ITT: The Imperium Of Man Comes to Gensokyo!

Very well.

-He starts to fade, expression only displaying the slightest disappointment-

Until we meet again. Fare well.

—And with a zephyr of warm air, He is gone.—

edited 5th Dec '10 1:51:25 PM by Colonial1.1

...fare well.

There is a knock on the door, and Ran enters.

I have returned, mistress.

Good timing. Let's have dinner.

...is there something bothering you?

It's...nothing.

Only, you look like you are about to strangle someone...yet your eyes are...

I said it's nothing!

...yes, mistress.

As the ninetailed Shikigami goes to prepare dinner, Yukari goes out on her balcony and looks out at the chaotic landscape of the Boundary.

...you have changed, -

The name of the Emperor is lost in the void as the Youkai of the Boundary sighs over her old friend.

edited 6th Dec '10 2:43:16 AM by Lemurian

"Thank you. I've spoken with all of them, I think, it's useful to know these kinds of people. Sorry about asking all these questions, but they don't call it the Inquisition for nothing. Shall we say that's enough for now? It'll be sundown soon. You vampires are probably eager to be outside doing your thing unless I've misjudged how you get hungry."

Oh, I don't think I need to hunt tonight. I had Sakuya have a look at some potential candidates, and she has found some excellent cooks among your soldiers. Tonight, we will all dine on what I am to understand are Imperial delicacies, made with local ingredients. So I'll be delighted to have you at my table tonight, Arcturus. You have the night off as well, Sakuya, Zee; so that you may join us.

I am honoured, mistress, but I think I may have to help in the serving first...

Oh yes, of course.

edited 6th Dec '10 5:53:56 AM by Lemurian

"So long as it isn't the chefs you'll be eating. I'll just get this scrapheap out of the way first."

He walks over to the inert machine, setting it upright before activating it. The thing sparks to life, emitting an ominous-sounding string of binary noise. There was a small blinking red circle on its chest segment.

"Son of a... I swear to the God-Emperor, this bloody thing wears out faster than an anorectic at boot camp. I keep telling the techies it does that by itself, but nooo, they say. It's got to be my fault somehow."

The machine emits the same series of noises again as it stands up, followed by a creepily monotone "Hardware failure. Seek an authorized techpriest immediatel-"

"Oh, shut up. Go find a techie yourself, I know they installed an RTB function in you last time this happened."

It gives a somewhat dubious "Yes, most beneficient one."

Arcturus stares at it all the way out of the door before sighing.

"I don't trust that thing for a second. I swear, it gives me a new somehow ironic title every time I adress it. Last time it was 'illustrious paragon of fleshy things'. Somehow I think it slipped up with the last bit. It's probably secretly trying to kill me."

edited 6th Dec '10 10:04:50 AM by l3wt

Zee watched the machine depart, struggling to hide an amused smile. She then turned to Remilia and nodded.

"But of course, mistress; I'll be there."

-Arcturus and the others couldn't possibly have realised that they were being watched by the fly that was sitting on the ceiling. Somewhere in that realm of nightmares called the Warp, the Harvester sat in contemplation of what was happening, watching through the eyes of his insectoid servant. His corpse-shroud hung mercifully over his face, obscuring his hideous, horrifying visage and the malicious rictus grin upon it-

So, Arcturus, You've Denied Me A World, And Yourself. You've Undone Some Of The Gifts I Have Spread, And Slain My Most Valuable Pawn.

-A wretched figure kneeling by the Harvester (or as close as you could describe the geometry of the Warp to Euclidean space) whimpers at this-

"I am sorry I failed you so completely, master..."

Silence! Grovelling Does Not Become You.

-The figure fell silent-

You've Made Progress... But To Think You've Won?

-A paroxysm of terrible glee wracked the daemon's body. The figure by his side screamed, doubling over in agony, clutching his ears-

...So Naive... You Can't Win Against Me, Arcturus. You Forget My Very Nature...

-He shifts his view to that of a fly in the Bamboo Forest. He watches as the Sisters torch the remains of Isaac's hideout that were not destroyed earlier, leaving only ash, which they consecrate to destroy any remaining Nurglite taint. Elsewhere, they take their flamers to the other area infected with Rot-

I Am The Harvester,

-The fly focuses on Isabella-

And I Always Get The Last Laugh! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

-The laughter echoes around the aether-

On the Moon, Fio'la Aloh paused in his labours and stretched, working the kinks out of his muscles. The lowly worker was but one of many, all operating according to the designs of Fio'O Ko'vash and under the supervision of a Fio'vre overseer as they put the finishing touches on the first of the terraforming devices. Once completed, this enormous machine would begin to plane out the broken earth, making it suitable for construction and cultivation, and to synthesize the various gases needed to sustain the satellite's breathable atmosphere.

That was not to say that the work had gone quickly or smoothly, however; the designs for this terraforming device had been experimental, and the construction had taken several kai'rotaa of continuous labour to complete, during which the Earth Caste labourers had received little rest as they devoted all their energies and efforts to ensuring the success of this project. A few labourers had died from exhaustion, and even though great pains had been taken to ensure that the project was conducted under the utmost safety and security, some unfortunates had perished as a result of unforseen workplace accidents.

Further, Aloh knew that the terraforming device had limitations; even operating at maximum efficiency, it would still take hundreds of tau'cyr, generations of his people, before the purpose for which it had been constructed would be complete. The lowly worker knew, as they all did, that he would be long dead by the time the fruits of his labour blossomed, as would his children, and in all likelyhood their children.

All for the sake of a client race who shall still live long after my line has faded from memory, Fio'la Aloh thought dourly, turning to look at the distant form of the Lunarians' temporary settlement. I hope these lu'nar'ya understand how much we sacrifice for their sake...

Truth be told, the labourer could not understand why Fio'vre Tal'desh had been so lenient with the Lunarians; the gue'la-resembling immortals had really been in no position to dictate terms, given the state of their world and that the refugees had been placed in the care of the T'au Empire, from what he could understand. Still, he had not voiced his confusion; he was but a lowly worker of the Earth Caste, not yet even a senior, and it was not his place to question an Ethereal's decisions and policies.

"Construction is complete!" came a voice over the comm. systems of Aloh's constructorsuit. "We are bringing the device online now. All Fio, stand clear!"

Aloh took his overseer's advice, drawing back several paces as the enormous, fattened gourd of the terraforming device suddenly flared with light and began to rotate slowly along its vertical axis. Panels atop the machine peeled open, like a flower in bloom, as plumes of oxygen, hydrogen and other gases arose from within, wafting into the atmosphere like an exotic musk.

Fio'la Aloh looked on the enormous construct with awe and pride. Yes, he was but a simple labourer, fated forever to be so by dint of birth and caste; his life was to be one of hardship and difficulty. And in all honesty, he would not have changed that for the world; dour Aloh may have been, but he was T'au and he was Fio; it was his nature—his raison d'etre—to serve others for the Greater Good.

Arcturus gives the door another mean look just in case the servitor was still there before heading over.

"Be right with you. I'll just need to get into a bit more presentable state first."

He sheathes the sword that had been his one constant companion since he first entered service, and heads on out of the room.

/// Inq/[CLASSIFIED]/A/JournEntry_712999M41 ///

Encryption level: Vermilion

I haven't made an entry in here since... Well, that one campaign. I don't have a whole lot of time, and too much has happened since then to adequately explain everything, so I'll just jot down some thoughts.

"The Time of Ending", they call this age we live in. As vast and relentless the Imperium is in its war efforts, one thing is for certain. We cannot continue down the same path as we have for millennia, marching blindly towards our doom. Slowly but surely, even though we have fought the various alien and heretical threats to humanity tooth and nail and bone, we are being pushed back. System by system, world for world, the endless threats from within, without and beyond are tearing the Imperium of Man and its many armies apart by the seam. For so many years, we have witnessed this trend, and though many of us may think our power absolute, whoever has the resources to obtain and decrypt these documents surely knows better by now... as by that time they will have taken this dataslate from my cold dead hands. Which I can guarantee won't be an easy feat. No matter. To sum up my point: we are losing, and the common masses, the unknown trillions that humanity consists of, doesn't even know the scope of the threats we face as a species. This is, I'm sad to say, partially our own fault. For all our faith and fervor, we drown in beaureucracy and propaganda, can't bring our might around to face our enemies fast enough to avert disaster. Should one too many of our keystone worlds fall, we will quickly see it all fall apart around us. Agri-worlds, forges and hives... The wheels that keep our giant war machine running. Lose enough, everything else grinds to a halt... And all hope for survival is gone.

For too long, I have gone without exactly that; hope. For myself, and for humanity.

These last two months have done much to change that. A reversal of the trends seen depressingly often in some of my other entries. Suffice to say, the colour has returned to the galaxy, in my eyes at least. I'll fill in the details later.

There are people waiting for me, after all.

- A

/// END OF FILE ///

edited 7th Dec '10 1:00:59 PM by l3wt

-Aboard the ''Spear of Benediction'', the space marines of the Steel Judicators stand at attention at the walls of the audience chamber; on a throne of roughly hewn marble, an ancient sigil carved into the top, sits Chapter Master Zolomon, the Founding Helm at his side; a badge of repentance millennia-old is grasped in one hand; he rises, and his marines turn to regard him-

Battle Brothers Of The Steel Judicators, You Know Our Chapter Mission: We Atone For The Most Grievous Heresies Of The Founding Legion, The Iron Warriors. We Have Skirted The Edges Of Annihilation Throughout Ten Thousand Years Of Service To His Will, Always Under The Watchful Eye Of The Imperial Inquisition And Under The Suspicion Of The High Lords Of Terra. We Have Made Certain That The Sins Of The Past Are Never Forgotten, For Which We Wear The Signs Of Repentance. Now, Brothers, We Have Done The Best Possible Thing To Erase The Stench Of Chaos From Our Name, In The Taking Of Gensokyo And Its Holy Ground For The Imperium And The Emperor, Achieving The Unthinkable, An End To War And The Tranquility That Follows.

-The great gauntlet tightens around the sigil, cracking it, until it finally is broken into tiny shards of metal; Zolomon stands, casting down the fragments-

Now Brothers, We Will Defend His Realm, Not From Shame, Not From Proving Our Continued Existence Is Not A Mistake, But From Pride! From The Fact That We Defend The Righteous Peace Of This World! Our Duty Continues, And With Joy, We Shall Carry It Out! Steel Without, Steel Within!

-The Battle Brothers echo him, just barely restraining the relief in their voices, tearing their badges away and similarly shattering them; from ship to ship, celebrations ring out, of burdens long held within lifted. The Chapter is content.-

edited 7th Dec '10 12:12:02 PM by Colonial1.1

Day 16 of Kisaragi, year 125

The Human Village is no more. The Imperials were right when they described it as nothing more but a hole in the ground. A massive crater is all that remains, and the houses are all gone. But the Imperials have promised to build it all back up on the shore of the crater, even better than before. The Youkai tell me that there are great forces at work in the forest; perhaps we will see Humans and Youkai work together for a new village soon. The Human Village is not the only place that has suffered greatly in this war. The Tengu Village and the Hakurei Shrine are also in ruins, but they are to be built back up as soon as possible as well.

Soon, Humans will come back to live here. Gensokyo has been dealt a heavy blow, but the people are almost at the point of treating it like just another Incident. But they know, like I know, that things have changed now. After the ceremony I wrote about a few days ago, Gensokyo is a part of the Imperium of Man. Humans and Youkai alike are worried about what changes that may bring, but the senior Youkai and lady Byakuren Hijiri are calming people back down.

I have heard about the new things the Imperials want to bring to Gensokyo, and it sounds strange and mysterious to my ears. As none of the Imperials can fly, they want to introduce a new transport-system, a sort of large machine. The Kappa are very positive about it, but the Youkai that live in the forest worry about their hunting grounds. The Imperials want to build a large fortress to live in as well, and they have been received a mountain on which to place it. It is not known yet which mountain. They want to build a large temple as well, to their God-Emperor.

But despite the great changes that lie in front of them, the people have hope. Soon, the strongest men and most skilled women will be returning to the Village to start building the new homes. The people just want to live in peace, a peace the Imperium promises them. The Humans and most of the Youkai look forward to working with the Imperials, and to resume their way of life.

A new period of history in Gensokyo awaits, and the people are ready. Gensokyo will be strong again.

Hieda no Akyuu.

The little girl lifts the brush from the large scroll she has been writing on, and leans back. The only source of light in the small room in the Myouren Shrine is the small magic orb glowing above the desk. As the ink dries, the girl gets out another scroll. It is old, and covered in dust. Akyuu rolls it out on the floor and finds the last passage, from over hundred years ago. A wry smile spreads across the historian's face as she reads the old symbols.

Gensokyo has been sealed, and an age of conflict awaits. But the magic will stay pure now, shielded from Chaos. History will show if it will last for ever.

-crack-

-CKSUCKER YOU'LL-

-With another resounding crack, the Dakkafenix / UP YOURS FUCKFACE XXIV appears in and out of the Warp, shedding a few Gretchins in the process. Then the faulty tellyporta kicks in again, hurling the great ship into the beyond. The Gretchins fall to Earth, in the middle of an Oni encampment.-

As winter fades in Gensokyo, and the first signs of spring appear, the spring sun shines down upon a changed world.

Gone is the snow, coloured black with the blood of Youkai, Imperials, Tau, Tyranids, Orks and the Spawn of Chaos. Gone is the foul taint of the Tyranids, the touch of the Necrons and the corruption of Chaos.

But the memories linger.

Countless lives have been lost over the course of the past campaign. Yet hope shines anew, among Imperials and Gensokyoians alike.

The spring flowers that blossom that year herald the coming of a new age, an age of cooperation and new-found allies.

The Imperium of Man has come to Gensokyo. And a new world awaits.

edited 7th Dec '10 2:35:29 PM by Lemurian