ObsidianKnight

Armiena sells her nightclub to a billionaire named Trump. Two days later, Armiena and the rest of her followers arrive in Rome, just in time for the bishops of the Catholic church to vote for the next pope. She uses her "influence" to swing their votes to her, a prestigious bishop in America (or so her forged papers say). The voting process is tense, but she manages to pull through, and becomes the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Predictably, she gives the usual speech about establishing friendly relations with other religions, but she has much more ambitious plans for Italy. Translation of Armiena's speech: Several conspiracy theorists claim to have heard her mouthing "And remain true to Peregrinism," while she was not in front of the cameras. OOC: Please take no offense. This all has to do with my character becoming a god... er... goddess.

Through eavesdropping in the shady nightclub, Armiena learned of a few lowlifes who were planning to break into a local millionaire's mansion, and kill the owner. Being an opportunist, she decided to ambush the ambushers after they killed the owner, forge new land deeds, and claim the mansion as her own. She takes a break from the underworld, and watches Parke's inauguration. "I don't believe it.... he was one of Peregrine's people, wasn't he?" "mmm-hmmm." Sam replies. Things are indeed going well. I've got myself a new home. It's all legit, unless the cops want to get themselves killed. And one of Peregrine's finest has elevated himself to the status of President of the Republic of America... I wonder if there's a small country I can take over. Italy, perhaps?

OOC: Oh, sorry. You're Alexei from now on. "TAKE COVER!!!!" Armiena's bodyguard forces her to the ground as a crashing bomber flies into a public housing unit a block behind them. The explosion destroys most of the building, and Armiena's bodyguard is covered with dust and a few shards of glass. "Ungh..." ARmiena gets back on her feet, and shakes the dust from her hair, clouds of it shaking loose. "You're injured, Chavez." A thin trickle of blood oozes through her bodyguard's pant leg. "It's nothing, just let me get a bandage on it." They stop at a pharmacy for the bandages, then find themselves a seedy nightclub. A shady drug dealer offers them some deathsticks. Both of them shift their outfits to reveal their sidearms, and he backs off. "Well, I think we're at the right place."

Armiena discusses the recent events with her two bodyguards. "Allright, there's a major assassin here. I've hacked into the White House files, and the assassin used a TANK to kill the Vice President. My gut tells me that it's not Pack Rat's people. He was a bit too subtle for that. Instead, it's probably Peregrine." "So, we're going to lay low here for a while, until we get our bearings. We'll hang out at some of the.... seedier nightclubs, familiarize ourselves with the underworld here. Our sidearms never leave our bodies, unless there's a gun check. You've got watch tonight, Sam." "Right." The heavily muscled, 6' 8" man nods (FREAKIN HUGE!). An hour later, Armiena leaves the apartment with her bodyguard, and hit the streets in a "souped-up" sports car.

Armiena stops by a store selling "TV"s , a primitive form of entertainment. "Police have just reported that President Miller and the Vice President have been shot by unknown assailants. Both of them have been rushed to D. C. National Hospital in critical but stable condition. Their attackers are armed, and extremely dangerous, and should not be approached under ANY circumstances." The article goes on predictably. "Idiots. They're already dead." Armiena scoffs at this propaganda. "I'm going to DC. The Chiefs of this nation-state have been killed. I'm getting a strange feeling. I think Peregrine's old followers are behind this." "Sir!" Iglesias starts to protest. "Stop. I need someone to look over the nightclub while I'm gone. I'll just take a couple of bodyguards with me." She takes a pistol, an M-16 with a M203 grenade launcher, and a kevlar vest. Her two bodyguards take a couple of submachine guns, an LAW launcher,and pistols.

Armiena listens to Seran, unnoticed, as she is currently using a chameleon spell. So, now they're hunting me... All because I didn't let those butchers kill Titanius. May the Valar help them.... She resists the urge to take out her spear and end Seran's life quickly. Instead, she spends the night in a vacant house.

A microphone shrieks in the "god-creator." "Sorry." The chief engineer clears his throat. "Right, this whole process should take only a few minutes, and you should be fairly comfortable through all this. However, if anything does go wrong, Chris Iglesias will take over for you...." "Right, right.... let's do this." "Yessir. We'll start the device in ....5.... 4... 3.... 2..." Armiena begins to hear massive generators charging up the device. "1..... mark." Armiena immediately loses consciousness. "ARMIENA!!!" The chief engineer looks towards the medical officer. "We still have strong lifesigns, sir, just unconscious." "Send a medical team to the device. We'll get her out immediately after we finish." Iglesias paces anxiously in the bridge, wishing he could see whats happening. The device exhausts its charge, and Armiena is evacuated immediately. She awakes from a coma a few days later. "There's a new world built, on the ruins of Earth. I'm going there right away. Pack Rat will be there." ".... how do you know this?" Iglesias cocks his head, puzzled. Armiena grins. "I saw it." Barely an hour later, a disc-like shuttle, carrying a few of Armiena's closest guards, Iglesias, and herself, takes off from the ship's hangar. It is intercepted by a local government, and it crashes in a desert in an area called "Nevada". Although the nation-state's government claims that it was only a weather balloon, the wreckage is hauled off to a secret laboratory. Most of Armiena's followers survive the crash with only minor injuries, and they reach a city called Las Vegas. They go undercover as the owners of a new nightclub.

Armiena continues to meditate. Was that a sign? Enough of this She gets up, and catches up to the leaving tech. "Build the device. I have a feeling Peregrine used this and survived." The shipyard clears itself of all ships needing maintenance, leaving it to build the copy of Peregrine's artifact. By the end of the week, it is completed. She meets with the Chief Engineer to discuss its use. "So, how do we use it?" "Well, there is a portal at the side of the device. It only needs an adequate charge; it will function by itself." Armiena strides away from the Chief Engineer, contemplating whether she should use it. Well, no point in not using it. She suppresses a grin. I wonder what it's like to be a god? "I'll use it tomorrow." She leaves the room, and spends the night trying to choose who would be successor if the worst happens.

Hey, I trust Peregrine to make up something great, no matter the time period. So, would we just end the current thread and make a new one, or tie it into our current plot (or lack thereof)

I like the idea for REAL Medieval times. Not some stupid RPG setting (no offense to Bethesda, of course), but actual Medieval tech. Castles, siege, chivalry, and women who are weak on the outside, but really are making devious plots. Plus there's those crazy Moors trying to butt into Europe, those insane crusades, and the Catholic Church pulling the strings.

Surrounded by black holes, Armiena finally finds the time to look through the technologies that Peregrine loaned to her. Engines, weapons, shields, no.... We're already using that stuff... Armiena scrolls through pages of links to files. Now this is more like it.. civilian technologies. One in particular catches her eye, as she has no idea what kind of use it could have. She decides to have her techs analyze it. A few days later, the techs come back with their report. "Sir, we're not sure about this, but... it looks like this is a kind of field-emitter that creates an almost-omnipotent being!" "CREATE a god??" "Well, we think so. But it seems far more likely to kill its user, or to explode. It generates an extraordinary amount of energy, radiation..." "Thank you." Armiena cuts off the tech's speech. Was he a mortal, and used this?? Or was he really a true god, and wanted to leave a successor in the event that he died? She decides to meditate and pray in her chambers over the night, in hopes of clearing her mind. What should I do? If you really are a god, Peregrine, give me some guidance, she pleads.

OOC: Anti-matter, anti-energy, anti-whatever is very powerful stuff. You don't want to be anywhere near it. A small amount (say a single gram) can create a very large explosion. "Sir, our man on Slaiv's fleet is dead." "He did his job then?" "Yes, we detected a large explosion in his bridge. Unfortunately, Slaiv is half-dead, so..." the lieutenant's words trail off. "It still gives us time to run. Move our asteroid bases to this location." She taps the map, indicating a region almost totally surrounded by black holes. It would provide an excellent hiding place, at least until Peregrine's return. "Oh yes, fire the rest of our anti-snow missiles towards Emour. We won't be needing it for a while."

Armiena walks into the woods, looking for any sign of a werewolf. Finally, she sees a scratch on a tree "TI". "Hmmmm.. Titanius?" She turns to she Titanius walking towards her in human form. "You need to get out of here Titanius. Those crazies are trying to kill you." "I know. But I've been meaning to leave for quite a while," Titanius holds up a hand, stopping a response, "You're an ex-vampire, I've heard. So, interestingly enough, you've been a bit of an inspiration to me. I'm going back to Solstheim. If there's a cure for vampirism, there's gonna be a cure for lycanthropy." Armiena takes a step back, surprised. "Oh, believe me. I know, this isn't going to be easy, you spent... how long?" "6 years searching for a cure, and every Dwemer and Daedric rune on Vvardenfel, and all of the rare book shops." "Exactly. So... this probably is goodbye." Titanius looks down, slightly regretful. "This is probably my last word to you. What ARE you?" Armiena grins "I'm an elf of Imladris. It's on a continent, far away, probably to the southeast. You won't find it, even if werewolves are immortal." Titanius smiles, sadly, then walks to the port to find passage to Raven Rock. He leaves on the next ship.

"Sir." A pale, nervous looking lieutenant enters Armiena's chambers. "Hmm?" "Peregrine..... is dead." Armiena scoffs at this suggestion. "You CAN'T KILL a god. I expect we'll be seeing him again quite soon, just in another form. There are others who believe in Peregrinism." Armiena was indeed correct, for on Slaiv's capital ship, a disturbance is proceeding in the bridge. A lone gunman, armed with nothing but a wicked looking knife is being restrained by Slaiv's. "CURSE YOU!!! SCUM! THIEF! HONORLESS COWARD!" The rant goes on and on. He spits in Slaiv's face, who is standing in front of him, relishing his "helpless" state. As one of the guards prepares to butt him with his rifle, he twists under the blow, manages to break the guard's grips for half a second, and punches his own chest. It hits a small amount of anti-snow in his vest, detonating it. The hydrogen bomb-sized explosion is seen from Emour's surface.

"GOD DA**!!!!" Armiena glances as the Tangler goes up in flames. Calm down, you haven't lost this... we still have more cards to play.. "Signal our engineering ships. Begin the asteroid shower... now." "And signal our man in Slaiv's fleet. Order him to set the charges on the reactors off. And if possible, kill Slaiv." In Emour's asteroid belt, hundreds of tugs push asteroids of all sizes towards Emour, creating a kind of meteor shower. In Slaiv's fleet, a sudden fusion explosion and the failing of several ships' reactors distracts his crews, and they fail to notice the incoming "meteors". Armiena watches in satisfaction as Slaiv's largest battleships are split in two from the collisions. Other ships lose their shields. "All right... hit them with everything we have now. Send in the drones." Her suicide drones weave a haphazard path through enemy fire. THey manage to slip into several ships' reactors, and deliver their payload. Armiena grins as some of Slaiv's ships go dark.

OOC: The comet never even attacked Novosibirsk, it was at St Petersburg. It commited suicide to take out St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk's fleet! Stop controlling my character. Armiena is hosting a party in the bridge. "To the Tangler, our first EMP cruiser!" She uncorks a bottle of non-alcoholic champagne. The cork bursts off, strikes a glass and shatters it. "OW!!!" Her medical officer clutches a cut-up hand, then heals it instantly with a hand-held medical device. The party continues uneventfully. "Sir! Peregrine is hailing us!" A light flashes on the communication's officer's console. "Excellent..." Armiena grins, eager to end the war. "Put your drinks up! We've got some work to do..." She chugs the rest of the glass. 15 minutes later, her fleet enters hyperspace. It comes out nearly on top of Peregrine's fleet. "Orders, Peregrine?" While waiting, she orders her techs to begin moving asteroids in the asteroid belt towards Emour, somewhat like a meteor shower. "Charge up the EMP. Let's see what this gun can do...."

"So, I see Peregrine was pleased to see me." Armiena receives the battle plans for the invasion of Emour, and studies it with a grin on her face. More good news arrives. Her mini-bases in Prague's asteroid belt have been completed, and the first shipment of reinforcements will be arriving tomorrow. On top of that, research on a massive EMP cannon has been completed, and a specially designed cruiser is being built to use it. "Excellent! Have the construction drones help the shipyards on that project. Order the fleet to rendevous at these coordinates." She recites the location for where they will wait for Peregrine's signal.

OOC: Um... Pack Rat, did you read my ENTIRE post? St Petersburg is space dust. Novosibirsk is a hollowed out hull (for the sake of fairness, the prisoners I took had no valuable information). My fleet is searching Andromeda for Peregrine's fleet. But yes, the Comet is dust too. Frustrated with the lack of information from the Novosibirsk's prisoners, Armiena takes her anger out on a simulated fencing partner in the holodeck on one of her manned ships. A messenger enters the room, getting Armiena's attention for just a second. The simulant takes advantage of her divided attention and thrusts its broadsword into her chest. Armiena curses at herself for losing concentration. She deactivates the simulant, and glares at the messenger. "Well?" "Sir, we've found Peregrine. Her ship is in orbit around Prague." "Good, set a course for her fleet. Meanwhile, send our construction drones to build a new base in this system's asteroid belt." Armiena sighs as he leaves. This really wasn't a bad day... 2 enemy stations dead, new base to be built Armiena reactivates the simulant.

The charges placed and the stream of snow crates placed, the Comet ignites it's engines. Armiena will direct the battle via one of the drone cruisers. "Remember, protect the Comet at all costs. Once it is ready to self-destruct, jump into hyperspace." 7 hours later, Armiena's last gamble reaches the St. Petersburg. A surprisingly small fleet awaits them. Running, Pack Rat? But... where?? "Launch all fighters. Disable Pack Rat's weapons. Forget everything else." Hundreds, probably thousands of manned fighters and smaller suicide drones swarm out of the hangars. The fighters fail to do much damage, but the drones manage to disable many of the turrets of the cruisers and the station. Distracted by the fighters, a volley of torpedos slips in unnoticed, at least until it's too late. Pack Rat's ships try to evade, but the torpedos deliver their payload of anti-snow. Most of the ships vanish in a hydrogen bomb-sized explosion. I'm surprised... these crews fought like they were green. Where IS Pack Rat? "Let's pull out. Hailey Comet, commence final countdown. Get yourselves out quick." A few minutes later, several shuttles burst out of the Comet's empty hangars and flee for hyperspace with the rest of Armiena's fleet. The Comet self-destructs in a world-consuming blast. St. Petersburg vanishes instantly. The rest of the explosion follows a string of snow crates (with smaller anti-snow charges inside) towards Novosibirsk. Although the explosion has weakened somewhat, it destroys Novosibirsk's fleet. 2 hours later, Armiena sends shuttles in towards Novosibirsk. After a fierce fight, her marines capture the station and take prisoners. "Well, I should probably try to find Peregrine and report in." Happy 200th post!!

Armiena casts a chameleon spell and creeps up to Titanius's room unseen. She silently unlocks the door and goes in. "Titanius, you've gotta get out of here. There's a crazy Nord trying to hunt you down. Go to the woods; I'll meet you there tomorrow." Titanius jerks his head up and down to show he understands. Armiena casts an invisibility spell on Titanius to conceal him. He stretches out on the floor, then bursts through the door. Titanius scrambles through the tavern, running outside, and towards the woods. The spell wears off while he runs through the street, but before the guards can react, he's already gone.

Armiena wakes in her pod in a daze... I've lost everything... again... Armiena tries to ignite her pod's engines. Not everything She pulls out her comlink, and miraculously, it still works despite Scylla's destruction. "Hailey Comet. Come in, please." She hears static for a few minutes, but Hailey Comet base finally responds. "We read you Armiena. How goes the war?" They don't even know.... "Horribly. I NEED reinforcements NOW. Send the Comet to the outskirts of Prague. Build as many ships as you can on the way." With those words, massive engines pull the Comet out of its ordinary orbit. The change in gravity causes a huge asteroid to decimate life on a nearby planet. They will pay... A few hours later, the Comet arrives at Prague, concealed from sight and scanners in a massive storm in a nearby gas giant. A corvette arrives to rescue Armiena. When Armiena finally arrives at the Comet, she sees that her fleet has been nearly replenished.Just enough. "That's right men. We abandon the Comet, set anti-snow charges inside it, and destroy it. We'll drop out crates of snow to feed the explosion. The blast should be more than enough to simultaneously the two stations they have nearby, if we time it well. The rest of the fleet will cover the Comet, and pull out before it detonates." Her advisors stare at her, dumbfounded. They can't believe Armiena would do something this crazy.... but it might work. "We'll get moving tomorrow."

Armiena comes out of her stasis with a slight headache. SHe takes a few seconds to get her bearings, then quickly issues orders. "Set a course for the Hailey Comet. We have work to do there." The Hailey Comet Base is still intact, and the AI has done a wonderful job of managing the base. Through the ships that have been built there, Armiena's fleet is more than doubled. When they arrive, they modify the drone ships there with Peregrine's technologies, and man the ships with officers cloned during their absence. "So. What base should we blow up now?" Armiena decides to join Peregrine at the outer reaches of Prague.

Armiena watches Slaiv jettison himself out of his command ship. "Ah well... he wasn't exactly intelligent anyway... attacking Mars II like that." She receives the tube containing news of the attack of the Hailey Comet. "Bah hah ha!!! PEREGRINE!? Attack me! Nonsense..." She calculates the current position of the Hailey Comet base, and sees that it's far from Peregrine's space. Rather, it's close to the ruins of Mars II. She puts a small amount of anti-snow in the canister, and fires it towards a random piece of space debris. It blows up spectacularly, and "oohs" and "ahs" are heard throughout her ship and the crewmen give their approval.

Armiena's attention shifts towards Slaiv's fleet in his own stasis field. So that is my ally... Armiena realizes that she has not even met her own ally yet. I wish... I could actually meet him She unexpectedly teleports onto the bridge of his command ship. What the!? "Oh... um, uh...." She stutters at this awkward moment. "I am Armiena, and you are Slaiv, and an ally of Peregrine as well," she says in a knowing manner. "Something to drink?" She holds up the partially-drunken bottle of wine.

Armiena's stasis field begins to weaken, as the Second Age begins. She suddenly feels.... almost godlike! She can see everything, from Almelexia in her alternate universe, to Pack Rat's ships fleeing for.... some massive base. And the ruins of the Solar System. She sees, to her relief, the the Hailey Comet was far from the devastation, and her base has nearly been completed. Hordes of drone ships are being churned out, in preparation for an attack that may never come. She sees her fleet all around her. Her vast numbers of tiny fighters, hanging in midspace. Her massive carriers and cruisers, engines firing, yet not moving at all. She sighs... this is actually quite boring. She decides to open up a bottle of wine, and drink her boredom away....