Nondescript News

[Jello Shot Mischa]

Durant glances at the medallion curiously, but nods. "That should be fine..." she says.

In the interests of moving things along... the soldiers wait for Raleigh to get his gear and board, with Lieutenant Darius introducing himself and offering to have Raleigh accompany them in the lead vehicle. Once everything is prepared, the three IFVs drive out of the compound, with the four hovertanks powering up their fans to follow along a discrete distance behind, as the convoy heads towards the ruined city!

[Raleigh]

*Tucking the ribbon looking object into one of his pockets as he takes a seat, Raleigh turns to Darius.* Alright so we are going to explore the little city. We doing this with a grid search or just moving in from the closest edge toward the center?

[??????? ?? ????]

*flips her cloak back over her head, moving her spot in the back of the briefing room, exiting into the main CTC campus, looking about*

"They are so filled with glee, as they turn towards hell and launch their assault"

*shrugs*

"That only makes my mission easier.

[Jello Shot Mischa]

*Tucking the ribbon looking object into one of his pockets as he takes a seat, Raleigh turns to Darius.* Alright so we are going to explore the little city. We doing this with a grid search or just moving in from the closest edge toward the center?

Lieutenant Darius is a young man, perhaps in his late twenties, who offers Raleigh a slight grin as they get settled in. "We probably don't have enough troops for a proper grid search," he explains to Raleigh. "We'll pop the usual suits of drones once we arrive, and they'll narrow down anything interesting for us to check out. Unless, of course, something happens to us beforehand."

"Just had to invoke 'im, didn't ya, Loot?" one of the soldiers calls out.

Darius winces, and offers an embarassed laugh. "Thought I was more savvy than that... guess it just goes to show it's harder than it looks."

The IFVs kick up a slight cloud of dust as they rumble across a track that may have once been a road, although it's degraded so much it's barely visible. Still, it can be noticed from its contrast to the wasted and dessicated landscape around it, with only twisted and mutated plants still remaining -- and even they are likely in a futile struggle to try to keep up with the miasma's worsening condition. The miasma itself blankets the land in a dark haze, leaving everything in a perpetual twilight as even sunlight struggles to reach the surface. The headlights from the vehicles cast faint beams through the gloom.

The soldiers in the infantry compartment murmur as the IFV hits a bump, rattling their equipment.

"Wonder if the PIGs are gonna be enough... briefing said they've got powered armor, but no idea how much penetration we'll need."

"Railguns would've been nice... wish we had some Armed Suits along."

"Got the EDs, at least. And the SIBs."

"Yeah, but you just know they're only gonna get deployed when it's already hit the fan."

Darius simply falls quiet, checking his own weapon, although he gives Raleigh a curious glance on occasion.

*flips her cloak back over her head, moving her spot in the back of the briefing room, exiting into the main CTC campus, looking about*

"They are so filled with glee, as they turn towards hell and launch their assault"

*shrugs*

"That only makes my mission easier.

Major Durant eyes follow the cloaked figure as she leaves, before glancing at Elly, who simply shrugs.

The CTC compound is fairly busy with activity, as the soldiers continue to work, setting up equipment and defenses.

[Raleigh]

*Noticing Darius' glance, he decides to speak while they are in transit.* Something wrong?

[Anonymouse]

"Squeak squeak..."

*Far Eastern Reaches of the Dark Continent*

Before the brother's army, there's a glimmer of light in the otherwise opaque sky. Though this likely doesn't attract notice at first, the sound of something LARGE, tearing through the sky does provide ample warning about something coming. The army likely feels antsy with the arrival of the huge object, but even if they don't flee, the object CRASHES into the ground a short distance away, in the rubble and remains of the black plague that was incinerated by Corvus earlier. As fragments of rock and dust finally begin to settle, the brothers (the conscious ones, anyways) and their army get a good look at what the object was: a massive, ornate golden sword. The sword, easily over 200 feet long, juts from the earth, gleaming with deadly intent as a haughty voice from on high shouts at the assembly.

"So, look who snuck out of their hole and tried to play hero! Looking for someone?"

The voice comes from the top of the imbedded sword, though with all the glinting light, it's hard to see who or what is addressing them.

*Outside the CTC Base, to the West*

The CTC convoy makes relatively good progress across the desolate expanse leading to the ruined city. However, depending on how attentive the passengers are, they may notice odd flashes of darkness periodically. The flares grow to be more common as the convoy approaches the city, as does a gnawing sense of dread that the soldiers are getting into something waaaaay over their heads. The SIBLINGS and Raleigh likely have no such notions, so the unusual jitters of the soldiers may be distracting to outright disconcerting in itself.

*Enter, The Ruined City*

The dread, long since planted in the hearts of the soldiers, continues to grow as the burnt husks of buildings and the remains to light poles become more frequent. Already, the city looks like it was pretty large before it's fall, as the cracked and worn pavement seems to widen as other avenues merge into the one the convoy travels on. Sensory equipment at this point are beginning to pick up some weird readings, while communications equipment starts acting up, the deeper into the city the convoy goes. The buildings dotting the landscape become more frequent and progressively larger despite being in varying states of decay. Despite being close to the sea again, the convoy eventually begins to ascend a large ridge to a hill, which prevents the passengers from getting a good view of the city center until they reach its crest.

But when they do, any previous impressions of desolation are shattered.

What was once the heart of the City, is nothing by a massive glassed crater, stretching on for several miles. A desolate wind gusts across the crater, kicking up plumes of dust while a building nearby shudders and collapses, sending rubble crashing to the ground. Silence reigns here, eternal as death. Communications at this point are really acting up, especially back to base- even Raleigh, with all of his power, has lost that 'link' to beyond the city. Aand it doesn't seem to be cause by the miasma, as even that seems to have faded in the presence of the barren, shattered heart of the ruined city.

The scale, along with the desolation, is staggering as fear is temporarily displaced by a sense of utter awe at what happened. This awe is displaced by dread, as the feeling of being watched suddenly picks at the awareness of every member in the convoy.

*CTC Base*

The Steel Talons likely find their equipment to be in relatively good condition- whatever is damaged is easily repaired from the parts taken from fallen comrades or whatever parts they may 'borrow' from the CTC.

The cloaked 'woman' meanwhile notices that at least for now, the Steel Talons remain at the base. But there's no telling if they'll depart to the City soon as well. Despite this, the horizon seems darker than usual, especially to the north, in the direction of the city. As to how many others notice this fact just depends on if the busy CTC soldiers take the time to look around. But with the awful landscape around them, it's not likely they're inclined to do such.

Seismic Sensors pick up some more fluctuations at about the time the convoy SHOULD have arrived. Durant and her operations officers don't know for sure though, as they seem have lost contact with the convoy, a short distance from the city. The suddenness in particular is odd, as it's like the convoy dropped off the face of the earth...

*Crashed Steel Talons Transport in a Volcano*

With grim determination the Steel Talons' equipment manages to breech the cooling lava safely, and release whatever manner of vehicles stored within the transport- assuming they weren't destroyed in the crash.

Raleigh's probes, as they assess the minerals of the volcano, don't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary, aside from them being tainted by the dark miasma which chokes the air and earth so completely in this dark continent.

"Squeak squeak..."

[Raleigh]

Scarlet: Well crap. The whole point of this production was to find yet more resources. Oh well, perhaps the enemy agents will have some more things for us to analyze. Then again all life begins in the sea. Lets see if any interesting mutations have occurred. *She directs the orbs back out to sea to sample some of the water.*

*Assuming there was no issues Raleigh steps outside the transport once they have arrived.* Glassed crater ehh? How inconsiderate of the forces of death and/or evil for not leaving behind items to analyze. Don't they know you just kill off the indigenous population while keeping as much of their stuff as possible for yourself? I at least hope a library or museum survived. *Seems to be playing like he doesn't feel like he is being watched. He is acutely aware of the sensation all the same though.* Maybe a bakery or store of some sort too. Might as well find out what the people here ate or preferred to buy. *Oh crap, he's entered archeologist mode.*

[Funny Hat + Funny Accent]

*After repairing and donning their gear, Rommel and his platoon set off for the seismic disturbance to investigate its cause. They also keep a notice on other communication frequencies for any word on discoveries made by the CTC or others.


*Meanwhile, A solitary four-wheeled buggy-like vehicle loaded with three Steel Talons departed from the downed frigate through the initial gap in the rocky barriers.*

[Jello Shot Mischa]

*Outside the CTC Base, to the West*

The CTC convoy makes relatively good progress across the desolate expanse leading to the ruined city. However, depending on how attentive the passengers are, they may notice odd flashes of darkness periodically. The flares grow to be more common as the convoy approaches the city, as does a gnawing sense of dread that the soldiers are getting into something waaaaay over their heads. The SIBLINGS and Raleigh likely have no such notions, so the unusual jitters of the soldiers may be distracting to outright disconcerting in itself.

The dread, long since planted in the hearts of the soldiers, continues to grow as the burnt husks of buildings and the remains to light poles become more frequent. Already, the city looks like it was pretty large before it's fall, as the cracked and worn pavement seems to widen as other avenues merge into the one the convoy travels on. Sensory equipment at this point are beginning to pick up some weird readings, while communications equipment starts acting up, the deeper into the city the convoy goes. The buildings dotting the landscape become more frequent and progressively larger despite being in varying states of decay. Despite being close to the sea again, the convoy eventually begins to ascend a large ridge to a hill, which prevents the passengers from getting a good view of the city center until they reach its crest.

But when they do, any previous impressions of desolation are shattered.

What was once the heart of the City, is nothing by a massive glassed crater, stretching on for several miles. A desolate wind gusts across the crater, kicking up plumes of dust while a building nearby shudders and collapses, sending rubble crashing to the ground. Silence reigns here, eternal as death. Communications at this point are really acting up, especially back to base- even Raleigh, with all of his power, has lost that 'link' to beyond the city. Aand it doesn't seem to be cause by the miasma, as even that seems to have faded in the presence of the barren, shattered heart of the ruined city.

The scale, along with the desolation, is staggering as fear is temporarily displaced by a sense of utter awe at what happened. This awe is displaced by dread, as the feeling of being watched suddenly picks at the awareness of every member in the convoy.

Darius chuckles at Raleigh. "Sorry, sir... just trying to get used to the fact that we've got a D-class with us," he offers.

As the convoy travels across the countryside, however, the atmosphere inside the vehicle starts to change subtly. Soldiers that are exchanging good-natured banter fall quiet, and the conversation topics that remain start to become increasingly pessimistic.

"So... how many death flags do you think you've got?" one soldier asks another.
"Hmph... my fiance proposed to me before I left on this tour. At least I told her I couldn't make a decision before leaving..."
"Still, doesn't sound good for you."
"What about you? Isn't this your last tour?"

The lieutenant frowns a bit at the conversations... but judging from his own expression, the same sense of doubt and dread is nagging at him. He pauses, however, when he receives a transmission from the second vehicle.

"This is 13-76H, lieutenant. I believe the unit is under a psychographic attack."

The lieutenant pauses. "Explain."

"I noticed abnormal changes in the psyches of our drives," the SIBLING explains. "Investigation and contact with the Imagine Breaker indicated that the sensations of dread are being externally imposed by some unknown source. The Imagine Breaker was only able to interrupt the sensations temporarily, however. I believe application of PC6/AD may be necessary."

Lieutenant Darius frowns, but nods. "Very well." He switches to the convoy's open channel. "All soldiers, administer PC6/AD."

There's some grumbling, but the soldiers all administer themselves a dosage of drugs intended to counteract some of the increasingly overwhelming sense of dread and terror.

[Jello Shot Mischa]

(( Apparently had to break this up into two posts. ))

As the convoy passes through the city proper, the internal conversation die off, the soldiers preparing themselves with increasing readiness. The turrets on the accompanying hovertanks continue to sweep back and forth, watching the surrounding ruins for any sign of possible attack or hostiliy.

"We're having difficulty maintaining contact with the base," the driver of the lead IFV reports, and Darius nods, although he frowns at the news. "Have each vehicle pop one of the drones. We'll try and use them as a relay to maintain contact."

The driver nods, and from each of the three vehicles, a spherical drone takes off, flying up higher in an attempt to establish line-of-sight contact with the base, while also maintaining contact with the convoy as it travels deeper into the city. The squad's techs do their best to keep in contact with the drones, although they report that their equipment is starting to show increasingly erratic readings as they close in on the center of the city, the vehicles climbing up the ridgeline.

Finally, however, the center of the city comes into view... and the convoy slows to a stop on the outer edge, the CTC soldiers just looking out at the awe-inspiring sight of the black-glassed crater.

"We're suffering severe signal degredatation," the squad's tech reports. "No GPS or other background signals, no contact with the main base... I think we've even lost contact with the drones."

Lieutenant Darius frowns at the report. "Better pop the remaining drones to take a look around first... what do you think is causing the interference? The terrain shouldn't be causing this much trouble, especially from satellite signals."

"The environment here has caused a variety of forms of electromagnetic interference... but this seems to be something difficult. It's like we're pretty much cut off from the rest of the world."

"Cut off?"

The tech nods. "I'd almost guess it's some kind of a semi-enclosed de Sitter space, like our CRAVEN units. I've read material on such things from a few different worlds -- Reality Marbles, Gates, and such."

Darius frowns. "So... we're on our own, for the moment. Can we reestablish contact if we head back the way we came?"

"Probably," the tech says, although a dubious tone creeps into his voice. "It may not be that easy, though. It seems like... we're being watched."

The lieutenant nods. "I know." He gets up from his seat, trying to get a better look at the crater outside and the sky above it. "All right... whoever it is, we're here now. Let's do what we came here to do."

CTC Expeditionary Base

Back at the base, Major Durant frowns as she starts to receive reports indicating that they've lost contact with the exploratory patrol. Even satellite observations couldn't seem to penetrate the enigmatic field surrounding the ruins that they'd found.

"Launch some drones to try and establish visual contact from the air," she orders. "And get everyone on stand-by."

[??????? ?? ????]

*cocks her head to the side, taking in the CTC compound*

"Begin recording, set Masque Levels for D13, G7, and E15"

*her cloaked form starts to shimmer, becoming mottled in color, very disconcerting to look at, to the point where someone would be hard pressed to keep a constant eye on her without being forced to blink or look away. The net effect is that she is very hard to track, to the point of observers noting her as something very unremarkable, and dismissing her just as quickly. Electronic observation also takes a hit when focused on her, fuzzy static obscuring her general being, in a random pattern to suggest device failure, rather than deliberate tampering.*

*she begins a very meticulous survey of the area, noting troops, vehicles, buildings, pretty much everything she can possibly lay her eyes upon*

[Anonymouse]

"Squeak squeak..."

*Out at Sea*

Raleigh's probes head out to sea, and besides the Sea Monkey belonging to Bones and his forces, the probes probably pick up a significant amount of debris under the black sea. The debris seems to be composed of a lot of sunk sea vessels, big and small- though the large ones seem to be frequent and in larger pieces, while some of the smaller vessels are barely noticeable due to the sheer amount of damage they've sustained. However, the damage is consistent with previously used weapons from the unknown forces engagements with the CTC and Lord Bones' Storm Crow. Of course from what the Probes can pick up, there is a rather interesting residue left on the vessels... a heavy taint of darkness, the likes of which not seen since the genesis of existence.

*The Ruined City*

Passing into the crater site, at the ridge line, the previously deployed drones lose their signal with the CTC vehicles. Barring self dictating intelligences, they likely fall to the ground once their commands expire. But, as Raleigh can likely attest, the CTC patrol has lost all contact with the world they tread before, and this place is something different entirely.

While the miasma certainly gave the dark continent a nasty sense of hostility, this cratered area is pure hatred. And that terrible feeling of being watched, no matter what direction you're looking. Of course, those drugs earlier help the CTC soldiers, but perhaps that sixth sense is justified for once? With all the ruins around the crater, there's ample places to hide.

Ignoring all that though, Raleigh can find all manner of ruined shops and stores, but it'll take time to search for museums or libraries manually, as any ability to move from one point to another instantly seems severely muddled. Would take less effort to walk, ultimately, and it's not like he doesn't have a ride with the CTC.

Regardless, as the soldiers and Raleigh look around, Darius' chance glance at the sky reveals a new discovery- a starry, night sky which ends at the fringes of the crater, where the cloud cover immediately resumes. If he had the benefit of his satellites, he'd notice that geographically, the cloud cover for the rest of the world is still there over the ruined city, but through whatever boundary he, Raleigh, and the soldiers have passed, the night sky looms ahead. But, a careful observer (that maybe dabbles in astrology) wouldn't notice any of those stars or the formations they make, giving them a suddenly sinister appearance. Those ominous, foreign stars twinkle above even if it were day elsewhere in this time zone...

By chance, a couple of the operating drones in the crater area glides down into the crater itself, noticing something that sticks out- a person! This is likely relayed back to the soldiers, but the image they receive is fuzzy at best- but it appears to be a man just standing there in the middle.

*Steel Talons Crash Site, Volcano*

Departing the crash site, the scout buggy leaves the cooled lava flow, with all the dark continent to explore. Of course, the miasma begins its ghastly work immediately, but the Steel Talons' have prepared well for the corrosion, especially given the other soldiers' earlier performance. If they head West, they'll eventually get to the city and if they go south, they'll reach the CTC base. So many choices.

*CTC Base of Operations*

Assuming they're able to get into the CTC frequencies (or received them earlier), they likely make note of the fact that the CTC has lost contact with the expedition to the crater. Fortunately, those drones floating outside the city that establish a link to the base likely start sending in all sorts of interesting data, along with the geographic data on the generally flat terrain until one reaches the city center- and then vanish again. Bottom line is the center of that city is a mystery, and for now, there's nothing that can determine from it aside from one's own eyes, it seems.

"Squeak squeak..."

[Jello Shot Mischa]

"Squeak squeak..."
*The Ruined City*

Passing into the crater site, at the ridge line, the previously deployed drones lose their signal with the CTC vehicles. Barring self dictating intelligences, they likely fall to the ground once their commands expire. But, as Raleigh can likely attest, the CTC patrol has lost all contact with the world they tread before, and this place is something different entirely.

While the miasma certainly gave the dark continent a nasty sense of hostility, this cratered area is pure hatred. And that terrible feeling of being watched, no matter what direction you're looking. Of course, those drugs earlier help the CTC soldiers, but perhaps that sixth sense is justified for once? With all the ruins around the crater, there's ample places to hide.

Ignoring all that though, Raleigh can find all manner of ruined shops and stores, but it'll take time to search for museums or libraries manually, as any ability to move from one point to another instantly seems severely muddled. Would take less effort to walk, ultimately, and it's not like he doesn't have a ride with the CTC.

Regardless, as the soldiers and Raleigh look around, Darius' chance glance at the sky reveals a new discovery- a starry, night sky which ends at the fringes of the crater, where the cloud cover immediately resumes. If he had the benefit of his satellites, he'd notice that geographically, the cloud cover for the rest of the world is still there over the ruined city, but through whatever boundary he, Raleigh, and the soldiers have passed, the night sky looms ahead. But, a careful observer (that maybe dabbles in astrology) wouldn't notice any of those stars or the formations they make, giving them a suddenly sinister appearance. Those ominous, foreign stars twinkle above even if it were day elsewhere in this time zone...

By chance, a couple of the operating drones in the crater area glides down into the crater itself, noticing something that sticks out- a person! This is likely relayed back to the soldiers, but the image they receive is fuzzy at best- but it appears to be a man just standing there in the middle.

The CTC soldiers spend several minutes simply trying to gather and analyze the data they're already acquiring.

"Something's wrong with the sky, sir," the tech points out, and Darius glances curiously. "The constellations aren't correct for these geographic coordinates. I'm not sure if they correspond to another world, or are some kind of artificial construct that resembles a night sky."

The lieutenant nods. "Have one of the drones ascend and get a closer look at it. It could be an object, an energy field, even a portal to yet another space."

One of the convoy's drones, given its new instructions, starts rising upwards, trying to scan the "night sky". Meanwhile, the other two detect the humanoid figure in the crater, and following their own programmed curiosity, start to approach it. The CTC soldiers watch through the visual feeds, trusting the mechanical devices to be able to approach more safely than they could themselves.

The lieutenant does contact the SIBLING who'd spoken with him before, though. "13-76H, how are you holding up?"

"Adquately, sir. We are noticing that this space seems to have a negative effect on our abilities, however. My own sensory abilities are degraded here, and the T-series are reporting that their abilities seem degraded as well. Possibly not at combat ranges, but any longer-range teleportation is likely to be impossible."

Darius grimaces at this news. "So... we might be depending on the ED units the most. Thanks for the update, though." He frowns, glancing back at the displays from the drones, revealing the fuzzy figure in the crater. Given the palpable feeling of hatred and being watched, he has his doubts that figure may prove friendly.

"Have the armored contingent on standby. If things get hairy, we might need to withdraw under fire. In the meantime, prep the second squad to start checking out some of the nearby buildings for any information."

The soldiers of the third vehicle start to disembark, fanning out to secure any nearby buildings, making a preliminary search for any documentation.

*CTC Base of Operations*

Assuming they're able to get into the CTC frequencies (or received them earlier), they likely make note of the fact that the CTC has lost contact with the expedition to the crater. Fortunately, those drones floating outside the city that establish a link to the base likely start sending in all sorts of interesting data, along with the geographic data on the generally flat terrain until one reaches the city center- and then vanish again. Bottom line is the center of that city is a mystery, and for now, there's nothing that can determine from it aside from one's own eyes, it seems.

"Squeak squeak..."

Major Durant watches the incoming data feeds from the airborne drones that head for the ruins, establishing a link with the drones left behind by the convoy -- which, upon losing contact with the convoy, went into autonomous mode, as all CTC drones are programmed to do, following their last orders to stay on station and relay data to the base. The CTC does take note of the apparent horizon, beyond which no information can return, and starts doing their best to map out its boundaries while scanning it for any energy emissions that might identify what caused it.

As the enigmatic cloaked figure conceals itself, she glances with some annoyance at her readings. "Rather suspicious, isn't it?" she asks Elly, who shrugs.

"Perhaps our initial assessment was incorrect?"

"Perhaps..." the major says with a sigh. "Oh well... she's doing a very good job of hiding herself. I suppose we could task one of the P-series to try and monitor her movements. Or... there's always other ways to track what someone is doing."

[Raleigh]

Hm... *Flicks his hand and a small little disk slides out of his sleeve and into place between his fingers. Since he had stepped out of the transport earlier he had begun looking around and noticed the lack of even psychic communication being possible.* Let us see if its possible to cross the barrier back out. *He presses a button on the disk which makes it start to give off readings that would dupe even a spell into thinking the disk is a person. He tosses it toward the edges of the dead field before looking up at the sky above.* I've been to several alien worlds but I'm unsure if I recognize any of these stars. Oh well, nothing to do but the usual gather info until whatever likely horrible death pops up to play with today. *He looks around for a larger looking store before setting off toward it.* Darius, I'm going in here. It might have some records inside or at least some info about the people. Worse comes to worse I'll use some psychometry. Scream if our horrible demise has arrived, alright?

[??????? ?? ????]

As the enigmatic cloaked figure conceals itself, she glances with some annoyance at her readings. "Rather suspicious, isn't it?" she asks Elly, who shrugs.

"Perhaps our initial assessment was incorrect?"

"Perhaps..." the major says with a sigh. "Oh well... she's doing a very good job of hiding herself. I suppose we could task one of the P-series to try and monitor her movements. Or... there's always other ways to track what someone is doing."

As she moves through the base, an analysis of disruption might reveal her general location, but hard to pinpoint in accuracy, though her non random movement does hinder the cloaking device, albeit slightly, whatever she is doing, there is a purpose to it. She sits still at four separate locations in the CTC, for no longer than a few minutes at each one, before continuing her movement.