Junction Age of Empires | EE (Empty Hex) + AC (Makem Te) + NIO (Velmor) Junction

[Zoraya Ives-Ayres]

COMPNOR
IMPERIAL SECURITY BUREAU
ISB-873
Djorn Bline

​

In the very pursuit of democracy had the voices of the people been silenced. While rooting out sedition and vanquishing opposition was not an uncommon occurrence within the Empire, they had never claimed to idealise the democracy that Velmor had and so such censoring was not uncharacteristic. It was her belief that democracy was inclusive of freedom of speech and though whether or not she agreed with such freedoms on a fundamental level was another matter, she knew any government claiming free-choice but advocating for censorship was not the democracy they claimed to be.

It was largely because of this hypocrisy that she held the planet in contempt, showing no respect for its government but a small amount of empathy for its Imperial-leaning citizens at the heart of the disagreement who were fighting to be heard among the noise as they were purposely drowned out. Fighting a seemingly hopeless cause was certainly a daunting prospect but those siding with the Empire could rest assured knowing the Empire was answering their unspoken cry for help.

Still, despite her fierce loyalty to the Empire, she had become much more laid back in her means of achieving her goals, hedonistic almost at times. She had experienced enough violence to understand the fragility of life so her previously uptight attitude was all but gone and she adopted a relaxed approach in situations where it could be afforded, displaying more comfort, or rather lack of regard, around people she hardly knew and her attitude towards her companion for that day was no different.

"Mhmm." She replied, listening to his outline of their mission as she drew a breath from the cigarette that hung lazily between her fingers. "That's fine. Don't need more than two of us for this." She responded. While she primarily worked alone, having a partner could make for the most seamless of operations sometimes. In tandem, agents of the Empire could be a force to be reckoned with. After dropping the remainder of the cigarette on the floor, she crushed it under her heel and pushed herself off the wall she had been leaning on. "Let's go liberate our newfound allies then, shall we?"

​

 

[Pietro Demici]

Pietro Demici: Cardinal of Ashla

AC: Isla Draellix-Kobitana , Ul-Tam-Ban, Nol Akkos

NIO: Rurik Fel , Gideon Saigo

EE: Ingrid L'lerim , Baron Reinhardt Ström , Belisarius Vactovion, Hi'los Krai , Chamdar the Hutt

Age of Empires

Words upon words, both boon and bane to the world of politics. Emperor Fel and Grand Moff Saigo spoke greatly of action, yet even they could not escape the necessity of verbal intercourse in such situations. As for Pietro, he was well-accustomed to words. Some would even say that he made them into a career. What the Cardinal learned in all of his years as a political and religious leader, was that words and actions went hand in hand, one often requiring the other's presence. Each provided a counterweight to the other. He stood, taking a moment to interject before the proceedings got any more heated.

"The Overseer presents a valid point. As the arbiters of this treaty, The Crusade will take measures to ensure the safety of both parties in regards to any troops in each region of space. What goes one way, must go the other, or not at all. If that does not suit both parties, then we will be missing an opportunity to optimize the offensive against the Maw."

He quickly shot a look over to Saigo.

"I'm sure we all can agree that we can and should use every advantage at our disposal. Anything less would certainly be a tactical oversight."

The tension in the room remained thick, yet the Cardinal remained unfazed. Pietro wasn't going to let these negotiations fail, at least, not on his account. He turned to the delegates from the Eternal Empire, addressing them directly.

"As for the notification of troop movements through the Hydian Way, I believe it to be a fair request. Whether or not the Crusade is allowed to take measures to maintain order, it would be prudent to inform the Empire of such movements, as the hyperlane leads through a good portion of their territory."

His attention then turned to Emperor Fel as he continued.

"After all, such would be the action of an ally, would it not? Trust must be restored, and it must be done so one step at a time."

 

[Scipio Kaarz]

Scipio Kaarz: Magister Militum Dei of the Crusade

Tags: Eina L'lerim-Vandiir , Lilanna Kelamvor, Corin Autem, Rhiza Dural

Scipio admittedly didn't take as much credence as some of the others did in Eina's existence. Though he wouldn't be one to discredit her, the Magister simply felt that she was another tool of the Force, as they all were. As such, he held no reverence for her, but had the upmost respect for her devotion to her ideals. In that way, he felt blessed to have her accompany him and Deus Company on this excursion.

"We must root them out, Lady Eina. If you would be so kind as to lead the way, I want to cut them off. If we can box them in, then I want to leave them with no room to escape."

It was a barbaric request to ask of the Valkyrja; burying people alive wasn't the sort of thing to take lightly. Despite this, Scipio only thought of his men. The members of Deus Company had proven their worth time and again, and the Magister couldn't bring himself to risk their lives unless absolutely necessary. Scipio didn't believe Eina would understand; from what he knew of her, she was a pure soul. Unsuited to the horrific reality of war.

"We must eliminate the darkness, no matter how difficult it may seem."

His words we a failed attempt at being reassuring, as the man was only truly accustomed to pragmatism. The Light could not, and would not suffer the darkness, and though he wasn't a Force-sensitive, he felt the need to carry out the Goddess's will. There could be no room for error when dealing with the machinations of the Bogan.

 

[Ingrid L'lerim]

Lady Ingrid L’lerim Ragal Terassi Vandiir
Eternal Empress of the Eternal Empire, Lord Commander of the Wardens of the Shroud, Archon of the Primyn Group
Empress of Terraris, Supreme Commander of the Terraris Command, Head of the House L’lerim, CEO of the HPI Consortium​

Objective: Try to make some kind of deal with NIO with the help of the Ashlan Crusade which is normalise relations between the factions.
Location: Aboard the ENS Crimson Empress, orbit around Dromund Kaas
Equipment: The Soulsabers (hidden) | Brynja coat | Hersir Imperial Uniform | Viper Mk. I Skinsuit | The Last Gift || Empyrean gland | OPBC-01m
Eternal Imperials: Baron Reinhardt Ström | Belisarius Vactovion | Hi'los Krai | Chamdar the Hutt
Ashlan Crusade: Ul-Tam-Ban | Isla Draellix-Kobitana | Pietro Demici
New Imperials: Rurik Fel | Gideon Saigo

[ Valhalla Calling ]
<"High Nelvaanian"> | ~ telepathic communication ~ | << comm. channel >> ​

To tell the truth, Ingrid started to have a great time at the events. It was not at all annoying to her how the Emperor and Moff behaved. It might have been annoying to her during the years of the Civil War, but it was a long time ago for her, now she is calmer and even more patient. It used to be, but even better since then. It is a fact that, if need be, she can still speak freely and with passion, but she has grown up enough not to be disturbed by such open provocation and insult. Now she was better than that; at least she hoped she was.

The red-haired woman watched Fel all the way, and only Fel, even as the others spoke. Her gaze and face remained calm, emotionless. Audibly, Overseer has already lost his patience, as has Lady Isla, but even Vactovion. Only the Empress and Demici remained calm, if she did not count the Emperor and the Moff. The cardinal learned his lesson; or the NIO less upset him, than Carnifex and the Sith. Yes, Ingrid remembered perfectly when she had to reassure the cardinal at the trial at Ession.

Eventually, however, after Vactovion's words, Ingrid raised her hand; she was still looking into Fel's eyes, even as she spoke. There was no emotion on her face, but that was the case throughout the meeting as well. She was cold and calm.

"Gentlemen, Lady Isla, that's enough. This is why the Emperor and the Moff are here, to provoke everyone... please, we are more civilised than this." she told them.

Nor was it clear why they considered themselves superior and better than everyone else. They won the war. But it was also obvious why more and more people consider Rurik Fel as a tyrant. In fact Ingrid told several NIO soldiers, officers back in the early stages or in the middle of the war, that if they went further down this path, they would sooner or later become like the Sith; or they'll become worse. This day has come in the eyes of the woman; luckily she was able to work with anyone. That's why they were still sitting here and she didn't kick the other two delegations out of her ship. The Empire was the first, not her personal thoughts and feelings.

To tell the truth, they proved for many years what they said, but it had no significance. The goals were the same, even if in other ways. However, she had nothing to hide. And if they go into the game and prove again and again what they have done in recent years, the moral victory will be theirs, refuting what is expected of them, that is, the betrayal. After all, everyone wants an end to the war between the Light and the Dark side…

The Eternal Empire wasn't different in this.

"So be it! We'll act, and we'll prove what Emperor Fel and the NIO wants to see from us! We will prove to you and we'll earn the prestige, to receive more rights and one day you might start to trust in us, Emperor!" she said in an ice-cold voice, without emotion, still looking into the man's eyes with her blue ones.

Ingrid had time and she was patient, after all, she waited nearly three hundred and twenty years for this meeting… she thought the next one didn't need that much.

 

[Eina L'lerim-Vandiir]

Lady Eina L'lerim-Vandiir
The First and the Light of Ashla
Heiress and Princess of the Eternal Empire and Terraris; Angelic Mascot and Representative of the Ashlan Crusade
Eternal Empire's Ambassador to the Ashlan Crusade; Matriarch of the Valkyrja; Leader of Sanctuary and the Fjölkyngi Smiđr Guild​

Objective: Cleanse the Temple; release and heal the souls
Location: Dark Temple, Dromund Kaas
Equipment: Sverð Fyrstr (swords) | Ljósspjót (spear) | Skrúð Engill Fyrstr (armour) || Empyrean gland | OPBC-01m || Current appearance
Writing With: Scipio Kaarz
Ashlan Crusade: Rhiza Dural

[ Preliator ]
<"High Nelvaanian"> | ~ telepathic communication ~ | << comm. channel >> ​

Eina, if she had known what Scipio thought of her, would probably have been very grateful to the man, and would have thanked him for not trying to incorporate her into religion, considering her just a simple "woman." The Valkyrja still felt uncomfortable and uncomfortable many times because they wanted to endow her with religious things and she didn’t feel the need for it at all. She was just Eina; and that would have been enough for her. It was very rare for someone to treat her as an equal and not as some kind of divine or saint creature. She would have been happy to know.

"Oh, I'm a warlord, Magister, just like you. I understand your words and accept them. In the Netherworld, I lead my people’s campaign against demons. We are the bastion who protects the weak souls, I tend to lead select members of my people against the Avatars of the Maw to steal souls from them before they eat them and fight them." she explained. "But I belong there, here, if it can be avoided, I will avoid fighting. It’s my job to protect the souls or escort them to the Netherworld. It is not to kill others, to kill the living one is one of the farest points of view from that what am I, that is why I have chosen to help you with my healing abilities. But I accept the living doing this, and if there is no other choice, I'll do the same. I hope you understand what I want to say with this."

For a moment she looked toward the stairwell and started up, at a pace that the soldiers could keep up.

"But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to fight the Bogan or defend you. If you think so, feel free to speak to me as you would to your fellow soldiers. Actually, that's normal for me. We, the Valkyrja are a warrior culture, species, and we spend almost all of our time fighting. Maybe that's why I'm glad I can help you any other way, here in the Realspace." she said kindly.

Meanwhile, they soon ascended to the floor from which Eina sensed the enemy. They still didn't move. On the upstairs there was a door that opened and the team could arrive in a larger hall. There were huge eggs everywhere next to the walls, semi-transparent, creatures inside them. There was an altar at the end of the hall, three hooded figures standing there, they were chanting something, they didn't seem to notice that the company had arrived. And in the hall, the rest of the creatures which were mentioned by Eina were huge worm-like Sithspawns.

 

[Rhiza Dural]

Location: In the atmosphere above Dromund Kaas
Objectives: hunt down Sith fire support
Tags: Scipio Kaarz Eina L'lerim-Vandiir

Spoiler: Equipment and links

Personal Equipment

• Red bladed dual phase light saber
• Electro-whip
• Viper mk1 skinsuit
• Energy Bolas
• throwing shuriken

Starships

• Oubliette class transport
• HH-87 Starhopper

Piloting: Ballerina Interceptor mk ii

An urgent call came over the radio of some Ashlan soldiers coming under heavy fire from a building on the opposite end of the theatre. Rhiza disengaged and hit the afterburner, picking up speed and crossing the couple of dozen miles as quickly as an infantryman might cross a room. The target was in a built up area, a tricky target to avoid collateral. She pulled up hard, she would need to dive in and punch through the roof.

She set two concussion missiles with a tiny delay on the impact fuses, as the hit the apex of her climb, approaching the edge of space, she rolled the starfighter over onto its back and began to dive towards the enemy. Flipping to fire control she launched the missiles and watched then streak away and destroy the target, pulling up just shy of the ground and racing between tall structures. The rush of flying this thing was exhilarating.

Confirmation came through from her ground contact that the threat had been neutralised, the building had collapsed in on itself, minimising collateral damage and allowing the pinned down teams to advance in safety. Her radio was silent for a moment so she took a second to assess her fighting condition. She had used half of her ordnance and had taken 3 small arms hit, when was that? She wondered? She didn't even register the hits during battle. No damage to the starfighter though so it wasn't a concern for now.

 

[Rurik Fel]

E M P E R O R
NEW IMPERIAL ORDER
THE IRONCLAD
EE | Ingrid L'lerim | Baron Reinhardt Ström | Belisarius Vactovion
AC | Pietro Demici | Isla Draellix-Kobitana | Ul-Tam-Ban
NIO | Gideon Saigo​

​

Rurik let Gideon's comments and remarks carry on unfettered in spite of the outright and open offense the Eternal Imperials took to his sentiment. Whether it came from the Moff or himself, it didn't matter. In the Emperor's presence, his will would be done. It mattered not the voice speaking or the hands doing, his will be done.

Otherwise, the Iron Emperor was silent, his steely eyes flicking between each of them as they spoke in reply. Their input was valuable, but in the end, this was business, politics, diplomacy. As much as the Eternals wielded an exterior of cold Imperial professionalism, they were far too quick to be wrapped into the emotional reasoning of why things should be done and not the pragmatic sentiment of how the True Imperials approached this matter.

He waited for the Empress to take control of her loyal dogs and reprise with her own counteroffer or retort. It was hardly a surprise that she made such an off handed accusation of the Emperor and his confidant to openly provoke the opposing nation's delegations. It was an amusing remark, but not one Rurik would take such brazen offence to, certainly not following the outbursts of his counterparts. He was content to view the supposed display of tightening the grip, placating her confidants in order to sell what came next.

That being, something that was admittedly, a surprise to the Emperor. He expected more push back, more reasoning as to why they should trust in earnest a nation which so brazenly blocked their path of defiance once before. But instead, it was a nod of capitulation, or at the very least, an understanding of the terms Rurik proposed.

"Good." Was all Rurik uttered initially in reply, the word carrying weight all its own as he said it.

"I am most grateful you were able to cut through the malaise and act decisively you Highness. If so then the terms are set, the Eternal Empire shall have their means to the Ashlan Crusade's space, mutual embassies shall be established and the Empire shall have its rights to base military forces on Odessen to further battle the Maw. That shall be the agreement as I have come to understand it. If there are no other issues to be brought to the attention of those present, we can consider this meeting concluded." Rurik states.

 

[Simon Meinrad]

Aemilio Valaar

Crude, but effective.

How effective? They would have to see. Exploring the caverns and rooting out whatever Darkness was left, made sure they did a thorough cleansing of the temple. The bomb was a way to not lose any men, to bury the Sith with their secrets. Tactically plausible, but it wasn’t enough. Sith Lords such as Carnifex managed to cheat Death many times, what little would this bomb do? He wanted to see his saber stab the hearts of demons and see their souls disintegrated.

Ultimately, however, he was not the commander of this unit. He was here to support and advance the vanguard, to act as its lance.

“Hurry,” he called to the other Black Hands, staying at the back to protect any straggling Imperials. He would be the last one to leave this treacherous place as he always did in battle.

“Gather our dead and wounded, I will not have our own buried with these fiends,” especially their dead, they deserved a proper burial for their service and bravery.

 

[Djorn Bline]

V E N O M _ S N A K E
NEW IMPERIAL ORDER
VELMOR
Zoraya Ives-Ayres

“We’ll be freeing them soon, we need the information first,” reiterating what he said to the agent, frowning at her cool stature. Acting as if she had done this many times and knew the routine.

Good.

He hoped that was the case with how delicate things were around here. He did not want this to repeat like Kuat. The only advantage was this was neutral space and the Alliance had no domain over it. Didn’t mean they weren’t capable of deploying unconventional assets to do their dirty work.

“No time to lose, let’s head out,” turning heel to walk towards the exit of the building. So far the agent had no idea who he was, and he wanted to keep it that way. She didn’t know he was one of COMPNOR’s directors and a phantom of the organization. Out and about that serves the interest of the Empire, and his own. All she knew was that he was her superior and the tasks they needed to accomplish.

Outside was a whole new world compared to their abandoned, murky condo. One could feel the tension in the atmosphere by just one glance. Police patrols were a consistent sight, stopping people for identification or if they had the slightest suspicion to detain them. Democracy seemed to be more authoritarian with each passing down, the Senate increasing their power to maintain their government against the band of Imperial insurgents. All depended how lucky they were on not being stopped by the authorities.

“Know a guy,” really an info broker, “that tells me an interesting fellow goes to a cantina, full of trash and scum alike. Really important this guy,” stressing how important this target was, a career in politics or the military. “Should have what we need from them, before we can do what’s next.”