Complete Comms Main Story Hope in Retrospection

[Ashifili*]

Smokeless flames illuminated the large tent, casting a warm glow over its crowded interior. Though it had been the largest construction that remained intact after the explosive death throes of the DEAD.naught, it was still too small for the mingled masses of Starcalled and Landers, all of whom had been summoned in the evening on the order of King Astor Balthas, first of his lineage. By his right-hand side, the red-headed devil himself, Lord-Commander Levi Pendragon, stood tall, his chin raised and his hands clasped in front of him, resting upon the pommel of his illustrious sword. To the King's left, stood a blue-haired man, eyes obscured by opaque glasses. Bending down slightly, he whispered into the King's ear, guiding his gaze towards the entrance of another individual of note.

White Whistle Childress strode through the tent's flaps. The beastwoman had been absent on the eve of such a momentuous battlefront, but her harried hair and the stench of machine oil on her skin clued the observant in on what she may have been occupied with up to this time. The woman looked at the crowd that already flocked upon the king's summons, and found herself a spot off to the side, crossing her arms as she too awaited what message had to be shared.

So too was the Phantom of MIT present, a slight man slicing through the disordered crowds to stop just shy of the front. Ordnung, disaffected by circumstances, waited with the patience of a surgeon, or perhaps a student. It was crystal clear to him what would happen here, with the presence of the King, flanked by the Lord-Commander and the Royal Aide. Indeed, it would be...

Hear me, subjects of Astorea.

A commanding, and yet paradoxically calm voice silenced the crowd. In four years, despite his temperament, Astor too had risen to the duty of his throne, regardless of whether or not the veterans who knew him before accepted this.

You've done well to thwart the advance of the DEAD.naught, and with this, have proven too that Astorea once again possesses power enough to take back what we've lost with the descent of the Dragonship. Soon, with Camp Hope IV as our foothold, we shall begin our reclamation of Vintergard in earnest!

Murmurs spread through the crowd, some excited and some disturbed. Only Ordnung looked disaffected, even bored. He wasn't here for this.

Childress and her Black Whistles have uncovered and secured three routes into the heart of Vintergard, allowing us to strike directly at our foes, while the Lord Commander and his Lion's Pride shall be tasked with the defense of our base camp during this war effort. As for the one in charge of our long-awaited counterattack...

The King turned his many-ringed hand to one side, gesturing the blue-haired man over.

...Royal Strategist Accelerator shall be coordinating all willing Starcalled for these elite operations.

One breath, two steps. With a poise undisturbed by the attention suddenly thrust upon him, the gaunt advisor positioned himself to the front. He caught the Phantom of MIT's gaze for an instant, holding it with...what? Disdain? Mockery? Arrogance? before sweeping through the room once more. He was a slovenly-dressed man compared to the regal figures behind him, his pinstriped shirt only partially buttoned up, while his dark pants snagged against the packed earth floor.

Yup, it's me, Accelerator.

He waved at them, cracking a shallow smile.

Bit more effort than I want to expend right now to explain the whole reclamation plan, especially as mission details are on a need-to-know basis anyhow, so it'd be a better use of our collective resources to get everyone up to date on the Vintergard Magia situation instead. You've all seen what happened to one of the players who had been slain by the DEAD.naught, yes? Beheaded and then assimilated, before his powers were adopted by that hunk of metal? I'm sure you've all got plenty of questions regarding it. Well, it's a good thing then, that there are those amongst us who have the answers.

He clapped his hands together.

Now, who was it again...ah yes. @Seigi Ling Ling, @Magi Heart, @Ueno Mizuki, @Cleo Looker, and @Yugam of Team...Scout. Could you please come up to the forefront and explain what exactly the Magia were up to? Ah, and you can leave out the bits about that Bloodwurm you corralled along with you.

And, just like that, he stepped back, opening up the stage for those Starcalled to speak their piece, lighting up a cigarette in the meanwhile. Right, it certainly was going to be a long night, no matter what they talked about. Why not take the time to relax?

Ah, and if anyone else has any questions, no need to raise your hand and wait your turn. We're all adults here, no? Ask away if the details of the reporting team seem insufficient. But for those who've been on a separate team...

Smoke curled upwards, collecting at the ceiling of the tent.

...please, wait until you've been called up.

Accelerator smiled again, tapping ash off to the side, then pulled out a tome to read through as he waited for those of Team Scout to make their move.

If, of course, they would.

Spoiler: OOC

• This is a knowledge-sharing event, sent on the evening of the DEAD.naught's demise, allowing all characters to gain IC knowledge of important story and lore developments that have occurred within the S4 threads thus far.
• Please keep your posts dialogue-focused, with a maximum of 150 words. This is relatively low-effort. One-liners are cool.
• Not everyone in a Team needs to speak up; Accelerator will be moving along to the next Team once he deems enough important information has be shared with the others.
• If anyone wants to interject and pose questions or observations, go ahead. This is a comms thread, after all. Keep it flexible.
• Note, of course, that if you want to, you could also freely peddle false information, if you believe no one else can catch you out on the lie. This might change if GM Asch rules against it, but I'm always for a buncha chaos.

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

Fiora took one step forth. It had been high time that they fulfilled them on what is going on, at least to those who responded a distress call or took shelter for one reason or another like her.

"I came here with someone else, we didn't venture to the heart of Vintergard but we took down a few drones along the way. But that thing out there-" She accentuated on it by pointing outside, to where the broke battlefield past the walls was.

"-That was no regular bot. That wasn't even a Magia at first. This thing attacked more than once already and just now it decided to pull a new trick under it's sleeve?" She crossed her arms against her chestplate. "And while I doubt that should be a surprise, I sincerely doubt being cheeky and loud mouthed was it's master-plan. What did we just witness?"

 

[Yugam]

Called up (rather unexpectedly) by 'Accelerator', Yu joined the scouts (or at least those who were still present) up on the stage. Immediately he could feel on the eyes on them. Despite having logged out and rested before logging back in in the evening for this meeting, Yu still looked haggard, dark circles under his eyes, shoulders sagging.

Before anyone even had a chance to say anything, Fiora spoke up. He shouldn't have been surprised it was her. Yu looked at his (dare he call her) friend as he responded.

Well, I'm not smart enough to explain exactly what happened, but we all saw it with our own eyes. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but what we saw at the capital seems to indicate that the Dragonship Magia in specific are assimilating with organic creatures. Creatures. The number of non-humanoid Magia we witnessed far outnumbered the humanoid. Tubby included.

@Fiora Di Angelo

 

[Fiora Di Angelo]

The one she expected to see the least right now had to be Yugam himself, but the name-calling; Yeah, she should have seen it coming that he of all people would be in the thick of a problem, and barely cutting it out at that.

"If that's true, we don't have a way to know if these non-humanoid Magia weren't actually a combination of other species and humanoids, right? For all I know, if they can fuse flesh and steel seamlessly, then patchworking them into a bigger frame shouldn't be that far off from them." And that was the end of it really, Fiora giving a nod back at @Yugam and taking one step backwards.

 

[Lady N]

Lady N

Normally Chelsea would ignore a gathering but not today. She didn't even need hulking Lion's Pride members dragging her here this time. Chelsea had personal reasons besides her overarching goal to learn as much about magitech as possible. While she would never admit it or join any particular group to aid in that objective. She still would take advantage of word of mouth and eavesdropping on this conversation.

Folding her arms the quiet Nexon stayed to herself and listened. It was time to compare what they said to her own theories and discoveries as a developer of technology.

 

[Luthien]

They had caught wind of the planned gathering upon arriving at camp, the elf relieved to hear that it wouldn’t be happening until much later into the evening. It had given Lúthien enough time to log off and rest, eventually awakened by an alarm on her phone to ensure she didn’t oversleep.

A white whistle…? Oh, that must be Childress! She had met up with @Yugam before the pair made their way to the large tent assigned for this conversation, a yawn escaping her lips before the elf raised a hand to cover her mouth. Plenty of faces were around, some familiar but must unknown, as Lúthien listened to the information that Yugam shared with those present and the conversations his knowledge and that of the other scouts added to the pot.

 

[Ashifili*]

Unrest surfaced at Yugam's report. If the DEAD.naught had been a singular incident, then it could be written off as an anomaly. But if the Dragonship's Magia were habitually assimilating all organic lifeforms into their steel frames? Thoughts surfaced within the minds of the Landers, of all those civilians who had perished during the Dragonship's crash, and so too did thoughts surface in the minds of Starcalled, imagining their past bodies, now swallowed whole by monstrous machines.

It would appear then, that the DEAD.naught was indeed a 'regular' bot.

Through it all, Accelerator remained unfazed, snapping his book shut. Had he already known? Or did he simply not care for such news?

Thank you for your report either way. I will have to, owing to public safety concerns, request that no one share the relevation of such capability of assimilation to the general populace. Alas, some may derive false hopes from this, which is rarely of any benefit for past traumas.

The blue-haired man waited for Team Scout to move off, joining the rest of the masses once more and then locked eyes with @Luthien.

Now, could the members of Team Time EX please make their report? I believe they are...Luthien, @Ash Vargold, @Rael, and @Kyra Vashtana. I've heard mention that you've encountered quite a diversion along your way to meet our King? What happened?

He blinked, then cracked a more good-natured smile.

Oh, and Ash.

Accelerator motioned the wolfboy closer, dropping to a more private tone.

Lady Lisbeth Maeven would like to congratulate you on your admirable defense of Camp Hope IV. And, if you don't mind a little advice from one man to another...when a lady of such stature tells you to visit at your convenience, she means 'as soon as possible'.

With that, he stepped back once more, patting Ash on the back in a consolatory manner as he allowed Team Time EX to take to the stage.

As they began to organize their thoughts, so too did another arrive into the tent.

None knew him, not anymore, but once upon a time, the name @Aalam Abungu was associated with a certain doggedness and professionalism, of callused hands willing to delve deep into whatever work was offered. A job was a job, after all.

And this job, one that Cessia sent to the longstrider specifically, was certainly one that could not be shared in polite company: to report on the mannerisms of the man who had risen so swiftly to a position of trust with King Astor, and to design a plan to quickly remove him from his post, if need be.

Spoiler: OOC

• This is a knowledge-sharing event, sent on the evening of the DEAD.naught's demise, allowing all characters to gain IC knowledge of important story and lore developments that have occurred within the S4 threads thus far.
• Please keep your posts dialogue-focused, with a maximum of 150 words. This is relatively low-effort. One-liners are cool.
• Not everyone in a Team needs to speak up; Accelerator will be moving along to the next Team once he deems enough important information has be shared with the others.
• If anyone wants to interject and pose questions or observations, go ahead. This is a comms thread, after all. Keep it flexible.
• Note, of course, that if you want to, you could also freely peddle false information, if you believe no one else can catch you out on the lie. This might change if GM Asch rules against it, but I'm always for a buncha chaos.

 

[Tetsunosuke]

Tetsunosuke was among those who were present in this audience, as he would need to hear every detail about the result of the other expeditions, as well as pitch his opinion on what to do in the near future. Although he had been always anxious about meetings with any person of authority, he needed to be here anyway.

"If it will come to that situation, I still have my jetpack ready." He was confident that he could get away easily if ever things got awry.

And so Tetsunosuke then listened in to every report that each person pitched in, taking note of every data that he received. Those would be of great help in preparing for the worst.

 

[Aalam Abungu]

They would have been able to smell him before he made his way into the tent that mixture of ash and drink followed a man no matter where he went, he had better control over his habit now, but he still drank. He pushed his way into the tent with that longbow over his shoulder; his cloak bloated most of his features and rendered him a thing in the darker corners of the meeting. He looked more like a bandit they would have gone out to kill than a man who had made his way to the king's side at one point. If nothing else, the presence of the man meant a good number of funds were being pushed to ensure this thing didn't fail. His voice was like the sea, old and weary of hammering against the shore.

"So something has changed out there in the wild."

 

[Bradwynne]

Bradwynne made sure that he could attend this meeting so as to know what would be their next action, and, although he was aching to join the invasion force, he knew the significance of defending Camp Hope. If ever the invasion force was beaten back, they should make sure that they could recuperate in time for another attack. As he had received his missive, he then asked for permission to move forward to say his affirmation. When he had finally got it. he then said in a clear and sonorous voice:

"We will make sure that the hope that we had defended from everything that sought to destroy it will never be taken from us. We will make sure this area will be standing loud and proud until you come back from reclaiming Vintergard, Your Majesty."

 

[Ueno Mizuki]

After the battle Mizuki hadn't bothered to return to Camp Hope itself. She'd been exhausted by the fight against the DEAD.naught, especially since it had come after she and the other Scouts had already fought their way out of Vintergard while pursued by various mechanical menaces. On top of that, her stomach had been growling loudly at her, her wolf-like metabolism complaining at the lack of sustenance after prolonged intense activity.

So rather than spending time in the camp Mizuki had been eating everything she came across which looked edible. Which, given her location at the time, had meant she'd mostly just been consuming the charred husk of the bloodwurm formerly known as Tubby. She imagined that some would consider this distasteful or even disturbing, but it was hardly the first time that her eating habits had made people uncomfortable. After the DEAD.naught had finally exploded (nearly taking her with it before she'd managed to stumble out of the way) the highest priority had been to recharge herself, not to care about appearances.

After she'd eaten her fill she'd spent the time between the present and the upcoming meeting back on Earth. The expedition into Vintergard had taken up a lot of time, and she had to catch up on work and rest. A part of her wished she could have remained in Terrasphere, but unlike the people who'd been UI-locked, she still existed back on Earth, and couldn't ignore the other world for days on end without it causing trouble down the line.

Once her life had once again stabilised she logged on in time for the meeting, although she was one of the last arrivals. Which was rather unfortunate, given that apparently as a Scout she was supposed to be one of the first to give her report of what they had discovered at Vintergard.

Yugam had taken the lead in answering Accelerator's question, with Mizuki nervously licking her lips. By the time she spoke up Accelerator was already beginning to wave them off, the Caenis stepping forward regardless of the man's intentions to start questioning the next group. She may have delayed answering a bit, but what she'd observed inside Vintergard might still hold some importance...

Aside from the assimilation of animals, it seems that whatever technology or methods they're using is harmful to the surroundings. Any plants that they hadn't removed from the area were withering away as if poisoned.

She herself didn't know what to make of that. Did the process of creating magia require the destruction of nature, or was it a side effect? Was it an accidental side effect, or did whatever intelligence masterminded the powers inside Vintergard actively seek the elimination of all natural lifeforms?

Given that she didn't have any answers, she wasn't going to voice any speculation. Having reported what she'd observed she followed the other Scouts off the stage, leaving the next group to make their report. Maybe what they'd encountered would give new insight into what she'd seen, so she stuck around to listen.

 

[Raid Boss]

Levi was as proper and dignified as possible. It was an official meeting hosted by the crown itself, whom he would normally bicker with. However, it was not the time for that. The importance of the meeting itself is monumental, considering that there was a lot of information being pieced together. Since the Lord Commander was mostly wrapped in his own circle, he was taken aback by Accelerator, whom he had not had close dealing with. It was impressive that a UI-locked had taken center stage and inhabited such an esteemed position too – the man must be talented at what he does.

When Levi spotted some of his crews, namely Bradwynne and the ghost of Wintersday past @Madison Freebird, he gestured the woman in his direction.

"Sheriff, did you enjoy your vacation? It's good timing for a Lions return. We've got some big troubles ahead. Take a seat and pay extra attention to the speakers the Moderator is addressing. We're going to need your gun for the operation ahead, we've got some big fish to catch."

Meanwhile, Astor peered directly into @Bradwynne's eyes, one of the people who fought against him during the civil war. However, considering the concession he made and the four-years gap, the hatchet has long been buried. Astor nodded affirmatively.

"We'll take back what is rightfully ours and improve the lives of our people."

The king then turned toward the familiar booze-reeking presence that was @Aalam Abungu. He quietly greeted the man who ended up standing near him, though they were no longer linked by the Kingsmen connection since it had long been disbanded.

"I thought you'd be wiser than to return to the death game. Though, I certainly do not mind seeing a familiar face around. Been a long time, Aalam."

 

[Aalam Abungu]

He turned an eye to the man before grunting and sinking back into his spot in the corner of the tent, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a flask, knocking some of the liquid back. He reached up and pulled down his hood to reveal a man that looked worse for wear. His beard had been roughly cut, and his hair was longer than the last time they had run into each other. "I thought I was wise as well, but I am still the fool in the end. I have to do something but will have to wait as I was given a contract, and I ended up here." Pushing his flask back into his pocket as he looked at the king. "And if I am here, someone is doing something in the background."

 

[Madison Mortiere]

She had no spurs that go jingle jangle jingle; and she certainly didn't ride merrily around to the gathering.

As usual, a foul mood lingered around Madison like a storm cloud as she arrived. Her pistols brushing against her hips with each step she took, she caught Levi waving her over and tipped her hat in kind.

How did my vacation go? Well, let me tell you. First of all, my bookstore burned down when some greasy punk with enough zits to play connect the dots on his face got a little too stoned working at the restaurant next door. Then, my insurance company decided to throw the biggest bitch fit about paying me what they owed. That shit's a scam, I'm telling you. And then, when I started to call some contractors to help rebuild, Starbucks decided to swoop in and buy the storefront out from under me. Because they lost their little spot two doors down too--and they were always jealous of the bookstore's location on the busiest corner downtown. But hey--I'm living deece off the buyout and the insurance money now! No more Little Caesar's Hot-N'-Ready for me! I've upgraded to Pizza Hut now!

"Eh," the gunslinger said, aloof as you please before changing the subject. "Congratulations on the name change, by the way. Anything I don't pick up here, I'll look for you afterwards to get."

 

[Ash Vargold]

Accelerator seemed... normal. But as he brought up the name on a card in his inventory, Ash had to fight to keep his face neutral. "Friend of yours...?" Something to note for later.

"We decided to investigate the duplicated emergency signal. With the help of an Astramancer, we were able to scry the location of the second ping. It came from from what we assume was a Magia overlooking a magitech construct resembling an egg."

Ash pulled up a sleeve to display the remnants of slash wounds. "She perceived us during the scrying. She called us 'Saviors'. And then she attacked us through the link."

He turned to Rael, with a nod. "We decided to delay our departure, and see if we could find information in camp." He glanced at the rest of the group. "I think the others can better detail what happened next."

@Rael @Kyra Vashtana @Luthien

 

[Rael]

.

Her report, while not spoken, would be given in the form of magical scripture hovering in front of the faces of those present.

"[ Multiple of us sustained injuries which confined us to the medical tents, as I'm sure some of you will remember from the Relaxation Area being put under quarantine. Commander Norn had asked us not to speak of what had occurred, and by the time we were left to rest, some of us noticed a 'Marked' status of unknown origins in our HUD. I had gone to the Food Area looking for trays which I could take back with me, when I was approached by a man who left a note in my hand, saying he had information to share on Commander Norn being a traitor if we agreed to meet with him and share what our group had experienced. We, of course, accepted. His name was Vern. ]"

 

[Gwainedhel]

He wasn't one of the frontliners. He was part of no squad, no group, no alliance. Even so, Gwainedhel's curiosity could not help but to get piqued by the crowded tent's glowing light.

With the stealth of the woodland elf that he had acquired in his brief treks on the game, he entered the tent and meshed with the environment. Here's what he got - the guys at the front were main bosses, there was something to do with a Magia and a mission with several ramifications, and the squads were speaking in turns, one by one.

Clueless, like this friend that gets lost when you are all watching a movie, he prodded a nearby Starcalled.

"Pssst, hey, sorry. Just arrived and I'm a tad lost here. What's all this about?"

He kept his voice low, right when this pink-haired woman flashed a wall of text over the audience.

 

[Valmont]

Valmont stood in the back near the entrance of the tent, off to one side. Instead of craning his neck he had simply materialized a step-stool out of blue-faceted material and now stood head and shoulders above his neighbors. His yellow eyes glowed in the way of one using Investigation. He was going to dedicate as much of this meeting as he could to memory. Faces. Names. Positions. Reasons. Relations. It was all important.

They spoke of assimilation of organic matter, something niggled at the back of his mind so he waited for a lull to speak up.

”What of the allied Magia? Are they assimilating us as well? I felt tendrils of control during the conflict from the Songstress. Waves of confusion. Have there been any reports of similar concerns before or during these missions?” He addressed the question to nobody in particular, merely voiced a concern.
​

 

[Ash Vargold]

Ash crossed his arms with a frown. "Right, the singer... maybe it was some form of hacking? PC Magia don't have a lot of lore, but I'd assume they're built in a similar way."

"...probably not something you'd want people spreading around. That's the sort of information that gets people paranoid."

 

[Luthien]

A quick thumbs up and a smile were given to @Yugam as he and the other scouts were finally released, before crimson eyes quietly swept over the figures inside the tent as they looked for one small faerin (@Raid Boss) in particular. Instead her gaze met that of Accelerator (@Ashifili*) as his eyes seemed to lock onto the elf, before the blue haired man called for Time EX to take the floor next.

"A-Ah, eggs actually… there’s two of them."

She had piped up when @Ash Vargold had mentioned the vision their little group and two others had been treated to during the first afternoon in camp, the blonde’s fingers moving in the air to access her inventory before a certain sketch of two magitech eggs materialized. It was held out to Accelerator for the man to take, falling silent once more as @Rael added to the retelling of what their group had gone through. "Tch!" Just seeing the written name of the ripper was enough to earn a click of Lúthien’s tongue, the distaste she felt for the player quite evident as she momentarily forgot where and in front of whom they currently were—though it’s not like she had any previous experience on the proper etiquette when standing before a king.

"Dude’s as shady as they come,” Her gaze turned then to @Aalam Abungu as she remembered his earlier comment. "If there’s someone pulling strings in the background then it’s definitely that asshole."

So much for decorum…

"Pretty sure he’s the one that tried to nuke Chad and I when we went out looking for Sven," Her eyes scanned the crowd once more, looking for either familiar face, before turning back to Accelerator again. "He was using that ‘Marked’ status to peep into our interactions, like the little creep he is, through our own eyes."

A unique canister in her possession suddenly jumped to the forefront of Lúthien’s thoughts, though the elf made no movement to retrieve it from the vacuum of her inventory just yet. Already a lot of information was being offered up front, and publicly, as it was… a dangerous thing really if someone like Vern was trying to manipulate events from the shadows. Instead her gaze shifted towards the Phantom of MIT, lingering long enough to not be confused with just a passing glance, before a voice popped inside Ordnung’s mind.

{ Vern seemed particularly interested in Sven’s little pet project... enough to stab you researcher and try to blow up Chad and I inside Sven's precious labby. }