Nondescript News

[Funny Hat + Funny Accent]

<TacCom, this is Striker Three-Six. Drop Pods are compromised, and we have taken casualties. There's some sort of corrosion acting on them in the cloud cover! Heavy EM interference detected as well! We may not be at combat readiness after making it the surface! Send reinforcements using the Goldeneye device to clear a path through the cover! DO YOU COPY, OVER?!?>

*Upon nearing the ground beneath the clouds, instead of the usual impact landing, the drop pods activate explosive charges in the nose sections to blow open the pods to spray lethal fragments onto anything the landing zone as well as to enable the Troopers inside to make controlled landings. While the charges detonate successfully, not of al the Troopers land safely due to injuries incurred in flight as well as the environmental conditions. Once the squads regroup around the Lieutenant, the dead troopers' gear is cannibalized and their bodies incinerated. In total, five troopers perished with another two wounded severely.*

"Form up! We've still got a mission to carry out. Stow the extra gear and carry the wounded. Our first job is to check out the progress of CTC's exped force before performing an inland reconnaissance. I know it's not our usual job, but we're the only assets available right now!"

*The surviving troopers break up into their usual loose squad-level formations and move out for the CTC exped base area.*


ST listing: 43 Effectives, 2 Ineffectives (wounded), 5 Dead

[Feng]

Unfortunately the claws manage do manage to rip into the ship, allowing miasma to seep into the airship (Bone's wine cellar to be exact). The Chibiwanbanshu, noticing the offending craft, turn their full attention on the remaining kamikaze bird hitting it with round after round of heavy machine gun fire. Those with the rocket launchers, meanwhile, focus on the other aircraft while being backed by the Storm Crow's gatling guns.

Inside, engineers (wearing protective clothing) quickly move to patch up the hole. Upon its eventual repair they then move in a brazier to burn up the foul air.


(Sips tea)

".... .... Send a communication out to the CTC. If our reports are accurate, they should have an expeditionary force acting within the nearby area. I think we have business to discuss."





Meanwhile....

Those operating the tactical display might notice a strange enigma coming in fast from the south, at least 50 miles from the Storm Crow. In place of your typical radar 'dot', the blip is in the shape of a... is that a monkey?!?

[Teddy]

As everyone pursues their selfish goals in invading the shadow lands, a noble hero of the East has raised his armies, and he’s ready to put evil to the sword! A paragon of truth, justice, and the way of the hero. He was more than ready to run forward into the west, his golden blade of justice held high? Who is this hero, you might ask?

No one important to this post. In fact, our hero stands for deception, corruption, and all sorts of other unpleasantness. His name is Corvus, and see him over there? Yeah, that’s him, entering into what was once the West. The slouching guy in the tattered suit. Yes, I know he looks tired. He’s always like that. Sometimes ultimate power isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Especially if you’ve chased after it so long. Where’s there to go if you’ve got everything you wanted?

Who’re those two guys next to him? Well, those are the closest things he’s got to friends. They’re his family. The one who’s shorter, with the grin like a snake is Shadow. It’s the scariest of the whole bunch if you ask me. The other, with the spiky purple hair? That’s Shade. Yeah, that’s a fake arm. Don’t ask about how he lost the first one.
They’re a nasty bunch, no doubt. Luckily they’re not putting what’s left of home to the sword. Though they probably would, and leave us all dangling by our innards. You see, they can’t stand anything nastier than they are. Which is good, because the West has turned into something pretty nasty these last few months. So all that behind them? All of those nightmares? Yeah, that’s their army. They’re divided into three sections, one for each brother.

The horrors, the ones without really any natural shape? Those are things Shadow dredged out of the deepest reaches of chaos. They’re a shifting army of nightmares, of ravening mad voices that should have never cloaked themselves in form. They’re only not dissolving the landscape behind them because Corvus would probably turn on them faster than they’ll turn on themselves.

Those four things floating behind the horrors? They’re cloaked in darkness and none seem to even come near them? Those are Shadow’s too. The four horsemen, I’ve been told. War and Pestilence and all of that. Or so I’m told. I don’t trust all of my information.

Now that formation of actual soldiers is Shade’s. He’s the most organized. He’s been all up and down these here lands, picking out the best soldiers. He’s outfitted them in power armor, forged ala his two brothers. There’re not a lot of them compared to the hordes of monsters and nightmares, but with Shade at the helm, they’re probably just as terrible, and with a greater stake and spirit. Men aren’t much, unless they’re desperate.

And these are some desperate times.

Finally, all of those things there? Those are demons, straight from hell. They’re following that haggard looking man, that Corvus. Some of them spring from his own slew of twisted souls, too powerful to dwell in him anymore. Others he’s stolen from other demon kings, a pack that any other day would be the end of all that’s good and decent in the world. But now they’re basically all we can count on.

Now, Corvus isn’t so haggard. He can taste the coming danger. The pitched battles. That madman’s grin is spreading across his face, as he walks over the threshold between where he is and into where a king of death rules. Some say he’s doing it out of hate for anything worse than he is. I’ve heard he’s got a lady love somewhere in that dark place, and he’s helping her out. I think he’s just madder than a hatter.

“Law!” He sways a little on his feet, the air around him changing. An ornate suit of armor replacing that tattered suit. His face losing that sleepy look, eyes glittering with hard malice. In that little area where his army is, the miasma is probably going to have a harder time eating at his troops. Not that they don’t feel it.

Look at them shudder. They know that if their leaders falter, if Corvus’s aura fails, or the sigils that Shadow has spread around them break, or Shade’s raw power stops battling the miasma, they’re going to die and only add to the King’s resources. It’s a desperate gambit. It’s all Corvus thinks he has.

And maybe he’s right.

[Raleigh]

Raleigh: Rough landing for the boys in the drop ships it sounds like. *He chuckles.* Oooh and Corvus and crew have joined the merry band. I have the feeling this will be much more fun than I thought. With luck this will all descend into an orgy of violence and bloodshed. And then... well those whose eyes see all are the winners aren't they?

*Raleigh2, tired of not receiving any response from the chibis, teleports into the room with Bones.* Yo, need some help?

[Jello Shot Mischa]

(( I feel so popular, for some reason... XD ))

The CTC's high-altitude and orbital reconnaissance systems take note of the approach of the approach of the Zone Troopers and their drop pods. In fact, while it may be difficult to tell, they take quite a detailed interest, monitoring the relative success or failure of the approach.

"Squeak squeak..."
Despite this, the oncoming submersed vessels rip through the waters as several take hits from torpedoes launched by the CTC fighters- but somehow don't seem to take any appreciable damage despite the explosions ripping apart the waters all around them, black energy flickering across the hulls of the vessels. There's a roar as one of the vessels rises up, revealing a huge, shark-like maw. In this maw, the air distorts with gathering energy and arrays of devices forming extending from the maw to stabilize the gathering energy which is becoming dangerously concentrated. As a distraction, the other vessels charge on, taking hits for the one preparing to attack- with one's defenses failing under the combined barrage, spewing inky black fluids into the sea and breaking apart before exploding violently. The two of the three left to defend the one charging seem to launch torpedoes of their own at the CTC vessels, while the third's back pops open to reveal an array of missile tubes which release a cluster of sea to air missiles! Though each of the defending shark-subs seem to be dangerous, the rising energy output from the one charging up is one for real concern.

At the moment, however, the CTC's naval task force has other issues to be concerned with. The limited effect of the CTC's conventional weaponry on the approaching objects is noted, the data to be evaluated more deeply at a later date. The assault fighters break off, returning to the Intrepid to rearm, and the Snapfire begins to accelerate in its retreat, while the two destroyers remain between the arsenal ship and the shark-subs in order to try and defend it.

As the shark-subs break through the layers of defense, the pace of the battle changes. Cybernetically-enhanced crew do their best to keep up with the battle, but as seconds start to become crucial, the weight of the battle begins to fall upon the onboard intelligences. As clusters of missiles are launched by the shark-subs, the destroyers' point-defense systems swing into their conventional role, computers analyzing the trajectory of each missile and assigning targets to the various point defense guns. Beams of energy and railgun rounds blast through the air, the automatic guns tracking and firing at individual missiles an in effort to destroy each one before they reach their targets. Meanwhile, the subroc launchers are reassigned to fire at the approaching torpedoes, attempting to create a screen of counter-missiles that will hopefully be more effective against torpedoes than the submarines.

Of course, there is still the one shark-sub that is powering up what is most likely a highly powerful beam weapon. Potential solutions are examined and discarded in microseconds as massively parallel processors go to work, examining the battlespace, calculating how much energy it would take to defeat the shielding on the subs, and what their weapons are capable of discharging. Finally, a conclusion is reached, and a signal is transmitted at the speed of light...

And up at the zenith of the sky, a brilliant point of light appears for a moment, before an intense column of blue-white energy lances down from space at the last of the sub-sharks!

Further ahead, at the beach head, the CTC and Raleigh's preparations seem to be progressing well, with the artificial geomantic arrays reaching near critical levels before the miasma seems to withdraw a distance, allowing the CTC to make additional preparations. This also enables Raleigh to focus his own efforts with opening his own portal to the dark continent, which remains stable within the CTC's artificial geomantic array.

As for the mystery communication, Lord Bones receives a follow-up communication- but upon decoding, it just appears to be gibberish in morse code, so nothing further seems to happen. The CTC however, suddenly find their receivers gaining a huge load of information from whatever the source was, causing computer systems to crash, and their communications network going haywire. As backups come on line, or systems are restored from the brief overload, incoming transmission seems to end. How suspicious!

The CTC scientists start to take note of the effectiveness of the artificial geomantic array, some patting each other on the back in congratulations! It may not be a long-term solution, but in this kind of situation, even a minor victory is worth celebrating.

There's less celebration within the expeditionary forces' command center, as the CTC's preliminary computer network is overwhelmed by the sudden influx of information! Their network defenses do their best to preserve as much network integrity as they can, trying to limit the crashed systems to particular sections of the network, even as additional computing power is brought online. Much like the battle out at sea, the encounter occurs at the microsecond speeds of computer processors, meaning that by the time the human operators are aware a problem is occuring, it has largely been resolved, although the process of bringing additional massframes online requires precious seconds. Still, any damage is largely contained, although network security is boosted in case any malicious software was able to sneak in during the problems.

If any of the original transmission still lingers within the system, they're isolated, backed-up, and then analyzed, in an effort to determine what just occurred.

Meanwhile, Raleigh is escorted into the CTC compound. He'll note that, even with the momentary calm, they aren't slowing down. Heavy machinery continues to work to expand the compound, constructing prefabricated modules that are apparently being buried underground. Airlocks have been installed, to help keep the internal areas of the compound free of the outer miasma, although Raleigh will note that the facility is still compartmentalized.

In the command center, a woman is leaning over the holographic displays, watching the progress of the various encounters going on around the area. She glances up at his approach, and he'll recognize Major Durant from their encounter outside Muffinville when the penguin kaiju attacked. Nearby, a white-haired woman in a military uniform stands rather nonchalantly, watching him.

Major Durant frowns slightly at Raleigh. "I'm starting to understand my Commander Pleasance seems to always be under a lot of stress..." she admits. "Dealing with these sorts of situations can be... frustrating." She lets out a sigh. "So... where shall we begin? I suspect there is a lot to discuss."

She glances at a flashing display nearby. "... Although perhaps a full discussion should wait until all of those available are involved..."

[Feng]

"Ah Mr. Cloak," says Bones, clearly happy to see Raleigh. "Expert timing as usual. Aye, it would appear that my attempts at a stealthy infiltration of the Eastern continent has failed. Alas, I wish I had to foresight to prepare an armed escort. Then again, the presence of armed aircraft might have hindered the operation."

(Sips tea)

"Fortunately, I happen to have a trump card!"

"Anyways, you wouldn't happen to know anything about this strange continent would you? Any information you can provide could prove useful in the near future..."


Meanwhile, a Chibiwanbanshu agent attempts to send out an encoded message out to the CTC expeditionary force. The message is in the native Chibi language, the logic being that the opposing forces probably have had limited encounter with the diminutive 'children of the underworld'. Hopefully the expeditionary team will be able to decrypt the message...

[Raleigh]

It is only stressful because you are young yet. Once you've seen these things a few thousand times it becomes routine. We can begin when you wish and on whatever you wish. I've already located some ruins further inland that I intend to inspect as I just can't pass up a chance for some dungeon diving so to speak. I will tell you I've created a summoning type magic circle near by so if you see some odd creatures and the like practically inside the camp they are probably mine.

Also, might I offer my services with your computer issues. I understand you are having troubles moving in the needed amount of processing hardware. I could have Main arrive back at your main base and help them there.


****Aboard the Storm Crow*****
Raleigh2: Hm.. so far it seems to be an encroaching other world scenario. I however am unsure if its similar to ORT's Crystal Valley or more like whenever a dying world bleeds into a thriving one seeking to overtake it and survive. I can tell you these events are artificial however. That miasma is a pain in the rear though as it can even sap my power. I do hope if they are absorbing that stolen energy they enjoy the results of what happens later. So what is this trump card?

[Anonymouse]

The pitched battle at sea continues, as the shark subs juke and dive in order to avoid and yet, draw forth as much attention as possible. Indeed, their weapons are formidable as their odd defenses, and even near misses rock the destroyers, scorching their decks with white hot flame. And yet, the point defenses, missiles, torpedoes, and subrocs wear at the sharks' defenses, some of the hazy, black barriers becoming thinner- but unfortunately, resilient enough to take a beating yet, preventing the ships from getting the one gathering energy.

But that's a non-issue as the blast of energy pierces through the spell-cast clouds above, disintegrating the sub almost instantaneously, huge plumes of hot steam surging into the air, obscuring the explosion of the sub and casting the subs about with the waves from said explosion. Suddenly, the pace of battle has changed radically, and maybe now the CTC's counter attack can mop up the remaining subs before they reorient themselves.

Overhead, the cloud cover is cleared for a moment, revealing rays of sun from the sky above- but those clouds are quickly circling back unnaturally, plugging the hole torn into the cloud cover...

At the Storm Crow, the air battle rages on, with the interceptors eventually beating a hasty retreat upon realizing the Crow has more firepower than originally expected, especially given the ferocity of the chibis, and the quick response time of the Crow's engineers plugging the damaged areas off... Regardless, that beam from the sky likely casts some serious shockwaves through the air, buffeting it about briefly before they can resume their journey to the land just ahead, with the CTC and others waiting for them.

At the beachhead, the CTC's network isolates several data sectors, containing completely random bits of data- none of them making any real sense on their own. Analysis will in time reveal they're pieces to something else, much larger, but the order of it all will take time to piece together, especially given the overall gibberish of the pieces themselves. Until then, the CTC is perhaps better served with spending it's energy strengthening the geomantic arrays, as those will be invaluable to their operations.

Especially as the CTC find that they have new guests arriving at their doorstep, those enigmatic Steel Talons of all people, who seem rather worse for wear and tear given their perilous journey through the spelled cloud-cover over head, which seems to rage angrily at permitting even one of the soldiers to enter alive... Given how quickly the clouds are replugging the hole from the massive energy attack out to sea, it seems unlikely that large scale orbital entry is the way to go, at least by going directly THROUGH the clouds. Nevermind the whole EM interference which seemed to have moderately damaged the Steel Talon's electrical systems, impairing them a bit as well.

As for that giant monkey-ject approaching the Dark Continent, there doesn't seem to be any response to it- yet. Looks like it'll have to get closer to illicit a response, whatever it may be~

To the Far East of the Dark Continent, on the opposite side so far that the others at the beach head would never know it's happening, Corvus and his brothers step forth upon the boundary to the tainted lands and enter. Already, the miasma sickens them, but their spells and power holds it at bay for now. They've prepared for too long to stop here, so their advance continues. They travel a distance before several objects, like huge birds of prey streak overhead, sonic booms tearing after them. The objects are made of an unmistakable black material, and quickly split off in several directions, peeling away and returning to whence they came.

The ground begins to rumbles violently a short time later and it's not because of the army behind Corvus and his brothers. Something is coming, they can sense it acutely. Given the barren landscape of the tainted lands, it's unlikely the rumbling is coming from anything but their enemy. Everything else of considerable numbers is dead, or has been recruited. For some, both. It seems the 'king of death' didn't wait long to field his forces against the oncoming army of the brothers.

Beyond the hills ahead, a dark blob blocks out the ground, swarming toward the brothers and their army. It's like a plague, a black death crushing everything in its path- and the brothers happen to be in their path. As the plague sweeps closer and closer, it's time Corvus, his brothers, and their armies test their mettle for the first time, and see how they stand against the minions of their enemy.

[Funny Hat + Funny Accent]

<Striker Three-Six, do you copy? I repeat, this TacCom. Do you read us, over?>

*Silence echoed in the Command and Control Center of the 'Ice Box.' The comm officer set his headset down in silent tribute, drawing the attention of fellow communication specialist.*

"Contact with Striker Three-Six has been lost. Striker's Third Platoon is presumed dead. Send in the Thor."
<Colonel Gallagher, do you read?>

<Copy you clear, TacCom.>

<Light Six has authorized your battalion's deployment. We're preparing to pave the way with the Goldeneye device. Do you acknowledge?>

<Zone Trooper Six acknowledges, TacCom. It's payback time.>

<Goldeneye activation in Five....>

---
*Elsewhere, the two remaining casualties have succumbed to the corrosive effects seeping through their damaged armored suits and had been stripped of their gear and set ablaze by the other survivors. The group now awaits for a CTC patrol which they could hitch a ride back to the expeditionary base at the CTC's perimeter.*

"Today is just another crappy day. Screw it! We're moving!"

*After a few moments of waiting, they're quickly jumping and jetting across the ground and should reach the base shortly....*

Third Platoon: 43 Effectives

Remainder of Fourth Mechanized Battalion: 950 Effectives

[Raleigh]

*As the Steel Talons move on a ghostly image of a jackal appears near the burnt remains. Raleigh's voice murmurs from it.* At least, unlike the others, they are wise enough to strip the dead and destroy the remains. A shame as their blood, hearts, and minds could have told me more. Still, there is always something to learn. *It moves in to inspect the remains. A similar scene is occurring near the drop pods and the burnt remains that are there.*

[Feng]

"Aye, the foul air has affected the crew as well" says Bones. "Fortunately the incense we've burned appears to have staved off the effects. Unfortunately, its only a matter of time before we run out."

(Sips tea)

"As for my trump card, I'd prefer to keep that under wraps for now. There's no telling who could be listening in."

A Chibiwanbanshu agent suddenly rushes in.

"Sir! The enemy are retreating! Should we pursue?"

"No, I don't think that will be necessary. Carry on our present course to the sh-"

The ship rocks violently thanks to the shock wave.

".... What was that?!?"


Meanwhile, the mysterious blip continues its course towards the Eastern continent. Upon closer inspection, there appears to be other smaller blips as well.

No, they are not shaped like bananas.

[Jello Shot Mischa]

(( I'm thinking I'm going to start making multiple posts, just do I dont' end up typing essay-long posts... XD ))

Meanwhile, a Chibiwanbanshu agent attempts to send out an encoded message out to the CTC expeditionary force. The message is in the native Chibi language, the logic being that the opposing forces probably have had limited encounter with the diminutive 'children of the underworld'. Hopefully the expeditionary team will be able to decrypt the message...

While there is likely a certain degree of interference in the atmosphere, there are various ways to transmit a message to the CTC. (The observant will notice that the CTC have largely been relying on point-to-point laser transmitters, which are much less vulnerable than open radio transmissions.) With the CTC having had at least some dealings with the Chibiwabanshu in Academy City, it seems probable that the CTC command has enough information available to decrypt the transmitted message.

The contents of the message raise a few eyebrows, and it's quickly relayed to the naval task force (with a copy being sent onwards to the CTC's primary command center on the Muffinville continent). The admiral on board the Intrepid looks a bit grim. "As soon as recovery of the assault fighters is complete, launch CAP squadrons three and four for an air support mission," he orders.

It is only stressful because you are young yet. Once you've seen these things a few thousand times it becomes routine. We can begin when you wish and on whatever you wish. I've already located some ruins further inland that I intend to inspect as I just can't pass up a chance for some dungeon diving so to speak. I will tell you I've created a summoning type magic circle near by so if you see some odd creatures and the like practically inside the camp they are probably mine.

Also, might I offer my services with your computer issues. I understand you are having troubles moving in the needed amount of processing hardware. I could have Main arrive back at your main base and help them there.

Durant offers Raleigh a slight smirk. "It's been a while since anyone called me young," she says, before tilting her head at his mention of the ruins. "There's ruins scattered across this part of the continent," the major explains. "Most of them were formerly population centers, now largely dominated by undead, although we've sent patrols into them occasionally to look for information and supplies. The surviving rebels occasionally will look for supplies as well, although I suspect they hold a lot more bad memories for them."

She glances down at the map. "Can you indicate where this ruin is? I wouldn't mind sending a small force to scout the area with you, if you had no objections."

Considering Raleigh's other offer, she glances at her displays, before looking back at him. "As for the computer issues... we should have those largely in hand. Admittedly, any logistics support would be greatly appreciated -- we don't have any convenient methods to ship large amounts of supplies to this area, aside from the occasional orbital drop. But I suspect our network measures should be sufficient."

Raleigh may recall that at one point, Main attempted to meddle in Academy City's network -- and founded it defended by systems rivalling Main's own sophistication. While the expeditionary base likely lacks such sophistication, it does seem that the CTC has access to its own sophisticated computer technology...

[Raleigh]

Okay. Yeah, I can get supplies in easily enough. I'm not sending troops through until I have this miasma diagnosed but items can be sent easily enough. What exactly do you need and I'll see to it that it starts arriving here at the circle? As for your troops coming with me that is fine. Shall I place them making it back alive as top priority?

***Aboard the airship****
Raleigh2: That would be the CTC orbital bombardment of one of the shark subs. That one was worrying since it seems to have been charging up some kind of particle cannon or the like.

[Jello Shot Mischa]

*Elsewhere, the two remaining casualties have succumbed to the corrosive effects seeping through their damaged armored suits and had been stripped of their gear and set ablaze by the other survivors. The group now awaits for a CTC patrol which they could hitch a ride back to the expeditionary base at the CTC's perimeter.*

"Today is just another crappy day. Screw it! We're moving!"

*After a few moments of waiting, they're quickly jumping and jetting across the ground and should reach the base shortly....*

The CTC patrols consist primarily of hovertanks and lighter wing-in-ground-effect vehicles, the same ones that had escorted their landing GEVs into shore. Capable of high speed over nearly all terrain, they seem well suited to patrolling the environs around the CTC base. And with the CTC being aware of the drop pods' arrival, it seems inevitable that one patrol would be tasked with scouting out the results of the landing.

Thus, as the troopers approach the base, they encounter a small patrol consisting of one hovertank and two WIGE scouts just heading out in their direction. The CTC soldiers quickly hail the troopers, although the Steel Talon forces may notice some oddities -- the CTC patrol doesn't seem that suspicious of them, and, in fact, constantly keeps scanning the surrounding area for other threats.

After requesting identification, the CTC patrol explains that they lack in high-capacity transports at the moment, although a couple of IFVs can be sent to pick up any injured -- perhaps a little too late for the previous casualties, but enough to prevent any further fatalities. Beyond that, they're recommended to head to the CTC expeditionary base as quickly as they can, with an invitation to meet up with the commander there.

The pitched battle at sea continues, as the shark subs juke and dive in order to avoid and yet, draw forth as much attention as possible. Indeed, their weapons are formidable as their odd defenses, and even near misses rock the destroyers, scorching their decks with white hot flame. And yet, the point defenses, missiles, torpedoes, and subrocs wear at the sharks' defenses, some of the hazy, black barriers becoming thinner- but unfortunately, resilient enough to take a beating yet, preventing the ships from getting the one gathering energy.

But that's a non-issue as the blast of energy pierces through the spell-cast clouds above, disintegrating the sub almost instantaneously, huge plumes of hot steam surging into the air, obscuring the explosion of the sub and casting the subs about with the waves from said explosion. Suddenly, the pace of battle has changed radically, and maybe now the CTC's counter attack can mop up the remaining subs before they reorient themselves.

Overhead, the cloud cover is cleared for a moment, revealing rays of sun from the sky above- but those clouds are quickly circling back unnaturally, plugging the hole torn into the cloud cover...

The CTC take advantage of the momentary lull resulting from the orbital laser strike, and their computer-assisted weapons immediately reorient themselves, concentrating their fire upon the remaining shark-subs.

At the beachhead, the CTC's network isolates several data sectors, containing completely random bits of data- none of them making any real sense on their own. Analysis will in time reveal they're pieces to something else, much larger, but the order of it all will take time to piece together, especially given the overall gibberish of the pieces themselves. Until then, the CTC is perhaps better served with spending it's energy strengthening the geomantic arrays, as those will be invaluable to their operations.

Especially as the CTC find that they have new guests arriving at their doorstep, those enigmatic Steel Talons of all people, who seem rather worse for wear and tear given their perilous journey through the spelled cloud-cover over head, which seems to rage angrily at permitting even one of the soldiers to enter alive... Given how quickly the clouds are replugging the hole from the massive energy attack out to sea, it seems unlikely that large scale orbital entry is the way to go, at least by going directly THROUGH the clouds. Nevermind the whole EM interference which seemed to have moderately damaged the Steel Talon's electrical systems, impairing them a bit as well.

The CTC researchers continue to study the effects of the geomantic array, making notes about potential improvements, regularly relaying their results back to the main continent to be examined there.

Meanwhile, Major Durant awaits the arrival of the Steel Talons...

[Jello Shot Mischa]

Okay. Yeah, I can get supplies in easily enough. I'm not sending troops through until I have this miasma diagnosed but items can be sent easily enough. What exactly do you need and I'll see to it that it starts arriving here at the circle? As for your troops coming with me that is fine. Shall I place them making it back alive as top priority?

Major Durant nods. "I had considered that it would be best if we arranged some kind of staging area near Muffinville, to transport the supplies from. We'd prefer to retain control over the manufacture and production of our own supplies, after all. And for our troops... yes, it would be preferable for them to come back alive, if possible. Particularly considering some of the hazards here..."

She frowns, before casting a glance at the displays. "I have a little information regarding this miasma that you may be interested in... although I believe that Lord Bones, of all people, has now contacted us. While we have very little information regarding him, our past encounters suggest he may have some skills that could be very useful in dealing with it."