Nexura Wars

[Prime Spinosaur]

SPOILER: Click to show

The first thing Gale Walker noticed as he passed through the portal was that it was far warmer than the arctic cold. It was also humid, almost, every breath of air seemed to be dense, Gale was pretty sure if he took out his sword, he'd be able to cut into it.

He looked down hill from where the portal was, and saw a lust tropical environment, everything was green, mist rolled in from all sides. The Sage looked behind himself and the portal to see high rocky foot hills and mountains covered by this lush vegetation, and a mist covering the bottom. He looked up at the night sky.

"This is nothing like home," said Gale, "these stars, they're different, I can't find any of the constellations of our sky." He frowned. "I can't do divination in this sky, Atticus. We'll have to do without the stars to guide us. We might not even be able to use them to find our direction."

Atticus looked up at the sky, then downward, they were on a large hill that had a flat top, almost like a plateau, the trees growth stopped about thirty feet away from the portal making a foreboding clearing.

"We're going to have to set up a point of summoning, here," said Atticus. He looked at the other Order members that came through. "Morgan, could you please set up a Apparation Circle?"

The mage nodded as he got to work.

"We should set up basecamp," said Gale, "tomorrow morning we should scout the area and-"

The Order's ears were bombarded with a horrible sound, a roar, that echoed throughout the entire jungle. Gale immediately drew his sword and looked around. The roar seemed to come from all directions. Then there was another roar, this one was more high pitched, and seemed to scream in fear. The deeper roar sounded off again, before the scream of the other, than silence.

"What was that?" asked Atticus, turning to Gale.

"I've never heard the sound of a creature like that," said Gale. The mages looked amongst themselves in fear. The night it seemed, would last forever.

[WolfBloodRei]

At the base of the Silver Mountains, near the edge of the Moonveil Valley, another portal allowed a second group entry into the world of Nexura.

The first person to step out was a tall blond woman in a business suit, wearing her hair in a ponytail. Looking through narrow-rimmed glasses, she glanced around as a few armed soldiers followed behind, warily aiming in all directions.

"Where is this?" The woman wondered a loud to herself, looking over the valley and looking back over her shoulders at the mountains behind them. "Perhaps we've stumbled upon a supernatural's teleportation spot. But where on Earth is this?"

"I... Don't think we're on Earth anymore, ma'am," said a somewhat shorter, dirty-blond haired man.

"What do you mean, Mr. Barry?" The woman asked.

"I mean-"

"He means that we've stumbled upon the gateway to another world, perhaps?" Suggested another tall, blonde. This one was male, and he'd just come out of the portal behind them. Unlike them, he wasn't wearing a business suit and, in fact, was wearing a somewhat-wrinkled lab coat. He pushed up his own pair of narrow-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose as he walked past the other two and their guards as he examined some sort of device.

"Another world?" The woman asked. "Don't be ridiculous, Hammond."

"Dr. Hammond," he corrected.

"Yeah, your funny."

The man looked up, locking eyes with the woman. The two people, both with the same blonde hair and green eyes, looked almost related. But this wasn't the case. Although, between some Aquarius members, they almost fought like a married couple. But they weren't that, either.

"I know I am, Therese," the man said with a grin.

"That's McClain to you, Hammond."

"Whatever you say, Therese."

He ignored Therese's icy glare as he turned and began to examine some nearby vegetarian. "Hn. Tropical. And the air seems a little more... Dense. And so fresh, too."

"Karl?" Asked a brunette male, another one in a lab coat, as he approached. Karl simply waved a dismissive hand.

"Not now, Wyatt, I'm analyzing the flora and the air. Go make yourself useful and bring me my writing journals."

"Uh, right..." Wyatt fished a black journal out of a big on his shoulder and handed it to Karl, who pulled out a pen and started scribbling things down.

"We're going to need more light," Therese said. "It's too dark too really see anything else."

"You might want to borrow some night-vision goggles then, Therese," Wyatt said. "I'll go back and get you a pair if you need?"

"No, I'll just call the second team and tell them to bring some," she said, getting out a phone.

"You're not going to be able to communicate with them like that," Karl said.

"And why not?"

"If we're on a different world, there isn't going to be any reception."

"I doubt we're on a different world, Karl," she said, looking at the phone. Nope. No reception. "..."

"Told you," Karl grinned.

"Mr. Barry? Be a dear and go back through. Tell the second team we're going to need more night vision goggles and camping equipment. We're going to be here awhile."

"Yes, Ms. McClain," her assistant said, before running back through the portal. He came back in a split second later.

"I thought I told you to go talk to the second team."

"I did," he said in confusion.

"You came right back in the second you left!"

"I did? I was gone ten minutes."

"That proves it even more, doesn't it?" Karl asked. "We're in a different world. Time moves differently here than it does back at home."

There was a distant roar through the night, echoing through the trees.

"What was that?" Therese asked after a long moment of silence fell upon the first team.

"I don't know," Karl said, before grinning once more. "But I'd love to find out!"

"Karl are you nuts?" Wyatt asked in cautious whisper. "Why would you want to know? That thing sounded huge!"

Karl simply shrugged.

"So?"

"You're insane."

"Insanity is just a label, Wyatt."

[Anya the Purple]

The Counsel of Speakers gathered around the Soulstone. "What is it?" whispered one.

"It is a sign," said Speaker One. "Four has been through it, and she will report."

Speaker Four stepped forward. "I didn't go far. I wanted the Counsel to know first. But yes, I have been through. It leads to... Another place. A cave, I think, but it doesn't look like anywhere I know of. I think... It may be... A world other than our own."

Speaker one nodded. "I have reason to believe that it is the world of the Ultimate Force."

A whisper passed between the other four Speakers.

"We never knew of any world other than ours," said Speaker Two, "Let alone where the Ultimate Force resides." He looked to Speaker One. "What evidence do you have of this?" In response, Speaker One pulled his Lifestone from the hidden pocket in his tunic.

The other Speakers said nothing. If Speaker One had received a message from the Ultimate Force, nobody would question him.

"We will send a group through to the other side to explore. Two, Four, you will lead. Take Keepers Five and Eight. Five is one of our most devoted Keepers, and Eight already knows about this." A nod from the other four, and the meeting adjourned.

About an hour later, the Counsels of Keepers and Speakers, and Keeper Eight, were gathered around the Soulstone. After a few brief words from Speaker One, the four crossed through the Portal.

[lovely corte]

The amazement of this new world had warn off from Avenger Company ten minutes after they reached the Breach.

"Form up!" Grave Digger yelled, his voice cracking, puberty did that.

Two Legions, ten wide, five length. They were a ragged bunch, and neither of the two Legions appeared all that formidable.

Patch-work armor, comprised of sporting equipment, cardboard, paper mache. One man wore a chicken suit, whilst another wore snow-pants, with a hooded jacket.

One thing was for sure, the affirmative cries of the Legion as they moved out and spread a formation around the Legions walking through the lines.

Defiler Company, as they were known. Renowned for their Defense, or comparrison to Avenger Companies pure offense. They were already, ten minutes in, building large fortifications.

Spiked pits were dug in a half-circle, with ramparts climbing up as they fought to dig them into the grund that would keep them up. They were formed from thin sheets of metal, lined with upward barbs, covered in acid.

They were hard to make. They required going to three countries, which was a task of itself, given the fact that walking through a world of pitch black with so many enemies. It took years, really, if you had no means of warping.

But, Bastion did. They had supplied only the best for this endeavour. To tame and fight the land, to be the Apex Predator. They were setting a foothold for a new age of men.

The men worked without lights, accustomed to the darkness to the point where their eyes were sharper than most nocturnal enemies.

Avenger Company, whilst Defiler Company worked, had set up base camp, and begun the assist. They also had set up nests of weapons at every third rampart. They had very little in the ways of gun.

Out of the five hundred strong army that was Avenger Company at Bastion, only five men had sniper rifles, assigned to every Legate. Out of five hundred, over a hundred had rifles. That wasn't to say they had ammo, but most of them used their rifles as a melee weapon, stripping it of firing pins, melting unnessential parts into weapons and arm, and using the lightest parts as swords and shields and armor.

Bow and arrows, barbed, precise, swords, usually machetes. They were more Knights than Soldiers.

Barbed wire was now being set up, and work was progressing.

Grave Digger sat, on a crate, near the edge of the Breach. The darkness from their world leaked into Nexura, tendrils seeping out, coiling back in, and seeping back out. They never went further than that, since Angels, seven-to-eight of them, stood keeping it back until the Breach could be closed.

"Commissar?" Grave Digger commanded, clicking his fingers.

"Yes, my Legate?" Phryx asked, his drum skin resting at his side. The man was tall, lithe, pale. Malnourished, like the rest of the world. He spoke with a hoarse voice, and was dirty. He had a shaven head, like the rest of the Army, to keep the lice out.

"Have Arch-Angel Matti deploy through the breach." He said, before taking a swig of the piss water that was the dirt covered, chunky water bottle at his thigh, "Or whatever he prefers to be called these days. Get the man through here. Tell him scouts, Legios and Fleshcarve, Angelius and Meatfuck, are on the prowl."

He coughed, before a dismissing wave of the hand ushered the Commissar through the breach.

He wasn't sure what this world was like, really. But whatever it was, it was preparing for something that was unlike anything else. It was hard, brutal, ruthless and powered by madmen.

They didn't care what they found, they were securing a place for their children, their children's children, in the light of a new day.

[Darth Pichu]

As Ratio Vartle stepped through the portal, a wave of raw magic rushed up to greet him and a smile crossed his face. He knew he'd found the right place. From the moment he'd placed the portal he was certain, this world was a wellspring of magic. He could feel it, welling up around him, making his hair stand on end, practically giving him the chills. He'd never felt magic this strong before up close. It was like being dunked in cold water after having been dried out for weeks in the desert.

This would be their new home. It had to be.

The summit of Ashmouth mountain loomed above them, obscured by a pouring halo of grey smoke and ash. The heat of the place was already quite unfamiliar, a vast departure from the frozen tundra they usually lived in. It would be a change. Something to get used to, but worth every bit of it.

"Sir, this is amazing..." a voice breathed, coming up behind him. The second person to step through the portal was, naturally, Ratio's second in command, Seven Serrina. The handsome blond young man seemed just as impressed by the overwhelming well of magic as Ratio had been.

"We've stumbled across a wellspring." Ratio said, nodding to his second in command, " A source of magic that stems from deep within the earth." he put a hand to the ground, a smile crossing his face, "This is a deep pocket of it, but it's not the source."

"A... source sir?" Seven repeated, mild interest crossing his face, "And I assume your intention is to seek out that source and claim it as your own?"

"In any other case I would deem that quite a rash endeavor." Ratio said, standing stiffly, brushing off his garish red cloaks, "But in this case I must make an exception."

He glanced at Seven looking around.

"Do you feel that?"

"Feel what, sir?"

"We're not alone here." his face turned grim, "There are other mages around. Powerful ones." he smiled, "But the magic of this place is untouched. They aren't natives. They're explorers, foreigners like us."

"How many are they?"

Ratio shook his head, "I couldn't say. But they are many, and there are probably many more we can't feel." he glanced at his second in command, "If a mass exodius is to be made, this land must belong to the Brotherhood and only the Brotherhood. Another magical force will deplete the resources of this world, or worse, they could find the source of the magic before we do, and cut us off from our magic if they wished. That would be..." he trailed off.

"Catastrophic."

Four more mages filed in behind the leader of the Brotherhood. It was clear there was much to be done, and little time to do it.

"Set up a campsite for us, Wyatt, Rachen. Averis scout the land..." he looked around, "Our conquest of this land begins now"

[Anya the Purple]

The first thing that Keeper Eight noticed was the smell. It was different from that of Ellair, but he couldn't quite place how.

Meanwhile, Speaker Two had pulled his Lifestone out of his robes, holding it in both hands, eyes closed as if meditating. Keeper Eight knew he was listening to the Ultimate Force as it flowed through his Lifestone. They used the word listening, but there wasn't really a sound to go along with it. It was more a feeling, simply letting it flow into your veins and understanding what the Ultimate Force wanted. As a Learner, he'd practiced this technique often, but it would be many more years of training before he could do it as well as any of he Speakers, or even Keeper Five, who was next to him.

"The Ultimate Force is strong here." Speaker Two's voice pulled him from his reverie. "Although the Soulstone is not present, I can hear the Ultimate Force resonating clearly. It seems Speaker One was right." He led the group out of the cave.

Keeper Eight was too awed to speak as he followed Keeper Five. The group had naturally settled into a line ordered by rank, placing Keeper Seven at the back. The tunnel in which they found themselves was dark, but the people of Ellair were used to living with little light, and he could see the shape of the tunnel easily. So busy was he looking around that he almost rammed into Keeper Five when the group suddenly pulled to a stop.

Keeper Two had held his arm out and was listening intently - to a real sound, this time. Voices.

"That proves it even more, doesn't it? We're in a different world. Time moves differently here than it does back home."

Cautiously, Speaker Two stepped forward, towards the voices. Then a roar pierced the air, causing all four of them to jump back. Ears ringing, Keeper Eight couldn't tell what the voices said next. Speaker Two had apparently heard something he couldn't, though, because he began moving forward again, the other three following closely.

They turned a corner, and Keeper Eight flinched. The tunnel had opened into an area at least as bright as the hollow of the Soulstone, though the light seemed to be coming in from the side rather than up from the ground. It was almost blinding. Still unable to open his eyes, he heard Speaker Two address the voices.

"Who are you?" he asked. "What are you doing in this sacred land?"

[lovely corte]

Angelius and Meatfuck.

The two were an inseparable pair, brothers-in-arms, and at heart. No-one ever really saw the two seperated, neither by warfare or peace-time, wherever that may be.

They were Avenger Company's first Scouts, forward observations, and their strongest, lightest, smartest and fastest scouts. There was a popular story about how the two had run from Russia to Germany in under a month.

How?

With a shitload of demons on your back.

The two were armed with only minimal gear and weapons. Angelius, a tall, dirty haired boy of only fifteen years of age, who hadn't yet earned his 'Legion-Name' or 'Nick-name' unlike Meatfuck. And Meatfuck had earned it, really.

When a man as scrawny as Meatfuck, whom was a skinny, lanky, malnourished little man, about half the height of an average man, could hold off a horde.

Well, not only him, but many credit him for being the man whom ran weapons and ammo up the frontlines when supply chains had broken down on the Eastern Fringes.

But now, the two were closing in on several locations. Light, chatter, sounds of machination. They carried on this eerie place like that ferocious roar.

They didn't really have any clue where to go, but only to the four or so landmarks around them.

The mountains to the North, where their target was. Rather, where alot of targets were. The idea was to scout out anything that remotely resembled civilization, food, trees, water supplies. Shit, snow, if that's what it took to get fresh water supplies.

And likewise, the second group had that job, only they headed to the west, towards Ashmouth Moutain, towards what looked like a reasonable place to set up a town-ship. It was covered, protected, made out of stone, and looked like the surrounding area could support life.

Legios and Fleshcarve had that honor. The two were smart, and quick, but honestly, all in-all, they were one of Avenger Company's funniest characters. They defused any situation. Which was neccessary given the fact that they started alot of shit, and were really bad fighters.

Eventually, maybe, the two groups would come up upon their new neighbors.

((A very shit way to get groups to meet each-other, but hey. Don't want to keep talking to ourselves this entire time do we?))

[WolfBloodRei]

(lovely corte: Nope! XD)

----


Immediately upon speaking, guns were trained on the mysterious speakers that came from the tunnel. Therese McClain eyed the male who spoke warily, looking him over from head to toe.

"Who are you?" She countered.

"Sacred land...?" Wyatt asked in confusion, standing over by Karl who seemed mostly disinterested by them.

"Did we run into natives already?" The question came from Karl. Though he didn't look at them at all as he continued to scribble in his journal, using a light-pen as he did so. "That was quick."

[Anya the Purple]

Speaker Two's eyes had fared slightly better than Keeper Eight's, but he still couldn't see very clearly. He could tell the people were pointing something at him, but he didn't know what. "We come here by the will of the Ultimate Force," he explained. "I trust that you are familiar with it. Possibly even more so than my people, as you are able to see in its awesome light."

Keeper Five wasn't so sure. She wouldn't openly question a Speaker, but she had her doubts. The people of Ellair had long considered themselves the Ultimate Force's chosen people. That there were others just as chosen, or even more chosen, was unthinkable. She squinted into the light, trying to see the strangers.

[WolfBloodRei]

The Ultimate Force?

There were exchanged glances between quite a few of the members in Aquarius' primary team. Confusion. Suspicion. Skepticism. And, for one person in particular, intrigue.

"The Ultimate Force, you say?" Karl inquired. "Hm. Sounds interesting. Maybe-"

"Never heard of it," Therese interjected quickly. If Karl was bothered at all by the interruption, he certainly didn't show it.

[Anya the Purple]

The four Guardians stared in shock.

"The Ultimate Force," said Keeper five slowly, finding her voice at last. "It's... I mean, you don't..." She'd had her doubts about these people, but nobody could have expected this.

"It is what gives life to the universe," explained Speaker Two. "Without it, there is nothing. It is what flows into you when you hold your Lifestone and through you when you help another person." This was what everyone in Ellair was taught from the age of two, though they didn't need to memorize it to understand.

[WolfBloodRei]

"Lifestone?" Wyatt asked, blinking. "What's a Lifestone?"

"The Ultimate Force... Hm. I think they might mean the essense of life?" Karl suggested, still more focused on his scribbling. Did he ever put that journal down? "Perhaps it's their diety?"

Therese sighed. Just what she needed. A couple of backwater worlder religious nuts.

[Anya the Purple]

"We've told you why we're here," piped up Keeper Five. She should wait for Speaker Two, but she couldn't contain herself. These strangers who didn't even have Lifestones - who didn't even know what Lifestones were - had questioned them enough. "Now you do the same. How did you get here? What are you doing?"

[WolfBloodRei]

"Your answers were vague at best," Therese said with a snort. "Why we're here and how we got here is really none of your business."

"You've really a way with people, don't you Therese?" Karl grinned, getting another icy glare from the woman. "I can answer that for her."

He turned his head slightly to look at them from a side-glance.

"It's simple really. We're here..." Karl paused and his grin grew. "For science!"

"If they even know what science is," muttered Therese.

[Anya the Purple]

"We don't owe you anything-" began Keeper Five angrily, but stopped immediately at Speaker Two's signal.

"It's clear you don't come from our world," he began, "And we heard you say you aren't from this one, either. You say you're here for science. To us, science is the study of the Ultimate Force and the things it creates. You could say we're here for science, as well." He paused, letting that sink in. While Keeper Five had spoken so rashly - such actions being the only reason she wasn't promoted to the Counsel of Keepers long ago - he had been formulating a plan. "Why don't we study this world together? I'm sure we could learn much from each other.

[lovely corte]

Legios and Fleshcarve had no idea how long they'd been running, climbing or sprinting. Nothing had really attacked them, save for Legios tripping over some twigs.

The rock climbing wasn't the hardest part. They'd climbed higher, steeper, and faster. But it was the ash and the thinning of air that made it harder to breathe.

Eventually, after reaching what felt like the peak but was barely half-way, they decided to climb back down after making plot-points on two rolls of paper. One for the Scouts, one for Grave Digger.

There was a certain relief of pressure as they descended the mountain. They could, for one, relieve themselves of their duties and return back to camp for a beer, some taint and a good masturbation session, since Avenger Company's women soldiers were bulkier than armored tanks and deadlier, and no Fleshhouse prostitutes were permitted through the breach.

The group had descended for what felt like hours but was actually minutes, until they came to an abrupt start.

"What is it, Legios?" Fleshcarve moaned, turning away from the face of the moutain, his machete in hand.

And he immediately back-peddaled.

There were other people here. And given the racket they made coming down the mountain, they probably knew there were other people here too.

[WolfBloodRei]

The members of Aquarius were generally silent as the strangers spoke. Therese was still skeptical of the entire thing and at the mention of them working together she was absolutely baffled. Working with them? Having them learn from THEM? No. Just no.

"I'm going to have to decline that offer," Therese said bluntly. "While studying this place I have no problem with, I'm absolutely against sharing any information on us with outsiders."

"Therese is a bit paranoid, but if you nice ladies and gentlemen would like to study things together, I do not particularly mind so long as you're helpful and don't get in the way," Karl said with a grin, voice almost a coo as he did.

[Anya the Purple]

Speaker Two shrugged. "That sounds reasonable." He turned back to the other Guardians. "Speaker Four, please go back and report what we've found to Speaker One." He gave her a small nod as he said that, so she would understand what he meant to do. After she left, he once again faced the others. "What do you know about this world?" he asked.

~~

"Jinn! Jinn!" The voice came from the wall surrounding the Guardians' compound. Sensor Thirty-one looked up to see a young boy sitting on top of the wall.

"Roscoe! What are you doing here in the daytime?" she whispered.

"Nobody's here. There are rumours going around that you guys found something weird!" He said, dropping into the compound. "I figured everyone would be busy studying it and stuff."

"You shouldn't have done that!" said Sensor Thirty-one, but she was grinning. "Yeah, they found something funny in the Hollow of the Soulstone." The grin faded as she saw Roscoe's eyes light up. "Oh, no, don't..."

But it was too late. Roscoe was already sprinting for the Hollow.

[WolfBloodRei]

Therese watched Speaker Four leave before looking back at Two.

"We've only just arrived," she said.

"Nothing aside from that- judging from the heat and the type of plants I can see from the limited light we have- it's tropical, currently nighttime-" Karl paused when he heard another roar somewhere to the south of them. He grinned. "-And seems to be populated with large, possibly monstrous denizens."

"What do you think they might be, Hammond?" Mr. Barry asked.

"Give me a bit to take a look around, Carson. After examining our surroundings and the flora and fauna I'll have a pretty good idea."

"Until then," Therese said as Aquarius' Secondary Team came through the portal behind them. "Set up base camp. I'm going to go back through and take care of some things. While I'm gone-"

"I'm in charge?" Karl asked, lips twitching into a grin.

"No," she said flatly. "Wyatt is."

"M-me?" Wyatt stammered incredulously. "In charge? But..."

"I know that Mr. Hammond is the head of your division, Mr. Hayes, but I don't trust leaving Karl in charge of the entire operation here. Can I count on you to make smart, careful decisions as oppose to your Division leader's rash, whimsical ones?"

"Y-! Yes Ms. McClain!" Wyatt said. "I'll do my best."

"Good. I'll be back later."

With that, Therese turned and left through the portal with two guards in tow.

Wyatt turned from her and noted Karl's mischievous expression.

"What...?" He asked warily.

"She may have put you in charge, but you already know who's really giving orders while she's gone, don't you?"

"..." Wyatt sighed. "You?"

"Excellent!" Karl beamed. "Congratulations! You've just made your first decision!"

Wyatt groaned, realizing he'd walked right into that one.

[Anya the Purple]

Keeper Five took in the exchange with an increasingly disbelieving look. These people thought they had nothing to learn from the Guardians? Even their system of ranking was bizarre and disorganized.

Of course, at the moment, they definitely had the advantage of numbers. The Guardians would have to be careful, at least for a little while.

"How can you tell it's night?" asked Keeper Eight, curious. He blushed and slipped back behind Keeper Five, embarrassed for speaking out of turn, but continued at a nod from Speaker Two. "I-is there some kind of clock around here? We haven't seen one..."

[WolfBloodRei]

As disorganized as they would be without Therese around, the numbers wasn't their only advantage. They also had guns, among other things.

Karl had looked over at Keeper Eight, this time his gaze was direct and the scientist raised a brow at the guy's questions. He pointed up at the sky.

"It's dark. Judging by the lush plant life surrounding us, this planet more than likely does have a solar cycle," he said. "Unless magic is what's keeping them alive, which I severely doubt."

[Anya the Purple]

"Oh," said Keeper Eight. He'd heard the word solar before and knew it had something to do with the sun, but in his world, it didn't matter much whether the sun was up or not. Clouds and dust kept it covered. Maybe it was different in this world?

Speaker Two looked out over the landscape. "You seem to have learned much about this world already," he said, "despite not being here long. Still, I trust we can learn much more by traveling further than we can by staying here. Shall we go on?" He gestured to the other three Guardians and started downhill.