[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/M5I1dzL.png[/img] [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5chHfK6sCc[/youtube] [img]http://i.imgur.com/i6fLcHF.png[/img][/center] The battle for Arcadia still ragged, even though the last of the Angels' combatants forfeit any chance of victory, staining their image before the other factions, the remaining Demons fought an uphill battle against the sheer superiority of the Machina numbers. Victoire's last gift which still persisted (and grew in strength) despite many attempts to eliminate it, as well as their innate advantage against the soulless mechanical soldiers, would have to be exploited to their maximum if the troops of Hell wished a chance to taste victory today. Meanwhile, the new ruler of Hell plotted an invasion of the Sacred Halls of Caelestia. Even though her brash strategy to free her captured Demonic peers was being prepared with a great deal of care, some plans were never bound to work. As a great military mind once said to his lord, "If the orders aren't clear and the soldiers fall in disarray, that's the General's fault. However, if the orders are clear and the General made his will known, any chaos is of the soldiers' responsibility." It's said that after such a speech the General executed two of his lord's favorite concubines who refused to lead a military demonstration. The other ones obey every single of his commands to no fault after that. One had to wonder, in which of the cases did Hell fit better? On the other side of the Nexus, the Machina, under the command of the very own High Queen Eos, had finished establishing their newest industrial complex, [url=http://31.media.tumblr.com/5dc1f04e32891ddb195f3d6cdcdd2614/tumblr_mtp2lcG5ap1s5oxc0o1_500.gif][b]KC-10081[/b][/url], a gargantuan plant made solely to receive the resources retrieved from Alt Signia and turn them into the newest generation of [url=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/bb/89/ce/bb89cece96614b1470790a7b56cf0e6c.jpg][b]EXOSUITS[/b][/url] their army's greatest advantage for the coming stages of the war. However, even such a feat of power from the Machina's army had its dark secrets, shadows meant to remain hidden under the High Queen's shine. What could happen if this grand project was carried to conclusion? [center] [img]http://i.imgur.com/i6fLcHF.png[/img] [@ReaptheMusic] [@Inner Demon] [@Lmpkio] [@Banana] [@floodtalon] [@The 42nd Gecko] [@Mega Birb] [@Awesomoman64] [@Ryonara] [@Flamelord] [@Lucius Cypher] [@Lonewolf685] [@TheWindel] [/center] [center][h3][b][color=daa520][u] D I A N A [/u][/color][/b][/h3][/center] [center][b][color=daa520]Celestia ❖ Palace Halls[/color][/b][/center] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/i6fLcHF.png[/img][/center] Diana walked through the halls of Celestia unaware of the grand scheme of things playing around her. Thanks to the information she heard about the Machina having finally moved the stolen resources from Ruthria's ruins to their final destination, Diana's worries were focused mostly on what happened with Bastion after the last time they saw one another in Alt Signia. The dragon girl knew that she wasn't strong enough to make a difference in the long run, but she couldn't let her friend go like that. Not until she was sure that Bastion's words telling Diana to leave her or be treated as an enemy were true or if Bastion said that because there were other Machina soldiers nearby. [color=daa520]"I've been training for this long but I still cannot use all of my power,"[/color] Diana thought as she gazed at her own reflection cast on Ascalon's golden blade. For anyone else, it would seem like a simple makeshift mirror, but the only thing Diana could see was the rageful beast that lurked inside of her, eager for a chance to escape. [color=daa520]"Just wait and see,"[/color] Diana shook her head, trying to get rid of her dark thoughts. [color=daa520]"One day I'm going to catch up to you. And when that happens... I'll be sure to get a straight answer from you, Bast- What the!?"[/color] Diana's train of thought was brutally derailed when she stepped on some random piece of trash that shouldn't by any means be here, in the middle of the Divine Imperator's palace. [color=daa520]"Who is the idiot littering the palace? Don't anyone respect anything anymore?"[/color] Diana said, lifting the ragged piece of cloth from the floor with a couple fingers until it was level with her eyes and taking a sniff of it. [color=daa520]"Where did this thing come from?"[/color] She wondered while taking the random trash, which looked like some kind of sock puppet, to the nearest place where she could discard it. [color=daa520]"And why it stinks so much? If I didn't know better I would think that it's a Demon, or was used by one for some unspeakable act of..."[/color] Diana trailed off as she finally arrived at her objective. [color=daa520]"Well, I guess it doesn't matter anymore... Whatever,"[/color] the gold and crimson-clad girl thought as she threw the dirty puppet at an incinerator and returned back to her room. Now whoever dumped that trash in the corridor didn't have to worry with a mad Iona hunting them down. Looks like Diana saved the skin of someone without them even knowing. Pretty angelic, right? [center] [img]http://i.imgur.com/i6fLcHF.png[/img] [@Banana] [/center]