>Current objectives:
-Stay alive.
-Keep the skeleton-key safe
-Liberate Earth
-Put an end to the war.
-Put an end to the Corruption
-Find out what the “Key” is
-Find out why how the “First Tale” is wrong

>Current inventory
-KV-09 Combination assault blade/energy pistol. Modified with the Void Knight Shield
-1 Screwdriver
-1 Adjustable wrench
-Various spare parts
-A pouch of gold coins
-Another pouch with 17 "Calling Crystals"
-5/10 light travel rations
-5/10 full oil can
-5/10 bandages
-A skeleton-key

>Current energy stored
-0 Aether tanks
-0 Void tanks
-9 Apotropeia tanks
-0 empty tanks
-Support tank-Apotropeia (12/12 full)
-Weapon-Apotropeia
-12 EP per tank

>Calling Crystal contacts
-Jodo, chief of Yujun village (Palia)
-Rose, interplanetary drifter (Currently on Dergrume)
-Jax, Hecatun Way Knight (Currently on The Crossroads)
-Parin, Hecatun Way Knight Trainee (Currently on The Crossroads)
-Winnow, Veeka Spirit Singer (Bray)

>Current known techniques
-Blade Wave (cost:5 EP)
-Charge Shot (cost:3 EP)
-Scatter Shot (cost:3 EP)
-Close Lesser wound (cost:1 EP)
-Close Moderate wound (cost:3 EP)
-Repulse (cost:2 EP)
-Repulsor Blast (cost:3 EP
-Reflection Field (cost: 7 EP)
-Jets (cost: 1 EP/5s)

You sit down at your desk and wipe the sleep out of your eye, letting out a huge yawn as you attempt to glean the secret to the medallion that Parin’s father gave you. It’s about the size of your palm, made of the same sort of blue glassy material that the Way Knight’s armor is, and it has 11 uniform sides.

A scan of it tells you that yes; it is indeed made out of the same stuff as the Way Knight armor. Nothing historical comes out of an archive search, and the closest you get to a ‘key’ is a reference to a sort of peace symbol that the 11 families gave to representatives of the worlds they guard…

You lean back in your chair and sigh. “In other words I’ve got nothing…” You say to the empty room.

This is the first chance you’ve gotten to really study it, after Parin’s father died the day started moving in a whirlwind of events. What started with a bit of recruitment and a quick suit up, ended with a funeral and a council meeting. Fortunately Hecatun funerals are incredibly fast. As Parin’s father was a Way Knight, they brought his body to the roof of the Milestone and disintegrated it, all the while preaching about how ‘the ways would guide him onward’.

Unfortunately, Hecatun council meetings are about as slow as they come. They kept you until the wee hours of the morning, talking endlessly… Something made worse by the fact that you couldn’t answer their questions about earth’s military situation with any certainty.

Parin was there, but she didn’t say much and she left early. You went to check up on her after the meeting, but you were greeted by Achillea, who told you that she had locked herself in her room. Not wanting to intrude and lacking the energy to protest, you retired for the night.

>continued

Certain that there’s little else to gain from examining the medallion, you pocket it and stand up. While Parin’s state worries you, business has been slowly piling up and your to-do list is getting long.

On one hand there’s the Medallion and what Parin’s father said about the First Tale, there’s bound to be someone around who knows more about it.

On the other hand there’s Earth, while your plan is probably one that an AI controlled military will react well to, it’s still not a good idea to go in blind…

With that in mind, you’ll-

>[ ] Gather info on the Medallion

>[ ] Talk to Parin

>[ ] Scout Earth

>[ ] Other.

>>32800732

Whoa, you're running early tonight, Dizzy!

good for me

[x] Medallion

let's figure out the cosmology first, might be a lot of unpleasant surprises in store for us if we don't...

>>32800914
This

>writing

>>32800732
>Medallion
Maybe during this venture we can find/figure out something to cheer up our dear imouto

>>32801092

She's Zeshua's Imouto.

Speaking of which, we need to get hold of him. Do we have means of preventing a wayknight from jumping away from us so we can capture and interrogate him? Could Vicky come up with a trick like that?

Do we or anyone even know how VK's travel works? Because our adversaries seem to have methods of their own.

<I don’t suppose any other notable things came out of your archive search?
>I have given you any and all information of note.

Dang, you were kind of… hoping…

Wait a minute…

<Vicky, those ‘peace symbols’. You mentioned that there were 11 of them, right?
>Yes.
<Are there images of these archived?
>No.

11 sides to the medallion, 11 families, 11 ‘keys’ given out as peace symbols…

It’s a hunch, but it feels like a good hunch.

Now you just need to find someone who knows more about these keys…

>[ ] Parin

>[ ] Nosim

>[ ] One of the other family heads

>>32801289

[x] All of the above.

Let's start with Parin though and go to Nosim with her. He can direct us to whoever is oldest living family head - or most knowledgeable one.

>>32801320
Agreed. all of the above.

>writing

>>32801320

Also how the fuck can remaining ten families be clueless about what was going on? Was Zesh and Parin's family somehow 'more equal' than others? how does centuries of history simply vanish?

Maybe we should pass by the place where we first came onto Crossroads and give that place a once over, it seemed special.

>>32801263
Interesting how the situation between Logan/Hannah and Parin/Zeshua is so similar. It's less Zeshua now, and more of a sick freak of an extra-planar lifeform using him as a skinsuit.

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>>32801577

Hm... I wonder where Thitu was fighting and how did she end up on mother Terra when she did.
>inb4 it is all a dream inside Logan's head and corruption is actually AI intrusion

Seriously though, we might yet find out that AI didn't rebel on its own and that Thitu was not first alien to visit our homeworld.

“Welp, no use lazing around here.” You say, striding out of your room and into the hall. Passing Way Knights stop their conversations and watch you as you go by. You aren’t quite sure if it’s because they don’t like you, or because it’s weird seeing a human walking around here, or because your new feet are VERY loud.

Seriously, you don’t think you’ll be doing much ‘sneaking’ with these. Not unless you’re incredibly careful.

As you come out of the gates of the Milestone, you decide that you’ll start out by seeing how Parin is doing. You’re more than a little worried about her mental state, and for the moment she’s the only other person who knows about the medallion.

It isn’t long before you arrive at her house, nestled at the side of the large square, and give the door a quick rap with your left hand.

Shortly after, the door opens revealing the faces of Jax and Achillea.

“Oh, hey there. What brings you by so early?” Jax asks.

“I was kind of hoping I could talk to Parin…” You say.

Achillea sighs, motioning for you to come in.

“Still locked in her room, huh?” You say.

“Yeah… The last few days have been rough on the poor girl. First Zeshua, now her father…” Achillea says.

“What did you want to talk to her about?” Jax asks, eyeing you suspiciously. He doesn’t seem to trust your intentions…

>[ ] Private business.

>[ ] Tell them about the medallion/first tale

>[ ] Other

>>32801688
Looking at the older chapters, all we know is she was at the 'War of Antilles', where Kalki and Monthei were.

The weird thing is that we learned that from Oz.

>>32801921
Achillea/Nosim are part of one of the big families, yes? They might know of a peace medallion. So, Numbah 2.

>>32801921
tell em, it's going to come out eventually

>writing

>>32801921

>[x] Tell them

We're on the same boat here.

>>32801935
How in the blueberry fuckmuffin did OZ know anything about it? Wasn't he in a room on Dergrume when that shit was goin' down?

>>32802185
Maybe he was there before things went crazy? Maybe it inspired him to do the seekers thing?

While you don’t exactly consider Achillea and Jax as ‘friends’, you know that they’re at least reliable. Well, Achillea is reliable… You aren’t too sure about Jax…

Either way you’d rather have them with you on this one, so you relay to them Parin’s father’s last words.

“But that’s… it’s wrong? How does that make sense?” Jax asks.

“Exactly. That’s what I’m trying to figure out. I figure it’s got something to do with this.” You say, showing them the medallion. “He said to ’Complete the key’, I’m assuming he meant this thing. So far I’ve got an idea of how to do that, but it’s just an idea.”

“An idea is better than nothing. What did you find out?” Achillea asks.

“I did an archive search and came up with a reference to keys given out to representatives of the 11 worlds as peace symbols by the families. It’s the only reference to anything key-like I could find, and it seems to fit.” You say.

Achillea thinks about this for a moment. “Grandfather would know more about the keys, I’ll go ask him now.”

>[ ] Go with her.

>[ ] Go talk to Parin.

>[ ] Other

>>32802487
>Parin
We came here for a reason.

>>32802487
>>[ ] Go with her.
Priorities

>>32802487

[x] Go with her

maybe message Parin to join up?

>>32802487
Talk to parin

>>32802487
>[] Parin
She won't want to come with us later if she's still in this state. Let Achillea go ahead, talk to Parin, THEN go to Nosim. He might even have some info by the time we get there.

>>32802571 (you)

>(samefag here)

Actually go see Parin. If she locked herself up, she might need company more than Achillea who can relay what we told her fine on her own. So try to talk to Parin, then maybe we can catch up with Nosim and Ach afterwards.

>writing

“You go ahead, I’ll catch up with you later.” You say.

She looks confused for a moment, before it dawns on her. “Good luck with that Logan.” She says before walking out the door.

After the door closes behind her, Jax turns to you. “Her room is upstairs, should be the only door up there that’s closed.” He says.

You stand there for a second, dumbfounded. “Huh?” You say.

“If you really think you can get her out of there, I’m not gonna get in your way. Just be careful man, Parin is like a sister to me.” He says. There’s an unspoken ‘if you hurt her I’ll hurt you’ there, but you don’t mind that too much.

You give him a thumbs up before turning away and walking up the stairs. As Jax said, there’s only one door that’s closed, so you give it a knock. You wait a few seconds, but no one inside answers.

>[ ] Knock again

>[ ] Say something

>[ ] Enter

>>32803006
I won't want to talk... I didn't either when it happened to me.

>>32803057
screwed my grammar,
I know you won't want to talk*

>>32803006

>[x] "Parin?"

>writing

I have some question to ask Vicky when there's time:
How does she feel about facing the AI?
Does she/it remember protocols she/it used before the transformation? AI might want to subvert her/it, just as we want to coax the AI to relinquish control over the people.
Would magic work on Earth? Travel works, but will magic?
What about creatures who depend on Aether, like Dragons, will they be able to fly or even live?
How much smarter is she compared to before the awakening? How does she estimate risk of being brute-forced by the AI when she attempts communication?
Could she take control of robotic units at distance? Maybe with aid of a spell to disrupt their communication with AI? Maybe capturing such a robotic servant would give her insight to AI's protocols and possibly weaknesses?
(guess some of those might require being on Earth so Vicky can do some tests)

“Anybody home?” You call in.

“Go away.” You hear from inside.

You sigh. “Request considered, and refused. You can’t keep yourself locked up in there like this.” You say.

Silence. She reminds you of you after the accident. After you woke up they told you that your brother, your sister, and most of your limbs were gone. You didn’t say much after that, and decided to lock yourself up in your room. You weren’t sad or anything, just… tired. That is, until somebody whipped a brick with a teddy bear tied to it through your window…

“Look, you may not think so, but I know how you feel.” You say, turning around and leaning against the door.

“I know that… I just…” You hear from the other side. “I don’t know what to do!”

>[ ] Then come out

>[ ] That makes 2 of us…

>[ ] Other

>>32803573
>[ ] Then come out

>>32803573

>[x] That makes 2 of us
>[x] want to go try and figure it out with me?
>[x] I know if the universe was burning down around me, I wouldn't want to face it alone...

>>32803631
Something along these lines, but also hit home with the fact that we had to kill OUR parents.

>>32803573
“I know that… I just…” You hear from the other side. “I don’t know what to do!”

>... I didn't either

>writing

“Oh good, that makes 2 of us.” You say jokingly. “Why don’t you come on out and we can figure it out together?”

The room is quiet, and it remains that way for a while. Finally, your answer comes in the form of the door opening slightly.

The door that you’re leaning on…

This causes you to fall backwards right into Parin’s room.

“Woah!” You exclaim, waving your arms in a failed attempt to find something to save yourself.
Parin lets out a girlish squeal as she jumps back and away from the door.

You hit the ground with a loud ‘thud’, and lay there for a moment while you take in your new surroundings. Parin’s room is… very girly. Everything has frills, and most of the objects in the room are purple. This includes what she’s wearing, which looks like the Hecatun equivalent of pajamas. “Hey there.” You say, looking up at her from the floor.

Parin starts laughing. “Are you okay?” She asks between giggles.

“Mostly, though I seem to be missing a few limbs.” You say.

She laughs harder at this, definitely in higher spirits than she was before.

>[ ] Go meet up with Achillea

>[ ] Stay and chat

>>32804238

Stay for a while, maybe admire the decoration.

Some things are similar across the multiverse after all.

Then get back to business and go after Achillea together after saying something suitably heroic, like "The multiverse isn't going to save itself!"

should we be holding hands?

>>32804314
This.
Fuck, we can friggin' TELEPORT to Achi and Nosim.

>writing

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>>32804479

I'd be careful with liberal use of our teleportation facility.

“So, this is your room, huh?” You say, getting up off the floor.

“Well, yeah.” Parin says, holding out a hand to help you up.

“It’s very… purple.” You say.

“What’s wrong with purple?” Parin asks.

“Nothing, it’s just that everything in here is purple!” You say. You can count on one hand the number of things in here that aren’t purple, those being: her armor, her sword, the door and a stack of papers on her desk.

“I happen to like purple.” She says with a ‘humph’, puffing out her chest and looking mock offended.

“I happen to like chocolate, but I wouldn’t eat it all the time.” You say, raising an eyebrow.

Parin looks at you curiously. “What’s chocolate?” She asks.

“Delicious.” You say. “Chocolate is delicious. Though I don’t know how it would taste for you… I’ll have to get you some once I’ve reclaimed earth.”

She smiles. “How is that going?”

“Better than I’d hoped, the council seemed convinced last night after you left. And on top of that, the Matron dragon has pledged some of her kin to my cause as well.” You say.

“You met the Matron? What’s she like?” Parin asks excitedly.

“Come on, I’ll tell you on the way.” You say, before turning to leave.

Parin tilts her head. “Where are we going?”

“Back to the Milestone. I’ve got a lead on the Medallion that your dad gave me and Achillea went to go see your grandpa to follow it.” You say.

Parin looks conflicted for a moment, and you watch as several emotions play across her face before she finally settles on a determined look. “Okay, just let me get dressed. I’m not going out there I my bed clothes. Wait for me in the foyer.” She says.

You exit her room and turn to give an exaggerated bow as she closes the door, giggling as she does so. Then you head down to the entrance, where you see Jax waiting.

>continued

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>>32805107
Oh, Parin...

>>32805107

>make a mental note to have Vicky scan chocolate before offering some to a Hecatun for consumption. Might be poisonous to them for all we know.

>>32805241
Well, there are SOME human things she's not allergic too...

“Sounds like it went well.” He says.

“Well enough. She’s coming out, at least. The prospect of solving the mystery her dad left seems to have brightened her spirits.

“And the loud bang?” He asks.

You let your shoulders droop. “Don’t ask…”

It takes an inordinate amount of time for Parin to emerge from her room, enough that you almost begin to suspect that she might have gone and locked herself in again. Until you remember that she is in fact, a girl. And if you know only one thing about girls, it’s how very long it takes them to get ready for anything. Hannah wasn’t too bad for that, but you still remember how frustrated your dad used to get.

Eventually, Parin emerges in her Way Knight armor and hops her way down the stairs. “Shall we?” She asks.

You nod to her and make your way to the door.

“Coming with us Jax?” She asks.

“Nah, I’ve got my own duties to attend to… now that I can finally get back to them without worrying about a certain someone.” He says with a pointed glance at Parin. “You sure you’re okay kid?”

“I’ll be fine, sorry for worrying you.” She says with an honest smile.

Jax tousles Parin’s hair. “Be careful out there, okay? I don’t want to be taking you back to the medical ward again.” He says.

“I will.” She responds.

“Well, that’s all from me. You be careful too Logan, ‘cause I aint carrying you to the medical ward. You look like you weigh a ton with all that on.” Jax says.

“I always am.” You reply.

With that, the three of you leave the house.

>What do you want to talk to Parin about on the way?

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>>32805321

har har!

>>32805419
Does she have new armor? Wasn't she supposed to get new armor?

>>32805419

What does she know of the other families, and maybe if she has any idea of how hers was so special?

Although, on second thought, maybe this is not the best time... but perhaps asking her what other worlds she's visited and what she knows of them might be handy while not venturing into unpleasant territory.

>>32805511

>Yes, she's currently wearing the blue-glass armor of an initiated Way Knight

>>32805551
Gonna second

>>32805419
Engage a quick hand hold, and a grin, just outside of Nosim's office.

>writing

“I’ve got a question for you.” You say.

Parin’s head perks up, and she looks at you expectantly.

Taking this as a cue to continue, you do so. “What sort of places have you been to?” You ask.

She ponders for a moment before answering. “Well, most of the more interesting spots I’ve been were the ones you brought me to. Other than that, I used to go to Dergrume and Bray a lot as a kid.” She says.

“Okay, I get Bray since you’re friends with Winnow. But why Dergrume?” You ask.

“Dergrume is my family’s protectorate. We watch over that world both to keep its people safe and to keep the Crossroads safe from anyone who tries to get here from there.” She says.

“Huh… And what abou-“ You start, but Parin shushes you.

“Ah-ah-ah” She says in a mocking, sing-song voice. “This is a two-way deal, now you have to answer one of my questions.”

You have to admit, you weren’t expecting that…

>[ ] Fine

>[ ] That depends

>[ ] Refused

>>32806113
>Fine

>>32806113
>[X] Fine

>>32806113
>Fine

>>32806113

>[x] Fine, deal

>writing

“Alright, shoot.” You say.

Parin considers her question carefully before speaking. “What was Earth- what was your home like before that AI thing attacked?” She asks.

That catches you a bit off guard, and it clearly showed on your face judging by Parin’s reaction.

“I’m sorry, if you don’t-“

“It’s fine, I agreed to it after all.” You say, thinking back to how Earth used to be. “It was okay, I guess. It lacked the excitement of fighting robots and the Corruption, but I was okay with that. It was hard to get by sometimes, and I got made fun of a lot because of my… differences.” You say, choosing that last word carefully.

“Well, they are pretty obvious.” Parin says awkwardly.

“Believe it or not, I haven’t always had these. The oversized hand is a replacement for my old one, which I lost in a particularly vicious firefight.” You say, leaving out the fact that said ‘firefight’ was against your own comrades… “My old arm was properly sized and covered in the same ‘memory plastic’ that I have on my face. It almost looked real.”

Parin looks confused, so you explain further. “Memory plastic is formed once, and after that it remembers its shape until it’s melted back down. I’ve actually been cut pretty badly on this side and it doesn’t show at all. In fact, just recently I was fighting Kalki and he damn near sliced half my face off.”

“I don’t see any scars…” She says, looking very closely at your face.

“Exactly” You say.

“So what abou-“

“Ah-ah-ah. This is a two-way deal, now you have to answer one of my questions.” You say, grinning deviously.

Parin looks almost indignant for a moment, but she eventually agrees.

Now, what to ask…

>What ask?

>>32806769

What was it like, growin up on the crossroads? Do many travelers visit here, that are not Hecatun?

>>32806769
Ask about the other families? or what were going to ask before she cut us off last time?

>writing

>>32806870
We asked her, in a previous thread, what it was like growing up there. But, yeah, do any travellers come here? Also, the other families question.

>>32806769
truthfully, I'm surprised that she's not shocked about the whole 'fought the lord of the goddamn kalkarri' thing.

Don't even get me STARTED on the fact the we corrupted his black ass

“What can you tell me about the other families? I’ve met their reps, but all that really tells me is that the Hecatun love to talk.” You say.

“Hmm… I don’t think I can really help you there. Other than Acchi’s family I don’t know many of the others. I used to be friends with Terri from the Virna house, But we had a bit of a falling out.” She says, laughing awkwardly.

You raise an eyebrow at her, and she realises that you want to know more. “You’d be better off asking Jax about that one… It didn’t actually have a whole lot to do with me, and I’m not sure if he’d like it if I went around telling people what happened.”

“Alright, that wasn’t really an answer. But I suppose it’s your turn anyway.” You say.

She smiles triumphantly, then considers her question. Something seems to come to her, but then she looks at you and shakes her head.

Suspicious…

>[ ] What was that?

>[ ] Let her keep thinking

>>32807474

We don't know that in character, but yeah, tha'ts pretty bad. And all the reason to get to the bottom of this origins tale fast.

>[x] What was that? Something on your mind?
Could it be about Hannah?

>>32807511
>What was that?

Jesus, it's WORSE that Logan doesn't know. Somewhere, out there, is a creature that almost fried a PLANET because his bro got murdered. And he's corrupted... because of us.

>>32807511
>What was that?

>>32807753

Well we would not have corrupted him if we didn't fight. And we would not have been fighting if he didn't decide to blow up a world.

Admittedly it was Savvi's recklessness that killed his bro and got him mad, but that's shitty excuse for a, uh, mundicide.

>writing

“Okay, what was that?” You ask.

“What was what?” Parin says, nervously attempting to feign ignorance.

“That. You clearly had something in mind and decided against it.” You say.

Parin stutters for a moment, trying to find a way out. “You really want to know?” She asks, finally dropping the act.

You nod.

Parin pauses, then sighs before speaking. “That girl… the one I saw in your room… Who was she?”

You were kind of expecting this, but that doesn’t mean you were prepared for it. “Hannah was her name. She was my girlfriend back home. I lost her to the AI about 2 weeks before the whole thing went to hell and I escaped to here.” You say.

Parin looks sorry for bringing it up, but she continues. “How did the two of you meet?” She asks.

You smile at that. “She was my neighbour for the longest time, and I always had a bit of a crush on her. She was always very… extreme. She never did anything halfway, and I suppose I admired that about her.” You chuckle a bit as a memory comes to you. “I was actually reminded of her earlier, when I was trying to coax you out of your room.”

“Really? How?” Parin asks.

“I found myself in a similar situation when I was younger, so I locked myself up in my room for about a week and a half.” You say.

“What happened?”

“Hannah tied her favourite teddy bear to a brick and whipped it through my window… Then she called me a jerk for not answering her messages. She got in a lot of trouble for that, but she got what she wanted.” You say.

“Which was…?”

“Me” You say simply, leaving the rest unsaid as the two of you arrive at your destination.

>continued

You knock on the door to Nosim’s office, hoping that he’s in there. You only kind of assumed he’d be here…

“Enter.” You hear Nosim say from the other side.

“Yo.” You say as you walk into the room. Achillea is already here, which hopefully means Nosim already knows what you told her.

“Logan, we’ve bee- Parin!” Achillea starts her sentence off with her usual ‘straight to business’ attitude, but that dissolves when she sees Parin, and she immediately runs over and hugs her.

“Hey Acchi, sorry to make you worry…” Parin says, returning Achillea’s embrace.

“It’s okay, just as long as you’re feeling okay.” Achillea says.

“Ahem.” You say.

“Oh! And thanks Logan… for doing whatever it is you did.” Achillea says, prompting a giggle from Parin.

Nosim has been sitting at his desk, looking pensive throughout this exchange. “Glad to see you’ve come out Parin. I was most worried after you left the meeting last night.” He says with an almost fatherly smile.

“I didn’t see you trying to do anything about it.” Achillea says.

“Nonsense, I simply had faith that you young folk would be able to handle the situation. Which you did. But right now there are far more pressing concerns.” He says.

“The medallion…” You say.

“And Earth.” Nosim adds. “Don’t forget what you’ve been working towards these past few days Void Knight. Both of these things require attention, but the question remains: which one do we deal with first?” He asks.

>[ ] The medallion

>[ ] Earth

>>32808890

>[x] The medallion.
We can't expect to win without knowing what we're up against.

For the same reason I'd rather scout out Earth a bit on my own before committing my friends' and allies' lives to it.

>>32808890
>Earth
If we're gonna figure out how the universe is wrong... We gotta put one thing right.

>>32808953
>>32808962

Have fun with the tie while I go and pass out. Cheers for the thread, OP(s)!

>>32808890
Earth.

We should do a scout run at some point to figure out what kind of defenses the ai has put up

>>32808890
>The medallion

>>32808890
Do what Zesh did.
Soon as the AI picks a fight, we raise our blade, then DRAGONS APPEAR IN THE SKY

>>32808890
Earth

>writing

You pull out the medallion and look it over for a moment. “As much as I hate to put this off, you’re right. I’ve been gone for too long. It’s about time I paid my home a visit.” You say.

Nosim nods, seemingly satisfied with your answer. “Good. When you do decide that it’s time to go in force, you have both the council and the dragons on your side. But I get the feeling that something else is bothering you.” He says.

“Yeah, too many variables. It’s been a while, and depending on how things are going back home a lot may have changed.” You say.

“What’s your plan?” Achillea asks.

“I want to go there and scout. Learn what I can about the AI’s defenses as well as some of the other magical properties of Earth. As it is I’m not even sure if it’s safe for you guys to go there.” You say.

“Not safe? Why wouldn’t it be safe?” Parin asks.

“No clue. But from what I’ve seen out here, Earth seems to be fundamentally different from all the other worlds. Whether or not you guys can go there and survive is one of the variables that I’m uncomfortable with.”

“When do you plan on leaving?” Nosim asks.

>[ ] The sooner the better.

>[ ] Not right now, I’ve still got some things to do (specify)

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>>32808890
Logan Drey and Matron Dragon, ready to change the INVASION GAME.

Are we on Earth? Or are we in the Void?

LET'S GET SOME PLANETS UP IN THERE.

Well it ain't Into the Aether unless we got some swords n' GUNS. Am I right, haters?

Horned knights, robot wizards, FLOATING CONTINENTS IN THE SKY.

Next time: Parin gets a bar-mitzvah.

>>32809558
>[X] The sooner the better.

>>32809558
SOONER

>writing

“The sooner the better, I guess.” You say.

“Well, if you’re just scouting you could probably go now.” Nosim says.

“That… makes sense.” You say.

<Vicky, give me Earth’s coordinates.

You stand up and take the KV off of your back.

“Leaving already?” Parin asks, looking somewhat downcast.

“I’ll be right back, don’t worry. In fact, if I’m not back in like… 3 hours, then worry.” You say.

“Be careful.” Parin says.

“Always am.” You reply, cutting a long rift into the air of Nosim’s office and jumping in.

Once you’re out into the Void, you prompt Vicky.

<So will I end up back in the underhousing?
>Not unless you keep a different location in mind.

Right, you had forgotten you could do that… The question now is, where to go?

>[ ] The underhousing district

>[ ] The Core’s entrance.

>[ ] The old rebel base.

>[ ] Other.

>>32810096
>[X] The old rebel base.

>>32810096
Rebel base
Lord knows we're decked out enough to take on whatever we find. Fuck, they'll spend more time SCANNING us then shooting us.

>>32810096
> the core

Straight to business

>>32810096
Ids there a way vicky can put a bubble around us to stifle sound, or something?

>writing

You hold the image of the old rebel base in your head, or rather your room in the rebel base. Even if you manage to find out nothing at all during this venture, you can at least see if you can grab some of your old stuff. Maybe even a new finger for Rose, or a better fitting arm to see if it’ll get assimilated too…

You’re also curious to see what’ll happen if they straight demolished the joint. If you hold the image of a lace that’s no longer there, where do you go?

When you arrive, you’re almost disappointed to find that you won’t get an answer to that. Not only is the building still there, but all of the stuff in your room looks completely untouched. In fact, you can see a layer of dust forming over most of it…

“What the fuck?” You ask the empty room. Your own echo is the only response off the empty walls, after that there’s only the silence.

Moving out into the hall, you see that it isn’t just your room. The whole place has been abandoned. You’d almost prefer it if there were people running around freaking out because you popped out of nowhere…

>[ ] Find a computer terminal

>[ ] Have a look outside

>[ ] Other.

>>32810743
Weird...

> have a look outside

>>32810743
Creepy... In any case, look around the base.
Probably want to pop by the surgery, just to see if you can find those spare parts.

>>32810743
>Have a look outside

>writing

No, too creepy. You briefly entertain the idea of hitting up a computer terminal, but that might give away your location. As it is, no one knows you’re here.

Hopefully…

You decide to take a peek outside, to see what the place looks like.

It doesn’t take long to exit the building, since you know it like the back of your hand. Once you’re outside the first thing you see is the moon shining brightly in the sky. The power to this area has been cut, but the moon bathes everything in its comfortingly familiar light.

But there’s nothing comforting about this place. It’s a bloody wreck.

The siege here looks like it may have gone on for a little while, but it’s easy to tell who won. The building you came out of is so badly blown away that you’re surprised that it didn’t give way under your weight. The landscape is blasted, and every pathway has obvious signs of battle: broken robots, chunks of rubble, and even bodies…

The stench is overpowering, enough so that you decide to pull up the breathing mask that came with the armor pieces.

<Vicky, pull up the Visio rune. There’s something I want to see.

The vision of your left eye dyes blue, and everything disappears. “As I thought…” You say. To your left, you can see the millions of Aetherian threads playing a multitude of colours across the sky. To your right, the sky is empty. It’s somewhat unnerving, like you’re standing on the edge of the universe itself…

>[ ] Continue exploring.

>[ ] You’ve seen enough.

>>32811464
>explore
Need to actually scout. See if there are nasty surprises. Also, can Vicky learn to dampen our sound?

>>32811464
>Explore further

>writing

<Alright, I’m going into the city. Keep an eye out for lifeforms.
>I do not believe anything here would classify as ‘lifeforms’
<Then keep an eye out for heat sigs and movement. I don’t want anything getting the jump on me.
>Understood.

Satisfied that you at least have Vicky watching your back, you exit the base. Moving past the rubble, you see that the city beyond is in just as bad a shape. Many of the streets leading in have been blown, similar to the one that your CO blew to cover your escape. This means that you have to stick to the alleys and side streets.

After a few minutes of walking, you come across the remains of one of the border skirmishes at the start of the big battle.

“No, hang on…” You crouch over one of the destroyed robots. The robot, as well as several others around it has been bisected. “I remember this…” You say. It feels like a lifetime ago that you were here, fighting for your life just to retreat.

You leave the fallen robots and the dead men who were once part of your squad and make your way back out onto the main street.

There’s only one place you really need to check now…

>[ ] Go to the Core

>[ ] Leave here for now.

>>32812215
>>[X] Go to the Core

>>32812215
>Core
Once more unto the breach, hero. And I have a sneaking suspicion that we may have to try the front door...

>writing

“Well, I guess if no one is going to stop me.” You say to the empty air, almost hoping that something responds.

With a sigh, you punch Earth’s coordinates in again. The Core is too far away to walk, at least not in any reasonable amount of time.

You open a rift to the closest point you’ve gotten to the Core: the giant, vaulted steel door. And when you come out, you’re almost disturbed.

The door is wide open.

Either this is a trap, or someone’s beaten you to the punch…

>Enter?

>>32812661
ENTER
Did it suddenly decide to ACTUALLY wipe out humanity? We need to get to the bottom of this shit.

>writing

“Okay, this has gotta be a fuckin’ trap.” You say out loud. You’re starting to get frustrated. You came here to scout, it’d be nice if there were actually some things to scout!

If it is a trap, you’re ready for it. But you punch in the coordinates for the Crossroads, just in case…

You activate night vision as you walk through the entryway. The clanking sound of metal on metal is all that heralds your arrival at the core. You expect there to be defense systems, guards, SOMETHING. But nothing shows up, no alarms, no guards, not even an auto turret or two. And when you reach the center, you see why.

The core is gone.

In its place are huge circular plugs in the ceiling and floor where it would have connected. “I suppose I should’ve expected this.

<Vicky, if I get to a working terminal, would you be able to find out where they moved the core?
>I could try. I cannot guarantee results, though.

It’s better than nothing. Groaning in frustration, you exit the core chamber and begin your search for a terminal.

No sooner have you left the chamber, than the ground starts shaking. A part of you is worried that you’ve been found, the rest is elated that something is finally happening.

Then, a metal fist crashes through the far wall. As soon as you see it, you recognize it as a metal suit. A new model, probably, as it’s a good deal larger than the others you’ve seen. You immediately jump behind cover and observe it as it crashes through the wall.

The suit itself is easily twice as large as the one that chased you into the undercity, and with twice the firepower to match its size.

>continued

“I know you’re here Logan Alexander Drey. I have scoured this city for you a hundred times over. Surrender, and I will assimilate you.” The machine says through a loudspeaker.

“And what’s option 2?” You shout back.

The machine turns to where your voice came from, and hones all of its weapons on your position. “Then I will have to exterminate you.”

You stand from your spot behind cover, and get a good look at the machine.

<Vicky, scan the hell out of that thing.

“Surrendering?” It asks.

“Oh, of course not. I just have one question, which you might as well answer since I’m gonna die anyways.” You say.

“And what might that be?”

“Where did you move the core?” You ask.

“Its previous location, while well defended, lacked durability. It has since been moved to a more mobile fortress.”

>I am reading a high amount of activity within the machine.

The machine opens its chest, and a blue glow erupts from within.

It’s the core. Right in front of you.

A mad smile stretches across your face and your hand raises, leveling your weapon at the blue sphere without thinking. In response to this, the plates on its chest slam shut and all at once you hear its weapons charging and spinning up.

“You cannot hope to defeat this machine.” It says bluntly.

Your smile grows wider.

You pull the trigger.

>End of Chapter 29

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>That's all for tonight folks!

>We got a lot done this thread, and I intend to make this my regular Sunday run time.

>Next thread will be sometime during the week, featuring an appropriate picture of a big-ass mech in the OP. As I couldn't find one to use here.

>As always, CWK and I will be sticking around for question time.

>Feel free to post your pictures of big-ass mechs in the meantime.

>>32813582
Bastard

>>32813646
ty

>>32813582
i think the core holds a grudge against us

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>>32813646
Soon...

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Another successful adventure! You guys are really making this come alive! In any case, I wish you all a good night. See you next time!

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Oh yeah. Let's see how the machine mind likes the taste of wizardry.

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>>32817897

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>>32817924

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>>32817933

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>>32817974

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>>32818055

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It can't be this easy, can it?

Nothing is ever easy.

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>>32811464

I'm a bit confused by this. Does that mean our magical eye can see aether threads between the stars, Terra being isolated from these, while our normal eye sees nothing?

Or that part of galaxy is covered in aether and the rest of it is not?

How does landscape look to the visio rune? Transparent? barren? I guess that's something for the next thread.

>>32825075

>Probably could've clarified that more.

>The space to your right was completely empty through the visio rune, while the space to your left was filled with threads 'n stuff.

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>>32825430

Cheers! I wondered if it was just peripheral vision thing.

So there is a large area of Space that's completely untouched by Aether. Guess we're gonna find out more when we solve the medallion puzzle.