Ascention, the search for Vehemence

"The star of Chaos!" Lady Raine exclaimed. What evil had inhabited these poor souls and why? "We need to find the Arch Chancellor, quickly. It would not due for him to fall into the hands of the ones who did this.." She looked From RayDeg to Widah, Lord Croatia, James T SELF. "Do any of you know your way around?"

And before we rush forward...any automated defenses we need to be aware of?

Lord Croatia, still standing in front of the fountain, waiting to retrieve his sword. as Baron Grizzly approaches,

Lord Croatia was thinking to himself "I wonder if Duke Gehenna had an experiment go wrong, is this his doing? No, he is more into his purple haze, How could his happen?"

Lady Raine pointed out the star of eight arrows pointing outwards on the necks of these beasts, Where had he seen this symbol before?

"We really need to Find Vehemence. Look, the one pinned by your sword, Michael, and look at the one here. He's changed. These creatures were once human. We need to find out what caused this and I feel that somehow this is tied up with the Arch Chancellor. " Lady Raine was becoming anxious. Grizzly being there gave small comfort in the light of the scene they had all just witnessed.

Grizzly, Widah , James, have you seen this symbol before?

Widah, Perhaps Lord Croatia, but it was long ago.
James, No never seen it
Grizzly, Yes, but it was ages ago

I have also but cannot remember where. but if my memory serves me right, it may come from a world that is more ancient than the planet my sword comes from. A place of darkness a place that no one should speak of. it is a place of only death.

Commander Defiant’s ship finally reaches the palace grounds; he lands his craft among the ships of Lady Raine Castle, Lord Croatia, Margrave Widah Xulub, James T SELF, and others. Some of these ships are unfamiliar to the Commander as he moves passed them towards the great gates of the palace. The Commanders spine started to tingle with dread and death as he approaches the palace gates. Wondering why the gates are locked as he attempts to open them Defiant reaches into his pack for his ComPad, trusty device he thought as he tapped away at its face. Gritting his teeth and trying again the commander becomes visibly irritated. “Damn pad, what in hell is going on here?” the commanders Compad on which he has come to rely on for area scans, communications, and terrain mapping, was not able to scan the Palace Gates. “The other commanders must be inside” thought defiant to himself, “but why would they lock the gates behind them?” Or did they? Defiant’s mind began to race as he summarily was trying to remember every conversation about the Palace at Thera he had either heard or was part of. Was there another entrance? He thought not as it was said Vehemence’s Palace was one of the most secure in the entire universe. Searching around the walls close to the gate, behind a statue, Defiant finds a small depression in a wall seam. Tapping at that area of the wall he’s certain there is a hollow behind a 2ft x 2ft section of wall immediately adjacent to the depression. He works his fingers into the depression and tugs with all his strength, the commander shifts the wall section slightly revealing to him the outline of a removable piece. Pulling on that edge of that section he manages to work it free and drops it to the ground.
Returning his attention to the hollow he finds a control panel, formerly hidden by the phony wall section he removed. There are a few lights and a keypad on its face, the characters are unfamiliar to him. Defiant thinks to himself “a lot of good this does me, now all I need is the code”. Suddenly the commander remembers the contents of the alert message he received at Nukes N Bee’s, at the end of that message was a series of characters matching the characters on the keypad. He enters the characters in the order they appear at the end of that alert message.

As Widah's comrades and he examine the scene, from deep in his subconscious bubbles up bits and pieces of old memory as he maintains his focus on the information at hand.

"Worse than death I fear Lord Croatia. I had purged the memory of this dire mark from the top of my mind long ago as I thought the taint of Chaos purged from this universe, but it appears that that was wishful thinking." Widah gives a nod to the ominous looking figure of RayDeg and extends a hand. "RayDeg, I presume. Your reputation precedes you. Your arrival was most fortuitous it seems. I shudder to think what might have become of our dear Lady had she come upon these abominations alone."

For the First Time Lady Raine Castle's knees become weak. The adrenalin rush is gone and now she feels shaken by what Margrave Widah has just said.

"Heh heh none can doubt the valor of our Nation's women. As to your question James, the palace seems to be on a backup power system; there's barely light to see. I would expect some serious defenses at the gate, but we've made it this far unmolested. The security systems could view us as friendlies, but that wouldn't explain how RayDeg didn't trigger them unless they already have his biometrics on file which is possible. He has spent quite a bit of time on Thera of late. I don't know, James. Technology is your area of expertise, not mine."

James uses this opportunity to leave a small beacon near the fountain. The beacon sends a low power encrypted signal when interrogated by a VnV Signal, it can also act a communication link between troops in the field--and remotely providing audio as well as video of the surroundings. "Just in case someone comes looking for us."

Now that we're inside, perhaps we can hack into a data server and get some floor plans of the palace and a possible location for the Arch Chancellor. Maybe turn on some lights in here. (ooc: my kingdom for an R2 unit).

Margrave, do you have a feeling as to which direction we should go?

As they all stood listening to Margrave Widah, Lord Croatia reaches for his sword that had the gruesome figure stuck to the fountain. With one tug, the blade pulls free and the body splashes into the fountain.

Listening to the conversations going on Lord Croatia inspects his blade. as he expected no damage.

James, Lets see if we can find a data terminal around here..

as lord croatia shows no sweat retrieving his blade, Baron grizzly was more than impressed
"impressive blade you have, lord croatia. when this is over i would like to have a chat with you conserning this blade of yours.
but first things first, we have to find vehemence!
if you all have no objection, i'll scout the next few yards
i got a good sent for danger, and we bearmen can see good in the dark."

Commander Defiant wrote:Commander Defiant’s ship finally reaches the palace grounds; he lands his craft among the ships of Lady Raine Castle, Lord Croatia, Margrave Widah Xulub, James T SELF, and others. Some of these ships are unfamiliar to the Commander as he moves passed them towards the great gates of the palace. The Commanders spine started to tingle with dread and death as he approaches the palace gates. Wondering why the gates are locked as he attempts to open them Defiant reaches into his pack for his ComPad, trusty device he thought as he tapped away at its face. Gritting his teeth and trying again the commander becomes visibly irritated. “Damn pad, what in hell is going on here?” the commanders Compad on which he has come to rely on for area scans, communications, and terrain mapping, was not able to scan the Palace Gates. “The other commanders must be inside” thought defiant to himself, “but why would they lock the gates behind them?” Or did they? Defiant’s mind began to race as he summarily was trying to remember every conversation about the Palace at Thera he had either heard or was part of. Was there another entrance? He thought not as it was said Vehemence’s Palace was one of the most secure in the entire universe. Searching around the walls close to the gate, behind a statue, Defiant finds a small depression in a wall seam. Tapping at that area of the wall he’s certain there is a hollow behind a 2ft x 2ft section of wall immediately adjacent to the depression. He works his fingers into the depression and tugs with all his strength, the commander shifts the wall section slightly revealing to him the outline of a removable piece. Pulling on that edge of that section he manages to work it free and drops it to the ground.
Returning his attention to the hollow he finds a control panel, formerly hidden by the phony wall section he removed. There are a few lights and a keypad on its face, the characters are unfamiliar to him. Defiant thinks to himself “a lot of good this does me, now all I need is the code”. Suddenly the commander remembers the contents of the alert message he received at Nukes N Bee’s, at the end of that message was a series of characters matching the characters on the keypad. He enters the characters in the order they appear at the end of that alert message.

After the code is inserted into the pad there are few seconds of silence, Commander defiant was just about to check the symbols he entered as the keypad seemed to come to life; He could hear electric connections being made as the primary power kicked back in. Not far from him appeared a familiar hologram, it was L.I.L.I.T.H. the artificial intelligence running the palace security programs. The image had difficulty materialising but he could clearly recognise her.

Lilith: Initiating....please wait.....

Lilith: System integration error.... primary systems offline....

Lilith: Secondary systems offline....

Lilith: Access mainframe denied, hostile programming detected. Security warning. Initiating program lockdown.

Lilith: Lockdown in effect, attempting mainframe lockdown

Lilith: Access mainframe denied, hostile programming detected, attempting bypass.

Lilith: Bypass failed, emergency scenario level five, initiating security systems.

Lilith: Level five security systems activated, scanning...

Lilith: Hostile entities detected: Sector Three, sector 7, sector 8, sector 13, sector 25, sector 31, 32, 37, 41, 53 ...

Lilith; Initiating countermeasures.

Commander Defiant listened intently to Lilith, when she was finished he tried to interrupt her:

"Lilith!!! stand down countemeasures!!! Friendly targest are inside the palace!!!"

Lilith responded coolly:

Lilith: "Voice authorisation control check, VnV Commander Defiant indentified"

Lilith: "Unable to comply, level five secure voice command control disabled, all command functions are reouted to the war room."

By all means Baron Grizzly we shall talk after this. We will have a pint of your famous ale and discuss the properties of this amazing blade.

SARGENT! Yes, Commander! assign some men to help cover Baron Grizzly, we can uses his heightened senses to scout our surroundings.

James, how are the internal defenses coming? Are you able to access the palace computers yet?

Sargent!! yes commander, spread your men out a cover our perimeter, where there is one unfriendly there will be more. and watch for the internal defenses I have a feeling this place is loaded with them. And Sargent! Tell them not to go wandering into places they don't belong. Keep the others is sight at all times. Is that understood. Yes Commander. Sargent, make them understand this is a very dangerous place at the moment. we do not need unnecessary causalities. Now Go! Yes Sir.

Widah, do you get the sense that Vehemence is still safe?

Duke Anton come in! Duke Anton come in? Why don't we have comm. Yet!!
SARGENT!! Yes Commander, why cannot I talk to my Flag Ship yet!! Sir, I will see what is taking Corporal Tims so long. And find out why we have so much dam interference.

Lord Croatia, thinks to himself "I should have stayed in bed""this is going to be a long day"

The lights come on. Lord Croatia turns to look at James, and says "Good Job!"

James, "it wasn't me" at that split second everyone realizes that they are now in a world of shit!!

Widah remembered the stories he had heard about The Arch Chancellors Past... Over the ages the Eigh-arrow sign had become a myth, a myth that told of a planet reigned by the foces of evil, where pain and torture were commonplace... He knew that this was not far from the truth, the eight-arrow sign.... the Ymyrrians.... or at least the sign of the gods they worshipped. He knew little of the arch chancellor's people, only that they we're sopposed to be exctinct and Vehemence the sole survivor. Could his thousand year old past have caught up with him?

Baron Grizzly:"if you all have no objection, i'll scout the next few yards
i got a good sent for danger, and we bearmen can see good in the dark."

Lord Croatia: "Duke Anton come in! Duke Anton come in? Why don't we have comm. Yet!!
SARGENT!! Yes Commander, why cannot I talk to my Flag Ship yet!! Sir, I will see what is taking Corporal Tims so long. And find out why we have so much dam interference."

James T SELF: "It might be the walls itself, my uplink should fix the problem soon. and maybe we should turn on some lights in here...."

As if by magic, the lights in the hallway turned on, somehow main power had been restored.

Though the hallways a female voice sounded, Widah and the others recognised it immedeately as LILITH, Duke Gehenna's first creation, The AI controlling virtually all systems in the palace.Her voice was cool:

LILITH: Systems online...

LILITH: Warning! hostile entities detected: Sector Three, sector 7, sector 8, sector 13, sector 25, sector 31, 32, 37, 41, 53 ...

LILITH: Level five security systems activated, Initiating countermeasures...

Defiant knowing he must warn his fellow commanders of the impending danger, grabs his compad which is showing status messages from his fleet in orbit. He attempts to open a com-channel to his flagship and Jehanne Darc, ”Commander Defiant to Jehanne Darc one the Gen1 Battle cruiser; scan, locate and identify all VnV personnel on the planets surface within one hundred yards of the Palace”. His Compad just clicked and buzzed with static, NO reply from the Gen one or Jehanne Darc. Hurriedly he accesses the status screens of his fleet and sends a summary of the events at the gate and Lilith’s warning messages. He then adds instructions to Jehanne Darc to transmit Lilith’s Warning messages over all VnV inter fleet communications channels both voice and text, and to alert the commanders inside of his presence at the Palace gates. As he sees his orders scroll down the current status screen he knows his message has reached Jehanne Darc. His order will be, without doubt followed by his officers. Moments later the alert icon begins to flash, he knows his communiqué is being transmitted by his fleet. He taps a second message into his com pad for his fleet. “I want all communications and science teams to find a way to cut through this interference on voice com channels, there is no fail here ladies and gentlemen, make it happen!” Returning his attentions to the Control Panel, he attempts to summon L.I.L.I.T.H. once more. “Lilith!!! Identify VnV Personnel within the Palace walls! Defiant prays his message reaches his allies within the walls of the Palace, and they are able to reach the War Room. The thought of his causing the Palace countermeasures to come online, stirs fear within his soul for his comrades safety.

grizzly to his assigned men:" i don't feel comfi, at your stations men, defensive positions and set your guns to kill"

Lady Raine wasn't feeling too "comfi" either. With the Palace locking sections off and shutting down communications, all this technology that James T SELF and the others put stock in seemed like a loosing enterprise. But at this point it was all they had.

"My friends, it was none other than Duke Gehenna that designed these uh countermeasures, so as you can imagine the surprises he's laid in store for hostiles will be gruesomely efficient. Yes, I still sense our Arch Chancellor, but there is something else out there now I didn't notice before--something powerful like a hood suddenly taken off a lantern. It's strangely reminiscent of V, but it's...so much power. I've never felt anything like it before." Widah seems taken aback by whatever he's intuiting, but a message alert from his bracer computer snaps him back. "That's twice in just a matter of minutes. I must stay focused," he thinks to himself as he sends the message to his HUD. "Are you all getting this? It's from Defiant."

"Huh, something actually working around here." Raine said as she received the message. The uncomfortable feeling didn't leave, even though she new there would be others getting thru, what would they all be facing? She was fairly sure these creatures were not the worst of it .

slowely but firmly the scout team assigned to Braon Grizz continius there scout

Widah, thank you for that, it is just what I need to know that Duke Gehenna was the designer of the security. That does not give me a good feeling.

(Crackles on his head set) Commander Croatia, this is the Duke Anton over.

Finally, some communications around here. Duke Anton, Croatia here stand by. Duke Anton standing by. a beep in his headset alerts the Commander to his data cuff. As he look at it, it is a message from Defiant. As he scans the message. he thinks " this is not good" "not good at all"

Alright, I assume you all got the same message from Defiant? we know we have more hostiles in the palace.

Lilith, Voice authorization: Gama Epsilon 4319 VnV Lord Michael Croatia!
LILITH: "Voice authorization control check, VnV Lord Michael Croatia identified"

Lilith, could you please bring up display map of the Palace grounds and display all sectors with friendlies and hostiles.

LILITH: Access Denied: this function is not authorized for this location.

Lilith, where is this function authorized from?
LILITH: War Room Only.

Widah. do you know were the war room is? I have never been in there and I don't know my why around this palace very well.

Duke Anton, can you scan the palace grounds and see where all the hostiles are? No, Commander, we cannot penetrate the atmospheric disturbances that are blocking all our sensors. We have the tech teams working on it right now. they say it may take 3 hours

Croatia: tell them they have 20 minutes. 3 hours is unacceptable. Croatia out.

James, can you get a map of this place. I would hate to wander around here for hours looking for a place that may be hundreds of feet below us.

The soldiers slowly advanced throught he hallway away from the fountain, Baron Grizzly and the others right behind them. Suddely the first soldier raised his hand, indication everyone to stop.

"What is it?" Baron grizzly whispered to the best of his bear ability.

"I hear something..." The soldier answered.

For a few seconds the group halted. A metallic sound clicked & the first soldier fell to the ground, screaming and moaning. Another metallic sound and a fraction of a second later the second soldier suffered the same fate, screaming like a gutted pig. They both seemed to grab at their feet. Just before the third soldier suffered the same fate, they could all see a metallic disk shooting from a horizontal slit in the wall that ran the entire length of the hallway, about 15 centimeters up from the floor. The disc flew at high speed to the other side of the hallway dissapearing in a similar slit in the wall. The disc's path had crossed the soldiers ankles, cutting though them with lightning speed and seperating his feet from his legs. Besides the screams of the soldiers several more of the same metallic clicking sounds could be heard all around them....

---

CD: "Lilith!!! Identify VnV Personnel within the Palace walls!"

LILITH: "Unable to comply Commander Defiant, Level three voice command control has been disabled. Security lockdown is in effect"

CD: "I know that! But you're killing our own people!!!"

For a few seconds the image of LILITH seemed to hesitate... The hologram was being distorted again.

LILITH: "Attempting emergency override...."

LILITH: "Attempting emergency override...."

The image of lilith was degrading rapidly, whatever intelligence this AI possessed it was clearly struggling against it's programming.

LILITH: "Attempting emergency override...."

LILITH; "Emergency override succeeding, initiating lockdown deactivation procedure...."

Commander Defiant sighed with relief, whatever LILITH had done it seemed to have worked. He hoped that his friends were still ok. The image of lilith seemed to stabilise again. A weird little smirk appeared on her face:

LILITH "Cancelling lockdown deactivation procedure.... reinstating emergency status level five"

CD: "Lilith what are you doing! Don't cancel the procedure!

Lilith's smirk turned into a creepy smile:"

LILITH: "Lilith is dead Commander Defiant"

The hologram dissapeared.

From a distance, screams could be head from the scouting party that had left the immediate area were the other were.

Baron Grizzly: GET BEHIND SOMETHING SOLID NOW!!! as he dives behind a solid granite pillar. as one the metallic discs lodged itself in the pillar above his head.

As the soldiers, were screaming from the wounds inflected on them by the defense system. the rest of the scouting party took cover behind anything that would protect them.

The comm went nuts:
Alpha leader this Scout, I repeat Alpha leader this is Scout over. (Commander Croatia could hear all of the team commutations in head set)

Scout this Alpha leader what is your situation over.

Scout: we are pined down by the defense grid. 3 casualties at the moment. Baron Grizzly is secure for the moment. Situation: terrifying. request instructions over.

Alpha leader: stay put and out of sight. Not sure what this system reacts to. could be heat, could be movement. could even be your bio signs. over

Scout: Roger. will wait for instructions, over

James tries desperately to get whatever he can on he datapad...maps, floorplans anything....if that damn Lillith can't provide it maybe there's something on an external source! All while cowering behind the biggest stone column. Maybe that stupid reporter's blog has something? What was her name again???

Shit, is there anyway to at least determine what "sector" we are in....what the hell its worth a shot: "Lillith or whatever the hell you are, what sector are we in and provide a map to the war room. In addition, by my authorization as Count, VnV nation, disable all automated palace defenses.

Next, we've got to figure out how to get help to those men...