Dark Age Legends

[Xorlak]

Draven paused for a moment, before pocketing the small jewel.  Again speaking to Zeros' as if he were there the whole time.

"Hmmm, yes of course...  Of course, it is difficult to plan if you are unsure of your opponent's next move, and a difficult one to predict this one is..."

He turned to the south.

"It would be very useful if our little inside mission succeeds, and I believe they have a greater chance if Ragnar isn't in the city to begin with...  Perhaps you can make an appearance somewhere near Laus, off shore or something, to lure the fool away...  I have a shuttle to Redvik below if you are interested, though I'm sure you can get there on your own..."

----

The docking bay on the 30th floor was occupied by a number of black airships, but only one had its side doors open, and a few soldiers and mechanics wondered in and out.  It was the smallest one there, some 100 feet long, but it had a very sleek and smooth design, resembling something more like a rocket ship.

Outside the doorway on the metal boarding dock was a sign that simply read "Falcon V".

----

The colonel gave a sort of chuckle-grunt and handed Aura the sheet of paper.

"That's the spirit!  You've been assigned to the southern front, the line north of the fallen city Laus.  There you will be under the command of General Valos.  Your assignment is to lead a group of twenty men-- here's their ID numbers.  Now this is less than a lieutenant normally would lead.  The catch?  They're all newbies.  All fresh out of basic training.  Zero combat experience.  If you can prove yourself here, you'll get a full squadron.  That's at least five groups of ten at your command.*

"You'll receive specific orders when you arrive.  There's an airship at the Crimson Palace leaving in... less than 20 minutes!  Better hurry!"

(*See beginning of Chapter 2)

[Dude Man]

Valos, approached Rink and Xenia, and looked at them. "You two should get to the 30th floor." He said to them.

Rink turned and looked at him. "Good morning..."

"Yes...I'm on my way there myself, I'm leading the attack. You can follow me there, if you're lost." He turned around, and began his way to the 30th floor. Rink shrugged and looked at Xenia, and then followed.

-----

An Aspye Trooper trusted his spear at a Mudman, impaleing the creature, yet not killing it. The mudman barely took any damage. Another one trusted it from behind, causeing the creature to wail in pain. Suddenly, the creature formed into a blue specter and was sucked back into Marshal's amulet. He was hosting a training session for the troops. "Very good he said. Teaming on an oppenent is a good idea, but you have to remember that the Empire troops will be fare more experinced then that." Marshal told the troops. "They will be comming in large groups, and will show you no mercy. With the Empire, there are NO innocents."

-----

Duilin, was outside, he was standing near the edge of the floating palace. He was in sight of Draven and Zeros'. He stretched his wings out, and took out his mace. He walked further from the edge. He saw Darak standing not to far looking at him, he had his large battle axe, resting blade down on the ground, and he had his hands on the edge of the handle.

"Shouldn't you be boarding one of the airships?" Duilin asked him.

"Oh, yes. But I saw you heading outside and I wanted to ask you something." Darak replied

"Okay, what?"

"I've seen you talking to one of the servent girls, lately. Me and the others have been...talking about it." Darak smirked

"That, is none of your affair." Duilin replied, annoyed

"Well, that's not all. I've also seen General Valos and you talking alot. Are you friends with him?" Darak asked

"Pfft...No, he's trying to convince me to let my demonic side to take over." Duilin answered

"Why?"

"Oh, hell I don't even think he knows. Valos is crazy, I feal sorry for you grunts haveing to take orders from him."

"Yeah, he's been acting werid ever since, a member of the clean up crue saw him doing a demonic worship. He said, he saw him do some scary shit, some things...almost...unhumen..."

"Unhumen?"

"Yeah, like his eyes...they were glowing red, and he starting makeing this werid laugh...sorta just entered your brain, like you weren't hearing it with your ears. I don't know if that's true, but I wouldn't be surprized if it was."

"Hmmm...." Duilin, slipped his mace back into his holster. "You better head to the docking bay. I'm going to leave with Zeros' and Draven, when it's time to go."

Darak nodded, and then jogged back into the palace.

Duilin thought about what Darak told him about Valos. It almost seemed famaliar...

[D. Ein]

Ein continued walking through the woods. His encounter with the highwayman ensured him of human life upon this land, but he was now questioning the hospitality of this place's human habitation.

It was already deep into the night, and he still hasn't found a place to stay of some kind. It wasn't like he needed an actual house, or bed. He always had his cloak which could serve as some kind of a pillow if folded. However, a nice bed after all these years would've been appreciated.

Eventually, after about half hour more of walking, he came to a tall cliff overlooking a town. He could barely see now, but he saw some lights around the houses... and yet, he was too tired to get up and go... His legs felt like made of lead, he couldn't lift even his arms. So, he fell upon the dirty ground, and fell in a deep sleep.

[Trent]

Xenai shrugged and decided to follow Valos, seeing as how he knew nothin' about this place anyways. This place was real nice, and it kinda made him wish he was still in the Crimson Empire.

--- --- ---

"So now," said Zion, "We'll need something to do while Xenai's doing his stuff."

"What about that Ven guy?"

"Yeah, we should probably find him."

And the two made their way out of the Inn.

--- --- ---

"Complete newbies? Ah, I'm sure they'll do just fine. I'll not let you down, sir!" She performed the salute and closed the door, putting on her armor all fast like, grabbing her scimitars, and getting outta there, heading for the airship. She stopped at a map on the wall. 30th floor? 30th floor. And she's off!

[Xorlak]

The mechanics stepped aside and passengers began to board the Falcon V.  They were mostly lower leveled officers assigned to the front line (for troops were already stationed in the area).  The small airship couldn't carry much more than 100 people.

One of the officers, wearing a more conductor like uniform brought his hand to his mouth and yelled:

"Five minutes to departure!"

----

A lieutenant met Valos in the doorway of the hangar, saluting him and handing him a scroll with the Crimson Seal on it.

"Instructions on dealing with Laus from the Emperor, sir!"

The rolled up paper read:

General Valos is hereby granted the authority to oversee the Laus front line, acting in accordance with the following priorites and instructions:

Priority 1: Prevent Ragnar and his forces from pushing into the mainland.

Priority 2: Ensure the undercover mission is not compromised.

Priority 3: Reclaim land between the front line and Laus with minimal endangerment to troops.

The order to attack and recapture Laus will supercede all priorities when the order is given by The Emperor.  Laus must not be attacked until the order is given.

You are given the authority to make decisions on your own so long as they do not conflict with the above.

Crimson Emperor Lars Draven I

----

Ven walked through the grassy field, the bottom of his cloak dampening from the morning dew rubbing off of the tall blades of grass.  The sun was piercing through the  clouds, so he at least knew which direction he was going... Of course, that offered little help due to the shear vastness of this continent... Mavas could be anywhere...

At least it was somewhat less dismal here than the valley that village was in...

[Zeros']

Zeros' turned briefly to Draven, then, turned away and looked back towards the horizon. He had felt Hyperion already, but, he sensed no maliace towards himself or his... aquantices.

"I merely don't think a simple apperance near Laus would throw Haraldur off our trail, but, I'm sure his men aren't as intelligent as himself," he turned and spread his wings, the two, large, black angel wings extended to their full wing span of 15 feet, from wingtip to wingtip. "But, I'll see what I can do," he commented before he took into the air, in the direction of Laus at a steady pace.

The early morning sunlight colored the sky oranges and reds. But, Zeros' had no doubt, the sky would soon be painted red with blood...

[Haraldur]

Haraldur reached Laus, and landed on the tower above where Tesla was, and shouted down to him, "It is time that Laus is permanently seperated from the Empire that has been near or on it for generations. This must be done so we are less spread out. Wait until the attack, however. I want the isthmus between us and the mainland to be fullof Crimson Empire troops before the move."

"What of the damage it will cause?"

"Who cares? I can repair any damage relevant to us. It is useless, Zeros' is already been confirmed to be objectively on the side of the Empire."

___________________________________________________________

Under the isthmus magma moved into a newly created hollow, and pressure started to build up.

[Dude Man]

"More seperated from the Empire? Does he mean, move the land?" Marshal asked. "Indeed, Haraldur is powerfull.". He double checks to see if his gun is fully loaded, he aims it at the air, to get more so used to it. He then lowered the weapon.

------------

Valos examined the message, and read it. He nooded. "Back to work lieutenant." He said to him. Valos then turned to Rink and Xenia. "Get aboard the ship, now. We have five minutes, so don't doddle." He then walked towards the ship. "Why, fly yourself if you have a ship to do it for you." He gave a quick smirk, and then walked aboard. The mechanics saluted him as he stepped into the ship. He then looked at all the passengers, and nearly everyone saluted him. "At ease, grunts." He laughed.

------------

Duilin then spread open his wings, and then jumped into the air, and flapped his wings and began flight. He swooped up nearby Zeros'.

"Good morning Zeros'." Duilin called to get his attiention, yet he probabbly allready senced him coming. "Get a good sleep?"

[Haraldur]

"Still your tongue, Marshall!" said Haraldur. "We have no idea who may be listening, so never mention things explicitly."

[Kahn]

The full palace began to reveal itself as Hyperion flew closer. When he noticed Zeros spread his wings and take off, it made him feel a little bit better about where he was heading. He began to feel the Crimson Empires power.

[Trent]

Xenai obeyed the given request, boarding the- Holy hell, this is a nice ship!

//Aura's supposed to be on the ship with Xenai, Rink, and Valos, right?

Ah, finally. Aura reaches the 30th floor. The Falcon V catches her eye, and she figures that's the one she needs to get on. She boards the ship. "Excuse me, is there a General Valos on this ship?"

Xenai looks over to her. "Holy hell! You're that one girl that was dashing on the water after us!"

Aura looks to him. "You... You're one of Tsu's friends, aren't you?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Nothing, really. Just wanted to know." Yet she seemed to be thinking a little deeper.

[Xorlak]

Draven folded his arms as Zeros' began his flight southward into the horizon.  A smirk returned to his face...

"Excellent..."

He turned and strode towards the stairwell, but paused halfway there.  It was at this point he noticed some sort of dragon flying about.  Strange, why hadn't the wyvern riders intercepted it?  He watched it for a moment...

----

"All aboard!"

The doors to the airship closed and it could be felt leaving the ground.  It shot out of an  opening in the floating palace in into the sky with no visible propulsion save for a yellow glow emitting from it's underside.

The conductor performed the military salute.

"Our vessel will arrive at the southern fortress of Redvik in a little over an hour."

He grabbed the pole he was standing next to as a tremendous g-force could be felt as the ship accelerated greatly.

The inside of the ship was extremely roomy and luxurious, the seats positioned more in the fashion of a  train's dining car, with padded seats positioned around small tables.

(The trip, of course, will last as long as you guys need for your conversations, etc.)

----

Ven removed his blade and began to hack at the thick yellow grass before him.  It seemed to be getting taller and thicker as he went on...  Hmm... wrong turn, perhaps...?

He sat down on a rock.  Who was he kidding?  Trying to find him in a place like this...  He doesn't even know what he'll do when he does find him...

Some sort of black bird flew overhead.

Fight him of course... try and break the spell... well, see if the spell happens to break at least... he still has to try... he owes him that much...

[Haraldur]

The Prophet was now nearing the Crimson Capital, and flew towards Draven.

"I need you to help me put history back on its proper course."

The arrogance of trying to alter the course of history! As if he is the universe or something! The upstart! It is my order that decides what happens in the future!

[Dude Man]

Valos sat near Xenia and Rink. "Might as well sit with you people. I have to spend the next few days with you in a huge war I might as well put up an effort to get along with you. Besides the grunts are terrible conversationist, they are to affraid of me." He then looked at Aura, and examined her. He could tell she was a soilder, she appeared to be a lieutenant, but he didn't reconise her. "Hello, I am GENERAL Valos. You may have herd of me. I belive you are the new girl, I heard about."

Rink then sat back and turned to Xenia. "You know her?" He asked gestureing to Aura.

[Trent]

Aura performs the salute. "Hello. I am Lieutenant Aura Hikari. The new girl."

Xenai sighs. "I don't know a thing about her. You'll have to ask my friend about her... Kid with black hair, you might have seen him... Though he's definitely not much of a kid anymore..."