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[h2][color=0072bc][u]  Our Story So Far  [/u][/color][/h2][/center]

	The Nation of Arcadia is in the middle of a grand change as the head of CMAS, Sydney Duvell, patiently awaits the return of Survey groups 1 and 2, 20-man teams both consisting of Registered Divers and high ranking CMAS mages, from the southern and eastern expeditions. Joshua Minet, current head of the Scattered Shades development group, has made a public statement about the current status of their prototype, the A/A/N, (Artificial Arcane Node). With the help of the CMAS' most esteemed arcane scientists, they were reportedly successful in perfecting the A/A/N's stability, despite the recent termination of Sulfrax Lauchlin's position as previous head and founder of project S-S. If the survey initiative proceeds well, expansion of Arcadia's borders is reported to begin within the next 3 months. The people of Arcadia and Teknoh are filled with hope and joy as news of this expansion continues to spread across the world, but despite the benevolence of this news, the entire story is most certainly [i]not[/i] evident to the general populace.

	The existence of survey group [color=ed1c24]ALPHA[/color], lead by Yvette Eridal, was not publicized despite what Yvette and her team were told during their debriefing at the CMAS headquarters in Arcadia. Survey group [color=ed1c24]ALPHA[/color] was a 12 man team, with only one Z-ATV, an outdated all-terrain assault vehicle, and a mission to explore to the north. However, on the way through Xena Rock fields, the group was ambushed by a collection of Divers, lead by Luke Juuno himself, the founder of Diver's Paradise, an encampment far out in the Ulimani Crags. The two forces clashed, leading to the destruction of Survey Group [color=ed1c24]ALPHA[/color]'s Z-ATV, and the deaths of many divers. Before the battle could rage on too far however, the entire group was assaulted by a super-massive serpent, the Xena serpent, forcing them to join efforts in order to defeat the treacherous beast. Luke left in a hurry, leaving the group with no transportation, stranded in the middle of no man's land. The driver of the groups Z-ATV decided he would return to Arcadia on foot, leaving his group behind. He was killed shortly after by the beasts of the land however, meeting an untimely fate. Several hours later, the same group was assaulted by a pair of assassins, who were able to pick off a couple of the team's members with ease, using a rare, high-powered sniper rifle, and forcing the remaining survivors to take cover within their wrecked Z-ATV.

	Back at Diver's Paradise, Luke and Jenso were met with an unfortunate event. Their hidden outpost had fallen under siege! What made matters worse, were the perpetrators behind the attack. They were all fully-uniformed CMAS soldiers, and numbered anywhere from 100 to 200 troops. Fortunately, with Luke's return, and the assistance of Alvios Maeti, Luke's right hand man, they were able to easily defeat the intruders, but not without substantial losses. After the attack, the Diver's supplies laid in shambles, two of the outposts underground support pillars were heavily damaged, and the entire area was at risk of a cave in. Luke, after discovering this, met with Alvios, Laura Juuno, and Tinon Frez, his commanding officers. During this meeting, Tinon urged that they disband the Paradise union of Divers, to which Laura agreed. Alvios and Luke however, did not want to entertain such insane thoughts. This brought Tinon into suspicion, as he'd sent Alvios on an errand not too long after Luke had left the paradise to sabotage Survey Group [color=ed1c24]ALPHA.[/color] Luke spoke with Alvios in private. At this point, it was revealed that Yvette Eridal was an acting spy for Luke and the heads of Diver's paradise. Luke thought the inexperience of survey group [color=ed1c24]ALPHA[/color] was suspicious, and asked his friend to check is Yvette was still in Xena plains, or [i]alive[/i] at all. Unbeknownst to Luke however, Jenso had his own suspicions about Luke and the Divers, deciding to return to Xena plains himself before Alvios, and speak with Yvette about his suspicions.

	Upon returning to Xena plains however, he found Yvette and her remaining team under attack, and took the opportunity to assault the snipers, and disarm them. He interrogated the snipers, learning that they were there on the order of an Arcadian official to 'clean up' the remains of survey group [color=ed1c24]ALPHA[/color]. He did not however, kill or entrap them before going to speak with Yvette, forcing her and himself to cower within the wrecked Z-ATV even longer with the only other surviving member of her crew, Brian Tormal. Yvette spent what little energy she had left to conjure a weapon of mass destruction though, wiping out the snipers in one fell swoop, and saving their hides for good. After this, Jenso learned that Yvette was a spy for Luke. Not only this, but Luke had another spy within the CMAS, a high ranking officer much like Yvette, Haley Corisan, who just so happened to be leading the [i]southern survey expedition[/i] as the head of Survey group 1. After hearing all of this, Jenso helped Yvette and Brian, escorting them back to the Paradise on foot, and leaving the wrecked ATV behind, along with the corpse of the defeated Xena Serpent.

	Sulfrax Lauchlin, after his termination as head of project S-S at the command of Sydney Duvell, left Arcadia around the time that Survey group [color=ed1c24]ALPHA[/color] was sent out on their expedition. He returned to his home in Hyznia to think over his termination. While here, he met with Diver, Rem Vano, on the castle city's ramparts. The two of them shared a discussion outside of Hyznia's barrier, but were assaulted by a pair of strange individuals with bright green eyes and devastating arcane prowess. The two summoned weapons out of thin air, and attacked Rem and Sulfrax with lethal intent. With Sulfrax's own power however, he disable them both, and killed one, leaving the taller of the two, a man named Ruso, alive, and frozen in ice. The fight had only taught them that these two men were [i]Gaians,[/i] an unknown race of humanoids that could apparently commune with animals.

	After this encounter, Sulfrax was called to speak with King Thrallmor, leader of Hyznia, and was pulled in by Hyznia's royal elite, the holy guard. He and Rem entered the castle with their escort, and learned many things. Luke Juuno was there, and claimed that the CMAS had made some serious moves towards the goals of not only exterminating any organization that the Diver's had, but also towards overtaking the government of Arcadia entirely. Luke explained the events he'd witnessed, and revealed his sources inside of Arcadia as Yvette Eridal and Haley Corisan. The king told Sulfrax about Luke's plan to uproot the five CMAS heads, and take out Sydney Duvell, once and for all. Luke stated that he needed Hyznia's forces to assist him as well. The king claimed that Sulfrax's ejection from Scattered Shades fell in line with Sydney's plan to have complete control over the CMAS, as Sulfrax was a powerful wildcard he could not afford to have so close to the project. Ultimately, Thrallmor decided to ally his kingdom with the Divers. Sulfrax declared that he was not under Thrallmor's command, and shared no allegiance with their alliance, but stated that they shared a common enemy, and took Rem Vano with him to Illon, to consult with Dictator Yvin, in an attempt to gain the assistance of, not only his army, but Illon's special strike force, [i]the seven sins.[/i]

	With Sulfrax on the move to strengthen any force against the CMAS, Luke in Hyznia, Jenso bringing Yvette back to the paradise, and Sydney pulling the strings behind his endless resources, there's no telling what all of this could mean for Thorisa, especially with the recent rumors of Divers going missing en'masse, and the appearance of Gaians on the continent...

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[center][h2]Diver's Paradise[/h2][/center]
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	Jenso made his way down the eastern entry ramp, supporting Yvette while she wrapped an arm around his back. Brian followed closely behind, trying his best not to trip over any of the grooves in the uneven rock that lead deep under the crags. "It's been a while," Yvette wheezed as the three of them made it out of the tunnel. She gasped as they overlooked the vast expanse of open space, ravaged by the CMAS' brutal attack earlier in the day. Divers were working together to put houses back together, and reorganize what remained of their scattered supplies. The roof of the underground encampment was cracked just above them, but it held firmly. Brian looked to his right, and then to his left, noticing the two broken pillars at the eastern corners of the cave. The right pillar was cracked severely, while The leftmost pillar had a giant chunk of its body missing, where Alvios had used his Ki to slice it out, in order to crush a large squadron of troops that entered through the east tunnel. The chunk of pillar itself was below them, thicker than the Xena Serpent that they had slayed in Xena rock fields, and resting on one of the ramps that lead down to the lower level, where buildings were scattered erratically across the rocky floor. "They did all this?" Yvette hissed angrily, pulling herself from Jenso's support and walking to the edge of the ledge that they were standing on. As she looked down, she noticed a large pile of CMAS corpses underneath her position. There were so many of them. On the other end of the paradise, near the western tunnel, she caught a glimpse of several bodies lined up neatly, with fabric covering their faces. Those must have been the Divers that the CMAS troops had killed. "Curse that Arch mage.."

	"Where is Luke?" Brian asked Jenso, searching the hundreds of Divers for Luke's familiar bulky frame. Yvette looked up at the main tower where Luke, Alvios, Tinon, and Laura were usually located at. It was built into the northern wall of the paradise, half concealed by stone.

	"Probably up there, with Alvios," Yvette interjected. Unfortunately for the three of them, Luke was actually not in the Paradise, nor was Alvios. Luke was still in Hyznia. And Alvios? Well, that much wasn't certain...
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[center][h2]Edge of Illuna Forest[/h2][/center]
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	Sulfrax lead rem past the frozen Gaian, Ruso, towards Illuna forest on their journey to reach the Nation of Illon. Sulfrax knew that Illon's leader owed him a favor, the weight of which was far too heavy for him to turn down anything that the Arch-mage were to ask of him. Of course, the allegiance of his armies, and the services of Yvin's [i]deadly sins[/i] were rather heavy requests, despite this. Were they going to be able to get his support? Only time would tell.

	Ruso glared at Sulfrax as he passed with Rem and Senna. His eyes were filled with hatred, but he was overcome with the grief of losing his friend, Florence, the corpse of whom was still frozen in the ice next to him, without a [i]head,[/i] thanks to Sulfrax.

	The forest of Illuna was not a very treacherous environment compared to the rest of Thorisa, but it would have been wise for Sulfrax and Rem to tread lightly, regardless. Rem didn't have the whole story of what Sulfrax was planning, however. Would he share every last detail with his new [i]would be[/i] protege? Or keep the silence strong?

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[center][h2]Plains of Ire, South East[/h2][/center]

	Survey Group 1, lead by Haley Corisan, and Jonathan Yumi, had successfully left the southern gates of Arcadia, heading for the horizons of Thorisa on their diligent expedition to scout the lands. Their group consisted of 20 experienced officials, and Divers, including the likes of [i]Quicksilver Zay,[/i] and [i]the man simply known as Dan[/i]. They were split into two teams of 6, and one team of 8, each occupying the newest model of Z-ATV. The trucks were massive, spacious enough to comfortably seat 10 men and women, and were armed with a state of the art [i]Arcane Dissonance Laser[/i], which had the simple purpose of utterly [i]destroying[/i] large scale creatures that may have posed a danger to their travels. 

	Z-ATV 1, leading the head of the small platoon, held Haley Corisan herself, Quicksilver Zay, and several other Divers within its confines. There were 5 well padded seats lining both walls of the Z-ATV's interior. Near the back of the vehicle, two large blast doors acted as exits and stairways, with the capability to swing down to allow easy access for anyone within. Further back sat a supply crate, full of weapons and rations. Above it, there was a single hatch, used for access to the top of the vehicle, with a ladder that unfolded from one edge of the squared metal plate. Haley sat at the front, with another official opposite to her, a man known as Jacob. He was her acting [i]second in command,[/i] but sat silently without a single shred of personality seeping from his stoic demeanor. Such was the nature of most CMAS officials, broken peons that served as nothing more than soldiers. Haley glared at him every now and again, but the most he'd responded with was an attentive 'ma'am?' or a nod. She didn't even say anything back. No use talking to a brainwashed robot, [i]after all.[/i] The atmosphere was pretty dull, despite the presence of so many Divers in the truck. Zay was half-asleep, and Dan was tinkering with his goggles, serving little to bright the mood.

	Within an hour, they would be upon the Desert to the southeast. It was only a matter of time, but what awaited them in those sandy reaches was a mystery for everyone on board the Z-ATV troupe.
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[center][h2]Plains of Ire, East[/h2][/center]
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	Survey group 2's expedition is well under-way, making its way to the east without a single issue thus far. This group is lead by Trevor Gorgai, a leading official within CMAS known for his brutal demeanor, and flawless abilities on the battlefield. His troupe rides in a single vehicle, the ZZ-ATV. It follows the basic Z-ATV design, scaled to massive proportions, and armed with three laser cannons, as opposed to the standard issue singular arm. The vehicle is titanic enough to hold 30 people comfortably, providing a large area for free movement, with shock absorbing technology to make walking within the behemoth an easy task. 30 padded chairs lined the edges of the large rectangular interior, and much like its smaller counterparts, its cockpit area is walled off from the rest of the vehicle by a large blast door. Within this vehicle, Trevor stood near the center of the room, pacing impatiently as his [i]'soldiers'[/i] sat and watched him, most tense with anxiety. This group had a unique passenger, however. A construct known as 'Buttercup', the only remaining golem that was left behind after the great war between Illon Arcadia. Buttercup was a Relic of a devilish experiment that the Illon scientists had worked on prior to the times of peace, where they would artificially infuse the arcane energy of dead or dying soldiers into a mass of metal, creating an obedient sentience with the fighting capability stronger than humans by a wide margin. The 8-foot tall metal monstrosity, although completely gentle and obedient in nature, was seen as an abomination. Trevor didn't care, though. Whatever its origins, it could [i]fight.[/i] That's all that mattered to him.