Futuristic ~Posthuman~

[SkyGinge]

Posthuman

A flash of light, a piercing scream. A feeling like falling, like the world caving in on you from every angle. Those last thoughts, final regrets. Then the weightiest silence you’ve ever felt, thick as smog. The feeling of something being drawn out like honey from deep within your chest – all the while, an overwhelming sense of terror, of closure, of ending.

You died.

But then you woke up. You find yourself on a strange beach with a horizon that stretches on forever. And somewhere below, a fractured world of metropolises and seas, a universe twisted the edge of stability.

This is the end of the world. This is Apocalypz.

~

They thought nothing was beyond their grasp. They thought they could build anything, go anywhere, and do anything. They understood the laws of existence so deeply that they could treat the world like a computer and code into existence technologies beyond comprehension. But when one scientific experiment went drastically wrong, the entirety of creation was compressed into an eclectic simulation. Underneath the purple skies of Apocalypz, the last vestiges of humanity remain.

Safe from the tumultuous electric-blue seas which twist, climb and fracture, these future humans live cooped up in seven huge cyberpunk citadels. For the lower classes, this life consists of mindless manual labour in the smog and slums of the lower levels. The higher classes meanwhile operate on a hierarchy of technological modification, where higher status provides greater access to innovative new biotech. Biological sanctity has been all but abandoned – this is the age of the posthuman. And this world will not last much longer – each day the edges of existence compress tighter and the skies grow more chaotic. Death is inevitable, and the entirety of remaining life faces a crisis of existence.

But not those who are Destined. Upon death, the human soul usually dissipates from the flesh to travel through the Plain of Oblivion into the Beyond, where nobody knows with certainty what awaits. However, the fortunate few awaken on the beaches of a peculiar place called The Upper Layer. Intrinsically tied with Apocalypz and seemingly dating to prehistory, this place connects the inaccessible, metaphysical world to the last age of humanity through the Well of Souls. This new life, born again from all across human history, leads not to eternal freedom, but to immediate conscription into the Watchers, the military force of Apocalypz. Serving President Tobias Krillitt, these specialized soldiers are augmented with elemental-orientated combat technology called plasmatics and tasked with keeping peace within the cities and stopping people from travelling back in time to change the past. For the wild seas of Apocalypz are a fractured mass of ever-shifting portals into human history that must be carefully monitored – paradoxical interference in history could quicken the destruction of this future. As there is no way back through these portals, these Watchers are the only ones who can return to the future owing to their Destined status. Yet they are not immortal – they can only return after death if they die in the same manner as their original death.

You are a Watcher, a person who died in the past and has returned to life at the end with a new purpose. You might have just came back for the first time, or you might have died over and over again protecting the past. But when something dreadful happens in one of Apocalypz’s cities, the fragile piece of this desperate civilization is thrown into disarray. What follows is a chain of events which pits our heroes against pirate time-meddlers, deviant soldiers and sinister scientists, unravelling a conspiracy leading to the very highest authorities which threatens the lives of all remaining humanity. Will you take a stand and defend humanity, even if it means breaking your ideals?

Or will the world truly end up post-human?

We have just rebooted! Feel free to join this new adventure!

ABOUT THIS RP:

• Posthuman is a genre-bending Cyberpunk/Science-Fantasy/Time Travel RP with a strong combat focus.
• Our characters are all relatively low ranked Watchers who get assembled into a new squad ahead of the first major event. They can have come from any period or place in history before discovering they are Destined and getting conscripted into the Watchers.
• About two thirds of the narrative will take place across Apocalypz, with the other third taking past at various times in the past. Whilst I have an overarching plotline, I'm trying to consider how to integrate player plot ideas into the story, so do be thinking about potential subplots for your characters.
• Writing level wise it’s Casual-Detailed, with me expecting a minimum of two paragraphs in the majority of situations barring quick conversational back-and-forths and some combat scenarios. But I expect a dedication to creativity and strong detail in relevant situations.
• A post-rate of once every five days would be ideal, just to keep things chugging along.
• Check out the Lore thread for further details, then head to the rules/character application thread to submit your character, or ask questions and chat in the barracks.
• IC POSTING IS OPEN!

Code Template edited from freebies by Cythotic
Background Image By: 1CyberPunkBoy
City Image By: Comicsalliance.com

 

[SkyGinge]

Tremors

Location: Everest Docks, Laxynitia

It was a torrid day for travel, thought the lady in leaves as her new, state-of-the-art ark descended into the docks, where it hovered to a halt above a tide of jeering, gas-masked people. Purple lightning sparked across the sky, and acid rain hammered down on the city forcefield, monitor drones swarming busily above. Underneath the ark roof, the ship was decked out in modern Eyvalonian decor, with grassy floors, wooden supports and as little visible metal as possible. That's the way she liked it, the purity of the archaic natural world, the proper state of the world. She felt comforted in her casket of green, protected from the noisy protestations outside.

The lady's name was Bashilia Tretful, Governess of the city of Eyvalon, and she did not like Laxynitia. That she had decided before she'd even arrived. With her autumnal dress of woven 'leaves' (artificial reconstructions, of course) and her slender figure, she had been attractive in her youth. But youth is fleeting, and her attempts to hold it forever through surgery gave her face an unnatural jaggedness and her flesh a plastic glean, giving her the otherworldly quality of a fairytale princess, or a doll come to life. The docks kept the dignified above the masses by raising its landing bays some ten meters above the streets below, but the disparity between the unblemished governess and the dirtied mob was such that she well have came from another world.

She stepped from the grassy carpet of her private ark onto Laxynitian land and beheld the neon skyline stretching out before her. Skyscrapers emerged from the mass of buildings like mechanical tumours. It was uglier than Eyvalon, though so was everywhere else. They even let their filth roam the surface - bars and markets set up by the lower classes were advertised on flimsy neon billboards on the surrounding streets. Their sooty skin, those ghastly masks that they all wear - the mere sight of them made her skin crawl, ew-ew-ew! At least she wouldn't have to touch one - a glass tunnel continued ahead of the landing bay, leading directly into one of the larger buildings.

She took her first steps into the tunnel, flanked by her private guards, masked men with visibly heavy plasmatic modifications. This shouting crowd was worst than most, she thought - they were proud of being marginally less of a nothing than other city's lower classes. The irony is I can't hear anything they're saying when they all shout like this, she smirked - the animals. She recalled a saying her father had installed within her: 'you can only climb as high as the bodies you pile underneath you.' She had built an empire of purity - what had these animals achieved but revelry in the dark? Besides, she was here on business - negotiation with the Laxynitian leader, Governor Benxian. Reports were flying in both cities of mercenaries under each other's names intercepting trade arks and causing trouble within the masses. It was her job to clean her name and prod that lazy Laxynitian into taking responsibility for once.

So they strode forward towards the tower, letting the people's cries fall on death ears. And thus they failed to notice that within the crowd there was one not like the others, a bright-eyed man with no mask and a hand to the communicator in his ear. A man who was soon lost among the tides of the crowd...

Squad Seventeen

Location: Function Hall, Telling Tower Level 97, Laxynitia |

Spoiler: Tags

Semblance Prizzy Kriyze Lioness075 Lekiel Reis Senor_Fluffy Sacrosanctis

With a big belly, a big presence and a humongous ginger beard, Major McGee was a walking, talking stereotype and Leo couldn't help but love him. It was like he was trying to counter being so far from his humble Jacobean origins by adopting as Scottish a persona as possible; around him, Leo felt positively English. With a glint in his eyes and a spring in his step, the Major had only one volume level - bellowingly loud. So this chap probably won't be leading us in any covert missions, aye.

It was Leo's first job as a Watcher. He'd been promised spectacular cities and sights, and instead he found himself cooped up with a batch of soldiers in a compact, bleach-white chamber. Though they were ninety-seven floors up the massive Telling Tower (the home of the city's telecommunications, whatever that meant), they could have been in any cramped space. If he was the type to be swayed by appearances then he'd have been disappointed, but nah - sure, it wasn't half as glamorous as the drawing room of the mansion he'd been brought up in, but this was supposed to be the end of the world, the 'apocalypse'. Even though it wasn't as populated with pestilence and horsemen as he'd have imagined, he hardly expected spectacle from a dying world. His first job; his leg was twitching with a mixture of nerves and excitement. None of this crowd knew him well enough yet to recognise his half-grin as a signifier of his anxiousness.

The Major stood at the front beside a small, holographic screen, flanked by the three captains. His accent was so thick that he spoke meticulously slowly in order to ensure each word was audible.

'Ahl-reet,' McGee bellowed, 'Welcome tah Squad 17. Ah see some auld faces, and ah see some young'uns. Old Jetterberg's expecting big things from this team, so dinnae ye be lettin' yer reputations down, eh?' He erupted in laughter, only stopping several seconds later when he realised nobody else had joined him. 'Ahl-reet ye humourless wretches, here's the task.'

With a tap of his finger, the screen shifted to display the layout of a three-tiered conference hall. The lower level was an open floor designed to house as many guests as possible. In the middle, two walkways overhanging the precipice below lead to a rounded platform with lecterns for public address; above this, a sort-of balcony structure complete with a number of archways overlooking the centre. It reminded Leo of a cathedral, except for heavily technologically advanced.

'No doubt ye'll have heard in the precursory briefing, but this evening marks an important political summit as Governors Benxian and Tretful discuss the ongoing mercenary troubles. There's tension aplenty for both parties, and the lads downstairs are expected to cause a fuss. We're mainly here on precautionary duties, just in case.'

He tapped the screen again, and two lists of names flickered into view. 'We'll be splittin' the team into two responcibilities. Captains Victor and Jetterberg will take the group on the left and man the lower levels, just making sure there's nae fussin'. Captain Earl and mesel' will take the other lot up to the balconies, up here see - again just keeping watch on the main stage. Should be a quiet affair this'un but as its our first time all together I'm expectin' a conscious effort to work as a unit. We've a good hour 'til action time so I suggest we fill it by getting familiar with ourselves'. With this, he saluted and closed with the formal Watcher dismissal: 'Let our eyes be ever vigilant!'

The company saluted in return, Leo's pulse racing as he let his clenched fists rest by his side. Destiny had brought him back, and he wasn't about to waste his second chance.

CHAPTER ONE: The Seeds of WarSquad Seventeen has just been assembled and brought to Laxynitia's Telling Tower to supervise a political conference between two city governors. Major McGee has advised the group to mingle and converse whilst they wait for the hour of the conference to begin. The Major is expecting a quiet affair, but something is stirring in the undergrowth of the city... The soldiers are to be split into teams as follows (more characters will be added to the teams as they join the RP): Ground Control with Captains Victor and Jetterberg Emil Hai Li Song Ingrid Rosenfeld Jaako Aguda Leandra Sinciato Conference Supervision with Major McGee and Captain Earl Aura Soma Leo Theodore Quinn Melchor-Kingston Objective: Get to know your fellow Watchers!

code by Ri.a

 

[Senor_Fluffy]

Jaako Aguda stood tall amongst the crowd, off to the side so he wasn't obstructing anyone's view. His beefy arms interlocked across his chest as he focused desperately on the briefing. This man's heavy accent was a nightmare to understand, however Jaako was able to get an idea of what was going on and what the climate would be like. His dark hues gazing over at the plump man, a bit funny looking and sounding honestly. Being called a bunch of humorless wretches he grinned and held back a chuckle. Which caused him to cough lightly towards the wall. Acting as if nothing happened he turned his attention to the list. He would be with the larger group on the ground, most of the concern was probably with intruders not those involved. Searching the lists, he caught a familiar name, Hai Li Song. A Frost-Fluid classification. He looked around with a thoughtful expression, everyone was more or less strangers. Lovely. The one thing he hated most of these missions was having to work with people he hardly knew, completely new personalities and backgrounds. Yet that didn't change their purpose now.

The past was the past now, it was worthless to identify them by their history. History was history, not like he would be able to go off anything by that information anyways. He had only a basic idea of history after he died from studying. But that really didn't do him any good with familiarizing. Spotting the familiar face of Hai Li he made his way over to her, his lumbering figure took each step with a guarded confidence. Not saying anything to the woman he simply nodded down to her and crossed his arms once more. Standing a respectable distance from her but still close enough to make it clear they would be in the same group together. His braided mane resting against his back and shoulders as he looked around the room. Wondering which of these individuals he would need to strategize with. He'd imagine there is at least one other shield, and since they were to be in closer quarters they wouldn't have more fluid types. So other two must be resource classification. The question now was, which was which.

 

[Lekiel]

-Time is Fixed & Destined -

We are but fools, for thinking we were anything except mere tadpoles futilely swimming in the vastness of the ocean of existence. Every ripple that we propagated in our efforts to command the unchanging reality that is time only served to embolden our hubris. We deceived ourselves in our arrogance, thinking that we had achieved Godhood, self-proclaimed presiders over our very own destiny, for we had prised the secrets of the Universe from the depths of our continuum. But we could not have been further from the truth. For a tiny fish could only see the rippling effects of its wriggling tail as nothing else, but a miraculous disruption of the waters surrounding it. But in the scale of the ocean, it was nothing. For Men was, but Time is.

~Sons of Pythogoras, Elysium Calling.​

~*~​

Deep purple rivulets of energy pulsed across the trimmings of her obsidian Forcefield. With her helm tucked away as per meeting protocols, the raven haired woman stared with eyes of piercing blue at the portly Major. Aura didn't so much as blink at her bearded superior's poor attempts at humour. Her expression was austere, carefully impassive with a hint of sternness as was befitting someone who took their tasks seriously. Perhaps too seriously.

Laxynitia stank of discord. Its people were unruly, wasting precious time and resources taking to the streets harping for more rights even when they were the most well off; relatively speaking. They were a prime example of what Aura detest so much about the masses. They knew nothing of their place in the greater part of humanity, nothing more than a feral dog biting the hand that offered it peace. But it wasn't so much the unruly behavior that annoyed the Watcher, but rather the kind of environment it afforded to those who truly wished for Chaos to reign. The perfect breeding ground for terrorists and anarchists to plot undisturbed away from the watchful eye of authorities. She observed as Major McGee outlined the blueprints of the Conference Hall, a hint of a frown marring her smooth brow. It was a mistake for Governess Tretful to come over, it should've been the other way round. Order was terribly lax and from her earlier self-initiated surveys, there were countless security flaws and breaches that could happen during the summit. What were the top brass even thinking, if they were thinking at all?

Aura let out a barely perceptible huff. At the very least, they were placing her in an overwatching post. She should be able to make full use of her vantage point to scout out and eliminate potential threats before they broke the surface. Better her than any of the others... She thought to herself as she scanned the list of the newly formed 'Squad 19'. She saw a couple of familiar names, Quinn Kingston, Jaako Aguda... she had heard about them in passing, but that was it. The rest... she had not seen at all. It was a joke really, with the number of unfamiliar names. Likely fledgelings with zero experience from the way they carried themselves. Especially... this one. Aura narrowed her eyes at a noticeably stocky and muscular watcher with a goofy grin on his face. The way his light-brown eyes seemed to almost gleam with youthful, re: naive, enthusiasm. It reminded her of her childhood, when her classmates were told that they were going on some school trip. Bright-eyed wonder.

The fuck...

SkyGinge

 

[Semblance]

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[div class=background]

[div class=titlebox]HAI LI SONG[/div][div class=textbox]Hai Li's piercing amber eyes focused on the large ginger-beared man before her, requiring all of her focus to understand his thick English accent. When he made a jab at the audience's lack of humor, she cracked a half-smile and nodded along as he finished explaining their assignment.

As she faced her first Watcher task, she was ready to not only employ all of her new abilities and knowledge, but also to use her newly-discovered Destiny as a way to correct her past moral wrongs. She had finally finished her training after a full year, taking longer than her peers who were not only native English speakers, but also familiar with the recent technological advancements. As a Chinese pirate from the 16th century, learning to navigate this metal world of 0's and 1's had not been an easy task and had required every ounce of her diligence to master the new languages. Luckily, she was not the only one with this struggle, as many of the other Watchers originate from ancient centuries too. Hai Li had grown quite familiar with Jaako, the dark-skinned Ethiopian man, throughout her training.

Although she recognized many of the other Watchers' faces and some of their names, she had not gotten the chance to know them well. She was relieved to see that she and Jaako were in the same group, assigned to secure ground control. Hai Li gave him a small smile as he made his way towards her and stopped a few feet away. She closed the distance between them and looked up at the Ethiopian. "Hello Jaako. Do you know the other Watchers in our group?" Perhaps he had a better idea of their team composition.

[/div]


[/div][div class=credits]credits RI.a [/div]

 

[Reis]

Emil let his thoughts wander as his eyes idly glided over the room. There was surprisingly little for him to see. He was slightly disappointed by Laxynitia's Telling Tower. The few missions he'd been on offered a much better view of the world's potentially stunning environment. Why did Apocalypz have to be so...white?

Of course, this particular mission wasn't all that bad. Emil was surrounded by fellow members of the newly formed Squad 17. He didn't recognize most of the Watchers in the room, and those he did see before weren't all that bad. There was one problem with a particular Destined which stood out, however: what was with this guy's voice? Emil felt grateful for Major Duncan McGee's leadership and all, but surely there was something that could make his voice more bearable--

This is what you probably expect Emil to think, but in reality he didn't mind the Scotsman's accent very much. He found it quite interesting actually, and it was kinda fun to listen to.

Emil's ears perked up at the mention of Captain Ira Jetterberg. He wasn't against her or anything like that, but man was her face scary! Captain Jetterberg had a reputation for her ruthlessness on the battlefield, and this combined with her vicious weapon made her...intimidating, to say the least. All he could do was hope that her "high expectations" of them weren't too high.

Emil slumped his shoulders. Of course they were, and he was even lucky enough to be put in a team with Jetterberg. Emil made a small prayer before noticing one of the other intimidating people he recognized in their Squad. And she just so happened to be on Ground Control as well. He sighed in relief and made his way over to Ingrid Rosenfeld, a Watcher who was constantly going on the few missions he's been on. For some reason she seemed to recognize him even before they were Destined, but he didn't quite remember what happened between them.

"It seems like we'll be working together once again, Ingrid. I'm glad to see a familiar face around here!" Emil left out that he conveniently had someone to hide behind before confronting Captain Jetterberg's icy glare. "I can't stop thinking about how weird this place is." The young Watcher gestured at the white room surrounding them. "I mean, I knew Apocalypzians love huge buildings and all, but this is the 97th floor. Can you imagine how many stairs are on this thing? What would they do if the elevators stopped working, or there was a big fire?" Emil shuttered at the thought of climbing down 97 floors of a burning building. "The people of Apocalypz sure are strange creatures."

Sacrosanctis @everybody

 

[Lioness075]

Name: Leandra Sinciato	Plasmatic Classification: Resource-Scald
Attire: Leather Eye Patch over Right Eye (Hides eye modification, but not edges of scar), Black Leather Jacket, Dark Grey T-shirt, Black Sword Sheathe on Right Hip, Black Cargo Pants, Black Combat Boots	Location: Function Hall, Telling Tower Level 97, Laxynitia
Tagged: SkyGinge , Senor_Fluffy , Lekiel , Semblance , Reis

As she stood among other Watchers, Leandra stifled a yawn. Nine times out of ten, these debriefs were boring and Leandra was almost always daydreaming partway through. She felt as if there were plenty of more productive things she could be doing and often wondered if it would be easier to mass produce some reports for each Watcher to read. Then again, this was probably to ensure everyone was tracking what to do, but Leandra had a feeling she was not the only one getting lost in thought at the debriefs.

Glancing around the room, Leandra noted the many modifications around her and began imagining what each modification could do in battle until Major McGee finally began speaking. His horrid sense of humor was presented a number of times as per usual and each time Leandra struggled with self-control over rolling her eyes. This was truly painful to hear. What was worse was McGee's accent. Leandra knew hers could sometimes be difficult to understand if she spoke too quickly, but McGee's accent almost sounded like another language at times. It was a good thing they brought the holographic screen along, else Leandra would have quickly gotten lost in the debrief.

Noting the layout of the conference center, Leandra hoped for an exciting mission, but was very quickly disappointed to hear this was a politics scenario. Leandra despised politics. It was just a bunch of liars trying to lie better than the next person. Sighing, Leandra rubbed her temples and wondered how quickly she would get a headache from this stupidity. At the very least, she got to be a part of the ground control team and that meant she had a higher likelihood of action.

As the debrief concluded, Leandra looked up again and noticed that Watchers had begun to mingle while waiting for further instructions. Chewing the inside of one of her cheeks, Leandra decided against conversation and instead found a nice wall to lean against. She folded her arms over her chest and then looked around the room curiously. While not intent on conversing with others, Leandra did love to people watch for a number of reasons. At the moment, the reason was to potentially sight any of her group members for this mission. Alas, Leandra had not done the best of befriending or even making acquaintances since becoming a Watcher, so she really had no idea who she could be teaming up with.

Absentmindedly, Leandra looked down at her mechanical cat and watched as it let out a quiet meow and then pounced on nothing. Its tail flickered about while it looked up to meet her gaze. It meowed again, but Leandra decided against petting it amidst this crowd. She learned fairly quickly that most found her relationship with her fake cat to be weird. She had stopped petting it or interacting too much with it in public because of the odd looks she got over time. She sighed at these thoughts, as she felt a strong urge to pet the cat anyways. She had programmed it with some outside help to act like a cat would. Thus, it was begging for attention even more so now that she was trying to ignore it. The mechanical cat pawed at one of her boots before leaning down and pouncing on a stray shoelace. How long were they supposed to be waiting around for again?

 

[Sacrosanctis]

Ingrid's eyes glazed with focus as she stared directly at her major's face, not wanting to miss a single detail about the upcoming mission. The man was fat and loud, and his thick accent made his words difficult to decode, but she didn't pay attention to those minor details. His amiable personality made up for all his flaws, and more importantly he was her superior. The fact that he was higher in the rank of Watchers was more than enough to earn her utmost respect and attention, regardless of the major's individual identity.

After the debrief, Ingrid took a moment to gauge her surroundings as she returned the major's salute. The 97th floor of the Telling Tower was nothing to gawk at; the entire place was blindingly white. Glancing over the names of the people she would work with among Squad 17, she was able to guess at which face corresponded with which name. Hai Li Song was obviously the Asian woman, Jaako Aguda was the dark-skinned man, and Leandra Sinciato...well, between the scarred, tomboyish lady with an eyepatch and the black-haired woman, she couldn't really tell. After having gone through several missions in the past she thought she might have recognized some of them, but she couldn't say for certain. She thought she'd remember them by their distinct origins throughout history, but none of her other squad members stood out to her more than the final Watcher assigned to Ground Control. Emil.

It sometimes pained her to speak with him; even though they were close friends in their original shared timeline, he didn't seem to retain any memories of her existence. However, she was glad that she remained inseparable from him. It was truly miraculous that both of them were Destined, and it relieved her to know that she had a chance to renew their relationship in this new lifetime. Her thoughts were interrupted by the very person she was thinking about. "Humanity has developed technology far beyond our imagination. I'm sure a simple fire is nothing to worry about, and I'm doubly certain the elevators wouldn't suddenly stop working. If they did, the building's managers would be well-equipped to handle the situation." He did have a point, though; 97 was an obnoxiously large number for one building's floor count, regardless of how important the building was. Ingrid almost thought it was built like that intentionally to raise the bar between the rich and the poor. It was disturbing to think she was a factor in the hopelessness of the people she towered over. The people's disparity was deplorable, to the point where it made her hesitant to defend this barren and cruel world. However, this hesitation was dispelled when she thought of her role as a Destined. In this mortal realm of life and death, there had to be some reason why they were the only ones who could be resurrected. Besides, in the grand scale of history a great difference between the lives of the rich and the poor is really nothing special. For now, all Ingrid could do was fulfill her duties as a Watcher to the best of her ability.

"Stop complaining about the building and focus on your mission."

 

[SkyGinge]

…Whilst the unmodified human frame does not hold intrinsic sanctity, this sanction does not permit unlicensed tampering with. Whilst God has given us capacity for mechanized transcendence, it goes against his will for our obedience to create life in our own image. It is the central call of humanity to use this double-edged sword given by our creator and sustainer for the chief benefit of our kind, not for the pursuit of selfish gain…

From the Sixes’ ‘Codex of a Worthwhile Existence’​

~~~~~~~​

LOCATION: LAXYNITIA’S TELLING TOWER, LEVEL 113
TIME: 18:49, 11 MINS BEFORE SUMMIT.

A masked silhouette in a barren corridor. A call to the comms chip inside the mask, unheard.

‘This is control. Are you in position? Over.’

‘Affirmative. Over.’ The figure shifted uneasily on his feet, his breath heavy under the mask. ‘Are the others ok?’

‘Just as uneasy as you. Over.’

‘If this bugs up then there’ll be hell to pay. We sure we’re doing this?’

‘I’m sure, Buzz. You don’t sound so sure.’

The figure remained silent.

‘Being right in a world full of wrong is painful. But you must remember what will happen if we don’t act.’

‘Alright – alright, MAJ,’ the figure sighed, ‘I guess I never did like her anyway.’

‘None of us did. Let’s keep civilian casualties to a minimum, ok? Peace is chaos.'

‘Chaos is peace.’

‘May God have fortune on your ways.’

The line went dead. Walking silent as a ghost, the figure disappeared towards the lift, a slight plasmatic glint shrouded under the cloak of their arm…

~~~~~~~~~​

LOCATION: TELLING TOWER, LEVEL 111-116 – CONFERENCE HALL BALCONY
TIME: 18:55
WITH: AURA SOMA ( Lekiel )

He’d died. He’d risen back to life. Not into the cloudy wonderland of the heavens above, but into a mechanized maelstrom endless eons away from the Edinburgh he called home, conscripted not into an angelic choir but an eternal army. And, by providence, having transcended time, space and all common sensibility to reach this specific moment, Leo found himself knelt uncomfortably over a balcony whilst an overly-patriotic Scotsman hummed loudly down their communications device.

He shared a glance with the lady stationed next to him. He’d heard all sorts of horror stories across his training of barking, no nonsense commanders with as much of a sense of humour as a cotton mill, and here was Major McGee pretending to play the bagpipes with his nose. He’d start low, then suddenly jump up into a jolting folksy melody. Leo wondered whether the Major was conscious to his actions, an instinctual ward of homesickness. Still, though he wasn’t going to deny its annoyingness, Leo was grateful at least to have something to fill the silence and hide his anxiousness.

Well, relative silence. The conference hall seemed to him like a mechanized cathedral – he and a few of his other peers were stations on the balconies above, poking out unseen from archways that rimmed the open space. In the middle, some three floors below them, an unguarded walkway stretched from one side of the room to the other like a metal bridge, meeting at an ovular complex in the middle. This, he was told, comprised the stage itself, with twin lecterns and sets of pews for the two governors and their congresses to. Below on the floor, thousands of necks craned up, thousands of fists jabbed at the sky, and thousands of voices cried out in protest. Way up at the top, Leo was far enough away that their words had smoldered away to sounds by the time they reached him.

“Major,” Leo said. It was still strange for him holding a conversation with people nowhere near him through some metal thingymawatsit in his ear – stranger yet when they replied and it felt like they were speaking from inside him. “Permission to address the party, sir?”

“Parteh?” McGee’s voice returned perturbed – Leo thought he could feel the spittle spew into his ear. “Go’n then, out with yee.

Leo grinned, and then faltered. Customs had certainly changed since his time – would he merely come off as a pansy? Well, what of it – what’s a team if only one person speaks?

“Everyone. Let’s focus hard. It might seem like an easy job, but it’s vital we keep our eyes trained on what’s ahead. Let’s pull through – if we keep our eyes open, not a back goes unwatched.”

“Alright, yeh peppy wally, that’s enoughathat,” McGee chuckled to himself. But to Leo’s bemusement, the Major’s line went dead. Despite his dismissal, it appeared the Major had followed his advice and started training his eyes on the crowd.

‘Backup-backup’. That’s how McGee had described their job. An event as important as this brought in house security, officers belonging to the two city’s individual governance who handled the immediate security around the central section and the governors themselves. So their job was minimized to using ‘binoculars’ (funny zoomy eye devices) to survey the crowd below for signs of disorder. Should some unlucky sod get a wee bit too rowdy, they were to report it and let the officials know.

Easy enough, right? Yeah – a cakewalk, as one strange-mouthed chap at the training academy had said. Leo zoomed on down into the pudding of people, magnifying until faces were visible beyond the backdrop of silver. So bland, the architecture of this world – so grey and empty. If only his mother were here to hang a good painting or too. Better yet, somebody ought to stick some Tchaikovsky on – that’d set the tone better than the echoing jeers below.

Then, as if they’d been switched off, the noise of the crowd went silent. In its place, a fanfare, a refreshingly un-electronic affair – it appeared keeping ceremonies orchestral had never gone out of fashion. ‘Go time’, came another voice on the line; another added ‘This is the Laxynitian anthem. For you newbies.’

From the far side of the room, a procession emerged, fronted by a man Leo presumed was Dai Benxian. He presumed anyway, for there was nothing about the man apart from his uniform that distinguished him – he was fat, tanned and profoundly ordinary. He had an air to him though, noticeable even from up here, that air of authority that Leo had grown to hate. A sense of superioristic nonchalance, a deep-set apathy he’d smelt on many of his father’s friends. Still, Leo found himself smiling despite himself. It’d been so long since he’d seen some proper pomp and circumstance that he found himself fixated on what was happening on the middle level and had to remind himself his job was to watch the crowd.

So, lens trained on the revelers in attendance, Leo struggled not to look back up as a second fanfare played, the boos of the attendees threatening to drown it out in spite of whatever soundproofing technology there was being applied against them. He was not the kind of man to break protocol – providence had brought him here for this duty after all. And yet… and yet…

Leo relented, looked up at the stage just as the two governors were about to shake hands. And that’s when it happened.

A purple bullet of plasma shot from the balcony, piercing Benxian with the ease of stabbing a fruit. As his corpse clanked against the lectern, the Laxynitian guards were already pulling their weapons. Before anything else could happen, the room below had descended into panic, plasmatic blasts firing on all cylinders as the two sets of guards engaged each-other. Sirens blared, doorways slammed shut and the people at the bottom trampled over one and other in terror.

Leo felt hollow. The comms line was in utter disarray, but he could hardly hear it over his thoughts. How soon peace had turned to chaos. Where had the bullet come from?

Gone immediately was his smile, replaced instead with a fierce frown. Then he was on his feet, rounding the balcony to the source of the bullet. If he was fast enough, he could catch the assassin! If he was fast…

Instead, he found out the real reason the Major’s line had gone dead. Because the Major himself had gone dead. Cut off forever by a single plasmatic bullet to the skull, along with the entire west wing of Watchers.

Hollowness threatened again – his mind screamed at him to hide. He wanted to shrivel up into himself like a creature retreating into its shell. No, no Leo you idiot, snap out of it – no hiding will do you good now. What do they need – the crowd below. Security – so provide it; nay, can’t do that, security measures have put things on lockdown. What about us? Control – order.

What about the assassin? Could be a maniac, an independent job, somebody with a bloodlust for Benxian. Plenty of those around – but no, too many hurdles to get to this stage, too many codes to breach. So they’re well-prepared, probably planned for the lockdown. Breaking the law so not afraid to own illegal mods. How would I get through the lockdown?

He turned to the corridor - ace. A gap burnt into the barricade, and a path straight after the attacker.

Leo ripped the comms device from his ear and thrust it to his mouth. “Balcony squad, this is Officer Theodore. Major McGee has been killed. In the lack of a commanding officer, I suggest most stay here and keep the crowd in peace. A few of you, come to the west wing – justice isn’t finished yet.”

With that, the young officer ran off down the corridor, the sounds of the chaos becoming breeze behind him…

~~~~~~~~~~~~​

LOCATION: OUTSIDE TELLING TOWER – COMMUNITY SCREEN
TIME: 1912
WITH: MARIE-LOUIS ( Kharmin ), CELLY ( Epiphany ), JAAKU AGUDA ( Senor_Fluffy ), LEANDRA SINCIATO ( Lioness075 )

Captain Genevieve Victor hated the feeling of powerlessness.

It was a part of her she’d always felt embarrassed about. After all, everybody thought of her as nice. Someone approachable, a chum. Too friendly to be a soldier, one had said. Another one had called her mum on accident. The compliments had been entirely unexpected, and she’d been both honoured and pleased – she supposed she’d never really taken a step outside herself and tried to sum herself up. You can only fall once you’ve climbed though, and Victor was dreading the time they all realized she wasn’t quite the lovely person they thought they knew.

Her first job as a captain. Stationed outside the tower with the majority of the newly assembled Squad Seventeen, theirs was supposed to be the difficult portion. Though a portion of the lower class populace had been granted access to the conference hall itself, the cynical part of her knew it was all for show. Out here, this was where the true revelers would be, the true element of unpredictability. For all they knew, the entire city could show up to watch there, and with it all sorts of unsavory figures. She’d never been great at maintaining discipline, but fortunately she’d been assigned the role alongside Jetterberg’s daughter, Captain Ira. The young captain’s iciness had Victor on edge even in their briefing, but she had been glad on the field to have somebody so ruthless to keep things in check. Because she herself couldn’t bring herself to be cruel to these people, disheveled as they were.

So when the anarchy unraveled before them, all she could do was clench her fists as the peace they had fought so hard to keep began to unravel. Never in her years on the Watch had something like this happened, and all sorts of terrible implications tumbled through her mind. The rising roar of the crowd shattered her introspection, and she turned to see hundreds of people trying to force themselves past their guard and into the building.

“Seventeen, with me. Don’t let them riot.” Ira’s sharp voice through the comms. Victor felt a bittersweet feeling wash over her. Thank goodness for Ira taking charge – yet how inept was she not to have been the one to message!

Just when she thought it couldn’t get any worse, pockets of neon glow erupted from within the crowd. People screamed and forced themselves away, leaving a number of hooded figures with plasmatic modifications unsheathed. Victor cursed under her breath – how had they failed to notice the presence of the enemy among those they were tasked to protect?

“Seventeen, we have company,” she said into the comms, “Prepare to engage.”

CHAPTER ONE: The Seeds of War Squad Seventeen has just been assembled and brought to Laxynitia's Telling Tower to supervise a political conference between two city governors. However, an unseen assassin has infiltrated the summit and assassinated Dai Benxian, alongside the squad's commanding officer Major McGee. In the ensuing chaos, Eyvalon's Governess, Bashilia Tretful, is presumed dead amidst the crossfire. Leo and Aura ( Lekiel ): Stationed on the balcony level, the group is trapped in by the automatic security shutdown with both a crazied mob of lower class citizens and an outright gunfight between guards happening below, and an assassin to chase after following Leo's lead. Objective: Stop the chaos in the hall or give chase to the assassin! Marie-Louis ( Kharmin ), Celly ( Epiphany ), Jaako ( Senor_Fluffy ) and Leandra ( Lioness075 ): Stationed outside the tower, the crowd is growing frenzied, and a number of mysterious plasmatically-equipped figures have appeared. You are free to control these enemies yourselves - keep the peace, soldiers! Objective: Stop the crowd from breaking into the tower, all whilst defending them and yourselves from this hooded warriors.

 

[Senor_Fluffy]

Location: Outside Telling Tower- Front Doors
Time: 1913
With: MARIE-LOUIS ( Kharmin ), CELLY ( Epiphany ), LEANDRA SINCIATO ( Lioness075 ), Captians ( SkyGinge )

'Seventeen, we have company. Prepare to engage.' The feminine yet stern tone over the comms was no surprise to Jaako as he braced against the crowd trying to get in the tower. He used his plasmatic as a barrier between him and the flooding river of muscle and bone. His expression hidden beneath his forcefield. His long braids streaming down the top of his head and covering the back of his neck giving away who he was beneath the cookie cutter forcefield. "Understood. Seventeen, do not get separated. Stay close to the doors and communicate." His thick accent spoke with a calm which threatened irritability over the comms to ground level. The 6'5" man looked over the crowd to spot which held several individuals with plasmatics. As far as he was concerned in this moment, these individuals had caused the chaos. They should clear out the crowd more before even trying to handle those strangers. He flinched as he was shoved further back. Before he shoved back he reminded himself that these individuals didn't have forcefields, they were but children in this chaos. He took in a deep breath, "MOVE BACK." His voice boomed over the chaos, the sound suffocated amongst the crowd. Those directly in front of him loosened up a bit and tried to move aside best they could. Not that they could do much with so many people behind them trying to do the exact opposite.

He had been placed in front of the first barriers of the door. A metal barrier with a fifteen feet of space between it and the next barrier. Then another fifteen feet to the doors. The barriers formed a half circle in front of the Telling Tower. Yet in the face of this chaos, would it really be enough to hold back a mob? He focused on the situation at hand. Amidst the sudden rush he had not been fast enough to get over the first barrier and away from initial harms way. He leaned into the crowd as they loosened up a bit. With a few a bit more space between him and the barrier he used enlarged right arm to create more distance as he stepped over the barrier with his left leg. He panicked a bit as he loosened up on the crowd they surged forward again. Slamming his right leg into the barrier and entrapping him for a moment. The tank of a man seemed a bit lost for words as he looked at this predicament. Speaking over the comms, "I need someone to create some space." He spoke with a hint of urgency, mostly cursing at himself for being such a lumbering rhino.

 

[Epiphany]

Location: Outside Telling Tower- Front Doors
Time: 1913
With: MARIE-LOUIS ( Kharmin ), CELLY ( Epiphany ), LEANDRA SINCIATO ( Lioness075 ), Captain Genevieve Victor ( SkyGinge ), Jaako Aguda ( Senor_Fluffy )

It would be easy to say nothing.

The Blood Royal thrived on parades and processions, so events like this were more familiar than the Watchers' quarters she lived in or the Watcher responsibilities she'd inherited by virtue of waking up here. Celly had watched the occasion progress, feeling isolated in a way she'd never known before. A year in this lingering hell of humanity's future and still she struggled to adapt. Like Apocalypz, she was diminished here, little more than a functionary, a guard and soldier rather than what she'd been born to be.

As gun fire broke out, as the crowd went wild, it would be easy to say nothing. Claim it was shock that stole her tongue. It was even true, after a fashion, for even a year spent among these helpless, hopelessly unchipped people hadn't numbed her to their excesses. Actual gunfire, screaming terror, these didn't exist in the world she'd been bred for. Once, Oversight would have strategically adjusted her Pharmascope to regulate her brain chemistry, diminish flight-or-fight response, clear her thinking and afterwards gently cut away the unwanted memories. Now, she had nothing to stop her from feeling the pulse-pounding terror these people felt and nothing to save her from the nightmares of seeing Governor Benxian be split in two by plasma shot on the monitors that had projected the historic conference taking place inside the Tower.

Yet her mind still worked. Celly's cold analysis no longer had Oversight for balance but her intelligence remained as she sized up the mass of people and the plasmatically modified soldiers in their midst. Even as Ira issued orders preparing them for engagement, Celly could see that bystander fatalities would be immense. There was no chance of imposing order in seconds. There was no way Telling Tower itself could be used to contain them quickly, nor would security ever clear them all given the enemy could slip through their ranks. Celly wasn't used to people who were out of control but she understood how to manage people. Under stress, the ability to think slowed. Clear direction was the best prescription. All they needed was a trigger.

Celly leaped from where she'd been crouched behind one of the barriers ringing Telling Tower. Landing atop the metal barricade, in full sight of the crowd, she gestured emphatically to the left, along a main thoroughfare. "Evacuate to the right! To the right!" The Blood Royal had been engineered to use their voices, from public speaking to operatic singing to issuing irresistible orders. Her sharp, high voice cut across the landscape of sound and riotous bodies, edged enough to induce wincing and the covering of ears by those too close to her. "Everyone, now, to the right!"

Once the outer edge of the crowd moved, the rest would sense the opening and fill it out of reflex, to say nothing of the relief most people felt when given clear direction. Celly lacked others to further steer the crowd down the thoroughfare but what mattered was clearing them from this doorway, removing them from the impending field of fire.

And while her voice rang out with repeated commands, her eyes remained fixed on the plasmatic-wielding warriors as they had from the very start. Celly had to be seen to be effective to the crowd but that also made her a target, to people who'd already proven they had no compunction about killing. Calculating vectors and angles was reflexive to someone with her genengineering and she watched for the moment one of them put their weapons in a clear line-of-fire her way. And then she would see if their modifications were a match for her inborn reaction time.

 

[Lekiel]

Obedience is the highest honor, Aura. It is the only way men will achieve true progress. But there are many who are lost, so they obey those who would lead them astray. As for you my daughter, you will obey our destiny.

~Takeda Soma, Neo Japan 2079​

~ ❖ ~​

"To follow the footsteps our creator has walked before us – there is true joy. Who turns their head from the beauty before them to gaze after fleeting, flickering lights?" Azure eyes stared unflinching at the lectern set roughly center of the oval complex just below, as her lips whispered the hallowed Sixes' wisdom for the day. The cacophony of noise from the crowded spaces below faded into the background, much like each their individual faces. She spared them not a second thought. Perched up high on the balcony, it was so easy to think of them as a singular faceless entity, a living being, but one without a personality. The masses. She allowed her gaze to rove over them, looking not to identify, but to see a break in pattern. Those who sought anarchy usually hid in the noise, but were not part of the noise itself. Unless you were a portly Scotsman by the name of Major McGhee. She was used to his antics by now, but it did nothing to detract from the annoying ditty screeching in her communicator despite her lowering the volume as much as was allowed.

She felt the eyes of someone and looked up to catch one of the new recruits looking in her direction. She spared him barely a glance before turning back to focus at the task at hand, even more annoyed than before now that she was reminded of the number of newbies their newly formed Squad 17 seemed to be baggaged with.

"“Everyone. Let’s focus hard. It might seem like an easy job, but-"

"Tsk." God... he's one of those. Aura immediately stuck a hand between her ear and the communicator before she was tainted by his idealistic naivety. But alas, the fool was standing not a few feet away from her and so she had to suffer through his rallying speech all the same. Thankfully, he stopped before she put a plasmatic round through his thick head. The raven haired girl let out a long suffering sigh. At least, she'd one piece of good news for the day so far. The transmission message from General Dhani definitely took her by surprise, though it was a welcome one. Even the Senator was mentioned. Though it did not give any concrete details, such a personal encouragement from the big wigs high up certainly came sooner than Aura would've expected. Her hard work was paying off. Aura's attention was brought back to the task at hand when the Laxynitian anthem started, and she cursed herself for letting her mind wander while on duty.

It's about time things got moving anyway... With a light click, her left arm had unfurled into a large rifle. Looking through the scope, she scanned her whole forward section while keeping an eye on the procession making its way across the walkway. She almost missed the shot. A flash of purple, and all hell broke lose.

Her visor snapped into place at the same time she looked up at Officer Theodore's face, a question on her lips. "Officer Theodore?!" She couldn't have seen the assassin, the shot came from an angle behind her view. A section which she assumed the newbie would have a better chance of seeing. But he had a dumbstruck look on his face.

"Fuck." Aura cursed under her breath, turning around and retracing the approximate position of the shooter. The West Wing balcony! A traitor? The question hung unanswered through her mind as she raced over to the other side, mentally trying to remember which of them was armed with a pure fluid plasmatic. That had to be the only way. The whole wing was covered with Watchers along with Major McGhee- Aura's footsteps pounded to a halt when she saw the bodies.

"Major McGhee? West Wing?" She called into the mouthpiece, but knew they were all dead anyway. She trained her rifle into the shadowed alcoves as she approached, scanning for any sign of the assailant, but saw and heard nothing but the heavy footsteps of Officer Theodore finally rushing onto the scene. Coming up to the Major's body, she saw the cause of his death. Single round, shot right through the skull. She knew the weapon, same one that was used on Benxian, same one that was on her hand. She turned to the others and found the same cause of death. Multiple shooters? Aura frowned as she processed the scene, seemingly oblivious to the chaos that had erupted below. Theodore was shouting something into the comms, but she paid it no heed. A single shooter couldn't have done this. The flash of purple would've alerted the other Watchers and they would've at least put up a fight. But there was no commotion. They had all been killed almost instantaneously, with no chance to retaliate. The only way a single shooter could've done that was if he access to illegal modifications. She didn't like either prospect. A sudden movement caught her eye and Aura looked up to see Theodore rushing headlong into a gap he had found in the barricade.

"Officer Theodore!" The fool! What was he thinking, if indeed he was thinking at all!? Did he have any idea what he was up against? Aura pondered her options for a brief moment. It was one hell of a big mess below, and she knew her colleagues probably needed all the help they can get. But she'd need to get down first, and get through the chaotic firefight between the two opposing forces. Who knew what would happen by the time she reached the floor? Aura stood to her feet, and dashed towards the barricade.

"This is Officer Soma, slow your ass down Theodore, I'm coming to you!"

SkyGinge

 

[Lioness075]

Name: Leandra Sinciato	Plasmatic Classification: Resource-Scald
Attire: Leather Eye Patch over Right Eye (Hides eye modification, but not edges of scar), Black Leather Jacket, Dark Grey T-shirt, Black Cargo Pants, Black Combat Boots	Location: Outside Laxynitia's Telling Tower
Tagged: SkyGinge , Senor_Fluffy , Kharmin , Epiphany

Staring blankly at the crowd of citizens outside the Telling Tower, Leandra stifled a yawn. She had hoped for some action when she was informed that she would be on the ground and in the area that was most prone to riots, protests, and so on. She had been sorely disappointed to find it was not all that noisy outside, unless the usual reporters were considered as such.

Glancing down at her robotic cat companion, Leandra was amused to see it glance up at the same time. It gave a monotone meow before it shifted its attention back to the citizens. Raising an eyebrow at the poorly tuned voice box for the cat, Leandra mentally noted that she should try to find one that sounded less...well, robotic. Perhaps she could discuss it with Celly later that day to see if she could be of help. After all, the cat would have been an impossible project for Leandra if not for Celly's aid.

Sighing, Leandra looked up in time to see the approaching crowd of angsty citizens. Blinking, she then cast her gaze about her team and saw they all were, for the most part, preparing for a potential fight. Leandra smiled at this and began walking towards the surging crowd. Before she could consider aiding one of her struggling teammates, another began directing the surging crowd and Leandra's smile widened as a gap in the crowd was revealed. Breaking into a light jog, she passed through this gap with ease and her robotic cat bounded along after her. Its mechanical parts made it rather noisy as it moved about and Leandra added to her mental list to try and find out how to make the cat quieter.

Just as she jogged through the gap, Leandra found herself almost immediately facing one of the hood figures. Leandra hoped the figure was as surprised as she was and she wasted no time in beginning a wide swing of her right arm. As she swung it towards the slow-moving figure, her arm began to disassemble itself and as the mechanics retracted, her cavalry sword shot out in time to clash with the figure's own sword. A loud clang filled the air and sparks danced from the figure's sword. Seeing this, Leandra quickly jumped back from him, narrowly avoiding his next swing. If he stunned her at all or slowed her down, Leandra would be quickly overcome.

Scowling, Leandra snapped, "Pounce!" The figure hesitated in confusion, just as Leandra's cat leapt at him and began clawing at his face. Crying out in both pain and surprise, the figure stumbled backwards while Leandra quickly reached up and removed the eye patch she had been wearing. Stashing it in a pocket, she then narrowed her eyes with her mechanized one's parts twisting and turning to allow it to appear as if she were doing the same with it as with her natural eye. With a snarl, Leandra leapt forward and swung at the figure while her cat simultaneously jumped off of him and onto Leandra's left shoulder. Her sword sliced into his left shoulder and the man cried out as flames danced along his arm. She had struck true and had managed to injure his plasmatic arm. Yanking her sword out of his shoulder, Leandra dodged to the right just as the man desperately tried to swing back at her. He clumsily missed her and Leandra wasted no time in jumping towards him again. Just as he looked at her, Leandra hunched her right shoulder and slammed into the man's injured arm. He cried out and crumpled to the ground, but she still did not relent. Just as he was trying to get back to his feet, Leandra raised her sword arm and then swung it down viciously towards the man's right elbow. A sickening sucking sound was heard, her sword sank deep into the man's skin and through muscle. Yanking it out while the man cried, Leandra was ready to deliver another blow, but was suddenly tackled to the side. Her cat warned her too late with a hiss, as she crashed to the ground and gasped as her head struck the concrete.

Leandra's vision blurred and sounds became distant while she began to struggle with whoever had her pinned. Her cat leapt at her attacker, but he slammed the cat down with a plasmatic shield, which he had used to knock Leandra down. Her blow was not nearly as strong as when she had been fighting the other figure, but Leandra still swung her sword up in vain and managed a glancing blow to the person's cheek. As blood began to trickle down their face, Leandra felt their pinning attack lessen and she quickly drove a knee into the person's abdomen. Gasping, they relaxed enough for Leandra to lurch forward and then the two were rolling to the side and wrestling for advantage over one another. Leandra continued to attempt to get her sword at the person, but they were adept at defending themselves and kept blocking blows with their shield. Metal against metal resounded through the area and sparks soon were flying between the pair. Leandra's flames made them easy to spot in the crowd and citizens gave them a wide berth.

 

[SkyGinge]

LOCATION: LAXYNITIA’S TELLING TOWER, LEVEL 113/OUTSIDE TELLING TOWER - COMMUNITY SCREEN.
TIME: 19:14, (and of course all hell has broken loose).
WITH: SETKA OUBASTET ( Plutoni )

For the seventh time in a handful of minutes, Captain Gallius Earl swore.

He kept count out of habit. A dirty thing, swearing - have none of that, his mother'd said. Then the great big, adult world came upon him like a beach-ball to the face, and he'd grown into a language which better reflected the world around him. Still, he always swore beneath his breath, so that he's only be spotted if someone were looking at his lips.

Another glance at the bedlam below and he swore again - eight. He had ample reason to be annoyed. His head was throbbing at the cacaphonic blend of screaming plebians and panicked soldiers yelling into his soul via the comms device. His new boss was dead. And some outspoken rookie had the gaul to decree a 'lack of commanding officer' and rush off on his own, leaving half the line thinking he too was dead. First job blues, he mused bitterly, nobody trusts nobody yet. The rookies were either in meltdown or had entered what he called 'overdrive', where passion comes before common sense; the established officers weren't much better off, shouting commands over each-other as they scrambled to assume authority. He'd tried to give orders but it was no use - how does one wasp stand out from the rest of the buzzing storm.

He ran a hand through his mohawk. On the bridge below, a handful of guards remained locked in their bitter shootout. Below that (the second layer of hell), the crowd had began to frenzy, battering against the sealed doorways and crushing each-other against the walls in fear. If only there was a plasmatic that could fix - but it was far easier to break than to meld.

"Seventeen," Gallius addressed the comms line with the casualness of saluting a passerby, speaking in his usual monotone. "This is Captain Earl. Captain Earl. If you're done drowning each-other out, we need to find an alternate method of getting down. Resource-types, that's mainly on you. Fluid-types, get rid of the Eyvalonians - we need to stop the crossfire and siding against Laxynitia will only make the people hostile to us. Shield-types, you need to be among the people. This is an order."

Fat lot of good that'll do, he thought. Well, at least this lot know I exist. He turned to the officers around him, who had been stationed with him on the north wing. He scanned them quickly - any resource-types here? Damned new squad (was that nine? Does damn count?) - he only just recognised their faces from their files. But one of them he knew - the prickly looking guy with the ridiculous white glove.

Gallius turned and walked up to the balcony edge, brushing by Setka purposefully. "Princeling, you follow me." He stretched out his arms and activated his plasmatics - sharp, curved blades extended from the sides of his arms, the edges shining with a purple glow. Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, he leapt off, digging the ends of the blades below his elbows into the wall, the pure plasma cutting through it with ease. Not the most flattering method of travel, but he'd never been one for appearances.

His descent was interrupted by a buzz in his ear. Frowning, he removed an arm, holding himself upright with just his left as his right answered the call.

"This had better be urgent, Victor."

"Are you guys ok in the hall?" Genevieve asked, nervously.​

"Utter pandemonium. The Major's dead. Civilian rioting. Officers in disarray. And some cretin's ran off after the killer on his own. Perfect time to take a call." Despite his harshness, he couldn't help feeling sorry for the poor inexperienced captain. If this had been his first day on the job, he doubted he'd have been faring better. "How's your end?"

Genevieve watched as Ira engaged one of the enemies with her scythe-like weapon. "Y-yeah... pretty similar story here." She paused, took a breath. "McGee's gone? So... who's in com-"
​

"Save it for later. You do your job, we'll do ours. See you on the other side."

With that, he cut the line, and the little friendly voice faded, leaving him alone in the eye of the storm once again as he continued his descent.

~~~~~~~~​

LOCATION: LAXYNITIA’S TELLING TOWER, LEVEL 113 Corridors
TIME: 19:16
WITH: AURA SOMA ( Plutoni )

Leo dived through the opening, landing into a roll and into a sprint. He ran faster the normal, riding on the subconscious buzz he'd received from a cool manoeuvre well-completed. Everywhere he looked was grey or white - corridor after corridor, all identical. Another barricade - another acrobatic roll. This new body was incredible - they'd filled him with the juice of angels. And he was going to catch that murderer - he was moving so fast that surely he would... All the while so blissfully caught up in his thoughts that he had tuned out the two important voices in the communications device still clutched in his hand, and he noticed even less when it slipped out through the third barricade.

That's when he spotted them - a hooded figure silently blasting out a final hole in the barricade before them. He bared his teeth, clenching his fists as if to activate an unseen boost mode. His footsteps must've been thundering against the metal tiling, because the figure looked up. The majority of their body remained unseen under the mass of their cloak, but a scowling, bearded jawline poked out from the shadows - a man. Leo'd caught him defenceless - midway through using his weapon to escape, and without any idea of anybody following.

The figure twisted and at once the barrel of a long plasmatic rifle was directed at his face. Leo's eyes widened and he twisted suddenly. The shot flew past his face, blinding him momentarily with the glare of the purple energy. He landed, his blade-arm crackling into action. His rush fading, he suddenly realised he was severely out of his depth. His fencing experience had given him excellent understanding of a resource-resource clash, but the only things he knew about projectiles were from his recent training and his hunting days - and the latter he'd largely blotted out from memory, and deer and boar didn't tend to fight back. The only reason he was still alive and not a smouldering mass of disappointment was because he'd remembered what his instructors had taught him about putting off fluid-user. So as the figure raised their rifle again, he could only raise his blade, hoping that against the odds the concentrated energy of his modification would parry the shot enough to let his forcefield absorb the worst of the blast...

 

[Lekiel]

Aura vaulted over yet another red and white plastic blockade, her crimson lips forming a thin grim line. She had been a nimble girl in her lifetime, athletic and fit. But even her old glory days could not compare to the euphoric exhilaration she experienced as she slid under hissing pipes and slammed her palm to the ground to quickly spring back to her feet. The blue-green schematics displayed in her forcefield's HUD struggled to keep pace as it scanned and displayed terrain data, calculating and helping her predict yet another sharp turn, trailing after the digital ghost of her fellow Watcher. He was fast, for someone so bulky looking. She'd have to give him that. So fast that even her predictor failed to register which way he went when Aura hit a fork in the endless metal hallways. Her steel boots pounded to a halt.

"Officer Theodore slowdown! Do. You. Copy?" She tapped her ear, hearing her pulse even as she tried to bring the errant newbie up on the comms. But there was only silence. She didn't know why she worried for him that much. Or perhaps she just hated when people didn't stick to the plan. It only made things so much harder. With a frustrated cry, she disengaged her visor. The nano-metal disappearing with a hiss. It was beginning to feel like a hindrance. Long lashes closed over deep blue eyes as she paced at the corridor, biting her bottom lip as she often did when under pressure. What did her gut tell her?

Fuck it. She took off to the right, raven hair no longer fettered flying wildly in her wake. She hit a sharp corner at speed, so quickly the Watcher instinctively launched herself at the far corner, defeating gravity for an instant as she hung suspended in the air. Checking her footing, as her knees and thighs bent to absorb the momentum, then springing forward gracefully like the ancient dark clad assassins of her old homeland.

Then she heard it. A commotion upfront! Adrenaline coursed through her veins as she willed her legs to move faster. A blast of purple and then she rolled into the next corner. She barely had time to process the situation, but time seemed to slow as it often did under such circumstances. Theodore had his resource blade out, half blocking a hooded figure further down the hall she couldn't see a gun, but there had to be one. She brought her left arm to bear, a metallic whirring and clicking as it assembled itself, clicking into place in mere milliseconds by the time she'd positioned her eye at the exact spot her scope would appear. But she didn't bother, there was no time.

"GET DOWN-!" She barely got the words out. She fired with the ironsights. Then the hallway was lit up in purple.

SkyGinge