[IC] Multiverse Rising: Reborn

[supertinyking]

@Wraithblade6 @thewizardguy @Absolis @Gentlemanvaultboy

Threek smirked, his plan was coming t-
What was that noise?

Suddenly, dust filled his sight, and his lungs, causing the creature to cough loudly. Damn, this was bad. Luckily for him, a hand rips him aside before the fireball connects, the flames missing him nicely. He was handed some strange devices, but a voice deep down told him how to use such things. With a nod to Viral, he watched as his V.I.P leaps onto the net carrying the mech. That simplified things greatly, as now Threek only had to worry about seizing the city, rather than also having to give chase to the mech. When the dust cleared, the blue haired wench was gone, along with the skeleton..or..did the skeleton just remain where he was? Threek felt as if there was a rift in reality, with two possibilities. He ignored this, due to plot.

He spied the human walking away, and he smiled.
"Leave, now....You two, you've lost this fight before it's begun. You two, Daemon, your powers will be rather ineffective against the likes of me. This city belongs to Viral, and to me now." Threek stated. He sounded less like he was making a suggestion, and more so a demand.
"Besides, you've bigger problems heading to this world...a cataclysm. I don't know when, I don't know how, but my people have sensed beings on this world...they seem to leave a shadow on the inmaterium. This is a bad, bad omen..Go, find your castles, defend them, garrison them with your mightiest, and your weakest..you'll need them all." Threek warns. With that, he turns to the fighting still raging, among the traitors, and the loyalists. With a blink, Threek found himself atop a building, channeling his dark spell again, the shadow forming behind him once more....

[Gentlemanvaultboy]

@Wraithblade6

Firebrand ripped his beak from where Viral had planted it in the dirt, rubbing his jaw. He hadn't expected that. Well, that wasn't entirely accurate. He'd expected Viral to make a move for him once his back was turned, but he hadn't thought even that quick little bugger would be able to clear the distance in so short a time.

He looked over to the building the pompous rat had made it too. He took stock of the situation, looked around at the crumbling building and the piles of corpses, and decided that the rat could have this rathole. The object of Firebrands ire had flown the coop already, along with that strange blue haired frenemy of his. He didn't know when those two had started working together, but it was a question for a later day. What was on his mind was the confirmation of the feeling he'd gotten when the sky had darkened. There was nothing left to fight for here. Besides which, he didn't want to deal with that spell.

He turned to leave, then stopped and looked back at the rat. His spell was already building up like a title wave about to break. Then his eyes turned downward, toward the area reveled by the giant armors oh so helpful removal. He thought he saw something among the dust and rubble, a glint from the sunlight that still poured from the hole in the clouds. He made his way over to it, an idea forming in his head.

---

"Clever human, trying to walk off with my talisman." Firebrand said casually as as the beating of his wings caught him up to Damien. The demon plopped down next to him, the crude green bag thrown over his back that looked to have been looted off a Alliance soldier jangling faintly as he did so, and walked next to him. "Not that I blame you. You never know when you might need the fire power. After all, the rat was right. I felt it when it happened. Something changed. It's not a feeling you forget."

[Wraithblade6]

@Gentlemanvaultboy@supertinyking@thewizardguy

Damien heard the rustle of the air as it moved aside for the sizable demon. He afforded a glance behind him to see his initial suspicion was true, that Firebrand was going to kill him. ...but no, Damien was not given an excuse to face his magnificent god in the underworld, not yet. The half grin on the creature's beak assured him of that, and the human kept his suspicions to himself.

Damien quickly remembered he still had Firebrand's magic talisman around his neck. "Ah! Of course, your magical focus. Forgive me, my lord." Quickly, Damien removed it and handed it over. "You have saved my wretched life, allowing me the chance to make something of myself in Asmodeus' eyes. I will not soon forget it." He seemed almost unhappy about having lived. The youthful looking caster bowed, then looked skeptically at the demon for a moment. His very human looking brown eyes scanning Firebrand's face almost fearfully. Finally he spoke. "I am not certain I understand what you speak of. I am, unfortunately, still a mere mortal, and I lack the sensitivity of greater beings such as yourself. I feel I must..." Damien's fingers slipped into his pocket on one side and he let his sentence trail off as he brought out a star-shaped metal icon. Seemingly lost in thought for a moment, he seemed to be having a mental conversation and nodded to himself. "I must investiagte this. It is the will of my lord to intervene, although there is much I do not yet understand. He will reveal it to me when he sees fit." He put the star back in his pocket and gazed out upward over the immediate area of recent battle. "But first, there are souls to guide."

Lifting his hands into the air above them, Damien called upon his power with mere force of will. Hundreds of faint lights flashed all around them, the lost souls of the newly dead. Damien spoke some strange words, and they swirled around. Then it was done. He had sent them to hell.

In the backround, Threek proceeded to make sure the remains of Winnepeg knew who its master was.

Damien put his arms down and the light faded from his eyes. He glanced at Firebrand beside him and noticed his green bag, but said nothing. "Asmodeus rewards those who show their loyalty. Would you tell me, my devil friend, what is it you sensed, and where must we go to find it?

[Gentlemanvaultboy]

@Wraithblade6

"It's difficult to describe." He replied, taking the talisman back and replacing it inside his armor. "It's not something I can pinpoint. It's like...feeling the entire universe tilt because a great weight has been dropped on it. The feeling isn't as important as what invariably follows. The first time I felt this I was watching a comet fall from the sky. The second time was shortly before separate worlds began tangling up into one another. Not like here, uncontrollably. Both incidents sparked what could charitable be called wars, in reality little more than chaotic free for alls leaving behind only the most powerful of those involved. Trust me on this, soon you won't have to look for it. It will be everywhere. No one will be able to get away."

His eyes glanced down at the pocket where the metal icon had been placed. "If your master has any grand designs for this world I'd caution them to hold those plans in reserve until this is all over. The chaos might present an enticing opportunity, but these maelstroms are no place for any sort of scheme. I've watched three valiant demon lords be torn to pieces trying, with a forth who I can't imagine fared much better after my death, along with a clan of very persistent ghosts."

[supertinyking]

@Gentlemanvaultboy @Wraithblade6 @thewizardguy

Ozo saw the blade strike down, but he deftly moved to the right, the blade smashing into the ground, sparks flying about, no doubt. Seeing this fight being to much for him, Ozo moved to the defensive, dodging, weaving, and blocking the strikes with whatever shield he could tongue pull to himself. However, a moment of respite arrived, when smoke and dust covered the battle field as the jets fired into the debris. Taking his moment, Ozo vanished into the great river, before reappearing moments later, before Firebrand, and Damien, shooting up from the water.
"...Huff...puff....I am..sorry..for vanishin. I tried to acquire some superior fire power, but only got caught up in a duel I could not win. For that, I apologize immensely." He wheezes out, obviously very short of breath. Whatever fight he had gotten into, it seemed to have taken it out of him. "But, it seems like you two have vanquished the mech, but the city is still lost. We should retreat for now. That puts a sour taste in my mouth..but...it is how it shall be....For your help, I'd like to offer my services. You see, I can take you pretty much anywhere on the planet, you need to go. Free of charge, of course." Ozo says, smiling a bit. "..I suggest we leave soon. That mage is gonna cast somethin mighty scary soon. I can feel it deep within my soul..."

[thewizardguy]

Day 1

Hours passed, and it seemed Alucard was true to his world. No immense attack followed his initial appearance, although any craft that chose to hover above the Atlantic would be shot out of the sky. High-powered organic missiles even took out space-craft. It appeared that they used some kind of psionic sense to detect anything that entered their space, ignoring most conventional cloaking technology, although extensive probing might show that unmanned vessels lasted far longer. But to gain just this little information would require dozens of crashed ships, and potentially a large loss of resources. And almost any would agree that angering the Tyranid while they lay dormant was a Bad Idea, with capital letters included.

The Imperium, seeing that it's call to arms at an official meeting had mostly been met with disinterest, had sent personal envoys to each of the major factions. A ship carrying a Paladin of the Grey Knights was sent to each of the major factions, in order to negotiate a ceasefire and potential cooperation. A more shady deal was being worked out with the Dark Outliners, the Imperium sending two Custodes champions along on that ship to ensure that things went... smoothly. Otherwise negotiations would be fairly standard, unless any of the factions had anything in particular to report.

Damien would receive information from his devilish superiors as to the concentrations of what could only be referred to as 'weirdness', a phenomena that would no doubt also have been picked up by the sensitive Outliner scanners. Dimensional distortions and potential energy that seemed to cloak the world to a worrying degree. Perhaps a side effect of the terminals, or perhaps their cause. Whether Firebrand chose to come along or not, Damien would find the central point of the effect to be somewhere in Australia, one of the few areas as of yet unclaimed by any of the major factions, although possibly home to several low-level inhabitants. What he would find there was completely unknown, but it might explain just why Arcadia was so special.

Damien was introduced to his new men, and given a brief tour of the Imperial political spectrum. The Black Dragons were at first slow to accept him, and they were happy to state this to him in person. Despite their hesitance in accepting him, however, he soon realised that these men would follow him to hell and back, so great was their sense of duty and honour. And a sparring match to demonstrate his prowess soon improved attitudes towards him, as he began to be seen as a 'small space marine'. His strong personal sense of honour also melded well with the 3rd company, indeed this was one of the reasons Vulkan had placed him in that particular company. He would be free to lead his men as he saw fit, to whatever goal he deemed important.

Ozo would be free to do as he please, traveling the world. Martin, however, would be provided with all he needed for his experiments, provided he stayed within Imperial law. His space station was soon analyzed and put back into the air, the resident AI undamaged, as Martin was granted it as his personal workspace. All that had been altered was the installation of a Vox receiver set to Imperial frequencies, and the removal of the nuclear failsafe. For the rest it was fully functional. He was also given control of several servitors, although quite possibly they were there to monitor him, and Rhemus visited regularly to see how he was doing. While many of the Dark Angels regarded his inhuman appearance with distrust and disgust, Rhemus seemed okay with it. As a powerful Psyker, the mind seemed far more important than one's physical form. And had he not heard the Emperor abolish the Imperium's anti-mutant habits in person? His research would probably lead him to the same place as Damien, although what he did with the information was up to him.

Viral had managed to sneak into Conablum labs inside of Enki, abusing it's anti-scanning field to remain unseen. Despite Enki's battered condition it was already repairing itself, as Cyano would soon notice, although no nano-technology appeared to be in play. Instead it simply caused new armour and machinery to appear, as if by magic, powered by a completely unknown energy that obeyed no standard laws of physics. The mech itself was stunningly far more primitive, like a buzz saw powered by a miniature anti-matter reactor. It used powerful synthetic muscles inside of it's limbs, and it's kunai were propelled through a kind of reverse railgun. A powerful electromagnet was used to push the kunai away from the mech at high speed, thereby launching it. The secret of it's devastating destroyer laser would remain a mystery, however, until the mech's crest regenerated, which seemed to be occurring most slowly.

[Tyki]

@flamelord@thewizardguy

The shift was sudden but well counciled at least for the newly-avian creature xel'rath had become as he takes off, seemingly cloaked with just feathers and light as he rockets over land slightly above treeline just to prevent accidentally demolishing what little remaining forests their were. His target was simple; a small string of islands formerly known as japan, not very densely populated and as far as he knew quite advantageous for his purposes. His arrival was met with blaster with a sudden stop and the releasing of drones as a psionic siren was emitted to embolden any hiding forces on the island nations so they could be dealt with. Unfortunately this came via a rifle shot to the face, causing him to plummet to the ground, already repairing himself and calibrating his sensors. "covert operations... disadvantageous" he thinks to himself, his vastly accelerated thinking already mapping out fixes he could work out before he remembers the creatures whos' form he'd borrowed for the time being. While not particularly physically capable, the creatures were quite mystically capable and with a slight shift in his armor and feathered cloak he adjusts to account for a more close form of combat which, while dangerous in terms of his method of constructing himself, would pay dividends just simply due to the necessary availability for combating covert units. With these additions he begins to hunt down the Goa'uld (however the fuck it's pronounced) troops sneaking around his new land, his body's ability to cover large distances providing him the capability to traverse the string of islands within roughly five hours, clearing out the stragglers at the very least.

However the Goa'uld settlement still remained, and while it was well hidden by most standards, the near constant stream of energy coming off of it cause red flags to go up in all Xel'rath's sensors, and while he could simply blast it away and take most of the surroundings along with it, this was the perfect chance to test something. While he'd created drones easily, the creation of life was a much more difficult task so he simply created flawed copies of himself, the things lacking his native component which causes them to have a cap on storable energy and limited sentience by his standards. He could leave a few of them behind to construct a general base of operations while he and his troops assaulted the settlement, making swift work of the defenses before gathering up the remainder and disintegrating them, taking the time to take down the settlement slowly so as to not damage it's surroundings.

By the end of the day, japan was converted and colonized over to xel'rath's wishes, allowing him a base of opperations at the cost of most likely angering or at least intriguing the previous owners of it.

[supertinyking]

@thewizardguy @Tyki

Martin looked at the servitors with a sort of uncomfortable distress, and as Remuss leaves, Martin gets to work on them. It takes all of half an hour, mainly it being sedating the servitors. Afterwards, no doubt, a group of space marines would storm in, or Remuss would simply appear, looking for them. What he would find, is five complete humans, or sub humans, depending on if the Servitor was formerly a criminal, or was created for being a servitor. Each one would be healthy, and their minds a fresh slate when it came to the mental rewiring the imperium had put them though. Martin would be beside them, monitoring their vitals.

"That is no way to live..." Would be Martin's explination of why, and as for how, he'd show Remuss the genetic's station. A place filled with machines able to clone organs, and create programmed nanobots to rewrite a creature's genetics. This, of course, had been how Martin had remade what the Imerium had ripped out, and replaced with steel. To Martin, only those willing, should be put though such horrible conditions....But after this, Martin offered to keep them employed under his command. He had given them free will, he would be the one to oversee them, and if need be, bare the blame for their actions. After this, he began his research, eventually finding out about Australia. With a quick report in to Remuss, he asks for permission to send a robotic strike force to capture the area, already having given orders to his ground forces to begin making headway to Australia.

Ozo would await a response from his two new allies, waiting to take them where they need to go, with a smile. he seemed the alright sort,although visually off-putting.

"My friends, I owe you. Consider my services yours, for the time." Ozo, talking to Firebrand, and Damien.

Threek would use his great mystical power to reorganize Viral's army, and begin to rebuild Winipeg, reforming the great gun towers, from the ground up, and leading strike forces into near by areas to capture slaves to help with the construction. He would warn the army of an impending disaster, for told by his god. As such, he would work them hard, as if getting the city totally fortified was their greatest goal. It would begin to look like a gothic fortress, made of steel, and stone, and armed to the teeth with defenses.

"We will be ready. We will survive, as long as you all put in your due. As will I." Threek, as he orders his men to build great walls of steel, under the threat of being turned to ash in a blink of an eye.

[Wraithblade6]

@thewizardguy@supertinyking@Gentlemanvaultboy

Damien walked along slowly, hands folded inside his sleeves. He appeared to listen to Firebrand's description carefully. His brow furrowed as he considered, emphasizing the creases that had developed between his eyes from his constant ire. "I thank you for your warning, great devil. Lord Asmodeus is wise, and if what you say is true, then heeding him will spare us such agony of foolishness. He will command us to where we will be most useful, and that is where I will go. I live now only to serve his will, for I share the great lord's disdain for this broken mockery of existence. The only true justice is submission to Asmodeus' order."

Damien exhaled with a frown. "I sense his will, and it calls me to a place very very far from here. Yet, as of this moment, what he commands is impossible for my mortal self to accomplish. It is on the other side of this world, in a land called 'Australia.'" He grumbled. "Simply impossible." The necromancer continued walking. "If Asmodeus seriously intends this, then HE will have to produce a miracle to get us there himself. I cannot believe..."

Then Damien was stopped in his tracks by the appearance of Ozo.

The human was stunned and stood there with his jaw flapping open until he dropped to his knees. "God forgive me! I shall never doubt you again!" It took him a moment to collect himself and stand up. He was almost trembling as he felt the eye of his deity upon him. He looked slightly shocked as he replied to the large fishy-lookin dude. "Yes... unholy servant. Please take us to..." Damien swallowed, "Australia."

[Flamelord]

Ultimately, the conflict over Chulak ended inconclusively. While the Imperium were convinced to not remove the Goa'uld from their claimed territory, it was obvious that relations between the two powers had suffered as a result. Not that it was a surprise, given what had occurred in the first place.

Back on Arcadia though, Ba'al was not amused by what had happened. He could guess how the Imperium would act, and he had the feeling that this wouldn't be the end of their difficulties. With how militaristic and xenophobic they were it was practically an inevitability that this conflict would spring up again, and it was only a matter of time until they did. Ba'al would not be caught unawares if this conflict began again, that much he was sure of.

Several shifts happened. Qetesh left back for their primary reality to coordinate the effort to prepare for war. In the meanwhile supplies would begin pouring through, soldiers and weapons and ships. Soon there would be a surge of activity, pyramid ships dotting Goa'uld territory as Ba'al began to assert his orbital presence more firmly, and moved to claim the Arcadian land that he had been 'given', by the 'gracious' will of the Imperium. If they claimed that there was a deal in the first place, then he would take advantage of it anyway he could.

In the meanwhile, it was obvious that while the Goa'uld would win any conflict that might arise, the current status quo was more close run than Ba'al might hope for. Since expansion in this reality was frowned upon for some reason he couldn't fathom, that left just one option. Specifically, exploration of the other universes that he had access to. Hopefully there would be something of value waiting to be found.

---

Only one problem arose, and that was the destruction of the base in Japan. Now it had been a fairly minor base, not sporting some of the Goa'uld's more advanced toys due to its presence as an outpost. While he hadn't expected to be given Asia, Ba'al was not above setting up an outpost or two just to keep an eye on the area and make sure that nothing happened without his knowledge. He wasn't about to let the outpost fall though, especially not with the reports that he had gotten before contact was cut off.

The response would be fairly swift, A Ha'tak moving over the Japanese Islands in general, while near the location of the former settlement a cohort of Jaffa and Ashrak, led by First Prime Teal'c, would be deposited down to begin their investigation. They were equipped with staff weapons and armor, with support from Death Gliders on call should they need it.

"Careful," Teal'c warned as he surveyed their surroundings. "We do not know what threats there are here. Act with caution until we know what eliminated our outpost."

"Yes First Prime." Spreading out, the Goa'uld soldiers began their search. Now it was a matter of seeing whether it resulted in hostilities or not.

@Tyki

[Tyki]

@Flamelord

Thrallessa Nim had been among Xel'rath's earliest creations and most closely modeled after his 'god's image and while this might cause pride in others it merely awakened Nim to the realization that he was a purposefully imperfect creation made merely at the whims of some much more powerful creature though unlike humans or the many other creatures that had never learned their reason for being, he had. In fact his reason for being was quite simply to protect his creator, to aide in his creator's endeavours, and to simply live his life as he saw fit. While the first two had been self imposed, the final one was something he saw as a gift amongst his other functions and capabilities. The central core of his being, his soul as it were known more widely though to the creatures xel'rath had created, it was known simply as the animus, was the culmination of the countless creatures xel'rath had devoured in his quest for knowledge, stripped of it's once held self due to the sheer overload of information and power as well as the naturally devouring forces of the creature it had been housed in, and then given a new body with limited knowledge and only fractions of it's once treasured ego.

Nim scanned the creatures invading his master's lands, his form hidden due to the careful manipulation of light and thermal energies around him, causing invisibility albeit at the cost of large portions of his mental capacity, and found them humanoid though not entirely human. He descended into their midst soundlessly before letting his control waver and then shatter, seeming to materialize from nothing as a golden, glowing avian creature in the ranks of the Goa'uld with his ego emitting the psionic frequency of an imposing figure, further aided by his divine visage and once held standing as the leader of his people. "trespassers! what seek you in these lands?" he calls out firmly as he gazes down at the nearest humanoid, nearly double their height and width and rather than wings he seemed to cloak himself in physical light. While his 'people' had no technical reason to use weaponry as they themselves were weapons, Nim was quite fond of a particular kind of staff that doubled as a spear and assisted him in the channeling of his newfound abilities.

While his appearance might spook them, the Goa'uld would be given pause due to the rather sudden face-to-face meeting of what could be described as an actual god in some cultures, and while they had god complexes, being an actual god was something else entirely and the sheer fact that this creature not only spoke to them in their native languages but also positively radiated power would give them the feeling of treading earth which should not be disturbed. That aside, they were duty bound if nothing else to find out what had transpired, and considering an unidentified creature literally just materialized in the middle of their formation, they might find out more from it if they talked to it.

[Wraithblade6]

@thewizardguy@Absolis

Mithias looked upon his brigade of troops as he also climbed into his own spacecraft. They were perfect, as soldiers, warriors, noblemen, humans, and family. The fact that the Imperium had indoctrinated him, trusted him, and invested in him had been nothing short of the best way to coerce him into aiding them. How could he say no when he was in fact needed? The sense of belonging and respect he had been given was hard to decline, and had irrationally motivated him to fully dedicate himself to the cause. Mithias grunted to himself and shook his head. His new allies seems to already know it.

The Blackdragons and he all flew off, a small fleet with a very special mission. First on the agenda was to recruit one more ally. Mithias landed his ship out in front of the others and told them to stay put. They were near the Alliance of Conquerors base, where Keith might have returned after the negotiation platform was destroyed. "...We will return shortly. Dave. You're going to come with me as proof of my story. Let's go."

Dave and Mithias made their way into the base, triggering no alarms, since Mithias had access and knew the way in. Once inside, with Dave only a step behind him, Mithias called out. "Keith? Are you here? You can come out of the shadows now." He waited, not certain that Keith, or anyone else was there. His brow furrowed in concern. He wasn't entirely certain Keith had survived.

[Gentlemanvaultboy]

@Wraithblade6 @thewizardguy @supertinyking

"Something certainly conspires to point us down this path. We're fortunate, us three." Behind Firebrand one buildings in the city they had been driven from buckled under its accumulated damage and collapsed noisily. He ignored it. "To Australia then...hmmmm...I apologize, if you told me your name during the fighting it has slipped my mind." He said to the strange fish creature. "I am Firebrand. This is Damien. We should leave before that rat sends people to kill us."

He didn't know what the boy had been told he would find, but if Asmodeus was anything like the demon lords he had known there was something there that would turn help turn the coming crucible to his advantage. Some scheme was probably already in play. Firebrand wondered whether he could keep this one alive long enough to see the end of it. He then wondered faintly if he should. He decided to burn that bridge when he came to it.

[Flamelord]

The Goa'uld had no idea what was coming, and so they were taken completely awares as the strange figure appeared in their midst. The decloaking and noise caused the Jaffa to whirl about, staff weapons pointed at the figure for brief moments before bright light caused a diversion to keep from being blinded. The fact that this being could speak their language was not as much a surprise as Nim might think, but there was undoubtedly some alarm, only balanced by the certainty that they were in the presence of a mighty figure that demanded answers from them.

But Teal'c had not been chosen as First Prime simply because Ba'al had seen his capabilities in another universe. No, he had certain qualities that Ba'al found advantageous, and that was his loyalty in the face of such an awing presence, a determination that allowed him to act as he reoriented his staff weapon upon the figure. "You are mistaken," he replied with a firm tone and weapon at the ready. "This land belongs to the God Ba'al. Identify yourself and explain why you have attacked the Jaffa living her, or there will be consequences."

Perhaps he couldn't actually harm this figure, but it would not stop him from doing his duty.

@Tyki

[Tyki]

@Flamelord

"the consequences that would arise from these mental constructs you mortals like to call 'gods' holds no place here. There were people here yet they were trespassers much like you are now, however they made the mistake of opening fire upon the creator and were thus dealt with swiftly. The lands they held were but a small price to pay for their insolence." Nim states with a deep, clear, and regal tone as he peers down his beak at the creature before him, not quite fond of humans due to biases from a previous life, and while he was no where near as xenophobic as he was before disintegration, he was still disliking of humanoids.

"In other words, trespasser, these... Jaffa as you call them, accrued a debt with my master which was collected post haste. So do attempt to continue to justify your treading upon these lands as your current existence might depend upon it." He state with a warning tone and a small pause to let his words sink in. While the threat was infuriating most likely, the issue had arrisen when the Jaffa had opened fire on Nim's master which, from the sounds of it was paid for by their retaliatory actions. However, there were two things of note, while Nim was threatening them and speaking of what happened to the jaffa he never spoke of death, merely removal or the end of their existence as they knew it and while that could very easily construed as a death threat, the pains Nim was going to to not actually call it death were at least there. The second thing of note was that even this imposing creature they were faced with that seemed to radiate power, had a master and the implications of something so much more potent than Nim that he served it was... frightening among those that reached this thought.

[supertinyking]

@Wraithblade6 @Gentlemanvaultboy

"Oh. My name, friend, is Ozo. I'm a travelling hero. You might of heard of me, but think that not me speaking from ego. Rather, it has happened one to many times to rule out as a possibility. Anywho, Australia you say? I've not heard of that..but...if you don't mind a few more mintues of me lookin around, of course I'll find it! But..there..is..one...problem..." Ozo began, sorta pushing two fingers together in a sign of worry.
"..I..Err...can only carry..one person..at a time..I could take you both! But..one of you..would be alone..if only for a few mintues....I don't know if you'd be ok with that." Ozo adds. He seems worried, looking back at the rat. "Which....if his spell is aoe, you might get caught in it. Which, would, to say the least, be a misfortunate coming of events...." Ozo says, seeming to say misfortunate oddly. "Although, you seem to be able to fly, so..maybe I should take our human friend first? Make sure he's safe and sound and come pick you up?" Ozo asks Firebrand, and Damien.

[Gentlemanvaultboy]

@supertinyking@Wraithblade6

Firebrand scowled, looking back toward the building magic. Could that really effect them out here? The weight of the bag on his back was a cold comfort The swords within had been thoroughly busted by the giant armor landing on them. He had no idea if the enchantment on them was even still in effect, let alone if it would hold against whatever the rat was up to even at full strength. "Fine. I wouldn't be any sort of hero if I could not hold for as short a time as that." He dug into the neckband of his armor and withdrew a new talisman, this one with a hand clearly printed on it. He threw it to Ozo. "Wear that. Whatever magic you use to so easily move around, that will make it easier for you. Should save you a bit of time, at least." With that he lifted off from the ground and hovered in front of the two. "Go."

[Wraithblade6]

@Gentlemanvaultboy@supertinyking@thewizardguy

So the mysterious hero could only transport one of them... at a time. It figured there would be some element of a price to pay for any service. Damien understood that. He glanced behind him at whatever the sorcerer Threek was doing, conjuring up a mess of magic to do something dramatic for him. Damien didn't want to find out what it was.

The young human looked back at Firebrand who appeared to be taking the initiative, valiantly volunteering to take the risk himself. It was an odd thing for a demon to act altruistically. Damien considered that perhaps Firebrand was making plans for him, and wanted him to stick around, and that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Damien stood in silent consideration for but a moment, on the edge of protest. He had the ability to shift planes of existence, passing his body into the spirit realm where physical reality, even magic in the material world could not reach him. He'd probably fair even better against Threek than Firebrand would, just because of that ability. However, time flowed differently in the spectral realm, and he could end up to far in the future. Should he say something? Was he overestimating himself? And more importantly, would it be disobedient of him to let Firebrand go first when Asmodeus had ordered HIM to go to Australia? Yes it would. As much as Damien had come to respect and admire Firebrand, he'd have to trust him.

"Stay alive." Damien said, wasting no further time in arguing. He accepted that he was weaker than his infernal ally and not stupid enough to contest it. Perhaps he would owe Firebrand yet again.

Damien turned to Ozo. "Then let us be off, and do not tarry. The great Asmodeus has plans for us."

[thewizardguy]

@Flamelord
Even as the Goa'Uld responded to Xel'Rath's unexpected invasion of their territory, a small escort-class vessel carrying Imperial diplomats slowly made it's way over the border. They had of course lowered their shields for the extensive scanning procedure which the Goa'Uld would no doubt require before allowing a potential enemy into their lands, and it had been revealed that the ship indeed carried no weapons, other than a few small personal weapons on board. There were 20 people on board the vessel, three of whom were Space Marines, and 17 of whom were either normal humans, or servitors. The ship itself was a mere 200 meters long, a tiny Firestorm-class Escort stripped of it's weapons and re-purposed for diplomatic missions. The lack of weapons allowed it to pump more power into the shields and flight capability, but it was still far from impressive, and wouldn't hold out long against the armaments of a Goa'Uld battleship.

Luitenant Abrams stood silently on the bridge, his mottled green and yellow armour marking him as a member of the Salamanders, the main ground troops of the Imperium of Man. He had come here to negotiate with the Goa'Uld. The Imperium didn't have the manpower to guard the coast and their rear at the same time, and neither did the Goa'Uld. Their only hope was to work together against the Tyranid, a fact which he hoped did not escape the Goa'Uld. The question was simply whether their caution would overcome their pride. If not, it was possible he would never make it back to the Imperium, used as an example by an alien race and sparking a war that would doom them all.

Upon being hailed by the Goa'Uld, the ship identified itself and it's purpose. "We come as representatives of the New Imperium, in order to discuss possible cooperation for the duration of the Tyranid invasion." Standing stock still, Abrams stared into the communications relay, which would project a 3D hologram of himself into the Goa'Uld ship (assuming they didn't interfere with the signal). Like all Astartes of the Salamanders, he possessed jet black skin and glowing red eyes, a demonic visage that masked their generally amicable nature. "We request to meet with your leader, or a qualified representative of the Goa'Uld empire, in order to discuss these matters." And now it was just a matter of waiting for the return, coming either in the form of a broadcast, or a missile. Regardless, Abrams had sworn to uphold the law of the Imperium when he had first been initiated into the Salamanders, and it was not an oath he was willing to break for something as small as sens of self-preservation.

[thewizardguy]

@supertinyking

The dismemberment of the Servitors would be met with rapid resistance, as several of the Servitors used their superior strength to very nearly rip Martin in half. Despite possessing no sens of self-preservation, they were programmed to defend property of the Emperor, including themselves, although at a low priority. It would take quite some time and a small boatload of robots to hold down the Servitors without harming them, as well as preventing them from using their automated buzzsaws to perform their own, less precise, surgery. It took a while longer to remove the programming, as nearly their entire brain had been taken apart and put back together. Simply removing and replacing the mechanical additions would leave a vegetable, a human corpse with a beating heart. It couldn't even breathe on it's own, requiring constant electrical stimuli in order to merely keep it alive. While perhaps Martin could return these beings to a state in which they could be referred to as 'humans', it would take more time than he was given, as the dismanteling of the Servitor's monitoring equipment had set off several alarms.

Several Dark Angels smashed aboard in a high-speed boarding torpedo, crashing through several layers of the station and depressurising an entire wing before the Astartes aboard unloaded. Armoured doors were rapidly dismantled by a heavy Multi-Melta as the Dark Angels forces moved through the area, and with a significant portion of Martin's forces and attention devoured by his endeavours he had no hope of stopping them, if he even made the attempt. The door was shattered and Martin surrounded by heavily armoured marines, any nearby robots dismantled and the servitor's vegetable bodies destroyed via Flamer. The reaction was extreme, born from the natural paranoia of a zealous imperium forced to work with a stranger, a mutant no less. While Rhemus was relatively accepting of such beings, many others within the hierarchy of the Dark Angels were not, and Martin's actions had been considered the beginning of a possible coup.

Perhaps it was only through the timely intervention of Rhemus via Vox communications - and later in person - that Martin was not arrested on the spot for vandalism. He was given a stern scolding, and no assistance in the repair of his station, nor any recompense for the robots destroyed by the sudden strike force. His reasons fell on deaf ears, as to the Imperium servitors were no more human than computers, tanks, or bolters were. Less human, in fact, as useful machines were sometimes considered to possess some degree of sentience in the form of a 'Machine Spirit.' When he was once more allowed to work, a full 2 hours later, no more Servitors were placed on board, but instead two Space Marines from the Dark Angels chapter. The Techpriests also removed any shields from the station, meaning that it would have no defence against later boarding parties, by either torpedo or teleportarium. There was an unspoken promise, that another offence would not be so quickly mistaken, although the Imperium's officials were happy to inform him that this was merely being done as a precaution against station AI, considered a potential security risk by the higher-ups.

After this diplomatic disaster, Martin was hard-pressed to gain the right to take any action on his own. However, the information he found was highly valuable, proving once more his value. After some discussion, Rhemus volunteered to lead an expedition to the area. Martin would be allowed to deploy his own robotic forces, as well, provided that he would work together with the Space Marine forces on the ground. The area would need to be taken, by force if necessary, from any possible alien, mutant or heretic settlers. However, only a single squad was to be deployed, due to the Tyranid force taking up most of the Imperium's attention. And even then they would have no access to advanced weaponry, beyond Rhemus' own personal battle gear. Practically neophytes, the deployed marines were only barely marines, although still quite formidable fighters.

Rhemus was deployed together with Martin's ground forces, and they were dropped to the surface in conventional Imperial fashion. The drop pods shot through the sky like ballistic missiles, slowing down only when they approached the planet's surface, and landing with an impact that would have killed any normal man. As it was, the Space Marines emerged with only minimal hesitation, quickly setting up a perimeter as Martin's robotic forces arrived via more conventional means. Of course, they instantly came across a rather pressing issue. The moment they entered Australia, all communication had been cut off, Vox or otherwise. Rhemus even stated to be unable to sense anything through the Warp, as if his senses were being blocked by something. This would also mean that Martin would be completely unable to direct his robots from above, leaving them to their own programming. If required, Martin would be allowed to arrive there personally, sent through the Unity system, and with the assistance of a Thunderhawk.