Chapter Sixteen: Further Aftermath
Buffy noted Xander leave after Willow had her little break down, but said nothing. While she and Giles helped Willow, Buffy’s brain quietly whirred away, putting together little pieces of information. It was actually scaring her the way things were working. The memories from Bella were a bit muddled and faded, but she could still grasp them, and some rose unbidden, her subconscious grasping at them for the tools to deal with a situation. And the old bitch had a huge number of mental tools to play with.
Already they had given Buffy enough information to fear for her sanity. She could easily develop multiple personality disorder if this kept up. There was her somewhat ditzy, valley girl persona, finely honed in the bitch-fests of Southern California high schools but then severely warped by the impact of having to shoulder the burden of being the Slayer. Then there was the Slayer itself, a wild, impulsive thing that liked to smash things. And now there was the Inquisitor, a cold, hard, machine-like persona designed to ferret out secrets and weaknesses. The mixture was unstable, especially due to her resistance to fully embracing the Slayer and now the Inquisitor.
She feared the monsters in her, but the Inquisitor was now telling her that if she did not embrace these facets of her personality she would break. The Slayer was part of her and if she did not control it, it would run wild on her. In fact, it often did because she did not have the mental strength to truly control it. How often had she run off without any idea what she was getting into only for it to bite her, sometimes literally, in the ass?
She needed to get her act together, not just for herself or the sake of the world, but for her friends. Willow had a head full of memories of an Imperial Assassin, creatures who could not exactly be described of as human and who did things that a young, mostly innocent girl really should not have to think about. Xander… Xander had the memories of a demigod stuck in his, along with who knew what else. They all needed to learn to deal with these memories, or they would all suffer because of them.
The Inquisitor part of her, ever devious, pointed out to the valley girl that even if they came from different cultures with different styles, they both had a refined taste in fashion, so there was at least some common ground there.
Having to admit that despite being an old lady and playing by slightly different rules, Inquisitor Bella did know how to put together a good outfit. She then started shuffling through the memories looking for anything to help Willow out. Somewhere in there she found the knowledge that Bella had on the Temple Assassins.
She then wished she had checked earlier because it was all so simple.
Taking Willow in a hug, Buffy asked, “Willow, who are you?”
Willow blinked a few times before sobbing out, “I don’t know!”
“Does the assassin know?” Buffy asked.
“What?” Willow replied, confused by the question.
“The memories from the assassin. What do they say about who you are?” Buffy said.
Willow paused for a moment before she said, “They… they… they say that I am me. I…”
“You were possessed by a Callidus assassin, correct? She could assume new personalities so completely that even psychics had a hard time telling her from fakes, right? She would say things, do things to further the mission that might be completely opposite to her personality, and yet she remained true to herself and her mission, right? So use that, use that training, that undeniable sense of personality to help you. You are Willow, you are not an assassin; do you hear me?” Buffy said.
Nodding, Willow said a little more firmly, “I think so.”
“Alright, let’s go help you clean up there,” Buffy said, helping up her friend. She then added on, “Maybe you can help the rest of us too. I know Xander could probably use some help with that too. He’s got the most memories to deal with you know.”
Nodding, Willow said a bit more happily, “Yeah… yeah, I could really help him out.”
Giles looked concerned as Buffy led Willow away to the nearest washroom, but he didn’t say anything at the moment, instead giving Buffy a silent Watcher glance that said that he would talk to her later.
The First Evil was pissed in a way that was hard to describe in mortal terms. That little spell that had gone off last night had tapped into the Hellmouth to draw much of its power and it had been a huge power hog. While not enough to actually destabilize the Hellmouth that was because the inhabitants had been drained by the spell. Out of the thousands of Turok-Han within the Hellmouth, two were left.
Two!
Worse yet, in the balance of Good and Evil, that little episode had not significantly changed the scales, and in fact may have tipped it a little towards Evil, meaning that the First was probably going to be even more limited than before.
It would find who had done this. Oh, it would find them and make them pay…
Mayor Richard Wilkins III was pissed in a way that was hard to tell behind his eternally smiling façade. He would never show it or rant or rave or, horrors forbid, swear, but all of his subordinates were tip-toeing around him for fear of his eerily pleasant yet still deadly wrath.
What had happened last night, it threatened everything he had worked for, and made him look bad both to his constituents and to the various demons he had contracts with. This was something that could not be tolerated. Oh no, it could not be tolerated at all.
His resources already told him that the centre of the ruckus last night had been that two-bit chaos mage Ethan Rayne, but the man had neither the power nor the lack of self-preservation instincts to do something so destructive. Someone had interfered with his spell. Someone powerful and skilled at hiding their tracks, as all the auguries and divinations that had been cast so far said that Ethan Rayne was the only one involved in the spell.
That meant that they were looking for a chaos mage or mages, because only one of them would be crazy enough to pull a stunt like that, of immense power and skill to not only interfere with the ritual but cover their tracks that effectively afterward. Unfortunately the Mayor thought that he already knew all of the chaos mages with that much power and had made deals, unbreakable deals at that, with them to stay out of his sandbox. This meant that he was dealing with a chaos mage who had somehow managed to rise to power without drawing the sort of attention that went along with being a super powered lunatic.
The Mayor was looking for a contradiction, a paradox. Perfect. Just perfect. That was what he really needed right now, to have something that should not exist running about causing him trouble while he was trying to do damage control on the town and with his contacts.
Sighing, he pulled out his memo pad and began figuring out what he would need to do today. Another press conference, reassuring the governor that everything was under control, acquiring the Tome of Tal’nach’elb, and reviewing his list of virgin sacrifices. Yeah, that should do for the rest of the afternoon.
Buffy watched wide-eyed as Xander lifted the terrified Larry into the air and could not help but think of how just a few days ago she had been the one keeping the bully off Xander’s back. After the nearly petrified football player ran scurrying off to get the hell out of town, Xander glanced about to see if anyone had seen him before a look of utter self loathing washed over him.
Stuck to the shadows with decades of experience on how not to be seen while trailing someone, Buffy tried to think of something to say to Xander. Part of her wanted to berate him for being stupid, but another part knew that it wasn’t his fault he had the memories stuck in his head, had the power stuck in his body.
That however left her wondering that if he could have some of the supernatural power left over from having Sanguinius stuck in him, what else might be left in them? Skills and knowledge was one thing, but what about physical things? Bella wouldn’t really add much to Buffy physically, but for her friends who had their bodies inhabited by super humans, what could they now do?
It was something worth exploring, although the majority of Buffy rebelled at the thought of using her friends like mere weapons, although the Inquisitor part pointed out that a lot of her objection was probably pure ego talking, seeing as there was a piece of her that would feel threatened at the loss of her ‘special’ status as Slayer if her friends became super powered. That of course was silly, seeing as how if all three of them were on equal terms they would all be safer and there was less chance of them dying at a critical time and the world ending.
Buffy frowned sourly at the thought before squashing it. She had bigger fish to fry. So she followed quietly behind Xander until he collapsed in a chair from exhaustion, at which point she moved up to talk to him.
Looking up, Xander’s face fell and he looked down ashamed to say, “You saw that, didn’t you?”
Buffy considered for a moment before she said, “Yes. I suppose all I have to ask is why?”
Still staring at the floor, Xander fidgeted for a moment before he said, “Because I was angry at Larry for what the thing wearing him last night did. He hurt Cordelia, he flayed off her face! When Cordy recovers she’s not going to want to see him ever again, so I made sure she never would. I wanted to hurt Larry so bad, and it took every fibre of me to not tie him into a pretzel and then go on a rampage. Oh God Buffy, I’m so scared right now.”
Xander then hugged himself tightly and shuddered as if he had stepped out into a Siberian blizzard in one of his regular Hawaiian shirts.
“Listen Xander, you’re not alone. Willow and I, we went through the same thing, and while I’m sure you got the worst of it, we can help you… especially Willow. She probably now knows the most of any one of us about having a firm grasp on her identity and controlling her emotions. We can all help each other out here.”
Finally looking up, Xander let a smile cross his face and he said, “Look at me here, being given the Xander-speech about how I have friends by Buffy. Last night really did a number on us, didn’t it?”
Buffy’s first instinct was to be insulted, but that calm, cool part of her that had been forcibly inserted last night held her back and let her now that her friend was hurting and looking for anything humorous to soothe his wounded mind. And in retrospect it was grimly ironic.
Nodding, Buffy smiled and said, “You’re right, and let me tell you, it’s a pain in the ass, so can we work on making you more Xander-y so we can go back to our normal roles? Being the one pouting is so much more fun than being the one trying to do the cheering up.”
Laughing now, Xander said, “Great! Now I think you’re doing my job better than I am!”
“Come on, we need to get some donuts and ice cream and watch some stupid comedy movies,” Buffy offered.
“No chick flicks,” Xander warned with dark seriousness before his face cracked into a lopsided grin and he said, “Okay, maybe one chick flick if I get to choose a guy comedy.”
“I think we use that as a point of negotiation. Come on, let’s go get Willow and Giles,” Buffy said.
Rising unsteadily on still exhausted legs, Xander posed heroically and said, “To the library!”
Inquisitor Bella lay stripped and naked, a restraining collar about her neck as she lay in front of a council of her peers, who all stared down at her. She gritted her teeth against the pain of the past several weeks of poking and prodding and psychic contact as they had determined whether or not she had been tainted by her experience. Finally she would hear the decision that had been made. While she showed no fear of her fellows, Bella’s heart was clutched with terror. After all, she had been the one to call for this trial.
“Inquisitor Bella de Lancourt, you asked for a trial to test you for corruption after you claim to have had your soul removed from your body by foul sorceries. You have endured every test set before you with the honour and dignity befitting an Inquisitor… or the skill of a master liar. We now stand ready to deliver our judgement,” Lord Inquisitor Stamos declared. “Do you have anything to say?”
“My fate is in the hands of the Emperor, I shall not protest your decision either way,” Bella replied.
“Good. Then you should know that our testing shows that you have been affected by the foulness of Chaos sorcery,” Stamos said.
Hanging her head, Bella said, “Then I await execution.”
Stamos held up a hand and said, “You have been affected, but not tainted, there is a difference. Your story of being drawn against your will into the body of another has been confirmed by a Callidus Assassin who called for an emergency mission abort with a similar tale… and by a request to spare you from the Chief Librarian of the Blood Angels.”
Tears of joy began to well up in Bella’s eyes as she heard that. “Then my story…”
“It would seem that you are one of the most blessed people in all of His Imperial Majesty’s Imperium, if you truly did see Lord Sanguinius,” Stamos said, the barest hint of a smile creasing his ancient and deadly serious face.
“I expect that the Blood Angels will wish to speak with me then,” Bella asked.
“They do indeed. From this point onward all rights and privileges as an Inquisitor have been restored to you. Guards, please release the lady and give her something to restore some of her dignity,” Lord Stamos ordered and a pair of Inquisitorial storm troopers detached themselves from the shadows and went to release Lady Bella.
As she had her restraints removed and a sheet to cover herself, Bella let the hard look of an Inquisitor return to her eyes and she said, “I hope I will not sound presumptuous if I request the chance to get to the bottom of this, especially if it at all portends the return of Lord Sanguinius, or Emperor protect, the Archenemy Horus. I only wish I could have seen the end of their fight.”
“I would expect nothing less from you, and you will receive all the support we can muster. This event must not go unanswered. We will find this world and learn what importance it holds,” Lord Stamos said with absolute certainty.
Bella nodded. The Inquisition was going to find Sunnydale.
The Open Door (megacrossover)
Moderator: LadyTevar
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Try starting in your own backyard, about 2000 miles east of the Imperial PalaceBella nodded. The Inquisition was going to find Sunnydale
Seriously, tho, that's a nasty threat if the Inquisition could cross boundaries to find Sunnydale.
Me: Nope, that's why I have you around to tell me.
Nitram: You -are- beautiful. Anyone tries to tell you otherwise kill them.
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Hmmm.....even if isn't the return of Sanguinius or Horus.....Academia Nut wrote:
As she had her restraints removed and a sheet to cover herself, Bella let the hard look of an Inquisitor return to her eyes and she said, “I hope I will not sound presumptuous if I request the chance to get to the bottom of this, especially if it at all portends the return of Lord Sanguinius, or Emperor protect, the Archenemy Horus. I only wish I could have seen the end of their fight.”
“I would expect nothing less from you, and you will receive all the support we can muster. This event must not go unanswered. We will find this world and learn what importance it holds,” Lord Stamos said with absolute certainty.
Bella nodded. The Inquisition was going to find Sunnydale.
To even hold someone like Sanguinius in his being, Xander's DNA and body has to have likely been shifted in a scale and depth that could hold a candle and match to the Winged Primarch's power and skill.....pretty much becoming on a sense, Sanguinius's biological son.........The Blood Angels will likely give its full support, if that means to retrieve the "Blessed Vessel of Sanguinius".....
.....Likely, a lot of Psykers and Astropaths, are likely trying to find the psychic signals left by the pass through the Warp, of the souls of the Callidus Assasain, the Inquisitor, and specially the Librarians from ALL chapters born from the Blood Angels's Geneseed, who are likely to hold the genetic memory of Sanguinius's psyker traces from the Black Rage's shady memories, along with those few Librarians that still are alive from the time when their Primarch was among them, given that the Blood Angels and the chapters born from them, have the blessing of being ageless. Add, that i could guess that also the Dark Eldar and the Eldar souls have informed their fellows bout the event, along with EVERY Chaos Sorcerer, and even the Warp Gods of that plane, felt that massive "gong" on the Immaterium...something unmistakeably from Chaos, yet NOT from the Four Ruinous Powers.....
the only ones not likely to have heard of that, are likely the Tau and the Necrons/C'Tan.....
Knowing the Orks? with their luck, an asteroid containing spores, for some odd quirk of fate, it's likely to soon fall on Africa or some tropical environment .......
Also, now i'm suspecting something.....and it's that the Sunnyhell plane, and the Earth there......the relate from the TSAB about an "Ancient Civilization" that sealed the barriers between Dimensions and Chaotic(Warp) space eons ago...........what if ALL the hellmouths, the one active, and the inactive ones, are but parts of a massive seal, one with the end of limit the Warp from wildly jump through planes???
If that its even remotely true, Sunnyhell becomes the centerpoint of a potential struggle on a unimaginable scale.....one where those who can, will throw anything to conquer, or destroy that Earth.....
A devoted follower of the Chaos Goddess and her way.....
Buck Murdock: Oh, cut the bleeding heart crap, will ya? We've all got our switches, lights, and knobs to deal with, Striker. I mean, down here there are literally hundreds and thousands of blinking, beeping, and flashing lights, blinking and beeping and flashing - they're *flashing* and they're *beeping*. I can't stand it anymore! They're *blinking* and *beeping* and *flashing*! Why doesn't somebody pull the plug!
Buck Murdock: Oh, cut the bleeding heart crap, will ya? We've all got our switches, lights, and knobs to deal with, Striker. I mean, down here there are literally hundreds and thousands of blinking, beeping, and flashing lights, blinking and beeping and flashing - they're *flashing* and they're *beeping*. I can't stand it anymore! They're *blinking* and *beeping* and *flashing*! Why doesn't somebody pull the plug!
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Chapter Seventeen: Kids
The bizarre skull monstrosity continued to leer down at SG-1 until the sun dimmed for a moment, causing all to look up and see a vast set of leathery wings attached to a familiar frame. Banking tightly, Justice quickly spiralled in to land next to the giant creature, her armour loosened from before to allow for her wings, revealing some more bestial features, most notably the cloven feet that really completed the picture of a demonic figure from mythology.
Frowning, Justice said to the creature in a stern voice, “Kali! What are you doing here?”
The creature frowned and said, “I wanna see momma’s work.”
“Do you have any idea what your parents will say when they find you here? Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ll be in? Do you have any idea how much trouble I’ll be in if I don’t bring you back immediately?” Justice reprimanded.
Looking simultaneously ashamed and defiant, the creature called Kali said, “If you don’t tell them, they won’t know to get mad.”
“They’ll find out young lady! I’m sure that they already know that you’re gone, and you can’t hide from them, they’re far too perceptive for that,” Justice said.
“But… but…” Kali said, starting to pout.
“It’s no use trying to talk me out of it. Now stay here while I contact your parents!” Justice ordered, causing the giant monster to sit down and sulk.
Turning to SG-1, Justice said, “Sorry about that, little Kali here should be at home but she seems to be a bit too interested in what we’re doing here.”
“Which is what exactly?” Daniel asked in an appalled tone.
Grinning with a shark smile, Justice said, “We’re building an Evangelion!”
There was a brief pause before Daniel said, “That’s what Prometheus negotiated so hard to be declared legal?”
Glancing over at the pit and the line of people being decapitated and regenerating, Justice shrugged and said, “We’ll each build them differently, and that’s not the final product. The final product is a fifty metre tall combat cyborg capable of shrugging off nuclear bombardments. We’ll be using it as a weapon against the Ori.”
There was a long silence before Mitchell held up a hand and said, “Daniel, I know you want to say it, but just don’t, okay?”
“You mean that little sentence that goes something along the lines of oh, ‘I told-’” Daniel began.
“I said don’t say it!” Mitchell hissed.
“You funny,” Kali commented.
“Also, could we get a little info on the giant pile of skulls with the mind of a child, and maybe the whole ‘Ninth Circle of Hell’ motif you have going?” Mitchell asked.
Snorting, Justice replied, “The Ninth Circle in Dante’s Inferno was a very cold place, the blasted ruin here has more in common with Sixth or Seventh Circle.”
Daniel raised an eyebrow at this knowledge of Earth mythology before he pointed out, “That didn’t exactly answer our question.”
Waving it off, Justice said, “Yeah, yeah. Alright. Introductions first. Kali, this is SG-1; SG-1, Kali. Named after the Hindu goddess of death and destruction, she is one of the children of the gods. And when I say child, I do mean it literally as she is only about the equivalent of a three year old in terms of development.”
“Okay. And the landscape redecoration?” Mitchell asked.
“Blame the glassed ground on the Ori; they were the ones who decided to bombard us. As for the sky and the fact that you can no longer plot this world in real space, well, that’s our little secret,” Justice said with a false innocent smile.
“Justice made this place a Daemonworld!” Kali announced.
Holding the bridge of her nose in exasperation, Justice said, “Kali, we’ve been trying to avoid using the D Word around here because it scares the locals.”
Pointing to the giant horror and then to Justice, Mitchell said, “Between her and the wings, I don’t think you could hide that fact much longer.”
Looking up, Justice said, “Well, we could kill you all to keep it at secret, now couldn’t we?”
Justice immediately had four P-90s trained at her head, but she gave them all a dirty look and asked, “Do any of you honestly think that those will slow either one of us down?”
As always, Teal’c was the King of One-Liners. “No, but they will almost certainly sting.”
Justice held out for a good three seconds before bursting out into gales of laughter, collapsing to the ground, clutching her side.
“I like his humour,” a soft, feminine voice said behind SG-1. Whirling about to train their guns on this new threat, they instead discovered two naked young women, one deathly pale with blue hair, the other a red head of similar features to Justice, only less demonic.
Somehow the fact that they looked more human did not reassure SG-1.
Two things immediately happened. The first was that Justice snapped to her feet and gave a crisp salute. The other was that Kali cried out, “Momma! Mama!”
“KALI!” The red headed girl roared, causing the demon to flinch and SG-1 to take a step back. “Do you have any idea how worried you made us when you ran off like that? You’re not supposed to leave the Palace without an escort, but to come here of all places? You are grounded for the next decade!”
The pale woman turned to SG-1 and said calmly, “She’s being literal so you know.”
“But!” Kali began.
“No ‘buts’ from you missy, I-” It was at this moment that several glowing white figures materialized out of thin air. The red head turned to them and cried out, “FU-dge! Reigle, you deal with the locals, I’m not done chewing out our daughter.”
“Yes Asukhon,” the pale girl said before turning to the ascended beings and nearly falling apart from the rapid decay that overtook her that resulted in what appeared to be a corpse that had died of plague, smallpox, Ebola, and cancer simultaneously before being buried in rotting garbage for several days and yet was somehow still animate. Raising a placating hand, Reigle said, “We apologize for the intrusion, we were just here to get our daughter back. She is but a child and does not understand the laws she broke by coming here.”
The leader of the Ancients looked amongst them and said, “We can see that, and note that you are taking measures to correct the problem, so we are willing to ‘let this one slide’, but you are pushing the boundaries of our agreement.”
“We can assure you that our presence here is in no way intended to undermine your authority in this galaxy, and we will not influence any of the activities done by our agents that could be construed as a direct intervention, in contravention of your laws of non-interference. Perhaps a small token concession on our part to show our sincerity?” Reigle suggested while Asukhon continued to yell at Kali in the background.
Frowning, the leader of the Ancients replied, “Perhaps.” Glancing at the Evangelion pit being constructed, he said, “That can’t leave this planet.”
Pausing in her rant, Asukhon whirled about and assumed her full daemon war god persona and shouted out, “WHAT? How is that fair? Reigle is here too and I don’t see you punishing her.”
Reigle turned to Asukhon and said in an annoyed tone, “Are you trying to undermine both our positions?”
“I’m just saying…” Asukhon growled out.
Sighing, the Ancient just said, “Alright, how’s about no using Evangelions on non-Daemonworlds?”
Pausing for a moment, Asukhon said, “That actually helps me… sort of.”
Scowling, Reigle said, “We will have to discuss this with the others first, but something along those lines will probably be accepted.”
Turning back to Kali, Asukhon said, “See what trouble you got your mothers into? Not only that, but we missed watching Sunnydale get blown up because we were out looking for you.”
Pouting, Kali said pathetically, “I’m sorry.”
“We are leaving now, but we will be in touch,” Reigle said before fading away. The assembled Ancients gave the situation a few glances before they seemed satisfied and similarly disappeared.
Taking one of Kali’s enormous fingers in her own hand, which somehow managed to dwarf the giant skeletal structure, Asukhon said, “Come along Kali. Also, thank you Justice for calling me.”
Then they too faded away.
“What the hell was that?” Mitchell asked once the need to run screaming towards the horizon subsided.
Unclenching from her pose in salute, Justice said, “Those were the gods, here! What an honour! What a horror! Oh, you are lucky mortals that they did not show you their fully majesty! To see such a thing would drive a lowly daemon like me to my knees in awe and drive you all mad with the splendour!”
“Those two were the gods you worship?” Daniel asked sceptically. He then found a rather large battle-axe resting against his throat where a moment before it had not been there.
“You are lucky I am under orders not to kill you, for I would pluck out your tongue for such insolence any other time. Yes, those were two of our four gods, Asukhon and Reigle. I am a servant of Asukhon, an extension of her will given sentience and individuality, so any insults directed at her are also directed at me,” Justice told him.
“Ah,” Daniel replied nervously as the axe was drawn away from his neck, the razor sharp blade not leaving so much as a nick on him despite the tingling close proximity it had been with regards to his major arteries.
Seething, Justice pointed across the hill and said, “Just… just go for now. Prometheus will undoubtedly fill you in more next time you meet, but right now I need to kill something I’m so mad, so I suggest you not be near by when I start working out my frustrations.”
“Taking the hint,” Mitchell said before getting his team the hell out of dodge. Or was it dodging out of hell?
Far, far away in cosmic terms, in a large, airy apartment that got lots of sunlight, two very different mothers from the two goddesses were having a sit down chat with their daughter.
“So Vivio, the two of us are going to have to go away for a while because of our jobs, and you can’t come along because it’s too dangerous,” Nanoha Takamachi explained to her adoptive daughter.
“We’ll only be gone for a few weeks at most though,” Fate Harlaown, her god mother, added on.
“So you will be good while staying over with your grandparents, right Vivio?” Nanoha said. “Your Uncle Chrono will be sure to stop by too.”
Vivio looked like she was trying not to cry, but looking between the faces of her two mothers she quickly burst into tears and buried her face in Fate’s chest to hide them. The both of them sighed as they wrapped the girl up in a hug, and both felt awful for lying about just how dangerous the mission was. The fact was that the Hayate-Fate-Nanoha circle normally terrified the TSAB leadership because of the magical and political power they wielded, so to have them assembled again less than a year after the Scaglietti Incident showed just how scared they were of the threat from Chaotic Space.
Of course, they also knew that so long as they had something to come home to, nothing would keep them from getting back to Mid-childa, not even a hole torn in the multiverse.
The TSAB was sending its best agents into the breach.
The bizarre skull monstrosity continued to leer down at SG-1 until the sun dimmed for a moment, causing all to look up and see a vast set of leathery wings attached to a familiar frame. Banking tightly, Justice quickly spiralled in to land next to the giant creature, her armour loosened from before to allow for her wings, revealing some more bestial features, most notably the cloven feet that really completed the picture of a demonic figure from mythology.
Frowning, Justice said to the creature in a stern voice, “Kali! What are you doing here?”
The creature frowned and said, “I wanna see momma’s work.”
“Do you have any idea what your parents will say when they find you here? Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ll be in? Do you have any idea how much trouble I’ll be in if I don’t bring you back immediately?” Justice reprimanded.
Looking simultaneously ashamed and defiant, the creature called Kali said, “If you don’t tell them, they won’t know to get mad.”
“They’ll find out young lady! I’m sure that they already know that you’re gone, and you can’t hide from them, they’re far too perceptive for that,” Justice said.
“But… but…” Kali said, starting to pout.
“It’s no use trying to talk me out of it. Now stay here while I contact your parents!” Justice ordered, causing the giant monster to sit down and sulk.
Turning to SG-1, Justice said, “Sorry about that, little Kali here should be at home but she seems to be a bit too interested in what we’re doing here.”
“Which is what exactly?” Daniel asked in an appalled tone.
Grinning with a shark smile, Justice said, “We’re building an Evangelion!”
There was a brief pause before Daniel said, “That’s what Prometheus negotiated so hard to be declared legal?”
Glancing over at the pit and the line of people being decapitated and regenerating, Justice shrugged and said, “We’ll each build them differently, and that’s not the final product. The final product is a fifty metre tall combat cyborg capable of shrugging off nuclear bombardments. We’ll be using it as a weapon against the Ori.”
There was a long silence before Mitchell held up a hand and said, “Daniel, I know you want to say it, but just don’t, okay?”
“You mean that little sentence that goes something along the lines of oh, ‘I told-’” Daniel began.
“I said don’t say it!” Mitchell hissed.
“You funny,” Kali commented.
“Also, could we get a little info on the giant pile of skulls with the mind of a child, and maybe the whole ‘Ninth Circle of Hell’ motif you have going?” Mitchell asked.
Snorting, Justice replied, “The Ninth Circle in Dante’s Inferno was a very cold place, the blasted ruin here has more in common with Sixth or Seventh Circle.”
Daniel raised an eyebrow at this knowledge of Earth mythology before he pointed out, “That didn’t exactly answer our question.”
Waving it off, Justice said, “Yeah, yeah. Alright. Introductions first. Kali, this is SG-1; SG-1, Kali. Named after the Hindu goddess of death and destruction, she is one of the children of the gods. And when I say child, I do mean it literally as she is only about the equivalent of a three year old in terms of development.”
“Okay. And the landscape redecoration?” Mitchell asked.
“Blame the glassed ground on the Ori; they were the ones who decided to bombard us. As for the sky and the fact that you can no longer plot this world in real space, well, that’s our little secret,” Justice said with a false innocent smile.
“Justice made this place a Daemonworld!” Kali announced.
Holding the bridge of her nose in exasperation, Justice said, “Kali, we’ve been trying to avoid using the D Word around here because it scares the locals.”
Pointing to the giant horror and then to Justice, Mitchell said, “Between her and the wings, I don’t think you could hide that fact much longer.”
Looking up, Justice said, “Well, we could kill you all to keep it at secret, now couldn’t we?”
Justice immediately had four P-90s trained at her head, but she gave them all a dirty look and asked, “Do any of you honestly think that those will slow either one of us down?”
As always, Teal’c was the King of One-Liners. “No, but they will almost certainly sting.”
Justice held out for a good three seconds before bursting out into gales of laughter, collapsing to the ground, clutching her side.
“I like his humour,” a soft, feminine voice said behind SG-1. Whirling about to train their guns on this new threat, they instead discovered two naked young women, one deathly pale with blue hair, the other a red head of similar features to Justice, only less demonic.
Somehow the fact that they looked more human did not reassure SG-1.
Two things immediately happened. The first was that Justice snapped to her feet and gave a crisp salute. The other was that Kali cried out, “Momma! Mama!”
“KALI!” The red headed girl roared, causing the demon to flinch and SG-1 to take a step back. “Do you have any idea how worried you made us when you ran off like that? You’re not supposed to leave the Palace without an escort, but to come here of all places? You are grounded for the next decade!”
The pale woman turned to SG-1 and said calmly, “She’s being literal so you know.”
“But!” Kali began.
“No ‘buts’ from you missy, I-” It was at this moment that several glowing white figures materialized out of thin air. The red head turned to them and cried out, “FU-dge! Reigle, you deal with the locals, I’m not done chewing out our daughter.”
“Yes Asukhon,” the pale girl said before turning to the ascended beings and nearly falling apart from the rapid decay that overtook her that resulted in what appeared to be a corpse that had died of plague, smallpox, Ebola, and cancer simultaneously before being buried in rotting garbage for several days and yet was somehow still animate. Raising a placating hand, Reigle said, “We apologize for the intrusion, we were just here to get our daughter back. She is but a child and does not understand the laws she broke by coming here.”
The leader of the Ancients looked amongst them and said, “We can see that, and note that you are taking measures to correct the problem, so we are willing to ‘let this one slide’, but you are pushing the boundaries of our agreement.”
“We can assure you that our presence here is in no way intended to undermine your authority in this galaxy, and we will not influence any of the activities done by our agents that could be construed as a direct intervention, in contravention of your laws of non-interference. Perhaps a small token concession on our part to show our sincerity?” Reigle suggested while Asukhon continued to yell at Kali in the background.
Frowning, the leader of the Ancients replied, “Perhaps.” Glancing at the Evangelion pit being constructed, he said, “That can’t leave this planet.”
Pausing in her rant, Asukhon whirled about and assumed her full daemon war god persona and shouted out, “WHAT? How is that fair? Reigle is here too and I don’t see you punishing her.”
Reigle turned to Asukhon and said in an annoyed tone, “Are you trying to undermine both our positions?”
“I’m just saying…” Asukhon growled out.
Sighing, the Ancient just said, “Alright, how’s about no using Evangelions on non-Daemonworlds?”
Pausing for a moment, Asukhon said, “That actually helps me… sort of.”
Scowling, Reigle said, “We will have to discuss this with the others first, but something along those lines will probably be accepted.”
Turning back to Kali, Asukhon said, “See what trouble you got your mothers into? Not only that, but we missed watching Sunnydale get blown up because we were out looking for you.”
Pouting, Kali said pathetically, “I’m sorry.”
“We are leaving now, but we will be in touch,” Reigle said before fading away. The assembled Ancients gave the situation a few glances before they seemed satisfied and similarly disappeared.
Taking one of Kali’s enormous fingers in her own hand, which somehow managed to dwarf the giant skeletal structure, Asukhon said, “Come along Kali. Also, thank you Justice for calling me.”
Then they too faded away.
“What the hell was that?” Mitchell asked once the need to run screaming towards the horizon subsided.
Unclenching from her pose in salute, Justice said, “Those were the gods, here! What an honour! What a horror! Oh, you are lucky mortals that they did not show you their fully majesty! To see such a thing would drive a lowly daemon like me to my knees in awe and drive you all mad with the splendour!”
“Those two were the gods you worship?” Daniel asked sceptically. He then found a rather large battle-axe resting against his throat where a moment before it had not been there.
“You are lucky I am under orders not to kill you, for I would pluck out your tongue for such insolence any other time. Yes, those were two of our four gods, Asukhon and Reigle. I am a servant of Asukhon, an extension of her will given sentience and individuality, so any insults directed at her are also directed at me,” Justice told him.
“Ah,” Daniel replied nervously as the axe was drawn away from his neck, the razor sharp blade not leaving so much as a nick on him despite the tingling close proximity it had been with regards to his major arteries.
Seething, Justice pointed across the hill and said, “Just… just go for now. Prometheus will undoubtedly fill you in more next time you meet, but right now I need to kill something I’m so mad, so I suggest you not be near by when I start working out my frustrations.”
“Taking the hint,” Mitchell said before getting his team the hell out of dodge. Or was it dodging out of hell?
Far, far away in cosmic terms, in a large, airy apartment that got lots of sunlight, two very different mothers from the two goddesses were having a sit down chat with their daughter.
“So Vivio, the two of us are going to have to go away for a while because of our jobs, and you can’t come along because it’s too dangerous,” Nanoha Takamachi explained to her adoptive daughter.
“We’ll only be gone for a few weeks at most though,” Fate Harlaown, her god mother, added on.
“So you will be good while staying over with your grandparents, right Vivio?” Nanoha said. “Your Uncle Chrono will be sure to stop by too.”
Vivio looked like she was trying not to cry, but looking between the faces of her two mothers she quickly burst into tears and buried her face in Fate’s chest to hide them. The both of them sighed as they wrapped the girl up in a hug, and both felt awful for lying about just how dangerous the mission was. The fact was that the Hayate-Fate-Nanoha circle normally terrified the TSAB leadership because of the magical and political power they wielded, so to have them assembled again less than a year after the Scaglietti Incident showed just how scared they were of the threat from Chaotic Space.
Of course, they also knew that so long as they had something to come home to, nothing would keep them from getting back to Mid-childa, not even a hole torn in the multiverse.
The TSAB was sending its best agents into the breach.
I love learning. Teach me. I will listen.
You know, if Christian dogma included a ten-foot tall Jesus walking around in battle armor and smashing retarded cultists with a gaint mace, I might just convert - Noble Ire on Jesus smashing Scientologists
You know, if Christian dogma included a ten-foot tall Jesus walking around in battle armor and smashing retarded cultists with a gaint mace, I might just convert - Noble Ire on Jesus smashing Scientologists
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von Neufeld
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Two updates in a day! Great!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_Gi ... cal_Nanohadragon wrote:Very nice and very disturbing. But whats the TSAB and from which series?
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Academia Nut
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To give a bit more expansion than a Wikipedia article, the TSAB or Time Space Administration Bureau is the interdimensional police force from the anime series Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. The lyrical bit was thrown in there to deal with the magical girl tropes and it never comes up again. The basic premise is "What if we had magical girls, only they were sane and intelligent and could throw around enough firepower to defeat the US Third Army, and then mixed it up a bit with Star Trek" and then they gave the show a really good plot. The title character, Nanoha, goes by the strategy of beating people into submission and then befriending them, which is why the phrase "You're gonna get befriended!" is bandied about the fan community. This, and the fact that she later becomes a training officer for the TSAB military know for hammering out crack troops has earned her the nickname of the "White Devil".dragon wrote:Very nice and very disturbing. But whats the TSAB and from which series?
Basically she's the most hardcore magical girl out there
And that was from when she was nine. In this story she's about twenty.
I love learning. Teach me. I will listen.
You know, if Christian dogma included a ten-foot tall Jesus walking around in battle armor and smashing retarded cultists with a gaint mace, I might just convert - Noble Ire on Jesus smashing Scientologists
You know, if Christian dogma included a ten-foot tall Jesus walking around in battle armor and smashing retarded cultists with a gaint mace, I might just convert - Noble Ire on Jesus smashing Scientologists
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Darth Yoshi
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As always, Teal’c was the King of One-Liners. “No, but they will almost certainly sting.”
Man, Teal'c is awesome.I laughed when I realized Asukhon said fudge because she was in the middle of chewing out her kid. "We raise them from birth to literally tear our enemies apart, but there will be no swearing!"
Lore Monkey | the Pichu-master™
Secularism—since AD 80
Av: Elika; Prince of Persia
That sounds like an interesting watch might have to see if I can find some copies.Academia Nut wrote:To give a bit more expansion than a Wikipedia article, the TSAB or Time Space Administration Bureau is the interdimensional police force from the anime series Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. The lyrical bit was thrown in there to deal with the magical girl tropes and it never comes up again. The basic premise is "What if we had magical girls, only they were sane and intelligent and could throw around enough firepower to defeat the US Third Army, and then mixed it up a bit with Star Trek" and then they gave the show a really good plot. The title character, Nanoha, goes by the strategy of beating people into submission and then befriending them, which is why the phrase "You're gonna get befriended!" is bandied about the fan community. This, and the fact that she later becomes a training officer for the TSAB military know for hammering out crack troops has earned her the nickname of the "White Devil".dragon wrote:Very nice and very disturbing. But whats the TSAB and from which series?
Basically she's the most hardcore magical girl out there
And that was from when she was nine. In this story she's about twenty.
"There are very few problems that cannot be solved by the suitable application of photon torpedoes
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Academia Nut
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Teal'c is indeed the manMan, Teal'c is awesome.
Yeah, it was just funnier that way.I laughed when I realized Asukhon said fudge because she was in the middle of chewing out her kid. "We raise them from birth to literally tear our enemies apart, but there will be no swearing!"
It's a good series, but the first episode takes a couple of episodes to get up to speed. It's fairly generic right up until the point where Fate shows up, at which point it turns on cruise control for awesome.That sounds like an interesting watch might have to see if I can find some copies.
I love learning. Teach me. I will listen.
You know, if Christian dogma included a ten-foot tall Jesus walking around in battle armor and smashing retarded cultists with a gaint mace, I might just convert - Noble Ire on Jesus smashing Scientologists
You know, if Christian dogma included a ten-foot tall Jesus walking around in battle armor and smashing retarded cultists with a gaint mace, I might just convert - Noble Ire on Jesus smashing Scientologists
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Robo Jesus
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Academia Nut wrote:Pausing in her rant, Asukhon whirled about and assumed her full daemon war god persona
I know this is coming a bit late, but these two lines together kinda contradict themselves.Academia Nut wrote:Oh, you are lucky mortals that they did not show you their fully majesty!
This is sickening... You sound like chapters from a self-help booklet! Prepare yourselves!
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Robo Jesus
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I know, and I agree, but it can still all too easily be misinterpreted as it is. =/Aranfan wrote:Robo, I took it to mean that she didn't change her shape, she just went from Worried Mother mode to Dealing With Other Deities mode.
This is sickening... You sound like chapters from a self-help booklet! Prepare yourselves!
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holyknight
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Hmm...checking the wiki profile bout the "mother" of Fate Harlaown, i noted this "tiny" detail..Academia Nut wrote:To give a bit more expansion than a Wikipedia article, the TSAB or Time Space Administration Bureau is the interdimensional police force from the anime series Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. The lyrical bit was thrown in there to deal with the magical girl tropes and it never comes up again. The basic premise is "What if we had magical girls, only they were sane and intelligent and could throw around enough firepower to defeat the US Third Army, and then mixed it up a bit with Star Trek" and then they gave the show a really good plot. The title character, Nanoha, goes by the strategy of beating people into submission and then befriending them, which is why the phrase "You're gonna get befriended!" is bandied about the fan community. This, and the fact that she later becomes a training officer for the TSAB military know for hammering out crack troops has earned her the nickname of the "White Devil".dragon wrote:Very nice and very disturbing. But whats the TSAB and from which series?
Basically she's the most hardcore magical girl out there
And that was from when she was nine. In this story she's about twenty.
Wikipedia wrote:Precia activates the nine Jewel Seeds in her possession and wishes to go to Al Hazard. This action causes a massive dimensional disturbance, and the Garden of Time begins to fall apart. When Fate joins up with Nanoha and the TSAB forces, she attempts to save Precia, but the crazed mage refuses, laughing in her face and choosing to die with the preserved body of Alicia rather than face a several-hundred-year sentence for her crimes. In the end, she falls without a struggle into a dimensional void.
Dimensional Void?.........Or Chaotic Space????
It would be interesting to see, what a demented by loss, pain and betrayal , mother like Precia Testarossa would be willing to do, if given the chance to finally fulfill her fondest wish, no??
PS:
Hmm.......Now that i think it.....the Konig Monster unit on Macross Frontier, reminds me of a VERY beefed-up version of a Dreadnought on its Gerwalk mode.Academia Nut wrote:Hmm... now, the question is, which thread to pick up for the next chapter?
5.) Open up a new front to test out their fighter technology. I'm thinking Macross Frontier for that one. Sure, the 40k type fighters don't have anywhere near the manueverability of Macross ones, but that's because their linear acceleration makes it both impossible and a moot point anyway
A devoted follower of the Chaos Goddess and her way.....
Buck Murdock: Oh, cut the bleeding heart crap, will ya? We've all got our switches, lights, and knobs to deal with, Striker. I mean, down here there are literally hundreds and thousands of blinking, beeping, and flashing lights, blinking and beeping and flashing - they're *flashing* and they're *beeping*. I can't stand it anymore! They're *blinking* and *beeping* and *flashing*! Why doesn't somebody pull the plug!
Buck Murdock: Oh, cut the bleeding heart crap, will ya? We've all got our switches, lights, and knobs to deal with, Striker. I mean, down here there are literally hundreds and thousands of blinking, beeping, and flashing lights, blinking and beeping and flashing - they're *flashing* and they're *beeping*. I can't stand it anymore! They're *blinking* and *beeping* and *flashing*! Why doesn't somebody pull the plug!
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Academia Nut
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Alright, here's the scoop. I had a chapter mostly finished, but I didn't quite like it and I kind of stalled for a week, so I'm going to start on a new one some time tomorrow. The idea I have is somewhere between "What am I smoking?" and "Mwahahahahahaha!"
I love learning. Teach me. I will listen.
You know, if Christian dogma included a ten-foot tall Jesus walking around in battle armor and smashing retarded cultists with a gaint mace, I might just convert - Noble Ire on Jesus smashing Scientologists
You know, if Christian dogma included a ten-foot tall Jesus walking around in battle armor and smashing retarded cultists with a gaint mace, I might just convert - Noble Ire on Jesus smashing Scientologists
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Robo Jesus
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It it's the first option, then all we as the readers ask is you pass some of whatever it is that you're smoking around.Academia Nut wrote:Alright, here's the scoop. I had a chapter mostly finished, but I didn't quite like it and I kind of stalled for a week, so I'm going to start on a new one some time tomorrow. The idea I have is somewhere between "What am I smoking?" and "Mwahahahahahaha!"
This is sickening... You sound like chapters from a self-help booklet! Prepare yourselves!
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holyknight
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- Contact:
Yeah.....at least that would alleviate the sheer boredom of the waiting....Robo Jesus wrote:It it's the first option, then all we as the readers ask is you pass some of whatever it is that you're smoking around.Academia Nut wrote:Alright, here's the scoop. I had a chapter mostly finished, but I didn't quite like it and I kind of stalled for a week, so I'm going to start on a new one some time tomorrow. The idea I have is somewhere between "What am I smoking?" and "Mwahahahahahaha!"
A devoted follower of the Chaos Goddess and her way.....
Buck Murdock: Oh, cut the bleeding heart crap, will ya? We've all got our switches, lights, and knobs to deal with, Striker. I mean, down here there are literally hundreds and thousands of blinking, beeping, and flashing lights, blinking and beeping and flashing - they're *flashing* and they're *beeping*. I can't stand it anymore! They're *blinking* and *beeping* and *flashing*! Why doesn't somebody pull the plug!
Buck Murdock: Oh, cut the bleeding heart crap, will ya? We've all got our switches, lights, and knobs to deal with, Striker. I mean, down here there are literally hundreds and thousands of blinking, beeping, and flashing lights, blinking and beeping and flashing - they're *flashing* and they're *beeping*. I can't stand it anymore! They're *blinking* and *beeping* and *flashing*! Why doesn't somebody pull the plug!
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Academia Nut
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Chapter Eighteen: Conference
The Time Space Administration Bureau’s First Military Expeditionary Force had been assembled in only about two weeks since the shockwave had washed over their territory, although since the command crew was basically just Lost Property Riot Force 6 reconstituted with the purpose of investigating the probable release of Chaotic Space into the multiverse at large. Only the two most junior members, Erio and Caro, were not present as their skills these days were better suited to rebuilding than investigation and prevention.
Leading the operation was Colonel Hayate, promoted in the year since the Scaglietti Incident, with her Wolkenritter all present as her bodyguards, or more aptly for Vita and Signum enforcers, along with the Unison Devices Rein and Agito. The seven of them alone had the firepower and resources to conquer worlds if they so wished, but fortunately for the multiverse Hayate was more interested in helping others than laying waste to civilizations.
Of course the fact that she was being sent on a mission to the furthest, most dangerous part of the multiverse indicated what the higher ups thought of the ridiculous amount of raw power she had at her fingertips.
The division head of Investigations was Fate, assisted by her seconds Teana and Shari in coordinating nearly two dozen non-commissioned investigators. They would be the ones, hopefully, doing the majority of the grunt work as the searched for answers to what had happened. In addition, the archaeologist and scholar Yuuno Scrya had been added to the team to complement their raw research ability.
And then there was Captain Nanoha, leader of the combat platoon, which she had hand picked from all of the soldiers who had successfully passed through her advanced training regimen. While it was hoped that they would not be needed, Wild Space often housed outlaws and pirates, and almost nothing was known about Chaotic Space, so bringing along extra firepower was always useful. In addition, Subaru of the Disaster Planning and Humanitarian had been added in at Nanoha’s request to make sure that they had some specialized ability to handle whatever disasters they might find out there.
Already they were in transit aboard the heavy frigate Eventide. A smaller ship than the cruisers most of them had worked on before, it had a specialized dimensional keel to aid in manoeuvring in the heavy currents in Wild Space while still being big enough to mount an Arc-en-Ceil. It and its sister ships had been designed to deal with the threat of actual military forces being built up in Wild Space, and with the Scaglietti Incident even more had been commissioned to ensure that no one like him could ever hide out there with some forgotten super weapon and not fear obliteration.
Since it was going to be a long trip, Hayate had decided until now to give the full briefing and begin the strategy session. Everyone already knew the broad details and knew the risks, but the entirety of the story had yet to be told.
Bringing up a holographic image, Hayate displayed the three dimensional map of the multiverse. Mid-Childa was a glowing point at its centre, an arbitrary distinction really, while the various territorial, allied, administrated, non-administrated and unexplored universes were spread out like glowing, colour coded stars in the void. On the part of the map labelled ‘Wild Space’ the tiny spheres that represented whole universes began to smear out, trailing tendrils behind them, while in the centre of Wild Space there was a vast black hole labelled ‘Chaotic Space’ with an ugly red marker that red ‘Probable Breach Point’ on the edge.
Pointing to the red marker, Hayate said, “This is our target, an unexplored universe that only has a cosmological catalogue number U7W-1T4. Two weeks ago, by our reckoning, a massive dimensional dislocation occurred there, sending shockwaves all across the multiverse. Scans though indicate that while this universe exists just outside the boundary of Wild Space and Chaotic Space, the energy for the dislocation came from beyond the Great Wall, the barrier that separates Chaotic Space from the rest of the universe.”
Clearly her throat, Teana waited to be acknowledged before she asked, “What do you mean by ‘our reckoning’?”
Frowning, Hayate explained, “In normal space, including interdimensional space, time is linear and aside from the effects of relativity, it all runs at the same speed. In Wild Space, and presumably more so in Chaotic Space, time is a more slippery thing and can run at many different speeds. Alternate realities form, and it is possible to move between them, or even back and forth along them. Unfortunately this causes a great deal of stress in space and time, hence why experimentation with time travel elsewhere is banned by the TSAB. There is some speculation that Chaotic Space was originally formed when a civilization experimented too heavily with time travel.”
“Who could have done that?” Subaru wondered aloud for a moment.
Everyone turned to Yuuno, but he just shook his head and said, “We don’t know. Some scholars think that it was Al-Hazard that created Chaotic Space and the Great Wall around it, while still others think that Al-Hazard created just the Great Wall in an attempt to contain the destructive energies within. However, there is a growing body of evidence that Al-Hazard was built by survivors from an even earlier civilization whose downfall may be related to the formation of Chaotic Space.”
Fate, Yuuno, and Nanoha all shared a silent look at the mention of Al-Hazard. Nearly twelve years ago Fate’s mother had nearly destroyed a vast swathe of the multiverse in her attempts to find and enter the near mythical lost civilization of Al-Hazard using the Jewel Seeds. Even worse, all of them had already picked out the point on the map that indicated where Precia Testarossa had made her fortress in the border of Wild Space where she hoped that lost civilization might still be hiding.
“So basically we’re dealing with something made by people who may have been myths of myths of the Belkans and its breaking down,” Teana summarized in a horrified tone.
“There is another option,” Yuuno said. “It is also possible that there is something alive in there and they are trying to get out.”
Hayate looked at him strangely before she asked, “I thought that the leading theory was that there was a raw dimensional void in there. Nothing could live in that.”
“Nothing that we can imagine, no,” Yuuno corrected. “It is possible that there are pockets of stability within the void where life could exist, and now that we actually have confirmation of something coming out of Chaotic Space that seems more likely.”
“But they couldn’t be intelligent. The Linker Cores in higher order life tap into the energy inherent between dimensions, and without a Linker Core, even an undeveloped one like in non-mages, true sapience is impossible,” Nanoha pointed out.
“True, but again, that assumes life like ours. There are some theoretical models that show that energy could be obtained from a dimensional void, enormous amounts in fact, it would just be significantly more dangerous to draw from,” Yuuno explained.
“So we are going into a barely explored, mostly patrol-less region where it is difficult to navigate to look at a malfunctioning artefact of an ancient civilization that could destroy civilization as we know it if things go wrong, and there are potential aliens waiting in the wings for us?” Teana summarized.
“Sounds like Tuesday with this group,” Signum said dryly, causing everyone to look at her in shock for coming up with a line like that.
Still, not one to be outdone, Vita replied acidly, “Nah, the stakes are higher than that, this is definitely a Friday job. And if we screw up we’ll have to work overtime on the weekend too.”
Snickering and giggling at the humour between the Guardian Knights, the whole team had a good laugh before Hayate shook her head and said, “All right people, let’s get to the planning, this mission is important.”
Deep in the Palace of the Gods, so far below the surface of what used to be Tokyo-3 that it was no longer technically on Earth it was so deeply submerged in the Warp, the deities watched on as two combatants sparred for their pleasure. In all the myriad worlds open to them, precisely four beings bore the Mark of Chaos Ascendant. The first and foremost was the God Emperor Penguin, who sat in his golden armour along with his finely dressed court in attendance of this match. The second and third were the Primarchs Toji and Kensuke, of which the former was a member of the match.
The fourth mortal to bear the full blessings of the gods was the other combatant, and she had been granted such a boon not for particular valour, but to survive in this place and because of her particular qualities that gave her a great deal of potential. If all went well, she would be the trump card in the coming conflicts.
The match was quite even, although if both parties stopped holding back for fear of harming the other, or more importantly some of the frailer members of the audience, it would probably rapidly devolve into a win for Toji, simply because he had far greater experience, despite the fact that the new girl had been given a full extra four years of training in the past three months since her discovery, a boon the gods had granted by bending time to their whim.
An adamantine and bone scythe collided with a modified power fist and the air exploded into an enormous shockwave from the conflicting psychic energies emanating off of them. Already several dents had been blown in the floor, and a few of the penguins were looking decidedly ruffled. Finally deciding that enough was enough, Tzintchi waved the contestants off and said, “That is enough. I can see that neither one of you wants to lose, but we don’t want you both to cut loose fully. I my eyes both of you have won this match. Toji, by demonstrating your superior martial skills as always. Ali, by demonstrating just how much you have learned.”
Ceasing, the two of them bowed and said, “Thank you my lord.”
“You’ve grown so much since we’ve found you, Little Ali,” Mislaato said proudly, while wiping away a maternal tear made of concentrated heroin.
“I would not have survived without your help, it is the least I could do to train as hard as I could for you,” Ali replied happily while brushing a lock of long, blonde hair made almost white pale by the Warp energies coursing through her veins. “You have given me so much, and so many people have helped me along my path.”
“Yes and your next assignment will be to travel out with Toji to Bloodhaven, the world Asukhon has converted into a Daemonworld,” Tzintchi explained.
Perking up, the four metre tall armour clad giant asked, “So finally you are letting me out there on a military campaign.”
Nodding, Asukhon said, “Of sorts. Frankly in terms of a ground campaign most of the enemies in that universe are either so pathetic or so small that the forces Reigle has already gathered would be enough to overwhelm them if not for space superiority.”
“But Bloodhaven is also the first place any interested parties from the far part of the multiverse where interdimensional travel is not restricted to Haruhi’s domain or a Hellmouth world would go, which means that Ali should meet them,” Tzintchi explained.
Toji frowned for a moment before he asked, “Are you…”
Shaking his head, Tzintchi said, “This is most emphatically not a babysitting mission. Your overall goal will be to coordinate the ground campaigns such that enemy space superiority is not a factor. This will be good practice for you in anticipation of when we turn our attentions to the Necrontyr.”
“With this new travel, why do we not simply find a universe far from them and let them have this one? Not that I advocate running away per se, I just want to know your reasoning with this,” Toji asked.
“Because of the other Chaos Gods,” Reigle said quietly.
Rolling her eyes, Asukhon said, “Well that was informative.”
Shaking his head, Tzintchi said, “Quiet you two. Alright, the long answer is that there exist alternate time lines, paths to universes where the Old Gods did not perish, and they would overwhelm us as we are now. The Necrontyr Great Warding actually shields us from them, as while we can survive in it, they can’t. So first we must build up our infrastructure and then bring down the Great Warding before we can do anything that would draw their attention directly to us.”
“Which is why Mr. Schemes Within Schemes here changed the symbol list for that Ethan guy to none of our symbols, just to lead the Imperium and Chaos in the opposite direction from the majority of our activities and didn’t tell us,” Asukhon growled.
“You would have objected to getting them involved so early in the game,” Tzintchi groused.
“Yeah, well, I think its pretty fucking convenient that Kali ran away to Bloodhaven just in time for that little switch to happen,” Asukhon growled dangerously.
Holding up a hand, Tzintchi said, “Hey! I would never endanger one of the kids!”
“Was the emphasis on ‘never’ or ‘endanger’ there? Because Kali never actually went anywhere dangerous, she just wandered away from home,” Reigle pointed out.
Tzintchi shut up at that.
The Time Space Administration Bureau’s First Military Expeditionary Force had been assembled in only about two weeks since the shockwave had washed over their territory, although since the command crew was basically just Lost Property Riot Force 6 reconstituted with the purpose of investigating the probable release of Chaotic Space into the multiverse at large. Only the two most junior members, Erio and Caro, were not present as their skills these days were better suited to rebuilding than investigation and prevention.
Leading the operation was Colonel Hayate, promoted in the year since the Scaglietti Incident, with her Wolkenritter all present as her bodyguards, or more aptly for Vita and Signum enforcers, along with the Unison Devices Rein and Agito. The seven of them alone had the firepower and resources to conquer worlds if they so wished, but fortunately for the multiverse Hayate was more interested in helping others than laying waste to civilizations.
Of course the fact that she was being sent on a mission to the furthest, most dangerous part of the multiverse indicated what the higher ups thought of the ridiculous amount of raw power she had at her fingertips.
The division head of Investigations was Fate, assisted by her seconds Teana and Shari in coordinating nearly two dozen non-commissioned investigators. They would be the ones, hopefully, doing the majority of the grunt work as the searched for answers to what had happened. In addition, the archaeologist and scholar Yuuno Scrya had been added to the team to complement their raw research ability.
And then there was Captain Nanoha, leader of the combat platoon, which she had hand picked from all of the soldiers who had successfully passed through her advanced training regimen. While it was hoped that they would not be needed, Wild Space often housed outlaws and pirates, and almost nothing was known about Chaotic Space, so bringing along extra firepower was always useful. In addition, Subaru of the Disaster Planning and Humanitarian had been added in at Nanoha’s request to make sure that they had some specialized ability to handle whatever disasters they might find out there.
Already they were in transit aboard the heavy frigate Eventide. A smaller ship than the cruisers most of them had worked on before, it had a specialized dimensional keel to aid in manoeuvring in the heavy currents in Wild Space while still being big enough to mount an Arc-en-Ceil. It and its sister ships had been designed to deal with the threat of actual military forces being built up in Wild Space, and with the Scaglietti Incident even more had been commissioned to ensure that no one like him could ever hide out there with some forgotten super weapon and not fear obliteration.
Since it was going to be a long trip, Hayate had decided until now to give the full briefing and begin the strategy session. Everyone already knew the broad details and knew the risks, but the entirety of the story had yet to be told.
Bringing up a holographic image, Hayate displayed the three dimensional map of the multiverse. Mid-Childa was a glowing point at its centre, an arbitrary distinction really, while the various territorial, allied, administrated, non-administrated and unexplored universes were spread out like glowing, colour coded stars in the void. On the part of the map labelled ‘Wild Space’ the tiny spheres that represented whole universes began to smear out, trailing tendrils behind them, while in the centre of Wild Space there was a vast black hole labelled ‘Chaotic Space’ with an ugly red marker that red ‘Probable Breach Point’ on the edge.
Pointing to the red marker, Hayate said, “This is our target, an unexplored universe that only has a cosmological catalogue number U7W-1T4. Two weeks ago, by our reckoning, a massive dimensional dislocation occurred there, sending shockwaves all across the multiverse. Scans though indicate that while this universe exists just outside the boundary of Wild Space and Chaotic Space, the energy for the dislocation came from beyond the Great Wall, the barrier that separates Chaotic Space from the rest of the universe.”
Clearly her throat, Teana waited to be acknowledged before she asked, “What do you mean by ‘our reckoning’?”
Frowning, Hayate explained, “In normal space, including interdimensional space, time is linear and aside from the effects of relativity, it all runs at the same speed. In Wild Space, and presumably more so in Chaotic Space, time is a more slippery thing and can run at many different speeds. Alternate realities form, and it is possible to move between them, or even back and forth along them. Unfortunately this causes a great deal of stress in space and time, hence why experimentation with time travel elsewhere is banned by the TSAB. There is some speculation that Chaotic Space was originally formed when a civilization experimented too heavily with time travel.”
“Who could have done that?” Subaru wondered aloud for a moment.
Everyone turned to Yuuno, but he just shook his head and said, “We don’t know. Some scholars think that it was Al-Hazard that created Chaotic Space and the Great Wall around it, while still others think that Al-Hazard created just the Great Wall in an attempt to contain the destructive energies within. However, there is a growing body of evidence that Al-Hazard was built by survivors from an even earlier civilization whose downfall may be related to the formation of Chaotic Space.”
Fate, Yuuno, and Nanoha all shared a silent look at the mention of Al-Hazard. Nearly twelve years ago Fate’s mother had nearly destroyed a vast swathe of the multiverse in her attempts to find and enter the near mythical lost civilization of Al-Hazard using the Jewel Seeds. Even worse, all of them had already picked out the point on the map that indicated where Precia Testarossa had made her fortress in the border of Wild Space where she hoped that lost civilization might still be hiding.
“So basically we’re dealing with something made by people who may have been myths of myths of the Belkans and its breaking down,” Teana summarized in a horrified tone.
“There is another option,” Yuuno said. “It is also possible that there is something alive in there and they are trying to get out.”
Hayate looked at him strangely before she asked, “I thought that the leading theory was that there was a raw dimensional void in there. Nothing could live in that.”
“Nothing that we can imagine, no,” Yuuno corrected. “It is possible that there are pockets of stability within the void where life could exist, and now that we actually have confirmation of something coming out of Chaotic Space that seems more likely.”
“But they couldn’t be intelligent. The Linker Cores in higher order life tap into the energy inherent between dimensions, and without a Linker Core, even an undeveloped one like in non-mages, true sapience is impossible,” Nanoha pointed out.
“True, but again, that assumes life like ours. There are some theoretical models that show that energy could be obtained from a dimensional void, enormous amounts in fact, it would just be significantly more dangerous to draw from,” Yuuno explained.
“So we are going into a barely explored, mostly patrol-less region where it is difficult to navigate to look at a malfunctioning artefact of an ancient civilization that could destroy civilization as we know it if things go wrong, and there are potential aliens waiting in the wings for us?” Teana summarized.
“Sounds like Tuesday with this group,” Signum said dryly, causing everyone to look at her in shock for coming up with a line like that.
Still, not one to be outdone, Vita replied acidly, “Nah, the stakes are higher than that, this is definitely a Friday job. And if we screw up we’ll have to work overtime on the weekend too.”
Snickering and giggling at the humour between the Guardian Knights, the whole team had a good laugh before Hayate shook her head and said, “All right people, let’s get to the planning, this mission is important.”
Deep in the Palace of the Gods, so far below the surface of what used to be Tokyo-3 that it was no longer technically on Earth it was so deeply submerged in the Warp, the deities watched on as two combatants sparred for their pleasure. In all the myriad worlds open to them, precisely four beings bore the Mark of Chaos Ascendant. The first and foremost was the God Emperor Penguin, who sat in his golden armour along with his finely dressed court in attendance of this match. The second and third were the Primarchs Toji and Kensuke, of which the former was a member of the match.
The fourth mortal to bear the full blessings of the gods was the other combatant, and she had been granted such a boon not for particular valour, but to survive in this place and because of her particular qualities that gave her a great deal of potential. If all went well, she would be the trump card in the coming conflicts.
The match was quite even, although if both parties stopped holding back for fear of harming the other, or more importantly some of the frailer members of the audience, it would probably rapidly devolve into a win for Toji, simply because he had far greater experience, despite the fact that the new girl had been given a full extra four years of training in the past three months since her discovery, a boon the gods had granted by bending time to their whim.
An adamantine and bone scythe collided with a modified power fist and the air exploded into an enormous shockwave from the conflicting psychic energies emanating off of them. Already several dents had been blown in the floor, and a few of the penguins were looking decidedly ruffled. Finally deciding that enough was enough, Tzintchi waved the contestants off and said, “That is enough. I can see that neither one of you wants to lose, but we don’t want you both to cut loose fully. I my eyes both of you have won this match. Toji, by demonstrating your superior martial skills as always. Ali, by demonstrating just how much you have learned.”
Ceasing, the two of them bowed and said, “Thank you my lord.”
“You’ve grown so much since we’ve found you, Little Ali,” Mislaato said proudly, while wiping away a maternal tear made of concentrated heroin.
“I would not have survived without your help, it is the least I could do to train as hard as I could for you,” Ali replied happily while brushing a lock of long, blonde hair made almost white pale by the Warp energies coursing through her veins. “You have given me so much, and so many people have helped me along my path.”
“Yes and your next assignment will be to travel out with Toji to Bloodhaven, the world Asukhon has converted into a Daemonworld,” Tzintchi explained.
Perking up, the four metre tall armour clad giant asked, “So finally you are letting me out there on a military campaign.”
Nodding, Asukhon said, “Of sorts. Frankly in terms of a ground campaign most of the enemies in that universe are either so pathetic or so small that the forces Reigle has already gathered would be enough to overwhelm them if not for space superiority.”
“But Bloodhaven is also the first place any interested parties from the far part of the multiverse where interdimensional travel is not restricted to Haruhi’s domain or a Hellmouth world would go, which means that Ali should meet them,” Tzintchi explained.
Toji frowned for a moment before he asked, “Are you…”
Shaking his head, Tzintchi said, “This is most emphatically not a babysitting mission. Your overall goal will be to coordinate the ground campaigns such that enemy space superiority is not a factor. This will be good practice for you in anticipation of when we turn our attentions to the Necrontyr.”
“With this new travel, why do we not simply find a universe far from them and let them have this one? Not that I advocate running away per se, I just want to know your reasoning with this,” Toji asked.
“Because of the other Chaos Gods,” Reigle said quietly.
Rolling her eyes, Asukhon said, “Well that was informative.”
Shaking his head, Tzintchi said, “Quiet you two. Alright, the long answer is that there exist alternate time lines, paths to universes where the Old Gods did not perish, and they would overwhelm us as we are now. The Necrontyr Great Warding actually shields us from them, as while we can survive in it, they can’t. So first we must build up our infrastructure and then bring down the Great Warding before we can do anything that would draw their attention directly to us.”
“Which is why Mr. Schemes Within Schemes here changed the symbol list for that Ethan guy to none of our symbols, just to lead the Imperium and Chaos in the opposite direction from the majority of our activities and didn’t tell us,” Asukhon growled.
“You would have objected to getting them involved so early in the game,” Tzintchi groused.
“Yeah, well, I think its pretty fucking convenient that Kali ran away to Bloodhaven just in time for that little switch to happen,” Asukhon growled dangerously.
Holding up a hand, Tzintchi said, “Hey! I would never endanger one of the kids!”
“Was the emphasis on ‘never’ or ‘endanger’ there? Because Kali never actually went anywhere dangerous, she just wandered away from home,” Reigle pointed out.
Tzintchi shut up at that.
I love learning. Teach me. I will listen.
You know, if Christian dogma included a ten-foot tall Jesus walking around in battle armor and smashing retarded cultists with a gaint mace, I might just convert - Noble Ire on Jesus smashing Scientologists
You know, if Christian dogma included a ten-foot tall Jesus walking around in battle armor and smashing retarded cultists with a gaint mace, I might just convert - Noble Ire on Jesus smashing Scientologists
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von Neufeld
- Padawan Learner
- Posts: 188
- Joined: 2003-02-27 03:23pm
Well, well, well. I suspect that Sunnydale gets some interesting visitors soon. It will also be interesting to see where exactly the rift the Nahona cast is investigating does lead.Academia Nut wrote: “Which is why Mr. Schemes Within Schemes here changed the symbol list for that Ethan guy to none of our symbols, just to lead the Imperium and Chaos in the opposite direction from the majority of our activities and didn’t tell us,” Asukhon growled.
BTW, have you decided on all the picks for the Britain invasion game?
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Singular Quartet
- Sith Marauder
- Posts: 3896
- Joined: 2002-07-04 05:33pm
- Location: This is sky. It is made of FUCKING and LIMIT.
It seems the Nahona cast will be arriving on Asukhon's Daemonworld.von Neufeld wrote:Well, well, well. I suspect that Sunnydale gets some interesting visitors soon. It will also be interesting to see where exactly the rift the Nahona cast is investigating does lead.Academia Nut wrote: “Which is why Mr. Schemes Within Schemes here changed the symbol list for that Ethan guy to none of our symbols, just to lead the Imperium and Chaos in the opposite direction from the majority of our activities and didn’t tell us,” Asukhon growled.
BTW, have you decided on all the picks for the Britain invasion game?
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Robo Jesus
- Padawan Learner
- Posts: 156
- Joined: 2006-01-05 07:01am
I get the feeling that were Shinji still a regular human, that he would be sleeping on the couch at this point.Academia Nut wrote:“Yeah, well, I think its pretty fucking convenient that Kali ran away to Bloodhaven just in time for that little switch to happen,” Asukhon growled dangerously.
Holding up a hand, Tzintchi said, “Hey! I would never endanger one of the kids!”
“Was the emphasis on ‘never’ or ‘endanger’ there? Because Kali never actually went anywhere dangerous, she just wandered away from home,” Reigle pointed out.
Tzintchi shut up at that.
Quick question. How long as it been since the Birth of the Gods here?
This is sickening... You sound like chapters from a self-help booklet! Prepare yourselves!
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Academia Nut
- Sith Devotee
- Posts: 2598
- Joined: 2005-08-23 10:44pm
- Location: Edmonton, Alberta
Yes.BTW, have you decided on all the picks for the Britain invasion game?
Oh yeah. And about twenty-five years, although Warp screwiness with regards to time adds or subtracts a couple years for some people.I get the feeling that were Shinji still a regular human, that he would be sleeping on the couch at this point.
Quick question. How long as it been since the Birth of the Gods here?
Also, I'm waiting for someone to realize the "Mwahahahahaha!" part of this chapter.
I love learning. Teach me. I will listen.
You know, if Christian dogma included a ten-foot tall Jesus walking around in battle armor and smashing retarded cultists with a gaint mace, I might just convert - Noble Ire on Jesus smashing Scientologists
You know, if Christian dogma included a ten-foot tall Jesus walking around in battle armor and smashing retarded cultists with a gaint mace, I might just convert - Noble Ire on Jesus smashing Scientologists