Its <span class="mu-b">cold... Terrible, Terrible Cold</span>. We crawl forward, feeling our way through. Eventually we feel something <span class="mu-r">warm</span>. We press ourselves against it, we dig ourselves into it, something within us compels us to <span class="mu-r">spread</span>, further throughout the <span class="mu-r">warm sticky mass</span>... It's not enough the <span class="mu-r">mass</span> is too large, we divide ourselves little fragments spreading throughout, separate but still connected...
Time passes, and something under us is beginning to wake. Our instincts rush to act. Act against the awakening thing. What do we do?
>Consume it We cannot let it wake; it would be disastrous for us. We consume it, dig ourselves deeper, replacing, multiplying. >Control it. We allow it to awaken, we dig ourselves deep into it, puppet it, control it. It feels wrong... Unnatural for us.
You are Peter Mylen. You are 36. You are well. You are in your apartment bedroom on the 9th floor of your building. You are laying still. The curtains are closed. The door is shut. The lamp is on. It seems dim. Your radio is turned off. Your phone has 3% battery.
>Check the time. >Turn on the radio. >Open the curtains. >Turn off the lamp.
It is the year 175 of the New Common Era, and humanity finds itself at an crossroads, the colonies have stated their desire for independence from the Earth Federation, and now humanity must make a choice. Allow the colonies their independence, or to make war to keep humanity together...It chose war...
Now, at the dawn of an new generation of war, there was you, an young soul who was caught up in the chaos of this new era. But who were you?
> Eravel Nurrel, An 18 year old young woman with Psychic Potential.
> Seren Einsbrak, a 19 year old young man with no Psychic Potential.
At the rim of the THOMPSON system lies a destitute cloud of refugee ships, clustered around the lopsided bulk of ALLUTION. A hub of insurrectionist power thought responsible for an outbreak of attacks on UEG holdings within a 50-60 lightyear radius.
The presence of URF and other insurrectionist leaders have been confirmed via signals interception. Team VACIVE has been ordered to conduct Hunter-Killer operations within ALLUTION, while conducting site exploitation as a secondary objective. Venezian representatives are also believed to be within the AO, and VACIVE has been given orders to capture any ‘neutral’ individuals alive. An ONI Section 1 team has deployed to an adhoc orbital shipyard to infiltrate the local network in order to deploy a Data Scavenger, meant to wipe all accessible NAV centers-with the intent to restrict any movement from the system to allow time for a larger UNSC Response, and prevent Covenant Forces still in system from learning UEG colony locations in case of discovery.
Primary Objectives: FIND and ELIMINATE Insurrectionist Leadership with ALLUTION. DESTROY Supply Depots and other materials that would facilitate attacks on UEG holdings. CAPTURE Venezian representatives. If infeasible, gather data relating to their presence. SECURE any pertinent intelligence. UPHOLD the Cole Protocol
Secondary Objectives: PLACE charges in order to disable the installations secondary power generation within the BLAKEWELL. VERIFY survivors from the UNSC BLAKEWELL WIPE the data centers with the BLAKEWELL.
Complicating Factors: Insurrectionist and PMC elements so far exhibit low profile security with a seemingly inconsistent presence. Unpredictable. Cryogenic pods containing the crew of the BLAKEWELL could be compromised by the destruction of the BLAKEWELLS primary reactor. Power loss may trigger unintended flash revival.
By 0615, infiltration of the captured frigate BLAKEWELL had been achieved. Team VACIVE had completed the interrogation of an insurrectionist technician, and had just separated to achieve immediate objectives within an acceptable timeframe…
The dripping of water and soft creaking of metal emanated through the flooded sector. Water had filled it up for days by now, with few daring to set foot in it. That didn’t stop some from wading their way through the water that went up to knee height, especially since some had few other options on where to go to. One of these unfortunate souls was Melissa Powell, a janitor who had rushed to the flooded sector right after the disaster to save a subject friend of hers: a tiny mantis subject called Tina. The two had waded through the flooded sector for several days now, noticing how more and more water filled the facility with each passing day. They at first had attempted to head to the green sector, given that it would have food and shelter. But unfortunately, they had not succeeded due to the flood hampering the way over. Thus, they were now quickly attempting to go the other direction. If the green sector didn’t work out, then the freezer sector seemed like a viable alternative.
The two were wandering through the centre of the flooded sector, hearing water trickling everywhere and breathing in the highly humid, somewhat saline air. The light of their pocket torch illuminated the dark hallway, reflecting each droplet which fell from the ceiling. The murky water was up to Melissa’s knees by now. Mel kept Tina on her shoulder, since Tina’s small size put her at great risk of drowning. Especially since the little mantis girl wasn’t exactly the best at swimming. “Are we there yet?” Tina asked impatiently, Melissa sighing softly. “I’ve already told you, it’s going to take a while. I don’t know this place by head, and we have to be careful. Every step I take needs to be taken carefully.” Melissa calmly told Tina, the mantis girl looking a little annoyed. Melissa was glad to have saved Tina, but she had to admit that the little mantis girl needed to learn some patience, especially now. Still, she’d try and keep Tina distracted in other ways.
“Look at the bright side, Tina. You really wanna eat meat and flies, right? Well, the place we’re going to has at least one of those things. So, you’ll have plenty of food there to enjoy!” Tina would get rather excited. “I hope it’s a lot of flies. I wanna hunt again! I need to hunt!” Melissa chuckled, before focusing on the path forward. They’d soon pass a particularly large and deeply flooded chamber, Melissa noticing a ton of water bubbling to the surface and a soft crackling noise. “What is that noise?” Tina asked curiously, to which Melissa started thinking. The noise did sound familiar, her having heard it before somewhere in the flooded sector. Though soon, they heard a loud splash and saw some kind of octopus subject leap out of the water. Melissa froze, Tina immediately raising her claws to try and appear intimidating. However, the octopus subject would simply stare at the two in abject fear, before yelling a single thing at them. “Get out of here! RUN!”
A world where might makes right. A world of Jade and Gold, of Phoenix and Dragons, of Pills and Talismans, of Martial and Spiritual arts. A world where diligent training yield strength, meaning freedom. A world where loneliness means death, meaning social chains. A world still unfair, as the ones reaching the heavens are most likely born rich - be it political riches of the aristocrats, power of secret knowledges and hidden realms of clans, or lucky enough to be born one-in-a-thousand genius.
This was not the case of Quiet Word - that is, (You). Your current skill level is on par with other genius of your age. But where they were graced with secret techniques and special care, you just had lucky encounters leveraged to the best and a knack for navigating social situations.
You own a trove of techniques and treasures for such a young cultivator - more than you can study efficiently, but your strength lies in the impressive amount of Bonded Spiritual Beasts - A Phoenix spirit, a Horse spirit, a Snake spirit and a Wolf spirit. Speaking of that last one, you didn't told a world about him to anybody. As a scion of the Primordial Wolf spirit, its father warned you of its worth and how people could want to rip it away from you. Especially in such a ruthless and public environment than, say, a townwide cultivator tournament. Previously mentionned worth comes from its ability to Fuse without restriction - fusion being a secret of the higher ranking of your sect, secret you have almost completely rediscovered on your own, and freely shared with your sect-siblings (but not your masters). Alright, the Primordial Wolf might have helped you on that "figuring it out by yourself" point.
Recently, you found a way to ream-walk to the Astral Plane by leveraging the Hidden Legacy of the Herculean Magus, where you picked a supply of spiritual beads. Supply vastly shared to your sectmates, and heavily solicited on in your latest endeavor; a ruin exploration where you caught Spiritual Plant-Beasts. Right now, you are waiting for the town's master to charter you back, the Gang of Four Seasons sect-defining artifact in the hand of your good friend LienWen YanEr : an elaborated ploy to grant all of you what you desire. LienWen will get her so-desired fatherly approval, while you will come back with Ping Jun to beg for the <span class="mu-s">Orb of the Seasons</span> to be given to his Versatile Harmony Sect.
This is part 6 of the "side quest" for "Disappearing Hogwarts". An unofficial alternate timeline based on HeadQM´s highly praised quest, Disappearing Hogwarts. Reading the original story is not exactly necessary but heavily encouraged since this quest will contain references to it. Created mostly as a place to wait while HeadQM was away for a while but slowly evolved into his own thing.
Quick recap so far: >Recently graduated Ravenclaw student is hired at Hogwarts as the new Caretaker. >Merlin somehow ended up inside your head. >Harry Potter´s daughter died, letting Salazar Slythering (previously stuck inside her head) free to continue his quest to control The Beast, an all powerful ancient creature accidentally created by Merlin. >Is currently looking for a new body. >So is The Beast. >Your girlfriend almost died. >It is a now a race against time to stop Salazar and The Beast from causing irreversible damage to everything in existence. >Hogwarts is slowly becoming an administrative mess now that Harry Potter himself disappeared. >You now have a private investigator lurking around Hogwarts and might have suspicions about you.
Amon G. Sus, an Unovan homeless teen is on an all expenses paid vacation to Alola. He is exploring, exploring the town, exploring the girls, and exploring his skills as a trainer. But what will happen next?
>Previously Amon and "Kiryu", the delinquent Alolan League Champion Stars in disguise, are going to the Battle Carnival to train Amon in tactics and having to manage two trainers at the same time in a battle. They finished registration and are on the move...
Foongus: Timid and cowardly, you met him at age 7 when foraging for food. You thought he was a Pokeball due to hunger and he ended up crying due to being afraid. You gave him a last morsel of food to calm him down and he followed you into the city. Now your bros for life. He's more brave during battles as long as its not TOO rough. Ability: Effect Spore Mega Drain Stun Spore Sweet Scent And Clear Smog
Castform: Was met a few months after Foongus. Some faggot with green hair saw you looking for shelter in the rain and offered you Castform to turn the days sunny after "hearing the voice of your Foongus...you meet weirdos amongst the homeless. It worked too! He gave you your original 6 Pokeballs too as means of apology for not being able to do more. You never saw him again. Castform is chipper and sunny! Which is odd given how much he feels like a bag full of water. He always tries to cheer you up! He is pretty bad at battles compared to the rest of your team. He lacks the "killer instincts" but he's loyal! Ability: Forecast Weather Ball Sunny Day...that's about it.
Croagunk: A spacey chill Pokemon you met him during training Castform and Foongus. You tried to battle him but he kind of just...laid on his back. You tried catching him and it worked. Then when a wild Purrlion tried to steal the berries you scrounged up he Low Kicked the fuck out of it and sent it running for the hills. He seems...odd. Very much at his own tempo and logic. You haven't exactly figured it out yet but he's still a loyal companion. Ability: Poison Touch Poison Sting Drain Punch Astonish Mud Slap
Sigilyph: Flew into town after a particularly bad storm hit through the desert region. Which happens from time to time. You rescued him from being stuck in a tree and he joined you in gratitude. He's the most protective and on guard of your Pokemon. His Whirlwind attack has kept wild pokemon at bay and Hypnosis has kept would be scroungers from taking your shit. Ability: Wonder Skin Hypnosis Whirlwind Air Cutter Confusion
