Project Liberation IC

[Villamvihar]

"The issue is, Azura, that everyone here used to be a blind servant of the Four. So you need to see Archangel's people before you burn them," said Rens as he looked in the eyes of Azura, taking her complaint as the first in line because of her visible shaken visage. Though he could not pretend to understand what was going on in her head and he was somewhat afraid of these Heralds, he could not really let them mercilessly slaughter the galaxy. Arden had given the coordinator explicit orders regarding that, because he did not wish for Liberty Station to become like the Great Powers. No matter what would happen, Rens' current hero and the leader of all these people wished for them to offer true relief from the oppression that plagued the galaxy. Everyone was to be given a fair chance.

"Now, like I said, I have no discretion over the tactical details of your plan and you are given free reign over enemy forces," he continued after a brief pause that he used to listen to the various suggestions being made by the Heralds. "But Arden Harvey was clear on a single point. There are to be as few casualties amongst the civilians as possible. After Archangel is secured, you will recieve your next set of orders. If you have no further questions, then all of you are dismissed!" And after answering any further lingering doubts that Task Force Crossroads may have, Rens promptly wrapped up the briefing. Barely able to hide his gleeful smile at the thought of the Four getting obliterated in the Archangel system, the man went to report back to Arden and to oversee the greater strategic situation. The next set of plans needed to be prepared.

Meanwhile, Prodigies, Disruptors and the few Faders that they would bring with themselves were to report to hangar bay 7. Their transport would be waiting there. The Collectives were to board the Titans and the two groups would meet up with each other briefly for a synchronised jump. The idea was that the massive signature of Titans would mask the entry of the smaller transport ship so that it would be able to slip through the blockade and then land on Archangel Three.

---

As soon as the Heralds arrived in the system, it became apparent that Liberty Station had underestimated the situation there. Chaos could not even begin to describe the primordial insanity that dominated space around the habitable planets. Even those were mild words for the literal storm of projectiles that was exchanged between the different parties. Kinetic weapons tore through the void of space without mercy while lasers traced intricate patterns that outshone the stars. Bright flashes of light indicated the destruction of smaller ships, but reinforcements kept coming in from all four sides of the brutal melee. In particular, the Heralds were able to witness as three Neytonia cruisers jumped into the sytem. The characteristic aftershocks of MBR did not even have time to disippate before the cruisers opened fire.

Naturally, the ripples of space-time around the cruisers distorted both their image and the trajectory of their shots, but Neytonia's technological prowess showed itself once again. Every single projectile hit its mark, carving deep holes into the hull of an unfortunate Marsarad battleship. Then the fight absorbed the cruisers. Perhaps the sensitive sensors of Titans could still keep track
of them through the flight of smaller ships that suddenly wrapped around them, but the naked eye most certainly could not tell the difference between bright spot of light and slightly less bright spot of light.

In a way, this was exactly what Liberty Station had hoped for. But in a way, it was also a catastrophe. Thousands of lives were going up in flames every second, yet victory was still far away. True, the Titans were capable of silencing the battle in orbit, but the situation on the ground would not be helped. Bombing the planets was not an option either; not after what Rens had told them about civilian casualties. And though the Heralds probably did not know it, Rens had deliberately planned for this to be a decisive, single strike that left every enemy with little time to respond so that the Great Powers would get as little in the way of news as possible.

And for the time being, it was working. No one had noticed the Titans and the Feather-class mining platforms that appeared at the edge of the system. What is more, there was definitely no one who noticed the small, unassuming cargo vessel that started heading immediately towards Archangel Three as soon as it entered. The situation on the ground was relatively calm right now, and as such, they could choose from a number of landing zones. The most obvious choice was Sahant, the biggest city on Archangel Three, but there were also the planet's two currently functioning space-ports in Magaln and Ieso. They could also land near one of the smaller cities or the warzones of course. Luckily, they did not necessarily have to act as a group if they did not want to; their pilot had informed them that with this chaos, he could make as many stops as it was necessary.

Titans, Collectives and their mining platforms were a little less lucky. Their planet looked tumultous and while this one was not surrounded by warring idiots, one had to keep in mind that they were dealing with a gas giant. A rather massive one. So much that it was impossible to get any data from the side opposing their point of arrival as of right now. Anything could be hidden there and unless several sensor platforms were installed around the giant, at least a part of it would remain shrouded in complete mystery. It was a double-edged sword: Archangel Five could be used to shield Titans from enemy detection. At the same time, the enemy could be hiding anything in its massive shadow.

 

[Ascendant]

Prometheus stood carefully in the cargo vessel, contemplating the situation on Archangel Three before announcing to the group, "I will be landing in Sahant. These are my people, and I'm certain that my abilities will easily sway the majority. A minimum of two other groups should probably move to take control of the major spaceports. It's unlikely taking those two spaceports will cut off the military's supplies entirely, but perhaps we will be able to constrict them. Perhaps a Disruptor could go to each Spaceport. The primary mission of us Prodigies is winning the people."

He looked towards Azura, who was probably still sulking, "Azura, you might want to hit the largest warzone. You seem like the type of person most suited to combat among us, similar to Judas. Judas might go with her. The pair of you, hopefully without killing people, might make a display of our combat prowess that I and likely Betilla can use to win the hearts of the people. Of course, neither of you are required to follow my opinion."

Alan paused for a moment and then turned his attention to Betilla, "Betilla, I'm not sure what you should do. Your primary capabilities as far as I know, could be patching up wounded on the battlefields and inspiring enemy soldiers to join us, but I'm sure that you could join me or go off on your own to another city. Whatever your choice, I am going to Sahant."

 

[R-9 Pilot]

Ayako stood on the bridge of her ship, as they entered the system. She giggled a bit at the disconnect from that thought; she was the ship, so it was a bit silly to consider the two something of separate entities. She'd still have to think of a name for the rest of her, for less confusing identification. She briefly glanced over to Tsarina, standing next to her, and smiled.

As soon as the data on the battle in-system began pouring in, Ayako decided to put it front and center, the space around the two women filling with a holographic representation of the system, with the two women standing like giants at its edge. Tiny points of light represented nearby individual ships, while further out everything blurred to simple abstractions of gross fleet movements. "Bit of a mess out there," Ayako said, tattoo-like patterns still glowing on her body, as often happened when she interfaced with the rest of her systems. "It's pretty clear where we're going, but still." This much sensor input was something she'd grown used to, though it wasn't usually so cluttered. "I probably can't pay complete attention to this much full-time."

She opened a comm line to Connor, before speaking again. "If we wanna hide, probably best to set up in geosynchronous orbit on the far side of the planet," she said, now certain the other members of her little detachment could hear her. "I'm not sure if the mining stations proper are big enough to be visible, but if they're aerostats, they can always hide in the planet's atmosphere." She shrugged, one of he many affectations she wouldn't be able to shake as long as she had a body capable of doing it. "Whatever the case, we wouldn't have full coverage if we don't set up some means of listening or looking around the planet itself. The alternative would be to set up on orbits to keep the two of us Titans on opposite sides of the planet, so there's always some sensor coverage. It's a bit risky, though. Someone might notice, but unless we do too much to make noise, we can probably pretend to be just another captured asteroid. Hm...maybe there's something we can hide in somewhere around here."

She started looking around for anything that might help disguise a large warship. Actually hiding would likely be impossible, but floating around other objects of similar size would at least prevent the new arrivals from being completely obvious, if they wanted to swing around toward the battle every now and again. Oh, wait, they weren't alone here anyway. "Hey, Tsarina, Akaro, either of you have dedicated scouts or sensor systems? You all might be able to drop something a bit smaller to at least look around the rest of the planet." How was she supposed to refer to an individual composed of multiple units, anyway?

 

[Beowulf]

"Yeah, okay." Connor said as Akaro told him that he'd meet him on the ship. Which would mean they'd meet again when Akaro boarded him. So wouldn't Connor meet Akaro there, since he was the destination? Or did he mean his false body. You'd think that a Collective would realize when something was or wasn't the person, they were smart after all. But apparently they thought that he'd use this body constantly, when in fact he'd put it in storage as soon as it got back to the ship.

He listened mindlessly to alterations to the plans, he thought they were pretty good on his end. Get in, protect the Collective, watch them build up, get them safely to the planet again. Simple enough, he could do that. So when it was time to go, he began making his way back to himself (something he never thought he'd do in his life time), accompanied by the Fader, who asked him what they should do, what the boarding procedures were if you will.

"Um, get on, find a place that you'll fit. If I must move some things around, I'll tell you so you don't lose anything." As he spoke, he quickly formed a "bridge." He didn't need one, he could do everything that a bridge could do from the safety of his Core and not have a target on him that a bridge would be. But they said they wanted a bridge, so he quickly made one so they'd be happy. "I'll have a path set out for you so you can find your way to the bridge." With that, he disappeared down one of the ever changing corridors that was the Titan Connor McKinley.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Archangel V ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Connor roared into the system, his sensors lit up. He pulled up what he was experiencing in the bridge so Akaro would see the same thing he was. Hopefully they'd understand what it all meant, because he couldn't be bothered to remember it. And as comms with Ayako opened up, he let them play throughout his entirety. "Stick together, nothing will get through both of us. Could get surrounded if we split up for coverage. Geosynchronous orbit." He spoke in simple terms, the majority of his attention being directed to his sensors.

 

[GlitchyBugger]

After Akaro's response to her suggested plan and the resulting few words between the others in regards to Azura's desire, the briefing was over and the Heralds were on their way to the current scene of the battle raging over the Archangel System.

Gazing out of the side of their cargo ship into the technological madness that was the battlefield around them, Betilla let out a small sigh of resignation over the situation before them, but she looked around at the others amongst her, along with Akaro's Faders. She quietly listened to Prometheus as he gave his opinion on what to do about the situation concerning the state of Archangel 3.

"I am of the same mind, all things considered. I would suggest sending two Faders with Mahrod and Tycho, one each simply to help with infiltration and swaying those in control of the space ports to our side. If you like, I believe you could do with a Fader simply for the purpose of having some backup within Sahant whilst you sway the minds of their masses. I would then pair Azura and Judas together for combat purposes so that no one is alone. Then have myself and the last Fader head to one of the nearby cities or townships on the border of the ground conflict to begin showing them the benevolence of Liberty Station. The Faders can also serve to keep us in relatively good contact with Akaro and Squad 2."
There was a brief pause to check what the others thought of the plan she had so far before she added an afterthought. "Alternatively I could land in the same battlefield as Azura and Judas and simply reinforce them as is necessary whilst playing the medic role for the wounded amongst the inhabitant's forces. Any opinions?" Seeing as herself and Prometheus had the same idea, more or less, she mostly looked to everyone else for their own input on the current plans laid out.

 

[ShiroKiyoshi]

​

"Um, holy fuck! First of all and second: this is suicide... for any normal person, but you're lucky we're here." Judas said to the pilot, as he then patted his shoulder, returning to the cargo area. "Alright, well we're actually walking into death and we're all chill? Man, I saw some scary things becoming a Herald, but I still don't think I got you guys' battle hardened nerves yet." Judas said as he leaned against the wall, standing in the way of the path to the pilot.

For the mission Judas had truly embodied the essence of a rebellious teenager. He had decided to wear his red zip-up jacket and a black t-shirt, he'd also gone and slid on some black cargo pants and one fingerless glove on his left hand while he painted all of his fingernails black. He was also wearing a black bandana over his mouth, it had a design on it that gave him the mouth of a skeleton, and to finish his look he wore some purely red high tops. It doesn't need to be said, as he never leaves home without them, but he also happened to be rocking his rifle, carrying it by its strap with it slung over his shoulder, and wearing his sash on his arm.

Judas' attention was then casually focused on Prometheus, who spoke up, informing the group where he'd decided to land. He then suggested Judas pairing with Azura, saying it seemed like Judas would fit in that environment. Betilla then hopped in saying the same thing.

"Let me stop you there." Judas said as he presented the gun to Prometheus and Betilla. "This is for show and I am an actor. The last place you'll find me is in a warzone, but I bet you Betilla over there could be useful there. But, no, not going out there, I will be making a ruckus in Magaln at their administrative buildings. I'll psych out their bosses and assume authority there." Judas said, pausing before narrowing his eyes at the ground between everyone. "But, it leaves a sour taste in my mouth for whatever reason. Showing off is cool though, but yeah, that's where I'll be."

Judas then turned to the pilot and called out. "Hear that man?" The pilot gave the thumbs up. Judas then turned back to the group. "I'll have a Fader pose as a terrorist who "killed" their leader and took out their communications.That should gain me some ground as an ally to the people when I deal with the Fader and show them what I am capable of. If things are stable in Magaln, I'll have my followers come with me to Leso." Judas then widened his eyes and turned to a Fader. "I don't know how this works, but if you can hear me wolf-guy-thing, I'm not gonna kill it, just make it vanish. You'll understand when it happens. But, that's my plan. True smoke and mirrors, should be no casualties if I play it right. I am also open to the idea of a Disruptor taking the place of the Fader, but don't need it." Judas said as he slung his gun back over his shoulder. "Also, you guys should have worn red. They like the color red."

 

[Iwazuma]

Azura was still unhappy.

She had her arms folded, her eyes distant as she sighed to herself on the cargo ship. Not allowed to kill? That frustrated her. They knew that was her whole point...the whole reason why she became a Herald. She wanted to exact revenge on the fools who let Derrick sacrifice himself...and now she was being placed on a 'don't kill' mission. She murmured to herself unhappily. What was even the point of 'winning over' people who were ignorant to their cause? Following blind false idols just like they already were. It was just a change in ownership.

Still, she did her best to at least listen to the proceedings. Most of it was strategic talk that she didn't understand very well, but she at least understood where people were dropping. She noted Alan with some Faders, and that brought a slight smile to her face. "Perhaps...I should go with you...?" Her smile brightened a little more, an idea beginning to form. "You may speak for kindness and helping the people, but there will always be zealots who declare us false prophets...might even try and attack us. And like they say...speak softly, but carry a big stick. Perhaps I could be your stick?" Azura offered herself with a smile, a smile that looked half-genuine, half something sinister brewing in the back of her head. Oh, there'd be people who rejected them. And all who displeased their 'gods' would see a harsh penalty indeed....

Yes, now she was in a much better mood! Without even letting Alan answer, she brightened. "Then it's settled...I shall follow you and help silence the people's doubts." The way she spoke those words was....unnerving. She was a little too happy about the prospect of destroying her fellow man. Regardless, it was clear her mind was made up, and she was sure her points held value. No doubt they'd agree this time, right? She had to have gotten something right...

 

[Izurich]

@R-9 Pilot @Lstorm

Enough discussions, enough talks, it was time for actions. "TSAR proceeding to board Titan Ayako Kohaku. Mission Destination: Archangel 5." The Collective spread the information among themselves as the white-haired Avatar stepped out of the briefing room with calculated steps. Moments later, Tsarina found herself in Ayako's 'bridge', necessary so the Collective could receive information from the Titan reliably, only one of them would be needed after all. "Ayako Kohaku, we confirm that 100% of TSAR have boarded you. We can perform a Myriad Broken Resonances Jump."

Then, through the ingenious design of Old Humanity, the massive Titan seemingly bent space and time itself, arriving in the target system instantaneously. Tsarina took in the information presented to her, a collective mind equivalent to hundreds of thousands of personnel simultaneously working together to process the inputs. "Agreed. All of the Four are gathered here, vying to claim the system at their own. Let us proceed with the mission, setting up the mining platform is our first priority."

For now, the two Titans were unnoticed amidst all the chaos but Tsarina knew it wouldn't last forever. "TSAR are able to send Kirov units to scout the gas giant." The Collective Avatar nodded at the Titan's own Avatar, "Sending Kirovs now." As soon as she said so, crafts resembling starfighters launched off from Ayako's massive body. Trailing light blue light, they sailed towards Archangel Five, scouting for any hidden hostiles or anomalies. Necessary as an ambush would pose a great risk to the mining platforms.

"Ayako Kohaku, feeding the data of the Kirovs to you now." Tsarina announced, projecting the various information collected by the crafts' sensors onto the holographic space between the two Avatars.

 

[Blighted_Agent]

Things had taken a turn for the interesting after Mahrod's little intervention. Admittedly, that Azura actually crying caught him by surprise, and he initially wasn't sure how to take that. He did have to file it away for after they were dismissed, since he had to keep tabs on how people reacted to his intervention. Some were easy to parse - Mahrod could almost feel Akaro wanting to plug his ears just to stop listening to him speak, and Mahrod was fairly sure that he had killed Judas's boner upon shifting back into his Casual Male form. Prometheus/Alan, however... Mahrod got the impression that the man hadn't even registered what had happened, just that he seemed as concerned with Azura's reaction as he was.

At any rate, with the second intervention from Rens the meeting was adjourned, a few extra details hammered out and Mahrod left to his thoughts until the group boarded their transport and set out for Archangel III. In the end, Akaro had indeed allowed a few Faders onto their squad. He'd have to ask about their abilities in time. More important things were happening first, however; namely, the transport arrived at its destination and it could only be described as absolute insanity. Mahrod couldn't help but sigh and hold a hand to his temple. Explaining to the Coordinator the bodycount from this would already be a headache, and it was going to rack up the moment their operation started no matter how smoothly their infiltration went. While going over this, Prometheus and Betilla began to speak...

Mahrod was more than a little amused by how very similar their plan was, but he found himself agreeing. From the briefing information he'd read, the choice to go to the farthest spaceport had been decided from the start, so this saved him some time in terms of convincing the others. Saving time meant saving money, and Mahrod of course loved saving money. With Judas's intervention, things seemed to be panning out. As Azura spoke, certain to unnerve Betilla and Prometheus again, Mahrod smirked and quietly shifted into the Casual Female Form, wearing a red blouse that showed off cleavage, red heels, black tights and a white skirt. With a saucy gait, Mahrod would approach Judas and cling to him from the side, making sure to press the breasts against him, saying again with that coy and seductive voice while looking over at the rest of the group:

"Seems we're agreed here, folks. Prom and Betty might as well've read m'mind with they's plan. The spaceport in the middle o' fucking nowhere? Ieso, that's my target. Not sure where our buddy Ty wants ta head, but... Hear that, Prom? Ace here's ready for action, just gotta keep her on a short leash. Beaut, just please for fuck's sake, don't just decide to up'n smoke all them civvies soon as you step on solid ground. So then! Two in Sahant, m'self and a Fader in Ieso, Jude and another Fader infiltrating Magaln... Betty darlin', dunno 'bout yous, but methinks, methinks you could do whole lotta good in plenty o' places, so tis up to ye; savior in the battlefield, backing up any of us, cleaning up when Ace goes apeshit, ya name it. First though - cough up yer intentions, Ty. Ya'll shouldn't keep us dark, see?"

 

[Ascendant]

Prometheus looked at Azura for some time while listening to Mahrod, considering what she said. It made some sense, not Azura's words, but the idea of bringing her with him. He'd be able to keep a close eye on her and wrangle the woman back in line if needed. So the blue-eyed God simply smiled and pointed at his staff, "But I already carry a big stick. Nonetheless, you are free to go wherever you want. As for the zealots, my plan is simple." He thrust out his hand, pretending to grab an unseen brain and then tightening his hand into a fist, "If they refuse, I shall simply reach into their minds and show them the truth. Or better yet, simply show them something that proves my divinity and right to lead them to the True Path."

His smile faded though as he spoke the words, "However, I will be keeping a close eye on you and hope that you follow orders. I would rather our forces not be seen as divided and squabbling if at all possible, so please refrain from causing harm to the populace or anyone that isn't a true threat to us or the people themselves. Our objective is to win hearts and minds, and not through tyranny. It is tyranny that lead to the creation of Liberty Station, and it is tyranny that will simply continue the galactic cycle of death."

 

[Nue]

Akaro's avatar couldn't help but give a small smile once aboard the Titan's massive structure, with his other forms boarding soon after. After all, it's not every day that one gets to see the literal insides of another being!

Most of himself remained in the many corridors of the towering behemoth. But Akaro also had the pleasure of sitting at the head of Connor in the bridge. At first glance, all seemed well: the bridge was small and quaint, and it contained enough seats for Akaro and his accompanying Fader. There were small control panels everywhere, and a lovely observatory to see the war-ravaged stars.

Upon a second glance, however, a different story of the bridge can be told. One that's a bit more...deceitful. Like a small child, Akaro started variously messing with the control panels, only to find out that they did...nothing. Well, not entirely nothing. They did bring up some displays, and turned on and off some lights, but nothing too major, and that left Akaro merely disappointed. He brought up a display of Archangel Five. As he studied the planet lazily, he left his comments in the air for Connor to chew on.

"It's a shame, really. I thought I was going to the bridge to see what your brain looked like...but I suppose this view shall do. Would you mind showing me what your real control center looks like next time? I promise I won't go around fiddling with buttons this time."

Upon arriving to Archangel Five, however, something felt a bit...odd. As Akaro instructed orders to start setting up his new base around his mining platform he also, in turn, instructed orders toward his partner for today, Connor, while keeping a close eye on Ayako and Anastasia.

Alright Connor, we are going to play this game nice and slow. Our little mining operation is going to be attacked on two fronts: There's the war armies that will attack us from space, and there's a possible army down low on the planet. As the planet has at least a limit on it's force, I shall handle the planet's forces while I build up my forces, That leaves you to defend my back from whatever decides to make it's way here. Some good tactics would be to focus on each separate entity, rather than the whole force. Find their weakest link, than break it. The less things that attack you, the better."

Akaro felt odd inside...he's never given anyone advice before, nor shared his military tactics with anyone, yet, here he is, doing that very act with someone who he barely knows. Strangely enough, he is not repulsed, nor intrigued by this odd amount of social interaction with Connor. He just feels...odd. Yet with all the psychological knowledge he can muster, he has no explanation for why he is acting like this.

Perhaps, he does crave social interaction after-all. Or perhaps, it's just Connor's simplistic demeanor: He doesn't fight his words, think of a deeper meaning with his words like Akaro does. He just does things. Perhaps it's that sheer act of doing things that compels Akaro to speak to him. Whatever the meaning, one thing holds certain: Connor is an acceptable individual, and he would make a fine corpse to partner up with!

~~~

Aboard the transport ship, each Fader just stared at each other as everyone bickered back and forth like annoyed schoolchildren. It was through this observance that Akaro confirmed that Squadron 2 was most definitely the more peaceful and cooperative bunch, but it's always best to hear what plans they had in mind, and more importantly: What minds were behind such plans...

Firstly, there was Betilla, who started out strong. As always, her plan was neat, orderly, and nearly flawless, at least in terms of Akaro's faders. Two with the Disruptors, as Fader's are pretty subtle, one with Prometheus, and one last Fader with Betilla for additional support. The plan seems safe enough on Akaro's end, although He questions the safety of all other prodigies in Betilla's scenario.

Then there was Judas, who presented a more...different approach. He suggested that one of the Faders pose as a terrorist threat while he 'beats' her and appears as a hero. Or that's what Akaro's basically getting from this. As creative as Judas's plan sounds, such a plan is seen in Akaro's eyes as a sign of dominance and it puts one of his Faders in massive danger. Even if he doesn't really attack, it's going to be hard to cover the damage done without lookilng like you helped stage the act. It's just better if a Fader was set out onto a civilian populace, making them all happy at their presence with a simple poke on the back. As a showing of disdain for Judas's plan. All of the Faders stared at him intently, and just gave a slow nod of shame and distaste.

Then Azura, who was slightly less violently-minded then before. Still violent though, and intriguing as ever. She talked about going with Alan, the peaceful one, and she talked of killing the defilers of their god-like behavior with extreme prejudice. And the way she said those words of violence felt oddly nice on Akaro's consciousness, who repaid her response with a giggle and a smirk from one of the Faders. Out of all the perspectives that can be given to a being. The one with a consistent need for violence and torture seem to be the most interesting.

Then there was Mahrod, with his constantly irritating voice. No matter how hard Akaro tried to deal with the man, his language barrier was simply to thick and irritating for Akaro to deal with, but he tried to piece together what words he heard from the conversation: "something something plan agreement." Fair enough, although having a fader at his side with his thick-ass dialect would definitely be a challenge psychologically for Akaro. But then again, Akaro wasn't one to say no on a test of psychology.

Finally, there was Prometheus, who once again was blocked out of Akaro's mind by simply deciding to speak after Mahrod. However, his plan in the beginning was rather sound, and with Betilla's safety touches with the Faders, the mission on Archangel 3 might be an easy success. The subject of Prometheus's mind, however, is still an enigma to Akaro. But that's something he hopes to change in due time. That's something he hopes to change with everyone in due time.

~~~

As Akaro was finishing up building his mass-defense platform, which consisted of the mining station and three Apex Stations, he got a transmission coming from the other half of his squadron, namely: Ayako. She seemed to give some rather fair points: Stay on opposite sides of the planet in geosynchronous orbit. "Thank you for the advice. I shall see to it that Connor and I stay in geosynchronous orbit. In the event of an attack, it is best to have the Titan in each of our groups fight in the open space, while the Collectives stick to the more easily defend-able
planet-side. I suggest building upon your mining station to make it self-dependent, allowing for easy expansion into the planet." With that, Akaro hoped to lure out enemy forces by magnetically interfering with their satellites with a few Regents, and ordering his fighters and bombers to set up a strong defense planetside, hoping that Connor's got his back while he builds, expands, and eventually amass into the planet with overwhelming numbers.
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Mentioned: @ShiroKiyoshi @Ascendant @Lstorm @Blighted_Agent @Izurich @GlitchyBugger @Beowulf @Iwazuma @R-9 Pilot

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[Mglo]

Like an introverted teenage boy at a pre-teen dance party, Tycho faded to the background. It hadn't even been intentional. He told himself he was just being observational and cunning but only because his ego couldn't take the fact that he was a natural at fading from notice. Then again, one only need stand next to Judas to achieve that.

Anyway, from the moment Tycho'd entered the cargo ship he'd taken a seat, crossed his arms, and shifted in place more or less holding one consistent shape. It was starting to be a chore, so his true form was no longer as crisp as it'd been during the meeting. He had a blurry quality to his likeness, nanomachines abuzz. His dark eyes looked to each speaker from behind aviator shades which seemed to melt into his face and vanish as Judas strode into Prometheus' and Betilla's perfectly good plan. Seven piercings took shape round Tycho's ear and eyebrow, eyes alight with an orange tint, but before he could gather himself enough to speak to the model of wannabe Glory, Mahrod stepped in.

"Magaln," he declared hesitantly. Tycho quite liked Judas in the way he stood out and flamboyantly sought attention. A glory seeker much like Tycho. Still... pissed him off to be reminded of how much of a shadow role he'd become. Judas was starting to resemble that punch-face Vein Buick. "Let me just make one thing clear, I'm not going to be another step to your podium Judas and I highly doubt the Fader there is squealing with joy to bend over and do it for you either. But by all means, go forth and conquer, I can work with that. Fader and I can disappear better if all the spotlight's on Judas." Tycho almost bit his tongue with jealousy at the spotlight remark. Stupid Judas and his stupid cool outfit and that stupid radiant persona naturally making the eye follow him.

 

[Villamvihar]

There were plenty of stellar bodies around Archangel Five to hide behind, even for Titans. For starters, the gas giant's three moons provided more than enough cover and their orbital period was definitely slow enough for even the massive beings to follow. The only problem was that they were quite dead in all senses of the word. Not one of them had an atmosphere, not to mention that they were just hunks of rock. The activity of their cores, if there ever was, has died down a long time ago and as such, they only provided visual cover. Everything else was fair game provided that it could see through hundreds of kilometres of solid rock ore. Or perhaps a sensor drone could be lucky to catch the hiding vessels just at the right angle.

However, the larger asteroids were probably better. To be more exact, one of them stood out with a massive, ravine-like structure carved into it. It must have suffered from an impact recently as its movements were quite erratic, so it would require some precision to approach, but it was about as perfect of a hiding place as one could get. With some difficulty, a Titan could lower itself into the ravine where it would be protected from most sensors unless they had a perfect angle. The other asteroids also provided decent cover if one did not wish to risk damaging their hull.

Even more fortunately for the group, Tsarina's Kirovs did not find anything of note. It did not seem like the citizens of Archangel were overly concerned with discovering their solar system as there were no signs of artificial satellites, or anything of note. In fact, the emptiness was almost eerie. For thousands upon thousands of kilometres around the gas giant, there was not even a single sign of space exploration even though the system had been populated for many years now. Were the inhabitants of Syxtaros truly so foolish so as to leave this planet unexplored? That could not be and yet...

One Kirov suddenly disappeared from Tsarina's network without warning.

No sign of enemies. No sign of an attack. Just a brief sting of pain, almost inconsequential. Yet it definitely happened. Somehow, her connection to the unit had been severed. Even more mysteriously, her nearby units did not detect any sign of weapons fire nearby, but the unit disappeared from all sensors. Almost as if something destroyed it in an instant. But was that really it? There were no sign of enemies around Archangel Five, so surely, that could not be the explanation.

---

On Archangel Three, things were a little less mysterious. Much to the dismay of team one, they were also a lot more shitty. Even a couple days' worth of fighting showed itself tremendously on the planet's surface: one practically brutal battlefield had reduced an equatorial jungle to nothing but a smouldering pile of ash. As their pilot zig-zagged around various enemy forces so the ship would not be shot down, the various battle lines started to make themselves apparent. First of all, the vast number of craters along with glassed ground suggested that Neytonia had definitely been here as precision orbital bombardment had always been one of their key tactics. Luckily, they had been pushed back from their orbital positions.

Less luckily, the cities of Archangel were starting to suffer heavy damage. The group had flown over at least two sets of fresh ruins on its way towards Sahant, not to mention the Marsarad battle formation that was only about two hundred kilometres south-west of the largest city. Opposing them was a large Syxtaros force that was slowly giving up ground. The flashes of weapons fire was plain to see as devastating weapons fired payload after payload. And as always, Marsarad was winning through sheer numbers: there was a literal field of corpses and busted-open vehicles in front of the Syxtaros lines. The faithful troopers were no doubt getting demoralised as they were forced to mow down wave after wave of fanatic attackers.

There was still hope, though. Magaln's spaceport, which was so close to Sahant, was still in Syxtaros hands and orbital superiority was also theirs in that area. Supplies could easily come through there... but that did not mean citizens were having an easy time. Martial law was in full effect. Streets were scrubbed clean of any non-combatants while supplies prioritised the military so that they could do their job more easily. Add a decent number of refugees along with the lack of connection to food supplies, the two cities were starting to suffer. As Marsarad could commit an incredible amount of forces to this operations, they had cut off the major ground supply lines to these two communities. Civilians were therefore quite dependant on the military and while there was no crisis yet, it was only a matter of days before stockpiles ran out.

In Ieso, the situation was better. While the marks of orbital bombardment along with conflict could be seen in its vicinity, the war had not reached it truly. The only sign of a war going on was the worried general populace along with the spaceport being closed off for military use. It was a more quiet neighbourhood, which there was time to work some magic or a more elaborate plan. Of course, that was assuming the rumoured Neytonia forces did not show up.

 

[GlitchyBugger]

The plan was... starting to shape up rather appropriately at least, but it seemed as though some of the others were of a different mind compared to herself, Mahrod and Prometheus. Betilla was at least glad that there were agreements being made between the Heralds even if Akaro gave Judas an appropriately cold stare after his suggestion.

"Judas, it might be best that you play the role of revolutionary leader of the people of Magaln with your powers in favour of possibly bringing danger to any of the Faders, nor to Tycho. Implanting a notion of inspiration to follow you within the minds of the locals wouldn't be hard at all, meanwhile, as Tycho suggested, he and the Fader can work elsewhere in the city." Mostly speaking as she took occasional glances outside to see what they flew by, Betilla gently waved her hand through the air to create an array of colours out of nothing which eventually turned into a vague map of the area of the planet they were in.

With a few more waves she conjured portraits of each member and moved them into appropriate places depending on where they stated their wish to go, subtly relishing in the minute use of her power. "So with Azura and Prometheus heading to Sahant to sway the populace there and turn them against their oppressors, we in the mean time have Mahrod and a Fader moving in on Ieso, Judas, Tycho and another Fader heading for Magaln and.... I may as well move for the battlefield, there are plenty of wounded that would easily join our cause if I can bring them and their allies back from the brink alive, turning a large chunk of Syxtaros' military and people to our cause. Because it's a warzone and I'm not much of a warrior I wont bring a Fader along with myself. It's far too dangerous for one of Akaro's specialised units if I'm too busy treating wounded and sick people to ensure their safety. Besides, we could probably restore these ruined areas of the landscape, given time." After talking and moving her own portrait above the battlefield, Betilla bore a fairly pleased expression and looked to her fellow Heralds once more.

"Azura, Prometheus, would you like to have a Fader accompany you? If not we can send the spare two back to Akaro." She lingered on her words, maintaining the "map" she made for the time being and adding an afterthought. "And if we're done deliberating on the task at hand, we'll likely be able to get started with the current plan, remember that whatever we do once we touch land will be at our own discretion."

 

[R-9 Pilot]

The three natural satellites orbiting Archangel Five would provide suitable materials for the construction of TSAR as were the many asteroids orbiting the gas giant. However, the order was to mine the gas giant itself, an order deemed agreeable by the Collective as the giant had more resources than all of its moons and asteroids combined. However, from the data displayed so far, they'd make a suitable hiding spot for the Titans. "Ayako Kohaku, TSAR advises that you consider the moons and asteroids as possible cover for yourself." As they were speaking, Tsarina's space crafts continued scanning the aforementioned giant ball of gas. They detected no anomalies so far.

That soon would end as a minor pang of pain struck the Collective, expressed by a barely visible twitch of the Avatar's eyes as one of the Kirovs suddenly disappeared. "A Kirov is no longer reporting." Tsarina immediately feed the data to Ayako, "The unit disappeared without detecting any prior signs. Other than this, this area of the system hasn't been touched by the populace."She turned her unblinking eyes at the various floating holographic signs in between the Avatars, "TSAR conclude that there must be an unknown threat in this area of the gas giant." She enlarged an image of Archangel Five, pointing to the spot where the lost Kirov was last seen. "TSAR advises that we thread with caution."

The mining platform was ready to be built... but with this development, was it wise to do so? What if it just vanished just like the scout? "For consideration, an alternative plan would be to mine of the satellites or asteroids, Ayako Kohaku."

---

Ayako was happily busy with coordinating all the data from the Kirovs' sensor network, but she didn't miss that sudden disappearance, either. "Hm, that is strange," she commented, gesturing to mark the area of the planet where the disappearance occurred. "Doesn't look like it has anything to do with an electromagnetic anomaly or similar large-scale thing like a plasma sheet, that sort of thing would've turned up on sensors by now.

She briefly considered displaying the planet's magnetosphere data she'd managed to collect so far, but they weren't here for astrological research. "Anyway...yeah, probably best to keep an eye on the planet but not immediately go right in, when we don't know what we're dealing with. But hey, we've got a mystery here~" She practically chirped in excitement. "And here I though this would be boring."

"I'd say stock to a moon or one of the asteroid clusters for now, play it safe until we know what we're dealing with. I'll move for the cover of the asteroids and keep watch from there. Once we're set up a bit, it may be a good idea to construct some simple probes, like, just a bunch of sensors on an engine and enough protection to survive a drop into the planetary atmosphere. And then just...drop them in, start poking around."

The ship began to move, drifting along in a stately fashion using inertialess drive fields to slip into and match speed with one of the asteroid clusters.

---

"TSAR is unable to comprehend why Ayako Kohaku equate this mission with the concept 'excitement'." Tsarina commented even as her mind(s) began recalculating the various parameters especially with this new 'threat' looming near. "The risk of losing the mining platform outweighs the benefit of mining directly on the gas giant until we have further information." The Collective Avatar nodded once, "TSAR shall keep the remaining fielded Kirovs on constant patrol of the area." Even though she didn't like losing her units, she accepted the obvious and harsh truth that there would be necessary casualties in war.

"Sending Voins escorted by Kirovs to position the platform on Archangel Five's 'Seraphim' satellite." The white-haired 'queen' of the Collective declared, more for informing Titan's as her whole selves already knew the plan, they simultaneously formulated it together after all. A short moment later, dozens of Kirovs launched out from the Titan. Some of them were shaped more like transport crafts than starfighters, accompanied by their more standard-issue comrades. The transports carried their humanoid-shaped peers, combat androids serving as the infantry backbone of Tsarina's army.

They moved the mining platform to descend on the moon closest to Ayako's current location. From there, the Voins disembarked from the transports, equipped with personal thrusters, stabilizers, and equipment, they would act as field engineers for the moment. The all-female-modeled infantry worked with maximum efficiency, completely outperforming even the most disciplined of human workers by a long shot. "The mining operation is underway on Satellite Seraphim. No issues or obstacles so far." The avatar conveyed.

---

"Pff, what, did you lose your soul somewhere in those chambers?" Ayako was probably crossing a line, just about every Herald she'd met doesn't even like mention of what was involved in actually becoming what they were. But still, she couldn't help but feel like her companion here was even colder and more inhuman than the rest of those on the mission. Or maybe it was just that she had more opportunity to actually talk with her.

"You seem like all you care about is logic and efficiency, and I'm speaking as a giant starship." She shook her head and shrugged. "Anyway, if you lose any more selves out there, pull them back. It'd be a waste to just keep sending them in with no profit."

She opened a comms line to the other Titan again, to relay the information. "Hey, Connor and Akaro, just a heads-up, but Tsarina's scouts haven't turned up much outside of a single mysterious disappearance. I'm relaying the last know coordinates of the unit; be careful if you end up in that area. And if you manage to notice anything else strange, keep in touch."

---

"..." Tsarina raised her unflinching gaze towards the Titan's blonde avatar, "Soul?" She uttered the word as if it was an alien concept, "'Souls' don't exist, Ayako Kohaku." For humans, the center of the nervous system, the organ that determined how an individual would behave, was the brain. Without it, humans would be nothing more than a hunk of flesh. This still rang true for the Prodigies. For the other Heralds, it didn't work exactly that way but the concept existed, they needed a physical body to exist. TSAR wouldn't exist if every single one of the units were to be destroyed. This belief likely predated Tsarina before her transformation, back when she was a girl named Anastasia Milkov.

"Our mission can't be conducted successfully if we don't operate on logic. We will not be able to sustain prolonged warfare with the Four if we are wasteful." The Avatar replied. For all of Tsarina's inhuman behavior, she still had a sense of comradeship and awareness that she couldn't accomplish everything on her own. "That is exactly the planned course of action." Wasted resources were to be avoided as much as possible.

While Ayako talked with the other Heralds, TSAR continued setting up the mining platform as it made touchdown with the moon, the Voins operating the machine. Provided nothing disturb them, it should be clockwork from here. To make sure of that, the escorts kept their patrol around the moon, looking out for any hostiles.

 

[ShiroKiyoshi]

​

When it had seemed like everyone spoke their mind Judas got bored and returned to the front of the ship, observing the war happening on the ground. He raised a brow as soldiers engaged in large scale fire fights, braced himself as the pilot made evasive maneuvers, and crossed his arms when the ride was calm, leaning against the entryway with his back to the group. Most anyone could have come to the conclusion that hell on earth had been achieved here on Archangel-3, made one wonder why it was even still called that. At this point in the war it was a game of who could break the most stuff first. It made Judas question the logic of the Four even more and how important old humanity was if the effort to recover it just meant destroying it in the process. Judas shook his head before he was suddenly tossed to the side by one of the pilot's maneuvers.

"You should probably sit down." The pilot cautioned.

"Worry, about the ship alright?" Judas said as he rubbed his head, but remained standing where he was. He returned to his postion with his arms crossed before making a hand gesture to the pilot to get his attention. "Brutes, am I right? Create empires, spanning across galaxies, and they aren't satisfied. They hunger for more just for the sake of getting it. We could build bridges, connecting these places, but no. Gotta have this madness." As he spoke he stepped into the cargo area of the ship and shouted back to the pilot. "This is our stop! Lower the bay doors!"

"Are you mad?" The pilot said, forgetting that Judas was a herald for a moment.

"Nevermind, I'll do it. Useless. Tycho! Bring the Fader and let's go." Judas said as he raised his hand, forcing the bay door open. He licked his lips, purposely taking his time, before just pushing it open when the pain of using his powers started to outweigh the pleasure. "Alright, jump."

To many the command would seem insane, but considering the person who gave the command, Judas didn't think Tycho would hesitate much. Following Tycho's jump with the Fader, Judas would have sped their descent, before slowing it suddenly and joining Tycho with a use of teleportation, taking a step and appearing suddenly at his side where he then began to stomp his foot rapidly in a mixture of pain and pleasure. Judas forced himself to keep moving, but ran his mouth the whole time.

"Oh, man! I've never done so much at once! It felt great, but you know it also sucked!" Judas suddenly pushed Tycho and the Fader aside, using a form of gravity manipulation, upon realizing what he had done, Judas released them and grabbed his head. "Sorry."

Judas and co. had droped on a building overlooking both enemy and what would become allied forces. He scanned the area for something large to throw at the enemy and eventually found a destroyed tank, he thought about it, rocking his head back and forth as if listening to the consciousness of good and evil on his shoulders, before snapping his fingers. He looked to Tycho with a smile before his face turned dead serious and he made a slow swiping motion, mimicking a wave. The enemy soldiers were instantly sent flying back. As the allied forces shouted in triumph and began their charge to finish their enemy Judas raised his hand in a motion to signal them to stop, slowing all of them down to the point of a halt. He then turned to Tycho.

"Why are you still here? I kinda liked Betilla's idea, but got my pride to think about, wouldn't admit that to her. Go hit the heart of their supplies, distributing it to the locals is probably a- Hold on." Judas turned to the men and let go, all of them stunned from what just happened. They looked around frantically as Judas returned to his conversation. "As I was saying. The locals might enjoy some food, but I leave the rest up to you, looks like I'll be preoccupied. Keep in touch, also I'd hate to see what Akaro did to you if you let that thing get hurt." Judas then turned and disappeared, appearing at the location of the soldiers a moment later, leaving Tycho with the Fader.

Upon noticing the herald the Syxtaros instantly aimed their weapons at Judas, only pausing for the red color of his jacket, and the gun on his back. Judas shook his head and waited for someone to open their mouth and sure enough one of them started rambling on, asking what Judas' purpose was, why this, and why that. He really just didn't want it at the moment. So, he took his hand and mimicked his talking mouth before pressing his fingers together, forcing the man's mouth to close.

"Shuddup." Judas said before turning to the rest of the men. "Why are the people here hungry?"

Many of the men tried to pull their triggers and their attackers were recovering from Judas' throw from earlier, but Judas continually used a control over gravity to simulate telekinesis preventing them from moving. As their attackers returned Judas turned and pushed them back with another display of imaginary force. They then retreated, accepting that something was prohibiting them from staying any longer. The eyes of the men in front of him widened.

"Now, someone answer my question." Judas said with his arms crossed, throwing the men back, to give himself a break. He rubbed his head, marching forward and picking one up by his clothes. "You know you guys really get on my nerves. It takes so much to make you see the truth, to believe." He tossed the guy aside and breathed in followed by a slow breath out. "So, question, answers, I want them. Go." Judas said, clasping his hand together and pointing at the man whose mouth who he kept shut.

The man stood up and looked to Judas, who sat there, impatiently waiting for an answer. "We don't have enough for them and us- Who are-" Judas closed his mouth again.

"Don't ask. Just know that I can do more than this and I am currently choosing not to because I find this to be enough. Alright?" Judas released his mouth and smiling he broke his interlocking fingers free, placing his hands on his hips. The man just returned a terrified look, as his smile was hidden under the mask. "So, I'm ending this now, what's your objective? We finish it within the hour." Many of them stood stunned, turning to their leader, awaiting a response. Judas stood there hard staring him down, occasionally looking to his men. "Contrary to popular belief hours go by fast and I really am getting sick of them..."

The soldiers from earlier returned with heavy weapons; tanks, large vehicles, and heavies were all brought out. Judas first stripped them of their heavy weapons, turned those weapons on the vehicles, before picking up the tanks and rolling them around, scaring off the attackers. One tried to be a hero and get a shot on Judas. Judas released everything, instead slowing their speed, and made his way to the guy, effortlessly dodging the shots slowly passing him. He wound his hand up and delivered a punch backed with so much force that he was killed instantly. Judas' eyes widened. "Shit."

He picked up the guy and stared at him, a smile was plastered on his face, but he was filled with anger, and then he started to cry. He couldn't help it, it- it felt good, doing that actually felt good, not killing this man, but what he did and it resulted in his death. Judas used his powers one more time to clean his face before returning to the men he was with. Once reunited with them he truly released everything and chaos ensued as explosions went off, people ran, and tanks bounced unnaturally off each other. The weapons he held hostage fell harmlessly to the ground. Judas rolled his head around lost in his pleasure for a moment, but returned to the world with a solemn look.

"You'd think they'd get a clue." Judas said with a laughing tone, brightening his face for a moment before it returned to its previous state. He then lifted the man who seemingly refused to talk when he was only given seconds to even try. Slowly pressure was applied to the man's throat causing him to squirm. Judas relished in torturing this man, not because he liked to see his pained look, but he liked the way it felt to use his powers. The pleasure he gained from it seemingly outweighed the pain at each corner, but he began to see hismelf through the eyes of the men, their terrified looks made him release the guy. "Changed my mind. I don't like your objective. Take me to your leader, I want a word."

The man scrambled to his feet and fixed his clothing before ordering his squad to start moving. They proceeded to escort Judas to their leader. They walked in a bull formation, guarding Judas' front as Judas walked in the middle of them, his hands in his jacket. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out some gum, chewing on it, but as he was putting away the package he called out to his escorts.

"Anybody want some gum? Love the stuff myself." Judas was met with a reasonable silence and they kept walking while he tucked it away.

@Lstorm

 

[Mglo]

Once plans had settled Tycho leaned back into his corner still in his true form though it buzzed with ever-changing minutiae. He'd always been a careful, practical, sort who took some time to open up to others. He surprised himself in that he felt a sort of comfort at the notion of continuing to be this sort of fellow despite the massive changes in his body. In some ways he still clung to his old self, though he was daring enough to venture into storing some quite inhuman forms.

Whilst the ship made its way towards their drop off point, Tycho observed stealing a quick glimpse at his fellow Disruptor. The ease with which he naturally flowed from one form to another, Tycho found it almost artful. It had a sort of expensive look to it. He'd almost opened his mouth to give Mahrod that highest of compliments, when Judas called his name.

Tycho sighed begrudgingly at the order, but stood up nonetheless. Judas, he had determined, had too high of an opinion of himself and nothing Tycho could say would change that.

"You're quickly becoming another Vein in my life Judas," Tycho grumbled as he made the jump. The numerous nanomachines in his body shivered simultaneously as they began a change but were stopped by the sudden change in gravity. And with that, Judas ruined a perfectly good opportunity for Tycho to look like a badass changing shape in mid air. Whatever.

Upon landing, Tycho's yellow on black eyes looked at the surroundings, searching in his library for the most appropriate form. His true from was too personal for a mission, he felt, but most of all it wasn't practical.

"Well it's not abo-" he began his reply before the red buffoon sent him nearly flying. As he turned to hear Judas' apology, Tycho's buzzing form began to crawl as nano machines shifted haphazardly like furiously boiling water until it settled into a young-faced blonde male. The transformation was disturbing to look at, unsettling for anyone still tied even a little to normalcy before experimentation. Tycho thought the falling and mid air thing might have taken some of the edge off but now there he stood, embarrassed by the failed presentation.

"Hm, how caring of you bud," said the irritated nondescript voice of the new Tycho. "Have fun swatting down flies your greatness" he called out as Judas left them.

"Right, Fader I'm gonna go gauge the tone of things and stir up some trouble while you gather info on the supplies so we can plan the most practical maneuver. By the looks of it we're dealing mostly with Syxtaros forces," as he spoke Tycho's blonde bod was suddenly wearing a military uniform of Syxtaros. "Let's keep in touch and let that egotistical psycho know where we are before he blows us up with the enemy."

Like an eager to please boyfriend, Tycho took off to approach a group of soldiers. He followed them, copied them, looked up at them with big puppy eyes, and gave out a precise look of a young man overcompensating to look tough. They laughed at him, told him to relax and go back to his unit.

"You're lost aren't you? Just say it boy!"

Tycho shifted nervously, "Um, I was sent to find wood and next thi-"

"Idiot, that's what we tell little useless punks we don't want to deal with. C'mere! You can tag along with me, I'll teach you to be a proper soldier boy!" Guffawed the Syxtarosian. Young Tycho did as he said and did it quietly. He listened carefully to everything around him, picking up interesting conversations here and there. Meanwhile a few cockroaches simultaneously searched the surroundings, careful not to stray too far from the main body. The soldier's general mood was a good one, tainted by a mild tension but generally touched by complacency. They knew the Ma---- forces were near the area but the easy access to supplies helped ease some of their worries. The people meanwhile, huddled indoors hungry and scared. A group here and there kept watch over the soldier camp, whispering arguments of hope and necessity with a determined voice. Tycho kept close watch of those.

 

[Blighted_Agent]

With the small meeting adjourned and now keeping everybody's plan in mind, Mahrod had done little else besides entertain what his options were while waiting for the landing to happen. Working alone was fine with him, and while he could hold himself in a fight, that wasn't what he was best suited for. No, Ieso would give him the time to work his magic by virtue of being isolated for the moment. The gears of his mind kept churning, only stopping now and then when his concentration faltered and he would see the impossible image of one of his pinkette sisters walking around the ship...

-

Once they had landed, Mahrod in his Casual Male Form moved along with the borrowed Fader until the two found a relatively secluded zone. Crossing his arms, Mahrod would address the Fader directly, saying:

"Time ta get in business. I ain't so keen on things being as they appear initially, y'dig? We's gon get some info to work with and send the rest of our group. You Akky too, right, or something? So is fine, fine, I say fine. Git yer pretty ass movin' and see how the people are and react, get a feel fer the populace, start spreadin' rumors to help the cause. Oh, and fin' us sum them there places ta rest that's not so conspicuous. We gonna use them comm-beads to keep in touch. Meet back in a while, bird's eye view the best when ya have to do geographical recon, see? Toodles."

Wasting no time, Mahrod shifted into his Spy Form, cloaked himself, and took off with the intention of overlooking the entire city to personally become acquainted with its distribution, location of relevant buildings and structures, anticipate possible lines of attack from the opposing forces, and whatever other info he could acquire from his powerful sensor suite. He was not hurried for time and wanted to do it thoroughly, and upon finishing his assignment on the city itself, Mahrod would extend his spying in a radius of several hundred kilometers around it to, attempting to detect possible approaching hostiles...

 

[Beowulf]

Connor grunted in acknowledgment of the data sent over. "I have the location of the anomaly," he said as he displayed the location using a large red dot. He rotated his guns slowly to point in the direction of the anomaly, and kept his doors firmly closed until they moved away from it. "Akaro, I suggest you deploy the mining station on one of the bodies orbiting Archangel V until more is known about the disappearance of one of TSAR's units." It wasn't really a suggestion, more of an order. He was tasked with protecting the Collectives, specifically this one that had chosen him. And he would carry out that task, even if it were against the Akaro's will.

Though once he deemed they were a safe distance away from the anomaly and that he would go for the satellite they were now orbiting, he finally allowed his doors to be opened. Though he deemed them a safe distance away, his guns were still trained on the last known location. "Should more scouts be sent to find out what happened to the lost one?"

 

[Iwazuma]

Azura assessed the situation over Sahant with a light smile on her face. So much carnage, so much fighting amongst themselves...it almost made her job a little too easy. She could just sit back and watch Syxtaros be absolutely destroyed by the oncoming Marsarad forces...she COULD, but then that force would undoubtedly turn to the nearest enemy they could find, which in this case would undoubtedly be herself. No. She needed everyone around the same strength...or at least the support of one of the armies...for now. While the others deployed or chatted amongst themselves, Azura hatched up a little plan.

"Hmm...." She mused to herself quietly, letting anyone close enough listen in. "If these people I'm not allowed to kill are from Syxtaros...then it would make sense to attack the Marsaradan forces, no? After all, 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'"....Azura looked out the window at the oncoming wave of bodies...bodies...hmm...Azura's smile widened a bit. "And I think I know exactly how to...take care of them..." A light giggle as Azura used her reality-warping power, a small red smoke bomb appearing in her hand. "....yes...about ten of these should do..." Was this feeling she felt, this feeling of euphoria, of pure, unadulterated bliss, from using her power? No, no. Couldn't be...this was the joy of watching a plan come to fruition. The joy of revenge.

With her payload in gear, Azura turned to Alan with a happy look. "I will see you in Sahant briefly..." Azura then threw wide the doors of the carrier. "...Best of luck to everyone left..." Unlike Judas, who skydived like a maniac, Azura dropped out of the carrier then hovered over top of the enemy army, barely a speck in the sky to them amidst the chaos and war. They were advancing on an obviously exhausted and demoralized Syxtaran resistance...well, perhaps she could change their minds a little bit on the war.

She casually tossed her little smoke bombs left and right, scattering them amongst the approaching army. Once she was satisfied all ten of them were in place, Azura calmly waved her arm, and they all activated, spewing a copious amount of a strange, red smoke that dispersed throughout the army's first several ranks.

The rest, she absolutely had to see for herself. From there, she dropped down to the ground, hiding at a safe distance behind an abandoned building that looked like it had been looted hours ago. The windows were all broken, the electricity was-why was she paying attention to that? The show was about to begin!

And begin it did. She spotted one soldier in particular who had just inhaled the red smoke. He clutched his stomach briefly...apparently he had suddenly become so hungry he could hardly move. He glanced around for a few minutes, searching for nourishment, before his gaze settled on his own hand. After a moment of careful deliberation, he placed his index finger in his mouth, shut his eyes, and bit down...hard. It took several bites to snap the finger off, but the look in his eyes of pure bliss as the flesh, bone, and blood slid down his throat...it was apparently the greatest thing he had ever tasted. And that's when he noticed the soldier next to him and his delicious, exposed neck....

All hell broke loose in the front lines. The Marsaradan forces leapt at each other, each man trying to end the ravenous hunger he had suddenly contracted by consuming his fellow man. Within a minute, their frenzied attacks had ceased to be against each other when they realized both were trying to eat the other. Instead, they decided to turn their hunger on the unprepared second wave, an army of cannibals launching themselves at their friends and comrades. Laser fire was quickly heard as the Marasadan forces began to fight back against themselves. Blood, guts, and cries of pain and terror were everywhere....

Azura giggled to herself. "That will...keep them busy..."