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[Caellath]

"Nah, you had to answer his questions and it seems he gave people a cue to speak." Milno said before turning to Maurice. "You can reply to that then move on."

[Nikitian]

I will be short. Maurice replied to Milno, and turned to Hasala, without any kind of animosity on his face.

Yes, you did. You had a plan, that much was certain from your words and your ongoing video feed, and I approved of your initiative. There is one more audio quote to be played in that dialogue.

Hasala, status update.
...Oh, I see it. Damnation. Can you get out on your own?

:Maybe. Depends on if they move cyclically or on the Schrodinger principle.:

Good luck. And good thinking.

Regardless, if you still believe I left you behind, then consider this my late apology for the matter. Now you know why I did what I did, and how I saw what I did. I am sorry it came over incorrectly. ...And Simus is dead, for intents and purposes. Her brain has been lifeless for more than three decades now.   ...   ...


...At that point, Team II was trapped as well. We discussed the matter with Pancaek, and together came to decision that braving out the no-go zone was the best approach, between the time and notice it would take to cut through the walls and the likely ambush that could be waiting inside - and that if anyone could stand up to the anomalous freezing, it was Pancaek. He went out and was "taken"; we lost visual feed from his suit. Per earlier orders, Konrad took command of Team II and proceeded to rally them up to the roof of the building in a fighting retreat, with observers preventing the advance of the puppets. At some point we lost sight of Pancaek, and, "taken", he moved away somewhere.

In this time Team I has reached the building containing the geometric centre of the anomaly - I marked it for the ease of use in Mad Hatter. The building was breached, we entered and found the same situation as everywhere - every room is stripped off of things, all entryways inside barricaded and devoid of anyone. More puppets were found inside, converging on out position, but with careful overwatch and some space magic from Ulrich - his account of that event is entirely accurate, I believe - we managed to proceed further, closer to the perceived source of it all. By this time Hasala was able to come and provide overwatch on the breach point of the building, at that point crawling with puppets. To avoid morale damage, I secretly gave him the order to cut the puppets with the laser - you've seen it; in order to - no, in hope that direct dismembering of the puppets would be enough to stop them and that particular mob of puppets could be dealt with. As the message says, we've already seen some "people" missing heads and having other anatomically improbable deficiencies that clearly could not be survived; I believed that, if the metaphor was correct and some puppeteer was using them to enact his plans, significally damaging their bodily structure would prevent effective use of those "dolls". And I, indeed, take full responsibility for that decision - for any decision, action or outcome of that mission.

It's not like that "War Crimes Tribunal" Steve always talks about would spare me anyway. ...And not that I'm going to go before it either way.

It is funny how this world sometimes works, I guess. But this is perhaps the only tribunal I would go before.

A small smile, bitter and ironic, creeped to Maurice's face. Yes, Bloody Mistress, I will face it all. Isn't it what entertains you?.. He closed his eyes for a few moments and then continued as before, in a calm and succinct manner.

In the meanwhile, Team I has reached the room which apparently contained the centre of the anomaly. After Ulrich gave an all clear sign, we entered and found a dead body on a makeshift bed, sings of prolonged habitation in here - a toilet, a pile of food packages, other things - and a staggering amount of writings on the walls. Ulrich volunteered to decipher those. There weren't any obvious causes to this person's passing; but it certainly wasn't a violent death, nor was he a puppet. As I proceeded to check the body, I decided first to examine the centre point of the dome with the Mad Hatter - in plain view, there was nothing there, just an empty point in space - and at about half full distortion level I saw... something.

A crack in the reality appeared before my mind and violently took it on a journey. I was falling through a tunnel into a giant black pyramid, with a backdrop of a giant white sun, and as my consciousness approached it, I felt my sense of self eroding. I could but hold on to my self, and hope that this journey would not be for naught.

He takes a deep breath before continuing to speak.

I came to my senses under a layer of rubble. From the comms, videofeeds and medical data, the teams were in complete disarray, and we have lost Morul to boot. The rubble belonged to the building we were in just a moments ago, and a new figure - human-sized, black and wreathed in white flames - was seen.
"Act first. Judge and analyze later." was my decision.

Frankly, I did not know whether it was Morul or Pancaek, so just in case I sent shock signals to them both. I burst free out of rubble and tried to fly-tackle the figure, shielding myself with kaleidoscoping Mad Hatter, but that proved disastrous - I simply missed him; yet it also saved my life. The black figure, apparently responding to the shock signal, "returned fire" with a line of massive destruction, that glassed and turned into ash everything in its way to horizon. That action destroyed section of the dome, the rubble of the building and, apparently, destroyed whatever remained of trooper Bartolomew Markov - the medical data went from "data" to "no signal" in a moment. After burning Ulrich's shot in flight, it simply turned and continued on its path. I ordered Ulrich to try and take it down with his amp, but, for the first time in HMRC history, space magic has failed us; Ulrich, still in air, somehow apparently lost consciousness and something - my personal guess is, now that it can be talked about, it was the piece of Origin from his amp - was lying on the ground below. We were out of options, badly outclassed in firepower, and the black figure was advancing towards the circle of dancing figures. Whatever its intentions were, they clearly were something which we would rather avoid, so I was scraping for ideas to stop it. Team II provided some fire at the black figure, but it simply shrugged them all in the same way Ulrich's shot never reached it.

At this time Team II was already on its way out of the dome, and frankly, general retreat seemed like a fine idea now that we had an exit door and seemingly nothing to stop the black figure with. I sent Konrad with his Mk-IIIA and the camera in advance, to check if the world outside the dome was even our universe, while Ulrich was trying to contact Steve - to no avail. At that point Pancaek managed to come to his senses, and thus it was confirmed that the black figure was, indeed, Morul. Giving the general order for evacuation, I proceeded to park my suit in Morul's path, overloaded its reactor and throw in all the forcefield containers I had. The helmet was the only part of the suit that I could keep.

Hasala helped me get out of the blast range as the rest of the team exited the dome as well. It is my understanding that Steve was contacted then as well. As the explosion came off - it is uncertain what was happening inside anomaly, as its vision-defying capabilities still held - we were informed by Ulrich that we had to get to the shuttle, which we proceeded to do. Apparently, as I hypothesised, Steve was crashing the ship that brought us down on the anomaly, and even overloading all the automanipulators present, so we had to flee sideways instead of escaping the atmosphere. Our shuttle couldn't endure that much punishment, so we crashlanded on the surface of Noblis-3 again. The storm of space magic let loose raged around us, and we waited.

With a slightly shaking hand he bring the pipe to his mouth to take another deep pull, then continues speaking.

Then came the saddest message of Steve that I've ever read. Here, I'll show it up for the sake of the Generals - everyone else has already seen it.

>Give this message to Maurice:

The extrauniversal resonance which is allowing the entity to pass into our reality is not declining. It is increasing exponentially.  Cross over of all or part of the being is inevitable.

The being has shown a capacity to manipulate and connect with devices created using technology and materials gathered from the Origin. If it were to contact these, it may gain the capacity to leap through the extended influence of origin into every object and person connected using these devices. This can not be allowed to happen. You must destroy the ones held by your team. Before I crashed the ship, I left enough automated weapons in orbit to deal with any devices held by the public, so once you've destroyed those you hold, send the command phrase to the following frequencies.   

[There's a large list of numbers here]

The Command is : "What Needs To Be Done"

I can't activate your implants from here, with the local ship gone. Make due however you see fit.



I'm Sorry. 

The saddest part here is that this is the first ever - known to me - message of Steve where he basically was giving his agents the order to give up and commit suicide - or so I saw it at the time. However, that impression was incorrect: in following messages, Steve gave the instructions for getting to the nearest spaceship on the planet. And so we did, first destroying every piece of Origin tech that we had with us - starting with the notoriously tough synthflesh of Pancaek's body - and finishing with the amps I cut out in the field and that piece of something that fell from Ulrich, to boot. Then we proceeded to reach the spaceship - which was several miles away, so only Konrad's Mk-IIIA had the resource to reach there, and thus he was our vanguard once again - took it for ourselves, and got off the ground as soon as it was possible. All the while we did so, some kind of giant black figures were rising over the horizon, in the location of the anomaly - as the black figure's ascension ritual progressed. I gave the order to glass the planet the second our main rocket engines came to life, so we quite literally rode on the blast of it; unfortunately, we flew straight into the blackness enveloping the planet's atmosphere, so it is uncertain whether or not we managed to destroy all Origin tech on the planet before it was corrupted. I can only add to this the same thing I said to Steve: regardless of our efforts, Morul himself had an amp with him when he was possessed. And now, judging by the limited extent of Origin tech corruption - it is prominent, yes, but much weaker than expected in the worst case scenario - I believe that the bombing succeeded, for the most part.

He calmly raised his eyes to meet Milno's and those of Miyamoto's Avatar, awaiting their judgement.

[Caellath]

Milno decided to confirm something in his datapad and groaned a bit after Maurice finished giving his report. The guy lucky enough to be vaporized had to be the one he lent a token to. Bad luck all around; now he really had to milk tokens from that aberration that swallowed Thad.

After sending a few trivial wristpad messages, he spent some time mentally chewing the report and comparing it to Maurice's prior heartfelt statements. "From what it looks like, Morul was the one to go all suicidal offering on us and since he had an amp, it seems he was either the reason this happened or a major contribution."

"I still have some questions, though. First thing: did you have any space magic on you? Why do you claim responsibility for what happened if you just told us all you managed to do was getting mindfucked and waking up afterwards? And on that matter, why did you tell me earlier that it was your personal responsibility 'letting' Morul take your place and that you are certain you stood a chance at containing that thing that wants to swallow up an universe?"

[Radio Controlled]

"So, if I understand correctly, you decided to use that hat program to look for clues, which that thing used it as an opening to connect to you. You were then mentally sucked up into it somehow, and came about in the rubble later. Did you have any conscious agency during that time?"

[Nikitian]

In chronological order:

I did not have any Origin-derived tech on me, no.

I believe that it is the mission commander's responsibility for a failed or completed mission. And I don't even know if we managed to record any useful data with that camera; it seems that we did not ever enter any pocket dimension, so the main mission objective was not accomplished.

As for 'letting' Morul take my place... Maurice's stare, aimed at nothing in particular, became steel hard and unyielding. It seemed as though it would be able to cut through the ship hull had it been a tiny bit more intense. I was the initial target of the entity. I admit that I had no way of knowing the full extent of the entity's power, but many audacious accomplishments are done by the underinformed, historically. Audentes fortuna iuvat, fortune favors those who dare. And that is my main point of divergence from your teachings of "Competence", Milno, as I have recently understood. That is my own path to Competence.

...I have long been training and getting ready for the day when I can wrestle back and act offensively in a mindfuck link. Of all the non-amp-users currently in service, I probably stand the best chance at this, and even among ampers I would rival many. I haven't reached the peak of my capabilities by the time of M21, but, as they say, "time and tide wait for no man"; I guess trouble keeps them company. With Pancaek taken, I had the best chance to keep the leash on it. ...Morul came next. And additionally, you may think of it as superstition, but I feel that if there was a chance to succeed, even small, I would have succeeded.

And so, when I was falling into that pyramid, and desperately trying to preserve my self, I intended to do just that. Mindfuck it back.

He slowly turned his gaze to stare the Avatar into the black, unblinking cam-eye.
That also answers your question, Miyamoto. That was the extent of my conscious acting agency: to persevere, and to fight back. I do not believe I could break this contact, even if I tried - so I tried to gain for the good of ARM in a seemingly hopeless situation. I was denied my attempt. Morul took it in my stead, and failed.

Dr. Sanctor's gaze softened a bit, as he looked down.
And that is why I am angry at Morul. Was angry, rather. And that is why I will not let anyone slander his name. He took my place, and in that probably saved my life. Saved it for... something else.

[Caellath]

Milno couldn't tell whether he should be shocked by the revelation or shake it off as yet another case of people going batshit insane right in front of his eyes. "'Even if I tried', you say. So are you telling me you didn't even try to escape because you were trying to prove your mindfuck superiority over the alien god or something along those lines?"

[Nikitian]

No, no I did not try. Or rather, in the brief initial window I had the agency to act, I chose not to try, and later... I do not remember. I don't think it even existed for me, any kind of "later" between that endless fall and waking up in the rubble. ...What seemed like minutes or hours to me could have been just seconds, with no frame reference inside my head.

What did you not understand between "audacity" and "disregard for own safety"? Was the suit reactor overload story not graphic enough?

[Radio Controlled]

"Basically, when confronted with the extra-dimensional entity which was inscrutable but seemed obviously hostile, you choose to swan-dive into it head first in an attempt to duke it out, rather than back down and see how your teammates were faring, or trying to find another solution than fighting the entity on it's own terms? While having nothing to go on but a vague hope it'd work out and that you could do it?"

[Nikitian]

Exactly.

Beat.

Because it went along with the mission parameters of exploring anomalous planes and dimensions; because this was apparently the source of the anomaly, and interacting with it in some way was the main plan for getting a way out for the whole mission team; because I had command structure in my mission teams just in case the team leaders would fall - and it had already proved that it works by that time, when Konrad rallied Team II in Pancaek absence; because sometimes fighting someone on their own terms is the only way you can fight them - as later events of M21 confirmed. Because this was a singular opportunity and you tacitly understand as well as me that I simply wouldn't have a second chance at it, had I backed down then and there; the universe simply doesn't work that way, if previous HMRC and ARM experience is anything to go by. Because every officer of ARM is also a capable soldier or specialist on his own, as you can attest, and there are some risks you cannot delegate to your subordinates. Because I knew I could do it, I knew I could do it, and I couldn't possibly ask it of anyone not volunteering for it - and I volunteered for this, well, semi-suicidal duty myself; but then Morul volunteered as well.

And yes, that is a very apt description: "a vague hope it'd work out and that I could do it". For me, that is enough to attempt; for me, that has served me well so far. Mission 21 alone is standing here answering your questions because I had this kind of vague hope and pressed on to get the information out of Steve when, it seemed, all hope was lost.

[Dorsidwarf]

Eddie floats up from his corner again, clearing his throat.

"Excuse me, generals, but I'd like to ask a question."

[Radio Controlled]

Eddie floats up from his corner again, clearing his throat.

"Excuse me, generals, but I'd like to ask a question."

"Yes?"

[Dorsidwarf]

[glow=Brown ,2,300]"Are we all on trial here, or just the mission leader? I have a date with a shopping spree sir, and I've got no more action to report."[/glow]

[Caellath]

Milno shrugged, leaving Miyamoto to reply to that, before turning to Maurice. "What is the 'something else' you said your life got saved for?"

[Nikitian]

Serve the Humanity, first and foremost.

Help the Humanity survive the Altered. I have been involved in a number of projects related to that, and... Well, Miyamoto can attest to when and how I earned this early gray hair. Though now, I suppose, it is "help the Humanity survive the exile from home universe". If only it was on the table before...

But most importantly, especially now that the Lurker has invaded and the mightiest space magic can not be called upon - fulfil my prior plans, finish my training and tame the ARM its own eldritch demigod. Even if it cost me my life, self or humanity in the process.

And yes, I have planned, I have calculated, I have considered, I have consulted with the Doctor, and I did all I could so that this seemingly pipe dream would turn into an actual, workable plan. As he spoke, Dr. Sanctor purposefully met Milno's gaze. Maurice looked tired, bitter, battered, sad, determined - but there was no hint of madness in his eyes, only pain and logic.

[Caellath]

Spoiler: Received Message (click to show/hide)

Back when I was fully human, and new to the Sword, Maurice repeatedly put himself bodily between me and danger, without a thought or attempt at self-preservation. He chose instinctualy to protect me. Maurice is selfless. He may have made poor decisions, but he has always tried to protect others and act for the best he could. I know he is being accused of causing harm. He will probably try to take blame he doesnt deserve to protect others near him. He is a good man, please be nice to him. Please dont hurt my friend.

Milno frowned deeply at Maurice's remarks, and after checking his wristpad for the new message, ignored it without missing a beat. Though he had grown used to only expecting the worst out of his companions, the doctor had one of the few people he had even moderately good memories of. Maurice had once seemed like a reasonable medic, but now he had either gone bonkers or just unveiled a previously hidden craziness. "Cut the mysterious shit." he told Maurice before addressing Miyamoto. "I think he's completely off his rockers, but judging by the information we have, Morul was still the one directly responsible for this whole thing."

"Maurice deserves a spanking for trying to duke it out with that alien god but even if Morul was just trying to prevent Maurice from doing anything stupid, replacing him wasn't a good call. In that situation I would try to stop him, even violently if necessary, but I wouldn't fling myself towards the xeno stuff to get to it first, in a demented race of sorts. Maybe Morul was also controlled in some manner, or he had an idea as bad as Maurice's. Besides, Morul was the one with an amp so it's likely even if Maurice was swallowed instead things wouldn't have been so bad."