When All is Lost – Part Three (Carrendar Dynasty Role play)

(The moment the Imperium of Man was upon them)

Skycastle

A soft digital tone sounded in the tight elevator, signaling that he had arrived on the bridge. There was numerous governmental air force officers and naval personnel working holograms, scribbling on papers, talking over comms, and arguing amongst themselves. Razuken had a mission, and that was to get to Silver, the one who summoned him. He stepped out of the elevator onto the grated platform. Because of his heavy ExoSuit, it made a small vibration, and a loud *clank*. This caught the attention of almost everyone in the room. He made careful not to look direcly at anyone in particular, but kept his step light. He simply spoke one word in a digitized bass tone, “Silver”. A nearby officer stepped forward and handed him a note, with crested designs of the governemental seal. Razuken flipped it open to find a short and sweet description, “Izu is in control, but your smarts are needed upstairs. Find Azamar.” The officer spoke low in tone as the SkyCastle Commander and Izu walked by, “Silver was a good friend to us all. You can find Azamar up in the battery banks and weapon’s division of the engineering quarter. Surely he is still messing with his solar cannon designs.” Razuken looked up to find Commander Viet being chewed out massively by a lady on the holo-screen. Surely the Commander was not aware of his arrival, and it seemed that Izu was now the Captain. Looking up, he began to download the internal structure of the SkyCastle into his HUD. Blueprints, x-ray designs, and engineering documents labeled with ‘Confidential’ flooded his eyes. He stood for a second, taking it all in. “This is surely beyond any mechanic work I have ever done…” Every little detail of the SkyCastle was before him. The entire structure was designed by a long-dead group of engineers and scientists. Such a floating structure had numerous fail-safe protocols to insure its safety and the safety of the crew. In the event of a thruster failure.

There were layers of hydraulic shock absorbers littered throughout the structure, and reinforced with springs and bumpers. Of course, if the structure were to fail, there would be intense damage throughout. Razuken simply was in awe of the massive ingenuity that was brought right into his headset. His attention was caught by Commander Viet storming through a door, and clusmily catching his jacket on the door. Razuken walked foward steadily, approaching Izu at the command holo-screen. (Raz) “Captain Izu. Its been a while…” Izu turned in his chair, holding another cup of coffee. When he saw Raz, he nearly spit it out. After swallowing, he looked up and laughed. (Izu) “Ho-ly shit… Raz? S’been a long time, man, for sure. Still driving the Ghost 4?” (Raz) “Naturally.. I modded it here and there at my days at the airway. Still doing stunt shows, ya’know…” Izu and Raz were both of the Ghost Command Air Squadron, and were both in the Alpha class. Izu retained a Division 1 subclass, whereas Raz continued in combat. Since that day in the graduation, Izu and Raz have not spoken much. (Izu) “Well hot stuff, man.. I see you perfected your ExoSuit design.” Just as Raz was going to reply, the holo-screen turned red and an alarm blared. A digital voice rang out clear. “Approaching enemy vessel in orbit”. Izu took another swig of the coffee and then tapped a few buttons on the holo-screen to bring up the report. (Izu) “Looks like one of the probes found something out of the ordinary.. Probe 7 scanned an unidentified spacecraft well out of range, but approaching.. looks like reinforcements. We need to prepare for an air battle. No doubt the Scourge Eagle is going to take air superiority. Computer: Initiate Defense protocol. Battlestations.” The whole room lit up blue, and the holo-screens brought up numerous amounts of data. Izu pointed at Yok. “Get me sector scans in a 2-mile radius. I want realtime updates on our position.” 

(Raz) “I’ll be heading up to the engineering department. I heard that there is some interesting weaponry up there. Toodles.” Izu waved off Raz, and returned to his screen. Raz slipped a small wireless broadcaster onto the control panel. This would allow him to communicate with the computer network if he needed to. Turning smoothly, he walked past the door that Viet stumbled through and back to the elevator. *ding* “Engineering” *ding* He was whisked away to the engineering deck. Hundreds of battery banks all meticulously interconnected was the first thing that Raz saw when he stepped out of the elevator. There was nobody there. Not a peep. Raz walked into the office near the elevator, a nearby wall sconce flickering weakly. When he opened up the unlocked door, the hall flooded with stacks of paper. Aparrently there was no janitors on this floor at all. He sifted his way through some papers on top of the desk until he came across an interesting looking blueprint. This one was not on his list of blueprints that he downloaded. “Interesting looking gun…” Of course, this was Azamar’s Plasma Ejecting Solar Cannon. It was written in a short section of the paper, a description of what the Cannon would operate like.

“The Plasma-Ejecting Solar Cannon, in theory, and when operated correctly will be the equivalent to a mini solar flare, complete with magnetic disturbance, UV radiation, and heat source. Essentially, the weapon fires with the thrust from an isolated magnetic force, initiated by capacitors. Once this magnetic force reaches the diodes at the end of the weapon, a particulate effect is created in the space between the diodes. This is the ‘pre-arc’ phase. Once the magnetic disturbance flows between the diodes, the arc will catch on the ‘magnetic wind’, and essentially travel in a straight beam with a thickness of about 800mm. The beam, with the help of mechanical means, can be manipulated by the direction of the gun. We have incorporated a means to move the gun vertically up and down, but not left and right. This beam was designed to have a magnetic influx equivalent to a large EMP. Of course, this is where we designed our magnetic diffusers, so we would not incur a power loss. It was intended as a planetary defense weapon, reaching from the sea level, to orbit level in less than a second. Due to the level of heat coming off of the diodes, we built large coolers into the diode machinery, and coupled it with an energy-absorbing re-allocation device to absorb residual power for maximum efficiency. Our source of energy would be from solar amplification panels that are scattered across the Castle itself, and along the hex-shield defense system. The charge time for a single shot is a full 8 hours. We were able to boost this from 3 days by coupling the solar chargers with a form of fission that is classified at this time. We con…” The rest was smeared in coffee and pizza sauce. Suddenly from above, near a set of ladders, Raz heard some commotion, and a banging sound. He went to investigate.

The Solar Cannon (In a visual idea)

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Way up in the top of the old tower ruins of the castle, since modified with reinforced steel and alloy, was the lone engineer, tinkering with his prototype, the Solar Cannon, or as some have called it.. the ‘Sun Gun’. Azamar Flint had designed a specialized weapon that absorbs the sun’s energy in a magnified way, coupled with a form of fission. Hundreds of battery banks were on a single level of this developed gun, to help supply the power neccessary to fire the beast. Most of the power was charged into concentrated capacitors, with layers upon layers of fine dielectric material. Everything was meticulous. He had been working on it for a long time, designing, building, refining.. but he had a problem. He couldnt get the magnetic diffuser to work correctly. If the weapon were to fire, it would tear the ship apart magnetically and disable everything in the wave of the electro-magnetic pulse. Azamar knew what this gun was capable of. It was roughly half the length of the Castle’s height, and extended at an angle, just within the radius of the hex-shield defense system. It was designed with cooling in mind. Hundreds of mini magneto-pulsar cannons were at the base of the gun, supplying the thrust of the particles that would extrude from the diodes at the end of the gun. Amplifiers and diffusers were along the barrel, to ensure direct and accurate fire. “Curse this confounded thing…” Azamar tinkered with a handheld prototype of the solar cannon. It would fire when hooked up to the nearby battery bank, but make the nearby holograms flicker from its magnetic influence. Small welds and cuts were carved to and fro across the ceilng and walls of the hall. Hours had passed by, and he still could not get it right. He had no idea what was going on in the background. He had accidentally disabled the comms, and was unaware of the whole SkyCastle going into battle mode. He tweaked the magnetic diffuser, with a screwdriver, and then soldered a resistor to it, hoping that the change in frequency would allow him to get the correct voltage in the magnetic diffuser. He fired it again, this time with complete success. The beam put a hole right through the hull of the SkyCastle, the size of a pen. Azamar leapt up and hooted with joy. He had finally done it. Raz walked in at just the right moment. The hex shield was activated with its red panels, but the minature beam cut right through the red energy field. A warning icon appeared on Razuken’s HUD, signalling some sort of disruption in the energy field. A holo-screen appeared and showed the panel that was struck. A bar showed the power returning to the sheild. Izu came over the comms. “What the actual fuck was that? It took out one of our panels. It came from the inside.” Azamar whipped around and had a very concerned look on his face, but then complete shock as he saw Razuken standing there in his ExoSuit, looking foreign and fearsome. “I… I… was j-just working on my gun…” Looking up at the pen-hole in the ceiling, Razuken commed back to Izu. “Its alright Izu.. just one of our engineers making something pretty interesting.” (Izu) “Well stow that. We have incoming in a few hours.” Razuken kneeled down and looked at the weapon that Azamar was holding in his hand. “What is it?”[b/] Azamar’s eyes lit up as he loved to talk about his beloved weapon.

[b]“It’s a miniature version of the solar cannon…” Azamar pointed up at the large base that was the solar cannon, wires running every which way, and hydraulic shock absorbers lining the outside. “It is almost ready, but I have to alter some changes to the magnetic diffusers. I do not have enough time to do it. And… what is that.. is this an ExoSuit?” Azamar tapped on the metal, feeling its weight and vibrative whirring. “Interesting…” Razuken remarked rather frankly, “We do not have the luxury of sharing our affinity for technology. We need to get this gun up and working.. what do you need, Azamar?” Azamar looked around and started to gather his thoughts. Milly busted into the room, rear first, with a tray of coffee and biscuits. (Milly) “Hey Azamar, I do not think Viet will be bothering you anymo..” As she turned around, expecting to see Azamar, she was surprised to see Razuken standing there in his ExoSuit, so different from short Azamar.“Who is the tall guy?” Razuken stepped forward and spoke as level as he could, “My name is Razuken, Ghost Command, Alpha Class. And you are?” Milly was just about to open her mouth when Azamar screamed happily, saying [/b]“I have it! The drones.. the JACKv2 drones.. W-we can retrofit them for repairs, at l-least 6 of them. That way we can r-remotely program them to do the construction for us. That is how we built this s-s-sucker, but we do not have the luxury of the special construction drones s-since we had to drop dead weight before t-t-t-takeoff.” (Raz) “Then lets get started…”[\b] There was a lot to be done to ready the gun. It was charged and ready to fire, but would they be able to make the upgrade in time?

RazukenCarrendar:

In the Country outside of Lorewall

(Playing as Fortuno Todd)

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Fortuno was lost… again. He was good at getting lost. He grew up in Lorewall and had not been too far away from Lorewall ever before. The night skyline was afire with a sea of red embers dancing among thick black smoke. Trees burned in the distance, and the Northern portion of Lorewall was unrecognizable. Fortuno, with a sullen expression, dropped his tote upon the dusty ash ground near the edge of a small cliff, overlooking the city. He was miles away. Things had gone from bad to worse in a matter of a few hours. Planetary invasion was something he soon came to hate. He flopped himself down on the edge, his feet dangling over sharp rocks at the bottom. He sighed sorrowfully, twiddling his fingers and thinking profoundly to himself. “Oh Charlotte… I lost you again… I had hoped that we would stay together in our adventure, but I failed you. I am nothing but a bumbling fool.” He felt sorry for himself. He took out his razor and looked at himself in the reflection, just enough light from the flames far in the distance to show his features. His hair was mussed, and blood was dried and spattered across his face and clothes. He stopped for a moment to think again. This was, in fact, the first time in a very long time that he had feelings of true sorrow. “I did not even get to sing you the song I made for you…” With that, tears streaming down his face, he began to sing the song in the tongue that only few would understand, but Charlotte would especially understand. The bard raised his head slightly to allow for the passage of the words in a clear and sweet voice. The words fell from his lips like petals picked from a fresh red rose. His eyes glowed as the power of another world overtook him. His words were intermingled with a spirit that was beyond this world, to ring out in a paranormal way across the expanse of the planet. Anyone who would be feeling this same sorrow deep in their hearts would hear these words singing in their head.

“Ifpylsoefsu, yjed, xdaak, hoef.
Yjyf ifsa uai, uail zaid qedd kloef.
Xis swy zif zsedd patyz ih os kouderwsz xlyon
Qwedy swy xodofpy ab swy qaldk ez os zsony.
Daan sa swy afyz swos podd uai taswyl.
Qedd uai qospw swyt odd zsols boddefr ifkyl?
Fa, bal uail zslyfrsw ez ef uail xdaak,
Uai qaidk lezy, yjyf qwyf swlaqf sa swy tik
Deby hozzyz oqou deny swy rlyos qefk’z zerw
Uail zaid uai balzony, mizs deny taswyl wok keyk.
Es ez o zok zsalu, swy yfk swos tou paty
Xis bal faq uai zsofk belt, ef swy bopy ab swy zif
Zsofk ofk zsou belt, plu ais ef swy berws,
Deny o lou ab swy zif swos heylpyz swy ferws.
Eb uai wojy jepsalu, ra xopn qwyly uai xydafr,
Sa uai, uail hyahdy qesw swlafr.
Swyly ez fa patbals deny swos ab swy waty,
Tytaleyz ab xyssyl setyz, swyzy jezeafz wojy zwaqf.
Daan efsa swy yuyz ab swy afyz swos uai dajy,
Ofk lytytxyl swy effapyfpy ab swyt, deny o kajy.”

Translation:

“Uncertainty, evil, blood, pain.
Even unto you, your soul will drain.
But the sun still comes up at daylights break
While the balance of the world is at stake.
Look to the ones that call you mother.
Will you watch them all start falling under?
No, for your strength is in your blood,
You would rise, even when thrown to the mud
Life passes away like the great wind’s sigh
Your soul you forsake, just like mother had died.
It is a sad story, the end that may come
But for now you stand firm, in the face of the sun
Stand and stay firm, cry out in the fight,
Like a ray of the sun that pierces the night.
If you have victory, go back where you belong,
To you, your people will readily throng.
There is no comfort like that of your home,
Memories of better times, these visions have shown.
Look into the eyes of the ones that you love,
And remember the innocence of them, like a dove.”

It came naturally… a magical kind of feeling came over him, amplified by the sheer anxiety and sorrow that he felt. It was heart-wrenching. He doubled over in pain, his head throbbing from the ache of his heart. All he wanted was to be an adventurer.. to help, to make pleasant. That song trailed on the air and hung heavy across the entirety of the planet, reverberating off of every cavern, alley, and tunnel. His eyes turned to their normal, dim color. The tears on his face shimmered off of the distant flames and provoked him to wipe his face clean. He looked around, feeling useless, picking up a handful of dust in his hand. He let it go into the wind, and saw it fly off into the direction of Lorewall. Another feeling welled up within him. Hope. Something was telling him that though the path before everyone in Lisega was one full of death and uncertainty… there was a ray of hope. His eyes glowed again, and this time he stood and shouted whole-heartedly. His voice thundered across the expanse with the power of the unknown spirit.

“Ef Fyitoyiz qy slizs, ofk sa wyl qy woed,
Ail xossdy qalf wyolsz poffas yjyl boed.
Ef swy bopy ab kyosw, qy zsoly xopn qesw rlyos pafzyviyfpy,
Bal qy zwossyl swy jylu baifkoseafz ab swy Zpailry Yordy’z pafbekyfpy.
Daan sa swy sety qwyf swy xossdy ez ajyl,
Wafal swy jodeofs kyok, xilu swyt ‘fyosw swy pdajyl.
Ef swy patbals ab Dalyqodd, qy zwodd lysilf,
Obsyl swy yfytu, ail balpyz qedd zhilf.
Swlairw zallaq ofk sloryku, qy qedd dejy af,
Deny swy tytalu ab swy wylayz, waqyjyl dafr rafy.
Dys iz roswyl sa pydyxlosy, afpy ail yfytu woz dybs,
Ef swy pathofu ab swyzy wylayz, ail zallaq xylybs.”

Translation:

“In Neumaeus we trust, and to her we hail,
Our battle worn hearts cannot ever fail.
In the face of death, we stare back with great consequence,
For we shatter the very foundations of the Scourge Eagle’s confidence.
Look to the time when the battle is over,
Honor the valiant dead, bury them ‘neath the clover.
In the comfort of Lorewall, we shall return,
After the enemy, our forces will spurn.
Through sorrow and tragedy, we will live on,
Like the memory of the heroes, however long gone.
Let us gather to celebrate, once our enemy has left,
In the company of these heroes, our sorrow bereft.”

Fortuno returned to his normal self, finding a newfound sense of joy and hope. It was different. He was different. He cried out aloud, closing his eyes and embracing the moment, “WE SHALL SURVIVE!” With that he picked up his tote and made for the end of the countryside that would bring him into the courtyard outside of Lorewall, back where he originally came from. “We have not won yet, but I will be damned if we do not have a full-fledged party if we do. Time to cook up a celebratory feast.”

His figure melted into the darkness, the dense forest shading the flickering lights of fire.

RazukenCarrendar: (Playing as Razuken Nekuzar, Izu Carrendar, Navigator Yok Private Milly, and Azamar Flint)

Skycastle- A couple hours after retrofitting the JACKv2′s

Azamar was back to tinkering with the miniature Solar Cannon. “How does it work?” Razuken said, sitting on a cargo box next to Azamar. “The battery bank supplies the capacitor, and then the capacitor boosts the magneto pulsar cannon, making it fire. The resistor just helps harmonize the diffuser so that it works properly.” Razuken leaned back and thought for a moment, then got up and spoke a command, “Initiate ExoSuit exit sequence.” The suit came alive, little pneumatic hisses and warbles were heard here and there. Mechanical disks rotated amongst rods and hydraulics. The suit unsealed itself after depressurizing, and the panels lifted to allow Razuken to step out. Azamar looked on in interest of this new technology that was presented before him. (Azamar) “What does your ExoSuit do?” (Raz) “It is a Multi-role, All Environment Powered Exoskeleton. It is about two meteres high, and comes equipped with a multi-purpose pneumatic claw, a 20 barrel revolving cannon, a power gauntlet and manipulator, mini pulse doppler radar, a passive radar, battleLINK software with realtime battlefield updates, Infrared and thermal sensor arrays, a limited jamming capability, a fire tracking software to track incoming projectiles, onboard AI with learning software, minimum 4 cm NEOsteel plating, which is a special alloy that is meant for ballistic and explosive resistance, reinforced joints, augmented strength, and a fully loaded 48 hour life support system compatible with Nuclear, Bio-chemical, and vaccuum environments. Not to mention that it can fly… kinda like a fighter. Jet propulsion is integrated into the legs and back. That took years to modify…” Azamar was astounded at this expensive-looking piece of equipment. “So… what happens if you break it? What will you do then?” Razuken turned to the side, sporting his Sig Sauer attached to the black belt along his power suit. “I use this baby. Its all I trust nowadays.”

Razuken walked toward Azamar, his headset lifted out of his way so that he could see him well. “Let me see that little thing right quick…” Azamar handed over the cannon almost reluctantly. When Razuken took it into his hands, the sheer weight of it was almost soothing. It felt powerful. He disconnected the mini cannon from the battery bank and picked up a few tools and stuffed them into his pockets. He then dragged a welding machine over to his ExoSuit and started to work. As Raz began the process, Azamar shuffled up while poking his fingers together. “Uhm.. what are you doing?” Raz lifted his visor up from welding the cannon onto the arm of his ExoSuit, “Im fitting it onto the suit… I think I may be able to power this thing with the power pack on my suit. It may take a bit to use though. We will see what happens.” Razuken continued welding the cannon onto the arm of the Suit as Milly walked up with more coffee. “Here, this is my special brew. It is going to be a long night with all the fighting outside. Izu says that they are preparing to land small ships on the surface right now, and that the enemy is mobilizing air superiority.” Azamar took a cup gratefully and shook his head, sighing. “It seems that things have gotten worse, Milly. I.. I never wanted to see this thing used. But in the same token… I felt that it was needed.” “Get yer gut in gear, Azamar. We are at war. Face it. They are coming to kill us.” The truth was that Milly herself was in fear of the unknown, but she could not just watch Azamar sulk like that. “There! It’s done..” Razuken lifted the visor and wiped off his palms proudly. The cannon was wired up directly to the power pack, switchlegged through a part of the onboard computer module. It looked almost as if it were meant to be there.

“Report in, Razuken” Izu’s voice came over the comms. “I want a status report on that prototype.” Razuken flipped down his headset and checked the status of the JACKv2′s. “Looks like units 1, and 3-6 are complete, but unit 2 is still finishing up. The prototype should be fully functional in about an hour or so.” (Izu) “Good. Because we are running out of time. The enemy is moving forward and we are in their sights. Captain is about to be activated. We have the advantage at the moment, at least as long as I do not let Viet on the comms. -laughs- But we will see what happens. Keep your battleLINK on you for updates.” Razuken saluted smartly and chuckled. “You got it, Izu.”

(Moments before the downfall of SkyCastle)

The sky was red. The ground, like ash. A thunder of bombshells, and gunfire hung upon the air and reverberated across sand, snow, and grass. The Imperium of Man had landed. Dozens upon dozens of siege weapons in lines, protected by numerous means. Krieg moving and advancing on the capital of Lorewall. The SkyCastle moved into position by the order of the Command.

(Izu) “I need all available hands to get on the ballistics deck, we need to keep the SAM’s and AA batteries fed. Give me a report on the hex-shield defense network. Yok, what is the status of our thrusters?” (Yok) “Thrusters are at 60% and holding steady, Captain.” Izu tapped on the holo-screen watching the incoming waves of aircraft that threatened the SkyCastle. (Izu) “Keep at it, mates! We are holding up!” One of the enemy aircraft, shot down by a SAM missile veered hard into the SkyCastle, landing into one of the airdocks, causing an explosion and fire. (Izu) “Rescue team, deploy to section 12, Dock 4A. Fire and explosion.” Izu was trying to keep everyone connected and organized. His attention was fully upon the screen before him, showing realtime status of the SkyCastle, and the multiple enemy machines that lined the field. It was on the Western side of Lorwall when they made the advance. (Izu) “Razuken, we need that cannon up and working. We have no way to provide support to our forces on the ground!” Razuken was in his ExoSuit, programming the executable for the cannon fire. Patching it in right to the command screen, Izu saw the option to use the cannon. (Raz) “Just patched her in, Izu. Should be ready to fire. The computer uses the trajectory map and overthrows pilot control for steady fire.” An alarm wailed and a zoomed-in projection came onto the screen. Deathstrike missiles.(Izu) “Scramble all fighters! We have incoming! SAM turrets aquisition Deathstrike missiles priority one!” Razuken lept into action, screaming down the hallway, leaving Azamar and Milly dumbfounded at his speed. Azamar turned to Milly with a chuckle. “Well… lets hang out here and make sure this equipment stays stable.” Razuken was on his way to the dock where his ship was located when he got an update on his HUD, complete with the urgency of Izu’s voice. (Izu) They are preparing for launch! The rails are too low to be attacking us directly. *Gasps* The thrusters!”

(SAM operator) “Captain! We cannot lock onto the missiles! They are too low in range! We CFZZZZZZ~~~” The SkyCastle shook as a nearby aircraft tore apart a row of SAM’s. (Izu) “Raz, the trajectory predictions are indicating that they aim to take out our thrusters.. You have to do something. The fighters may not be able to get to them. They are going down like flies!” (Raz) “I have an idea, Izu… but if I do not make it out alive.. -pauses- Its been a good run, chap..” (Izu) “Raz, you never change do you…? Always doing something crazy.” (Raz) “Some things do change… but some things will never change.. Raz out.” Everyone on the bridge was holding their breath. For those few moments in the elevator, leading to the courtyard, it seemed like peace and quiet. Was this his end? The elevator sounded its soft electronic *ding*, and out stepped Raz into the open courtyard. Some hex shields partially destroyed, flames amidst green grass and majestic ruins proved to be a sobering sight. The HUD lit up as the passive and pulse doppler radar became active. There were 5 aircraft in the vicinity, picking off what defenses were lefts were left. Razuken started to break into a run, his legs whirring and hissing with a hydraulic noise. It was time to get into the zone. (Raz) “Play my battle track, if this be the end, I will make it such an end to suit my death. Juno Reactor, Navras.”

The song began playing in his headset, making his pulse run deep, and course hard through his veins. The bloodwrath was growing within, the arcane powers starting to spark around his ExoSuit. The beast within was growing. (HUD) “Target acquired.” Razuken was at the edge of the SkyCastle, passing through an open shield. He lept into the air, toward a passerby enemy aircraft. *pop! WHIIIIIRRRRRR* So launched his multi-purpose pneumatic claw, a strong cord reaching out and attaching itself to the hull of the enemy aircraft.

Reeling in, and with much to surprise of the pilot, Razuken firmly planted his feet on the hull of the aircraft, like a cowboy riding a mustang, yet needing to be broken. And broke he did, for Razuken aimed his 20 revolver cannon at the cockpit and open fired, point blank killing the pilot, spattering blood all over the glass. It was time to take this pony for a ride. Using his weight, he steered it toward the direction of the incoming Deathstrike missiles, letting it freefall and glide until it grew too slow. He retracted his claw and brought his hands up, closing his eyes and falling backwards off of the aircraft, saying to himself amidst the song. “I live for this.” At that key moment between too long and not long enough, the jet propulsion engaged and he was off at the speed of 320 kph. (HUD) “Target aquired, multiple targets. Predicting trajectory.” The battleLINK forwarded the footage directly to Izu and the bridge. It was nerve-racking. (Raz) “Izu, now would be a good time to release the JACKv2 drones. Get me some cover out here.” Izu tapped the screen before him. (Izu) “All bays cleared for launch. Give the man some help!” Dozens of trained officers ran into a virtual reality bay and buckled in, ready to program the functions into the drones. (Izu) “Priority one. Take out those Deathstrike missiles, and cover Razuken.”The JACKv2 drones launched within moments from the right wing of the SkyCastle, maneuvering up, below, and around to meet Razuken at the end of the thrusters, but it was nearly too late. (Raz) “Take the missiles in the rear, ive got this one. We only have seconds!” He locked on, the song growing into its peaceful state, feeling the calmness flow over him. It was getting too close.

The JACKv2′s were already taking down others in mid-air, but this one was just too close, too fast. Razuken came to land on the side of a platform, several hundred meters away. “Time to use this baby, Charge the solar arm cannon.” All the power that was in the suit was diverted to the cannon on his arm. He immediately fired at the incoming missile… but nothing. “Shit! Not enough power!” With his urgent feelings, he rushed a powerful energy from within his soul into the suit and to the cannon. It finally fired, but too little to late. The missile was already at the main thrusters. The beam hit the missile, causing it to make an immense explosion, just before impacting the thrusters. The shockwave reverberated throughout the SkyCastle, and the thrusters… stopped. It was like the feeling you get when you travel up stairs at night, and your foot falls through the air, expecting that last step at the top of the stairs… The suprise in the darkness. That same gut-wrenching feeling was in everyone’s stomach. Razuken flew up into the air, hitting debris along the way, trying to regain control of his suit.

(Yok) “We lost the thrusters! They arent responding!” Izu, amidst the screaming of officers and crewmen starting to float into the air picked up the comms, hoping that anyone was hearing. His voice was grave, and it was deep. (Izu) “This is Izu Carrendar of the SkyCastle.. we are going down. Boys… if you hear this message, I love you very much. Charlotte, take care of them, please. I’ll say hello to mum for you..” Izu placed the comm on the holo-platform before him and simply sat back in the chair, crossing his legs and popping up another coffee, and sipping away, though it was splashing into the air from the increasing velocity of the fall.

Azamar and Milly were screaming as they floated a few feet into the air, with terror across their faces. The SkyCastle, a mass of floating land, was falling straight into the city. The impact was like a bandaid being ripped off, sudden, and painful. Razuken was clinging onto the courtyard grass with his claw when the land mass connected with the ground below, crushing buildings, and killing thousands upon millions of souls below. Razuken’s heart broke. He could hear their souls screaming out in injustice. The blood was like a nightmare in his eyes, the gallons upon gallons of blood that were simply spilled like a careless child spilling a pitcher of water. The universe was becoming imbalanced, and he felt it deep within his heart. He cried out loud as the impact finally reached him, his tears streaming with the pain of those lost below. Dozens of airdocks imploded, completely destroyed. Hex sheilds started to come apart, and the old ruins crumbled atop the land mass. The hydraulic impact-absorbtion system activated, and supressed the damage to most of the major portions of the SkyCastle. Hundreds of the lower thrusters were lost, but the main thrusters remained, but were damaged because of the missile strike. The railguns were solid in place, but there was no hope for many lost in the docks. Only a few remained. Thousands inside the SkyCastle were either instantly killed, or severely injured.

On the bridge, Izu was waking up covered in a pile of rubble and wires. *coughs violently* (Izu) “Shit…” Izu was pinned in the rubble. Cries rang out through the halls and rooms. Wails of men in their death throes. His left leg was in an immense amount of pain, pinned down by a large chunk of concrete that fell from above. Crewmen ran up to Izu and began to remove the rubble from him, careful to see to his leg. (Crewmen) “Are you alright sir? Let’s take him to the infirmiry, he has a broken leg. What about the others? Leave them.. there is nothing we can do.”

Izu drifted into darkness, passing into deep unconsciousness from the immense pain.

Next segment is played by CharlotteCarrendar as Lore and Izu:

~Dream sequence~

In the light fog that rolled across the wind swept mountain crest, stood a woman. Her robes were like that of gossamer, the very breeze from the sea lifted and filled the fabric to fullness, like the very sails of a majestic ship. Hair the colour of blood, flowed about her face and framed it in a haunting manner. Almost fluid like that of water that swirled and rose like a mist over the rocks below. In this setting, the grown man that was Izu Carrendar would find himself. As his own time was racked by wars brought by Chaos, so to did his Mother once stand to defend against a similar foe. Was she aware of his presence? Did he know that what he was witnessing was but a moment in time, that mirrored his own? A voice spoke from the silouhette that stood upon the cliff edge. In the distance, the fires of war did rage, and with darkened jade coloured eyes, Lorelei would give her son words, that he knew were meant just for him.

“No matter how great or prideful we are, there comes a time when we must make a choice in this life, Son. Grasp onto it tightly with both hands. Stare into death and then laugh, for the folley to even consider that we would surrender under distress is a grave miscalculation on their part.”

Turning slowly, Izu would come to see the burning light that blazed within the eyes and heart of his mother, while the background was a scene of devastation and war.

“As in my time, and in yours, we face a common enemy. Those that seek to destroy all, not in the name of Chaos, but rather they simply want to watch the world burn.”

Slowly she walked towards him, closing the distance between them. She reached out, her hand like that of a ghost – transparent. The way she gestured with her hand, the expression on her face, was one he would remember. Love – absolute.

“I have always been at your side, my Son. Through the years after my death, I walked the planes, and though while I could not speak to you as a physical presence, I did so project my undying love to you and your children.”

Lorelei paused, and then continued. “You have not yet fufilled your purpose, and until that day, your father and I await you with open arms.”

As the scene started to dissolve into that of a swirling mist, her voice would say the words, he would have wished for all his life.

“I’m proud of you.”

~End Dream Sequence~

(Meanwhile upstairs on the engineering deck)

Azamar and Milly, to be surprised, were just fine. The paper and junk that littered the floor broke the fall from both. (Milly) “Azamar…” (Azamar) “Milly? You are ok?” (M) “No… I… *gasp* I am NOT ok.” (A) “What is it Milly? Where are you? Its so dark..” (M) *gasps* “Gerroff-a-me you big oaf!” (A) “Sorry! I didn’t know I was on top of you!” Azamar removed himself from on top of Milly, and took her hand to drag her to her feet. After they both dusted off, the lights started to flicker back on. Azamar looked around, and saw the cannon and battery banks. “Wow, Milly, Look! The Cannon is still undamaged! The battery banks are ok too!” (M) “Report that to the Captain!” (A) “I cant.. the comms are down. Hmm…” Azamar went to a nearby panel and accessed the mainframe for the JACKv2 drones that were used to construct part of the cannon. He programmed a detail to repair the comnet and get a status on sheild repair and thrusters. Azamar turned to Milly. “We will find out what the damage is when we get the report here in a few minutes.”

Outside, the JACKv2 attack drones were still in defense mode, constantly roaming around the SkyCastle and covering the repair drones. To anyone on the outside, it would have seemed like this was the end of the SkyCastle. Yet, this was not the case. The SkyCastle was down, but certainly not out. Razuken stood up, his feelings still reverberating around him in the form of an arcane spark. The demon inside was growing, and he had to control it. His angelic side had to balance out. Everything that had happened up to this point was leading him to a path of destruction. It was time to shift gears. “So many lives.. simply snuffed out… so many potential lives.. all the happy memories… all of the future potential… gone. Children, Women, Men, animals, plants, insects, all destroyed in a mere few seconds. All that life… all this death…”Razuken felt that his power reserve was diminished from the single use of the cannon. “I need to recharge.. Computer. Do a scan of the hull and give me status of living crewmembers, starting with Izu.” The HUD brought up a hull update. It was worse than he had thought. Then Izu Carrendar’s file came up. (HUD) “Izu Carrendar currently in the infirmary with a broken bone, and hemorrhaging in his abdomen, currently comatose and in critical condition. Admitted 4 minutes ago.” (Raz) “Oh no.. Izu..” Razuken ran to the elevator that he used to get onto the deck, which was now covered in debris and rubble from the surrounding ruins. The elevator was partially crushed and inoperable. He scanned it for a second and then placed his hands on the doorway. Using his augmented strength, he quickly ripped them apart and jumped down the elevator shaft. He harpooned his claw to the side of the wall and reeled himself down to the infirmary level.

(On the infirmary level)

Nurses and a single doctor surrounded Izu, unaware of his comatose state being influenced by a visit from the other side of the planes of existance. There was no method they could use to fix his condition. Most of the medical equipment had been destroyed. Screams of surprise rang out in the hallway as the elevator doors ripped off, and made way to the figure of Razuken. A strong presence was felt here. Razuken felt that Izu was nearby, and went to him, stopping just before his room and un-suiting. He moved quickly to his side, pushing away the doctors and nurses. Razuken looked at them with sharp, red eyes, his face showing veins of black. In a two-tone bass voice he spoke urgently, “Leave him to me. Go.”Without a word, the Doctors and nurses made scarce. Razuken needed to empty his arcane magic upon Izu, in effect to heal him. It was a mutual balance. But the presence grew stronger. Izu’s head moved from side to side, as if he were having a nightmare. Razuken hovered his hands over Izu’s body, feeling the blood flooding in his abdomen, and the broken bones in his leg. Chanting in the demonic tongue, Razuken let the magic flow from his fingertips, small tendrils of red and black, mixed with a touch of white moved to and fro across Izu, and seemed to absorb into him. The bones and flesh cracked and moved as they formed back together. The blood in his abdomen scattering into other parts to be recycled made way for a healing of the wound. Yet he was still comatose. Razuken felt the presence very strongly now, the room beginning to warp around him, his vision becoming strained. His power was now balancing, but there was something else there. He closed his eyes, and there, for a flash, the face of a woman, hair of blood, and eyes of jade, dressed in the linen of pure white. At this point, the presence disappeared from him and Izu came to.

Izu awoke, slowly coming out of a dense fog and blurry vision. He looked up and saw a figure. Without thinking he spoke,“Mom?” When his vision cleared up, he only saw his friend Razuken, standing aside. “What did I just say? Wait.. my leg.. its better…” Izu looked at Razuken, who was still panting. “You are not too far from our kind, are you?” Razuken smiled and scoffed. “Now who would want to be a bloody spider? I am demon-kind and angel-kind… But enough of this… You need to take a look at this..” Razuken handed over the headset to Izu. What he would see is the SkyCastle from an outside view, crushing part of the city of Lorewall. Izu’s face grew to that of anger, and disgust. “I won’t let them defile this land… I will show them what fear is…” Izu looked up with a clenched fist. “I will bring honor to our name… Mom..”

(Hours later)

(Yok) “Captain… the thrusters are back online, but we can only utilize 40%. We will be flying low. The JACKv2 drones were undetectable during the repair. The Solar Cannon is at 100% charge.” (Izu)”Good. Azamar, is the status of the Solar Cannon 100%?” (Az) “100% and fully calibrated, sir.” Izu was sitting in the Commanding chair once again, the SkyCastle at his fingertips. Razuken had charged his suit, and the bodies of the fallen were honorably placed in the morgue. It was time to make a comeback. (Izu) “Yok, ready the comms after our next attack. Wide broadcast. Amplify it through our filters and have our largest dish focused on the ships in space. I want everyone to hear this.. Alright everyone.. battlestations.. For Neumaeus… For Lorewall…” The ship lit up blue where there was not broken pieces, and the hex shield came to life again. The thrusters fired up slowly and were giving the SkyCastle a massive heave to regain being level. (Yok) “Captain, we are floating. Turning the ship toward the front lines of the enemy.” Izu entered in the trajectory of the cannon fire, swiping his hand left and right, marking targets. Tanks, Cannons, seige weapons, infantry. Everything was there, and Izu wanted it all. A growl emanated from deep within his gut as he shouted in a lusty battlecry,“FIRE!” The angle was correct, the gun positioned low. The computers adjusted the trajectory, and the thrusters responded. Razuken stood behind the command monitor, his arms crossed, waiting to see the sheer beautiful precision of death itself. A sound of a train passing by is what it sounded like, coupled with an approaching storm. The thrusters began turning as the diodes reached arc capacity. The magneto-cannons launched. In this very moment, every living thing outside would hear the charge, sounding like a buzzing electical sweep, echoing in a hallway, eerie and fear-inducing. It was followed with exactly two seconds of complete silence. Not a single sound could be heard.

Then, just as quickly, a constant flash, like looking directly into the sun, followed by the warped sound of a behemoth thunderclap, constantly rolling. For 45 seconds, the beam streaked across the lines, from a distance of several kilometers. It moved from one side to the other. It was in hopes of destroying most of the ground forces that threatened. To buy time. To demoralize. The EMP resulting from the beam would effectively fry any electronic equipment within a waning diameter from the center of the beam.

Izu let it sink in. No doubt the enemy was watching all this unfold. He tapped a button on the side of his headset and linked him to the comms, then activated the camera with a gentle touch. He had the look of anger and madness in his eyes and face, smiling hellishly. (Izu over the comnet) “In this time of war and death, you look into my eyes and see, not a man who is afraid, but a man who is prepared. I am prepared to release our people from the clutches of this menace who treads on our land, who treads on our lives, and who is responsible for the deaths of millions of souls. It is in this selfish endeavour that your fight is futile. What do you fight for? Money? God? Power? None of these is as powerful as the reason why I still stand before you. I fight because of Love, because of Hope, because of responsibility. I stand here before you now, truly, unafraid. Why? I stand here without fear because, I remember. I remeber that I am here, not because of the path that lies before me, but because of the path that lays behind me. I remember that for thousands of years, we have fought to preserve alive our people in the face of certain destruction. I remember that for thousands of years, armies have been sent to anihillate us. But after over these thousands of years, I remember that which matters most. WE ARE STILL HERE! We will shake the foundations of your core, from snowy mountain, to desolate valley. This is our message to you…” Izu’s voice lept down an octave to a deep roar, “WE ARE NOT AFRIAD!”Cheering sounded in the background, millions of forces felt revived and motivated, to keep fighting until the end without fail.

Pictures of the Ghost 4, Raz’s spaceship

Image may be NSFW.
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Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
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