Eternal Galaxy: Phoenix - Intermission

[Aria of Forbidden Magic]

Prosperity | Sungrey

---

An empty silence floated in the air before Terra responded. "I don't know either," she said softly. "None of us do. All we can do is fight and hope for victory." The small magician sat still, eyes staring forward unmovingly. She was still donning her more casual garb, so she didn't look especially battle-ready. As such, her garments made her seem truly frail.

[SUSTIC]

The Expense: Hallman's Office

Hallman was furious that the box had moved, but when he heard Emil say that he had placed a tracking device on it Hallman nearly rejoiced.

"OH THANK GOD. I'm not letting that damn thing escape this ship." Hallman spoke as he walked over to his chair to sit down. With a deep, relieved breath he chuckled a bit as he turned to Lycoris.

"Oh no I didn't want it off this ship. I just wanted it somewhere else out of my office. That's all Lycoris... after all that box had the ability to teleport right into our ship, of which the defenses and security is quite high. Hell it took me a minute or two to notice that it was in my office in the first place. Not only that but it seems to be quite durable. Whatever tech it is, I WANT IT." Replied Hallman to Lycoris when he heard a bit of a buzzing sound coming from his wrist communicator. Checking who was calling him, he saw that it was none other than Astraea. Seeing this he turned back to Lycoris and spoke. "Anyways Lycoris I need you to leave my office. Emil you stay in here though. I'm going to need you. Lycoris you can go pester the scientists in the lab. Tell them that I gave you full permission to enter the experimental chambers. Have fun, but do NOT break anything."

[Tewi_Inaba]

The Expense l Hallman's Office

The cat girl's ears perked up again when her master explained why he wanted the box. If not even Emil could get the thing open then it must have been really powerful, maybe even too powerful. She wondered how the box worked and what it was used for. It didn't' make any sense to her but then again most things were still a mystery to her. Perhaps her lack of understanding was why her master told her to go back to the lab. It was the perfect place to learn about the universe. The scientists usually never let her in there unless they needed to run a test or experiment on her but this time she would get to look around and hopefully learn something. "Yes sir. Thank you sir." she said as she left her master's office as instructed. Once she was outside however she turned back for just a moment to wave at Emil.

"By bye Emil, see you later" She said with a smile on her lips. She quickly left after that as to not get in her master or her mentor's way. She would have liked to have helped but she knew it was best just to obey her master like a good girl and go back to the lab.

The cat girl quickly took herself down the halls back to the laboratory where she spent so much of her time. One of the many people in white lab coats told her to go away that she didn't have an appointment today. However when she explained that Hallmen had told her to come here the begrudgingly allowed her entry. "DO NOT... TOUCH... ANYTHING. understood? said one of the male scientists. Lycoris simply nodded to acknowledged she understood. The cat girl looked around curiously at all the many consonants in the laboratory. She was eternally curious about what each and every part of it did. The chemistry area especially interested her. She wondered what the differant liquids did but when she asked her questions fell on depth ears.

[Kilelicus]

Prosperity | Sungrey

---

Phenom audibly sighed before planting the back of his head against the wall. "This is one fight I'm not looking forward to." He pressed his fingers to his headset and spoke.

"Lachesis, are you awake?"

On the other side of Phenom's headset, he could hear soft groaning, as if someone was slumbering and unconsciously reacting to sound. "Of course not... Probably didn't think this would take so long either. Whatever... Lachesis, I know you can unconsciously process information. I'm going to need you to pay special attention to my numbers come this battle. Ill need to squeeze every last nanosecond I have out for this... Now sleep tight."

He took his fingers off his headset and groaned. "Now, Terra... we wait."

[WriggleRid3r]

Hall of the Wyverns | Electra | Geminiea Alpha

---

Erin suddenly gasped awake. She had a strange dream, fragmented into little pieces of her video logs about her prosthetic limb project, then ending at a rather anxious vision about what could've happened 3 years ago when she met Drake...

When Erin decided to request aid from the mercenary group, Drake's Wyverns, Drake, the leader of the mercenary group, took her in with welcoming arms when she expected him to reject her plea. She still doesn't understand why Drake let her join his group; to the point that the dream she just had ended with Drake rejecting her request and ordering his men to shoot her down.

Erin reached towards her prosthetic limbs, equipped them on the stubs that replaced her leg, and reached out to the bathroom. After washing her face, she took a look at herself through the mirror to find how tired she looked. She had dark circles under her eyes and malnourished cheeks: result of her tendencies to overwork without caring about her health. Her frail body with disproportionately gigantic breasts were scantily covered by a thin white dress.

"I should probably tell Drake that I'm awake now..." Erin said to herself as she left the bathroom, grabbed her prosthetic arm and equipped it on her missing arm. She felt the other arm come back into formation as she curled her prosthetic hand into a fist and opened it, repeating the motion a few times to get used to the feeling, and left the room to visit Drake.

[Kilelicus]

Prosperity | Sungrey
8 hours later | Current Time: 8 am

---

As Terra and the Angels sat in the inn, patiently waiting the Null's arrival, the sun began to crest over the mountains surrounding Sungrey. Birds and local wildlife had all sprung to life. Over the course of the night, Phenom had gone around, clearing as many bodies as he could out of the general area surrounding the Inn. Since that would be where Gaspard, Amanda and Terra would mostly be making their stand, he felt it would be better if they didn't have to fight over the already present corpses. Now, all that was left was to wait for the Null to show himself.

Phenom decided he would wait outside, and was currently staring out at the hills from atop the inn's roof while Amanda and Gaspard were preparing their gear inside.

[Cucoo5]

Palace

Achlys grimaced as if she wanted to tell the man that they knew the layout quite well considering they had lived here for about a thousand years, but decided on a nicer approach. "That would be helpful, Doctor, but unfortunately we don't have the time for that, nor other formalities." She walked over to a port for a small spherical device which projected a holographic image of the entire Palace. "Condor 1, would you mind briefing everyone on the situation?" A man named Jac stepped forward, taking off his helmet and briefly saluting.

"Yes, ma'am." He pulled the holographic image to a point that showed where the group was, the labs, and the power core. Then he set the scene to rotate slowly for everyone to see. "From what we have just learned, the combat android codenamed NEMESIS and observational bioroid codenamed MIMI have been retrieved but are in need of repair. The R&D labs here contain the equipment needed to do such repairs. However, due to the lack of power, those labs are currently submerged in the water of the core of the planet. In order to drain the area, the city must be raised back into mid atmosphere. To achieve that, the Power Core must be reactivated. However, the core is optimized to utilize Gaia’va which is currently limited. It is too large to charge via blood so we need to rig a Nova Engine to it. The Power Core and the labs from here are best accessed from the maintenance shaft in this room. When we reach the bottom of the shaft, we will split into two groups: one to activate the core and another to reach the labs as soon as possible, retrieve the necessary supplies, and return here. We are to RV here with Commander Aion in 45 minutes.”

“If there are no questions we will move out immediately.” Achlys looked about the group for any such questions.

Nevaraas

"Frict." Joe snapped his fingers as he tried to think of a better way of finding Ignis. "Ok she would look for whoever is in charge of this colony so she can hire mercenaries or whatever soldiers she could." He spoke more to himself than to Ethan. "Right, so all I need to do is find this person. Hey, could you point me to where I could find the leader of the colony?"

Prosperity

Ian and his group were camped in the center of a ring of 28 ships in a clearing of the colony. The Umbra had been resting there and had informed them of what the Oudri'sa had in mind. They are naive and confident, but they seem to understand the risk. Three other Umbras were in the camp that Ian had been keeping an eye on as they rested.

"Are you sure you want them to play with the null and not me?" The voice of a young girl broke the Hunteri Commander from his thoughts.

"Yes, Anna. We need to make sure you're strong enough when we need your abilities." The little blonde-haired girl was lying on the nose of his Horizon Interceptor and seemed to deflate when Ian confirmed what she said.

"That's no fun." She jumped down and sat by the fire that he had started earlier. "Everyone gets to have fun but me."

"Patience, young one. You will be able to play soon enough."

"I hope so. Because all this waiting is boring." Ian smiled at her comment since he, too, shared the sentiment.

[SUSTIC]

Palace

As the man known as Jac stepped up after Achlys had kindly told the Doctor that a map wouldn't be necessary, and Achlys had told Jack to debrief everyone on the situation, the Doctor stopped what he was doing and turned to face the man who is now currently explaining the situation.

While Jac was explaining everything, the Doctor's face was showing that he was deeply thinking about something for a moment. Almost immediately the Doctor stood up and began pacing back and forth around the room.

"Nemesis... Bioroid... Gaia'va... All those terms sound so dang familiar to me, but I for one cannot seem to honestly remember... Quick what galaxy are we in again? What planet is this? OH! Don't forget to mention what year is this exactly... because it would be some very nice intel to have right about now. I-I'm very honestly sorry, but right now I recently just quite literally woke up in the middle of the floor of this room, with my means of travel nowhere to be seen. So right now I'm stuck with just my wits, my trusty Sonic Screwdriver, and a bunch of people. Obviously I am without much to work with as you can tell."

[Aria of Forbidden Magic]

Prosperity | Sungrey

Terra had long since been bored by waiting for the sun to rise. There was not much to do while waiting for an army of destruction to march into town and start trying to kill everything. The more she thought about it, the more anxious she felt. The stakes in this battle were very high. It was more than solely her life on the line. Many people were in danger. If they couldn't kill the Null then everyone else on this planet would likely be killed. Terra couldn't let that happen. Still, Terra had always thought. It would be great if these Hunteri people would help us instead of just trapping the thing.

On the bright side, there were people to talk to. Phenom's two colleagues(?) were in the room as well. Terra wasn't usually one to start a conversation with strangers, but considering her incredible boredom coupled with her incredible anxiety, this was a sure exception. "So," she began, "I saw your friend fight earlier. Do you guys have that kind of speed too?" As Terra asked, her face held a frown which made her outlook on the whole situation clear to the two people in front of her, and Terra was aware of this. She wished the fighting would just start already so she could transform her nerves and fear into determination and the will to live. Terra might face harder struggles some day. For all she knew, this could be just a prelude.

[Kilelicus]

Prosperity | Sungrey

---

"Speed? Non." Gaspard responded, his French accent extremely prevalent. He pulled the slide back on his rifle. "No, we have different skills, though Amanda's is the most similar. He began checking the handgun magazines he had before loading them into his duas 92FS's.

"I have the ability to teleport short distances. Maximum range of 50 yards. Gaspard's ability is foresight: He can see a few moments into the future. I don't envy him." Amanda continued.

"Seeing death is a common occurrence for me. I've seen more of my friends die than anyone in our organization simply by gazing into the future." Gaspard added, loading his magazines.

"I think he's seen Phenom die...."

"Fifteen times." Gaspard said, finishing Amanda's sentence. "And Amanda has passed Twenty-seven times."

"Gaspard has had the extreme fortune to be generally unaffected by watching his friends die so often."

"I dedicated a particular part of my brain towards processing the fact that it's only a vision, not what has actually happened."

"All Guardian Angels have special abilities, except for one. Phenom's simply happen to be the most potent, but also the most taxing." Amanda explained, leaning on a nearby table. "Phenom's body suffers through what's called a Chronic Adrenergic Hyper-Storm. His body produces unimaginably large amounts of adrenaline; enough to amplify his physical capabilities one-thousand fold. But, as you might imagine, this is by no means healthy for him. So there are precautions in place to keep it from harming his body."

[Aria of Forbidden Magic]

Prosperity | Sungrey

Amanda and Gaspard's words didn't provide the calming effect Terra had hoped they might. The last thing she thought her question would lead to was talk of a forseer divining his friends' demises time and again. As they went on, Terra grew to look more and more distressed, and when they finished speaking, all she could muster in response was "...Oh... th-that sounds bad..."

[Kilelicus]

Prosperity | Sungrey

---

"Oui, for any normal Human Being, it would be. However, that ability and those numbers are exactly why Phenom requested I be deployed here. I am good at keeping my friends alive."

Amanda took notice of Terra's increasingly distressed expression. "There is no reason to be worried, young one. We are trained professionals. Phenom could not have had a better team deployed for keeping you alive." She said, smiling behind her shroud.

"You can't see it, but Amanda is wearing the warmest smile I think I've ever seen her wear in her entire life, and I've known Amanda for a very long time." Gaspard said. "Par ailleurs, Phenom has taken you as his Charge. You are completely safe."

"In addition to all of these things, we have Earth's most precise and lethal sniper watching us from that station floating overhead. Which reminds me..." Amanda pressed her fingers to her headset and spoke.

"Metkiy, do you see anything from up there?"

A gruff, Russian voice, clearly an elder gentleman, buzzed through Amanda's headset, "Da, Amanda. Large hostile force approaching your position. ETA 20 minutes. They look angry~"

"Thank you, Metkiy. Well, Terra, I hope you're ready. Twenty minutes."

[Aria of Forbidden Magic]

Prosperity | Sungrey

The door. That was where Terra, the youngest person in their group of four, looked upon hearing of their foes' imminent arrival. She felt as though maybe she'd be able to see them, but she couldn't. They were in the middle of a ruined town, so all she saw was that. Ruins.

Next, she looked down at herself. Terra had forgotten for a while that she was still dressed in her normal clothes. She pondered changing into her armor, but decided to wait. She thought it might make her anxious. She had about twenty minutes left. She would dress for battle when battle finally came.

[Cucoo5]

Palace

Achlys' eyebrows raised at the Doctor's sudden and peculiar questions. "This is Sedes Imperii of the Venturian Galaxy. The current year is...1,099 of the former New Republic."

Prosperity

An Umbra that looked like a man appeared behind Ian and gave off a quick report. "Maki'te, Null Acri. Boiv ny tukiir'fo." Brother, the Null approaches. He brings former kin of yours.

Ian didn't need to fully understand the Arc'Vai language to know what he really meant by tukiir'fo. Before he could thank the Umbra it had vanished again, leaving him to break the news to his squad. "Things just got complicated." The members of Fate Squadron, who were seated nearby, looked at him with concern on their faces.

Sarah was the first to ask the question everyone had on their mind: "What happened?" It was a question Ian dreaded to answer.
Should I tell them that we would be fighting Venturians? No. It’ll raise doubts since we can’t confirm if they’re infected or not. They’ll kill to survive, but not needlessly, especially when it concerns fellow Venturians. He shook his head. “Nothing major, but it’ll give the Oudri’sa a headache. I’ll fly recon to see what we’re up against. You all stay here until I give the signal, understood?”

“Sir, is that wise?” Kev had the look of a man who suspected that there was more than what Ian was telling them.

“Right now, yes. Mount up and keep the engines warm.”

A unanimous yes sir answered him as the group dispersed to their fighters. The two bomber groups were already standing by. Ian climbed into his Interceptor Horizon and activated the Aura Core, watching all systems boot up in a second. He gently eased the left control back to bring his fighter straight into the air to an altitude of 500 meters before throttling the main engine to 80% thrust. With the aerowings taking over for lift he let the control return to neutral as he cruised towards the approaching army. Venturians following a Null. What this galaxy has come to. Well time to end this.
The engine exhausts flared brighter as he pushed the throttle to max and switched his fighter into close-combat mode, causing the stabilizers to open and a secondary set of engines to activate. With the additional thrust his fighter hurtled to hypersonic speeds.

His plan was to spook the army by flying low and fast, if not cause a few eardrums to rupture. Everything about an Interceptor can be dangerous if you know how to use it. He came down to the deck and made his first pass over the Null’s army. Ian pitched the nose of his fighter up and made a sweeping Immelmann turn to bring himself up to 3,000 meters. The visual enhancement systems showed him that the pass was effective. The way the army scattered told Ian that they felt the shockwave and that their ears were ringing. Good, that old trick will still help. Satisfied, he entered a holding position over the colony, circling like a vulture.

[S121]

(I don't know of much to post in the palace, so I'll let Sus or Kristia post there.)


Nevaaras CY-001

As the man asked Ethan more questions about where to find management, as well as ramble on about something Ethan didn't really care to pay attention to, he heard Mokou say that she was going to the 30th floor of the tower.

"Okay. I'll see you later.", Ethan said to Mokou without looking at her. Right now, he was simply trying to answer the man's questions.

"Well, you can find her in her office in the tower. Just follow the signs and you'll eventually find it", Ethan said to Joe before beginning to walk off, I would take you, but I need to get this girl some medical attention."





The Expense: Hallman's Office

Emil simply gave Lycoris a small nod of his head as she left. Once she was gone, Emil looked back over to Hallman, who had told him to remain in the room.

"You reqire something of me?", Emil calmly asked Hallman.