[The Lost Shards Return] In Difficult Ground

[Reaver]

As the last teams make it in and to the meeting room you notice that the Bosun had dinner prepared and brought in. It also appears that it's fresh and not from the stores as you notice food that was not crafted.


“My Lords and Ladies I had dinner brought up for your ease of planning. Something I found is that you should eat while you can. No idea when the next storm will hit.†A slight chuckle at that as he moves to stand off to the side.


The center hologram shows the enterprise serenely floating in midair with the repairs going on. A center point to highlight your discussions.

 

[Midboss]

"With all due honesty, I think we're already in it."


Cross settled down, out of his armor and back to regular clothing. He would have started the paperwork for the casualties but this was rather urgent. At least he'd have a full stomach.


"So. I'd ask what's the good news, but I get the feeling that we already have a bit of an idea what happened."

 

[Sherwood]

Ailera


Taking a small sip of her wine, she ponders how to begin. You've known these people for centuries. Just spit it out. "The data cache that was recovered from the damaged IAM terminal did not net us very much, but I did find a few nuggets of information in the middle of the dross." She takes her datapad and lets her fingers dance across the crystals. Ailera calls up a display of the invite for the Calibration feast and puts it up on the main display for all to see. "According to the records, there was a gala celebration planned for Calibration. Nothing unusual; I've attended hundreds of such get-togethers as I'm sure you all have. But, what starts out as a party turns into a mass slaughter of the Solars and what few Lunars attended. Of the Celestial Exalts, the only ones not wiped out in this revolt is the Sidereals, and it seems that there is evidence to suggest that they were involved. I don't have any data to say if it was a conspiracy with the Star Chosen as active participants, or if they simply stood aside and let the Dragon Blooded commit their betrayal." Ailera takes a moment to look at the assembled Exalts in the room, with a sympathetic smile for Ulysses and the complement of Dragon Blooded in the room. "Once that happened, the Dragon Blooded were somehow able to contain the majority of the Solar Essences in a prision that was hidden away somewhere, with only a handfull capable of Exaltation. These Solars were then systematically hunted down and killed before the Exalt could even begin to master their abilities. There is little data to suggest what happened to the majority of the Lunars, other than to garbled comments of something called the Wyld Hunt taking down another Anathama at the edge of Creation."


She clears the display and once more looks about the room. "My friends, we are all that remain of the Deliberative."

 

[Coyotekin]

He took a deep breath, very slow and controlled. His natural reaction was to be infuriated at the thought of a mutiny. And yet he knew, both as a captain and a diplomat, that these things didn't just up and happen. "This is a lot to take in. Some of you may have already had your time for shock, outrage, or more. The rest of us will have to find our own time. I will be ready to speak to anyone as well as our own counselor will surely be available."


He reached forth for a glass of wine, sipping it slowly. After taking a moment to help calm his nerves and thoughts he continued. "This was not something that should've been a surprise to the Deliberative. What could have happened to bring something like this about, let alone build without anyone else being aware of it building? Any thoughts, further data?"

 

[Midboss]

"That's actually a very good question there. Someone back there screwed up big time. Not only did they manage to piss off enough people to form a viable revolt against them, but they didn't even see it coming."


Years of experience went into the following words:


"Revolts, especially premeditated ones, don't pop out of nowhere. There must have been enough discontent for at least half the military to take part in the revolution, if not more. After all, even if the majority of our peeps got offed at the feast, there are still the oddballs, escapees and downright asocial exalted who wouldn't have attended. If not enough rallied to them, then that does raise questions as to the loyalty they would inspire."


He let a few seconds for those words to sink in:


"And one wonders how the hell you get a conspiracy that big without someone noticing anything. I remember some of the investigators we had back home. Some of these guys were downright paranoid. I can't help but someone highly placed masterminded that one.... and there is the question of what the higher ups.... you know..."


He points up, implying the incarnee.


"... thought about that one."

 

[Axelgear]

Paxton


If I Told You So could have been concentrated into a glare, Paxton certainly managed it with how he looked at Cross.


"Consider it a blessing, my friends." Paxton declares boldly, his warm smile and silver tongue now returned after a fit of rage. "The traitorous scum and their villainous allies would have likely turned whether we were present or not, and they slew those I... We might have expected to live forever. That we were not there, that we have arrived after with a chance to undo the harm, this can only be considered a blessing!"


"The Sun is with us today, as he has been all through our years astray. We are his Chosen! The night has fallen in our absence, but, surely, our presence means a new day has begun!" He says proudly, excitedly, his whole body moving with his declaration. "We know what we must do: We must find safe harbour; we must explore, gather information; we must prepare, for there is a mighty work ahead of us."

 

[tacolicious]

Oron's face was visibly one of shock. How could creation turn on the chosen of the incarnae. they kepy everything working, flowing smoothly for the masses. How could they do this?


'While I agree with Paxton about fixing creation, we must first understand how this all came to pass. The more information we have, the better prepared we will bee for interacting with this world. I counsel a small presence here in the west, get ourselves settled, all the while building up a large information base. Every building begins with the cornerstone, my lords.'

 

[Zoronos]

Wolf


Wolf set down his glyph reader; he had of course read all the reports from the others already, as well as those filed in-flight by the transport teams. Being the first back to the ship had left him plenty of time to digest the reports as they came in.


His voice was calm and cold. "These things are in the past now, and if these dates are accurate, quite far in the past. While it may be an interesting curiosity to know how and why this coup d'état was carried out, it is largely irrelevant to our present situation." He paused to take a sip of water. "Ulysses can probably inform us if the Chosen of the Maidens were involved, but from what Hati's report contains about an attacker wielding a Starmetal staff and wearing a suit of Armor of the Unseen Assassin, I'd conjecture we can count at least one Starchosen amongst the plotters." Wolf paused briefly to shoot a disapproving look at Paxton. "Regardless, I have always been honored by the devotion and skill of the Terrestrial Exalted that have served alongside us; I would not be so quick to dismiss them as base usurpers. If a united Terrestrial Host rose up against the Solar Deliberative, they must have had a good reason to find such common cause."


Wolf set his glass back softly upon the table. "Anyway, speculation does us no good. We must keep our attention in the Now. The past is gone, and so we must look towards arranging a proper future. Given the damage the teams observed, and the logs taken by the Recorders of Everlasting Glories mounted on the skimmers, I'd say Creation is in a bit of a bad spot. We must hew to protocol in such times; I'd suggest assessing the presence of any still-functional defenses. The Sword of Creation might have survived, or perhaps a semi-functional Direction Titan, those colossal wastes of funds, may still exist. If we mean to repair the damage that has been caused, we must find resources and tools to do so."


Wolf leaned back in his chair, "And Paxton, perhaps you should temper your enthusiasm at the deaths of our comrades. Four good men died today, and some of the Solars and Lunars you so jubilantly mention the deaths of were my friends."

 

[Skrakes]

Lieh Tzu


Oh, look at the Solars posturing. Some things really do never change. When would they accept their fate? "Sirs. Madams. I think that is plainly clear that we step back into a world that has rejected us. I wondered, upon setting out, if we had not somehow stumbled into another Creation on our returning, one running parallel and, mostly, independent of our own. But I suppose we must all face the bloody facts of our newfound existence. We are a sudden force injected into a world that has, clearly, been declining into entropy and failure for quite some time. It has been since the Deliberative formed, betraying the Tao for the legal fiction called the Mandate of Heaven. And so, way has led to way and now the government of Creation has failed, leading to this, this betrayed, poisoned Tao."


Lieh smiles with gentle equanimity. "Your fury, your sadness, is unfounded. This, this was an inevitable result of the dissolution of our once-good friends. The details of how this happened are barely relevant, as now face a world without them that is worse only from our power-occluded perspective. Thus, I propose we land our ship, dial down its engines, and accept the fate that the Incarnae turned away from our plight, our Mandate is revealed for the hollow law it is, and walk with the Tao. Consider the machine Hati and I discovered: a device that summons demons of nearly any quality at any time, all while freeing them from Sol Invictus junction against them. A less contemplative soul might suggest this is the failing of this current age, but I think it is no different than certain projects undertaken during the age of our leaving. Do you not agree?"


Paxton may object, but if push should come to shove certainly her good mate Cross would defend her~

 

[Midboss]

Davian resisted the urge to facepalm at his mate's complete and utter lack of anything even vaguely ressembling diplomacy. He had dealt with drill sergeants that had more tact than her.


There she was going on about that Tao of hers again. He had tried, a long time ago, to understand it during his early and ill fated attempts to form sort sort of bond with her but had quite frankly never got it. No every one could be Lilith and Desus, he supposed.


"Even I find the idea of the complete Delibarative going off the rails a little hard to believe... or the Incarnae turning against us. Sure, I know we aren't perfect... Sun knows we've had to take out the occasional wackjob who decided to join team akuma but that's a little far fetched."


Hoping to defuse any tensions due to his mates comments, he tried to change the subject:


"But as Wolf rather perceptively pointed out, there's no use crying over spillt milk just now. Chances are all those responsible or in a position to actually remember what happened are gone the way of the norvergian blue anyway. I'd say the surviving rebels have most likely formed their own goverment wich is probably the dominant power out there. We need to assess if they have enough strength to resist the fair folk crusade on their way here. Because I'd like to remind they are still out there."

 

[Axelgear]

Paxton


Against Wolf's bile, and Tzu's... Blasphemy, Paxton remains calm and smiling. He barely blinks at their responses.


"Wolf, you wound me." He says with a brief pout and bow of his head, his hand tracing daintily along his scarf. "I said nothing of all Terrestrials; merely the traitors. Those who served loyally deserve fond remembrance." He clarifies cheerfully, moving closer and placing a hand on his fellow Solar's shoulder. "And I would be remised not to expect one of the Sun's priests to know the concept of the Happy Fall." He adds, before moving back to address the room once again.


"I lost as many friends as anyone, and I do not take joy in their loss. I mourn them, but I cannot let that affect my understanding of the present. We are lucky, however, and we cannot deny this: Had we been within Creation's walls, there is no doubt we would have been slaughtered as well. All hope of a better future would have been lost. We are here, however, and that hope does not die with us." Then, his eyes turn to Lieh Tzu, and his smile shifts from friendly to shark-like.


"And I appreciate your opinion, of course, Tzu," he says somewhat more coldly, "but do think about what you say before you say it. If I didn't know better, I'd swear you sounded like you were supporting the defeated Primordials." With confidence, he strides towards the Lunar, and moves until he is close; close enough to be struck if Tzu had a mind to it.


"Still, if you wish to turn back the clock, I'm sure that woman we rescued from being devoured would have something to say about it. Perhaps some of her kin survived, and we can cast her to them as we free Creation from our chauvenisms, hmmm?" The inflection is savoured, and his eyes do not stray from Tzu's.

 

[Arynne]

The slightest of rustles from where Ayame stands, out of her armor and back in the resplendent black-and-silver of her uniform.


If the Celestials are gracious enough to acknowledge her, she asks, "I heard that a young lady from an unknown Gens was rescued from pirates. What, if I may ask, is being done with her?" Her tone is one of gentle concern; she is a mother herself, after all.

 

[Skrakes]

Tzu


Jiro reared up, skittering between Paxton and Lieh. Steam rising from between his fangs he snarled at the Night Caste, a basilisc's make my day, punk.

Jiro is taking a Defend Other action on Lieh.

"Paxton, my dear. The Way is not disconnection. Do not mistake the Way for indifference. Do not mistake strength of arms for strength of character. And above all... do not threaten me." Her eyes are clear and calm, meeting his predatory gaze. Before long, this man would walk the road of the monster-king, the way of the tyrant. Already she could imagine the hate corrupting his mind, and soon it would corrupt his actions. She would not be present when it finally reared up and devoured him.

 

[Midboss]

Cross sighed loudly and got up:


"Ok children. Stop fighting or they'll be no deserts for anyone."

 

[Thorn Darkblade]

Ulysses entered the room, quite ruffled, noticing the thick tension in the room. He slammed an incredibly large stack of books, maps, crystals, and the like on the center table, as loudly as possible, before glaring at the rest of them.


"Excuse my lack of formalities, but, is everyone present? We've got much to discuss, and, I'm afraid not much time. Now, if we can stop arguing for a moment...we can't afford to fight eachother, as the rest of the world is already our enemy...shall I explain?"

 

[Zoronos]

General Wolf


Wolf quickly wiped a tear that had begun to form at the corner of his eye. Perhaps his grief was weighing on him a bit more than he showed.


He took a moment to turn slightly, and gave a nod to Ayame. His voice was still calm, though warmer than previously. "At last I checked, she was in the infirmary, being seen to by one of the ship's doctors. Presuming she is healthy, I was intending to send one of my pilots out on a warbird to return her to her family in the next few days. Though if you have thoughts on the matter, I would be glad to hear them."


Wolf turned back swiftly at the sound of the hissing basilisk. His voice was soft, without a hint of anger. "Stand down please, both of you. If you have personal disagreements, there is plenty of time to work them out later. And control your pet please Lieh Tzu, or it will no longer be welcome in these meetings."


Wolf gave a slight wave of his hand at the returning Sidereal as he entered, "Yes, Ulysses, we are all present. Please take a seat; I'm sure we're all eager to hear the nature of the Adamant Alert you signaled."

 

[Thorn Darkblade]

"Pardon me, but I prefer to stand...I do my best thinking when I'm moving."


There was most definitely a reason he was a Chosen of Journeys.


"Well, things are, well, to put frankly, royally fucked. Creation is crumbling, from within, without, above and below. Where to begin, where to begin..."


Ulysses paged through the books, crystals, maps, and such, before pulling out a map.


"Well, let's start from the beginning, shall we? First thing, you most all understand, apparently, Heaven is not what it was. Due to auspicious events, and a favor from my Maiden, I am able to move covertly amongst Yu-Shan, but, I do not carry the rank I should, so, I must tread carefully. I have retrieved this map. It is a rather up to date, if not entirely accurate map of Creation as is, including manses, leylines, known shadowlands and wyld zones. Considering several higher powered manses I know would've survived whatever cataclysm befell are not present on these maps though, I can only assume they did not trust a 'neonate' with such privy information. However, it's a start. I've already taken the liberty of uploading them into the ship's map database, with an overlay option to compare to previously existing leylines and manses. Any questions before I move on? There is much to discuss..."


The map had barely even made a dent in the pile upon removal.

 

[Axelgear]

Paxton


Paxton cannot help but titter gayly at Lei Tzu's posturing, never losing his smile. "Please, dear, don't be so gauche." He says cheerfully. Reaching out, Paxton snatches a glass from a tray offered by a servant. "I don't threaten. You threaten." He says simply, pausing to sip the fizzy liquor. "I imply."


Walking away, glass in hand, Paxton yields the floor to listen to the report with self-satisfied smugness.


"Mm. Creation crumbling; reduced and almost consumed by the Wyld; Heaven in disarray; cannibal Lunars led by rogue gods. What a power-occluded perspective I must have had to have missed all that before I left." He remarks smoothly, raising his glass towards Tzu. "Please, Ulysses, do continue."

 

[Sherwood]

Ailera


She looks in amazement at the map of the now reduced Creation. "With the army of Fae we ran into, they could swarm all across this in a matter of days! We sure could use a Titan-class floating city or two. Hmm. Perhaps there are some records in this IAM cache that says what happened to them."

 

[Skrakes]

Lieh Tzu


He accused her of sympathizing with Primordials and she's the one issuing threats? The man is a handy example of projection, she will need to remember this incident.


"I see." She raises her glass back, smiling warmly. "The only change is that we are more forthright in our depravity. Understood." Jiro looks at him with reptilian eyes that say SOON, shrunk down and curled in Lieh's lap.


All the same, seeing the multitude of changes laid out for her disturbed even her inner peace. However, not even these new concerns could be allowed to disturb her; she must maintain her steady heart, even in the face of Paxton's shark-faced attempts to dump his own imbalance onto her. For now, she must focus on the Tao, the way of things; what she must do, the right application of the smallest necessary amount of force... sometimes all it took was a jade coin in the path of a behemoth. The diabolical engine in that manse proves a good start...

 

[Feantari]

Lothian sat far back in his chair watching and listening with his hand partially covering his face as he absorbed the news and the antics. His mood had been oscillating between grief, worry, and frustration after hearing a bit about the investigation of the I AM terminal.


His mind echoed Ailera's concern about creation's defenses. Still, the pile in front of Ulysses was not much smaller so he waited. His own discoveries could be shared later.

 

[Midboss]

"Nice map, pity you couldn't get one with all of creation on it...."


And then his face changed to a rather concerned expression when the dots connected in his brain.


"... This is all of creation..... Bollocks..."


The horrible realisation of just how bad things had gotten wieghed him down a short moment. The Deliberative being lost, sure, another regime replaces it and the boats stay on time.... 3/4 of the world having simply gone, that was a cataclysm of the likes not seen since the war against the primordials.


He sat down, completly ignoring Paxton and Lieh Tzu's puerile argument and signed the sideral to continue:


"Do go on..."

 

[Thorn Darkblade]

Ulysses frowned, and pulled out a very dusty tome.


"This isn't certainly all inclusive, but, it explains much of what happened. Names have been removed, to hide their guilt, but, in a nutshell, we were betrayed from within, but it seems not without cause."


He scattered various notes across the table, detailing some of the well known atrocities of the end of the First Age. Well, not well known to them though, considering they were gone. In particular, a file on Operation Wyldhand, although, most of these notes had large chunks missing.


"Damn bureaucracies kept me from getting the full details, so I beg your forgiveness, but, in a nutshell, my compatriots in Heaven organized a coup using Terrestrial pawns, but, from what I've gathered, not for the sake of power. During a sacred Calibration Feast, when many of the Lawgivers were unarmed and not expecting it, was when the initial attack happened. Exact details on Lunar involvement aren't available to me, but the notes seem to reference them dwelling on the edge of chaos now. Worst of all, it seems even Ignis Divine turned his face away from his children in the final moments. Much of the history is missing, at least to my current 'rank'. Apparently not every Vizier is in agreement though...my brief visit already had me involved in conversations of various 'factions' amongst my kin. Frankly, I think they need to get back to their duties and fix what they've done, but, until I can find more details, I can't say why exactly this all went down the way it did. My guess is full insanity to the highest degree, affecting Celestial and Terrestrial alike, that we have been spared from, ironically enough, by being in the heart of madness for so long."


He patted the large book.


"I'll be transferring this, in its entirety, to the data crystals as soon as a spare moment arrives, along with all other notes. However, now that the past is explained, however so briefly, we've got even more issues to deal with."


He motioned once again to the stack, which was now about half its former size.

 

[Coyotekin]

He breathed deeply, slowly, both from the knowledge of current events, as well as the actions of his crew. It didn't help that Lieh Tzu and her Tao was causing problems again. She was fortunate she was a fellow Celestial as her type were thrown off the ship or left at port as soon as they had started with their rhetoric just to keep peace.


"First off what we don't need is infighting, which includes venomous words or philosophical debate no matter how well anyone might veil them. Such can be settled privately and using duels and discussions as has always been our way here. Much has been lost today, truly over the last several thousand years in a day for us. So there i much to take in, and much to mourn. Each shall be tended to in its own way. Right now we are in no place for anything direct without serious losses of personnel as well as heritage. What is done is done and no finger pointing is relevant as we were not part of the equation. This gives us the advantage and we should utilize that. We, as Celestials, and Exalted as a whole, to include our Terrestrial brothers and sisters, are outsiders in this new age. We must adapt, survive, and learn. Our first priority should be locating a suitable location in which to base ourselves. From there we shall do much reconnaissance to learn history as the people of Creation now know it, their cultures, and the various powers of the land."


He sat down and looked at the map with a solemn heart as the glorious Creation he so truly loved to explore, politics be damned, was not what it used to be. "We can use this time to make changes, learn from the mistakes of the past and grow stronger from them. Truly something happened to take away the serenity that we once knew, or perhaps thought we knew. We have a chance to start over and help the many peoples of Creation now. And make no mistake, for all of our great power given to us by our great Incarnae leaders we are still subject to mortality, be it by greater powers, greater numbers, or ingenuity. The method matters little. We are not infallible and make mistakes, sometimes lethal, like everyone else. So at this time I ask for no more fighting or arguing as we have more important things to consider and need to work together more than any other time. If you cannot contain your emotions for the greater good of us all at this time than you may leave and go to your quarters until you are of a more sound mind. I'd rather you remain and lend us your strength in these difficult times." His eyes had looked to them all, while never resting for long on anyone in particular.

 

[Sherwood]

Ailera


"True. We need to focus on the growing threat of the Fae. Obviously we cannot face them all by ourselves; we will need to contact the current governments to give them time to prepare. Also, since there has been no Solars left alive for long, we need to find out the status of the Sword of Creation and the Defense Grid. Without a Perfect Circle the Sword won't work, or at least, it won't work well. We need to secure the Sword for our use, and then we can use it to reestablish control over what was lost to us. We may not want to rebuild the Deliberative in its former form, but we will need something in place, and stop this insanitiy of a Wyld Hunt. Every Celestial we can find must be brought into our control." The sorceress leans back in her chair, her mind whirling with the thought of having to take control of Creation in order to save it. Finally, a challenge worthy of my attention!