Orcus

I've finally gone from being anxious all of the time to only being anxious when I imagine venturing back into the world once quarantines are lifted, so that's something. I'm in Cali and they've started opening parks and beaches again and there is not a lot of social distancing going on, which definitely makes me feel incredibly confident, haha. Glad to see y'all are doing well (and also lurking!)

I think it would be a fun experiment. Why not try it out? If it doesn't work than then no harm, no foul; but if does, then it would serve as a fun alternative to standard roleplaying and could prove a viable new means of RPing on the boards. I agree with both CaNz and Boo that at the very least it would be a challenging exercise.   But I would heed DeLarge's advice. For something like this to work, I think the right conditions must exist-- a cohesive vision for the story and frequent collaboration between party members, for example. But I'd be down to try.

The Throwaways Volume 1: Who Are The Throwaways? * MISSION: Deus Ex Machina [INFILTRATION] Although Geistâ??s largest competition in the race to total superhuman domination is MacOne Enterprises, thatâ??s not to say their hegemony is otherwise unchallenged. While the other companies clambered over one another for a spot in the limelight, one company grew unnoticed and then burst onto the scene. The India based corporation Umbral Limited promised to â??unlock the true potential of the natural world,â? and apparently did exactly that, having expanded into multiple countries in only a year as a power provider and supersoldier creater. Whatever means theyâ??re using to create their supersoldiers would be instrumental to Geistâ??s expansion, so infiltrate their headquarters and unearth their secrets. * The Future â??This is a very simple situation: you have what we need, and we will not stop until weâ??ve extracted every bit of it from you, until you are reduced to nothing but ash! You can not run from us, Lucas Corrigan...â? Now â??Lucas Corriganâ?¦this is a sh*t plan.â? To clarify, her issue was not with Lucas. She and Corrigan had worked a number of missions together, and he was a more than capable leader. And, admittedly, it had not been his plan to trust the shoddy intel Geist uncovered about Umbral Ltd. But there were no Geist operatives around to yell at-- save the stealth transport pilot, and Alice was not eager to crash and die. Not today. So, just for today, she would have to take her frustrations out on her friend. â??Donâ??t blame me, Allison,â? he hissed, zipping up his jacket and flipping the deep hood over his head. Allison rolled her eyes and turned back to their team. Some of the faces were new to her, â??unweathered and untested.â? Lucas had introduced her to that mindset the first time they when on a recruitment mission together. Back then she had laughed, finding the sentiment ridiculous as the gentlemen they had attempted to recruit was a man who had fought, and killed, seven men in hand to hand combat at the same time. You could see his past murders hiding in the creases of his face. But Lucas said it didnâ??t matter. Anything that came before the Throwaways didnâ??t matter. Thereâ??s a difference between making your own mistakes and making Geistâ??s. Encouraging... â??Everybody shut up!â? She barked at the others. â??Our fearless leader, Neutron is gonna give you the attack plan one last time-- shitty as it may be.â? Lucas mimicked the action of gritting his teeth and stepped forward. â??Alright team. Weâ??re here to locate Umbralâ??s so-called clean energy source, whatever or whoever that might be. Once weâ??ve located it, and if it is a viable option, we will bring it back to Geist. If not, we steal what information we can and sabotage the rest. We donâ??t know where the energy source is, so weâ??ll enter on the 20th floor, clearing and searching as we go. Prioritize locating a security layout so weâ??re not blind for too long. Reaper will take us in, and we keep this as quiet as possible. Understand? Good.â? A series of grunted responses came from the unsurprisingly reluctant team, and Kato Aege, a young man codenamed 'Grim Reaper' stepped forward and grinned from ear to ear. â??Hold on tight, friends. You might not enjoy thisâ?¦â? He said with his idiosyncratic sing-song voice. A lovely, equally melodic voice laughed from the corner. Morgana stepped forward and draped her arm around Katoâ??s shoulder. â??Oh, I highly doubt that. I find teleportation to be one of the moreâ?¦ pleasurable means of travel,â? she sang, seemingly winking at every party member at once. Another teammate stepped forward, speaking in a decidedly sterner tone. â??Thatâ??s enough, you two.â? Despite Samuel Pratchettâ??s, codename Canary, short tenure with the Throwaways, his military background made it so he wasnâ??t shy about keeping the others in line. Alice found his loyalty and professionalism a welcome reprieve from the unruly lot she was usually placed in charge of. The less she had to worry about her teammatesâ?? behavior the less she had to worry about her teammates. Period. â??Yes sir!â? Kato mocked, flicking up a facetious salute, and the team was suddenly and abruptly inside of the building. Better still, the disoriented members were standing dead center in a brightly-lit office filled with rows of typing employees. The clattering of keys was a constant, low-level noise thrumming away in the sickly fluorescent light that flooded the vast room, and the team quickly re-oriented themselves, ready for whatever actions would be necessary. â??Reaper!â? Alice scolded, preparing for the sh*tstorm to come. Yet said sh*tstorm never came. The workers continued typing away, completely oblivious to the teamâ??s unexpected, and likely unwelcome presence. Alice and Lucas eyed each other curiously. â??You doing this?â? Lucas questioned. Alice shook her head and cautiously approached one of the employees. She tapped him lightly on the shoulder, but the man continued to ignore her. She shifted her eyes from the man to the computer screen and inhaled sharply. Well sh*tâ?¦ she thought with surprise. She motioned over for Lucas to join her, then pointed to the screen. Lucas sucked in air through his teeth and frowned deeply. â??Well what does that mean?â? Lucas wondered. He lightly shoved the employee to his left, then another, and then another. Each time, no response. â??Em, excuse me? Care to share with the class, dears?â? Morgana quipped. Alice turned to the team and squeezed the bridge of her nose. â??Youâ??re not blind, Avalon,â? Alice responded curtly to Morgana, using an abbreviated form of one of Morganaâ??s favorite titles. â??For whatever reason these people arenâ??t responding to external stimuli. Letâ??s use that to our advantage for the moment, but letâ??s also assume that anything could set them off,â? Alice ordered. The team swept over the room, checking the computers for any viable information, but primarily found a sea of logistical information, personal emails and correspondences with other companies. It was as if the employees were on autopilot, suspended in a corporate coma. "It's like they've been brainwashed...co-opted into working for these people..." murmured Canary, running a finger down a carefully-maintained list of names and personal information displayed on one of the many computer screens they were faced with, to the apparent ignorance of the employee using the computer. "One sympathises," sighed Felicia Cole, codenamed 'Danger', as she waved a hand in front of one of their faces, trying to drag any kind of reaction from the corporate zombies in front of them. Once they were sure there was nothing of importance on any of the computers, Alice signalled for the team to leave the room, but as soon as she gripped the doorknob a jolt of electricity shot up her arm and knocked her back. â??Stasis!â? Samuel swooped down to assist Alice. Her entire arm had gone numb, but she'd suffered worse injuries on the job: at least this time she could still use her arm. She looked back to signal for Tomiko, â??Arashi,â? to step forward, when she noticed something terrifying. All of the workers were staring intently at her. The closest employee stood up and surveyed Alice. â??Having trouble, friend?â? Her voice sounded friendly enough, but she was not smiling at Alice, and her eyes remained cold and empty. Alice motioned for Arashi to disarm the door and then engaged the employee again. â??I am indeed. The door malfunctioned,â? Alice said calmly. A small click from behind her indicated that Arashi had opened the door. The army of stares returned to their computers, and the woman in front of Arashi returned to hers as well, without a word. The team poured out into the hallway swiftly, and found themselves in a maze of offices and hallways. â??Oh goodee,â? Morgana groaned, â??This just keeps getting--â? Morganaâ??s sentence was interrupted by a strange noise, like the rushing of air into a vacuum. The others looked back at her, but the space she had been standing in was empty, with nothing but shadow taking her place. The group bunched closely together, scanning the halls in every direction. â??What now, Neutron?â? Samuel questioned. â??Now this is a rescue mission as well,â? Lucas responded without missing a beat. â??Arashi, can you feel the energy source in the building?â? Arashi closed her eyes and concentrated. â??Not very well, boss,â? Arashi said, shaking her head. â??I know itâ??s beneath us, but we need to get closer.â? Lucas turned his attention to Kato. â??Reaper, can you sense Morgana?â? Kato smiled eerily, and then for a moment he became hazy, almost blurry, as if he was an afterimage, before returning to his regular state. His smile was gone. â??Avalon is difficult to track as it is, thanks to her affinity with the Khaos magic, but thereâ??s something else disrupting my abilities. Like Arashi said, itâ??s below us,â? Kato added. Lucas grimaced. â??Fine. Then the plan is the same. Search every room, every floor. Assume everything is a trap. Letâ??s go.â? * OOC: There you have it ladies and gentlemen-- the beginning of the Throwaways! We're trapped at the top of a 20 story building, with who knows what traps standing between us and our goal. Add to that the sudden disappearance of an essential team member, and the possibility that more may too go missing, and we've got quite the beginning to our first mission as a team. So interact, foil some traps, run into some potential super-powered guards (*gasp*) but most of all be creative! This is as much your story as it is ours!

Name: Allison â??Aliceâ? Knight Codename: Stasis Age: 24 Gender: Female Height: 5â??5â??â?? Weight: 124 lbs Appearance: [Alice] Aliceâ??s figure, weight and height are thoroughly average among women her age, and although at first glance her physical appearance seems so as well, a second glance at Alice would reveal a number of irregularities . She has striking bloodred eyes and her fingers, feet and nails are pitch black, with thin tendrils of that murky blackness trailing up her legs and arms. In addition to this, she has two black apparatus protruding from her temples, which give her the appearance of having horns. These neural inhibitors are permanent fixtures, allowing Geist scientists to monitor Aliceâ??s brainwaves and monitor/limit her abilities. Around the Molehill, Alice is usually inclined to wear some variation of a slightly large-fitting sweater or shirt in conjunction with patterned leggings and boots. When their missions require them to be out and about in the real world, Alice wears a combination of button up shirt, crop-top undershirt, high-waisted shorts or jeans and boots. Specialty: All-Rounder Superpowers: The Freeze- Alice refuses to divulge the nature of her ability with any of Geistâ??s scientists or her fellow Throwaways, save Lucas. What is known about her ability, however, is that she uses it to â??freezeâ? a given target. This can manifest as actually entombing an object or person in ice or by apparently freezing the target in time. In each instance, the effect can be either gradual or instantaneous, which scientifically should be impossible. Additionally, under extreme duress she has demonstrated other random abilities, as well as a more volatile personality. Whether her ability is multi-faceted or is constantly shifting is entirely unknown, but Geist has taken certain precautions to prevent her from causing a situation for them. They ran extensive tests on Alice, all with the intention of mapping the way her brain triggered her usual abilities versus the way it processed her â??randomâ? outbursts. Once they had discerned with relative assuredness how she tapped into her abilities, they modified her neural dampeners to allow her full control of â??The Freezeâ? but prevented her from using her ability in other capacities. This dampener also had the unintended but beneficial side-effect of decreasing her violent mood swings, which allows her to better interact with others, and has seemingly eradicate Aliceâ??s "other personality." Special Skills: Alice is fairly adept with parkour and slight of hand tricks, having primarily lived alone from ages 10 to 20 and utilized these skills for many years when she was too afraid of using her powers. Thanks to these skills she picked up on Geist's combat training quickly, becoming an agile, capable combatant in a matter of months. Sheâ??s also naturally observant, often able to discern the specifics of other supers' powers and people's true natures and hidden agendas, as well as discover clues in cases that her teammates might overlook or dismiss. Equipment/Weapons: Alice doesnâ??t bring any items with her into the field, but she has weapons training, and won't hesitate to steal an opponent's weapon or loot the corpses left in her wake. Personality Profile: Alice is a mentally unstable, but nonetheless is a mostly agreeable person and confident leader. Alice revealed to Geist psychologists that for most of her life her abilities would spontaneously flare up and the resulting outburst would cause her immense physical pain. She spent most of her childhood believing that life was pain, and generally had a negative outlook on existence. She developed a cheerful and optimistic, albeit slightly childlike attitude at some undisclosed point in her past, but when Geist finally found her this attitude was buried under a bitter, suicidal young woman looking for an end to her suffering. Since being inducted into the Throwaways and growing particularly attached to the Throwawaysâ?? handler and fellow member Lucas Corrigan (and thanks to her neural inhibitors) Alice has recovered some of her hope and optimism, although she does tend to switch abruptly from her personable persona to a more caustic, sarcastic and slightly violent personality. Although this had led some of her teammates to be wary of her around the molehill, the wise no better than to question her judgement in the field. Writing Sample: A male figure stepped into the building, and immediately felt the air shift around him--which shouldnâ??t have been possible. It was a warm, midsummer day outside and rays of light poured into the room, but he due to his â??conditionâ? he couldnâ??t feel the warmth of the sun, or most other physical stimuli. So even though the unnaturally cold air didnâ??t nip at the layer of skin surrounding his energy form, Lucas Corrigan knew the building was freezing. The bodies encased in ice certainly validated that assumption. For a moment his inclination to act as the dark avenger Geist desired him to be overwhelmed him, but he quickly compartmentalized those feelings. According to Geist, the person who had caused this was sending a message. She wanted them to come and find her. â??Some message,â? he growled, tracing his fingers along the human popsicle to his right. He concentrated on using his ability to attempt to free the man from his frozen prison. His energy surged against the ice, but the point of contact didnâ??t steam up or melt in the slightest. He increased his energy output slowly, wary of burning the imprisoned man, but to no avail. â??That wonâ??t do anything,â? a female voice said softly from above Lucas, startling him. He spun around and, in the process, accidentally discharged some energy into a nearby pillar, which hissed and whined as the ice melted. Above him sat a young, pink-haired women, her legs hanging over the ledge of the above floor and her arms looped through the side rail. Her blue eyes glowed fiercely from the shadows, like a predator watching itâ??s prey. â??It took you long enough to get here. I thought you would be fasterâ?¦ So what are you? A monster?â? The young girl questioned bluntly, eyeing Lucas from head to toe. Lucas knew she was examining him, probing his body like Geistâ??s scientists had for months. If he had to guess, he would say she was intrigued by his immunity to her talent. â??What do you mean, what am I?â? He responded, wanting to wrap up this situation as quickly as possible. Most of the supers that get recruited are unhinged or desperate. This girl-- â??Alice,â? according to her file-- was too ******* cavalier about the prospect of â??men in suitsâ? coming to take her away. Alice did not respond, instead let out a long sigh, before pushing herself off of the ledge. Lucas braced himself for an attack, but Alice simply glided slowly, gracefully, to the ground. Lucas remained motionless but alert as she walked toward him. Alice made a puzzled expression once more and then trailed her fingers across his skin, mimicking the action he had performed on the frozen guard earlier. Some of the skin that comprised Lucasâ?? outer shell froze and flaked off, but he remained largely unaffected. The woman pointed at the spot accusingly. â??See? Youâ??re not freezing, so you must not be human. You must be a monster, or an alien, or... are youâ?¦ Death?â? The woman asked with a mixture of fear and hope. In an instant Lucasâ?? anger towards the girl melted away, and he saw himself years ago, just waiting for his life to end. He took a step away from the girl and attempted a smile. â??Whatâ??s your name?â? He asked kindly, despite already knowing her name, age, height, weight and psych profile. Aliceâ??s eyes narrowed into a fine, deliberating glare as if she was aware of the deception. â??Alice,â? she responded simply. Lucas smiled. â??Iâ??m Lucas,â? he said as he pulled his shirt over his head, â??and youâ??re right. Iâ??m not human. Not anymore.â? Lucas revealed his body to Alice, and the odd black metal plates lining which lined it. As she peered closer she could see little lightning flashes throughout his body, glimpses Lucasâ?? â??trueâ? form. She placed her hands on the metal plates, which sent an electric charge through her body-- a default mechanism to prevent anyone, including Lucas, from removing them. Alice shook her hand back in forth, agitated. â??Hmph. A caged god. How fitting,â? she mumbled cryptically. â??So, not-Death-Lucas, are you here to kill me or trap me?â? Her words were venomous, but her expression read apprehensive. She obviously didnâ??t believe Lucas was there to do either; the entire reason she was in this prison for dangerous criminals was because no one saw anything other than a risk, a liability when the looked at her. She had been cycled from jail cell to jail cell, city to city, because no organization--prison or otherwise--wanted to risk having a monster like her in their stead. She could have been killed or experimented on at any time, but her captors never attempted to do so. Their only interest was in keeping her tucked away. Why would Lucas be any different? Lucas affectionately placed his hand on her shoulder. â??Neither. Iâ??m here to offer you the same chance Geist offered me. The chance to be more than a monster. To make amends for a life wasted. Is that what you want?â? He asked with unyielding conviction. Alice bit her lip nervously and shifted her gaze to the nearest frozen figure. Alice stared into its eyes, looking for something, and then abruptly snapped her fingers. All of the frozen cages shattered simultaneously, leaving the former prisoners alive albeit unconscious. She turned back to Lucas and nodded. â??I trust you, Lucas. Donâ??t make me regret this...â? â? â? â? Name: Morgana le Fey Codename: She's partial to The Scourge of Avalon or the Bane of Camelot, but she has no formal sobriquets or aliases. Age: Honestly, sheâ??s stopped keeping track. Gender: Female, although she is able to transform every part of her body on a whim. Height: 5â??11â? Weight: 126 lbs. Appearance: [Morgana] Despite living an innumerable number of years, she maintains the youthful visage of someone in their late 20s early 30s. She has seductive features: slender, fox-like eyes that alternate colors depending upon her mood; full lips which pull pleasantly over pearlescent fangs; and practically flawless tanned skin. Her appearance is supernaturally maintained, with nary a hair out of place or blemish found. Whether in the molehill or when mingling among the common people Morgana favors elegant dress, with rich, vivid colors like scarlet or emerald. Thatâ??s not to say, however, that Morgana never dresses down, but rather that she looks stunning in whatever she adorns herself with. Even the Geist inhibitors installed on her-- around her neck and wrists-- look fashionable, as she uses her still considerable magic to synchronize their appearances with her outfit. Speciality: Infiltration/Assassination Superpowers: Khaos- Morgana has the innate ability to manipulate the primal energy of chaos and unleash it upon her enemies. This power is difficult to quantify, and can work in a myriad of ways. Her ability can be subtle-- a sudden pinprick feeling in the skin, causing you to drop your weapon-- or it can be substantial-- an abrupt shift in the terrain shattering your ankle. Her ability is so unpredictable because chaos, being "a state of disorder," is manifested whenever a system (whether that be an item, or person, or element) is simply "disordered" i.e. not ordered according to it's original design. Without her inhibitors she could even use this ability to become chaos incarnate, a towering, fire-breathing dragon. Now, she is limited to creating flames and augmenting her body with dragonesque appendages. Special Skills: Morgana is so tremendously talented at bending others to her will that Geist believed said ability to be distinctly magical. And while she may coat her words Khaos before feeding them to the unwary, Morganaâ??s voice was honeyed by centuries of knowledge pertaining to the human condition. If her experience somehow fails her, the pure, unbridled confidence and assuredness that she exudes wonâ??t. Equipment/Weapons: Her silver tongue and sharp mind, of course. Morganna finds modern weapons too lacking in finesse for her tastes. Personality Profile: Unlike the other Throwaways, Morgana has the most transparent motivations; she is working with Geist because when she woke up from her Fae-Sleep-- a self-induced magic coma-- they were in possession of her body and had already outfitted her with inhibitors. Being well aware of the likelihood that she will outlive this predicament, as well as her captors, she goes along with their demands. This transparency is reflected in her demeanor. She quips and chides and flirts and harrasses and generally does whatever she pleases around the molehill without repercussions. She views the others as general entertainment, but she respects their struggles and will offer help whenever she sees them suffer. She often serves the role of peacekeeper between the other members thanks to her willingness to dole out blunt honesty. That being said, the majority of her past, and how that past has affected her, is unknown both to her teammates and her handlers. Geist assumes that most myths and tales involving Morgan Le Fae, Morgens, Murigen and possibly even certain myths regarding the Morrigan to be exaggerated accounts of her previous endeavors. Writing Sample: Something felt... amiss. It wasn't her body. No, that felt the same-- Nay, better, she thought as she stretched her well-rested limbs. Then she felt it; the cold embrace of bondage. Around each of her wrists and her neck was a black bangle of sorts, secure enough that an even a particularly skilled escape artist couldn't relieve herself of them, but not so tight as to be uncomfortable. How thoughtful, she thought with a smile, but ultimately nothing more than an exercise in futility. She elegantly waved her hands, snapped, and waited. And waited. And waited... "That won't do you any good." A female voice reverberated throughout the room. The woman placed her hands on the bed behind her and leaned back. "Is that so?" She inquired with genuine curiosity. It wasn't often that she was caught unaware, and even less often that she was caught powerless. Whoever captured her had captured her intrigue for better or worse. "I'm sorry to say it is, Morgan Le Fey. The devices are specifically designed to negate your ability," the voice buzzed again. The woman laughed and playfully batted her hand. "Oh no, please. Just Morgana. Morgan Le Fey is far too formal, and almost entirely reserved for the bitter ramblings of my enemies... And despite having crippled me, you don't sound like my enemy, my dear. No," Morgana continued, elegantly gliding out of her assigned bed, "You sound like a woman who cares about people, but who cares more about power." A slight hum coated the room, but the female voice didn't respond. Morgana waved her hand again, sure the disembodied voice was watching through some means. "We don't have to talk about that yet, sweet child. But I would appreciate if you would inform me as to how long I'd been asleep this time around. Judging by how delicious I feel right now I'd say... two hundred years?" Morgana guessed while surveying her cell. The room was startlingly white and smelled of a peculiar combination of alcohol, staleness and metal. If she had to discern her whereabouts she would surmise that she was being kept in some sort of underground bunker. Under altered circumstances she would find this situation delightful--waking up buried within the Earth does wonders for fueling and strengthening magic. But with all of this metal entombing her, and presumably due to the contraptions shackled to her, she couldn't connect with the Earth. Pity. "According to your... keepers, you were asleep for about 150 years," the voice responded. "Oh, right, right, George and Pierre! Such sweet souls. I will miss them," Morgana stated honestly. George and Pierre had been travelling companions of Morgana's back in the day, and when she decided that she was due for her Faesleep, a restorative artificial coma which rejuvenates the body and allows one's magic to grow naturally inside of them, they volunteered their bodies to watch over her. And if she was here, then they had undoubtedly failed and been reduced to ashes, which wasn't nearly as terrible as it sounded. Their souls passed on when it was time, it was simply the rambling husks that watched over her. Admittedly, husks weren't the most able-bodied guards, but she certainly hadn't expected anyone significant to stumble across her sleeping figure. "Morgana, you're right," the voice interrupted, more sure and steady. Apparently the speaker had finished wrestling with whatever insecurities Morgana had highlighted moments ago. "We do need your power. While you were sleeping the world became more dangerous, more unruly, more opaque. So-called heroes cast their shadows over us from above, judging our every move, with the potential to wipe us out on a whim. They're not heroes, they're tyrants in the making. But we're putting together a team, and we're going into the darkness that everyone else is content to ignore. We want to save lives, and we believe you can help." Morgana smirked approvingly and sat forward. "Well then, consider me conscripted! I could never turn down a good crusade, and you are absolutely right about my abilities being an invaluable asset to your team. So give me a change of clothes, a yummy meal, and a lantern and I'll lead the charge right on into the darkness, and I'll kill whatever is there. Do we have a deal?" --- Anywho, I'm really digging the sign-up NuXtos, buddy! It's a clever marriage of the stock format and standard prose, and I can't wait to see more of your character's backstory unravel! And as DeLarge mentioned, bring on the sign-ups people! Let's have a ball together!

Fistful of Credits: The Jumper * Bounty Hunters: Orcus as E Darth Vectis as Cor'tak Rachael T as Khaleesi Ovaren Sora Trovinma Outlaw: DeLarge as Ferrus "The Jumper" Korven * Blazing Comet, Burst Nebula "And naturally, by get down to business I mean hop into one of our ships and get the Hel out of dodge. That bounty isn't gonna catch himself, am I right" E quipped, nudging Khaleesi slightly. Khaleesi eyed her friend the bartender, who E believed was called Jacks, before responding to E. "Sounds good. My associate here was just going to obtain some extra information for me about our target," she stated. E grinned and gave Khaleesi a thumbs up. "Fantastic!" She yelled, scooping up Khaleesi's arm with her own. "You can send it to our ship Strix! We'll patch Khaleesi's comm into our network and then link you in via a shared connection once we get all settled in." Khaleesi frowned and scratched E's hand, causing E to reel back in pain. "What in the blue hills was that for?" E grimaced, rubbing her wounds. Khaleesi straightened herself out and gave E a cold, dagger-like stare. "I don't appreciate being touched without my permission, or dragged away to mysterious places by people I hardly know. How do I know you're not slavers attempting to kidnap me?" Khaleesi questioned, obviously on guard. E had no interest in antagonizing their new parter--who would most assuredly claw the life out of her-- so she quickly presented her and Cor'tak's holo-I.D.s. Khaleesi looked over to Jacks, who produced a scanner and handed it Khaleesi. She waved their holo ids underneath and her scanner responded with an affirming beep and the universal green "good to go" light. She tossed the scanner back to the bartender and then curtly began walking past Cor'tak and E. "Fine. We'll take your ship," she decided aloud, right as she passed the duo, "but only because I don't want to potentially damage mine, and yours has superior stealth capabilities." Cor'tak's mechanical face contorted in a way that E assumed to be raising his eyebrow. "How do you know what our ship is capable of" Cor'tak inquired. E was amazed. Normally Cor'tak was not such a people pleaser-- had anyone else suddenly revealed unoffered information regarding their ship, these was a good chance Cor'tak would have broken them over his knee. Maybe it would be nice working with someone who brought out the less cranky version of Metallo, even if she did occasionally cut E. "Trade secret. And weren't you the one who said that we need to get down to business? Shall we get going?" Khaleesi smirked over her shoulder but continued to walk away from the bar and toward the shipyard. E looked back over to the Vul'orcha's associate, hoping for some answers, but she had already returned to bartending. E scoffed and looked back to Cor'tak. "After you, Metallo. Try not to purge to many of us lesser lifeforms as you chase after your lady," she mocked. Cor'tak grunted, or perhaps his mechanical bits shifted loudly, and walked dejectedly away from E. "I respect her apparent ability to cause harm and am intrigued by the unusual circumstances of her life choices given her species. Nothing more," he stated as flatly as possible. E wasn't sure whether he was lying or not, but she would be keeping an eye on Cor'tak during this mission. "Whatever loverbot. Let's just make it to the Strix before she learns all of our secrets before we learn any of hers," E suggested, patting her partner affectionately on the back, which he characteristically shrugged off.

Video Feed Room Garrick and Xionis arrived in the room simultaneously. Garrick happily snatched his belongings away from Xionis and strapped them back into his person. Xionis smirked and chided his partner. "A little anxious from your time in the big house?" Xionis quipped. Garrick spun his pulse rifle around and then holstered it. "They threw me in with a man who wouldn't stop vomiting," Garrick said with a slight shudder. "Let's just say I'm not too keen on spending any more time with the people around here unless I have my gun." Garrick waited expectantly for Xionis to laugh, but he was met with silence, as Xionis was pouring over the control console, rewinding the feeds for each other districts of Alphonse. "But enough small talk," Garrick murmured, "let's get back to business." He turned his eyes to the feeds and began searching. The footage was largely unremarkable; waves of featureless criminals and homeless folks zipped back and forth across the screen, although they did so nervously, always looking over their shoulder. It didnâ??t take long, however, for a lead to appear-- several leads, in fact. Three out of the twelve feeds-- feed two, feed three, and feed twelve, M.H. Graveyard-- displayed suspicious behavior. Xionis allowed the other videos to continue to rewind, in case there was any incriminating footage located on them, and then played the three feeds one after the other. --- Camera 2, Winry Station This video recording heavily flickered and distorted, as if some form of magnetic feedback was disrupting the recorder. A large, hulking figure fitting roughly the build of their target sauntered across the area, and several other figures followed behind him. The mildly humanoid shapes rampaged around, causing more property damage than Garrick could ever hope to, and violently tossing around passerbies. The audio was badly damaged, so only the words "Leech," "...waste of time," and "-action" could be heard through the crackling static, before the line went dead altogether. Camera 3, Master's Crossing The recording began inconspicuously enough, with the camera trained on docking/departure platform which had long fallen out of use. A pack of birds burst forth from the horizon, followed shortly by a stampede of scholarly looking gentleman fumbling and stumbling over one another, followed immediately by grounded replicas of the first batch of interstellar trains ever created racing wildly through the open field. The trains swerved and careened wildly, crashing into one another and trampling over unfortunate elites left and right. Only a solitary replica remained unscathed, and it could be seen rocketing away from the camera toward the southernmost part of the Alphonse. Camera 12 M.H. Memorium The last recording began innocuously as well, and contained the least amount of carnage. The camera was focused on a massive graveyard, presumably housing the brave creatures who had given their lives to constructing Alphonse, and the massive building which appeared to be some fusion of a cathedral, a manor and a retro museum, which inhabited the center of the plot of land. Little could be seen of the proceedings inside of the building, but people were actively fleeing out through the front and side entrances, and random objects catapulted haphazardly from every window. One such object, which appeared to be some form of Lernean binding material arced perfectly from the building toward the camera and destroyed it. --- "I can see why no one wanted to talk. It looks like our bounty caused quite a bit of trouble here," Xionis griped, although now Garrick was the one ignoring him. He frantically began tearing apart the room while Xionis pondered over the footage. "All three instances match our bounty's MO," he opined as chairs and mugs fell over and shattered behind him. "But there isn't a single clear picture of Leech in any of the footage--" "Aha!" Garrick yelled, interrupting Xionis' thought. Xionis spun around to witness Garrick proudly pointing to what appeared to Xionis to be abstract art. He eyed Garrick quizzically. "Art? Congratulations?" He offered, in a slightly supportive tone. Garrick dismissed Xionis' confusion and pulled the Advent closer, revealing the real nature of the framed product-- a map. Garrick quickly stabbed his finger in several locations. "District two," he read, "The Winry Station, which is the only other currently operating departure zone in this whole damned place aside from the one we landed in. Possible escape route. District three, Master's Crossing. The first departure zone built, which now acts as an amusement park of sorts featuring working, albeit flightless, versions of the original twelve interstellar trains constructed." He stopped for a second, and he and Xionis stared at one another. "An amusement park. Here." Xionis stated with amazement. Garrick shook his head and continued, tracing his finger south from District 3. "The direction that solo replica took off in suggests it could have been heading for the service entryway, which would lead out of Alphonse and into 'Scar Canyons'. He could have a ship waiting for him out there." He then fingered the last location. "District 12, M.H. Memorium. which houses both the folks who conceived the project and those who constructed it. It's some sort of memorial/museum hybrid, which houses the actual, first ever built interstellar train, which was decomissioned who cares how many years ago." Garrick said with a shrug. Xionis stroked his chin, the pistons in his mind firing rapidly. "So violence and escape, destruction and escape, or theft and, presumably, escape," Garrick recounted quickly, "and only moments to spare. Which way should we head, partner?"

â??Can I ask youâ?¦ a question?â?   E flinched slightly at the explosion of noise through her earpiece but continued nonetheless to tie up the unconscious guard. After ensuring all four of his hands were tightly bound behind his back and to the ceiling, she peaked her head out of the storage closet. Not a soul in sight.   â??Easy as AllReadies,â? she murmured before slipping through the opening. As she stepped away from the door her suit shifted appearance; an assortment of supply closet cleaning brands morphed into a combination of taupe walls, white border and green carpet. Freezing boring as freeze. Rich gangster types never had any imagination when it came to decorating their buildings. All that mattered was the coup de grace-- their personal living chambers. Nothing spoke more highly to a criminal's wealth the gold-lined bedpans. Her father actually put a freezing golden eagle the size of a Goldovian in his room. A Goldovian. What a load of giantshit.   â??I know youâ??re there, so Iâ??m just going to ask my question anyway. Why the â?â?? am I the one being fired at by a roomful of toontime villains?â? The voice interrogated. E's legs buckled underneath her and, unable to correct her balance, she slammed her head into the wall. She could barely feel her head throb due to her actively suppressing the desire to vomit up all of her insides. Extreme vertigo and nausea were a common side effects of listening to a Bleez swear, but that was common knowledge. And in this instance, knowledge was not power. Nothing prepares you for a Bleez profanity. Swearing is considered a terrible sin by the religious lot on Bleez specifically because of the destructive power. E remembered it had something to do with the frequency of their vulgarities having some sort of reality altering ability, but really, who gave a flying or floating freeze? E's head was throbbing, and she had given away her position. Muffled grunts and the loud whine of energy weapons charging up filtered through the wall she had just become acquainted with.   â??Damn it Klara,â? she hissed over her com. â??What in the blue hills did you do that for?â? E sprang to her feet and bolted down the hallway, just past the entrance to the room she had struck. The door burst open and a couple of hired hands flooded out. Luckily they looked right past the camouflaged E and proceeded to check the rest of the hall. Holding her breath, E tip-toed into the room and quietly closed and locked the door behind her.   â??Iâ??m just saying,â? Klaraâ??s voiced buzzed from Eâ??s earpiece again, accompanied by a chorus of blaster fire, â??Youâ??re the bounty hunter. Iâ??m a detective. One of us should be snooping around and the other engaging in illicit affairs, yes--but I feel as if weâ??ve gotten the roles reversed.â? E chuckled despite herself and then began to survey the room. It was mostly empty, save for the overturned bottles of Edaxian Cider and still pulsating nano-cigs. She grabbed the nearest chair and propped it underneath the door-handle, which, she noticed absentmindedly, a surprisingly large number of 22nd century buildings still sported in lieu of the much more fashionable hard-light knobs. E didnâ??t particularly care for one or the other, although the way the hard-light knobs always just appeared used to give her a startle back homeâ?¦   Why in the blue hills was she thinking about any of that garbage? Thinking about her freezing home, all those freezing lightyears away, filled with people she wanted to put on iceâ?¦ Being around crime lords must brought out the little girl in her, she figured as she wrapped a contact explosive around the leg of her makeshift barrier.   â??And I donâ??t trust this blue dude who hired us. Heâ??s not the right shade of blue. You know what I mean?â? Klara whispered, or at least did whatever the equivalent was to whispering when lasers fly by your face. E sighed lightly and cupped her hand over her mouth.   â??No.But I do know that that sentiment is pretty racist,â? E pointed out, simultaneously taking a few cautious steps towards the next door. She ran her hands along the frame and felt a slight tingle travel through her body. The longer her hands stayed connected to the wood the stronger the tingle became, and in a matter of seconds she felt as if a stray bolt of lightning was desperately scorching its way through her veins. Eldritch wood, she thought as she withdrew her sore finger tips. A popular material for those with coal to hide and a hefty account full of credits needing to be spent. It could only be found on one planet--aptly named Arboria-- and the trees on said planet were either cursed to Hel or possessed some natural form of energy stored up within their cells that reacted negatively withâ?¦ everything. Once again, E was less than interested in sorting out the science behind the pain shooting through her body.   â??Itâ??s not racist when you have empirical data defending your argument. In our lifetime weâ??ve known ten people with his specific shade of blue skin. And all of them literally shot one of us in the back. LITERALLY ALL OF THEM,â? Klara emphasized. E shook her head, deciding to ignore her friend and get back to business. She produced a small, half circle shaped item. Hundreds of miniature, tiny suckers lined the flat side of the object and a black, blank screen covered the reverse. E stuck the item against the door and the display on the rounded portion lit up. It flashed for a moment, and then another, and then another, and then a single bar of battery appeared. It was energy, E thought with a smirk.   â??Youâ??re not making a strong case for yourself. And, as your friend, Iâ??m going to suggest you donâ??t tell that to other people. Also, please stop talking to me, I have a decoy to shoot,â? E declared, taking a step back from the door frame. She pulled out her pistol, Honey, and deactivated the safety.   â??Perfect timing! Everyone here is dead,â? Klara announced triumphantly. â??50 credits on the line here. Yours is gonna be the right one. I can feel it.â? She was, of course, referring to the bet the two made prior to entering the building. E watched the tiny console of her DrainDame12 fill up with battery bars and readied her weapon.   â??Itâ??s going to feel so good taking your money,â? she said with a small smile before "unleashing the chains" into every inch of the wall. A handful of enemy shots whizzed pathetically by her, but after a few moments of continuous, merciless blasting the counter shots ceased. E kicked open the door and stepped aside just in time for three more shots to not hit her. She knocked a light crystal pillar into the opening of the door for good measure, but it seemed as if her targets were spent. Satisfied, she walked into the room; unfortunately her satisfaction instantly morphed into disgust.   â??Oh, Ew. Ewwwww. You owe me 50 credits,â? E announced. The room was lined with deteriorating insectoid husks, all copies of the original gangster they had come to abduct. That was her markâ??s special ability; he had learned to actively manipulate the genetic skill of his species, which allowed them to shed their exterior shell and control them through telepathic impulses. â??Multiple Mundus,â? as he had apparently and disappointingly named himself, forcibly instigated this molting to create dozens of â??clonesâ? which he could use as distractionsâ?¦ As was the case right now. Having the wrong man, or men, or insects, or whatever, never felt so good though...    BANG. BANG. Two loud shots rang into Eâ??s ear, absolutely ruining her celebration.   â??Klara. Klara!â? E shouted. The sound of miscellaneous debris being shuffling around echoed into the comm, and then the line went silentâ?¦ for approximately two seconds before some oaf began breathing heavily into it.   â??How does it feel E? To have someone you care for taken from you?â? A voice spoke dramatically through Klaraâ??s comm. Freezing blue bullfrog! She gripped her pistol tightly but said nothing. Klara was most definitely going to rub Loboâ??s betrayal in Eâ??s face after this was all over.   â??Fine, play the silent game with me. But Iâ??ll make you pay for the sins of your Harpy sisters---â? â??Ugggggggh, the Harpies? This is about the freezing Harpies? ****!â? E grunted. No matter where she went, she had to hear about the gods damned Harpies. They stole my life savings. They took my mechanical kneecaps. Blah, blah, blah. They werenâ??t her problem anymore, and she was tired of freezing hearing about them.   â??You can have Multiple Mundus and you can kill as many other, actual Harpies as youâ??d like, just give me Klara back,â? E bargained, wanting this hellish mission to be over with already. She could practically taste the stream or liquor she would need to wash away this day. After a brief pause, Lobo responded.   â??**** you Harpy *****!â? E heard a muffled commotion from afar, and then the distinct shatter of glass through her earpiece. Oh gods, she thought, piecing the situation together. She scanned the room for the nearest window and sprang right through it. Reflexively she extended her arms to full wingspan, triggering her feathers to emerge from her back pack. She gracefully swooped out of her descent and increased the energy output of her boot thrusters to quicken her climb. Klara was right above her, plummeting helplessly--and, E couldnâ??t help but notice, somewhat indignantly-- to the ground. She flew past her comrade and then banked sharply. She had learned long ago that the best way to catch a falling target wasnâ??t to just fly willy-nilly into it--the force would send them both reeling. You had to make the momentum work for you. She dove again, scooping Klara up in her arms, and then increased output again to initiate her gradual ascent.   â??Ugh. I hate it when we fly so f---Mmmf!â? E planted a kiss on Klara to keep her from swearing and potentially dooming them both. Using her one unimpeded eye she steered them toward the nearest rooftop and landed. Klara crumpled onto the ground and exhaled.   â??So I was right about the blue guy and you were right about the mark. That makes us even, I think,â? she said between gasps.   â??Sure babe. Sure,â? E shrugged. She extended her hand to Klara to help the woman up, but was interrupted by a loud roar from the building they had just exited. E could clearly make out Loboâ??s VTOL transport as it began powering up. Like Hel this guy is getting away with our money. She telepathically patched her comm to Corâ??takâ??s, who had been left behind on the Strix for this mission due to his relative lack of stealth capability.   â??Corâ??tak! Metallo! Fire at Loboâ??s ship!â? E ordered. Corâ??tak merely sighed.   â??So he did betray you. Klara was right,â? he opined. Klara nodded in agreement from the ground.   â??Oh ha freezing ha. You two can have a good laugh about it after we donâ??t get paid for this job because you let freezing Lobo get away with our freezing money!â? E shouted. Corâ??tak scoffed.   â??Rude. You know I literally do not care about the money. And even if I wanted to, I couldnâ??t shoot him down. Our turret would probably kill Mr. Multiple,â? he stated with his usual unhelpful demeanor. Loboâ??s ship began to rise slowly.   â??Fine! Send down Dionysus, Iâ??ll rip him o--â? â??Dionysus is still being repaired,â? Corâ??tak reminded her. E groaned and watched as Loboâ??s ship prepared to blast off. Doubly fine! We do this the fun way, then. She withdrew her rifle from her back and telescoped it to full length, the light bars gleaming as each additional section unfolded.   â??Metallo! Initiate plan Oh Gee!â? E commanded, punctuating her sentence with an explosive round right into the engine of Loboâ??s ship. The back end exploded like an antimatter warhead. The ship faltered in mid-air and then crashed into the side of the rooftop. It teetered precariously for a moment and then slowly began tipping in the direction over the ledge. E holstered her weapon and smiled, waiting for Corâ??takâ??s tinkering to take effect. Her smile began to falter, however, as the ship continued to tip.   â??Metallo!â? She screamed. The ship then slipped entirely off of the ledge.   â??This kind of thing takes a moment!â? He screamed back. â??Done!â? The ship continued its trajectory toward the ground, but no longer gained momentum. It simply floated along; everything was simply floating along, in fact. E hovered slightly above the spot she previously occupied, and Klara frantically waved her extremities in an attempt to balance herself. Relieved that Metallo didn't cock her genius plan, E activated her feathers and grabbed Klara by one of her flailing legs. The two rocketed over to the sinking ship to save their well-deserved prize. Luckily Lobo and Mundus were still knocked out cold from their all-too-exciting-big-boy-roller-racer ride. E grabbed Mundus with one arm and gestured to Lobo with the other.   â??Heâ??s all yours,â? she offered. Klara smiled and floated closer to Lobo, eyeing him devilishly. Before she continued, however, she motioned for E to turn off her earpiece. She then placed her lips right against Loboâ??s ear, and, quietly, muttered a steady stream of profanities into Loboâ??s ear. Lobo violently woke up, thrashed around, vomited for two minutes straight, and then, exhausted, passed back out. Klara gave a satisfied huff and then floated back to E.   â??Shall we?â?    EDIT: I edited this post to make it better in virtually every way. I should stop writing so early in the freezing morning. It either ends up as a steaming pile of garbage or something mildly palatable. Blurgh.

Name: â??Eâ?. Known alternately as Strix, Dionysus, Unluck-E Age: 25 Height: 1.73 m Weight: 70.76 kg Species: Human (Tartarus)- Physically identical to Humans from Earth and other space colonies, the Humans born on Tartarus have the added benefit of being born on a world with harsher gravity than most other planets, granting them enhanced mobility on planets with lower gravitational pull. Additionally, due to the much colder temperatures of Tartarus, these humans often run much hotter and have been known to emit a warm aura, which at the very least is uncomfortable for surrounding creatures. Appearance: [E] E lived a relatively violent life even prior to becoming a bounty hunter, and thus developed a very toned, albeit scarred, body at a young age. Her most striking features are her crystalline amber eyes, a trait shared by her family line. She also bears a tattoo of a harpy on her back, the wings of which can be seen over her shoulderblades when she wears tank tops, a mark of her previous membership in â??The Harpies.â? Home Planet: Tartarus One of the first Earth-like planets discovered by astronomers as early as the 21st century. The planet is a rocky one, like Earth, but is further away from its star. It was one of the first colonized planets due to its similarities in atmosphere, composition, and landscape, but two major â??flawsâ? made the first hundred colonies the only colonies established-- the cold and gravity. The planet consistently stayed between -9 to -19OC and the gravity was twice as heavy as that of Earthâ??s. However the planet was rich with valuable stones and minerals and proved exceedingly responsive to terraforming, allowing the communities established to be self-sufficient long after they were abandoned by the rest of humanity. Equipment: Legato-Vyper M13 Armour- Her armour is fashioned from Lernean metamaterials, an â??unstableâ? material designed to change itâ??s properties when exposed to electrical currents. The suit has three settings: battle, where the material hardens into bulletproof and partially laserproof armour; camouflage, where the material can change its physical appearance into preset costumes or camouflage with its surroundings; and space, which converts the suit into an airtight unit capable of withstanding the vacuum of space. "Sparky"- The Raiden 7S handgun developed by the Interstellar Weapons Industries which fires shockrounds in lieu of standard ammunition, and is Eâ??s primary tool for subduing bounties. The shockrounds are a veritable assault on the senses; contact with the target causes the rounds to erupt instantaneously, creating a deafening boom, a blinding flash of light and an electric jolt that surges through the body. â??Honeyâ?- The EP230, nicknamed the â??Honey Badgerâ? by outlaws who have seen the Aeggripa Armoury manufactured pistol in action. An energy weapon which is only limited by the need to be â??cooledâ?? after a series of shots, this pistol is Eâ??s â??blast your way out of a cornerâ? weapon, and hasnâ??t seen an enemy it couldnâ??t take down. The weapon does have a stun setting, however, for marks who are either too resilient to be affected by her shockrounds or too susceptible to them. â??Xiuâ?- The M94 sniper rifle. A one-of-a-kind, semi-automatic rifle whose design is known only to WroughtIron, the personal arms manufacturer of the crime family she escaped from. The weapon is capable of firing up to a mile away, and utilizes two types of self guided ammunition--armour piercing and high explosive incendiary. The self guided bullets work via two methods: the bullets home in on a marker placed on the target or they follow the laser sight of the sniper, which guides the bullet to the target. "Talons"- Two straight blade trench knives E uses primarily for escape and for when situations get...dicey. These knives possess an energy pack within the blades, which allows the weapon to either emit an electrical current or superheat instantaneously. Hecate Neural Implant- A chip developed by the Human Intergalactic Republicâ??s â??Colonial Rangerâ? division. These implants were designed to allow a member of the Colonial Rangers, whose primary responsibility is the protection of and maintenance of human colonies, unmitigated access to the tech of whichever colony she or he was assigned to guard. Eâ??s implant was never tethered to a specific area, which grants her the benefit of freely syncing her neural system to any electronic device she scans. She has limited this connection to a small number of devices, including her ship, her battle armour and her partner Corâ??Tak, and she has also modified it substantially so that normal EMP and other jamming or hacking weapons will not be able to locate or affect her implant. â??Feathersâ?- The signature equipment of the all-female, galaxy hopping, universally wanted, bandit organization known as â??The Harpies.â? Normally appearing as a metal â??backpack,â? when activated large wing-like extremities emerge. Eâ??s feathers are linked to her neural implant, so she has finer control over her aerial maneuvers. Legato-Vyper PMCU-13 Dionysus- A legendary battlesuit forged by the Lernean arms manufacturer Legato-Vyper. Modelled after significantly larger MCUs-- Mobile Combat Units, mechanical behemoths utilized in interstellar warfare to circumvent ship vs. ship engagements-- Dionysus is a personalized armour which once adorned the trophy room of Eâ??s criminal family. The unit provides heavy durability, thrusters to navigate in space, various wrist, chest and shoulder mounted weapon compartments and has been patterned to Eâ??s neurochip, which allows her to summon the mobilesuit from afar and operate it remotely. Special Skills: E was born into a criminal empire, and the attitude necessary to survive in that environment has imbued her with a number of skills. She can charm or intimidate her way out of any situation, she is well-versed in the art of torture and generally maintains a ruthless mindset when engaging an opponent, and she can control her heart rate, which she mostly utilizes for deception. Additionally, E is familiar with a number of classical â??thieveryâ? abilities--learned both from her criminal family and from her time gallivanting around the galaxy with the organization known as "The Harpies"-- such as: slight of hand, confidence tricks, and has many of the intergalactic laws memorized so that she can weasel her way through their various loopholes. A life of crime was only half of what defined Eâ??s childhood; the other half was filled with gymnastics. As such, E is a lithe, flexible, extraordinarily difficult to hit target. Years of training has endowed her with an uncanny ability to harmonize with her surroundings, allowing her to creatively use the terrain to her advantage. Notable Vehicles: Legato-Vyper PCV-13 Strix- A black and gold prototype starship with red accents belonging to the fabled Legato-Viper â??Unlucky XIIIâ? line. Fashioned from Lernean starsteel and reinforced with a thick layer of unstable metamaterial, the ship is a marriage of stealth and cargo transport sensibilities. The ship is large enough to house five people in comfortable quarters and has a modest dining/food storage area. The bulk of the ship is the cargo bay, which is large enough to house a standard sized fighter ship or multiple crates. The starsteel absorbs roughly 70% of the heat expelled from the shipâ??s systems and the metamaterials actively releases the remainder of the heat in a haphazard pattern, which makes the ship extremely difficult to pick up on radars. The ship possesses some combat capabilities, although they are almost entirely designed to facilitate escape not assault-- namely a series of multi-purpose bombs stored in the shipâ??s belly, as well as a single laser turret and a disruptor cannon, which fires frag/chaff projectiles. Said projectiles cause superficial damage upon impact and then releases a large cloud of metallized glass fibre which heavily disrupts enemy radars. Noticeably, the Strix also possesses a synchronized warp drive, allowing it to safely navigate through hyperspace to return to destinations mapped in its internal network or planets who actively broadcast sync signals. Known Allies: Corâ??tak-A Necrocyte bounty hunter who has been bound to E through unfortunate means, who she â??affectionatelyâ? refers to as Metallo. Corâ??tak was instrumental in Eâ??s escape from her family, but despite the debt he feels owed to him, he is the one who travels the stars as Eâ??s personal bodyguard. Their relationship is mildly antagonistic, despite the two trusting each other implicitly. She has stated multiple times that she would never release Metallo from her employ, although if he truly desired to depart on his own she would very sympathetically deny him his request, such is the depth of their partnership. Klara Oâ??Phel- A former partner of Eâ??s during her time with â??The Harpies,â? Klara was assigned to hunt down and dispose of E after E went AWOL from the group. When Klara finally found E the two engaged in a highly publicized gunfight on the planet Hadrius, which resulted in the destruction of the building and supposedly the loss of their lives. This was, however, an elaborate ruse concocted between the two of them to ensure their mutual escape from the Harpies, who were becoming an increasingly violent and antagonistic force. Since then the two have gone their separate ways and pursued very different lives: E, that of a bounty hunter and Klara, that of an intergalactic detective. Despite this, they have been known to meet frequently for drinks and to have operated closely on a number of Eâ??s bounties and Klaraâ??s cases. Elenore â??Strongarmâ? Armstrong- A WroughtIron experimental soldier who was assigned to act as a hired hand for Eâ??s family. She was tasked with watching over and protect E in her younger years. When E escaped from her familyâ??s facility Strongarm pursued her adamantly; this changed, however, when she witnessed members of the family firing upon E instead of attempting to reclaim her. She immediately â??tendered her resignationâ? by murdering Eâ??s assailants and stealing one of their fighter ships. Since then she has shadowed E across the galaxy through means still unknown to E, acting as the womanâ??s silent guardian. On a number of occasions E expressed her discontent with Strongarmâ??s choice to follow her; if the family ever discovered Elenoreâ??s whereabouts they would undoubtedly hunt her down and brutalize her for her "crimes against the family." Strongarm cares little for hypothetical situations, however and continues to guard E with her life. Reputation: The reputation of her criminal family is known throughout the galaxies, and her time spent as a member of the Harpies is a well known fact. Even though she has abandoned her family and previous allies and dedicated her life to hunting down degenerates like them, the bounty hunting community largely ostracizes her and views her as little more than a criminal looking to off her competition. However, the few hunters who were either too desperate or too curious to turn away an alliance with her found her to be extremely reliable and a woman of her word.

Name: Arakawa Chie Gender: Female Age: 280 Position: Captain of Squad 12 Appearance: [Chie] [Chieâ??s Glasses] Chie stands at 5â??9â??â??, has a lightly toned figure and possesses glowing amber eyes, said to be a side effect of some self-imposed experiment. Her skin is a light brown color. She wears a standard Shihakusho with a sleeveless, hooded captainâ??s haori over that. Her neck and chest area are covered by a dark, skintight material, which is actually part of hee experimentation "suit" peaking out.The only other additions to the standard shinigami outfit are the dark short gloves she wears also as part of hee experimentation suit (as seen in the bankai section). Personality: Chie is known for one quality above all others--focus. If Chie declares her intent to achieve a goal, nothing short of death will keep her from succeeding. It was this trait that helped her survive her childhood in the lawless 80th district of Rukongai, and which allowed her to overcome a near fatal interaction with hollows shortly after joining the Shinigami Academy. Due to this determination Chie has a very fluid moral and ethical compass, viewing anything that would potentially offer her a boon in life as being acceptable. While this has earned her a reputation as being â??psychoticâ? and â??heartless,â? the other members of the twelfth squad are quick to come to her defense. The general opinion of those close to her is â??Chie is an agreeable and friendly Captain who cares greatly for the well-being of her subordinates and would never sacrifice your life, unless she had previously discussed the matter with you and gained your consent.â? Needless to say, this has done little to amend other shinigamisâ?? opinions of her. Background: Chie grew up in the most dangerous of districts in the Rukongai-- District #80, Zaraki. She lived exclusively around murderers and criminals and feared every day that she would die without ever having done anything with her â??afterlife.â? The only thing Chie had to take solace in was the legend of Kenpachi Zaraki who too had the misfortune of being dumped in the filth of the the 80th district. However, unlike most souls who lived and died lamenting their lot in life, Kenpachi had managed to keep from drowning in the sea of violence and depravity and even escaped it. Chie made it her very first goal to escape from the 80th district and become a Captain like Kenpachi. Using her wits and techniques she learned from local gangs Chie battled her way from her home district to the gates of Seireitei. During this time she had discovered her reiatsu and was famished. When she reached the walls she could barely mumble the name of the school before passing out from hunger. When she awoke she discovered she had been accepted into the Shinigami Academy based upon her ability to survive the hardships of the outer rings and her surprisingly developed reiatsu. As soon as Chie had returned to full health she began voraciously absorbing information from wherever she could, but focused on her physical training. She sat in on courses for advanced students, watched spars between seated shinigami and lieutenants. It was during this time that Chie actually encountered Captain Zaraki and witnessed firsthand his strength. As soon as she saw him sparring with his son Arashi, who she trained with for a number of months, Chie realized that although his strength was impressive, she disagreed greatly with his philosophy regarding battle. She could not understand finding joy in conflict, nor could she understand his (and the entirety of the 1th division's) belief that no skill rivaled physical combat. She discovered that her initial goal was incorrect-- she did not want to be a captain like Kenpachi, she wanted only to be an excellent captain of the same or greater caliber of Kenpachi. She immediately began increasing her studies in kido and hoho, as well as science and development. She came to the attention of the then captain of the 12 division, Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi and was accepted into the 12th. She proved herself incredibly perceptive and clever when it came to development, and her willingness to engage in potentially dangerous experiments gained her respect (and fear) from the other members. This desire to constantly push her boundaries no matter the personal risk almost claimed her life. She managed to infiltrate the forbidden corridors of the Research and Science Institute and discovered a machine which could replicate an arrancarâ??s garganta and send the user to Hueco Mundo. She immediately used it and was assaulted by several hollows. She was able to fend them off with her recently developed shikai, but found, to her horror, that she was unable to return to Soul Society. Hollows continued to swarm her position and she was forced to struggle against them for two days before her Captain came to rescue her. By then she had lost an arm, a leg and one of her ears. She was healed by Captain Unohana but it was surmised that the loss of limbs would be permanent. She proved everyone wrong by developing a method of recreating limbs based upon gigai technology and the regenerative abilities of hollows--she had managed to extract samples of the hollows even as they attempted to rip her apart. After that development it took her only 20 more years to become the Captain of the 12 division when Captain Kurotsuchi was claimed, unfortunately, by one of his potions. As captain she immediately changed the atmosphere of the division, encouraging participation and the expressing of opinions by members of the division. She also encouraged all of her subordinates to not neglect their training in physical combat and kido. If they do skip their other training sessions they lose their right to not be experimented on without their permission by Chie. Thanks to herâ?¦ excitement in taking advantage of this punishment the 12th division's combat proficiency has grown exponentially from its prior incarnation. Additionally, one of her first acts as the new Captain was to develop a new eyepatch for Arashi, as his previous one was beginning to deteriorate from the stress of having contained Zaraki and Arashi's immense reiatsu. Noncombat Skills: As head of Squad 12, and by extension the Shinigami Research and Development Institute, Chie has a proficiency and love for building cutting edge gadgets and developing new serums and concoctions. Chie is also alarmingly skilled at gambling, betting and bluffing; these were talents she mastered at a young age as she learned to navigate through the seedier parts of Rukongai. To this day she's never lost money to another captain or anyone else unwise enough to challenge her. Zanpakuto: [Rateru] (Honey Badger)- Chieâ??s Zapakuto is unremarkable in itâ??s unreleased form, appearing as a completely unmarked katana with a black and silver handle and a black lacquered sheath.Shikai- The command to release Chieâ??s shikai is â??Show me the way, Rateru.â? Chieâ??s Zampakuto retains its size and shape but its appearance is altered slightly. The diamonds on the hilt become glowing circles of light which change depending upon which of Rateruâ??s abilities is being used. Likewise, the blade changes colors with use. Rateruâ??s latent ability is to manipulate either ambient reishi or excess reishi released from her own or her enemies attacks, not unlike a Quincy. Chie only needs to utter a simple verbal command to utilize the reishi in offensive, defensive and healing capabilities. Bankai- Fukutsu no Rateru (Indomitable Honey Badger)- Chie can release her Bankai with one of two phrases: â??This is our goal,â? or â??Nothing stands in our way.â? Either way, her Zanpakuto retains the same appearance as in its Shikai form, but the blade and the circular nodes glow either white or red (white for the first, red for the second), and a matching reiatsu emanates from the sword and Chie. Her outfit also changes to [this] as the release of her overwhelming reiatsu destroys her shihakusho.If she uses her first release, â??This is our goal,â? her zanpakuto allows her to perform one last feat, regardless of how improbable is may seem. It does this by absorbing as much energy in the nearby area as possible and then forcing Chieâ??s body to convert her reserve reiryoku into reiatsu. Although an extraordinarily powerful ability, it has two major drawbacks: after its use, Chie is completely tapped for energy and is unable to continue fighting without rest or some means of external healing; the ability only imparts Chie with enough energy to complete her goal and no more. So if her goal is to defeat three enemies and a fourth appears, she would be unable to defeat all four of them.Her second release, â??Nothing stands in our way,â? surges her reiatsu through her skin, completely severing her pain receptors and creating a damage inducing aura around her. In this state her body does not render pain in any way whatsoever, allowing her to continue fighting without flinching or reacting to external stimuli. While this effectively makes her a wrecking ball, it is a potentially fatal ability for her if she uses it for too long. Without feeling pain she lacks the natural instinct to move herself out of harmâ??s way and must constantly remind herself to do so. While she is a thoroughly skilled combatant, this affliction could result in the loss of limbs or something equally debilitating. Additionally, any damage received while in this state does not dissipate after her ability ends, so she must be given immediate medical attention.Other Notable Combat Skills: In an attempt to stay one step ahead of her opponents Chie has invested a great deal of time in studying and mastering unconventional versions of the Shinigami staples-- Hoho, Zanjutsu, Hakuda and Kido. This includes studying the fighting styles (both armed and unarmed) and abilities of Arrancar and Hollows and crafting a number of her own unique Kido. In some battles she will not even draw her Zanpakuto, instead relying entirely upon her unusual repertoire of skills. Due to her unorthodox technique many enemies find it difficult to anticipate what Chie will do next both in and out of battle. Chie possesses another surprising boon in battle; when she took over as Captain of the 12th division she discovered that Kurotsuchi had experimented on a number of dogs, cats and birds from around Seireitei. These experiments had disfigured the animals, but also enabled them to access their reiryoku and utilize it in a variety of ways, not unlike a shinigami. Chie immediately took them into their home and made them family, while simultaneously training them to hone their abilities like she would her squadmates. Although she doesn't actively use her pets in combat, they do defend her home from intruders, and if Chie is ever in severe danger she can alert them to come and rescue her. Writing Sample: "You bothered me... for this?" Chie crumpled up a letter with the Kuchiki family sealed pressed onto the back and tossed it into a pile of miscellaneous garbage. The messenger gasped slightly and her fingers twitched, undoubtedly from an instinctive desire to retrieve the letter. Chie turned her back to the messenger and snatched a small mechanical device off of the desk in front of her. She tinkered with it for a moment, causing a series of red, green and blue lights to flash and then placed it back down. "Byakuya's will clearly states that his last wish, as head of the family, was for Rukia to take the proficiency test and become the new Captain of Squad 6... no?" Chie questioned without looking at the woman. Chie could feel the messenger tense. "While that may be, Chinatsu feels that it would be best for our clan--" Chie spun around and put her face so close to the woman's that their noses almost touched. "Yes or no?" Chie asked again. The messenger's lip twitched slightly into a sneer as she responded. "Yes," she said through her teeth. Chie was amazed by the messenger's impudence. The woman was effectively an errand girl for the Kuchiki house and yet she had the nerve to enter into Chie's quarters uninvited and attempt to bulldoze Chie's arguments, as if Chie was some commoner and not a Gotei 13 Captain. Chie cared little for proper etiquette and courtesies--if the messenger had come in and called her Chie she would have paid little mind-- but she did find it somewhat alarming that the patented Kuchiki snobbery apparently rubbed off on everyone in their vicinity... Save Rukia. "Then the answer is no," Chie responded, turning her attention once more to the device in front of her. The machine made a light buzzing sound and flashed red. Chie sighed--the device was a reiatsu harmonizer, syncing up with the spiritual pressure of anyone in the nearby area. Chie attuned it to the messenger, and its red glow indicated that the messenger's reiatsu was aggressive, determined. Chie sighed again and faced the woman. Before she could scold her and "insist" that she leave Chie's office, the messenger handed Chie another note. "Chinatsu felt that this might persuade you to reconsider, Captain Arakawa," she declared. Chie eyed the note inquisitively and and tore it open. Chinatsu's loopy, pretentious writing assaulted her eyes, but she could make out several words from the first section: "goal," "development," "all of the money you could ever need." The second half of the message was slightly more legible and the ink seemed thicker: Chinatsu obviously felt more passionate about her message therein. "Making life difficult," "close the SRDI," and "stripped of possessions" were practically bolded on the page. Chie smirked and crumpled up this letter as well. "Underhanded allies do not help me achieve my goal," Chie mused while tearing up the new note. "Byakuya was a great ally and friend of mine in life, and Rukia has been a loyal comrade through and through. She is much more valuable to me than Chinatsu's fickle whims and money. Please tell Chinatsu exactly that, would you dear?" The messenger's eyes flashed with rage. She stepped forward to open her mouth and protest, but her body abruptly seized up and she was unable to speak. Chie smiled and shook her device at the messenger. Oh, and tell Chinatsu she'll have to send a different messenger next time, because if you even step into my office again, my security system will read your reiatsu and turn you into a walking bomb. Ciao!" Chie reversed the harmonization of her machine, severing the connection with the messenger's spiritual power. The messenger disappeared without saying another word, leaving Chie to ponder the extent of the trouble Chinatsu was stirring in Soul Society. [font='times new roman']EDIT: Changed appearance, bankai appearance, added to my combat skills, writing sample and added in a connection to Arashi. I hope the changes aren't too out there.[/font]

IIffin' yer still accepting sign ups Lawliet, I would love to dust off my RPing gloves and take a crack at this.

â??As sound as your plan is,â? Junko stated, watching Scytheâ??s amulet fizzle on the ground. â??Iâ??m not keen on the idea of massacring hundreds of UWG employees just so that you can have a personal buffet of souls.â? Rhea chuckled, earning another look from a displeased Scythe. Junko grinned slightly, but then regained her composure and motioned for Rhea to back off. â??No more senseless slaughtering,â? she reemphasized. â??Besides, storming our way through base after base until we find information about Ogre is going to alert someone to what weâ??re doing. We need to be a direct with this as possible.â? â??I absolutely agree, my dear sister,â? a voice chimed in from behind. The trio spun around to face the newcomer, and Junko gasped. â??Howâ?¦Ogre?â? A tall man with green hair stepped forward, his arms opened in embrace. He was dressed in a peculiar assortment of clothing; his long green and white jacket and orange pants were covered in a series of chains and buckles, and his boots appeared to be nothing but assorted belts. He walked up to the stunned Junko and wrapped his arms around her. â??Sister,â? he said with a wide smile. â??Iâ??ve missed you.â? Before she could react, Rhea grabbed Ogreâ??s collar and tossed him aside. â??Iâ??m so ******* tired of people popping up out of nowhere!â? Rhea screamed, chasing after Ogre. Junko blinked slowly, her senses still beside her. Ogre. Here. She expected the search to take days, maybe weeks. Andâ?¦ here he is... In her absentminded state she tightened the link between Scythe and her, tugging him in her direction. â??Umâ?¦ Junkoâ?¦â? Scythe murmured. Junko looked blankly at the chain, her thoughts preoccupied. I know what I have to doâ?¦ But I thought I would have more timeâ?¦ Ogreâ?¦ Scythe was almost on top of Junko now, and no amount of struggling was helping. Junko shifted her gaze back to her brother, and watched as Rhea furiously swung her fists at him. â??Whereâ??s Percy?!â? Junko could hear Rhea yelling repeatedly. But Ogre was paying her no mind; even as Rheaâ??s rained blows down on him, his eyes were trained on Junko. He was waiting for her to engage him. Junko smirked darkly, her confusing replaced with dark amusement. She had hoped for years that she would see him smile again, to see Osamuâ??s face peak through the veil. Or what she imagined his smiling face to look like. Osamu had never smiled in their childhood. â??My life is nothing more than people jumping out of hiding places and life revelations. Joy.â? She said sourly, before releasing her grip on Scythe, who tumbled over. She ignored him and leapt into battle alongside Rhea. â??Sister! How nice of you to join us,â? Ogre quipped with a smile. Junko sneered, swinging her fist at his jaw. He ducked down into a ball, whereupon Rhea kicked wildly at his face, but again Ogre deftly avoided the blow by leaning backward and rolling away. Mid-roll he pressed his palms against the ground beneath him and launched himself onto his feet. â??Well now that weâ??re all paying attention,â? he said, placing his hands playfully on his hips, â??we can get down to business.â? Rhea angrily stepped forward and jabbed a finger at him. â??Where the hell is Percy?â? She repeated like a broken record. Ogre smiled. â??Heâ??s in good hands, my dear.â? He said with a wink, which enraged Rhea. She took a step toward him, but Junko grabbed the girlâ??s shoulder and stopped her. â??Why are you here, Ogre?â? Junko questioned coldly, glaring at her brother. Without missing a beat, Ogre pointed at Scythe. â??Iâ??m here for him,â? he said plainly. â??Or at least I was. Seeing as you two have become so close, though, I think maybe youâ??re the one I ought to be talking to.â? As he was speaking his eyes glanced over the area between Scythe and Junko where the invisible soul chain resided. Scythe raised an eyebrow. â??Itâ??s impossible for you to know that,â? he declared. Orge snickered at Scytheâ??s surprise and then disappeared completely. Rhea and Junko started back in surprise, when he suddenly reappeared in the space between Junko and Scythe, a scythe readied at his side. â??I used to admire half-reapers,â? he admitted, wagging his scythe around the soul chain. It harmlessly phased through the chain several times before Scythe grabbed a hold of the weapon. â??Enough. How did you know that Junko and I were linked?â? Scythe demanded. Ogre matched gazes with Scythe but didnâ??t back down. â??The way you just warp around from place to placeâ?¦,â? he continued, ignoring Scytheâ??s question, â??How you get stronger by simply killing othersâ?¦ What an exciting life, huh? Well once I got some new powers of my own and killed a handful of you half-reapers I realized most werenâ??t so great. Especially not when theyâ??re rescued, huh?â? Ogre leaned in as he mocked Scythe. Scytheâ??s eyes flashed momentarily with rage and in one swift motion he attempted to cut through Ogre. The blade struck against Ogreâ??s skull, but didnâ??t pierce the skin. Ogre smiled. â??Oh, but you are much stronger than all of them,â? Ogre exclaimed flamboyantly, unfazed by the sword pressed against his skull. â??But maybe not strong enough yetâ?¦â? He disappeared again, this time reappearing atop a nearby building. â??Your pet is a bit bony, sis! Try feeding him some more bones. I hear they have some nice big ones down in Australiaâ?¦ Maybe we can talk a bit more there. Now if you donâ??t mind, I have other important folks to visit. Ta ta!â? he yelled, punctuating his sentence with a bow. As soon as he had said Australia, however, Junko had given Scythe a mental command to subdue Ogre, and so as Ogre rose from his bow, Scytheâ??s body collided violently with Ogreâ??s. The two became a mess of limbs and then disappeared altogether. â??Damn it!â? Junko yelled as the two vanished from sight. She immediately attempted to tighten the soul chain, but nothing happened. She could still feel Scythe on the other end of the chain, but somethingâ??most likely Ogreâ??s newfound powersâ??was disrupting her pull. It was probably better this way, though. Just because they were bound to one another didnâ??t mean they needed to travel together at all times. Junko was sure Scythe would find her in due time anyway. Rhea sighed and kicked the ground. â??What the hell do we do now?â? She growled at no one in particular. Junko frowned and massaged her forehead. â??We hi-jack a plane and fly to Australia,â? she mumbled. Rhea furrowed her eyebrows and turned to her companion. â??Iâ??m sorry, what the hell?â? She asked incredulously. Junko dragged her hand down her face and scoffed. â??Well do you have a better ******* plan? You wanna stand around and twiddling our thumbs while Percy stays firmly in those â??safe handsâ?? Ogre was talking about?â? She retorted. Rhea opened her mouth to argue but caught herself and decided against it. Rhea grimaced. â??Yah, thatâ??s what I thoughtâ?¦â? She said, trudging away from the battlefield. â? UWG Base Britain General Vela stood over the ravaged remains of a former UWG base. Limbs and shrapnel and fire littered the surrounding area, and the air was thick with death. He had been in the air for only a few hours, and the terrorists had wasted no time. He had expected their assault, having discovered the plans for the operation long ago, but he had not expected it to be so noisy, so unorganized, so amateurish, and despite his own countermeasures, so effective. He had ensured that none of the valuable tech had been discovered or eliminated, sure, but the reports of lowered morale amongst the people were already coming in. The terrorists had waltzed into his home and threatened his family, and now his family was looking to him for answers. For revenge. And he was ready to give them what they desired. â??Contact every available Storm and Iron Guard, instruct them to reconvene at Base 0,â? Vela ordered a nearby subordinate, who immediately ran off to fulfill the command. Base 0 had been established roughly one hundred years ago in once was New York in the United States of America. Only personnel with highest clearance were aware of the base, as Vela didnâ??t want to risk discovery of the base by V.I.O.L.E.N.C.E. spies. But the time for secrecy was long past. He was going to tighten the chain around his enemies, conquer the floating monument to anarchy that they lived aboard, and end resistance to his perfect, safeguarded world once and for all. â??Contact WroughtIron as well,â? he continued to another subordinate, as he began walking through the wreckage toward his personal quarters below ground. â??The damage caused by the terrorist attacks has incapacitated a number of our shields. We will need their assistance in rebuildâ??â? General Vela collapsed on one knee and began coughing violently. His subordinate sprinted to his aid, but Vela swatted him away. â??You have your orders,â? Vela commanded, before retreating into the base elevator. As the car dropped down the shaft he stared down as the blood sprayed across his hand and exhaled. â??Hmph,â? he grunted as the elevator came to a halt. He staggered down the hallway to his room and forcefully threw open the door. No more than four steps into his room he collapsed onto the bathroom countertop and panted heavily. â??Things arenâ??t look so good, General,â? a raspy voice whispered from behind Vela. Vela begrudgingly looked up into the mirror and stared at the gnarled and twisted reflection of a figure behind himâ??a figure with whom he has well acquainted. â??You do not belong here, psychopomp,â? Vela spat, refusing to call the creature by its real name. In truth, it was a psychopompâ??his psychopomp, come to retrieve his soul. The creature laid a grotesque hand on Velaâ??s shoulder. â??Don't send me away. You have struggled enough, my son. Allow me toâ??â? Vela did not allow the figure to finish his sentence. Having recovered his strength through sheer force of will, he spun on his heel, grabbed the creatureâ??s robes and slammed it against the wall. â??I will not suffer you today, reaper. Not when the victory I have so tirelessly struggled for is so close at hand. No, I will not die today. Nor tomorrow. Nor a hundred years from now. I will not rest until this world has obtained her dues, until my people live in a golden age of peace. So strike me with blades, plague me with disease, you foul, wretched monster. You will not claim me. Now begone!â? And with a mighty toss the spirit was flung from Velaâ??s presence back to whatever hole it had slithered from. Vela nodded his head triumphantly and straightened himself out. He marched over to a nearby communicator and called to the hangar. â??Arrange a transport shuttle to Base 0,â? he directed. He then tossed aside the communicator and walked over to a keypad on his wall. He entered in a twelve digit code and the wall creaked, revealing itself to be two interconnected panels. The panels slid open, and securely fastened against the wall was a customized Iron Guard suit. Vela entered another six digit code into a panel next to the suit, which loosened the restraints on the armor. Wordlessly Vela suited up, prepared to crush his enemies underfoot. â? â? â? OOC: General Vela is about to lead an all out assault on the Nidhogg. But what is his ultimate goal? Aboard the Nidhogg the pieces of Xavier's plans are falling together just as planned, and he's about to make a powerplay, But for we, the rpers, a personal journey is about to begin--one of revenge, of discovery and of loss. P.S. General Vela's Iron Guard suit looks like this: suit. It's the second one from the left.

Hey guys! Before I get into it, I'd like to thank DeLarge for taking the reigns on this thing. Good looking out mate!   So as stated, my computer has ceased living for an indiscriminate amount of time. Thus the only access I have to the boards right now is through my phone--which is less than pleasant for writing-- or on my sister's computer-- which she isn't particularly keen on. That being said, I will attempt to write whenever I can, and at the very least I can attempt answering questions via pm or here to keep things moving along. Of course, as DeLarge already said, he has a very intimate knowledge of events to come, so absolutely feel free to make inquiries towards him in lieu of myself.   Anyway, onto individual concerns:   Sazabi- I'm actually working on a post right now that I'm hoping to get up tonight, and from there you and DeLarge can take control of Junko and Rhea.   Kayin Cloud- given your group of character's current disposition toward Scythe (who is currently traveling with my character) I was thinking of having Darth Vectis' character Bane approach you and your group with an offer to go with him and hunt down Scythe, which would eventually see all of our characters meeting up somewhere (to be revealed later) and clash before further events transpired. Does that sound groovy to you?

After Scythe vanished, Junko ushered the rest of the UWG workers to their homes and out of harm's way. She then returned to the plant and the Iron Guard's lifeless body and looked solemnly down at it. She reached to removed the helmet from the Guard's head, but as soon as her fingers touched the body, the soldier, armor and all, crumbled into a pile of ashes.   â??Damn it...â? Junko groaned, hanging her head. She had wanted to work with the Iron Guard to continue saving lives, and when they had done all they could, then she would have worried about the woman's true intentions. Even if she didn't intend  to keep her word, and even though the woman had belonged to the UWG... to die so unceremoniously, after saving so many innocent lives... Junko took her hand from the remains and touched the spot on her chest where Scythe had â??readâ? her.   â??It's like being trapped in a den of wolves,â? Junko spoke quietly, staring off at the carnage consuming France. Everywhere she went there seemed to be danger. General Vela's devotion to eradicating his enemies. Malik's dedication to lashing out at the world. Xavier's incessant scheming. And now the reappearance of Scythe, a figure without any cause or reason beside his biological imperative to collect souls and become more powerful. And what did she have to rely on? A demonic club? Murderous allies? A brother who has countless times attempted to imprison her? Junko closed her eyes and exhaled heavily, defeat slowly creeping over her body.   â??Auuuuuuuuuuuwwwwww,â? a ghostly wail emitted from her amulet. Junko scoffed bitterly. Malik was apparently satisfied with the level of destruction he had caused, as that wail was the signal for V.I.O.L.E.N.C.E. members to â??wrap up whatever they were doingâ? and return to Nidhogg so that Malik could prepare his next move. It was never enough for him. Even though he had just claimed hundreds, probably thousands of lives, he was already thinking about the next batch of humans he could kill. He would never stop, not until every last human was dead and buried, and he had made a throne from their bones. What sickened her the most, though, was not Malik's unwavering rage, but her blind allegiance to him.   When she first joined V.I.O.L.E.N.C.E. she would do whatever he asked of her; she was lost and upset, and he offered her a way to vent that frustration. After a few years she began to feel guilt and remorse over her actions, limiting her rage to only members of the UWG, who she blamed for everything, for her anger and for Osamu...no, Ogre's, actions. But had all of those Iron Guards deserved death? She killed many in self-defense, but many more she killed for pleasure, a pleasure which inevitably left her feeling cold and empty. And finally, watching the ashes of another person she had condemned float off into the wind, Junko finally admitted to herself what she had always known.    The entirety of the UWG hadn't tortured her, only the scientists she had killed long ago. The UWG  may have broken Ogre, but he was the one who continued his path of violence. And the same was true of her; instead of looking to the future, instead of trying to find a new purpose in life, she had used the past as an excuse to absolve Ogre of his actions and to justify carrying out her and Malik's vendettas. If Junko had chosen a different life, maybe she could have spared that Guard, and so many other Guards' lives. Maybe she could have stood for something, like that half-demon Sladeâ??who she had mocked for prancing around asâ??the Shroudâ? but who secretly she had always admiredâ??did. Maybe... maybe she still could stand for something.   Suddenly overcome with fiery conviction, Junko took off her amulet and tossed it to the ground. She stood over it for a second, and then smashed it into pieces with her Kanabo. She was done with V.I.O.L.E.N.C.E. She had allowed her anger and frustration to rule her for too long, and because of that she had been blinded to reality, and had committed horrible actions. From then on, she would find her own way, a way to redeem herself. And her first goal was to find Ogre and--   CRASH.   A large object struck Junko across the face and sent her spiraling into the body of the deceased Cerberus, which was decaying at a much slower rate due to its size. Junko hopped off the body and stared with new resolve at the vengeful form of Rhea, C floating just behind her. No Perseus... Junko thought with surprise.   â??How dare you,â? Rhea spat, pointing at the sizzling space where Junko's amulet had been destroyed. â??It wasn't enough to betray me and Percy? You had to betray our ******* family as well?â? Rhea screamed. Her body was shaking violently, and her eyes were practically bulging out of her skull. Her skin shifted between stone and flesh forms haphazardly. She was completely claimed by madness.   â??You didn't find Perseus,â? Junko noted, ignoring Rhea's cries. Rhea's nostrils flared and she charged Junko.   â??Don't you dare talk about him, you *****! It was your brother who took him!â? she growled, grabbing Junko by her collar. â??Ogre was supposed to bring Perseus back to this base but he never did. He ******* kidnapped him!â? Junko's eyes widened with shock. Ogre wasn't working for the UWG any longer? Where could he have gone? Rhea angrily lifted Junko up and tossed her back at the Cerberus corpse. Junko, quickly reoriented herself and landed skillfully on the balls of her feet right in front of the monster. She stood up, unfazed, and stared down Rhea.   â??If my brother has Perseus, than I'll get him back,â? Junko announced. Rhea, who had been preparing to hurl more profanities at Junko, froze abruptly, her face contorted with bemusement.   â??You? Why the hell would I trust you?! When we thought Percy was in our grasp you aban--â?   â??If Perseus had been at that base, I know you two would have found him,â? Junko interrupted, tired of listening to Rhea accuse her. â??I made a promise to you that we would find Perseus, and I intend to keep that promise, whether you come along with me or not.â? Junko walked up the stunned Rhea and offered the woman her hand.   â??Well?â? Junko asked. Rhea gazed warily at Junko's hand, her anger replaced with confusion and reluctant hope.   â??What makes you think you can find them?â? Rhea questioned cautiously. Junko looked into Rhea's eyes and responded without hesitation.   â??Because I intend to find and kill Ogre. I have spent my whole life trying to bring him home, believing naively that I could save him even as he murdered and captured hundreds of half-demons. I won't stand for that any longer. But that means,â? she continued, sternly eyeing both Rhea and C, â??that if we work together, I won't tolerate either of you killing for pleasure. Understand?â? Rhea nodded in agreement, and C clapped his hands together.   â??Does that mean we're going to work as a team agai--â? A thick, black rope with a sickle on the end wrapped around  C's body, cutting him off mid-sentence. The rope wrapped around his body from the bottom up, leaving only his neck and head exposed. In one quick motion, the sickle whipped around and sliced C's spectral throat. Instead of drawing blood, however, energy leaked out, directly into the tip of the blade. Once C had been completely drained, the rope and blade emanated a bright blue light momentarily, then returned to its previous state and began retracting. Junko clenched her Kanabo tightly as not one, but two reapers stepped forward and revealed themselves.    They were an unusual duo; the one on the right had shoulder-length, straight silver hair, yellow eyes, and was glowing faintly, his body â??charging upâ? from cannibalizing C's life force. He held a katana in one hand, and in the other he carried what appeared to be an urn. He grinned contently at his urn and then strapped it into a pouch at his side. The other one sported long, dark red hair down to his lower back and red eyes, and he looked infinitely less amused compared to his comrade. He did not carry a weapon, but judging from the length and sharpness of his nails, Junko could tell he was a hand to hand fighter. Like the other, he also possessed an odd miscellaneous object: a red crow with onyx eyes sat perfectly still on his shoulder.   â??Hmph,â? red reaper grunted as silver reaper stopped glowing, â??Normally I don't care to cross you, Atanos, but that soul was mine to take.â? â??Atanosâ? responded flippantly.   â??You know I don't care to entertain your misguided 'claims' to souls, Mort. I arrived first; the soul is mine. But if you truly feel so bent out of shape about it,â? Atanos looked from Mort to Junko and Rhea and flashed a sharp, toothy smile, â??these two half demons ought to make excellent snacks.â? Mort glanced over at the two half-demons and sighed.   â??I don't know...â? he grumbled, obviously uninterested. â??The soul of the wraith boy was the only thing that interested me. No offense, ladiesâ? he called over to Junko and Rhea. Atanos placed his free arm around Mort's shoulder and laughed.   â??Come now, don't be so forlorn! There will be plenty more wraiths and phantoms to feed on. For now, let's enjoy ourselves,â? Atanos reasoned. Mort rolled his eyes and pushed Atanos away.   â??If you promise to stop touching me, I suppose we can harvest them. Sorry again, ladies. I promise this is my final decision, though,â? he said politely, and then aimed his blade at Rhea. Junko scowled and her knuckles went white from tension. As powerful as she and Rhea were, fighting against two half-reapers was potentially suicidal. But there wasn't any way out of it. Once a reaper had you in his sight, it only ended in one way: death.   Junko charged Atanos, hoping to get take him by surprise. The half-reaper deflected her blow and pushed her back, and then attempted to slash through her midsection. Junko pulled in her Kanabo and managed to stop the blade right as the tip sunk into her abdomen. Atanos smiled and applied pressure to his weapon, forcing Junko to wince in pain.   â??I've never fought against a half-Oni before,â? he admitted, his eyes flickering back and forth between her horns. â??But I have always wondered if your Kanabos were strong enough to stand against our deathscythes. I suppose I'll know the answer today, huh?â? Junko responded by headbutting Atanos and swinging her horn into the side of his head. He ducked out of the way fast enough to avoid being impaled through the face, but the barbs of her horns still caught his cheek. He reeled back and smiled, revealing an unmarred visage. Undeterred, Junko charged him again, only for a figure to swoop in and attack Atanos first.   â??Good job holding out for so long,â? the newly-returned Scythe said over his shoulder to Junko. Junko leapt over him and attempted to smash her club into Atanos' skull, but the half-reaper jumped away from the pair. Junko eyed Scythe with irritation.   â??Don't patronize me,â? she retorted. â??I was doing fine.â? Scythe turned away from her and placed his weapon on his shoulder.   â??You were.â? Without another word he dashed toward Atanos and engaged him in conflict. Junko turned her attention to Rhea, who was currently on the defensive as Mort slashed madly at her body. Junko readied her weapon at her side and sprinted to Rhea's aid. A second before Mort dug his claws into Rhea's skin, Junko clubbed Mort in the stomach, causing him to double over. Rhea followed Junko's strike by grabbing the back of Mort's shirt and tossing him into a nearby building. She then turned to Junko and nodded   â??Good swing,â? Rhea said appreciatively. She pointed to the clashing Atanos and Scythe and stared at Junko, incredulous.   â??Is that Scythe? He's not going to kill us after her kills that half-reaper, is he?â? Rhea questioned. Junko shook her head.   â??No. He's... on our side. At least for right now,â? Junko assured her partner. â??But let's worry about our half-reaper right now,â? she finished, watching as Mort dug himself out of the rubble of the nearby building. He wiped away a trickle of blood oozing from a head gash and frowned.   â??That's no fair,â? he stated, pointing his bloody hand at Junko's Kanabo. â??I have no weapon. She has no weapon. This is a hand-to-hand brawl. If you insist on using it, then go join Atanos and the boy with the big sword.â? Junko glared at Mort for a moment, and then tossed her Kanabo aside.   â??Ready?â? she challenged, cracking her knuckles.   â?   OOC: Don't worry about answering the call back quite yet, half-demons. Malik isn't urging anyone to return to Nidhogg, he's just asking that they finish their last murder or two, destroy their last building, and then head back on home for supper.

â??This is not good,â? Junko decided upon reaching the closest burning UWG building to her. Rotfire flames licked the sky and the entire building appeared to be melting, like ice left out under the relentless eye of the sun. She prayed that she would find someone alive in the blazing wreck before her. Well, she did the closest thing to prayer that most half-demons knewâ??she closed her eyes, swore under her breath and rushed into danger. She barreled through the warped wall in front of her, creating a sound somewhere between and splash and a crack. The Rotfire consumed her, danced along her skin and attempted, in vain, to rend the flesh from her bones. She took a deep breath, allowing the thick, poisonous smoke to fill her lungs and empower her. She could feel her demonic features intensifying: her skin turned as black as onyx, the barbs on her four horns sprouted like tree branches, and her musculature doubled. She  knew every person trapped in the building could see her or feel her presence, and they feared her.    â??Move, now!â? she roared, causing the whole building to shake. Those who could manage to move or free themselves from their positions stampeded from the building, all the while steadfastly attempting to avoid looking at Junko. She involuntary chuckled with amusement, and Rotfire smoke expelled from her nostrils and mouth, nearly roasting alive a UWG worker.   â??Sorry,â? she apologized, although her voice had become low and beast-like, making it unlikely that the workers had heard anything other than bestial growling. She shifted focus from the fleeing masses to peer through the thick smoke and search for trapped survivors. She noticed, surprisingly, that the building was largely open, empty space. Few items of consequence were on the developing floor: only police-grade armaments. Where were the Iron Guard suits? Intel had suggested that every UWG manufacturer was assigned to create new Iron Guard suits, as to completely replace the existing police forces with Iron Guard. Junko grabbed the arm of a nearby worker and pulled her close.   â??What happened here?â? she interrogated. The woman violently attempted to free herself from Junko's clutches.   â??Don't make me laugh! You terrorists bombed us!â? she spit scornfully. Junko drew the woman closer, so that their faces were practically touching.   â??If I bombed this building, I wouldn't be here saving your ass. So check that tone,â? Junko insisted angrily. â??And that's not what I'm talking about. This is a UWG manufacturing plant. Why were you producing police gear?â? The woman's eyes narrowed and her lips pursed, and she took a moment to think it over. Junko rolled her eyes and shoved the woman toward the door.   â??Get to safety,â? she mumbled, and then dove into the flames. Several people were still trapped under the debris, and she was sure one of them would tell her what she wanted to know. She scoured over the first floor but found no living creatures, only awkward empty spacing, as if the original technology housed in this building had been replaced with smaller machinery. She scaled the deteriorating staircase and continued her search upstairs. The second floor was similarly vacant, with only a few riot shields and stun rods scattered about from the workers' frenzy. Junko grabbed a stun rod and examined it.   â??Something is wrong here...â?   â??Help!â? a man exclaimed from the other end of the building. Junko immediately tossed the weapon aside and charged in the direction of the voice, tearing through thick machinery and metal walls effortlessly. Finally she found the remaining worker, his leg trapped underneath a pile of rubble. Junko swooped over to him, grabbed the pile and prepared to free the man. Before the man could completely dislodge himself, however, Junko had an idea.   â??So just as a quick recap,â? Junko began, positioning the rubble so that the man's leg was no longer being crushed, but he was still pinned to the floor, â??you are currently trapped. The only thing preventing you from dying in a slow and painful manner is me. Let's keep all of this in mind when I ask you my next question.â? The man looked desperately from his caged leg to Junko and nodded hastily.   â??Good,â? Junko said with a toothy, demonic smile. â??Why was all of the original machinery removed from this plant?â? As opposed to the last employee, who steadfastly refused to divulge such important information to Junko, this man wasted no time in revealing the UWG's secrets.   â??About eight months ago, General Vela ordered all of the machinery relating to the Iron Guard troops to be relocated to more secure facilities, while all of the existing plants, like ours, were ordered to handle police- and exorcist-grade weaponry,â? the man sputtered frantically. Eight months ago? Junko thought, startled. That was roughly around the time Malik suggested Operation Ragnarok... General Vela knew this whole time? Even so, how did Xavier's spy network not find out about Vela's countermeasures? And if Xavier did know... just what is he up to? In her confusion, Junko accidentally let the rubble slip, and the man let out a loud howl.   â??Sorry!â? she yelled, gripping the pipes and smoldering rocks and tossing them clear across the room. She would have to worry about this troubling news later. Right now, her new UWG best friend needed to be whisked away to safety. She hoisted him up in her arms and smiled at him.   â??Brace yourself,â? she commanded, and then leapt through the second story window out into the fresh air. She struck the ground forcefully, causing the earth to crack and splinter. Her body absorbed most of the force of the fall, so the UWG employee emerged unscathed, albeit very shaken. She placed him down and readied herself to find the next plant when the cold steel of a firearm pressed against her neck.   â??Don't move, terrorist,â? barked the distorted female voice of an Iron Guard. ****... Junko thought angrily. She slowly raised her hands up, palm open, and attempted to reason with the soldier.   â??I'm not a terrorist, and I'm not your enemy--â? A heavy metal fist interrupted her sentence by striking her over the head. She crumpled under the weight of the blow, all of her senses knocked out of sorts.   â??I said. Don't. Move. You ******* terrorist,â? the Iron Guard screamed again. Junko remained motionless in an attempt to think up a plan of action. She wasn't interested in fighting against the Iron Guards now, and every second she wasted here another person was devoured by Rotfire. As the Guard aimed her wrist launcher at her, Junko braced herself. The shot never came, however. Junko looked up and much to her surprise, found the man she had just rescued standing between her and a white phosphorous bath.   â??She's not a terrorist. She saved everyone in the plant,â? he stammered, attempting to sound confident despite shaking violently. The Iron Guard's arm did not budge.   â??Members of the terrorist group V.I.O.L.E.N.C.E. do not save people. It must be some sort of trap. Move away from her!â? the Guard ordered, but the man refused to obey. The guard shoved the man out of the way and then turned her sights back on Junk, but Junko had already taken advantage of the distraction to bolt away from the Guard. Thanks for the help buddy. Time to get to the next--    CRASH.   A massive paw stomped down in front of Junko, obscuring her path. Her eyes traveled up the large, furry black leg, over the set of three muscular necks and into six, red glowing eyes. A snarling creature stood over Junko and the UWG employees, and roared into the sky. The Iron Guard released an electronic hiss, which Junko guessed was a gasp.   â??She let a ******* Cerberus into the city!â? the Iron Guard screamed. The explosions must have short circuited the forcefields temporarily, Junko realized. The Iron Guard fired a volley of grenades at the Cerberus. The creature barely acknowledged the explosions against its body and swung its massive paw through the building Junko had only just escaped from, showering the group with flaming wooden shards. Junko spun on her heel and ran over to the group of UWG employees who had lingered behind and gathered them all underneath her, using her enlarged state to shield them from the raining debris. Most of the wreckage bounced off of her hardened skin, but a large wooden spike managed to pierce through her right shoulder.   â??Raaaagh!â? she growled in anguish. Despite the force of the impact, she remained stalwart in protecting the employees. Once the wooden hail had ceased, she reached to pull out the stake, when the large metal hands of the Iron Guard ripped it out instead. Junko winced and sprung away from the soldier, ready to fight. The Iron Guard tossed aside the shrapnel and pointed at the Cerberus.   â??That thing obviously doesn't belong to you. Help me kill it, and I'll turn a blind eye when you 'escape.' Deal?â? the Iron Guard offered. Junko didn't exactly trust the deal, but she recognized the need for assistance. She certainly couldn't kill the thing alone, and leaving the Iron Guard to fight against Cerberus would either result in the Guard's death or the death of thousands of citizens. Junko summoned her Kanabo and grinned.   â??Deal.â?   â?   â??Well?â? Xavier questioned as he gazed over a large, holographic map of the Earth in his personal quarters. His faceless comrade stepped forward and touched the hologram, causing a series of white dots to appear across the Earth.   â??These are the locations of all V.I.O.L.E.N.C.E. members across the Earth who are in possession of their amulets,â? the half-demon spoke without a mouth, in a voice that was at once old and young, male and female. It touched the display again, and roughly half of the dots glowed green and the other dots disappeared. Around the borders of the hologram a series of images appeared, depicting scenes of half-demons destroying UWG plants and slaughtering humans. Among the depicted were Etna, Rhea and C.   â??Approximately 42% of V.I.O.L.E.N.C.E. members answered the call to arms, willingly or no,â? it continued. It touched the screen once more, and the green dots disappeared, replaced with red dots.    â??And the remaining 58% either avoided conflict altogether,â? images of a number of demons, including Heru and Kurama, appeared, â??or rebelled against the command and rushed to the aid of humanity.â? The number of videos was smaller for this group, with only roughly 20 half-demons, not including Junko and Slade, shown assisting humanity. Xavier grinned, satisfied.   â??Just as I thought, Jabril...  The members of V.I.O.L.E.N.C.E. are beginning to pull away from Malik's rule. Less than half of our recruits obeyed his order, and many of them,â? he said, expanding a number of videos of half-demons simply destroying UWG tech and sparing the humans, â??hold their orders in disdain.â? Jabril nodded.   â??The chances of your plan succeeding are approximately 64%,â? Jabril related. Xavier stood up from his desk and placed his hand on Jabril's shoulder.   â??This is only the first stage, dear Jabril. Do not forget, after we have finished our move, it is the good General's turn... And his wrath will appear, to most members, as a direct response to Malik's foolishness,â? he stated confidently, standing in front of the screen. He reached out to the projection, and all of the dots appeared black.   â??All in good time... All in good time...â? Xavier chanted. A knock at the door distracted him from his musings.   â??Enter!â? he commanded. Snow walked through the door and bowed.   â??Your requested guests, my lord. Mr and Mrs. Crenshaw,â? Snow announced. A tall, stocky man with short-cropped brown hair stomped into the room dressed like a cross between a gangster and a southern gentleman. At his side was a lovely, elegant, raven-haired woman, whose sharp suit, skirt and overcoat combination made her appear more mafia-esque in comparison to her husband, although her ripped off sleeves added a definitive brawler aura. They both removed their sunglasses, and Mr. Crenshaw removed his hat.   â??A pleasure, Xavier,â? the woman spoke with a strong, sultry voice as Xavier took her hand.   â??The pleasure is mine, Cora,â? Xavier charmed, kissing Cora's hand. â??I'm glad you and Henry could take time away from WroughtIron to meet with me.â? Henry, whose crystal blue eyes had been surveying the room, turned his attention wholly on Xavier.   â??Well normally we don't make deals with terrorists,â? Henry joked with a surprisingly pleasant southern accent. â??But the boss here was interested in your proposal,â? he stated, nodding to Cora. Xavier laughed and gestured toward two seats in front of his desk.   â??Well then, please, take a seat. We have much to discuss.â?   â? â? â?   OOC: The plot thickens! How does Xavier intend to consolidate power? What is his ultimate goal? Also, I'll be updating the Backstage with information on WroughtIron soon. OOC2: Whoops, I accidentally wrote Anue not Heru. My apologies!

Washington D.C., United States of America, Siege of the Storm Guard The grind of metal joints screeched through the air, and the earth rumbled under the weight of the mechanical monstrosities known as the Storm Guard. The six â??saviours of humanityâ? towered over the army of Iron Guard around their feet as men stand above ants. Never in the history of mankind had a force so mighty gathered in place, striving toward one singular goal. Vela's call to arms had been answered in kind; and despite the overwhelming odds standing in its way, today the UWG army was going to march on Inferno. And although he was not leading the charge, General Vela stood before his troops, before the wormhole and before the world, ready to send his men off. â??Do not fear, do not falter,â? General Vela ordered to his legion of followers. â??You are humanity's greatest chance at reclaiming its future. All of our hopes rest on your shoulders. Do not fear, do not falter... And leave no enemy alive.â? With that, the General marched aside, and the army of Iron Guard rushed forth into the blazing beyond. An ocean of metal men washed over the flames of hell, and the conflict began immediately. All manner of demons rushed the entrance, claws, fangs, talons, whips and blades at the ready. But the army did not waiver, and the might of Vela's forces was shown full. â??Activate Rayo 01,â? Vela ordered confidently. The air around the mech Rayo crackled loudly as a surge of energy shot through Rayo 01, the head of the Storm Guard. Steam rose off of its metal panels, and bright white light burst forth from several circular energy discharge valves located in its palms, fingertips, chest and lining the sides of its arms and legs. Rayo 01 took one slow step forward, and then another, and now stood directly in front of the worm hole. The helm of the mechanical beast split three quarters of the way down, creating a nightmarish, smiling visage. A loud roar tore out of the Rayo, startling every person on the battlefield, save a smirking General Vela. A second later, Rayo 01 sprung into the air and dove right into the horde of demons. Its massive boots crushed dozens of demons underfoot, and dozens more were catapulted aside by the powerful swing of its arms. The Iron Guard members swarmed on the demons wounded by Rayo 01's rampage and quickly dispatched them. Despite this, the flow of demons did not ceaseâ??it only increased. Demons poured in from the skies, out of the earth and from the damned rivers. It seemed as if all of Inferno was spilling forth to counter the human invaders. From outside the wormhole, Vela smiled broadly. â??Give me your worst, monsters,â? he mumbled under his breath, as he stepped into his personal helicopter. â??It won't be enough. Let's go!â? he commanded his pilot. As the helicopter rose into the air, Rayos 02-06 activated behind, and a chorus of nightmarish screams echoed through Earth and Inferno. â? Nidhogg, Somewhere in southern USA, Malik's Chambers â??The arrogant bastard is actually doing it... Maybe I should send him a thank you gift,â? Malik quipped with a dark laugh before turning away from the tv screen to his guest. Xavier shrugged simply. â??His timing is truly auspicious,â? Xavier responded with a fiendish grin, crossing his legs and resting his chin on his knuckles. â??All of... our men are in place, and the General is airborne. We will not have another chance like this, Commander. Now is the time to initiate 'Ragnarok'.â? Malik walked from the tv to his desk, and sat on his dragon bone throne. The polished black bones reflected the flames from the tv screen and washed the entire room in red. Malik snorted smoke and leaned back in his seat. â??I agree, dear friend. Vela has his sheep convinced that they are safe from us, that his gaudy, mechanical beasts will pave the road for a future ruled by man. Let's show them the truth. Send out the order,â? Malik ordered Xavier. Xavier dutifully stood up, bowed and walked from the room. As soon as the door closed behind him he grumbled under his breath. â??The fool is every bit as arrogant as the General,â? Xavier murmured. He walked into the car adjacent to Malik's, which was designated as one of Nidhogg's training rooms. Being most frequently used by Malik himself, this room was the most advanced of all the training rooms, with an a.i. that became more clever and more dangerous the longer you survived. Xavier eyed several men scattered amongst the dangerous setting, and each one silently acknowledged his gaze. Xavier stepped onto the connecting platform between that car and the nextâ??a brothel-esque room where half-succubi, half-incubi and other half demons who could heighten sensory perception pleased stressed member of V.I.O.L.E.N.C.E. and waited several minutes. One by one the half-demons Xavier had looked upon joined him in the hallway. He greeted the four gathered V.I.O.L.E.N.C.E. members with a smile. â??The Head has just ordered his own decapitation, as I knew he would. Jaime,â? Xavier spoke to the brunette man to his right. â??Send out the Commander's message.â? The demonspawn nodded and ran off into the next car. Xavier turned his attention to the next two, a boy with a thousand eyes scattered all over his body and a raven haired man with black sclera. â??Stark and Snow,â? Xavier commanded, â??make note of all V.I.O.L.E.N.C.E. members who do not answer the call, and report back to me.â? They nodded dutifully and disappeared in a sulphuric smoke. Xavier turned to his last follower, a faceless, genderless half-demon, and placed his hand on its shoulder. â??And you and I should pay a visit to the engine room.â? â? â? â? Brittany, France, Train â??I hope we don't run into one of those,â? Junko sighed before burying her face deep in her hands. The Siege of the Storm Guard was playing on every television, and Junko didn't care to watch any longer. Regardless of the damage the Storm Guard caused, they could never clear out all of Inferno. Sooner or later, it would become a massacre. Rhea and C, on the other hand, were sitting on the edge of their seats, soaking in every minute of it. â??I wonder if they'll pull the cameras away once the demons start tearing apart the humans,â? Rhea wondered aloud. C bounced in his seat with excitement at the prospect. â??I hope they show it,â? he said gleefully. Junko eyed the two, disgusted, and sighed once more. Why me, she pondered, shifting her gaze to the outside world. Even if it was crawling with UWG, Brittany was lovely, and she found herself oddly longing for a life where she could enjoy the streets and the people without having to hide. The thought made her sick and forlorn, so she scanned the horizon for something to focus on. Her eyes settled eventually on a UWG manufacturing center a couple of blocks away, where men worked tirelessly day in and day out to create new weapons for the UWG. She could hear Malik's voice in her head, raving about his disdain for these buildings, and how one day they would be reduced to rubble. â??Whoa!â? Rhea yelled in response to something, startling Junko. â??Did you see that?â? She looked to both C and Junko. C nodded furtively in agreement, but Junko continued to stare out the window. Rhea grimaced and smacked her partner on the arm. â??What's the matter with you? C's ability hasn't gotten to you again, has it?â? she questioned, causing C to chuckle. Matter of fact, Junko had taken great strides to keep it from happening, which was why C was sitting beside Rhea across a table from Junko. â??Ha. Ha,â? Junko responded dryly without looking from the window. Rhea rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to respond, but a low moaning from both the ladies' pendants shut her up. A second after the moaning began, the lights on the train began flickering wildly, and the televisions clicked on and off. Before Junko could examine anything in the room, however, her phone began vibrating in her pocket. Apprehensively, she drew it out. Malik's name was emblazoned on the screen, with one word underneath it. VALKYRIE. A moment later, a series of massive explosions shook the train from every side, as if the sky and earth were erupting. The force derailed the train entirely, and it went speeding off into the street. Homes, cars and bodies were leveled as the train expelled the rest of its momentum. The passengers inside of the train all died almost instantly, save for three demonspawn, who were tossed violently from wall to wall. Finally, the front car crashed into a neotankâ??a weaponized spherical tank which, after running out of ammo, used jet propulsion to transform into an unstoppable battering ram. Junko dug herself out of the wreckage and stumbled out into the street. Rhea and C phased out of the rubble beside her. â??This is it, isn't it!â? Rhea shouted with delight once she was corporeal again. â??This is Ragnarok!â? Junko grimaced, her eyes surveying her surroundings. Ragnarok was Malik's ultimate plan against the UWG. A coordinated set of Rotfire bombings on UWG manufacturers and military bases by V.I.O.L.E.N.C.E. spies. In the ensuing confusion, V.I.O.L.E.N.C.E. members identified as â??Valkyriesâ? were to sow chaos throughout the cities, murdering any humans in their path. The plan had been met with mixed opinions; many half-demons were of a similar mind as Junko, and opposed unnecessary violence against innocents. What had convinced Malik to go ahead with it? â??How lucky can we be? Look!â? Rhea said, pointing toward the ocean. Smoke seemed to be rising out of the water, and there was commotion in the street. The UWG base housing Perseus must be there... Rhea grabbed Junko's arm and attempted to drag her toward the base, but Junko wouldn't budge. â??C'mon, Junko!â? Rhea said angrily. â??I know you got the message as well. We're Valkyries! Let's rain hell down on them, and save Perseus... and Orge!â? Junko pried her hand from Rhea's and took a step back defiantly. She turned away from C and Rhea and looked off in the distance, to the burning manufacturing plant. â??Innocent people are in there. I have to help them,â? Junko stated. Rhea grabbed Junko's arm again, violently this time. â??Fuck those humans! You promised me we would save Perseus,â? she roared. Junko spun around and struck Rhea in the chest, sending her flying away. Not wanting to waste another moment, or face Rhea when she got up, Junko unleashed her Oni form and charged toward the plant. â? â? â? â? â? OOC: Members of V.I.O.L.E.N.C.E., Malik has unleashed an all out assault on each and every UWG building and employee across the world, and by extension, has declared war on all of humanity. Are you going to join in on the anti-human massacre, or will you stand against Malik's orders and help your persecutors? Or... will you do nothing at all? Regardless, be careful--humans will not discrimate against friendly and antagonistic half-demons from hereonin.