thewizardguy

Multiverse Rising: Reborn

@Flamelord
Sighing, Abrams let out a breath at the response. It turned out he would be granted an audience, at least. No doubt they had some kind of hologram prepared to talk to him. In all of the Imperium's dealings with the Goa'Uld, their elusive leader had never bothered to appear in person, hiding behind layers and layers of smoke and mirrors. A necessary strategy for such an inherently weak Xenos race. But racism aside, Abrams had no comfort, as he ordered the ship to land in the designated area, and prepared to speak to the Goa'Uld 'God'.

The warlike preparations had certainly not escaped his notice, but with the threat of the Tyranid looming, none could blame them for preparing their weapons. The Imperium had done much the same, after all. Although Abrams had no doubt the Goa'Uld wouldn't hesitate to turn those fancy weapons on the Imperium if they thought it would give them an advantage of some kind. Or simply if they saw a chink in their armour, and thought they could get away with sliding in the knife.

Abrams emerged form his ship clad in the signature Power Armour of the Astartes, flanked by four of his battle brothers. Two of them held up banners, one of which carried the dragon-head symbol of the Salamanders, and the other depicting the golden aquila of the New Imperium, amended by the darker gold star emblazoned onto the background of the banner. Seals and scrolls flapped in the wind, accolades and medals forged onto his armour to remind all who saw him of his deeds and valour. He wore a long cloak forged from salamander scales, each of which had been electrochemically bonded with a specially prepared adamantium alloy. In his hand he carried the Reaping Claw, a blade upon which stood engraved the names of each hero that had died holding that very blade. It was a weapon, and a mark of office, a blade of practice as well as a symbol of authority. He stood before the Goa'Uld proud, even as his battle brothers dropped to their knees behind him, a symbol of respect. Abram's chiseled features betrayed none of the doubts he held, as he calmly prepared to speak to one of the most powerful figures on Arcaida.

"I am Luitenant Captain Abrams of the Salamanders Chapter, First Company. I come here to speak to Ba'al, Lord of the Goa'Uld, and to represent the Imperium's interests in cooperating with the Goa'Uld."

Multiverse Rising: Reborn

@supertinyking@Wraithblade6

As Damien was unceremoniously spat out onto the Australian coast, he would find himself in a rather desolate landscape. Great empty plains of unruly earth, covered in batches of alien weeds. Like in most of Arcadia any native flora had been completely wiped out in some cataclysm, and all that grew here now had been ported in via the terminals. Ironically, this made the old cities the most overgrown location, as the places where previously immense forests had grown were now home only to fast-spreading fungi and weeds. In the distance he could see just one such place, a large decrepit city covered in vines, and the large bulbous forms of fungal spore colonies. There were no visible fauna, and in fact no evidence of organic lifeforms whatsoever, which was certainly surprising, as almost every other location on the planet had attracted a population of otherwordly warriors, and occasionally some very large monsters. In fact it appeared to be completely undisturbed, as if nobody had been here since it's original population was wiped out.

Of course, not all of the unease the necromancer felt could be explained by this simple oddity. There was a nagging feeling at the back of his head, something he couldn't quite understand that made him feel like he was forgetting something. Something important. It in fact took him quite a while before he managed to locate the exact source of this phantom annoyance, but when he did it was stunning indeed. He could not feel the presence of his Lord Asmodeus. Not even the tiny fraction of attention warranted him by his service, the tiny nod directed towards him, guiding him along his path. He could still feel the background energy of the universe, mana, from which all magic comes. But nothing from beyond the borders of this strange land. He could see the sea stretch out into infinity, and to all of his senses, it was as if the rest of the universe, nay, the rest of the multiverse, had simply dropped out of existence. Something was isolating him, blocking off the outside world, to a degree that was in fact hard to fathom.

Suddenly, a shiver went down his spine. There was a tiny voice, in the back of his head. A tiny voice that spoke not in words, but in thoughts, in emotions, whispered so quietly into his ear that a less experienced one might have mistaken them for their own mind. Small things, restless things. He could feel the very air in this place expelling him, washing up against his mind like the sea upon the rocks, softening the edges, and washing away the memories. The longer he thought about it, the less he could remember his goal in coming here, nor the urgency that had previously motivated him. No doubt an ordinary mortal would have simply walked away, completely nonplussed, mere moments after entering this strange place, not realising the manipulation that drove them away. And in fact, Damien realised, if he were to allow this voice to drive him off, there was no doubt he would soon forget what had caused him to leave, or why he'd been at all interested in this continent to begin with.

There was something very wrong here. Something twisted, something impossible, hiding behind the thing veneer of normality. And whatever it was, it did not intend to be discovered.

Multiverse Rising: Reborn

@Letter Bee
Jesus Christ. You're free to join, or not join, as you please, but please do make up your mind.

Multiverse Rising: Reborn

@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.

Multiverse Rising: Reborn

@Gentlemanvaultboy

Oh I just love when a player gives an open invitation like that. It's like a carte blanche, I get to do whatever I want XD.

So you're carrying around a bunch of anti-magic artifacts from an ancient world created by a high priest of an Old God into what might be the most dangerous area on the planet. This'll CERTAINLY be interesting.

Multiverse Rising: Reborn

@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.

Multiverse Rising: Reborn

@Gentlemanvaultboy
For what it's worth, I am totally down with this. Magic-resistant armour ftw.

@Flamelord
Yey! Glad to have you back, and that the issue could be dealt with in a positive light.

In light of the Tyranid invasion I planned to have the Imperium send a diplomat to Goa'Uld lands, but considering how well our previous interaction went, ima ask if you want me to first. If yes, a small ship of ambassadors will arrive in my next post, if no, the Imperium will ignore the Goa'Uld for now.

Multiverse Rising: Reborn

Posted. I'm currently entering a kind of fast-forward mode, describing the events of the day. Your character posts will describe how your characters act within that day and what goals they achieve. I will then post a new 'day' post. I'm hoping to get each 'day' finished in about a week. More detailed interactions are certainly allowed, but try to avoid massive chains of posts, as I will move on to the next 'day' in maximally two weeks. On the seventh 'day' the Tyranid attack, and climax commences.

Multiverse Rising: Reborn

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.

Rainbow Bubblegum Souffle

@Mae
You know, the reason SD updates so slowly is because the author is working on two other webcomics at the same time, as well as their actual day job. They also make Kiwi Blitz, and Let's Speak English. The former is about teenage mech fighting and transhumanism, and the latter is about teaching a group of Japanese people to speak English (based on their actual job). You might wanna check them out.