border camp before being spotted by a Drakkengardese division.

About a dozen flatbed and trailer trucks had traveled deep within the Packilvanian… countryside, if one could call it that. The land was barren and, aside from a few arcane who were working in and around nearby mines, lifeless. The boring scenery seemed to last for hours, and the dirt roads were hell on the commercial-grade trucks. But, those on the trucks were given strict orders: never release the intent of the mission, never release who they were working for. They were just scrappers from a border town, hoping to cash in on some black-market tech. If they’re caught, Vekaiyu would not rescue them. But, if they make it back alive, a very handsome reward awaited them. For some, this was just enough drive to press on. No weapons were present (what sort of weapons could go against an empire that obliterated an entire nation?), but some brought along a pistol as a comfort object.

But with the Hive node, in all its pyramidal glory and glowing ominously against a gray sky, nerves were understandably high-strung. The entire structure looked like a portal straight to hell, and gave off an eerie vibe to the souls of all who had traversed thus far.

“What the hell are we looking for again?” one of the drivers asked as he slowed his vehicle.

“Particle canon. Don’t know what it does, but I guess it means business.”

“This is it, boys!” another one spoke over the radio. “What we’ve traveled all this way for! Let’s just get in, and get the hell out.”

“Less we stay in here, better I’ll feel.”

Vinsent snorted as he blinked his eyes and scratched his cheek. He was tired of driving, and any sort of possibility of spending less time in the cab of an old fishing truck was definitely a good one, all uneasy feelings aside. “Aye,” was all he could muster.

“Just watch yourselves… those stuffed shirts said don’t get assimilated.”

“The hell does that mean anyway?”

“Beats me.”

“They’ll kill anyone who is though.”

“Alright, alright, enough chatter.” There was a pause over the airwaves. “Two front trucks should approach the node. We have to get in there somehow.”

[Reziel]

Free Pacific States – EPTO’s headquarters
In the meanwhile

When the FPSian representative finished his embarrassingly brief relation, Codric Valenstar leaned back against his chair. No supplemental information. Nothing of nothing. Intelligence agencies receiving unlimited showers of never-ending funds… and ‘we have no clue’ was basically what they were getting. The EPTO’s HQ was receiving frantic and unceasing reports and updates: from EPTO troops, from the military commands of the single nations.

And from the Agencies. Kangarawa, FPS, the Grand Duchy… each and every nation was cooperating. But they basically had nothing. They could do nothing else but holding their own breath… and wait.

[hr]
Eastern Kangarawa

Second by second, new messages were arriving from basically the whole ‘free world’. Satellite snapshots of the Nodes accumulating energy. Confirmations from the High Commands of FPS and East Malaysia about their readiness to react with no delay. Status messages from hundreds of Rezielan assaulting teams waiting from final orders… and then, a persisting ready for retaliation – waiting for new orders command from New Irem.

Smirking, the Archangel Captain leading the small team thought he wouldn’t have been in Dragonhunter’s shoes. Waiting for too long could have meant risking to compromise the whole retaliation. But with no supplemental information about the Nodes and their purpose… an hurried move could have meant over-escalating the situation with a pre-emptive strike which would have started a regional holocaust.

«Not even the FPSian intelligence is able to forward useful information. This is… unexpected, bloody hell» he told, more to himself than to his personal aide.

«It’s… if this is a weapon… what if it moves at lightspeed or something like that? The whole world could well be incinerated before we receive the authorization to launch» the other Archangel replied.

Observing the enormous Topol in front of the two of them, the Captain sighed. The apparatus was already in launching position… but then, according to the more optimistic simulations, at least nine seconds would have been needed for the launch. He knew that, in that same moment, countless Rezielan platoon commanders scattered throughout the whole TEP were now thinking to the same thing.

Nine seconds could have well been far too many.