[center][h1][color=0072bc]Shattered Shades[/color][/h1]
Arcadia Chronicles[/center]

[center][h2]Arcadia[/h2]
[sub]University of Duvell - Several days earlier[/sub][/center]
[hr]
	"I assure you, it'll be worth your time, Ebenezer," headmaster Franklin declared, pressuring the idea further and further with each passing minute. "They've assured you a spot on Group Alpha's roster if you're willing to take it. The CMAS is confident that your expertise would be most useful when paired alongside their most elite officials. I've heard that the Survey groups will be going [i]much farther[/i] out than most Arcadia-based Divers. Imagine what you could find to aid your studies! Imagine the reputation it would bring the university..." Franklin had gone on and on for at least ten minutes now about the benefits of this venture. The CMAS had been rather adamant about enlisting Ebenezer's help, and with good reason too. Most who specialized in arcane runes were too busy, or too cowardly to leave city bounds, but Ebenezer? Feh, he'd done it of his own free will many times before. He had the mettle of a Diver, despite not accepting the label willingly. Of course, his assistance wasn't mandatory, nor did the CMAS invest a great deal of confidence in Demonology as a practical science, but with a squad size of 12, there was nothing to be lost if Ebenezer accepted their somewhat generous offer.

[center][h2]Arcadia[/h2]
[sub]Survey Initiative HQ[/sub][/center]
[@blue demon][@Unfortunately][@tatszico]
[hr]
	The walls of the meeting room reached several meters high despite how little the square footage was, towering over the small group of Divers and CMAS officials that stood opposite to the entrance as they exchanged looks of anxiety and mistrust. This was the first official meeting of Survey group Alpha, called early in the morning with very short notice, to overlook the path these registered Divers were to be taking in the coming days. Needless to say, those from within the CMAS that stood in that room carried a great deal of weight with their names, changing the atmosphere of what would've been a calm and collected meeting, into a trial of very fragile first impressions. Lead of the CMAS head council, Sydney Duvell, stood silently behind Yvette Eridal and Joshua Minet, acting as a witness to the events that would unfold in that meeting. Although he was a very important man, today his only duty was to supervise the first official Group-Alpha meeting, to assure professionalism, efficiency, and of course, to look over the people responsible for Arcadia's future himself. Sydney glanced at each of the 11 registered Divers who stood in a neat little line before him, with Karida Arconis standing front and center. He didn't like the look of them very much, and expressed it rather blatantly with a disdainful cringe. Were these the best that the Divers had to offer? There had to be at least 200 applicants! Sydney paused when his eyes met Karida's, and his lips curled into a subtle smirk. Well, perhaps not [i]all[/i] of these individuals were worthless. Karida's reputation was very positive within the CMAS, especially with Sydney. She'd shown a great deal of promise in her actions, and unbeknownst to most, was one of the most viable candidates to replace councilman Leewood as the head of Magic supervision. Sydney huffed happily while Yvette overlooked the paperwork of her soon-to-be field mates. Regardless of the relief he'd received though, Sydney was bored to pieces in that stuffy room.

	[i]"Fuck"[/i] Brian Tormal hissed, carefully tracing his index finger along the lines in his left palm. Today was certainly [i]not[/i] the day to be pulling him away from his daughter. But as usual, the CMAS held little concern for the personal matters of anyone on their payroll. Yvette and Joshua whispered to one another, before turning back to the group. Yvette cleared her throat, attracting her group's attention.

	"Are we all listening? Yes? Good, then I'll begin," Yvette started, forcing an insincere smile on the registered Divers. "Today at Noon, Karida and I shall be leading survey group alpha through the northern gate on our first mission of the year. We will be using an all-terrain vehicle - graciously funded by President Tedos and supplied by our allies over in Teknoh I might add - to traverse no-man's land for several hundred Kilometers." Yvette flipped a page up on her metal clipboard and cleared her throat again. "Our mission objectives are not set in stone, but if we are to find an unoccupied Node, we will return to Arcadia immediately and report its location. If we are to find a ruin or artifact of significant size, we will return to Arcadia immediately and report its location. If we are to find an undocumented nation, we are to- Well, you get the picture. Other points of interest are those littered with technologies of significant mettle, and any areas that are high in natural resources such as water, minerals, or trees. We will only return to Arcadia prematurely under the following conditions." Yvette paused and breathed in deeply, clearing her throat a third time before reading off the conditions in an autonomous manner. "If Karida [i]and[/i] I are incapacitated on duty, and are unable to efficiently serve as commanding officers. If at least half of our group is killed on duty. If an impassable obstacle presents itself. Or, if we are ordered by the CMAS head council to return immediately."

	The room was silent for a short while as the Divers were given time to think over the summary of their mission. It was a particularly cold debriefing, which Joshua seemed completely indifferent towards. The head of project S-S kept his eyes glued to his clipboard as Yvette spoke, refusing to even look at the group she'd chosen. He was more concerned with the progress of the Arcane node, than anything else. Sydney nodded silently when Yvette finished, waiting to see if the Divers understood their position, and orders.

[center][h2]Diver's Paradise[/h2]
[sub]Otherwise known as the Ulimani Crags[/sub][/center]
[@fateweaver][@Sessamaru][@Jensoman]
[hr]
	"Settle down, settle down!" Luke roared, demanding the attention of the giant crowd beneath him. Diver's paradise was certainly a crude base of operations if you judged it based on appearance alone. It was completely underground, had little in terms of a light source from the giant arcane lamp hanging from above, and the stadium from where Luke spoke was rickety, decrepit, and barely any higher than the people he was addressing. He'd used the excuse that it was simple to 'remove the illusion of superiority' that people gave him, and he wouldn't be lying, but nobody really believed that. As the crowds quieted down, Luke looked over them and counted as many as he could with his sharp, green eyes. "64...187...241...510?" He muttered to himself, somewhat disappointed with the turn out. It seemed that there weren't that many who were enthralled by his plan to sabotage project S-S, for good reason too. If they found out who was responsible, the Divers wouldn't stand a chance against the combined might of the Quadra powers. Luke sighed and waved his allies onto the small stage to join him. Two men and one woman walked up, and stood on either side of him. They were the famous Divers that helped him establish Divers paradise, and continued to assist him to this day; His sister, Laura Juuno, one of the two telekinetic prodigies that relayed information among all the popular and trustworthy Divers across Thorisa, her husband, Tinon Frez, who did the same, and Alvios Maeti, Juuno's right-hand man who managed the political and economical aspects of the paradise, as limited as they were.

	"Are you going to start, sir?" Tinon inquired, tapping Luke's shoulder curiously.

	"Huh? Oh, right. Yes, of course," Luke stammered. "Ehem... [b]Welcome, my fellow Divers, and thank you for heeding my call![/b] I know this must have been short notice for many, hence the [i]low turnout[/i], but I am deeply thankful for those of you who made it-"

	"Get to the point!" One man roared, interrupting Luke mid-way through his sentence. Luke stopped for a moment at nodded.

	"The Survey initiative is a menace to our lifestyle! We need to stop them, because uh, well- Well we kind of like the way we do things around here, don't we? Life is good- I mean, relatively speaking- It's a blast! We've got a community here, and- And..." Luke paused his poorly conceived speech, rather abruptly. Tinon clasped his forehead, embarrassed for his leader's poor vernacular. Tinon stepped in and shoved Luke aside respectfully, despite the hushed murmurings of the impatient and doubtful crowd.

	"Friends," Tinon started, clearing his throat before continuing, "Arcadia is planning something far more devious than it would appear on the surface. Us four have come to a rather startling conclusion over these past few weeks." Tinon was far better at addressing the crowd, but he wasn't convincing to every last Diver there. Several individuals already began to make their way towards the only exit out of Diver's paradise, while others headed towards the dining area. Tinon sighed before starting up again. "It is under great confidence that we believe Arcadia's new survey initiative is going to Phase Divers out of Thorisa, permanently. I know it sounds rather far-fetched, but the possibilities are looming overhead, and the threat to our way of life is very real, I [i]assure you all.[/i] It's only a matter of time before the survey initiative takes full flight, and no-man's-land begins to shrink. The need for Divers will dwindle, and eventually, I fear that unregistered diving will be made illegal in the coming years." Tinon paused for a moment to gauge the crowd's reaction. Several Divers were still headed on their way home, back into no-man's-land, but the vast majority stayed behind, attentively listening to what Tinon had to say. Luke stood back, still trying to get over his miserable failure at getting his message across. "That is why we have called you all here today. Luke, Alvios and Laura are looking to put together a team of Divers, in order to sabotage this unrighteous attack on our freedom as Divers. Those who are willing to volunteer, I urge you to stay behind. Everyone else, I'm sorry to have wasted your time." As Tinon finished, a tenth of the initial group had already decided to leave this crusade before it started. Luke glared at the back of Tinon's head irritably, partially blaming his forward behavior in addressing the crowd. Still, with over 400 Divers left behind, he shouldn't have been so negative about the results.

	It did sound very insane, to be fair. Coming to such a powerful conclusion based on something that couldn't possibly account for all of no-man's land was preposterous, even though it was a common concern among Divers in no-man's-land. And what of fighting against the Quadra powers? What Luke was proposing was a cold war, something that may have been out of the realm of logical action if they weren't careful about how they approached the situation.