[center][h2][b][u]Planet Plenty - War-scarred fields[/u][/b][/h2][/center] Not far from the Circle of Hell's shipwreck was the mentioned Vice-Admiral of Alexander Kherol, Kotaro Winterborn. But he did not fly here immediately after the ship's crash-landing. On the contrary, he was here even before the ship crashed. It's been two weeks since the crash, and by extension, two weeks since the negotiations to peacefully end this rebellion crumbled to dust. He watched as the Circle of hell dropped from the sky at the hand of the rebels and was the one who destroyed the cannon that caused it to happen, before then retaliating against the rebels for what they did. Not at that moment though, he gave them time to surrender themselves before he gives the order to suppress them in Grand Admiral Kherol's name. By now, Time was up... However, he had larger priorities to deal with at the time, which was in part the reason for the time limit. After the Circle of Hell crashed, it unwittingly allowed for a jailbreak to happen as a result of the malfunctioning security of the ship. As a result, a large number of very dangerous criminals escaped and were wandering about the Planet - need it be to try and escape off the planet or to simply cause havoc and satisfying whatever desires they may have there - causing things to become even worse for the bystanders of this battle than it already was. As such, Kotaro's top priority was the capture of these criminals and the protection of the rest of Plenty not involved in the war. Twisting the arm of Plenty's Garrison Commander, under Grand Admiral Laguna, to work with him on this, Kotaro personally orchestrated and commanded the recapturing effort, sending his best men to procure the criminals, dead if necessary. For two weeks he's been dealing with both criminals and rebels, and any who tried to come after him or the Garrison Commander personally, he reluctantly had executed - well, reluctantly in the case of the rebels, he had [i]no[/i] sympathy for any Circle of Hell escapees who dared to come after him. Kotaro currently was outside a large tent, giving orders to soldiers left and right, when suddenly appears a small person in a yellow hood - a boy by the voice and stature - by Kotaro's side from out of nowhere, prompting a few soldiers to jump and point their guns, only for other soldiers to intervene and push the guns away. Those who are under Kherol - and currently working for the Vice-Admiral - have seen this boy appear and disappear quickly so many times now that it does not phase them anymore, and so they have to explain to soldiers under Laguna that this boy is on their side. "[b][color=yellow]We rounded up the last of the criminals, Boss![/color][/b]" The hooded boy said, the outright cheerful tone offsetting the hooded appearance he was taking. "[b]Well done... But faster than expected, were there any issues.[/b]" "[b][color=yellow]Errm, well, Some of them chose to fight us and died, Ma'am Nuletta in particular made quick work of quite a number of them. Also, Sir Zebul said he found a ship managed to escape out of the blockade Laguna made, definitely wasn't one of ours either.[/color][/b]" [b]...How many was on that ship?[/b]" "[b][color=yellow]Two, maybe three.[/color][/b]" Kotaro could not help but sigh at this failure. Despite his efforts and the efforts of his men, it seems a few criminals escaped back to the Ascendancy anyways. He thought about what Kherol would do at a time like this... "[b]...We'll leave them be for now, but not without an eye watching over them. Have Sir Zebul give the details of that ship to one of our recon units to conduct a search, and relay what they find to me. Have the Harlequins keep the prisoners from escaping until another prison ship arrives. If they attempt an escape again, they are authorized to kill.[/b]" "[b][color=yellow]And...what about the rest of us, boss?[/color][/b]" The boy asked. Kotaro took a deep breath and sighed. As much as he didn't want to, he knew exactly what order to give to the boy, he knew what had to be done. He made his Ultimatum, to back out of it would be going back on his word and cowardice, especially after they crashed the Circle which caused this further chaos in the first place. He gave the rebels more time to surrender than he likely should have; this bloodshed would have been spared a while ago had he simply arrested their leaders when he had the chance. While he understands their motivations, their extreme aggression and lacking of regret and foresight to the ramification of their actions cannot and will not be tolerated. "[b]...Time's up. Have the Paladins work with Laguna's Soldiers to shut this rebellion down. Sir Zebul and Madam Nuletta are on recon and rescue duty. They are to find any innocent bystanders still in the warzones and the four remaining leaders of the Rebellion. Relocate the civilians to safe zones and bring the four elders to me. How you do it is up to you, but I want them alive. There are soldiers likely protecting them, kill them only if you feel there is no other option to take, but otherwise, I want them captured as well. The rest of the Paladins are to locate and destroy the orbital cannons stationed across Plenty. The rest of the armies are to overwhelm the Rebel forces, diverting their attention away from the Paladins' activities. Commander, once the cannons are destroyed, relay to Grand Admiral Laguna to bring in her fleet to encompass the world. If things go as they should: their best weapons will be gone, their elders will be captured, and the amount of ships and soldiers should be enough to diminish their morale to the point of surrender.[/b]" Kotaro said. Thinking from the perspective of an experienced Commanding Officer, this strategy may seem too simple to work. However, Kotaro realizes that these are not soldiers they are dealing with, they are not experienced machines of war that has seen military strategies in action before, they are young and old farmers who were given weaponry and are driven by a reckless passion, drunk on the power they were given. Best to match the strategy to the opponent, lest more people die than necessary. The hooded boy did a bow, and just like that, he vanished in as much of a blink of an eye as he appeared, reappearing on another hill not that far from Kotaro's position before disappearing again. "Now wait just a minute, You can demand your freaks to do whatever you want, but those are MY Armies and under Grand Admiral Laguna! You have no authority to make orders to them, specially not when it's essentially making them bait!" The garrison commander yelled from behind. Kotaro turned towards him and coldly stared daggers into the commander's soul, before immediately unsheathing a regular blade and pointing it towards the commander's neck. "[b]I don't recall asking for your opinion, Commander. It was because of you and Grand Admiral Laguna's stepping out out of your expertise that a lot of good people died, and the farmlands are now ruined. We may not be able to recultivate this planet because of [i]your[/i] scorched earth tactics. I don't know why Grand Admiral Laguna got involved, and I don't care. Counter-insurgency is [i]our[/i] department, so until this rebellion is ended, I am taking the reins of this operation and the authority that comes with it. If Grand Admiral Laguna is unsatisfied, she may take it up with Grand Admiral Kherol after this is over. Now, give the order. Wait for our signal and commence a wave-by-wave assault on the rebels.[/b]" He said. He knew that it was possible this action could qualify in Grand Admiral Laguna's eyes as insubordination, however there was argument to be had about this whole operation being worse. The Garrison commander nodded in agreement and headed off to fulfill his order, worried that he was now caught between a rock and a hard place, between the Vice-Admiral having his head, or Grand Admiral Laguna. As Kotaro prepared himself for this gambit, another soldier came towards him from the crashed Prison Ship. "Vice-Admiral, ...We recieved word of unexpected visitors that arrived on the Ship." "[b]Visitors...?[/b]" "They claim to be a relief unit sent to assist the staff in evacuating the ship, remanding any prisoners that didn't escape, and overall be a boost to the crew's morale." The soldier explained. Kotaro was quick to think about this, indeed it made sense for a relief unit to come down and assist the Circle of Hell, and hopefully get it running again. He ordered one himself after all, and it's been two weeks so it must have been known by now by some that the ship was wrecked here on the planet. By all accounts, these people seem legit. And yet, something about this doesn't feel right. Kotaro has been on this planet for all of the two weeks that the ship has landed for, and no one came to help with the situation despite his best efforts...and the one he did manage to contact, said they still couldn't come for at least another two days, simply due to the distance. So who are these guys...? "[b]Are they still on board?[/b]" "As far as we know, yes." "[b]...Very well, gather some of the men and follow me. It's high-time we tell Warden De'Silva of our progress anyways.[/b]" Kotaro said. The soldier nodded as he prompted a small legion of soldiers to follow Kotaro as he walks towards the Circle of Hell. On the way, he's using his hands to invoke silent orders to his men, prompting some of them to move away and leaving about four men with him as he continued his walk. [i]The Vice-Admiral is coming...[/i] [hr] [center][h2][b][u]Circle of Hell - Holding Cells Block B[/u][/b][/h2][/center] "[b][color=red]GAH![/color][/b]" was Alan's reaction to hearing this person (Finnbar) talking to Jan and happening at his cell, jumping into an odd frazzled position for a second before immediately relaxing and staring at the two in front of him. "[i][color=red]Holy shit, that yelling actually worked?[/color][/i]" was all he could think of, so utterly dumbfounded to actually see someone outside his cell after the yelling to the point where he was basically blocking out what the two people were saying to each other, even momentarily not catching what the person asked him. His eyes widened and he shook his head to get his mind out of the gutter before actually taking a look at the one talking to him. This person was staring into Alan's soul, and Alan stared right back into his. There was little doubt in his mind, he recognized the old shape-shifting colleague all too well. This was Finnbar, one of the Star Marines he met so long ago, a brother in arms who chose to fight against the Ascendancy with the others, one of the Star Marines who he missed due to his training back on the Rau've planet. That said, what in the hell was he doing here talking to this woman and acting like an Ascendancy inspector? Did he actually re-join with the Ascendancy since he last saw him, or was this some kind of ruse to get as far into the ship as he was? Now that Alan thought about it, they [i]were[/i] suppose to come here for Realist, and not from the experience that got him to this point in the first place, just waltzing in to grab Realist off these people was a bad idea. Either way, regardless of whether he's joined with the Ascendancy again, or whether this some kind of inside job, what Alan needs to do is the same, he knows exactly how to greet his old friend... "[b][color=red]Yeah, I got a name... It's Kiss my ass and burn you [i]'Ascendant'[/i] Grand-Delusional FUCK! ...My Parents had issues.[/color][/b]" Alan said, first giving a nod with a stoic face before going angry with the insult then going into a laxed shrug afterwards. It might seem like a bad move on his part, but in his eyes, this was the best way he could either confirm this one's on the Ascendancy side, or tell him that he's on his side without fucking him over, all while trying to make it natural for the actual ascendancy witness right next to him. If he's with the Ascendancy, then Alan'll have naturally shown his...'disagreement' with that decision. If he's working under cover, then the priority was keeping that cover intact. The nod just before his statement, at least in his own mind, was a subtle acknowledgement of the situation to Finnbar, akin to a Wink. It could be looked at as that, or it could naturally just be in conjunction with his response before he thoroughly answers. The last little joke was for no reason, though. He just felt like adding that there for the sake of the mood. "[b][color=yellow]Ey, what do you know, sounds like my plan sort of worked.[/color][/b]" Joey blurted out, overhearing what's going on in the floor just above his own and the additional yelling of his cell mate. "[color=red][b][i]Shut, up, Joey...[/i] Actually yes, yes he is. Shoot him please. Seriously, no one will miss him.[/b][/color]" "[color=yellow][b]Oi, what the hell?[/b][/color]" [color=red][b]...Is what I want to say, but as annoying as he is, we need him to get us off thi rock, specially since this wole ship feels abandon. I haven't eaten anything all day, and I doubt Maria had anything for days now. Tell the cafteria person they need to step up the food frquency here.[/b][/color] Alan said, once again using rambling and treating Finn as hostile while hopefully giving info to him from Alan himself by relaying that info subtlely into his seeming tangents, to show that Joey was an ally, and that Maria was indeed there with him. --- The girl still was silent to answer this Doctor. She may not seem it from hearing the yelling of her two allies and still being unphased, but she is did have a good sense of hearing. She could hear that there were other visitors on the floor below her, no doubt talking with Alan...and Alan being Alan in response. She looked towards the Doctor, and at that point it'd be clear to him just how odd this girl seemed. Her eyes were a beautiful violet, yet they were utterly empty, there was no shine to them, no light, not as if she was blind, but as if her very soul was taken from her, as if she suffered enough labotomies to be deemed catatonic. But that was not the most odd thing he'd see. No, the really odd thing was revealed when she turned her head to see him, and by doing so, exposed the small black valve seemingly attached to her left temple, the same kind of valve you see on pipelines or other such machines was sticking out of her head. One would have sworn it to be some kind of prank, a fake prop gag used to trick people, but no, someone like the Doctor here may be more perceptive in realizing that that valve was physically melded to her skin, as if surgically implanted to her skull. Maria, meanwhile, simply stared at this doctor for a few seconds. Based on what she's hearing outside Alan's cell, this person must be with the ones down stairs. Could he be just a simple nice guy stationed in the wrong place, or... Joey [i]did[/i] seem like he always had a reason behind his consistent yelling about, and the only reason they came there in the first place was because the Xuanxang along with their friends were coming here as well. Could this doctor be a part of the same crew as her allies? Possible, but there was no easy way to tell, now that she had that restraint on her neck. This would easily be solved if her telepathy came back, but it didn't. "[b][color=violet]...Maria...Friend or foe?[/color][/b]" She simply asked. It did seem a little risky, but even if she can't read his mind, neither could he read her...at least she hopes not. That aside, her name wasn't a unique thing that she alone would have, it should not be sufficient enough to cause any problems for the others. [@The Man Emperor] [@jdh97] [@Th3King0fChaos] [hr] [center][h2][b][u]Circle of Hell - Armory[/u][/b][/h2][/center] The timing was perfect, almost too perfect, as if on que. As soon as Blue Crow attempted to make a downward slash towards Nero, a Distortion in space would be detected to the right of Blue Crow near a wall, which seemingly made the wall break like pieces of glass from a window, revealing a relatively large portal, about right feet in diameter. For most it'd be strange enough on its own, but for the Star Marines, there'd be something oddly familiar about the color and feeling of this portal. As if from out of nowhere, a giant armored purple hand - it was more like a claw really, a 3 foot tall gold-plated open hand - flew out of the portal, attached to it by lengthy disturbingly thin stick-like arms. It grabbed onto Blue Crow's arm, and without warning, pulled him off of Nero with a hard enough force to throw mercenary off his feet and into the portal it came from. As soon as Blue Crow disappeared into the portal, three black chains, each link with two iron thorns to its sides - a design of which Nero in particular may recognize - burst out in his place, each one floating in the air, and like the tendrils of a monster, simply floated around in the air until it found the three Tayanen that assisted Blue Crow, stabbing themselves into each gelatenous glob and pulling them into the portal as well with great force. As soon as they slithered back into the portal with Tayanen in tow, the portal quickly shrunk and disappeared, as if devouring itself, leaving the wall that it supposedly broke down to open returned to its former state as if nothing happened at all. All that remained, were the twins, Nero, and the silence of the Armory. [@letter Bee] [@dragonpiece] [@FalloutJack] [@Th3King0fChaos] --- Outside the ship, over a couple of hills opposite to where Kotaro was located, was where Blue Crow and his Tayanen aliens would wind up, a seemingly camouflaged tent, about as large as the command tent where Kotaro did his strategies, though a lot more spacious, there was hardly anything in there, save a few barrels and a few people, most of them women. The one who grabbed at Blue Crow was a woman just as large as her hands would have suggested, covered head-to-toe in an overly exaggerated armor. Complete with bladed wings, a horned helmet with a golden visor completely covering her face and a long blood red skirt covering the lower half of her body. The chains followed suit, letting go of the Tayanen as soon as they were out of the portal and reeling back into the black cloak of another woman. Most of her features were completely covered in the black cloak she had, save for the boney hand showing out of her sleeves, and the black black hair on her head looking like the typical Grim Reaper if it happened to have barely wore skin upon its bones and nothing else. Blue Crow wouldn't be able to see her face, however, due to a blood red mask she wore. At the doorway was another roughly as young as the other Star Marines, wearing a white lab coat over to contrast the long black hair and military battlesuit, fiddling with her Omni-tool as she looked outside, her blue eyes focused on both. The noticeable glitches in the camouflage of the tent seen through the thin curtain of its walls as she fiddles suggests she's the one responsible for it. "[b][color=green]...Heeey, Blue Bird. Hope I wasn't interrupting anything.[/color][/b]" Said a boyish voice by the barrels. Sure enough, a boy dressed in what appears to be a loose and freed full-body straight jacket with all the detached belts on his pant legs and sleeves, a black-and-white checkered scarf around his neck, and messy short purple hair to go with his violets eyes. A cheerful expression on his face as if a friend paid him a visit, an expression that seemed to completely offset the mood of the situation of everywhere else on this planet. These were four of the nine members of the infamous Squad 0, the vey same traitorous squad who massacred the other Squad leaders back in the battle of Proxima, led by this happy-go-lucky boy whose bright eyes stared at Blue Crow... [i]Crowley.[/i] [hider=Veronica - Anti-Time/Space][img]https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sPZDOru4ULU/hqdefault.jpg[/img][/hider] [hider=Ophelia - Anti-Underworld][img]https://w.wallha.com/ws/11/fGdC1tEX.png[/img][/hider] [hider=Terra - Anti-Mind][img]https://www.rpnation.com/gallery/anime-scientist-with-robot-dogs.27901/full[/img][/hider] [hider=Crowley - Anti-High][img]https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/790865938293172232/8A4393509B82DFDBDE5C84EF8DB8CC4C8B2B02DC/?imw=637&imh=358&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=true[/img][/hider]