[b]Response Level 2[/b]
[i]A stirring of the clouds reveals the moon, full and dominating the skies, far stronger than the distant sun.[/i]

Location Stats:
[b]The Order of Hermes:[/b] The Order of Hermes is present here in force.
[b]The Huntress Awakens:[/b] You are being observed, no matter where you are or what you do.

[b]Redana![/b]

Iskarot is patient with you, Redana. He, too, has had this moment, and he has not had it long enough to grow jaded. He folds himself into a seated position and for a long hour it is just the two of you and the waves. For a while you are three, as Hades seems to sit on the same shoreline alongside you. He is there for only a little while, though, coming and going without comment.

It is not he who breaks the silence. A Coherent patrol jogs along the beach in the shadow of their clanking MRU, billowing sooty and yet somehow spicy smoke. The soldiers are almost barbaric in how they appear - no gleaming metabronze plate, these are warriors with bare chests, shields of black marble, and cloaks of yellow and black. On full display are their unique bodies - some flawless fusions of human and machine, some simply biological but perfected, some abstract blurs of gears and blinking lights. It is pointless to guess at what they once were, these are creatures who have transcended their origins to make their souls manifest in physical form.

And they have with them a captive. An Alced girl, trussed and thrown over the shoulders of one of the Coherent like burlap. She squeaks when she's unceremoniously dumped onto the sand in front of you.

"Ho there, priest!" booms the Coherent soldier, saluting bombastically. "And apprentice! Lady Artemis has favoured us and we have captured a new recruit for the Order! The auguries say she has the mind for the Path but she's been nothing but bratty, so we're hoping you could have a word with her and maybe stop her from kicking us every step of the way."

"Put me down! You won't get away with this! Mirvan will find me no matter how far you take me!"

"Ha ha! Then we shall have two recruits!" said the Coherent.


[hider]
[b]Coherent Phalanx[/b]
[i]The line infantry of the Order of Hermes, armed with wonders and terrors.[/i]
[b]Tethered:[/b] Damage this stat if you can take the ground between the Coherent and their MRU.
[b]Epic, Dominating Bursts:[/b] You must Pay a Price to close the distance to the Coherent Phalanx. They have the tags [i]ranged, area, dangerous[/i]. 

[b]Mobile Reactor Unit[/b]
[i]A font of divine energy to power the weapons of the gods.[/i]
[b]Reactor Plating:[/b] This stat can only be damaged by [i]Dangerous[/i] weaponry, or by the attention of a skilled engineer.
[b]Unlimited Power:[/b] If a threat Tethered to the MRU takes damage, immediately heal that damage.
[/hider]


[b]Vasilia![/b]

"Oh, of course! I'm actually writing my very thesis on the ancient Azura game of 'chess'. Most notable for the illusionary promise of advancement offered to the infantrymen - strive hard enough and they may be added to the sovereign's harem, though such a promise is rarely realized."

Pilate Borin happily natters away at the subtleties of the ancient wargame, though the basic principle remains clear. The king remains the king. Different Pilates attempt to gather favour that they might serve as the Magos' right hand but there is no realistic advancement beyond that - Birmingham works to keep his subordinates locked in contests so that they can never challenge him directly.

"But then of course the three dimensional variants come in, and suddenly the lives of the pawns become all the harder. Just try penetrating a layered defense when trying to avoid mixing up and down! Can't even talk to the referee like that."

As Pilate Borin talks, it's clear he's disgruntled with this whole situation. Not long ago he was playing the game with the best of them and was close to the centre of power. But then he accepted what he thought was a promotion into a diplomatic role. As it turns out, the only ambassador with clout is the one that talks to the Empire. Now he's almost been knocked out of the game entirely and he's fairly salty about it. He's annoyed enough to even make a play against the Magos if he thinks it's plausible.

"Ah, but there's not much to say about games when you don't play them, is there? There is a mingle happening tonight between all the senior players if you'd like to attend."

[b]Alexa![/b]

"The great muster at Ridenki? Of course. All of the daimyos of Ceron were there. Mengekai, Tharao, Thriss, Kai'yen, Vatemoral..." names from the songs of ancient soldiers. Nursery rhymes for Ceron children, the pantheon of Imperial protectors who roam the distant stars to keep Tellus safe from afar. Epistia's voice is almost singsong as she looks out at the planet. "Ruin there was to be found there, ruin cloaked beneath a mask of order. Ruin was the reign of Molech, ruin was the cast of his spear. In ruin was his true imperium, and so ruin was the one thing that could not be allowed to exist. Concealed within the hand of the Director was the love of Demeter, and when she raised it to the sky the harvest moons came in their dozens and all were struck dumb by their splendour. In the shadow of the moons the Director stood as the bridge between life and death, and in the light of resurrection the legions of Ceron swore their final oaths."

You have wondered what became of the Ceron Legions. They are not stationed on Tellus. They are not discussed in the Empress' military briefings. You have the mind for logistics and planetary campaigns; certain forces simply cannot move without enormous quantities of resources being deployed to support them. Even their shadow should be recognizable in thousands of ships leaving Tellus for reinforcement and resupply. Did those galaxy-conquering warriors really all return to Ceron to beat their swords back into ploughs? Did generals like Mengekai really accept exile from the centre of Imperial power at the mere word of Nero? Did Thriss never attempt to seize power for herself? 

They have disappeared directly into myth. As someone who has disappeared into myth yourself you understand how that is possible, but surely not everyone is as broken as you?

Tell me, Alexa, of which of the Ceronian Daimyos you crossed spears with. Who were they? How did they lead their legion? Why would they never have accepted a quiet retirement?

[b]Bella![/b]

"We apologize!" gasped the Hermetic so fast that it felt like she was prepared to break into this begging at any moment. All the nerves come tumbling out in a rush. "Tell her majesty we're sorry! We aren't questioning her authority, or her histories, we'd never act against her - we're just trying to serve her better! We're -" the Pilate stops abruptly as Mynx puts her foot on top of her neck, gazing down with the same dispassionate and annoyed look.

"We're - we're chronomining for data," stammers the Pilate. "We intend to use the primary weapon of the Yakanov to gaze back in time and observe the Empress' activities during the invasion and reconstruction of Ridenki. We believe that the Empress is the closest living soul to Hermes, if she is not Hermes herself. We mean no offense! We only wish to understand her better that we might serve her better!"

She's not lying. You're aware that at least some of the Hermetic order considers Nero to be a manifestation of their goddess. While this operation probably isn't [i]entirely[/i] a spiritually motivated duty - enough of the Order will just be out to collect whatever secrets they can find - at least some of them are genuine about it. 

More from instinct than anything, though, you don't think that the Magos himself is one of those true believers. There's too much guilt pouring out of the Pilate for her to have genuinely bought into this plan.