Project Liberation IC

[Villamvihar]

Liberty Station was buzzing with activity today. The hallways which could handle ordinary traffic so easily were now filled with people along with various vehicles. Chains of hands either replaced or assisted old and decrypt ferrying systems. Volunteers were familiarising themselves with their duties for the sake of easing their nerves. Orders were shouted into the air, making masses of people shift as if they were one. There was very little wasted time as the preparations for war swept up every able body... Save for the Heralds of course. They had been separated into groups of roughly a dozen and were now getting their orders in one of the many war rooms.

Rens Kalem might not have been one of them, but he was the coordinator of task force Crossroads. Out of the four groups, they were the ones who had gotten perhaps the most dangerous and important objective. Therefore, he had spent a long time figuring out the best way to deal with it, which meant that he was at least ten minutes late to the briefing he was supposed to hold. The Heralds would be getting unruly no doubt, but the man hoped they would be mature enough to understand the necessity for the slight delay.

That did not help his nerves as he opened the door and met eleven pairs of eyes. To be more specific, he was staring down four Prodigies, the avatars of two Collectives, two disruptors and the representation of three Titans. And in turn, he felt a couple of eyes on him.

Suddenly, Rens felt incredibly nervous. A huge lump of anxiety grew in his throat as he faced down eleven beings that could kill him in a flash. He would not even have the slightest chance against even a single individual here, not to mention all of them... And he was going to be giving orders to them, as well as coordinating them with the other task forces. One misstep, and he would be gutted. One wrong move and his life was over. One insult that he did not intend and he would find himself at their mercy. It was enough to make his blood run cold, but he overcame the fear through sheer willpower.

"I apologise for the timely arrival," started Rens as he took his place at the table-integrated computer reserved for the briefing controls. His voice had a measure of fear and anxiety in it, but it quickly disappeared as he continued to speak. "But listen to me, Heralds! Your days have arrived at last. The war starts now and you will receive your first set of orders. Let's show the Four what we're made out of!" He hoped to be met with cheers, but he did not really listen to his audience as he fiddled with the computer to dim the lights and present everyone with a galactic map.

The map zoomed in on a particular solar system near the galactic core, a couple thousand light-years away from Liberty Station. It then displayed an image of six planets: four terrestrial ones and two gas giants. However, there was a rather apparent inconsistency: the terrestrial planets were practically at an arms' length from each other. What is more, their orbits also matched so closely that it simply could not be a coincidence. Indeed, those with sharp eyes could note the strange structure placed right between these planets: an immaculate, monolithic space station that practically screamed 'Forgel' from the top of its lungs. From the captivating arches to the almost impossibly thin structural supports and the lovingly crafted metal, its every aspect spoke of Old Humanity.

Therefore, the chaos around it was especially jarring.

Hundreds of ships from all the Great Powers were engaged around it in a never-ending battle and the surface of nearby planets was an incomprehensible mess of engagements. While the forces deployed to this particular location numbered about two million troops in total, the sheer ferocity of the fight was unlike anything seen before. It was not difficult to guess why. The terrestrial planets could only be kept in orbit by some sort of an outside force, something that was characteristic of the indulgence Old Humanity allowed itself. And that meant the station was still operational. Which in turn, meant that it might be possible to access its archives.

"Eight days ago, a Forgel structure of unprecedented integrity was discovered in the Archangel system. While it originally belonged to Syxtaros, the other Great Powers quickly caught wind of the news and made claims, which resulted in the current situation." Rens continued in a business-like tone as he read his scrip, then he paused for a couple of seconds to let everyone understand the situation. It was not completely wrong to say that the system was an accurate representation of everything wrong with the galaxy. Soldiers fought without regard for civilians, each Great Power greedily trying to extend its influence through whatever venue they could find.

"The system is in absolute chaos," declared Rens after a couple of seconds. "And Liberty Station can not allow this to continue. Therefore, task force Crossroads is to head to Archangel to free these planets from their oppressors and seize the Forgel station before it can be destroyed. To this extent, you will be divided into two squads. The first squad is going to be Alan, Azura, Betilla, Judas, Mahrod and Tycho. Their job is to land on Archangel Three." As he said this, the holographic projection zoomed in on the third planet from the sun. "It is highly contested right now, so your job is to win over the locals and cut military supply lines while providing for the citizens to relieve the pressure."

"The second squad will be made of Akaro, Anastasia, Ayako, Connor and Kalanasan. Their focus should be on Archangel Five." The fifth planet from the sun, a large gas giant came into view as Rens continued. "Analysis shows that this gas giant is particularly rich in various metal vapours and other resources that are necessary for the war effort. It is also orbited by asteroids and moons, all of which have been ignored by the Great Powers." He grinned as he said that, leaving everyone in the room open to draw their own conclusions, but he continued before they could interject.

"They truly deserve to burn for their idiocy. Squad two will be in charge of making sure that they learn that. Under the protection of Ayako, Connor and Kalasan, Akaro and Anastasia are to establish mining and manufacturing operations on Archangel Five. You will be given two Feather-class mining platforms each to get you started. Using the resources acquired as such, the Collectives are to increase their number until the situation stabilises on Archangel Three." At that, he could see sparks of recognition in some of the Heralds' eyes. They had figured out the next step and Rens' smile crept into his voice as he wrapped up the briefing.

"When that happens, team one is to give a signal to team two. And then, Archangel system will be cleansed of the Four." A pregnant pause, filled with meaning and thirst for blood. "How you do that will be left up to you. Now, do you have any questions regarding the operation?"

 

[Izurich]

"We are called for a mission. Task Force: Crossroads. Commanding Officer: Rens Kalem. Avatar Unit departing into the designated briefing location."

As the call for briefing was sent to the Heralds, Liberty Station's trump card against the Four Powers, one promptly answered the call... or specifically put, one body of many. The Collective Herald of T.S.A.R sent their avatar, the silver-haired female humanoid emulating Anastasia Milkov, the human they once were. Appropriately nicknamed as 'Tsarina' by some of the station's residents, she was the first to enter the briefing room. "The Avatar shall wait for the others." She decided to pass the time by staring into the window looking towards the vastness of space, her unblinking green eyes dimly glowing with power.

One by one, the Heralds arrived, from her fellow Collective, the miraculous Prodigies, the elusive Disruptors, and the terrifying Titans, until eleven in total were gathered in the war room. Oddly enough, the commander in charge of their group arrived last. "Avatar detects the individual being known as 'Rens Kalem' is in a state of anxiety. Avatar thinks this individual would be better suited as one of T.S.A.R's Voins. However, T.S.A.R isn't authorized to convert any of Liberty Station's populace." The Herald thought in her collective mind(s). As such, their Avatar merely turned then stared at the only human in the room.

"T.S.A.R is ready for deployment, Rens Kalem." Tsarina replied simply before her attention was shifted to the holographic display of the galactic star chart. The map zoomed into a specific solar system, a particular one with an obviously unnatural planetary formation. "T.S.A.R concludes that this particular solar system is of high value as all four powers are wrestling for dominance for it. The presence of a Forgel raises the validity of this hypothesis to 99.99% certainty." She continued listening to the details of their mission.

"T.S.A.R is assigned to Squad Two. Main Objective: Construct more of T.S.A.R using the materials gathered from the gas giant. Understood." The Avatar nodded, while the young woman who was Anastasia was no more, Tsarina still inherited some of her habits and quirks when she was but an inferior individualistic creature. "A question. Yes, We have a question. Are T.S.A.R authorized to assimilate any captured enemy personnel?" She asked plainly, without any shred of a discernible shift in voice tone.

"Titan Ayako Kohaku," The green-eyed Collective Avatar directed her glowing gaze towards the Titan's own avatar, "T.S.A.R shall be embarking you." It was more of a statement than a request.

 

[R-9 Pilot]

Ayako skipped along the hallways within the station she would soon be leaving behind. It was fun to dodge around the crowds one last time, on the way to the war room. She couldn't understand how some of the others could simply eschew human contact or experience altogether. It seemed like such a waste. Of course, they probably considered her own proclivities to be a waste of resources and processing power, so it ran both ways.

She was surprised not to see whoever was in charge already waiting for her and anyone else to show up, so she instead took a seat and began waiting. By the time the full complement of heralds had arrived and still nobody was actually there to discuss the actual mission, she began to worry. And make small talk. "Looking forward to this? Wonder what we'll be doing," that sort of thing.

By the time Rens actually arrived, the young blonde had gotten comfortable and was playing idly with a lock of her hair. She looked the man up and down, and it was clear enough he was nervous. He wasn't the only one to look upon the Station's own creations with fear. But, she had to do something about it. "Don't worry about it," she said, accepting his apology. "and don't look so nervous. We aren't going to kill you for being late or anything. You're, like, kind of our boss, anyway."

"Sounds to me like we're just as after that artifact as the rest of them," Ayako said at the end of the briefing. Not that she would complain about it. It was quite an opportunity. "So I'm guessing we want to tread lightly enough to avoid breaking anything too badly when we do roll in full force."

"Okay~," she replied cheerfully to Tsarina inviting herself aboard. "You should be able to find plenty of room, just lemme know what kind of stuff you need, if you don't like the default room and board arrangements. Oh, and just Ayako's fine."

 

[GlitchyBugger]

Betilla had been the last of the Heralds to arrive.

Even as a near omni-potent Herald there were still things she did not know or have skill in, time keeping was not one of those such abilities, but she would never admit that seeing as she wasn't late, only just on time.
A warm smile and a nod of her head was given to the others in greeting upon her arrival, but she had expected their coordinator to already be here ready to brief them by now, she was on time and they should be too. The start of their push against the four was too important for delays, surely.

Although she wouldn't show it to the rest, Betilla gradually became agitated over the tardiness of their coordinator, they could already be on their way to begin the operation if they were here already. Upon his arrival the woman gazed at him for a moment, he seemed afraid of simply being here amongst them, it was a valid concern really... But she wouldn't judge him just because he was late, that would be unfair to do to a denizen of Liberty Station without more of a reason than "he was late to briefing".

One of the Titans, Ayako, reassured him that he wouldn't be killed just because he was tardy, all Betilla could do is quietly nod in agreement and hold her tongue, then listen to the entirety of the briefing as Rens detailed it to them.

"We are also there for the people as well, if the inhabitants of the planets don't welcome us then having the station would be pointless. But we'll be able to align the hearts and minds of the people to match our own. Any who intend to turn them against us will have to deal with their just punishment." With a cursory glance towards the rest of those on her team, she then looked back to Rens. "No questions from me, Mr. Kalem."

 

[Ascendant]

Prometheus was the second Herald to reach the room, smiling brightly at "Tsarina" as he entered, carrying a small personal computer that he constantly looked at and an old wooden staff. Contained within could be said to be almost the whole of present human knowledge, a portable Wikipedia of sorts, something that he figured could be incredibly useful in the coming days as understanding the universe was in many ways the key to modifying it. The young man took up a sitting position, resting on his legs with his staff across them as he awaited the others.

Kalem's anxiety still seemed rather foreign to Prometheus, who was certainly still the Alan he was before. The prospect of people being afraid of him was something he'd have to get used to.

Tsarina's peculiar speech brought Alan a heavy heart, making him wonder if this woman had spoken like that before she had been turned into the weird collective she was now. In many ways, he felt bad for all of the others who weren't Prodigies. They had, in many ways, lost themselves as far as he could tell. Alan's only hope was that they wouldn't entirely lose their humanity in the future as Ayako's nonchalant demeanor seemed to indicate. Whilst all of them might damn near be Gods, they needed to stay grounded in his mind and not forget where they came from.

Considering the station, Alan contemplated a few possibilities. His first was simply teleporting the station away, but removing it would undoubtedly cause massive collateral damage as the planets would invariably smash into one another as it was clear the station kept them safe. Another was simply shielding the station from those around it, although that would likely take a fair bit of effort. Much like crushing the ships buzzing in space, though that was a last resort Alan would prefer not to do. Or if it came down to it, perhaps they could essentially "rewind time" long enough on the station if it were damaged to allow a boarding party to extract whatever information was on it. He was interested to see how they'd be making their way to Archangel Three, but that was information Alan would soon have anyway, so he simply mentioned in response to Betilla, "It should be remembered that anyone who joins us not only bolsters our faction, but weakens the enemy as well. Killing may reduce their numbers but it may increase their resolve, and if we display too much ferocity and success in the upcoming fight, the Four may in fact put aside their differences and unite against us. I'm not aware of how well Liberty Station is prepared to fight a four front war. Or perhaps that is the plan."

 

[Iwazuma]

Despite the crowdedness of Liberty Station that day, the young woman many knew as Azura seemed to have no trouble at all calmly walking through the center of the walkways; it seemed the news of her transformation had finally spread around the compound, and she found she was given a very wide berth by most people, as though they feared for their lives or something. What a quaint notion. The good, kind people of Liberty Station were people she had no intent of destroying. They had been wronged just like she had; if anything, she wanted to help those people. Help them by crushing the hope of every single person who opposed them.

She waved to a young boy, oblivious to his mother's warning not to go near her. "Hello, little guy...." Her voice had grown quiet and soft over the past month or so, but it was no less cheerful as she bent down, giving the eager child a little hug as he giggled. "I'm going to make life safe and happy for you...." Her smile was not as bright as it was before the experiments, but it was still reassuring nonetheless, and she noted the look of pure relief on the boy's mother's face. Relief from what? A small frown appeared on Azura's face as she eyed the woman. Did she disapprove of her? Why was she and everyone so terrified of her? She wasn't going to kill such good, innocent people. No, she would save that for the ones who deserved it.

She calmly strode into the meeting room, spying others there. Ah, yes, the group that would assist her in her goal to eradicate the universe of that scourge. Though a few of them seemed prepared to interact, Azura deemed it unnecessary to talk for the moment, as surely their mission would be underway soon enough. She did not sit, rather choosing to remain standing in the back of the room, her eyes glancing lazily about as she surveyed the other Heralds in her group. Some Prodigies like her...she hoped they understood the necessity of her goal. Converting soldiers might be the one way to redeem them, after all...she would gladly take on a little parade of underlings if they saw the light of their errors and began their repentance by worshipping the ground she walked on...and gunning down everyone who did not.

She listened to her tardy commander's presentation with quiet attention. So she was to go down on Archangel 3 and....convince the locals to help? That was no fun...though the talk of cutting off military supplies could hold fruit. No doubt there would be plenty of monsters guarding supply outposts to make regret their choice of allegiance...there was potential in that, at the very least. Regardless, this mission was not exactly what Azura had in mind. She wanted to just waltz into enemy territory and systematically show every last one of them what their insides looked like...was that so hard? Regardless, she would carry through with the mission...it seemed she had no choice, anyways.

"Um....one question..." Her shy hand could be seen in the back of the room. "Can we convince the locals using...any means necessary?" Her gentle smile was an unnerving one as she eagerly awaited his response.

 

[Blighted_Agent]

The meeting room had been relatively far away from his family's quarters, so Mahrod had taken the liberty of switching to his Spy Form to fly there, arriving in the nick of time. His family reunion had been quite enjoyable, and so cutting it short had greatly displeased him, especially since it appeared to have been for naught, given the tardiness of the person responsible... He'd switched to his Infiltration form to actually enter the room, then switched back to his Casual Male form after noting who had already gotten there and who had not. There probably was no good reason to do this, but he loved the sensation of changing form. On the off-chance that anybody hadn't expected it, surprising one of his fellows would be a small bonus.

He had a most interesting group of... colleagues? Comrades? Companions? He hadn't interacted all that much with them, but he was curious to know more about them. He was considering engaging one of them in conversation when the... human arrived. Wise of him to apologize and fear, even if it was a little overboard... Mahrod had given some thought to his new status as part of a group of what in other times might have been called demi-gods. This Rens man, he certainly knew his place...

This new mission didn't interest Mahrod too much. He could appreciate what it meant and what their efforts would lead to, but in the end, it was just a means to an end. That said, he did have to stick to accepted protocol. Arms crossed, nodding now and then, thinking about some of the opportunities provided...

His working squad, however, that interested him very much. For the time being, however, it would work better in his favor to ask something to their human... leader? Coordinator? Director? Holding a hand to his chin and raising an eyebrow as he listened to the questions asked by the others, but he found that none of the things that occurred to him felt really necessary to ask then and there. Maybe he'd do so after Rens answered some of what had already been asked first.

 

[Nue]

"Space. It's always been so vast and empty..."

Akaro stood at a window, admiring the same, enlightening view it always offered. He, or more specifically, his avatar, was faced away from the crowd of heralds, despite being in the same meeting room. To his right, a Fader, to which he promptly named Elise, stood by his side, holding her parasol in just the right angle to shield them both in it's shade. No matter where one trekked, one would always find some Fader around Akaro, and they would always be named Elise as well. It is unknown why this is, even to Akaro himself.

"Indeed it is."

"Of course it is..."

Although short and blunt, the conversations between Akaro and himself, usually in the form of a Fader, is a nice way of combating the ever-constant feel of desolation. Ever since this transformation, despite having all the people in the world to talk to, he's never felt more...alone. The galaxy in itself is just a mere extension of his collective mind: mindless corpses hoping to grasp at the glory they once were, although at this point it's only for naught. And as for Akaro, being the only one of his kind in the galaxy, it's quite hard not to fall lonely in this vast expanse of space.

Ahh space. It always has been a vast and empty sea. Ever since the humans died, that is. And what of Liberty Station? What have they come to do to this space? Well, according to what Akaro's heard so far, they seek to cleanse it, but how are they going to cleanse something if there is nothing to clean? Supposedly, they're going to remove the giant dead body that is The Four, but what then? What can Liberty Station possibly hope to put in it's place? What, exactly, do they think can possibly fill this vast, empty space? It's a question that always seems to crawl it's way into Akaro's mind every time he looks out that stupid window:

"How do we fill empty space?"

Just then, Rens Kalem, the man responsible for the briefing of our mission today, appeared into the meeting room. He was late as ever, but surely he has his reasons, it must be quite tedious to commit to the preparations and planning that us Heralds are obliged to execute. Yet there was no real reason for him to be so nervous. Psychologically speaking, even if a Herald were to kill him (which, as assumed, would be a rather easy task), the other heralds, who valued him and his presence, would immediately strike the killer down in vengeance, said cycle would repeat until either a civil war of Heralds breaks out in the room, the fighting is stopped somehow, or until a winner stands among the pile of dead Heralds. In essence, his death would lead to immediate chaos in Liberty Station, and surely, these Heralds, like Akaro, would not value such a form of chaos to ensue. So, this must mean that the death of Rens Kalem is not valued, and he actually has a very low chance of dying.

But apparently Rens was not in such a fine state of mind. He continued on with his plan, which saw the separation of the Heralds into two teams: Team One consisted of Prodigies and Disruptors, and were tasked with general appraisal and subterfuge of the area. Team Two saw only Titans and Collectives, and were tasked with what is generally a hard-pressed steamrolling of the general area. As a Collective, Akaro was tasked with building up his army and rolling it out, with the guaranteed protection of the Titans. A fair-enough plan, granted one is able to properly build up their forces to a point where it can be unmatched, as well as determine when a fleet is large enough.

As Rens finished his speech, and questions were asked, Akaro decided to partake in this questioning as well. But only one question, as to minimize socializing.
"A question if I may, Mr.Kalem. Would you consider it strategically sound if I sent in some of my Faders with Squad one? They're geared towards civilian populations rather than combat-ready militants. You have the final word, But I feel as if I can appeal to both missions this time around."

~~~

With that out of the way, there was only one problem remaining for Akaro: Which titan should he choose to ride in? It has to be one of the titans, as sending out a fleet unprotected by the massive armor of a Titan is a massive waste of resources, time , and life.

There were three options of Titans presented to him: Ayako, Connor and Kalanasan. Ayako was already chosen by Anastasia, and trying to fit two Collectives with a Titan would be simply uncomfortable, not to mention there would be additional social interaction that Akaro simply had no time nor care for. Kalansan's appearance of Titan, while very threatening, agile, and dangerous, is not quite what Akaro preferred. She relies on dexterity rather than sheer firepower, and lugging around a Collective would only be detrimental to her need. It should also be noted from his recent observations that Kalanasan is quite intellectual. From both personal experience and psychological studies, it's proven that it's much harder to pull emotions, and by extension, perspective, from intellectuals. Connor, on the other hand, seemed like a better fit: He was a giant spaceship that was built to strictly contain obsessive amounts of firepower at the cost of agility, and lugging a collective along would cost nothing on his part. As an added bonus, Connor does not value intellect as much as Kalanasan does, which will make any conversations between the two much more...beneficial to Akaro.

So with his mind made up and his decision made, he proceeded to take his choice straight to the man himself: Connor Mckinley, a nearly synthetic individual, with dead, white hair combed out of his chiseled face, which, being synthetic, can almost be taken literally.

"Connor, isn't it? Pleased to meet you. I am Akaro Fulari, the Collective that has chosen you to be my escort for the duration of this mission. It's nothing personal, but more of a strategically beneficial decision, to which I can explain the details with later, if you would like. What do you have to say on the matter?"

As he awaited a response, Akaro couldn't help but wonder what Connor had to say, how he puts his own personal touch on speech, how he thinks, acts, and feels in all situations, and just what exactly lies in that synthetic brain of his.
​

Mentioned: @Lstorm @Izurich @R-9 Pilot @Beowulf @Shavynel

 

[Mglo]

For someone with the ability to change shape at will, Tycho Renda sure put in the effort to maintain one more or less consistent form since the time he walked into the meeting room. Sure, his eyes morphed colors from a normal brown to a neon green, and his neck tattoo seemed to crawl a bit every now and then, but his overall appearance stayed the same. It was him. More specifically, it was an approximation of what he used to look like pre-Project Liberation. Anyway, he adjusted his pink tinted shades the moment the Boss walked in, and he listened as best he could at the complicated space politics underway. He clicked his tongue as the explanation continued and didn't fully relax until Boss man simplified the mission, or rather Tycho's part in it. It was then that he pulled back the black hood of his jacket and looked at the others from behind his yellow tinted shades. They asked such appropriate questions it made him jealous. He would gamble his right leg on the fact that any question he needed answered was gonna pop up in his head once nobody could answer. The thought made his right leg shiver and semi disintegrate before taking shape again.

That still gave him the creeps, how a thought or a feeling made his new body react. On the other hand, it was kind of flashy and nice.

"Win over the crowd..." he whispered before he turned to the Herald nearby and joked, "isn't it sad? I joined this for the glory and I get to be the guy that blends into the background? Story of my life." Tycho's fingers played with the ring on his thumb while his eyes faded to blue behind gray tinted shades. He looked closer at the Herald trying to figure out who it was. Collective? Titan? Disru- nah. What was the other one?

"What team you on?" Tycho asked, revealing his complete inattentiveness to others. "You're cute, if I'm lucky you're in Archangel three with me. Oh! That chick's team one too," he commented when Azura asked her any means necessary question. Tycho half whistled half just blew air, "that one's a dark glory path. No thanks," he chuckled at his conversation victim.

 

[R-9 Pilot]

Ayako turned toward Tycho at his attempt at conversation. "True, if you do the job well, nobody will know it's you. But, it's not like you won't get recognized when we'll know what you're doing for the cause. And if you want attention there's got to be a way to get it." She stumbled there. "Uh...what sort of stuff can you do, again?" Never mind that it wasn't explained in the first place. She could at least pretend that this was something she should know.

"Too bad, I'm part of team two," she replied, now unable to resist some teasing. "We'll meet up soon enough, or maybe I can give you a ride and keep you company on the way over." She needed at the man's comment on the dark path. "Glad to see we all haven't completely lost sight of morals."

 

[Beowulf]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

It was a bizarre feeling, floating freely in space and sitting in that room. On one hand, he was a part of the massive Titan that floated in space just outside the station. But on the other, he was sitting here, in the station, and looking out at his massive form. Not to mention he was also processing all the information his sensors were filtering in, so he had to separate what was being said from what was happening in space and on board him. In fact, when Rens Kalem enteredthe room, he had said two complete sentences before Connor realized a new person had entered. But once he did, his full attention went to Rens. The plan that was laid out for him was simple, good, that meant he didn't have to try and remember back up plan after back up plan. All he had to do was protect the Collectives that he was assigned to as they orbited a gas giant.

He was going to return to his Titan, so he was going to go back to himself, and put his entire attention back to what was happening on and around him when one of the Collective Heralds approached him, an Akaro Fulari. He wanted to have Connor transport them, eh, him? Anyways, he wanted Connor as transport. "Uh, sure, I guess. I mean, you need to get there some how." Connor said, shrugging his shoulders in indifference. But truth be told, a collective meant there'd be more people on him, and having the bare minimum was awkward enough. But he couldn't exactly deny them, they needed to get to Archangel Five somehow, and he was their first choice. So it'd have been rude to say no.

 

[ShiroKiyoshi]

​

"Ah, jeez. You'd think with so much power we'd be exempt from such meaningless things as fatigue." Judas said as a clock buzzed over and over, signaling for him to get out of the bed. He reached over and tapped it on its head, the thing shushing afterwards. He then slid out of bed, his sheets magically fixing themselves onto the bed as he got up and his clothes floating over to him. He grabbed the hangars and walked into his bathroom, handling his hygiene, before coming out and getting dressed. He then looked over to the corner where his rifle sat and whistled. The thing shot to him like a magnet and he left the room.

He walked down the halls, a perfect posture and one hand holding the strap to his gun, the other hanging at his side. He waved to the people as he passed by them, unlike the other Heralds who acted like they should be praised for what they did or were gonna do for these people, or those who wallowed in their pain, Judas looked forward and had spent most of his time since becoming a Herald speaking with those on board. At first he was neglected and he'd admit, it hurt, but soon others were able to see the fun side of Judas and opened up to him. He was now able to walk through his castle without having to worry too much about the fearful look of others, most just let him walk by, ignoring him, choosing the side of neutrality in order to co-exist with him.

While he was walking he noticed a rather nervous man who then turned into the meeting room he was about to turn into. Judas raised a brow before entering and waving to everyone there.

"Sorry, I'm late." Judas said as he found a spot against a wall and crossed his arms.

He listened intently to the briefing and then to the discussion of others. Most notably the odd collective guy, Akaro, and the woman who'd result to violence to coerce the soldiers to their side.

"Woah, woah. We're not grandstanding and then saying come join us. We have to make them feel powerless, but if your plan is to make someone help us, killing them ain't gonna cut it." Judas butted in, before Azura's question could be answered. "What we could do to satisfy both parties is get down there, let them fire first, wreck some shit, and then use his..." Judas turned to Akaro trying to think of the name he just said before turning to Azura. "His 'Faders'! We'll have them act as plants and join us to encourage others to follow them. Rather than killing them outright and saying get over here. You know what would also help, I think?" Judas turned and looked at everyone in the room. "I heard someone has the ability to transform into people and shit. Whoever that is would you mind posing as an official and redirecting orders? I'll get you to him, I think this girl and whoever else could handle what I just said. If we can get them away from the supply lines we could just line the routes with explosives. Sound like a solid idea?" Judas asked as he looked around.

 

[Villamvihar]

Despite Ayako's best efforts to reassure him, Rens still felt rather uneasy about the people inside this room. Some of them were still human while others... demonstrably less so. This was especially well-represented by Anastasia, or as she prefered to call herself, Tsarina. While some were concerned for the human lives of the solar system or perhaps the damage that was being done, the young girl immediately focused on the enemy combatants. More specifically, what little value they had in her eyes. After all, they were only good for being converted into units for her forces, something that left Rens with a bad taste in his mouth to say the least. Not only did those MAE units look creepy, but their mere purpose was enough to make a combat-hardened veteran shudder.

"You may assimilate only those who present a significant threat or have been indoctrinated beyond saving, Anastasia," answered Rens after a brief pause. "Liberty Station needs all the support it can get." True, he was not given explicit orders to say something along these lines, but he was also not told to tell her otherwise. Therefore, the man opted for something reasonable as well as a decision that left his conscience at least somewhat clear. It was still something he would have rather not answered if he was honest with himself.

Fortunately, the other Heralds seemed to be more reasonable in their approach. Ayako agreed to transporting Anastasia, Betilla did not have any questions, Alan expressed concerns about fighting a four-front war and then... Azura. Rens found his throat dry at her question, but his response was immediate.

"Absolutely not, Azura. The real sin lies with the Four, not their people. We can not permit ourselves to act as they do." For a man who had entered so meekly, the statement was pronounced as if it was a declaration fashioned from steel. There was no room for disagreement. "And while Liberty Station can not meet those bastards head on right now, it will be a long time before they react. And the more people who follow us, the more Heralds can be recruited."

Then came the rest of the reactions, Heralds discussing tactics and starting to form a sort of impromptu war council. It was scary how quickly they had adapted to their situations.

"Tactical decisions like that are left up to the Heralds, Akaro. How exactly task force Crossroads reaches its goal does not matter. If you wish, you may debate the plan that I have come up with, but I think this one has the best chance for success in the Archangel system. I personally think that mixing Faders in with Squad One is a good idea, though the transport vessel that will be used for insertion is only capable of holding ten people. Make of that what you will." A breath. A pause to go over Jonas' suggestion.

"Unfortunately, there is not a lot of information about the enemy's supply lines at the moment. You will have to gather information and improvise regarding that. However, we know that it is possible that Neytonia may have set up MBR hoppers on Archangel Three." Oh yes. Those things. One of Neytonia's relatively recent inventions, MBR hoppers were an odd bunch. Essentially, they were extremely large ground vehicles equipped with an MBR jump system, capable of instantly hopping across planets with ridicolous precision. Anyone else attempting such a stunt would have ended up in the planet's crust rather than on its surface, but of course Neytonia somehow managed to virtually eliminate an MBR jump's margin of error.

 

[GlitchyBugger]

It was pretty interesting listening to the others talking amongst themselves about plans and who was going to ride along with who, of course she was set to ride along with the other more-human Heralds in a smaller transport craft.

To grab the attention of everyone else, Betilla cleared her throat with a quiet cough and looked around the room. "The matter of Akaro's Faders, if he's willing to lend some to squad one, is fairly simple when you account for it like that." A glance went Akaro's way, just to make sure that he was in fact okay with them talking about his own units as tools for them to also make use of.
"There are six of us who would be transported in the carrier, which leaves room for four Faders to accompany us. And if I'm not wrong, having part of Akaro's force present with us would make any information gathering much easier as they could, as previously suggested, "join" the enemy ranks and then gather all the information we could need on locations and such. Then take action from there based on what we know at the time. Plus it would give both squads a good idea on the situation at the same time without really having to send any messages back and forth."

Betilla left a pause to look amongst the group with a pleasant smile before continuing. "I feel it would be better to simply intercept the supply lines instead of blowing them up, that way any new allies we make will have plenty of supplies to keep them going in their counter-attack against their oppressors and in turn give them a better opinion of Liberty Station and us Heralds. And if we capture any accompanying troops with the supply cargo, we will be able to convince them to work with us. All in all, a fairly sound idea so far."

"Would you be willing to lend us three or four of your "Fader" units, Akaro? We can only keep so close an eye on them, but we will do our best to make sure none of them perish." The white-haired woman's gaze now focused upon Akaro, waiting on his answer whilst listening out for any responses from the rest.

 

[Izurich]

"Affirmative. T.S.A.R shall commence mutual symbiosis with Ayako Kohaku for the approaching mission." Tsarina confirmed the Titan's acknowledgment of her request while seemingly ignoring the blonde's request to call her on a first name basis. The other Heralds soon began expressing their own points regarding the mission. The silver-haired girl's unblinking eyes looked upon with slight disdain mixed with boredom as words continued to be exchanged.

All these Heralds, all these... individuals, unnecessarily bickering among themselves while T.S.A.R just needed an order and they would move as one. This was the fault in humanity, they were given too much freedom and individual desires, as such, they couldn't converge on a single goal without nitpicking every single detail. The Prodigy named 'Judas Remington' proposed a suggestion to use the Collective, Akaro Fulari, so-called 'Faders' to 'encourage others to follow them'. What an obsolete and ineffective method. "T.S.A.R concludes Judas Remington doesn't understand the lack of success rate of Faders. Likely reason, Judas Remington is an individual."

However, that left Akaro. Even if Akaro was a fellow Collective, Tsarina couldn't resolve on their need for those 'Fader' Units. They were a waste of resources and time for meager results. Assimilation was the superior method of converting the enemy personnel. In time, he would understand.

The Commander's answer to her inquiry was promptly received and shared with the whole T.S.A.R collective. "Acknowledged. Assimilation will prioritize high-value targets and enemy zealots." Now with an order received, they were ready to begin the mission, all of them but... of course, these other Heralds still needed their incessant talks. "T.S.A.R will attempt to capture an 'MBR Hoppers' for reverse-engineering by Liberty Station, Commander Rens Kalem." might as well inform them of that as individualistic creatures lacked the ability to comprehend thoughts and desires without some form of time-wasting communication methods.

 

[Blighted_Agent]

Mahrod had observed the interactions as they unfolded with great interest and no small degree of glee. Moving his hand from his chin and instead crossing his arms, he clicked his tongue a few times and shook his head. The woman, Azura, had been been thoroughly rebuked both by their coordinator and most of the crew itself. With a smile and a flick of his hair, he overlooked the rest of the crew then focused his gaze on her, saying in a suave voice:

"Heys, listen here, Ace. I don't care much for no random nobodies in the godforsaken planetary system we're gonna get dispatched to, but the rest of our fuckin' merry little crew, they gots a point. Killing people to get other people on our side? That don't fly so good, 'specially with them fundamentalists of Syx... Personally? I'm down with Stacey's little assimilation plot, saves resources. But... but since our... coordinator here, disapproves, we'll hafta make do with something else."

With a dramatic and entirely unnecessary clap, Mahrod's would shift into his Casual Female form. Doing the best impression of doe eyes and pulling down the blouse a little to show some shoulder skin, then holding hands together to make the breasts stand out, Mahrod would move right next to Azura, continuing but now with a coy, feminine voice:

"There's other ways to make people do your bidding, y'know? People, all people, they're fucking weak to things they crave... Ply them with money, with drink, with your body; they's not gonna overthink shit when a hottie like you shows up to tempt them. We don't kill unless we really have to. This is Syxtaros territory; I know lots 'bout them. They think they're so above it all and claim their faith lets them resist temptation and shit, but they're the first to cave in when it shows up in front of 'em."

Mahrod would then turn dramatically towards the rest once again, reverting to the Casual Male form once more. Without missing a beat, he'd finish by saying:

"Faders or no Faders from our pal Akky here, I think Betty gots the right idea. We steal the enemy supply lines and use it 'gainst them, so we can keep our resources until they're really needed. Give some free shit to the people ta keep 'em happy, bribe or blackmail when the enemy can be tempted, kill when needed and Ace can keep as toys any psycho cunts we find. Ya ask me, sounds like a good deal already."

 

[Iwazuma]

First the man in charge said no, which hurt enough, but then everyone was producing other ideas directly countering her desires...What was wrong with just slaughtering everyone they came across? If there were no more people, then they'd win the war, right? And nobody was innocent...the citizens of the Four were just as guilty as their government and militant forces. They could have abandoned their home like Derrick had...but no, they continued to allow the Four to prosper, and that was a sin of accomplice. They all had to burn...every last one of them.

And Mahrod telling her plainly that her idea of torture and slaughter was inherently wrong made tears come to her eyes. "You all...think I'm stupid...." Her quavering voice indicated that she was not taking the rejection very well. Further 'attacks' to her already damaged psyche could result in worse results. She rubbed at her eyes, trying to keep herself from crying. "But...." She weakly attempted to reason, then shut her mouth. They'd just call her stupid outright. They didn't understand...everyone had to, needed to be destroyed.....

In the end, Azura fell silent, folding her arms as she bit her lip, fighting off the wave of sadness she felt attempting to consume her. Azura, despite having the burning rage capable of consuming a galaxy, was surprisingly sensitive. She sighed unhappily, taking a seat neither close to or far from anyone in the room. "I...suppose we should prepare to go..." She wasn't sure if her heart was totally in this particular mission now. So many offending bodies she wasn't even allowed to maim. What use was she then? One could almost see a dark cloud hovering over her, though whether that was one's imagination or the slightest influence of her power was a question none would be able to answer.

 

[Ascendant]

Prometheus listened quietly as the Heralds spoke, Azura asking if she could torture the locals which unnerved him, Akaro offering an interesting suggestion, Judas addind to it, Rens thankfully shooting down Azura and inspiring significantly more confidence from Alan, and Betilla's addition to Akaro's suggestion. The young man slowly got to his feet, holding the staff at his side as he declared, "The Faders are not a terrible idea, but these are Syxtarosi. Many of us are essentially God incarnate. We need only show them the miracle of our power in order to sway the majority, and we must remember that no human can stand against our power. If it is necessary, any Prodigy can simply change a man's mind with a bit of concentration. Though of course, I believe it would be best to have them do so on their own."

He changed the position of his staff, gripping it with two hands and holding it vertically on the floor in front of him, "I feel that this plan is good enough, and I do agree that we should be heading out sooner rather than later. Time is a sensitive issue here; the more we waste, the greater the chance of one of the Four winning the battle or accessing the station, or perhaps even damaging it."

As the glowing-blue-eyed man finished, he reached out with his mind across space to Azura, being careful not to look in her direction, Azura, I do not believe you are stupid at all. I don't understand why you want what you want, and although I disagree heavily with you, as essentially this group's 'priest', I am here if you need someone to talk to. You may be a Herald and a Prodigy, but whether you want to admit it or not, you are still human deep down inside, and we all need people in the end.

 

[ShiroKiyoshi]

​

After telling Azura what he thought of her wanting to murder everyone his eyes wandered around the room as Betilla and then Mahrod gave her alternatives to the idea as well. For the first time in that briefing he had actually paid attention to the Collective's voice and it was ice cold. She was worse than a soldier, she was a robot, and it threw Judas off. He looked to her out of the corner of his eye, quickly looking away when he noticed her gaze.

Sheesh. What's with her?

That's when Judas noticed a sexy female had just happened to enter the room, while he had no idea where they came from, he liked them. Then he noticed they seemed to be very familiar with Azura and he began to question there beauty and then that pretty little woman turned into a giant old fatso. Judas was immediately disappointed and waved off Mahrod's comment.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go with Betilla's idea, but now that we made a girl cry and broken my hopes and dreams, I'm gonna head out. Time to get ready. Oh, but before I go, when do we leave for this op again?"

Judas spoke as he made his way for the door, stopping as his body was halfway out and leaning back to ask his question to the "boss" of their merry little group.

 

[Nue]

"Uh, sure, I guess. I mean, you need to get there some how."

A truly fascinating response from the robot. His sentence gave Akaro a sort of 'guilty-pleasure' feeling: He was committing social interaction, which is something he usually hates. However, in these instances, when he extracts perspective from an individual, it felt more...pleasant. It wasn't the sentence itself that made him excited, but rather the thought behind such a sentence. How one's brain clicked to formulate the sentence's words, tone, and speed. From this one sentence Akaro can already tell the type of man Connor is: Simplistic, blunt, and unemotional. But he can also feel something else in the man: Something...deeper. For instance, he was quite shocked that Akaro chose to be in his form for transportation, signifying that such a thing didn't happen often, if ever. Or perhaps it was something more emotional, not that it didn't happen often, but rather Connor didn't want for such a thing to happen. Either way, the truth to his decision's going to prove more revealing about himself then he would realize.

Ohh. Picking at that synthetic brain of his will be fun.

Of course, every joy in life comes with it's grievances.

He only asked a single question. One. Said question was aimed at Rens, and Rens only. Yet almost every single one of those pesky, intrusive Heralds had to chime in to such an question, and speak to Akaro about their meaningless inputs. To top it all of, it was Rens himself that answered his question by basically relaying the question to the other Heralds. Great Job Rens. Take the tactical decision and pass it on to everyone so they can come to me about their feeble complaints. It's true, he's nervous with these Heralds around, but that doesn't men he can be a coward and toss the question for the Heralds to chew up! Akaro gave a small sigh at Rens' answer, and simply had a brief moment with Connor before the wave of replies were at hand.

"Alright. I shall meet you on the ship once I've handled this...surprise arrangement. Once there be prepared for some questioning, as I would like to know what my allies are capable of." He gave a small nod to the man and Elise gave him a cold grin as they departed Connor and their isolation to face the impending doom that is the opinion of others.

"Brace yourself, Elise"

"Brace yourself, Akaro."

First, there was Judas, who didn't speak to him directly, but Akaro was supposed to be in his intended audience. He spoke of a plan that appealed to the violent and to the peaceful, using the Faders as major help on the peaceful end, while the supply lines as an appeal to the violent. A fine plan from Judas. While it's not to most tactically pleasant plan, it is the most appealing, given the overly violent tendencies of Azura. This paints Judas as a very enlightening thinker, and through that laid-back look and that shaggy black-red hair lies a wondrous and enthralling perspective, one that's ripe for the picking. As for a reply, Akaro preferred to hold back, saying nothing and just letting it go. Judas was making a good point, he'd rather not hurt it by saying words.

Next, there was Betilla, who, despite holding the appearance of a meek vampire, seemed to hold strong words in her argument that simply could not be deterred. Betilla presented a plan that, although not violently appealing (unlike Judas's), was strategically accurate. It was almost as if she took the words right out of Akaro's mouth. Almost. Akaro felt that, if anyone could lead that group, it would be her, but that's just simply a good first impression. Her blood-red eyes could easily hold just as evil as it is powerful. But, as of the current case, she's definitely someone worth replying to, in the least.

"A fine plan, Betilla. But I should say that at least some level of violence should be sprinkled in there, to be appealing to all members." He gave a brief tilt over to Azura, looked at Elise, and back at Betilla.
"As for the Faders, well, you can't have her of course, hehe, but I can spare some Faders to go on the transport vessel with you all. I do urge, however, that I am well-protected. Faders are more...meaningful to me, and have a bigger impact when hurt. Lastly, the use is simple, all you have to do is tell me what feelings you want me to evoke on people, and I shall take care of the rest. I look forward to seeing what you have to say on the transport ship." He said those last words with a tinge of curiosity, hinting at some possible perspective-picking with her once he's done with Connor.

Then, there was Anastasia, the other collective. Her, or more like it's first impression on Akaro was...distasteful...to put it lightly. On a more heavier note it was probably the most ignorant and arrogant Herald out of the bunch. It had an exotic body, completely synthetic and femmine in appearance, but no mind to go with it. Its had no personality. No perspective. And it thus deserves to have not even the slightest tinge of respect from Akaro. The best thing to describe it would be a sentient virus: It only has the purpose of growing and assimilating, and it will not stop until it can grow no more. And that, that is worse than the walking corpses that inhabit this galaxy.

There's Mahrod, who's frankly still an enigma to Akaro. He seems indifferent to Akaro, and Mahrod is to be treated as such. It should be noted, however, that despite his indifference to the tactical plan, he does seem to help out Azura, which does leaps and bounds to his personality. It virtually sends signals of compassion and caring behavior, but only to those in need of it. A very balanced man indeed, but it would be very interesting to see how balanced he actually is, or if there are specific things, or perhaps, people that he values more than others. That's right, the possibility of love isn't going to be thrown out just yet, and it may well be Mahrod's prime motivation. Until he is certain, it's best to keep tabs on the man and explore them later. But one thing's for certain, and it's his speaking voice. It's so...odd. Akaro couldn't help but die a little bit on the inside upon his name being condensed to 'Akky'. His voice is simply...odd. He's never heard anything like it, and frankly, it's disgusting to hear.

Finally, there's Prometheus, and it's nothing against him, but Akaro's had enough of listening to people after Mahrod's 'amazing' voice. He simply heard his words, which, like Mahrod's were very neutral, and only confirming what Betilla and Akaro have formulated. And Akaro pretty much disregarded what he had to say or offer, simply nodding and trotting off.

All in all, despite the fact that these Heralds all had some interesting fruit to pick off of, they were annoying. If he heard one more thing about his plan from these people, his mind would explode. There's only so much interaction he could take. Anything more, and it would simply be to much to handle. Some of the heralds started explaining that there was a mission that needed to be done, and they were right. A plan agreed upon, no need to talk about it further, time to go, and no more talking or discussing about it in the meeting room.

Akaro, upon Prometheus's response, simply got up, turned around, and walked towards Connor's direction. His fader Elise following behind him, while discussing to Connor how to put the rest of himself on board.

"So, how do you suppose we go about this? Should I put myself in all of the cargo bays while my avatar and my fair lady over therw stay at your bridge?"
​

Mentioned: @ShiroKiyoshi @Ascendant @Lstorm @Blighted_Agent @Izurich @GlitchyBugger @Beowulf @Iwazuma​