THE GRAND ARMADA
RESPONSE LEVEL: [b]2[/b]
[i]Redana has disturbed the dead, and Bella has assaulted the Seneschal of the Rex[/i]

Location Stats: 
[b]Imperial[/b]. This place is home to the Soldiers of Empire
[b]Elysium Fields[/b]. This place is home to [i]???[/i]

[b]Bad Weather[/b]
[i]The dark storm of Poseidon commences, and all within are in terrible peril.[/i]

Bad weather is dangerous, and will need to be Overcome whenever it gets in the way. Bad weather always deals Soft Cuts.

[b]Dark Secret[/b]
This location gains another stat - the [b]Elysium Fields.[/b]

[b]Redana![/b]

The cosmic winds howl.

There is no weather on Tellus - it too was excavated to make room for the hives of humanity. Imagine it - the air [i]moving[/i]? Water from the [i]sky[/i]? When Zeus comes her storms run through the veins of the mighty hive cities, crashing flows of electricity that fills corridors with cascading sheets of lightning, making the screaming stars that power everything strain against their restraints like the titans of old. You've never felt anything like this as you struggle from the seat of the Plover. You've never felt the frozen teardrops of Poseidon shatter against your helmet visor. You've never been unbalanced by the magenta dust that pulls and glitters and stains anything it touches. You've never felt your hair bloom with white lilies and sapphires as the very matter of your being warps to mourn the dead.

The [i]Vespine[/i] shakes beneath you as you seek the charging slot. The one in the hangar is dead - a micrometeor strike has gone right through it, savaging the wires - but the ill-tempered engine still promises life. You brace yourself as best you can through the hexagonal hallways - panels shredded everywhere, exposing views of the expanse at first - and then of the engine deck. As you do things get hotter and hotter, even through the void.

And then you reach a twisted, broken section of hallway. Molten metal has carved a path across this entire corridor - a breach from the plasma vents out of the engine still spilling molten power across the path. Through the gap you can see the engine chamber and it too is a marvel - the consoles melted into piles of sludge, brilliant green and blue light scorching against the walls of the stellar containment, stalagmites of molten metal hanging from the ceiling. As the winds blow from behind you, you can see the brilliant little flashes of impact as the stuff of space strikes the scorching slag.

It's not a long jump, but with the wind and the unstable engine, there's a lot that can go wrong. But this is where the power conduit is severed so as soon as you get on the other side you can charge your Plover.

"Careful, Redana," whispers Hades.

Roll to Overcome.

[b]Decanus Galnius![/b]

You are certain you made the right decision. The cause for this revelation is not a smile from blessed Apollo - his stone countenance on your signet brooch remains as stern and unwavering as ever - but because you only had to drag the goddamn statue for ten minutes to reach the Bridge. It would have been thirty minutes in the opposite direction and you are pretty sure that by then the question of allegiance wouldn't matter because you would be dead of exhaustion. Son of a bitch wanted you to haul this pile of murderous crap in full plate, who the fuck did he think he was, getting chanted at by this fucking cyborg all the while...

You drop the statue like an ugly baby the second you see the enemy captain, and your contubernium (squad of eight) does the same. You can see it stir, starting to awaken and you really hope that's not your problem. You take a moment to look around the bridge, feeling a sinking feeling in your gut when you see it completely abandoned. Damn it, your hunch was right... but at least you won't die tired.

It takes some effort to keep the smile off your face when you see the enemy captain - Vasilia, you think? Aww, someone dressed the servitor like a [i]captain[/i]! You'd heard rumours but there's something about seeing it in person that is just so comical. Probably the Princess' idea, though, and better not to antagonize her by proxy. You click your heels and give a standard issue salute - one fist strike across the breastplate. "I, Decanus Galnius, and these soldiers, hereby defect to the direct command of Her Imperial Majesty, Redana Honorius Claudius. Blessed Apollo, God of Virtue, witness that I do not break my oath of allegiance to King Jas'o, but was instead the betrayed party - my loyalty to Empress and Empire runs deeper and it is the duty of all under the Sun God's light to seek the most worthy leader. If the gods object, send me a sign in my auguries that I might make sacrifices to earn forgiveness."

And just when you think you've got that all sorted you hear a shriek, distorted and unnatural, emerge from center mass of the Hermetician.

{[b]TREASON[/b]} it screeches so loudly your ears ring.

You and your soldiers leap away as from it, reflexively falling into a shieldwall, but your heart sinks when you realize what a suicidal impulse that was in this moment. From underneath the shifting yellow robes limbs begin to emerge. The magos unwraps itself like an octopus, lifting up on stiltlike tripod legs and producing devices that glow in ominous and terrifying shades of toxic green that make you feel like you'll get cancer just by [i]looking[/i] at them. It's more than doubled in size and now seems like a scrap of yellow rags wrapping the centre of a terrifying killing machine.


[hider=Iskarot, Tertiary Evoker]
[b]Iskarot, Tertiary Evoker[/b]
[i]A magos of the Order of Hermes, dedicated to the craft of destruction.[/i]
[b]Master of Machines:[/b] All machines, devices, and technologies do as the Hermetician commands.
[b]Order of Evocation:[/b] Your cuts are hard cuts, and are both Area and Dangerous.
[/hider]


"NOBODY," shrieks the Hermetician, "MOVE. I. AM. [i]THINKING[/i]."

There is a long silence of terror. Even the slightest twitch causes the creature to swing that horrible weapons system around with laser precision. Rubber tubes dangle out from beneath its central bulk, sloshing with high-pressure alien fluids. Incense and perfumed gases hiss out of it in obscuring vents, leaving the ragged central outline hazy but for banks of glowing eye lenses.

"Assessment of Athenian relic complete," it states. "Progression to status Secundus guaranteed if returned to the Order. Leverage identified; promissory control optimal. Primary strategy requires maintaining current allegiance, evading junior officer coup, multi-stage deception, expenditure of resources and expertise, location of transportation off-fleet - complex. New strategy assessment using current resources comparatively simple."

With a whirr of gyros, the main cannon came around to fix on Vasilia. 

"Captain!" blurted the magos. "My designation is Iskarot, Tertiary-rank Evoker of the Order of Hermes. My demands are as follows. Firstly, I have full authority over maintaining and repairing this starship. Secondly, you deliver me to starbase [i]Raving Direction[/i]. Thirdly, that my movements, activities and processes be unimpeded and unhindered. Direct your statement of compliance to Lord Ares."

That last part is arguably more intimidating than all the rest of it. 

*

[b]Bella![/b]

"Of course, Puh-puh-puh-praetor!" squeaks the seneschal, and oh, isn't his neck [i]soft[/i]? All of those bulky robes designed to make him look like a moving house, designed to let you know just how important he is, designed to scare kitties like you into doing better jobs scrubbing dishes... they're so finely made they weigh almost nothing. They don't do [i]anything[/i] to stop you lifting him off the floor. They don't do [i]anything[/i] to stop [i]him[/i] being the one on the ground with the bloody nose and terrified eyes. 

"I can't just... oh, oh, there is one, the Admiral's personal ship is in a different bay!" he said with the kind of swiftness that told just how 'accidental' all of this was. "But it's guh-guh-guh-guarded! There's a Codexia in there!"

Just one?

A thrill of fear goes through you. Deeply unwelcome after that moment of being free from it.

One Codexia is still a lot.