Battleworld [Roleplay Thread]

As the sun slowly set over the great crater that was the Big Empty, the Dome itself lit up, soft blue light shining up into the sky, bright enough for the neighboring chunks to admire the impromptu lightshow. Its incongruous beauty was like the beauty one might associate with a poisonous flower: wonderful to admire from far away, but much too dangerous to examine up close.

As the sun dipped below the horizon and the shadows grew longer, other things began to stir.

One by one, more forgotten horrors of the Big Empty buzzed, scurried, and slunk out of makeshift dens and burrows. Once they had been experiments and scientific curiosities confined to kennels and cages, but as Big Mountain fell apart they had slowly but surely turned feral and verminous. They didn't know that the world beyond had changed at all. All they knew was that they smelled new plants, new animals... new prey. It only took a few hours for the first of them to cross the lip, mindlessly migrating across the borders in search of new territory.

By morning, half a dozen low-slung, mangy mutants had already settled down in a rocky outcrop beyond Sanctuary, snoozing contentedly like a clowder of extremely ugly cats.

As the sun rose over the rocky crags of Angel Island, a hymenopteran far bigger than it had any right to be busily worked its way through the loose dirt and rock, fastidiously gluing together bits of regurgitated pulp into a crude, waxy basket. Its handiwork completed, it turned its attention to the twitching baby nightstalker it clutched in its lowermost legs, shoving the dying animal into the structure... and providing an ample meal for the larvae that would eventually eat their way out of their mother's nest.

The Think Tank rarely slept. Their self-imposed cranial exile meant that they didn't really need to rest any particular organ, and a daily dosage of Mentats meant that their brains were always in peak condition... depending on one's definition of "peak condition". The quintet worked steadily through the night. Each one sat in a private universe of their own- universes composed of flowing data, shifting variables, results and conclusions... and preparations for the next day's battery of tests.

At around 4 AM, a massive tremor rocked the facility, followed by the muffled roar of something exploding deep underground.

"SO WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THE EXPEDITIONARY BOREHOLE'S COLLAPSED?''"

"Apparently we don't have our subterranean seismological generator anymore. Must have slipped through the paperwork, or something. Maybe we lent it to some military contractors or something, I don't know. Anyway, Dala thought that maybe the Lobotomites could salvage some explosives over from X-7a instead. Uh, apparently the only things suitable for the job were those experimental depleted uranium shells, and... well, one thing led to another, and I think one of them fell into that cave where we keep the nuclear runoff, and, uh, long story short, no more borehole."

"BY OPPENHEIMER, WHAT DID I DO TO GET SADDLED WITH THESE INTELLECTS? ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT. PERHAPS WE CAN... PERHAPS WE CAN... TRY AND... SECURE ANOTHER TEST CITY. PERHAPS THE WHICH-"

"-It is pronounced, 'witch', Klein. Like the small teddy bear that, mmm, flies on janitorial equipment."

"-PERHAPS THE WHICH HAS CHANGED HER MIND ABOUT BECOMING A DISSECTION SUBJECT. OR PERHAPS THERE ARE MORE WHICHES WHO WISH TO BECOME ONE OF BIG MOUNTAIN'S TEST CITIES."

"#$^#@#@&@%^@!#$!#$^."

"8 does have a point; maybe there are other places that we can gain data on before we go back there. I mean, if she magicks on us again... I'm not going to have my atoms violently rearranged today."

At this point, Klein was suddenly interrupted by the Cure's strange mental message. His biogel flickered as he quickly pieced together the message... then flickered some more as he quickly formulated a new plan of action to take advantage of this new development.

"'KEEP OUR EYES ON THE SKY'... HM. WELL, EVEN THOUGH WE DON'T HAVE OPTIC NERVES, WE CAN-"

"I believe it is a METAPHOR, Klein. If my hypothesis is correct, then we may be VISITED by some strange INVADER from BEYOND SPACE ITSELF."

"THINK TANK, I HAVE FORMULATED A NEW PLAN OF ACTION. IF WE ARE GOING TO SURVIVE IN THIS NEW BATTLEWORLD, THEN WE ARE GOING TO NEED TEST SUBJECTS. BOROUS, IS OUR INTERNMENT CAMP STILL INTACT?"

"Reports say a most EMPHATIC yes, Klein. Little Yangtze is STANDING BY to receive new subjects."

"O, ACTIVATE THE TRAUMA HARNESSES, AND SET THEM TO 'RETRIEVAL' MODE."

As the sun rose, chunks near the lip of the Big MT would see three or four red, space-suited figures shambling on the horizon. Unlike the lone straggler that had stumbled onto Angel Island, these particular specimens seemed to move with a more purposeful gait, a quicker stride.

If one of them saw a person or anything remotely humanoid, it would quickly try and grab it, yanking it close to its chest in a ghastly bearhug. Once it had latched onto its prey, it would then try to drag it back to wherever it had come... regardless of whether or not the person it had captured wanted to go.

edited 18th Apr '15 7:42:44 AM by Locoman

Sonic woke up startled when the Cure's booming voice rang in his head. He hadn't gotten quite a full night's sleep, but as he wasn't far off from a full eight hours, he figured that it wouldn't hurt him too badly to be a bit off this morning. Looking over at the Cyclone, he saw that Tails was still fast asleep in the cockpit. The same was true of Marisa. Whatever the Cure had said, it appeared as though the only person at the shrine who had heard it was Sonic himself.

Pondering on the words of Battleworld's mysterious organizer, it sounded to Sonic that the patchwork planet was due for a visit. From what, however, the hedgehog couldn't determine from the Cure's vague description. He was hoping that it would at least be non-hostile. After his experience with the big brains of Big Mountain, however, he doubted that he'd get his wish.

As this occurred, two figures emerged from the mountains. They were both exhausted from the overnight climb up the mountains, and Knuckles had finally found his way back with the Master Emerald. Not only that, he'd brought a familiar face with him, albeit wearing a different (and rather uncharacteristic) set of clothes than usual. Specifically, Rouge the Bat, whom (in the absence of Doctor Eggman) Sonic had now realized was the thief.

"Hey, Knuckles," Sonic said to the echidna in a softer tone than usual, hoping not to awaken the sleepyheads. "Looks like you've found the Master Emerald and its thief. You find that Axton guy, too?"

Knuckles nodded, and responded with a statement of his own. "Yeah. Didn't see him in person, but apparently he's willing to send in a few guys our way. Can't say I'm all that crazy letting a bunch of guys with guns come here, but if it means Angel Island is better-protected, I can put up with it." He then tossed Rouge's catsuit at Sonic's feet and said, "Also, this needs to be washed." The bat said nothing, instead tilting her head down at the ground, hoping that she wouldn't be noticed.

Looking at the catsuit, the hedgehog immediately realized why Rouge had undergone a wardrobe change. However, his mind quickly turned to the absent Amy Rose. Looking back on it, he didn't remember seeing her when he, Tails, and Marisa reached the Shrine of the Master Emerald the night before. While briefly entertaining worries of Dr. Klein having abducted her out of revenge, he noticed some scribblings in the ground.

Running over to those scribblings, he quickly realized that she had left a note which said that she had gone off to help round up some lost animals and return them to Angel Island. Simultaneously relieved that she was safe (at least for now) and annoyed that she had left her post, Sonic ran back to Knuckles and Rouge.

"Okay, Amy's accounted for. We'll need to hold off on getting the island in the sky until she gets back. Also, I'll introduce you two to our new friend when she wakes up. Until then, try to be quiet, and let her and Tails sleep."

The Trauma Harness approaching from Big Mountain had not yet made its way to Angel Island, nor did anyone there realize that their lives were in danger again. The Cazador had also not yet made itself known to Knuckles and Rouge during their traversal of the Red Mountain range.

edited 17th Apr '15 9:05:18 PM by TrashJack

Prowl emerged from his meditative stasis to see the large military procession. He took some relief from the fact they were heading away from Iacon, but his curiosity was piqued. Wherever they were going, they were clearly taking no chances. Transforming into his two-wheeled alt-mode, he began to trail them, at a cautious distance to avoid their attention. Prowl always had a habit of spending entire solar cycles just observing whatever took his interest, and right now the possibility of watching more organics interact outweighed the risks of discovery, in his mind. If worse came to worse, he was still in range of Autobot emergency airwaves.

Optimus shuddered as he received the message in his mind, still not used to having his thoughts intruded in such a loud and brash way. Or at all, really. He briefly considered reporting what he'd heard to Ultra Magnus, but remembered the reaction he got last time when he spoke of vague messages of impending undefined danger to the Supreme Commander. Even if he was believed, there was little more that could be done to raise the alert. Autobot Elite Guard officers and Autotroopers were patrolling the borders, and there was even talk of bringing the Metroplex's million-year-old weapons back online. All he had to go on at the moment was hearsay, given his toil through the night to get his ship functioning again.

He thumbed his comm unit, ready to report in.

"Metroplex, this is Optimus Prime. The Orion is repaired and flight-capable, and my crew is mission-ready. Patch me through to Ultra Magnus."

Ultra Magnus was forwarded Optimus's message, broadcasting it to the rest of the Council.

"That is good news, Optimus. Now we can begin scouting the neighbouring regions at a far more rapid rate. Your ship is the only space cruiser available, and as its captain you will be called upon to venture out into their territory."

"Whoa whoa whoa," interrupted Sentinel. "You're sending Optimus and his maintenance team out into organic territory? Don't you remember what happened last time he was glitched out enough to try that? He lost a good bot."

"Which is why he will have to strive to do better, this time," responded Ultra Magnus. "Our leadership and specialists are stretched too thin to afford to venture out. But Optimus has rank, a ship and a crew. Before his expulsion he aced all of his subjects pertaining to diplomacy. Not to mention the fact that he has what is ostensibly the most experience with the other leaders, given his... encounter."

Sentinel grumbled, still not believing that Optimus was actually transported anywhere. It had to be a grab at currying some political capital in the wake of a crisis, inventing some story to wow the common bot and get in good with the Magnus. To be honest, Sentinel was a little bothered he didn't think of the plan first.

"Optimus," continued the Supreme Commander, "You and your crew are to leave Iacon at once and seek out opportunities to stabilise our city. Negotiate military alliances, scientific cooperation, resource sharing. Do whatever is necessary to secure these partnerships at your discretion, but the council wants regular updates and status reports."

"Affirmative, sir," responded Optimus. "We won't let you down."

Maybe if he said it often enough, it would become true.

Marisa shifted around in her sleep but eventually opened her eyes slowly and yawned as she got up.

"Well, I guess I can now write that I've slept in another world in my diary." she joked as she stood up and proceeded to dust herself with her hat before putting it back on and then looking at Sonic and friends "Ah, so you two aren't the only ones who are stuck here, good to know, otherwise I'm not sure how you two would survive by yourselves." she smiled

Miko arrived back at the village during the night and was now talking to Akyuu and Sekibanki in the center of the village

"Rokurokubi, be alert for anything happening around the village, especially the sky. My ears will be hearing all and any suspicious sounds, but my eyes can't go too far unlike your multiplying heads." said Miko, in a very authoritarian tone.

"Keeping an eye on the sky, right then. I just hope they don't attack us from above." said Sekibanki.

"For that matter, I've had reports that the north and northeast areas are rather unsafe or pointless to visit. Marisa hasn't came back yet, so I assume what is on the South can't be any good for us either." said Akyuu, flipping through some notes

"Right... The witch is strong, she should return by herself eventually. I'm afraid of what might happen to the village today, so I'll make sure to stay vigilant and be alert for any suspicious sounds. I've heard we had quite a few visitors yesterday." said Miko, raising an eyebrow.

Akyuu nodded "Indeed, they're all staying in the inn. I haven't had the opportunit to talk with a couple of them, so I sent the tsukumogami to check on them all just to be safe."

"Right, the way things are going, maybe the village can grow into something formidable." Miko smiled confidently.

"Unless we get backstabbed..." Sekibanki said under her breath.

True to her word, Raiko was right outside the inn. Sitting on her drums, she waited for the visitors to show themselves by drumming to herself.

Shortly before sunrise the citizens of the outpost arose as they normally did. Sure, they had been transported beyond the reaches of known civilization, but there was no reason to let that ruin your day.

The appearance of strange blocky devices constructing billboards? That was more troubling. One nameless, but slightly irate, blacksmith attempted to bash a machine for the construction in front of his smithy, but he quickly stepped back after seeing it's reaction.

Elsewhere, less adventurous merchants stayed locked in their buildings or peered from windows, while adventurers kept their hands close to weapons as they internally debated what to do with these things that had so easily bypassed the walls that usually kept the odd wandering monster at bay.

Outside of the inn that housed the acting leader, an innkeeper stood rather bewildered by the diminutive... Man? If he could be called that, the innkeeper wasn't entirely sure he could call him living either, but there were better times to ponders philosophical questions.

"Ah... J-just give me a moment"

He quickly disappeared into the building, and before too long Shield Knight could be seen walking out. Both shield and buckler fastened to her arms in preparation for potential action.

Shovel Knight was about to leave when The Cure's boisterous psychic message sent him reaching for his weapon, only to be reminded it was merely a projection.

It was an unsettling reminder of the reason for his travel here. though it raised it's own question: who's survival was key? His, or the people who were brought with him?

Still pondering, the armored figure emerged from the inn and soon turned to the girl on the drum out of little more than idle curiosity.

Unaware of the machines setting their sights on Armor Outpost, Black Knight and his small crew of exploration-minded adventurers watched as the merchant-owned blimp-like airship made it's way over the new sea to see if they can discover just how far it goes.

Not long after morning had truly come, the ship might be seen venturing over the shoreline until it came in sight of signs of civilization.

edited 18th Apr '15 12:58:32 AM by BlitzTrain

Trevor & Sypha, Human Village Inn

Eventually, Trevor & Alucard got to the Human Village and found the Inn. As this happened, Grant & Sypha spent part of the night drawing a crude map of where they had been. However, the two groups would soon reunite and Trevor would draw the part of the map detailing Zaofu. Again, the map was rather crude, not even referring to Iacon and Zaofu by name, but instead calling the "Metal Giant Land" and "Domed City Land." In addition, Bricksburg was described on the map as "Walled-Off Land" with nothing else other than the brick wall as a landmark. Soon, the four would head off to sleep, awaiting the next day.

Eventually, Trevor and Sypha would exit the inn, seeing Raiko drumming to herself while sitting on a drum and Shovel Knight looking at the drum with curiosity.

"You are not from around here, are you?" Trevor asked Shovel Knight. Both Trevor and Sypha looked confused at Raiko.

edited 18th Apr '15 1:28:36 AM by GameGuruGG

Lady Aneke thanked Kanako for helping her down the mountain and presented her with the pair of barrels of amber ale, and a titanium shield◊ to be delivered to their leader. She bid farewell and mounted again, heading home to report to her king.

Leofric had reviewed the current events with his personal council that night. The harbor was well on its way to being completed, soon they would build ships to move across the sea and greet the people beyond it, hopefully they would cooperate. The dust filters near the shoreline were also up and running, which is good, they would need the extra dust. The treaties brokered between them and the youkai's was good to know, though he was apprehensive about the sudden rush at an embassy. He'd have to keep an eye on them. The envoys he had sent to twilight town had yet to return which was troubling. He'd send a search party later on. The only other thing was trying to amend the debacle that happened in Beach City, and contact this little lord Steven again.

He had passed the rest of the night and into the morning, discussing logistics with Weybridge and sparring with Deyval. That's when the sun came up and the message of The Cure hit. "Keep your eyes to the sky? pretentious basterd" heckled Deyval

"its ominous" Stated Leofric "We should take heed to his advise, go tell your guards to watch the skies, I won't be caught unaware"

"Really? Alright, I'll do as you ask, your grace" He said in a lighthearted tone, mocking reverence. He sheathed his sword "Before I go, there is something you should take care of, there's one of those weird carriages you mentioned seeing in that Beach City near the border, since we're being cautious you should see they aren't spies or something of that ilk"

"I'm needed at the throne, you go meet this threat" ordered Leofric as he waked off

"said like true king" muttered Deyval.

The figure of the Baron Joselyn would be seen marching towards the carriage, a couple of knights at his flanks, just as an endurance, his long and prized palladian claymore◊ shining in the sun as it rested against his shoulder.

"OI!" he called out harshly "Anyone in the carriage!?"

Following their king's orders, a detachment of 5 knights made haste to the land on the west, to find their missing comrades.

edited 18th Apr '15 2:23:13 PM by Sanojutsu

[[Center: Gilgamesh Cruiser - Early Morning]]

Fyana checked over the camera's from the Laser turrets one last time. It was still out there, it had... appeared last night. Looked like a carrier.

"It's not Balrant," Chirico noted solemnly, he turned back to Vanilla and Ru who were trying to hook up a line of 5 customized Armored Troopers together.

Gotho sighed and set down his pipe, "Whatever it is. I doubt it'll be friendly."

Cocona huffed, "And we were going to take this new Scopedogs to that Mr. Star Lord guy!" Vanilla let out a laugh at the remark.

5 am, deep in the castle's sanctum...

High King Ky Kiske and Second King Leo Whitefang slept nary a wink. They'd stayed up the entire night preparing their Knights for the 'event' that was to come. Whatever it was, good or bad, everyone had to stay on their toes as it came.

The innocent citizens of Illyria were a mixed bag of uneasiness and unsettling. To ease their anxieties, the High King made an announcement regarding their situation. At least now it made sense to them why they still had to stay in the bunkers.

"6.45 am."

Ky rested upon the seat high above in the control room, Leo at his right hand and Paradigm at his left.

"All troops, keep a lookout. I've just received another message from the Cure. Whatever is coming, it is coming now."

Unease settled among the castle superiors much like it did for the populace down below. Fear of the unknown was naturally-born after all, and with no means to figure out what was coming, only the means to prepare for it...

"Your Highness, we have visual."

His hand gripped the arm rest of his seat. Tension ached every muscle of his. The moment of truth had come.

"Very well, put us through."

What Ky was seeing now was the Trauma Harness approaching their land. The knight giving visual stood on the edge of Illyria's territory, watching it from afar. No other knight had dared to approach it yet.

"Alright Sergeant. Await further orders."

Ky's voice reassured the Knights that they stand back for now. One mumbled in disagreement, but for the most part the ten or so Knights watching the Trauma Harness were content with staying back and watching for its next move.

"So this is what he was talking about? A full on attack?"

Ky watched the creature displayed on the screen. It was clothed in some sort red armor, but not one that seemed suited for combat.

Leo was worried all the same, but had to chime in with a bit of positivity at least.

"If this is the attacking force, we shouldn't have much trouble."

"Your Highness! Emergency!"

Ky knew this would happen. It always does.

"What's happening?"

"Someone's approaching the castle!"

The strange man was greeted with two large Knights, both with battle axes sheathed in their backs and possessive of a terrifying gait, guarding the castle's main gate.

"Illyria Castle is off-limits. State your business."

Huge and imposing as they were, their movements gave them away.

They were frightened.

A long night's worth of hard work preceded Dizzy's rest. For the most part, she and Amy had managed to finish the job of herding the animals back to Angel Island, a great relief for the Knights whom had to prepare for the event that came today.

For now, Dizzy slept in a tree in Angel Island, intending to sneak back into Illyria today.

"Illyria's under attack! We can't just stay here!"

"And what are we going to do? His Highness needs us here, in case something goes awry, we live on and assist from the outside. Stay your ground."

The envoys had been staying put in the inn for now, debating fiercely. Lord Business' arrival put that to an end, however, and now they were looking out at the situation from inside the inn.

Clarke was the first to get up to incessant drumming. He certainly didn't look like he got enough sleep.

edited 18th Apr '15 5:36:24 PM by LatverianBadger

"ugh, it's like that guy is trying everything in his power to be as much of an asshole as possible. If I wanted a wake up call I would of fucking asked for one..."

Travis sat up in his bed after being rudely awaken by the Cure's announcement. In truth the Cure was probably doing him a favor, he had alot to do today. With the water line broke he was going to have to cut down much of his morning routine. He took a quick sniff if his armpits and figured he was still good for another day. His dental hygiene was reduced to gargling mouth wash. At the very least he changed his clothes into similar jeans and a Pure White Lover Bizarre Jelly t-shirt. He was busy feeding his cat when his cell rang.

"Hello Mr. Touchdown. Did I wake you?"

"Who the hell? Wait, I recognize this voice. You work at K-Entertainment don't you? What the hell do you guys want?"

"Miss Jeane has informed me of your objectives for the day. First you are to-"

"Whoa, since when have you guys been part of this?

"-bring Mr. Axton to the Townsend residence. Second, you are to report the the K-Entertainment building. There you will receive a list of retail stores and information linking to one of our bank accounts. You are to visit these stores and buy out their stock. Given the estimated decline of the US currency, price is not an issue. If they refuse to give up their inventory, you are free to use any means to acquire them. After an inventory has been acquired get in contact with us and we will seize the supplies. Is that understood?"

"God damn, it's too early for this shit. Is Jeane there with you?"

"No, miss Jeane is not on the premise."

"Fine, just relay a message to her. Some shit is going down today, a kind of event. We got to watch the skies. Got that?"

"Mr. Touchdown, you still have not confir-"

"Yeah, yeah. Drop off the soldier guy and make my way to K-Entertainment so I can shake down some stores right?"

"Very good Mr. Touchdown. Your message will be relayed shortly. We will see you soon."

The other end hung up after that. Travis got up and began to look for Axton.

"Uh huh, watch the skies for some event. You sure you can't be any more vague?"

"I am sorry miss Jeane, that was the entirety of the message."

"Alright then, thanks anyway."

Jeane hung up the phone. She had stayed in the Townsend residence guest room. She didn't actually live in Santa Destroy. Why would she? It was a shit hole of a city with lots of bad memories for her. Some woman contacted her a couple days ago offering a large sum of money to participate in some sort of fight. She came here to do some recon before accepting the offer and got stuck in this bullshit.

She had been up since five in the morning coordinating this city wide take over. Having K-Entertainment on her side was definitely a huge boon. They were one of the groups with larger pull in the city. Hell, since they were writing paychecks to half the higher up government workers in the city, most saw them as their boss. They were taking care of alot of the bureaucratic bullshit. Death Metal sent most of his men to serve as muscle where needed, supplemented by some freelancers hired on by K-E.

She wasn't quite sure to make of Travis' message. She considered just ignoring it before relenting and dialing up Holly Summers.

"Oh, good morning miss Jeane. Have you had sweet dreams?"

Holly was sitting on the beach enjoying a cappuccino as soldiers busied themselves behind her.

"I have received this State of Emergency Conscription Act. Your doing yes? The boys are already working to secure the north, wanting them to round up all the citizens too is a bit much, even for them."

"We need those people working for us. Its best we get them comfortable in their new role now before they realize there is no government. That's why it has to be your men, they trust the uniform."

"Then why not police?"

"They have been paid for the longest time to simply turn the other way and do nothing. Getting them off their asses will take a different strategy. Just spare what men you can and focus on individual residential blocks. I'll see if I can get the cops to help. So, how is the north coming along then?"

"It is fine, just trenches and barb wire for now. Gardening has not started yet."

"Hey...do you guys have something that can shoot stuff out of the sky? In case we get some aerial visitors or something."

Holly thought about it but wasn't quite sure. She put the phone down and waved one of the soldier over.

"Do we have AA weaponry?"

"No, sorry ma'am. The AA guns were sold off to the Mexicans a few weeks back. The Blackhawks aren't equipped with weapons either. We expecting trouble from above?"

"No, no. Continue as you were."

She picked up the phone again and resumed talking to Jeane.

"No anti air. Should I be concerned?"

"No...just keep a look out. We will just have to figure something out if it comes to that. Anyway I got to make some more calls. There is an assassin in the city who didn't show up last night, Destroyman, I am going to send some of the others to make sure he is not a problem."

"Oww, shut up you stupid..."

Bad Girl picked up her ringing cellphone and threw it across the room. It didn't help much, simply placing the source of the noise out of her reach. She brought her hands to her throbbing head and began messaging it in hopes of relieving her headache.

"Oh god. I think I am dying..."

With one hand still messaging her temples, she reached for some aspirin, then headed off to the fridge for a beer to help swallow the pills down.

The phone ringing woke Shinobu up with a start. She didn't remember getting home the night before and was surprised to find her self in her room. The phone call gave her first assignment, to find the some no show assassin named Destroyman. Lame, but kind of exciting in its own way. It was her first time working directly with her peers.

As a high school girl, Shinobu was unwilling to give up her daily maintenance. Luckily the water was still working in her house. She took a longer shower then she should have. The water was so soothing and comforting, especially after receiving that humiliating defeat last night. She tried not to think about it and focus on the present. She had a new mission, and more currently she had to make sure she didn't mess up her make up or hair. After she was dressed and ready she headed downstairs and made for the door.

"Mom, I got some errands I need to run. I'll be back later."

"Hold it right there young lady!"

Shinobu froze in place from the tone of her mother's voice.

"What time did you get home last night?"

"Uh, I, um, don't really remember..."

"Don't remember? Maybe cause you were passed out drunk hmm?"

"Mom I wasn-"

"I could smell the alcohol on you. And what kind of friend are you keeping? That blonde wearing pink was especially rude mannered. She called me a...let's just say I don't you hanging around that girl anymore."

"Ok, mom."

"Why are you doing this to me Scarlet? You know how hard its been without your father."

"I know mom."

"I want to give you your space, your freedom, but when you do things like this it makes wonder if I can really trust you.."

At this point Shinobu stated moving away from the door. She knew she could be here a while.

"God damn it. Now I like to think of myself as a good cop. I keep my head down, misplace evidence, but but how the hell are we suppose to look a blind eye when they don't even try to hide the bodies!?"

The fat older cop grumbled to him self as his three younger counterparts investigated the bodies left by yesterdays encounter with the lobotomies. They couldn't even pocket some valuables away as evidence, they were already picked clean. The lobotomies even had their jump suits taken.

"Seriously, who the hell does that?"

"Yeah, these surgical scars are just-"

"I mean who the hell is going to buy clothes off some dead guys?"

One by one they began noticing the trauma harnesses making their way toward them. The younger cops started off with threats, but as panic began to seize them began opening fire with their handguns. The older one simply took out a cigarette and began smoking. He had seen enough crime scenes to know exactly how this was going to end. As he enjoyed his last cigarette, the only thing he can think of was how his last meal was going to be tofu because his wife wanted him to lose weight. God damn it.

[

Axton had already been awake when the message went out. Habit he'd picked up in the military that he'd never gotten around to dropping. Now he just needed to figure out what the hell the message meant. Was there gonna be some kinda aerial attack today? Well, lucky he had things to handle that. He made a call to Tannis, stepping out onto the second floor balcony of the hotel.

"Hey, Tannis, it's me, need a favor."

"I'll have you know I was having the most exquisite dream just now, which you just rudely interrupted."

"Er, ya, sorry bout that." Axton said, not really sorry about it as he scratched his head. "Look, could you get the raiders to send a few rotorheads to the place just west of us? I told the guy there I'd have a few looking over his skyline. Have a few flying over our place as well. We might be getting visitors today."

"You want me to go outside? Talk? To people?"

"Look, work with me here Tannis. You can just call them, you don't need to go out. I'll probably be back soon enough, alright?" As he said this, he saw Travis walking out of a room. Axton waved over at him so he'd be able to see him while he continued to talk.

Meanwhile, the gate guards (different ones then the guys on guard yesterday) were standing by. The raiders were on high alert after the attack in the caves yesterday, so when they saw the Trauma Harness's coming, they only waited long enough to confirm they were hostiles before opening fire, which became rather apparent when they begun attacking the moment they saw the guard. The guards would, naturally, respond by opening fire on the incoming things.

edited 19th Apr '15 12:06:09 AM by Meanken

Aidan, Raptor — Early Morning

Thankfully, Aidan was already awake when the Cure's bombastic voice reverberated inside his skull. A Clansman or woman never slept in. Less fortunately, he had been studying the holotank in the Raptor's command centre when the Cure made his unwelcome announcement. Gritting his teeth, Aidan tried to avoid letting his annoyance show through. At least the Cure had seen fit to give him a warning.

"Are you okay?" Horse asked, looking over his shoulder. He had noticed Aidan's discomfort. The Star Colonel looked up and nodded. The MechWarrior had told Aidan about his deal with the group to the north, 'Axis'. Apparently they used strange BattleMechs.

"Aff. Our... host just told me that two of the chunks have been replaced. I am not sure who. But we must be on the lookout for an airborne incursion," said Aidan. Horse grinned.

"Then it's good that some of our 'mechs have LB-Xs, quiaff?"

"Aff, but it would be much better if we had ASFs," said Aidan grimly. "Warn our Elementals and MechWarriors of the airborne threat. I want the Raptor's crew monitoring their sensors for any sign of an aerial incursion."

The command centre turned into a hive of activity as Aidan's orders were relayed to the relevant parties.

Melior - Royal Palace

The new workday at the palace started before daybreak, the engine that was the staff and servants waking up long before the great cogs of the palace bureaucracy did. The newspaper that had been distributed last night was on everyone's lips, the tales of the mysterious flying delivery service many. However, there had been early news from the palace as well. The information came from their new allies to the south-east, and the sharing to the townspeople was a token of friendship.

It was risky, but it was the best way to avoid the townspeople becoming nervous about flying people suddenly arriving. People were starting to calm down over the situation, and focusing on the tasks at hand. The calm and orderly approach taken by the Palace to inform and keep everyone busy was working.

Which meant that the big secrets could remain just that. The Queen's morning council was held during Her Majesty's breakfast, discussing the contents of the latest messages. It was beyond distressing to hear that two of the territories were already gone.

A messenger pigeon had arrived from Ike not long after one of Marcia's riders had returned, and things seemed to be progressing well. It was a great loss not having Ike in the capital, but Fuyuki and its closest neighbours was an important alliance.

More worrying were the news from Gunsmoke. The technology and situation Marcia described in her letter were disconcerting to say the least, and above all Elincia hoped that Marcia and her girls would come back safely. But sending reinforcements at this time was too early, so they would just have to wait and see for the time being.

Finally, there was the matter of the shrine that the envoy from the Youkai Mountain had requested. The High Priest of the Church of Ashunera had been reluctant when sharing his opinion, but he too was a man of tolerance and understood the situation they were in. Finally, the Queen gave permission and the matter of placement was left to Bastian, who would be taking an active role in the governance of the city proper so that Lucia could concentrate on organizing the work outside the walls.

The council was just about to discuss the expansion of the fields outside the walls, when an urgent message was delivered. A large, flying object had been spotted over the sea to the east, coming towards the capital. The message from The Cure fresh in their mind, the response was immediate.

Melior Shore - Great Sea

By the time the airship from Armor Outpost had started flying over the land of Melior, it was met by a large detachment of Royal Knights on horseback, led by general Geoffrey. They halted some distance before the airship, waiting to see how the airship would act.

Starling City

Volke wandered the streets of Starling City, having helped himself to some local clothing lying to help fit in better. The spy took great care not to draw attention to himself as he watched the going-ons of the city. At first, he had been surprised about the extent of the confusion. But it slowly dawned upon him that on the way here, they had been robbed of several vital resources that they were heavily dependant on. A downside of being a highly developed civilization, he assumed. Figuring out how these technologies this faction had and how to replicate them in Melior was one of his prime objectives, but this resource shortage made that a bit difficult.

But that could wait a while. What mattered here was power. The Red Arrow had talked of a mayor, who seemed to be the political ruler. Yet, the Representative was this Arrow, Red Arrow's boss and a man with contacts in the mayor's office. These were threads worth following. But he couldn't afford drawing attention to himself. That meant that even contacting the underworld was off-limits, which annoyed Volke slightly. Which left him with a few options, none of them among his favourites. But he had to get the job done.

Ten minutes later, a police officer near one of the tents was approached by a slender middle-aged man with unruly brown hair and a leather jacket that had seen better days. He spoke with an American accent, though maybe a bit of an east coast accent.

"'Scuse me, officer? I was wondering if you might need some volunteer help? Can't go to work with things like this, but I can't just sit around either."

Fuyuki City

Ike woke at the crack of dawn, and found that Soren was already awake. The mage was hard at work at the desk in the guest room the two had chosen. It had an incredibly soft double bed, a desk and a window. Ike had slept like a log, and he assumed Soren had gotten some shut-eye as well. Back during the war, there'd been times when Soren would prefer working to sleeping, but they weren't in that bad of a situation yet.

"Good morning," Soren called, without turning around. "Are you ready to start working."

"Good morning," Ike replied and got out of bed. "I think so. We gotta take stock of the people around here and see what we can do with them. From what the King said, we're gonna have a tough time making soldiers out of them."

"Well, there's always plan B if teaching them spears don't work."

Ike started putting on his clothes, which he'd dumped unceremoniously in a chair shortly before falling asleep.

"Yeah...any reply from Melior?"

"No, not yet."

"All right. Well, we'll start recruiting today after the King has had her event. Did you find a nice place?"

"Yes, I believe I have found a suitable location with plenty of room for training, preparing food and deskwork. I will start making arrangements as soon as possible."

"Sounds good. Have we heard anything about breakfast?"

"No."

"Hmm."

A few minutes later, the two mercenaries left their room to start their first day working in Fuyuki City.

Travis waved back at Axton and made his way over. He ignored the fact that Axton was on his communication device and began talking to him. He was only half attempting a conversation, part of him simply wanted to voice some thoughts out loud.

"Hey that asshole woke you up too? What was that all about two chunks being replaced? Really, what the hell is that suppose to mean? He get bored with them? They get disqualified or some shit? Or maybe some group out there is just fast acting out this whole battle world? Would like to think those getting out of here would be lucky, but somehow I get the feeling that ain't the case."

Travis leaned on the railing and looked over the parking lot. It was entirely possible that two entire populations had been snuffed out in the time he was sleeping. To make things worse that jerkass, the Cure, simply brought two more groups into this mess. It reminded him that everyone here really was at the mercy of that fatass. If he could only get his hands on him. Travis shook his head, not wanting to think too much about it.

"Her highness wanted to continue her talks with you. Told me to take you to the Townsend residence. So just follow me again."

Travis motioned to follow then headed to the stairs.

"Hey, what do you think the odds are that our new neighbors come from the world of buxom kinky knights or that place with the ninjas and tentacles?"

"Alright, Tannis, I gotta go, just do it please." Axton hung up before she could respond, then turned to Travis. "Ya, I can't say I'm happy this guy can apparently replace whole cites at will. But there's no use dwelling on it. Not much we can do about it."

Axton chuckled when he heard the last bit. "You can probably keep dreaming about the buxom knights. Still, these days I wouldn't be surprised by anything. So, what's the deal between you and her anyway?" Axton asked as he walked down the steps.

edited 20th Apr '15 6:19:40 AM by Meanken

The Truama Harnesses made no attempt at diplomacy as they marched closer and closer to the outskirts of the city. Of the four that had arrived, only one of them was wielding a gun- a bulky machine gun. As they got closer, two things became immediately and disturbingly apparent- the gun appeared to have a live brain hooked into its power supply, and more importantly, that the quintet of walking skeletons were intent on taking prisoners.

As soon as they were within reach of the first Illyrian Knight, they tried to grab the warrior, seemingly intent on hauling their new prisoner back to wherever they had come from.

Just like the drama unfolding on the opposite side of Big MT, the Trauma Harnesses were more intent on taking prisoners than getting bogged down in a firefight. The small-arms fire that punctured their suits didn't really seem to do much, other than contort the bones trapped inside into various grotesque configurations. Before long, three of the cops had been subdued and carted away, dragged kicking and screaming toward the mouth of the crater.

The Trauma Harnesses lurched toward the guards through the hail of fire. One of them went down as the bullets tore the suit to shreds, spilling dry bones across the impromptu batlefield.

The lone weapons-wielding harness returned fire with a glowing green energy rifle, green bursts of superheated plasma flying through the air. Meanwhile, the other three skeletons attempted to grab the first people they saw; in this case, their targets turned out to be the guards themselves.

"Oh god, get it off me, get it off me!" The guard yelled as he was grabbed by the thing.

"Shit, what the hell are they?" The other guard asked as he took cover from the thing with the plasma rifle. Seeing the guard being dragged away, the guard lifted his rifle, aimed for the head of the thing doing the grabbing, and fired, If that took it down, he would then aim at the heads of the other things and fire at those as well.

Gunsmoke Threshold

Wolfwood looked at Marcia for a wordless moment, as if begging for a retort out of the night air. “Let’s hope she’s right.” He settled, and turned the key.

The car came to a stop in front of a set of massive metal gates, the only break in the city’s encircling curved wall. The vehicle was affixed with searchlights long before they came to a proper stop, stretching the patience of the aiming guards like a rubber band peppered with broken glass.

“Let me do the talking.” Wolfwood said lowly, before stepping out of the car with a bright smile. “Gentlemen!” He said, closing the door. “I don’t suppose you’d be kind enough to let us back in?” He gestured to the women. “I found these poor ladies wandering the desert, lost and confused. I took it upon myself to give them shelter for the night.”

One of the guards, a tanned man with a heavy bandolier and a heavier scowl glared down at the group through his rifle’s sights. “You know the rules, preacher man. No strangers. Only reason you’re still here is because of good luck and circumstance.”

Wolfwood took out another cigarette and lit up. Milly and Meryl weren’t at the gate, which meant the Plant was in tip-top shape. The endgame was already decided; all that was left was how he’d get there. “Hasn’t there been enough violence today? When do we get to open ourselves up to peace and understanding?”

“You want a timeframe? How about when the moons go back to normal?” Said another guard, strapped to the gills with extra cartridges for the two pistols he was casually brandishing. “Or when we pile up the corpses of all those sandworms and make a funeral pyre so mighty everyone will think we’ve found the second sun?”

“I like those options. I like them a whole lot.” Said Guard # 1. “How about you, preacher man? You have a better offer?”

Wolfwood stared up at the men through a cloud of smoke, illuminated by the harsh glare of the searchlights. “Maybe. First, I’m going to insist that you stop calling me a preacher. I’m a priest. It’s demeaning to those people, their job is way harder than mine.”

“I’m failing to see how the jobs are any different.” Said Guard # 2.

“You both have the same boss.” chimed Guard # 1.

“True. But a preacher is a man of many words. He’s all about brand new recipes for living a pious life. As a priest, I have to do a lot more with a lot less. I get to listen to people’s sins and perform a miracle once in a while.” Wolfwood snapped his fingers, as if in realization. “How about that, boys? One miracle in exchange for reentry.”

“You mean, besides the miracle of them getting in this city? You’ve got brass ones.” Chuckled Guard # 2.

“Full metal jackets, last time I checked.” Wolfwood said with a jocular grin, and he could tell from the look in the guard’s eyes that they were in prime position. He reached up and turned on the ear piece under the guise of grabbing his forehead, then cast his arms into the sky, looking up in no particular direction. “If the Lord would turn his back on these sheep on this, this most confusing and lonely of nights, then let all remain dark. But if we were meant to take shelter on this night, to see the morrow on safe lands…” He smiled up to the guards, and made a solemn bow. “Then let there be light.”

His words travelled across the city, a faint static trickling into the ear of the closest thing to a divine power they had.

Then, the Plant began to glow.

The guards turned, startled, as the bulb of Eden cast its light over the city; into every tortured shadow, into every wary face, into every new hole in the city’s humble skyline, swarming the public consciousness around the symbol of their salvation. Its extradimensional energy swelled and reached a crescendo, a smiling matchstick erected on the face of Battleworld.

Wolfwood turned around to look at the Melior group, a faint smile playing on his lips. They would be let in, he would secure them hotel rooms, and they would stave off negotiations until the morning. But first, in that moment, backlit against the colossal opening doors and the otherworldly light spilling from within, he would reach out his hand to her. “Welcome to Gunsmoke, Captain Marcia.” He said. “Let’s not regret it.”

Gunsmoke Inn 6:45 AM

Vash snapped awake, shooting up into a sitting position. His heavy breaths echoed through his bedroom even as the Cure’s message echoed through his mind; he looked out at the alien sky, remembering where he was—where they were.

After a moment of heady contemplation, he slumped forward with a pout. “That’s not fair. What did they do to get sent back?” He threw his legs over the side of his bed as he ran his fingers through his bushy blond bedhead, running over the being’s statement in his head. An unknown force? What does that even mean anymore? It’ll be impossible to parse out what he thinks is strange from this new normal.

At that very moment, that one of the airborne cameras whizzed by Vash’s bedroom window. He perked up at the sound, pressed his face against the glass, and decided that it wasn’t going to be that hard after all.

Gunsmoke Drone Zone

The pictures the drone was taking would paint a surreal picture for those in the know about Earth’s past. It appeared to be a civilization reminiscent of the American frontier, with an inexplicable technological bent that informed everything from the city walls to the occasional gun barrel the drones would find pointing at them.

But along the way, the drones would notice a bizarre string of graffiti that definitely wasn’t there when they began their initial reconnaissance. It all had the same broad, skewed handwriting, saying things like TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT DOESN’T BEGET MANNERS and I SEE YOU SEEING ME, SEE?

While one of the drones hovered in front of these messages, their world would abruptly go red as Vash’s trenchcoat dropped over its small frame. Before it could move to shake it off, it would be enveloped in a crushing embrace. “Fluffy! I thought I’d lost you forever!” Vash wailed nonsensically, nuzzling his face against the robot’s cloth-covered casing as he leveraged his body weight against the machine’s hovering systems while using his grip to keep the drone covered. “I’ll never ever let you run away again, promise! I’ll feed you better, and walk you more, and…” As he prattled on, his roaming hands would reach underneath the trenchcoat and feel around for A) the tell-tale heat of a power source or B) any potential entryway into the inner workings of the propulsion system. Vash would attempt to disable whichever one he found first, either through the use of the fingers on his prosthetic arm as makeshift screwdrivers or through application of his boot knife on exposed wiring.

Gunsmoke—Confrontation with Doom

After harassing a few dozen people, Doom would find himself confronted by a bona-fide posse. Seven hardened men with everything from shotguns to rifles to one bazooka, all wielding them with practice and menace. But the show of power was in many ways a bandage over a wound; one of the men held just a pistol due to his other arm being restrained in a sling.

An eighth man stepped forward, eyes shadowed under a wide-brimmed hat. The others orbited him as such that it was obvious he was their leader, and any one of them were positioned to defend him if things got violent. The man tilted his head up slightly, affixing Doom with an intense stare worthy of a gunfight at noon. “My name is Maximillion Beauregard the 3rd. And this is my city. I don’t know how you got through the front gate, but you best be leavin’ back the way you came.” He said, his smooth, cultured Southern tone painted with a thin veneer of courtesy that he obviously thought the metal man didn’t deserve. The man directly to Beauregard’s right cocked his shotgun for emphasis, and to a man they fixed Doom with a heavy, violent glare.

edited 20th Apr '15 1:33:38 PM by Uncandescent

President Business- who sized up to a normal human's waist, thank you very much- smiled when Shield Knight came into sight. "Ah, alright! This oughta be easy. My name is President Business, and I run the lands up north. So here's how it's going to go. I'm here to basically annex your lands to mine, but it doesn't have to be as bad as it sounds. In exchange for you signing over control of your lands, your forces and all your resources to me, your people will have protection and far more advanced technology than whatever you have here. In other words- the future! For exchange of a small little chunk that'll eventually be taken over anyhow."

He snapped his... fingers? And a SWAT Cop hobbled over, giving him a piece of paper with a long piece of text detailing all the ways in which Armor Outpost would be subservient to him. "Just sign here," President Business gave Shield Knight a pen. "Or I can call the rest of my forces and we can lay waste to your people and their pathetic little lands. Either way, I'm coming out of this as the owner of this chunk. Think about it, lady- do you want to come out of it with no house, no friends, no... anything... or do you want to come out of it with a fancy new home, TV and a deliciously overpriced coffee shop right next door?"

"AAAAAAAAAH!" A voice yelled, and from the back of the carriage jumped out an overweight man with a white sleeveless shirt, shorts and sandals, wrapped in a purple blanket. "Don't hit us! We're friendly!"

"Dad!" Came another voice, and out of the back of the van jumped out Steven, also wrapped in a purple blanket. "We're friendly, we're friendly!" He yelled to Baron Joselyn. "I'm Steven! Steven Universe of Beach City! And I want to talk to Lord Leofric!"

The envoy from the Citadel of Amn would find the scenario change rather sudden, as one moment they were on the green lands surrounding the Citadel, and on the other they were on a industrial looking place, surrounding by gigantic warehouses with red rooftops,◊ with a giant water tower in the distance.

Of course, if they kept on looking at the scenery, they wouldn't notice the three odd creatures following them, mimicking their every movement.

The scanner produced a whirring sound which was similar to a child crying, its cameras flashing several times underneath Vash's coat, before he managed to finally pull on the wires that connected its batteries- two silver chunks made out of a material Vash had never seen before- to the rest of the machine. Instantly, the scanner's propulsion engines turned off, and the huge chunk of metal fell to the ground, weighing around the same as a folded up mattress. It even tried taking one last picture before turning off completely, its red light fading into darkness.

Meanwhile, Doom stood by and watched as the men of Gunsmoke surrounding him, his eyes narrowing behind his metal mask. And when they finished his threat, Doom... laughed. "No one tells Doom what to do. I demand to speak with the mayor, and I shall do so. And it would do you well for you to teach your citizens to respect their superiors." He pointed at Maximillion, looking down at him with disdain. "Doom is merciful... so he'll give you and your men one chance to drop their weapons and retreat. Do so, and you will still have legs with which to walk and hands with which to touch your loved ones. Stay, tempt fate, face Doom, and I will give you no guarantees." Warning delivered, Doom crossed his arms, waiting for a response.

"Welcome." One of the men says, as all the other soldiers salute back. "If you'll please follow me..."

The men and women of the Helghast Envoy are taken to a series of cars, boarded up and given banners with the colors and stripes of their nation. Before long, the parade is taken to the streets of Central City, where they are welcomed by excited citizens of all ages and all backgrounds, all of them wanting to get a look at the outsiders. Men and women with blue uniforms litter the side of the streets, and there are at least two cars in the beginning and the end of the parade.

This parade continues for approximately twenty minutes, until the Helghast Envoy arrives at the courtyard of the Military Headquarters, where hundreds upon hundreds of soldiers salute them as they are taken from their cars to King Bradley, who salutes them as well, his generals smiling proudly at the arrivals. "Have you enjoyed our Central City reception?" Bradley asks, holding out a hand for the leader of the Envoy.

The white-haired man stopped, adopting a neutral expression, before sizing up the two guards.

"None of you are in mint condition. Still, you play an important part in this game." He said, glaring at them... before noticing that one of them had a scar on his face.

"Someone ruined you. They took you out of your bag." He muttered, angrily furrowing his brow, raising his hand. "The Collector has no use for you." Red energy concentrated around it, and in an instant the white-haired man shot it at the soldier.

When the other soldier looked at his friend, he'd see that he was completely frozen still on the outside... but on the inside, he was still very much alive. The Collector smiled to the other soldier. "I have preserved him. No one shall ruin him any further. Stand aside, unless you wish to be preserved too."

And with that, he continued to move towards the castle.

The police officer smiled kindly, putting one of Volke's arm around his shoulder, helping him. "Of course, sir. Come here." He said, leading him past the watchful eyes of the Arrow and the Red Arrow, before arriving at the food line. He handed Volke a big spoon and pointed to a set of plastic bowls on the table. "Fill these up with soup and hand 'em out to whoever comes in. One soup per person, alright?" The officer said, before whistling, as the line of citizens- all of them wrapped up in their winter coats- started approaching the table Volke was currently occupying.

Prowl went unnoticed by the army marching towards Santa Destroy, which eventually reached the neighboring chunk. The army itself did nothing until it arrived on the city, at which point the back half of the army spread out, one mech for each squad, surrounding all possible exits to the city. Meanwhile, the squad carrying Kuvira, the apparent leader, headed out for the middle of town, surrounded by mechs, metalbenders, and the proudest of the proudest of the Earth Empire's army. The army would continue march until the tallest building in the city- a building which they believed to be its town hall.

But during the way, the soldiers started applying some power to Santa Destroy's citizens, stopping them from leaving their homes by bending their doors shut with slabs of metal, pushing citizens out of the street and more, all in preparation for a possible upcoming war.

Out of the bunch of grim looking men and women, steps out the man wearing an Officer's hat. At Bradley offering his hand, he took off his hat, and shakes his hand.

Aye, we had. Thank y' for the warm reception. Sir Bradley, I'm Baites Slajavic, plased t' meet y'.

Dracula & Death, Castlevania, Throne Room

Dracula sat in his throne room in thought... the Cure's message had been ominous and the returning Flea Man even more so... Apparently, the Shredder's domain was to the north and he did not want people entering his territory. The Flea Man sent to Iacon has not returned yet so he must have been delayed. With his domain blocked by all sides except west, Dracula had to find a way around the nations trapping him in, so he called upon the Flea Men he had sent to Bricksburg and New York City respectfully as well as a Succubus. Naturally, Death, Dracula's right-hand man was also there.

"I want you two Flea Men to find a path underneath Bricksburg and New York City, respectfully," Dracula had declared. "Find a way underneath them if you can, but do not get caught."

"Succubus, I want you to fly to Iacon and find where our lost Flea Man went," Dracula ordered. "However, do not fight yourself and if you find trouble or the Flea Man dead, return here immediately."

"Death, make sure there is enough defensive forces on our border with Iacon, Bald Mountain, and New York City, especially Bald Mountain," Dracula told his friend and ally. "After that, prepare a suitable invasion force."

Flea Man, Castlevania/Bricksburg Border

One Flea Man would use the underground passages of the castle to try to head underneath Bricksburg somehow.

Flea Man, Castlevania/New York City Border

Another Flea Man would use the underground passages of the castle to try to head underneath New York City and enter its sewer system.

Succubus, Iacon Skies

The Succubus would fly over Iacon with one goal in mind... Finding the lost Flea Man sent to Iacon.

—-

Flea Man, Iacon, Metroplex Laboratories

The Flea Man in Iacon had spent the night in Metroplex Laboratories, but now it was up again, wondering what it should do now.

Borders of Iacon, Bald Mountain, and New York City

Anyone in Iacon, Bald Mountain, and New York City who wandered near their border would find a number of monsters patrolling their borders though none of them crossed outside of Castlevania's bounds. After all, Dracula wanted a defense ready for any invaders. However, those who had observed the border with Castlevania in Iacon would notice that the patrol was lighter now, as many in the patrol been sent to the New York Border as well as to settle a matter somewhere else.

Death & His Army, Mann Co.

A large contingent of monsters, led by Death, began crossing into the lands of Mann Co. Their aim was to defeat any opposition and expand from Castlevania.

Sonic noticed that Marisa was finally awake. With Knuckles and Rouge now here, he decided it was time to introduce them.

"Hey, glad to see you're up and about. Yeah, Tails and I aren't the only ones who made it here. The red grump over there is Knuckles."

With this, Knuckles angrily interrupted with a shout of "HEY!" Before he could raise any further objections, Sonic continued.

"And the Femme Fatale over there is Rouge the Bat. Apparently, she stowed away on the island without us knowing, and made off with the Master Emerald," Sonic said, gesturing at the large gem that Knuckles was still holding.

"There's also Amy, but she went off to meet the neighbors and round up some of our smaller, less talkative friends."

As Sonic talked to Marisa, Tails was awakened by Knuckles' shouting, still in the Cyclone's cockpit. As for Rouge, she wasn't paying any attention to anyone else here. Instead, her ears started twitching, and she seemed to be on edge.

With the animal herding done and over with, Amy and Dizzy returned to the island to get some sleep. As she lay on the ground next to the tree that her new friend slept in, she was hoping that Dizzy wouldn't leave just yet, as she wanted to introduce the half-Gear to Sonic and the others (partially because of her newfound friendship, but also because this might lead to them making some new allies).

"Me and Jeane?"

Travis made his way toward his Schpeltiger as he talked with Axton. His voice was uncharacteristically solemn as he spoke about her.

"We used to be close. More then friends, never quite made it to lovers."

He stopped for a second, lost in memories of a different time, before continuing.

"She was always kind of aloof you know. Even during good times she would just kind of smirk. But I remember how she was smiling then. She butchered them, literally tore them apart with her bare fucking hands! And I just...I just..."

As he began remembering it his hands began shaking with rage. He balled them into fists and took a deep breath. When his hands stopped shaking he opened them again.

"She killed my folks in front of me. Hell of a way to kill a relationship."

As he got on Schpeltiger, he tried to laugh off his mood.

"Shit, why the fuck am I telling you this shit? Listen, that's just some old history between her and me ok? Whatever you two discuss today, you can be damn sure I will make sure she lives up to her end of the bargain."

He turned on his vehicle and was getting ready to head out when his attention was turned to some gun shots in the distance. At first he didn't think too much of it, Santa Destroy is a dangerous city after all. But when it was quickly followed by more and more gun shots, Travis realized something was up.

"What the hell?"

The shots were fired by police officers working independently through out the city. They had no idea what was going on, and seeing a foreign army march their streets and manhandle the population set some of them off. There was no over all organized effort on their part. Most those fighting were doing so out of panic or some misplaced sense of heroism. Requests for back up was met by some looking to help their brothers in arms out, but just as many were using the notice to hole up and protect their own skin.

Those fighting would use their patrol vehicles as cover and pull out their side arms. A number wouldn't even give a warning before shooting, or gave one while they were already attacking. If a Zaofu soldier tried to engage them in melee they would switch to batons. Santa Destroy police force would easily find them selves out matched however.

"What do you mean they are in the city?"

Jeane's tone on the phone was not so much angry or surprised, but more annoyed and confused. Like she just couldn't grasp the concept Holly was telling her.

"It means the invading army is now walking the streets of Santa Destroy."

"Yes, I know. But why? Weren't your men suppose to stop intruders from the north?"

"Yes. With my men divided, the boys up north were out numbered. The trenches were not an advantageous enough position to warrant holding."

"So where are they now then?"

"Still there. Hiding in their holes. You don't fight bigger enemy in an open field. You hit and run, guerrilla warfare. The city, a maze with many places to hide, a much better killing floor no? There were half a hundred or so infantry. Apparently unarmed."

"Unarmed? And your men couldn't handle that?"

"Perhaps. But the enemy had with them war machines. Ten, or so I am told. They said they were big metal men, like in the science fiction movies. We don't have the proper equipment to deal with those, so we are going to have to be alittle creative. Now if you will excuse me, I have a ride to catch."

Holly hung up the phone and made her way to one of the two Blackhawks ready to take off. Each held about ten soldiers and two crates filled with explosives. After taking off, the helicopters would first do a reconnaissance sweep to get an idea of enemy positions then decide how to deploy its troops from there.

The LB soldiers picking civilians would take up defensive positions. Civilians already loaded on to buses were kept there. If the helicopters spotted a safe route from their location to Destroy Stadium, they will evacuate the loaded civilians there, otherwise they will stay put. Those not loaded were herded into buildings and told to stay down. The soldiers would try not to engage the enemy since they are stuck babysitting, but would not hesitate to open fire if the unknown invading force made any direct movement toward their position.

The LB Soldiers hiding out at the border would see that a smaller group Zaofu soldiers was left behind to guard the exit. While with still no way to take out the mech, assuming it wouldn't fall under small arms fire, they decided it was time to take their chances. One group would pop out and open fire at the soldiers there, all but ignoring the mech. When that group had the soldiers attention, the other would pop out and fire. They would alternate like this while trying to make their way into the city in hopes of losing the mech there.

The black skyscraper that made the tallest building in Santa Destroy seemed fairly out of place, dwarfing the rest of the buildings in the city. Even the second and third tallest buildings, which were located right next to it, only reached about 3/4ths of its height.

The owner of the building, having seen the gathered military force from his vantage point in the skyscraper, went down to meet Zaofu army. Jasper Batt Jr, heir of the Pizza Bat franchise, came out of the building flanked by a total of ten bodyguards. The guards, while trying to look intimidating, were obviously quite concerned with the show of Force the Zaofu gave. Their boss is the only one who remained confident, primarily out of arrogance then anything else. His voice sounded like a child, higher pitched and annoying.

"Who do you people think you are? Trying to run Pizza Bat out of town? Too bad! We got plans for this city, and when we are done with it, you wouldn't even believe it was once the shit hole it is now. So bugger off cause we are not leaving."

Axton chuckled at the sound of the gunfire. "Alright. This is when things get interesting." Axton reached for his back, where nothing would appear to be until an assault rifle appeared seemingly out of thin air. "Whoever's firing those guns probably ain't friendly. If it's just some local nutjob, no biggie. But if that's what I think it is, then it's in both of our best interests to make sure whatever asshole's invading gets their asses swiftly kicked."

Axton walked over to the speeder and got into the driver seat. "You ain't riding that scooter into battle. They'd be too busy laughing at you to kill you, and you'd get ripped to shreds by gunfire. Na, you hop into the back of this." Axton motioned behind him at the turret seat, loaded with a missile launcher turret.

"You got any experience using heavy explosive weaponry? Simple as can be, point and click, and don't blow yourself up doing it. Also got a small arms turret on the front of this thing which I'll be using. I'll handle the driving, you blow the hell out of whoever's firing at us. Sound like a plan?

edited 21st Apr '15 10:15:24 PM by Meanken

Prowl watched the ongoing escalation of violence, his abdominal actuators churning. The thought that organics would wilfully attack their own kind, unprovoked and en masse, was not on his list of expectations. Surely creatures of such refined evolution and ties to the beauty that was organic life would not resort to such things. Maybe they were more like Cybertronians than he cared to think.

That didn't mean he was going to sit and watch.

Untold innocents were in the firing line, and he would be damned to the Pits of Kaon before his First Contact was made with a mass grave. He would need to handle this carefully, to avoid unneeded harm to any involved in the fighting. If the organics wouldn't treasure their fellow life forms, he'd have to do it for them.

Taking advantage of the confusion, he made to quickly and stealthily slip across a more quiet section of the border, ducking and weaving into the streets. He backed up against some kind of apartment block, spotting several police officers out of the corner of his optics. Taking a breath, and preparing himself for reformatting, he surreptitiously scanned one of their motorcycles. The size and colouration was a good match, and minimal alterations were made to his body, but at least now he had a disguise he could use to avoid detection.

Transforming, and taking on the holographic image of a police officer to ride him, he drove out into the streets, coming out of hiding to get a better view of the situation from the street level.

Botanica returned into the lab, pleased to see that the Flea Man had remained where he was.

"Ah, hello there, little one. I'm afraid if you were hoping to speak to Optimus Prime specifically, he is not available. He has just been given orders to leave Iacon and seek out diplomacy with our neighbours. You may, however, petition for an audience with Ultra Magnus, our leader."

"Preflight checks are good to go, Boss-bot," reported Bumblebee. "What's our destination?"

"Let's focus on getting this ship off the ground before we plan too far ahead," returned Ratchet, irate as ever.

Optimus pushed the throttle forward, carefully adjusting elevation. It was remarkably easier to leave the hangar now that it lacked a roof. Stabiliser thrusters fired as the ship ascended into the sky. A few Autobots on the ground stopped to look at it, only able to guess at its special purpose.

"We're airborne," said Prime, making a hint of a smile as he felt the ship move under his power.

edited 22nd Apr '15 2:19:54 AM by SR3NORMANDY