Conscripts

Winter Tales

This looks particularly relaxing to participate. I'm interested

My Hero Academia: Raw Potential

Acion Nakamiji

Alice Nova

---

Much to Acion’s dismay, and contrary to his hopes, he would not be able to make it back quick enough before Alice could either notice him or react. In fact, she had noticed him much earlier than likely anticipated. To be fair, loudly kicking against a window to open it while being in the center of the battlefield with a predator who was known for her precise senses, probably was not the smartest of ideas. Then again, he did not have many other choices unless he wanted to just talk in through the front door. Like this, however, by the time Acion was about to leave the building, it was already too late. The huntress had her sights on him and as he so carelessly opened the window on the other side of the building, little did he know that Alice was already well aware and in position to strike. Of course, it was a gamble on her part to expect that he would leave the building through the upper floors again. However, from her perspective, a ground-floor exit would make no sense for an airborne fighter.

By the time he stood on the window frame and prepared to leap off, Alice was standing two floors above him on the corner of the roof, ready to strike. The moment he would leave the building she would leap down upon him, grabbing his briefcase before he could even realise he was under attack. A silent surprise attack. At least, that was her plan. All she had to do was wait for the right moment.

Acion didn’t think much when he leapt out of the window. He only calculated the path back to base and nothing much else. The rest would be up to circumstances. But already from the get-go, his plan was already in tatters. Immediately after his departure, a large figure zoomed past him, and the next thing he knew, the briefcase in his hand was gone. It came so unexpectedly, with no prior warning of its arrival that shocked Acion for a second afterward. But combat experience returned to him quickly enough, as he looked for the attacker. There! The only thing indicating her presence was sight, as like the demonstration the day before, she flew downward in complete silence.

The angelic hero groaned internally for a brief second. Alice would indeed be the biggest pain in his zhopa for this fight, and there she was. But rationally speaking, being aerial capable automatically gave you countless benefits in a teamfight. So it made sense that they would counter that with their own. Fine. No matter who he’s dealing with, he’s taking them down.

Acion quickly gave chase. The next thing Alice knew, he would be behind her in hot pursuit.

The owlgirl had, of course, anticipated that Acion wouldn’t let off so easily. Whether it’d be his pride or his determination to win this exercise; Either way, it was almost a given that he’d pursue her. Though realistically the odds were stacked quite against him and Alice was very well aware of that. She wouldn’t start a fight which she cannot win. Thanks to their earlier conversation she was aware of the fact that her flying was superior to that of Acion, at least when it cames to dexterity and maneuverability.
After she successfully snatched the briefcase, Alice would continue to fall downward. She transferred the briefcase from her hand to her feet which were no longer human but rather large claws, those which one would expect to be of avian origin. Holding onto the briefcase with those claws was no issue at all and then she could morph her arms into those widely spanning owl-wings only shortly before she would hit the floor and then fly forward.
Right now they were flying towards the hero-base meaning the chance of any villain being there to backup Acion was neigh zero, meaning that Alice could fly as low as she wanted to.
She looked back one last time at her pursuer with those glowing eyes, notably lacking any glasses covering them since her transformed eyes very much made up for her poor eyesight as a human. Afterwards she’d make a very sharp, 90° turn around the next building only meters above the floor.

Despite being caught off-guard, he was gradually catching up to Alice, utilizing the great height he was falling from and the lift caused by his six wings. Acion realized that she was directing him toward the hero’s base, so she could get more support from her team, but he had worked hard to get that briefcase. Leaving Alice to carry it back to base would be a blow to his pride as a fighter. There was also the fact that these briefcases might take time to search, which meant that Alice could just replicate this hit-and-run tactic on him while he searched for the briefcases, and he would have no effective counter to it. That would be disastrous and embarrassing.

Before Acion could catch up to the briefcase hanging on her claw, the sharp 90 degree caught Acion, not by surprise, but by frustration. He was so close. Knowing he could not make that turn, he flew upward instead while also making a turn toward Alice’s direction. Again, this hit-and-run tactic, leading him to believe he had a chance then snatching it away from him. Alice knew him well, or at least what he was physically capable of. He should not let her dictate the engagement. Having gained enough height, he looked back down on Alice. Obnoxiously, because of her silent flight capability and the buildings close by, he would have to fly in close proximity for vision. But he was keeping up, flying up and down and using wings more when necessary. For just a brief period of time during the process, if Alice looked up, he wouldn’t be there above her anymore. He would just change his path a little, still following her but using the buildings for obstruction, being careful not to make any drastic movement, lest Alice pull off the same stunt on him again.

They were to reach a highway of sort soon. Before there though, Acion did the same trick again, using the buildings to obstruct visions. Of course she would know his general direction, but this time, he was flying downward. The moment they both poke out to the highway, Acion would turn straight toward Alice, expecting her to be turning toward the hero’s base.

Indeed his plan would work out exactly as he had hoped. Once she was in the position where he had anticipated her to be and they were finally facing one another she had nowhere to go but her home base. However, there was a slight problem for him… the briefcase was nowhere to be found. Her claws were quite literally empty and Alice used the chance to land on the floor while making sure to keep a precautionary distance. Afterwards, she casually adjusted her hair and gave a piercing stare towards Acion.

”I know what you are thinking. she started speaking calmly. It was as if everything was still under control for her, there was no ounce of panic or nervousness in her voice.
”But before you go looking for it, think hard. Are you sure I just dropped it? Are you sure it wasn’t earlier? It has probably been a while since you got a good look at me with all those maneuvers you were doing.”

Her stare wouldn’t let up, she’d not let him move an inch without her observing it.

”I’d like to do this nicely, villain.” She was certainly trying to roleplay the hero role now.

”Turn yourself in and come with me to be captured. Cooperation will be noted in your files and can give you time off your sentence.”

Upon not seeing the briefcase, Acion reflexively whirled away to avoid collision with Alice. He braked mid-air and landed on a lamp pole nearby. As adrenaline began to subside and the realization that all he had been trying to set up had been for nothing, that she simply outplayed him there completely was kicking in, he was met with an unusually intense stare from Alice. It kinda gave off a rather convincing image of a smart and stealthy hunter (huntress in this case).

It was rather frustrating, however, seeing how she pretty much pointed out exactly what he had been outplayed by, in a rather mocking tone he heard at first. As sad as it was to admit, he did get outmaneuvered. There were nitpicky things he could complain to himself about, like what Alice said, but the biggest concern he had for himself here was the fact that he let her dictate the engagement. It might have appeared that he was in control for the second half of the chase, but nope, she knew this all along. This did accumulate with a rather sour pirch of his lips.

Though his annoyance subsided as soon as she mentioned turning himself in for a reduced sentence. It seemed less of mockery and more like she’s really into this role. Acion gave out an amused laugh, covered by his knuckle to her supposed acting. Well done actually.

”You’re into this more than I do. I must say that was pretty scary.” He replied, before his gesture molded into the roleplay setting. His voice now hinted a strange accent. ”I see that little trick you pulled off there. Impressive.”

”But don’t think for a second that I will be under your control.” Acio widened his arms in a rather provocative manner, just immersing himself in this. ”If you want to, have at me.”

Despite being more light-hearted, if Alice actually wanted to, he’d happily entertain the thought. But he highly doubted that. She was knee deep in advantage now, she wouldn’t be so greedy. He also shouldn’t be greedy either. It’s best to acknowledge that he got screwed over now instead.

”Hmm…” He was still in the mood but couldn’t help but let out a sigh. ”You can have this comfortable victory. But don’t worry, I will be back.”

If not anything, he would take off and leave the area. He might still be circling around for a minute or two but after that he would actually leave, flying higher and higher to where he could finally recollect his thoughts.

Innocence Lost - A Science Fantasy RP [v.03]

Alexander Kherol

---

The group of Ascendancy military ships are also moving in the opposite direction as the Akriem's Razor. As they were moving in formation, they were slower and more gradual in their approach to the Deilos fleet. But the Grand Admiral need not worry much however. The initial airstrikes had yielded nigh flawless results. The two heavy cruisers are now without an arm and a leg. Communication disruption seems to have done the trick perfectly, considering these folks don't have counter-technology. Now from what seems to unravel is that their flagship is just straight-up routing, abandoning their own comrades and their allies. Kherol's not surprised in the slightest, but this provided him the perfect advantage to send in the gunships to finish them off...

"Grand Admiral?" At that point, his diligent and faithful captain furrowed her two brows. "The second space wing just reported in. Apparently...there is an unidentified corvette around the area."

What? Unidentified? Hmm, could that one slip under the radar of the observation posts? Or they're some random civilians somehow slipping through the blockade he was setting up. Either way, someone's going to be in trouble.

"Here's what it looks like. They're also sending signals marking themselves as neutral."

"Hmm..." Alexander stroked his lips once. "Doesn't look like something the Deilos possess or they could ally themselves with."

He could be wrong and that they pulled some weird strings behind his back, but the simplest answer to this theory could be that they're actually neutral vessels.

"Oh?" Carina perched her brows as she tapped her earpiece. "The Akriem's Razor is attacking that lone corvette."

Ok that settles it then...

"Can our squadrons still attack the cruiser?"

Carina gave a quick back and forth before replying. "They can, but only from one side, because...umm..." She scratched her head in big confusion as she relayed what she was told back to Alexander. "They're actually closing the distance to the Akriem's Razor. More specifically, to the bridge."

Wait...what?

"Hmph, interesting~" Alexander chuckled, being just as surprised as his captain. Whoever is commanding this ship is either a medically diagnosed nitwit, or... "Are they actually trying to board the ship?" Ramming could totally be an alternative explanation, but it would fall into the 'dumb crew' category.

"I don't know, we'll have to see. For now, I am ordering the squadron to attack the cruiser from one side. The rest can choose their own targets on the remaining portion of the fleet."

"I agree." Alexander nonchalantly nodded. "Also lower the ECM and establish direct contact with that corvette."

"Roger."

---

Elsewhere in the battle, the pilots, having received their orders, decided to ignore the Xuanzang. A sizable portion of the squadron peeled off to attack the other parts of the Deilos fleet that got left behind and now were desperately trying to catch up. The attack result were just like last time, but this time the Deilos weren't caught by surprise anymore. Anti-starfighter flaks managed to bring down several spaceplanes, mostly the bombers, which were the mid-war models that the Deilos already had experience dealing with. Nevertheless, the positive results still outweighed the negatives. More ships were lagged behind, thinning out the already disorganized fleet. They are just food to be preyed upon.

Meanwhile, the ECM field began to dissipate - whatever disruption it had left now completely gone. Not shortly after, the Xuanzang would receive this broadcast. The voice would be clearly female, and the Xuanzang captain would be able to quickly identify it.

"This is ANS Manfred von Richthofen of the Ascendancy Navy. You are in unauthorized territory and are potentially undermining our military operation. Identify yourself, your intention and what is it that you are attempting to do?"

My Hero Academia: Raw Potential

Acion Nakamiji

---

After inspecting from outside all the buildings, Acion realized he was just wasting his time. It would be too easy if the briefcases were visible. He definitely had to break in somehow. But thankfully, the buildings, having suffered some terrible conditionings, the sky entrance were loose and easy to open. For one of the tall buildings in the center, he just flew close to the building, slammed his legs onto the window a couple of times to make it slide open. Upon arrival, he immediately made his way into the other rooms deep into the building. The rather fruitless search on the top floor convinced him he needed to go lower, and lower, and lower, to which after spending minutes trying to navigate the maze of empty rooms, he finally found the briefcase in one of them.

'That consumed too much time.' He wondered if his teammate had already found briefcases. But on the flip side, nobody seemed to have noticed him...yet. If he was ambushed in this narrow hallway full of rooms, it would've been a disaster. Now that he got hold of the briefcase, Acion made his exit. But after seeing how close he was to the ground than before, the angelic boy decided against this idea. That one moment where he threw himself out there before he could ascend up could mean being knocked out if they noticed him. He didn't know how, but he knew the possibility. So instead, he made his way up to the top floor again, trying to exit where they would least likely be able to reach him.

Instead of making his way out via the window he used to get in, Acion opened another window on the other side, facing the center buildings, being careful not to break the rusty metal. Like this, the hero team wouldn't be able to notice him exit, due to the height, the direction and the timing. Well, except one. She could position and reposition herself really quickly on the field, so she could see this kiting briefcase thief if she was in a good spot. Let's just hope he could make his way back quick enough before she could act.

NEOTOKYO - Shadow Conflict [Open!]

Takeda Ochisuita

---

---

Name
Takeda Ochisuita

Nationality
Japanese

Age
43

Sexuality
Heterosexual

Birth
July 7th, 1988

---

Appearance
A very conservative gentleman, Takeda always dresses up formally even for the slightest bit of an afternoon walk. There's almost always only two sets of outfits you'll see him in. The first is his professional life, which consists of the simple black NSF's officer uniform. The second is his non-professional, which consists of a double button suit and tie all year round. The tone of the color ranged from blue to dark grey, sometimes dark green. A small badge of political membership is hooked on his left collar. In colder days, he'd be sporting a white overcoat and perhaps a long scarf. There is actually a third set of clothes: his private life, which is still as conservative as ever, but chances are you'd never see that from him, as he tended to keep his private life very...well...private.

For his age, he was sometimes regarded as older than he should've been, and it was rather true. A rather turbulous life had led to some wrinkles spreading on his chiseled face. But make no mistakes, beneath the old cover is still a very well-built physique, one that can still rival a man in his prime. His black hair is noticeably short and combed-over, adding more to his formal impressions.

Takeda also appears to limp in his right knee, due to his injury during the Siberian expedition. This is accompanied with a walking cane that never left his side.

Height
5'9"

Personality
Everyone who has worked with Takeda has been known to brand this austere old man to be distrustful, and they all have a point. Takeda is a man of flexibility, in almost any possible way. He can be democratic when it suits the situation, but he can be brutally suppressive when it needs be. He can use very inhumane methods for his goals, but he also knows when to rub the wound. One of the few things inflexible and set in stone for this sharp man is his principle of pragmatism. It transcends his ideology. It defies morality. What matters is the end, not the means. And whoever has made their distrustful remarks couldn't help but admit that he was a useful asset if not essential. Once the job is given, he almost always finish with his characteristic brutal efficiency. But in the world full of nationalistic rhetorics, pragmatism or nuances would almost always be seen as two-faced.

On a professional level, Takeda is a man of little word, preferring to use facial expressions or concise phrases to deliver his message. And you can expect almost no jokes around this man, and even less lenience. An air of tension usually hangs around him, as he seems to be watching your every move, judging you with his cold and calculated gaze, wondering to yourself what had you done this time. He demands good results, and generally doesn't care how you achieve it. He is not outright cruel to his subordinates, but can definitely be pushed to that point

---

Role
NSF Board of Administration

Equipment
A walking cane.
Multitools
Odourless Hand Sanitizer Wipes
Cyanide Pill

Previous Careers
JSDF Junior Officer
Jinrai Counter-Intelligence Agency Branch No. 6 (in Siberia)
Jinrai Secret Service Instructor

---

Biography
Takeda Ochisuita is born in Kai, Japan. His family is a fairly well-off family, with Takeda's father being a senior police officer in his province, but their philosophy for their child was no hand sanitizer. What was given to a child was the minimum for him to survive. If he wanted his life to improve, he had to work for it. At first easy things like washing the dishes or clean the house for his family, but soon shifted to outside jobs. And they were nowhere being lenient. They were once fully content to let his child starve for months to prevent laziness from taking over his schedule. This put a dent on Takeda's relationship with his parent, but also ironed out his defining character.

Despite his rough childhood, Takeda still found great interests in education, and while his school attendances were meagre, his incredible effort in self-studying had given him vast amount of knowledge in history, economics, politics and philosophy. However, by the time he was 20, he dropped out of university due to lack of fundings and joined the JSDF. There, thanks to his earlier life, he quickly developed a reputation by all accounts to be an impeccable soldier, with unparalleled discipline and diligence. He easily rose through the ranks of the JSDF, quickly becoming a Junior Officer in the army, though he had little intentions on being a military commander.

It was also here that Takeda met the group of men who would later form the notorious Jinrai corp. He found a lot of their ideas compatible, while the group had his well-developed reputation to admire the young soldier. They both shared a lot of worldviews, such as their wishes to abolish Article 9, that Japan should maintain a strong military presence, and that the current Japanese military is nowhere enough to deal with the current nuclear trend that the world is following. However, Takeda and the Jinrais also disagreed on many aspects as well, such as military expansionism, approaches to diplomacy, etc. In fact Takeda might be the most critical of the Jinrai from within their ranks, but knowing that spouting everything you believe in could be detrimental, so he kept his mouth shut and enjoyed the social circle he had.

And the earlier worry turned into a nightmare, when Tokyo was nuked. This presented the Jinrai (now not called so) a perfect political base to ascend to political influence. Takeda's connection with the founding members proved a golden opportunity, as they offered the young Takeda a position as an officer for the Jinrai's intelligence department. He took this offer without hesitation, and he went through brutal training to become a spy. Again, his iron discipline carried him through the day, and he was soon deployed, at first in Tokyo, but then to Siberia, where a joint-operation between Japanese and Russian operatives to root out political dissidents were taking place. There, he gathered confidential information, disrupted communications between insurgent groups and sometimes took part in rooting out high profile leaders. One time, he is assigned the task of assassinating a decently popular insurgent leader of a neocult. He completed his task successfully, but during the ensuing gunfight, Takeda took a high caliber bullet to his leg, badly damaging his kneecap. His partners luckily helped him escape, but this injury effectively put his Siberian expedition to an end. He was transported back to Japan for treatment, and while prosthetics were highly recommended by the doctors, since they guaranteed quick recovery of movements, Takeda, for strange reasons, refused them and instead chose surgery to repair his damaged kneecap instead. Months of recovery went by and he recovered, although he still limped when he walked and had to use a walking cane.

Not seeing the prospect of an active service as an intelligence officer very promising due to his injury, the Jinrai assigned him a training position instead. It was during these times that Takeda's opinion of the Jinrai began to take a major downturn. The ideological disagreements that he hid during his JSDF days had shown its cracks. He had been long critical of some of their social and diplomatic policies. He saw them as unnecessary and feelings-driven rather than for the good of the country, but tolerated them for their other better ideas. But now? After seeing what their behavior and how socially damaging it is to the people of Japan, Takeda was slowly and gradually disillusioned to the people that he once desired success for.

And so at one point, the once diligent servant of the Jinrai, Takeda secretly plotted against them. The election of Konno Mashai led to the Jinrai preparing a coup, and Takeda knew the information due to his great network of information. Takeda proceeded to feed the information to the new cabinet, which effectively contributed to the coup's failure. He also destroyed vital confidential documents to prevent information falling into the wrong hands, and erased his own trace after the betrayal.

When the NSF formed, the NSF leaders decided to offer one of the administrator's position to the former Jinrai spy. A bit of a surprise to the people who knew his reputation, but the NSF decided that they would rather have a potential opponent under their watch instead. For Takeda Ochisuita, the support for the current government may have been a necessary call to prevent a disaster brewing, it was still a throwback to the old government that he found particularly ineffective that led to the Tokyo tragedy. For now, he could tolerate this, but who knows if he'll switch sides again.

Affiliations
Unknown family members

NEOTOKYO - Shadow Conflict [Open!]

Takeda Ochisuita

---

---

Name
Takeda Ochisuita

Nationality
Japanese

Age
43

Sexuality
Heterosexual

Birth
July 7th, 1988

---

Appearance
A very conservative gentleman, Takeda always dresses up formally even for the slightest bit of an afternoon walk. There's almost always only two sets of outfits you'll see him in. The first is his professional life, which consists of the simple black NSF's officer uniform. The second is his non-professional, which consists of a double button suit and tie all year round. The tone of the color ranged from blue to dark grey, sometimes dark green. A small badge of political membership is hooked on his left collar. In colder days, he'd be sporting a white overcoat and perhaps a long scarf. There is actually a third set of clothes: his private life, which is still as conservative as ever, but chances are you'd never see that from him, as he tended to keep his private life very...well...private.

For his age, he was sometimes regarded as older than he should've been, and it was rather true. A rather turbulous life had led to some wrinkles spreading on his chiseled face. But make no mistakes, beneath the old cover is still a very well-built physique, one that can still rival a man in his prime. His black hair is noticeably short and combed-over, adding more to his formal impressions.

Takeda also appears to limp in his right knee, due to his injury during the Siberian expedition. This is accompanied with a walking cane that never left his side.

Height
5'9"

Personality
Everyone who has worked with Takeda has been known to brand this austere old man to be distrustful, and they all have a point. Takeda is a man of flexibility, in almost any possible way. He can be democratic when it suits the situation, but he can be brutally suppressive when it needs be. He can use very inhumane methods for his goals, but he also knows when to rub the wound. One of the few things inflexible and set in stone for this sharp man is his principle of pragmatism. It transcends his ideology. It defies morality. What matters is the end, not the means. And whoever has made their distrustful remarks couldn't help but admit that he was a useful asset if not essential. Once the job is given, he almost always finish with his characteristic brutal efficiency. But in the world full of nationalistic rhetorics, pragmatism or nuances would almost always be seen as two-faced.

On a professional level, Takeda is a man of little word, preferring to use facial expressions or concise phrases to deliver his message. And you can expect almost no jokes around this man, and even less lenience. An air of tension usually hangs around him, as he seems to be watching your every move, judging you with his cold and calculated gaze, wondering to yourself what had you done this time. He demands good results, and generally doesn't care how you achieve it. He is not outright cruel to his subordinates, but can definitely be pushed to that point

---

Role
NSF Board of Administration

Equipment
A walking cane.
Multitools
Odourless Hand Sanitizer Wipes
Cyanide Pill

Previous Careers
JSDF Junior Officer
Jinrai Counter-Intelligence Agency Branch No. 6 (in Siberia)
Jinrai Secret Service Instructor

---

Biography
Takeda Ochisuita is born in Kai, Japan. His family is a fairly well-off family, with Takeda's father being a senior police officer in his province, but their philosophy for their child was no hand sanitizer. What was given to a child was the minimum for him to survive. If he wanted his life to improve, he had to work for it. At first easy things like washing the dishes or clean the house for his family, but soon shifted to outside jobs. And they were nowhere being lenient. They were once fully content to let his child starve for months to prevent laziness from taking over his schedule. This put a dent on Takeda's relationship with his parent, but also ironed out his defining character.

Despite his rough childhood, Takeda still found great interests in education, and while his school attendances were meagre, his incredible effort in self-studying had given him vast amount of knowledge in history, economics, politics and philosophy. However, by the time he was 20, he dropped out of university due to lack of fundings and joined the JSDF. There, thanks to his earlier life, he quickly developed a reputation by all accounts to be an impeccable soldier, with unparalleled discipline and diligence. He easily rose through the ranks of the JSDF, quickly becoming a Junior Officer in the army, though he had little intentions on being a military commander.

It was also here that Takeda met the group of men who would later form the notorious Jinrai corp. He found a lot of their ideas compatible, while the group had his well-developed reputation to admire the young soldier. They both shared a lot of worldviews, such as their wishes to abolish Article 9, that Japan should maintain a strong military presence, and that the current Japanese military is nowhere enough to deal with the current nuclear trend that the world is following. However, Takeda and the Jinrais also disagreed on many aspects as well, such as military expansionism, approaches to diplomacy, etc. In fact Takeda might be the most critical of the Jinrai from within their ranks, but knowing that spouting everything you believe in could be detrimental, so he kept his mouth shut and enjoyed the social circle he had.

And the earlier worry turned into a nightmare, when Tokyo was nuked. This presented the Jinrai (now not called so) a perfect political base to ascend to political influence. Takeda's connection with the founding members proved a golden opportunity, as they offered the young Takeda a position as an officer for the Jinrai's intelligence department. He took this offer without hesitation, and he went through brutal training to become a spy. Again, his iron discipline carried him through the day, and he was soon deployed, at first in Tokyo, but then to Siberia, where a joint-operation between Japanese and Russian operatives to root out political dissidents were taking place. There, he gathered confidential information, disrupted communications between insurgent groups and sometimes took part in rooting out high profile leaders. One time, he is assigned the task of assassinating a decently popular insurgent leader of a neocult. He completed his task successfully, but during the ensuing gunfight, Takeda took a high caliber bullet to his leg, badly damaging his kneecap. His partners luckily helped him escape, but this injury effectively put his Siberian expedition to an end. He was transported back to Japan for treatment, and while prosthetics were highly recommended by the doctors, since they guaranteed quick recovery of movements, Takeda, for strange reasons, refused them and instead chose surgery to repair his damaged kneecap instead. Months of recovery went by and he recovered, although he still limped when he walked and had to use a walking cane.

Not seeing the prospect of an active service as an intelligence officer very promising due to his injury, the Jinrai assigned him a training position instead. It was during these times that Takeda's opinion of the Jinrai began to take a major downturn. The ideological disagreements that he hid during his JSDF days had shown its cracks. He had been long critical of some of their social and diplomatic policies. He saw them as unnecessary and feelings-driven rather than for the good of the country, but tolerated them for their other better ideas. But now? After seeing what their behavior and how socially damaging it is to the people of Japan, Takeda was slowly and gradually disillusioned to the people that he once desired success for.

And so at one point, the once diligent servant of the Jinrai, Takeda secretly plotted against them. The election of Konno Mashai led to the Jinrai preparing a coup, and Takeda knew the information due to his great network of information. Takeda proceeded to feed the information to the new cabinet, which effectively contributed to the coup's failure. He also destroyed vital confidential documents to prevent information falling into the wrong hands, and erased his own trace after the betrayal.

When the NSF formed, the NSF leaders decided to offer one of the administrator's position to the former Jinrai spy. A bit of a surprise to the people who knew his reputation, but the NSF decided that they would rather have a potential opponent under their watch instead. For Takeda Ochisuita, the support for the current government may have been a necessary call to prevent a disaster brewing, it was still a throwback to the old government that he found particularly ineffective that led to the Tokyo tragedy. For now, he could tolerate this, but who knows if he'll switch sides again.

Affiliations
Unknown family members

NEOTOKYO - Cyberfuture RP [Now with underground political chaos!]

Hmm, you know what I am going to do

Innocence Lost - A Science Fantasy RP [v.03]

Alexander Kherol

---

Private Quarter

What Nikolas had said to him weeks ago wandered in his head for long after everything had begun to settle down. Retirement with his family. What a peaceful fate for an honorable man. Probably the best, or the least bad, of what could happen after the horrible five-year war. Alexander himself did imagine himself one day to be like that, but knowing the state of the Ascendancy right now, stepping down from power is just like abandoning ship, but you do not actually leave the ship. On the one hand you have idiots in the Ascendancy High Command, all the way from the top, fidgeting with their own golden chicken nugget thinking how to make themselves look cool and powerful. On the other hand, you have private companies trying to exert control over the government because of this. That itself is another political sewage water to dig his hands into. And on the other other hand, you have terrorists and rebels - gullible fools attracted to lofty visionaries singing anthems of an egalitarian utopia. Unlike the government or the companies though, the rebels are mere worms in comparison. Easy to squash, and easy to use.

Beep Beep Beep

"Who is that?" Alexander heard the doorbell to his room.

"It's Carina." A female voice went through the intercom. "I brought some new report...and lunch. May I come in?"

"Sure." Alexander pressed the remote on his desk to open the door. Behind it was a woman Alexander entrusted in the helm of his newest weapon - Captain Carina Sansonetti. With her were a tablet held between her arm and torso, and two trays of spliced BBQ beef and mashed potatoes on both hands.

"Uh...should I?" After taking off her shoes, she noticed the pair of lion slippers on the shoe-rack nearby.

"Oh, if you like to. Room's clean anyway."

"Alright thanks" She ignored the slippers anyway and proceeded into the room only with socks. "Is that yours?" Carina was curious though. It was her first time being in a private quarter of her superior and old-time officer academy friend, and that slippers looked a little off for the kind of guy he is.

"What? Oh that." The Grand Admiral chuckled a bit. "Yeah that's mine. It's a gift from someone I know, but I never use it. It looks kinda silly in my opinion."

Yeah, she could figure he would say that.

"Wait..." Alexander looked at the tray Carina put before him. "This again? Haven't we had MRE for like a month now?"

"Yeah, but we're in a bit of a pinch in food supplies right now." Carina replied, also handing Alexander the tablet. "It appears it's not because of annual price increase. Agriculture produce price still continues to rise among the general market. So we'll have to deal with it for now."

"That's curious." Alexander said. "Do we know anything about what happened?"

"No clue. The media has been silent about it."

Prices are rising and the government is staying silent about it?

"Looks like we'll have to take matters into our own hands as well." He shrugged with a sigh. "After our current mission. For now, it's mashed potatoes for another month I guess."

Carina nodded with an amused smile, as she sat down next to another table (with his permission) to enjoy her own lunch, the same meal Alexander and the rest of the ship crew have. By enjoy, she meant tolerate. She'd want to get back to her favorite meal of lemon spiced chicken, but for everybody else, she'd be motivated to having to deal with endless mashed potatoes. If they're gonna suffer, it's equal sufferings. Even the Grand Admiral deals with the same crap a Private has to deal with.

"Say Carina. Do you have any plans next month?" Alexander suddenly asked.

"Hmm...no. Just gonna be here like usual. What's up?"

"Oh, I'm just saying I'm going to take a break after this two missions."

"Oh?" Carina was surprised. Alexander hadn't taken a single day of leave for like what...4 years? "For how long?"

Alexander turned down his mouth. "A month probably. I'm gonna have Faro or Kotaro over to run the fleet in the meantime."

Carina had worked with them before. They are capable men, so she had no problem being under either's command. And while there were still insurgencies to squelch, it wasn't as urgent as it used to be. Alexander did say afterward that the task of handling rebellious activities would temporarily be handed over to someone else, but didn't say who. "So where are you going specifically?"

"Home." Alexander simply replied. If anything, this is the most predictable part about him.

Carina gave a laugh. "Well, tell them I say hi."

---

The Rat's Trap

The Rat's Trap

Time was not wasted as soon as his lunch was over. Alexander made his way not to the bridge but the meeting room, where a few ship Captains and Commanders were also filing in for what was probably too commonplace for a war-hardened army. They knew what was coming

"Thank you everyone for being timely as always." Alexander briefly thanked his subordinates before swiftly moving into the topic at hand. "Just today, we received another raid report by the contingent group Deilos, this time on the convoy belonging to the Gravia's Military Company."

By the aptly named Deilos, Alexander referred to the remnants of the Ascendancy's army who managed to survive Proxima but refused to face the consequences for their actions. And by that, they were mostly from the 11th Fleet, previously under the command of Grand Admiral Berkeley - the man whose legacies are still being that painful gum ulcer on his tongue. After having pretty much all their fleet assets destroyed during the Rau've war, the Ascendancy's security was in a very poor state by the end of the war, with riots from both the xenophobic pro-Ascendancy and non-xenophobic anti-Ascendancy pretty much going kerbatzoes on each other, the defection of these cowards flew under many's radar. Even though there were much bigger threats to the Ascendancy's strength and security to be dealt with, like the Windsor's Autonomous Trading Fleet or the victim in question, the Gravia's Military Company, these guys are at least benign for now, while the Deilos were hungering terrorists to be crushed.

Alexander knew the state of their fleet right now. It had been a long decline for them, with Alexander slowly picking off their ships one by one with every engagement. They had little means to rebuild their ships; little resources, low manpower, little infrastructure. Any damage caused on them would stick, so no need for a decisive and costly battle. The more choices a wounded animal is allowed to take, the more predictable it becomes.

And here it is.

"The Gravias fended them off, but not without casualties for the convoy ships." Said Carina, who was sitting the closest to Alexander. Her glasses were on the table, her lime-colored eyes not glancing at the reports, having clearly been well-versed before she came into the room. "Funny thing is, no casualties for either side's military ships."

"They're plunderers. That's what they do." Another voice echoed - the Commander of the heavy cruiser Seagal. "It's just that we've only limited their attack pattern to resourceful areas, which can include anywhere in the Zenith outer rim." To which all attack reports originate there, just as expected.

"Really? I think that is the most interesting part of the report." Alexander replied, adopting a more casual tone for discussions. "Since they have their loot, without any casualties whatsoever, they are very likely to be emboldened by this and continue their attack."

"Given they were under the influence of Berkeley, I am not surprised." Carina added. "So where do you think they'll attack next, Alexander?"

"I am almost certain they will attack the Eden system, specifically the planet Maiden Reach." Alexander began. "Their fleet's targets seem randomly picked, but their vector's patterns are indicative of their behavior. Fightings that are too short and successful are followed up with a second or even third attack, either within hours or a few days following the first."

"That's actually true." Another ship Commander spoke up. "So by that logic, and their preferred choices so far, the next targets shall be Maiden Reach, Eden's Sanctuary of the Eden system, or the Agri-World of Plenty or of Prosperity."

"That's right." Alexander nodded. "Agri-Worlds aren't likely to be their concerns. They've already attacked another target for rations already recently. Eden's Sanctuary is a rainforest planet. It's more tourist site than actual resources. That leaves us with only Maiden Reach."

"It's a chance for them to earn some quick credits. They might use it to compensate for their ship losses in the last few months. Hell they could even be cooperating with poachers as well if God knows." The Seagal commander spoke. "It's still a fairly busy area, despite being Frontier-Worlds. I suggest a lockdown for the next few days there."

"Yes Harald. The Seagal, along with the Bolt, Novak, Williams and Jordan will work with local ships to instigate a blockade around Southern Eden until further notice." The moment ship names were announced, everyone in the room began standing in attention. "The remaining ships stand ready at these designated locations with stealth up. I will personally take charge of this ambush. Is everything clear?"

"Yes sir!"

The commanders and captains immediately dispersed. They already had their orders, and their military prowess was enough that they need not any more hand-holdings. And for the Deilos? He could only hope they value themselves high enough to shoot themselves, because they are to be burned alive for their crime.

Innocence Lost - A Science Fantasy RP [v.03]

Alexander Kherol

---

"Saxon, this is a bad idea. That wyvern is gonna break him into pieces."

The governor's only response was adjusting his helmet.

"It's not going to stop him. He will have to figure that for himself."

But to send him towards an incredibly hostile creature to humans? No matter how determined or brave they are, no one in the right mind would send a 14-year-old kid to that monster. Saxon was the one sending him to Leon for personal protection. He wanted safety for him, and yet...

"Kids his age are aimless. They play all day and they study all night. And then there is Alexander." The governor looked at the wyvern. "I want to know if something is true."

Meanwhile, Alexander was ready to go in and confront the wyvern.

"Here sir." He handed his Staff Sergeant all his weapons and his ID.

"All of them? What if it attacks you?"

"I'll be dead either ways. Don't worry, just chalk it up as an idiotic daredevil's death if you want to."

At least that would not tarnish his reputation.

"Wait-" He didn't have a chance to finish what he said as Alexander had already walked in. Now, it is a staredown between a man and a beast.

Noticing one particular human suddenly getting too close to its territory, the wyvern's eyes turned red in response. A furious growl echoed, with its bared teeth in full display. Alexander had the instinctive reasons to run, but he was determined. He had set course on his goal, as he took his steps forward towards the wyvern. And another. And another.

"Stay away from me human!" Finally pushed to the point, the wyvern spoke, its voice harrowingly booming.

Alexander wasn't flinched. He opened his palms wide, as he took yet another step.

"I shall not."

His eyes did not once look away from the wyvern's, still glowing red in anger. To the wyvern, this is an unacceptable act of trespassing. By a human nonetheless. The one species that ruined the lives of its ancestors. And here this one subject thought it had the audacity to try and ruin its lives as well. But his arms continued to be wide open. The tool he requested wasn't even in sight. It was just a slim man in two layers of fabric. He looked so defenseless, yet every look in his eyes was an indication that the wyvern was the one defenseless. One small step at a time, Alexander made it to its six toes, each claws on them large, long and sharp enough to pierce through an Ascendancy transport vehicle. He placed his hand on each of them, one at a time.

"Are you trying to deceive me into trusting you?" The wyvern bent its neck down to Alexander's level, its voice much deeper than before.

"I don't need to deceive." Alexander replied almost immediately. "You're wounded."

"That's none of your business." It snarled again.

"It's not a business. I am just helping."

"I can do it by myself!"

"But it hurts for you." Alexander now approached the head itself, feeling its bone-numbing freezing breathe down his spine. He removed his right, revealing his bare hand to the wyvern, along with the dark line that sliced through his palm. "There. I have nothing. I also have nothing to ask."

Confusion sowed. Everything just felt surreal to the young wyvern. Everything told it to just snap this human in half, but his touch was so gentle. It wasn't vengeful, nor deceptive. His imitation of the wyvern's usual bonding gesture was also strange, well beyond being amusing. What was he even thinking at this moment in time?

---

SWISH!

...

SPLAT!

...

"Are you alright?!"

...

"You have to let him go with us..."

...

"You say I have the intellect beyond others. And yet you say I am to sit here helpless?"

---

The wyvern let out a sudden puff of ice, blowing over the human before it. Carefully, it swirled its wings around, letting them lay on the ground with its wounds exposed. The eyes were still red, but his breathings had slowed down much. Alexander had earned its trusts.

"What is this even?"

As Alexander made his way up there and using his special tool to accelerate wyvern healings on the wounded area, both men were just as astonished as anybody present. The wyvern was literally putting its guards down just for him. The Dragon's Brigade commander wasn't sure if this is something he would ever see again in his life.

"What's your name?" The wyvern's voice suddenly echoed in his head.

"Hmm, I'm sorry?" Alexander was a bit caught back by the Mind Magic use.

"You humans like to use names. What's yours?"

"Alexander." He replied with his thoughts. "What's yours?"

"...I don't have one."

"Oh right, right." He forgot how this young wyvern was already out there by itself. After having finished patching the wing, Alexander, instead of climbing down from there, climbed up onto the wyvern's head instead.

"Athenia. That's what I'll call you."

"Hmph..." It snorted. "I thank you human...no, Alexander. Is every human like this, or are you just one of the good ones?"

"Hmm..." Alexander hummed both in thoughts and outside. "I would like to say they are not, but I'm sure there's something you also feel confused about your own species as well."

"How the hell do you know about it? Your Mind Magic can't be this strong."

"I don't have it. I just know." His thoughts whispered. "How about we set an example?"

"Is it even going to change anything?"

"I don't know, but I will try anyway." Alexander crouched and brush through its fins. "Will you, Athenia?"

This funny little human. Weak, feeble and powerless, yet here speaking about changing the world. To a system deeply rooted in centuries of bloody history. He wished to change that, as someone who probably had never seen a wyvern in his life. And yet Athenia let him. It felt...empowering. It wasn't merely reasons, the empty husk of words and letters often conjured up for a convenient cause. Perhaps they were more similar than it was led to believe. The difference is that he is more courageous. And he'd probably succeed.

That, Athenia shall see for itself.

WOOSH!

Its wings, fully healed, opened to its full majestic beauty. Its eyes turned white. It stood up, carrying its companion to tower over everyone else.

---

---

"Thank you for trusting me." Alexander said. "Be the flow, Athenia. Let's go!"

It took off.

Carrying the young ambitious Earthling.

Standing firm and proud.

With courage and ambition.

Ambition that would take him to the end of the galaxy.

Courage that guarantees it.

He would succeed. Or die trying.

And it took heed.

That a common soldier was too small a fate.

Two men witnessed his glory.

"He tamed it?!" Leon exclaimed.

The governor saw it differently.

He wasn't a tamer...

He is a leader

---

@Landaus Five-One

Innocence Lost - A Science Fantasy RP [v.03]

Alexander Kherol

---

There was something about him that made us feel we could do more than we ever imagine...

Draken'vina, Fehtzaal's Military Base, 2456 AD

"So this is the situation." Various holographic photographs were laid out by the Lieutenant before the Staff Sergeant and the rest of his squad. On his left side's were something coming straight out of a disaster movie. Entire towns frozen in ice, even the tall crops of some poor farmer living there were at the time were frozen it its place, the icicles sideways. On his right was multiple angled view on a huge creature, toweringly soaring through the sky with its gleaming silver blue wings. Its entire body was plastered with uncanny silver fins, with occasional spikes along its spine, ending at its diamond-tipped tail. Unlike a dragon, this beast only had two legs.

"An ice wyvern has been terrorizing towns around the east of the Vanguard Mountain Range. It has destroyed many houses and halted the production of crops of these towns. Luckily, the local militias of the area have been able to evacuate the civilians to safety, so human casualties are minimal. Nevertheless, we are trying to keep the creature dormant, but it is behaving very aggressive and continuously lashing out against intervening soldiers."

The Lieutenant, with an insignia belonging to his clan family, let out a deep sigh.

"So you are tasked with putting it down."

It wasn't at all desirable, but it had to be done. This was supposed to be a paradise planet, or at least the areas where humans live are, and this wyvern is threatening it.

"Lieutenant? How old is the wyvern?"

A voice suddenly came from the ranks. It's that nerdy kid again.

"Corporal Kherol. I have not given the authority to speak." The Staff Sergeant barked, visibly annoyed. He had been fed up with this 4-eyed kid for quite a while, ever since he transferred to this unit. He had been asking so many questions and so freely that it is making people think he couldn't control his men.

"Permission granted." The Lieutenant overruled the Staff Sergeant instead, curious to see the kid noticing this detail. "It's relatively young. If I'm going to give an analogy, it's probably around your age in dragon's lifespan."

Wyverns do grow quite fast, so under untrained eyes they might not be able to differentiate between an adult wyvern and a young one.

"Hmm, thank you Lieutenant."

"You are to deploy your squad quickly. We have cornered the dragon now and we do not want it to lash out anytime soon and ruin all of our work."

---

Strangely enough, the wyvern wasn't in a cave or something that could encapsulate it like Alexander initially thought. It was rather in front of a massive vertical mountainside. Soldiers donning both the militia and the Ascendancy's military uniform were swarming the increasingly agitated wyvern, as its standing ground was getting smaller and smaller. But occasionally, Alexander could see the wyvern covering its mouth with the upper-side of its right wing. Why such a thing? That is unnatural posture for a wyvern, and why would it do such a thing that could leave it vulnerable to attacks from the soldiers.

Once he was on the ground with his fire squad, however, it became clear to him what was going on. There was a huge gaping slash wound on its right wing. That explained why the wyvern felt the need to cover its mouth by it: it was actually licking it. As Alexander approached the other men who were keeping the wyvern in place, he could have a closer look at the wound itself. It looked messy, as if something coarse had inflicted upon it. It probably meant that this was not inflicted by a sword by a human being. It also explained why the creature is behaving so aggressively. Well, they behave aggressively on a daily basis against humans anyway, but wyverns don't tend to lash out in his previous sorties against them.

"I didn't expect you here sir. 3rd Platoon reporting in."

The Lieutenant saluted two men Alexander recognized. The first one he had met a couple of times but never spoke to. The commander of the Dragon's Brigade, Leon. Alexander already heard of him through stories, but he personally didn't find those stories particularly entertaining, as they seemed to be packed with so much aggrandizing that it does not sound realistic, but he overall found him to be a decent guy. The other man he knew particularly well though.

"Hey Alexander." He also recognized the young Corporal just as soon, giving him a handshake even when Alexander was still standing in formation. "I was supposed to come to base to visit, but me and Leon also came across this. Sorry that we have to meet right here."

Governor Saxon of Earth. He was the one taking in Alexander after he left his parents and got him into the military in the first place. He also arranged him to Draken'vina as a trainee soldier, and hopefully be a part of the Dragon's Brigade as well, or at least having a post here, where things were relatively peaceful. It might sound cruel to be sending a kid into the military, but this is the Ascendancy they're dealing with.

"That's ok. We can't help it." Alexander replied, his eyes more interested in Leon and the wyvern. "Can I speak to Mr Leon?"

"Sure, I guess." Saxon called the man in question over, followed by the Lieutenant.

"Is there something you want to say to me young man?" Leon politely asked as he gave Alexander a handshake as well.

"Yes sir. I want to know if the wyvern was attacked. I saw a big wound on its right wing"

"Well, I don't know for sure, but all I know it's already there when I had my men deal with it. Good observation." He nodded.

"It may be aggravated by the wound, causing it to rampage. Is there any ways we can heal its wounds?"

"We have special tools to seal it at least, but good luck calming it down. You can't reason with wyverns."

Can they? That was exactly what he was taught, as well as any books he could lay his hands on about this place. Intelligent beings but lonely and never hunt in packs. But they hated humans. To their very guts. They came to the planet and chased them out of their habitats, so in turn they hunt humans. They don't even speak like humans even though they can. Reasonings to them are weaknesses, natural instincts triumphs everything. Smart for a species, but primitive compared to human beings. That is the reason why they are not meant to be reasoned with. You just force them to be dormant or kill them. But is it truly so? It was all but a trend, a trend unbroken, but it is a trend.

Alexander observed the wyvern carefully. Its right wing twitching slightly, still threatening to soar from the humans grasp at any moment. Its breathings surprisingly slow, while its eyes trailed the soldiers back and forth.

"Please get it for me, Mr Leon. I'll calm it down."

Leon was obviously not convinced. "Are you crazy? It's gonna kill you. It won't listen to humans."

"Yes it can." Alexander pointed firmly. "To me."

"What will we do then if it lashes out again? If it kills someone here because of it." He sternly doubled down. "It's not something I will take from a 14-year old."

"I will take full responsibility if that's the case. Prosecute me, court martial me or however you handle things here, like adults to adults."

Alexander also wouldn't back down. His eyes trailed over to the governor, who were also a bit surprised that he would raise his voice to the Dragon's Brigade commander. Luckily, this is Leon he's talking to, not some self-endorsing vain captain of the Ascendancy.

"Let him be." Saxon intervened.

"What? Are you serious Saxon?"

"If there's any danger, get back immediately, ok?"

As if Alexander would let it stop him anyway...