Stories of Lore 27

Aryn’s Odyssey

Dear Johnson: Odyssey’s are one long continuous thing don’t go surfing around for different characters.

So this is what a Somnus office is like, kind of cramped. Oh well, back to dealing with this whole mess we find ourselves in.

I gather you’d like me to start with Kyven. So good news is we found him after…extensive effort, and I do mean extensive. He’s dead now so good news on that. Making the hiring of a computer expert and putting Renjala as the new master access a bit redundant but I guess the extra security never hurts. Everyone who survived is in the hospital now, so if you need something done around here you’ve just got Eleazor really.

We predict the stabilization of Auwana’s economy though the toll the war with Kyven took was expensive. That and other criminal gangs are still looking to fill yet another power vacuum. Zhuan might be ahead of the pack though since he has some of the old assets I left behind and he wasn’t really touched by this war on crime you’ve been up to this whole time. Hopefully you can stabilize things before another monster like Kyven shows up at least.

As for the conflict on this alien Zenaka place, it’s going in your favor I’m told. Though according to Elion and Xanis you might be in for a long haul. Taking over a fairly developed world with its own complex political structure, billions of inhabitants, and people with wildly varying opinions on even the simplest matter could be a longer process than just moving in and setting up shop. Even if this Ilivayas woman is dealt with, Xanis predicts that we can expect a long and bloody civil war across the planet if Kar’Soluth continues to offer any support at all. Given what we’ve told him about the drow, he has no doubt they’ll find a way to continue meddling. Though points out his contract still states he gets to go to Somnus soon, as that was one of the terms of him helping you…I mean us.

The skirmishes between you and the Kar’Soluth are still ongoing since they fight by spreading out and picking things off. Elion is still forced to amass the troops instead of allowing them to spread out and look for these smaller pockets and just deal with the guerilla tactics of the drow as best he can.

The Milenkosi has been sent to the middle planes to contain the infection for a little while longer. Though the ship is completely overrun by those weird valdir things..silnian? I’m still not used to whatever is going on with all these mutating people. Mutants, it’s still overrun by mutants of some various kind.

So as much fun as I’m having going through all these classified documents on the so-called Phantoms, it’s worth noting that they’re still messing with the system wide economy. Apparently their plan is to turn the economy back on and start solidifying their empire now that they crawled out of the basement all across the system. Mostly because this group your files label as ‘The Revenants’ have been hitting them hard ever since they started revealing their locations and they want the economy back on so they can build a large military force to protect them. Apparently one of their founding members was recently killed and they’re getting nervous.

Speaking of which, since you’ve been so kind as to get me security access to all these fancy classified documents I suppose it’s only fair that I let you know what I know about the Revenants. I put it in a file for you, just be thankful they’re not after you specifically. Ilex might start sweating though. Their little gang has never been that focused on you guys over their previous enemies of the Gauntlet and the Phantoms and just come around to clean up the scraps. Though with your alliance growing in power and now directly aligned with the Phantoms they’re bound to start paying more attention.

The Zenaka fleet is getting hit harder now that Ki’Ralcht is helping the Nomads. Specifically because they can get aboard anything, and Ki’Ralcht’s summoned platoon can make that a very scary prospect. Though the Vloz’Khress have summoners as well, it’s still a threatening boarding action.

On to matters at hand here at Jamalia, Haziel reports that Rikoy straight up disappeared off the planet somehow. We have heard no word from Faelyn about any ships coming to pick him up, though Haziel mentioned that someone else was here to take him and the remaining forces away. Currently our best experts on the matter think that short little Elym thing from Thenica just FTL’d in and back out without a ship. Which is an…interesting prospect but its the best explanation that Haziel can agree to.

Ankathi stole your conduit bind trick in order to use Sarnai as a puppet…like you do to Irae all the time. This has resulted in us being able to talk with her in greater detail about things. Evidently she knows more about the planes than anyone else, though doesn’t know how to explain it all in the most modern terms. That and she keeps spending her hour or two that she can inhabit Sarnai to roam around Jamalia and ask questions about every piece of modern technology we have, and we’re not even that modern you’ll recall. That and she likes to eat a lot, apparently medieval food sucks compared to what we have these days.

It turns out Ankathi might be some sort of genocidal witch known as a great calamity, but that’s just according to Vasia who notably has a very…personal relationship with the woman it turns out. Haziel’s recap of events just says Ankathi was “a thing that happened” that likely did destroy a few nations but Haziel didn’t like nations in the first place so she didn’t have much thoughts on the matter. Ankathi however seems to recognize Haziel very well, to the point of her being the only person Ankathi shows any sign of acknowledgement towards. She seems to respect that Haziel is an ancient of great power, even if she considers herself a step higher in her newfound divinity she seems most willing to share the secrets of her achievement with Haziel. Partially because Haziel is the only one that seems to get what Ankathi is trying to say with all her vague medeival terminology. So some people are concerned that Ankathi might try to create a new pantheon if she can recruit Haziel to becoming the next true Wilds.

Of course all this that we failed to keep quiet because of the huge explosion of celestial light accompanied by a bright flash that consumed Faelyn’s radar at the mere presence of Ankathi…the Phantoms are on their way to assess the situation. Valadeus of course but he said he’s bringing some others who are curious as to why we have both the ancient Haziel and the divine Ankathi in our one mid-sized colony on some backwater planet in the middle of nowhere.

Halaestra is currently undergoing the Eden treatment and…uh…we’ll see how that goes.

Also about that corruption coupon, no one other than you at Jamalia has that much money, and so it’d be going public to explain Eden and what she can do which could cause a cascade of problems. So…confirm? Also speaking of Eden, throwing dead aliens at her causes her to throw it onto her planet and just let them decompose. She has a very large and external digestive system I would call it.

As for the economy, even if we do go public to make some short term cash the problem is going to keep getting worse as long as we keep taking on new refugees. Which 40th day is all to happy to keep dropping off. However, it is stabilizing but you just can’t see it too easily. As people get settled in and start finding things to actually do they start producing a general positive effect but the new ones are coming in so fast that you can barely tell. I imagine at this rate since we can’t develop anything ourselves any further we’re going to start seeing secondary colonies sprouting up on various planets by colonists who can afford to do so themselves or can gather the manpower to do so. If we don’t fund the colony initially they sort of get dibs on the rights to do whatever they want with it even if we kind of own the planet. Still a general gain for us in the long run.

In the short term, Valencia might come around to repossess certain things or find other economic solutions once the economy is back up and running again. I’m not too concerned about it because in our very specific case, if our economic downturn produces enough growth of our influence in the Sol territories the Phantoms are liable to bail us out. Don’t forget, between Kanika and Faelyn the phantoms have money. Though since Lancaster, Ilex, and so on are not members of the phantoms they don’t have a daddy Valadeus to come in and decide ‘yeah this is fine for me’. With us building them that station within the Astral Warrens I imagine they’re at least inclined to view us more favorably than some of the other recently recruited liches.

As another option to fix our revenue, enslave all the refugees and get them to work. That’ll fix it really quick.

While I can layout the groundwork for arcuran sports, the economic issues prevent us from developing Helym into much.

Vasia said I should try delivering her report to you this month since she had something she needed to go do. Also she said something about the position being cursed? Given that I can’t really work anywhere else in Sol looking like this I guess being her assistant is kind of all I can do.

Contacting the bard has been difficult…again. He took his ships and disappeared into space so we don’t know about his ‘former employee insurance protection package’. Hrm? Oh Bardhe, that’s a confusing name.

As for the ichor experiments, well yeah it’s kind of lonely out here with nothing but roaming monsters to keep me company. At least they fetch breakfast for me though everything tastes kind of the same. I think they fed me a person too and I don’t want to talk about it. I’m not really sure I should go to Zenaka, if you haven’t noticed I’m not exactly experienced in active war zones. Though Vasia helped me pin down that the black pool over here is producing something very similar to the Koura parasites. It was actually one of these concoctions that got loose through the lab, they are aggressive and will burrow through hazmat gear if given the opportunity. They also seem weirdly good at knowing when they can and can’t escape from containment to make an attempt at doing so.

I don’t really know much about this other ichor you’re talking about at the warzone but Vasia’s report recommends building a new specialized facility for researching the ichor. Stating her own lab is insufficient as it has already proven to be a bit slippery. She has a draft for it though we can’t really afford to build it at the moment. Though finances being what they are right now we can’t really construct new developments. 40th Day’s prefab colonies had to halt production due to the current financial situation as well. She said plan B was let it do what it’s meant to do and just turn the monsters…I guess me…loose to see what it does once nothing is trying to control it.

Hey I’m not that dirty! They don’t need to wash their hands just for being near me! I mean yes I crawl around the ground all day because of the tail but…*sigh*

Uh this note she left just says “Adryn’s dead, peter in hospital a second time.”

Another one saaaays… “I’m not responsible for that idiot’s attempt to play scientist without me in the back of the freighter when I have three giant labs in Auwana – but say it more sarcastically and meaner” Oh wait I think I wasn’t supposed to read that out loud.

Cassir is back at Somnus looking over the Koura temple now that Lancaster has been secured and Kyven has been dealt with. Also it should be noted she does manage the cult and keep it running. Though she’s not going to go start some crusade out of nowhere…again.

We can’t produce any new ships until the finances have been sorted out.

One of the problems with your abilities and the war on Zenaka is you can’t always be there.  Your strike team with Elion is effective but as mentioned the drow spread out wide across the planet to operate in smaller groups and prefer to use guerilla tactics.

Seiyomi was mysteriously vague on all questions about his abilities and those tha the has seen before.

40th Day continues to ship refugees around and cause the continued economic obliteration of all the director’s assets except Sethis and Whitetalon who are in a different industry entirely. Vasia wrote it that way I don’t know why she said obliteration. It’s not – oh holy shit I found the finance book. Nevermind I get it now.

It didn’t take long after Kyven’s death for Aryn to be returned to us under somewhat mysterious circumstances. According to her she woke up on a shuttle already docked at Somnus and just had to walk the rest of the way over.

To that end, Aryn had a growth spurt and brought home a stray. She’s been asking around to see if anyone particularly wants her and has asked the other directors.

We’re still hunting down the remains of Kyven’s forces simply because we don’t want them latching onto another crime lord just like they did in the first place after the loss of Laura. Though Laura does point out it’s only a matter of time before the next one pops up given the state of the refugees. Part of the economic problems VSEC is facing has a lot to do with minimizing the chances that it will happen again.

Flagship maker!

Economy overhauled, see shop page…or your new upkeep costs.

Ships overhauled, see shop page

Ground assets overhauled, see shop page

New templates page added to player portal

Zenaka space map made

Roster updates:

Azilath – +2/+2 and synapse fixed to reflect the more modern balance of the ability as its introduction has been felt out a little. After the invasion she had to get tougher or die, she lived so she leveled up.

Daesta – +2 defense +2 slayer for quest completion

Eliza Pierce – +1/+1 and offense upgraded to green due to xp gain on her quest.

Kanika Hassani – Added Omnicarnum to better represent what her ability really does. Stats rebalanced to 4/10 with mass destruction 6 because the addition of Elgrim introduced a new power she can use to go beyond what she could originally do. She completed her 2000 year long quest chain and is now max level, ironically getting stats nerfed for it because of the new Lifesteal template’s existence.

Kaylen Yuriko – +2 offense, color upgraded to purple. +2 defense. Kensei template added to reflect her specific zankist trick (lets her use zankou with a weapon). No Man Behind – 3 added. Generally because of her gaining a lot of xp and a legendary artifact.

Kyven – Offense buffed to blue 7 because he got Lancaster’s Selona weapon

Lancaster – offense nerfed to white 4 since she lost her selona weapon. +1/+1 for cyborg superiority, both upgraded to green.

Peter Harlow – Gained +1 defense for xp

Orochi – Is now a legendary ship and has stats reflecting that.

Song Yi – Basically the same update as Kanika, introduction of Elgrim gave her an ability too broken for her stat line. So her numbers are lower but her actual power level is about the same.

Reika – Offense buffed to purple 7 due to ryner sword

Renjala – Offense nerfed to green 5 due to Ryner Sword

Sarnai – Obvious change is obvious

Vasia – +1/+1 for xp

Yonam – Has been uplifted and given the technology to compete with modern weaponry such as a basic shield. Also completed his quest to become the champion of Enohas. +3 defense +1 destroyer.

Stories of Lore 26

At the very least his garage medic is apparently very good, if he had been any worse you’d certainly be dead. I can have cybernetics installed for you, I could also attempt to regenerate you with the parasites but damage this extensive could have unpredictable side effects. I’ll try to make the rest of the briefing quick, I don’t imagine you want to talk much right now. At least not until we fix your jaw so you can respond. Give me your hand, this is an old archaic device called an analog keyboard. It has texture on the main keys so you can find it to try and communicate. It has the same layout as the ones we use from projections, they were based on this one back before we converted to the projection style of computer.

With the recent revelations we’ve encountered, at least we figured out how he’s getting around so easily. The original deck constructions and all of Koura still have Kyven as an administrator, and obviously he has an intimate knowledge of the station’s layout and original security. A lot of which we’re still using despite the updates. Despite posing as an outsider who is just winging it, he clearly targeted Hylavi because she was the major threat to his ability to move freely since she understood every security system on the station. Between her, Winter, and yourself…he is crippling our surveillance. There is only one person left who knows how the station really works, and he just got kidnapped as well.

Laura and Satsujin have accepted the offered positions at least. You’re hearing from me instead of Laura because you’re in my hospital and not in any state for virtual communication. If you’re lucky, this will be the last you see of me. Hrm? Oh right you’re on Madhammer’s base. Kyven has clearly infiltrated Somnus and with the Lowest Decks compromised there is nowhere he can’t access on the station it turns out. Madhammer’s base is a newer construction and its security systems are independent, even if we’re short staffed here it is the one place that is likely safe now. Well…this and the Ash labs. I figured you would preferred to be here. We also know he doesn’t have access to the Astral Order’s manor, since they built their own steamworks door that doesn’t use the same interface systems. Though I’m pretty sure he can get into there if he wanted to.

Zenaka is going well enough. A lot of people are dead but the orbital shield was secured. VSEC is setting up base camp to protect it, though at the cost of the territory we formerly held. Placing the orbital cannons at greater risk but if we lose the shield we’ll just become target practice.

I know now is reaaaally not the time for bad news like this but…so remember how Ilex put the Ichor on the Milenkosi and tried to become its king? We’ve lost control of the ship, it’s now overrun with silnian monsters and half the crew was eaten before we managed to evacuate.

A few of our outposts were also taken while we were busy focusing on the shield generator. Though things currently stand in our favor but Kar’Soluth is recruiting more and more locals every day. One of these native armies took some of our defensive cannons along the eastern border, we’ve built more since then but a ways back meaning some ground has been lost.

However, with control of the orbital shield we can now move on their orbital cannons and once we have that Koda and ARC can launch an actual assault on their fleet. Not to mention their fleet is still bleeding ships because the Nomads keep sneaking aboard and causing all kinds of problems.

As for finances, okay now it’s becoming a real problem, we can’t really upkeep things anymore. The city is falling apart and people are going hungry by the thousands. The only thing holding it together is it turns out Laura really knows her stuff in delaying the inevitable very big problem we’re about to have. While credits still haven’t really stabilized, we’re kind of out of everything except Vittles production since that just grows out of the ground. Fortunately, that’s powerful bartering to keep our workers working for the time being. But just keeping an eye on things because with the invasion back in Sol starting to wind down bit by bit it won’t be long until it re-establishes and then we’ll have to…figure out some options I suppose.

Yes, put your phylactery all up in Eden’s cave.

So let’s start with the big thing. Apparently Sarnai summoned a god into a battlefield, which was great for us even if you and Alex now smell burnt. Which is not good for undead. Please take a shower and submerge yourself in scented oils. Because of the aethernet issues we haven’t really been able to research this “Ankathi” very much. Since she could only be present for an hour, even though her power is enough to turn the fight that wasn’t even the entire duration of the remaining battle. So Alexander never got to talk to her or ask a bunch of questions. Though now he’s studying Sarnai to try and figure out how to do it again or at least contact The Fate at will. Also Sarnai has proven her capability in this campaign so she’s been promoted to a full knight, this has nothing to do with the fact that she can literally summon a god under specific circumstances. Definitely nothing to do with her becoming one of the most important members of the order overnight. Nothing at all.

We’ve also seen to working on/with Halaestra, her paranoia is still a bit of a thing that has to be worked around. You also don’t have the upstanding reputation required to circumvent it…being a secretive lich and all. So that’s ongoing.

As for the actual battles ongoing, the minefield has lost its self replication and been destroyed by Nelta’s fleet though their fleet is practically in ruins after taking near constant bombardment from Jamalia the entire time. We managed to repel their ground assault but Reika was severely injured from her battle with Rikoy who yet lives. He’s still somewhere in the forest and we can’t find him, and given by the reports that means we’re all still in great danger. If anything he gets more dangerous when he’s alone against impossible odds I hear. We’re keeping Jamalia locked up pretty tight, not like he could sneak in but we’re concerned of him just running straight through the front door. Why does this whole situation feel vaguely familiar…

We’ve also singled ourselves out as a high priority target for Nelta for sure now. Though we’ve heard no word of any additional reinforcements just yet. Apparently they’re panicking over the new dreadnought roaming around Sol in the shape of a giant mecha dragon. That would be Orochi who is consuming exerlus to grow as he hunts down the rest of them to prepare to ascend into becoming a titan like Guardian was.

Also the Phantoms have been revealing some of their members which has been confusing for Sol and Nelta alike. There’s a beholder running a refugee colony now filled with people who will take the apparently benevolent beholder over alien annihilation. What’s actually more interesting for us is to note which phantoms did not make an appearance as grand saviors. Specifically Vidarius the revenant responsible for a two millenia long war between elf and drow. I’m quite certain they do not intend to ever reveal the founders for what they are. Faelyn acts as the forward image of Kanika and the empire of dragons. You are the godslayer’s forward presence, and Yasrena is Vidarius’ front.

You can see how Nelta is busy, as with Guardian destroyed they’re being pushed back in several areas. Jamalia just being another of them. This buys time for Somnus at least, as Nelta is too busy with all of this to really converge on Auwana as they clearly originally planned. The damage to the Sol territories is done though, and it seems the Phantoms are now orchestrating the end of the invasion as they see fit.

Caaaalled it. So did Azilath I suppose. The ichor is running rampant and has taken over the Milenkosi. This is why I have a lab with containment cells. I can only throw out wild theories since I’m still at Ash but I’m guessing you’re imprinted to the Que pool that made you now so it’s not accepting you as king even if you did technically make it. It’s not perceptive enough to grasp all the nuances of the situation, just assumes you’re from the other pool and it needs to set itself up properly.

It didn’t break you down into biomatter, just repaired your design and sent you on your way so I think there is another layer to how ichor works. Since you have the imprint of Valdir it assumes you’re an ally but since you’re from the Que pool it assumes you have another role to play since the two pools are not connected via a synapse. So you’re still Larazja’s cat as far as it’s concerned.

It also doesn’t recognize your alliances so it clearly can’t discern much of your thoughts or higher level thinking. Just carries out its programming so to speak. Which is why it took over Milenkosi to spread itself. Turns out messing with silnian juice was a bit too much to ask of the Kaiju freighter’s mobile lab. At least it’s contained to Lancaster’s carrier for now. Though if it finds a way onto the other ships in the fleet she’s going to be pissed. I have good news for you though, she’s currently crippled and cannot speak so you have a little while to fix it before she throws you out an airlock.

Fascinatingly though, the drones produced by your new pool seem to be fantastically aggressive and just ran straight through the Kaiju’s containment once it got ahold of enough biomass to make something for itself. Then it released infectious spores and oh for fucks sake it stole that design from you taking a dip. That’s Que’s trick. So it got through the ventilation systems of the Milenkosi, spread itself, and then like that one jungle parasite it walked their asses to its pool and consumed them. You might want to check everyone who successfully evacuated, if it gets started on Zenaka it’ll run wild.

As for speaking with Bardhe, no can do. We can’t find him without Aryn, he’s just…roaming around Koura looking for Kyven. Well probably Somnus now. As you can see, the hunt for Kyven is still ongoing.

Nelan is still an Alnae loyalist for whatever that’s worth. For now he’s still just here on Somnus diplomatically.

As for Larazja, she’s starting to come around and figure out who she is. Getting more used to her new body and controlling the swarm. I’d say she’s technically working for us simply because she has nowhere else to go and responds well to my orders. It might be worth sending her to Zenaka to try and clean up the mess on Milenkosi since she’s recognized by Que as a queen. It would also help me discern more about the nature of how the synapse works. To that end we could probably also send Satsujin, as she is a former synapse commander as well. Though…she hands her hands full back here.

Also Adryn can’t get to Enohas right now. See before he left Eleazor said he had a big problem…and Adryn went to help…and then Adryn nearly died. So he’s in the hospital.

The device you’re thinking of doesn’t kill anyone who looks at it. Just a lot of people who look at it. It’s very random when it wants to work. Also don’t worry, I’ve got no plans to go anywhere anytime soon. I’m still furnishing my new lab, do you think mahogany desks would be better or should I get one of those steel neon backlit tables? I feel like my office should be menacing but elegant instead of edgy.

Oh right, Peter is in the hospital too with Adryn. He did manage to help vet personnel for Lancaster’s teams. Which went great, up until everything went to hell for everyone. He did actually find a few infiltrators along the way, bonus.

40th Day is out mining asteroids and as for probes…yeah I suppose if you wanted to initiate the ritual and target a probe we could get that to work. Might be good for the Astral Warrens in some way.

The Vivarium is on high lockdown as you requested.

So Jhaeros was ‘killed’ during his attack on our offices by Vanjin once again. He’s not really anywhere around. I have Vanjin and Elgrim currently protecting our Koura offices in case anything similar should happen again, especially if they were to somehow figure out Laura is being kept there.

The rebuilding of the lowest decks has been put on hold while the Kyven situation is fixed up given what we’ve learned about him recently. I’ve also been informed that Aryn is still alive just not here right now and Ilex has been barred from contacting her. I imagine if Renjala tries to rift to bring her here before Kyven is resolved he’ll aggravate the same forces that are keeping Ilex from contacting her. I suspect she is in some situation that prevents her from returning for the time being, though assuming they are good to their word that we can have her back afterwards then we can wait on rebuilding the Somnus offices a little as they were mostly a necessity for her than anyone else.

Our forces are currently spread far and wide and helping out with the various ongoing situations, just a little quieter about it.

Stories of Lore 25

I’m…filling in for a little bit since I’m still here. With Winter, Hylavi, and Aryn dead I guess I’m the most qualified besides Baltun. Though he’s a bit busy with the lowest decks having been blown up. Before her death, Hylavi had been setting up the safe zones you requested. Actually we think that’s what prompted Kyven to target her at all. While his own forces shouldn’t be able to match VSEC, he has been running down the chain of command to put VSEC into disarray with his personal skillset. Not to mention he’s a fierce commander when he gets into skirmishes with VSEC’s security forces.

New arrivals are being moved to camps outside of Koura while reconstruction efforts are underway for the Vittles factory. It’s taking longer than we might have hoped since it was originally designed by Winter herself. Khymin has taken over it and he’s doing well it’s just not the most ideal circumstances. He’s also starting to feel the strain of the ongoing affairs. He seemed to regard Winter as a sort of mother-figure and he’s not taking her death too lightly. That and the Vittles factory has been attacked two more times during rebuilding efforts, a lot of VSEC assets are having to be placed around the factory to try and keep efforts to rebuild on track. This weakens their influence over the rest of Koura and even Somnus, which as we’ve seen has allowed the elusive Kyven to make some bold moves.

Satsujin, Eleazor, and Bardhe are on their way, so hopefully they might be able to help suppress this even just a little. Though Aryn’s death has practically crippled the Void State as a whole. Routine communications now take days to do, this call I’m making to you right now was not so simple as it used to be.

At this point, I suppose I should give some advice. You could abandon Zenaka and bring Madhammer home to deal with restoring order. They have the firepower, manpower, and experience necessary to deal with this. At least in my opinion. Alternatively we could hope that our incoming arrivals can help contend with Kyven. There is also the option to plead with Faelyn for help. Right now she’s fending off Nelta at various frontier colonies with her fleet as well as dealing with the Moncayo issue. Though we know she cares a lot about our portal, and if we beg she might just send some dragons to deal with the problem. It will…probably bite you in the ass later when you owe her big time. Laura King is also an option, she has a certain level of experience in these matters and has offered to try and help if given a sufficiently enticing reason to do so. Though her current power is limited, giving her VSEC resources to use and keeping her alive would allow her to return to the streets and see what progress she can make. We could also contact the vigilantes roaming Koura who are already fighting with Kyven but less directly. They’re really protecting whatever areas they reign over as if they were just another gang entirely, however they are at least a resource that might be moved to help us. My personal favorite idea one of your security officers suggested was to teach Kyven some sahad so that Vasia will go after him. Too early for jokes? Sorry.

Of course there is also “throw everything at him” strategy and just reward everyone who survives afterwards depending on who is still alive. This would at least free you up from having to retreat from Zenaka but given the current economic state it might be hard to dig yourself into more debt to get everything together. Let alone the characters you might become stuck affiliating with afterwards.

As a general threat assessment though. Kyven has a number of extremely talented individuals working for him. Elgrim and Vanjin are still up and moving and able to deal with most of them, but he doesn’t expend them for anything less than a big score. The real problem is striking at him, we are pretty much forced to play defensively and he is somehow very aware of VSEC’s movements. I am hoping Eleazor can deal with that for us, he does have skillset for finding rats. Though the mass recruitment that came with the influx of refugees definitely created some openings. Hylavi was closing in on such problems but with her untimely demise, we’ve lost a lot of that progress since she was understandably secretive about what she was doing in these operations.

As for the total economic destruction Auwana is currently dealing with, we are fortunate on a few affairs. First off, there is bound to be some incoming profit from Renjala’s Rift once things settle down. It’s just too valuable not to be explored and people will be looking to escape the Sol territory range to avoid further invasions. It’s just a matter of outlasting the current instability. Vittles is still highly valuable even with the problems the gang wars are causing, not to mention it has holdings in Enohas which is a lot safer. With the loss of value for actual credits, people actually aren’t in a big hurry to collect on any debt you owe them. Actually most of the debt is bound to pay itself off as it comes from a lot of the policies put in place to help civilians which the refugees consume a large amount of. We could suspend these policies to fix the hole burning through your bank account but I honestly think the investment will be worth it once things stabilize and people remember that Somnus was there for them during tough times. The main problem is the gang wars destroying resources and consuming a lot of money to fix the problems they’re creating. So we just have to fix that problem before Moncayo stabilizes the economy enough for people to come collecting, and then those who are owed money will be willing to wait it out a bit as they see Auwana returning to a position of profit. If the government survives all this, the government is a reliable investment to have owing you money. Might have to offer them interest on some payments but as I said, the investments that are killing you now prop up Koura to flourish once things settle down. The actual main problem is if the economy stabilizes too quickly, you would basically have to sell shares of Somnus to Faelyn and thus the Phantoms. Who will then control the rift and….the galaxy is doomed. You being a human means that this won’t even be a good position for you to be in unless you discover immortality or something. Maybe become a vampire? Actually, on that note. My work with Koura Cures is going well. Maybe we can use parasites to make you immortal.

As for the shuttle we sent to the Nelta fleet, it was captured by pirates three weeks after departing Somnus with our alien aboard. In analyzing things, I don’t think they knew what was on the shuttle until after they found it. Given that communications over long range are still hard, I doubt this was them knowing ahead of time what we were doing. Though the pirate presence in the frontier still wound up in him getting caught (again) before we could attempt diplomacy.

With Renjala’s help we’ve managed to bring in the necessary supplies to begin plans for the assault on the shield generator but it’s on the opposite side of the planet and we’re trying to sneakily move in a lot of hardware. So progress is being made, though as warned its not as quick and decisive. A part of the problem is that the Vloz’Khress control large sections of the native populace that keeps growing, and so we have to avoid them spotting our maneuvers as well to keep out of the attention of the fleet that could bombard us. Elion asks if he can ‘silence’ civilians that might rat the movements out or if that’s on your list of ‘things he’s not allowed to do’.

Riley has taken over a position along one of our main routes to the shield generator and turned it into a bit of a base we can use with help from the Zenakan natives.

Halaestra has shown up to help out upon being tempted by the promise of Eden fixing her up but she’s demanding that she be paid up front. Given her usual paranoia you can see how she’d be finnicky about this. Largely based on the fact that once she trains us she has nothing she can hold until the completion of the cleansing and that part involves her being non-functional for longer than she’s comfortable with. Also she may have mentioned its not her fault if it proves too difficult for us to master within the incredibly short time window we have.

As for the second ambush, this one didn’t go as well. They were obviously expecting it for round two and better prepared their defenses. Also Chief Rikoy’s ship was the hardest to sabotage since he was on it. Wasn’t a very large ship either so not much room to outmaneuver him. Several knights are dead. Even with Halaestra’s backseat coaching it’s not quite a flawless entry.

As for the mine launcher idea, that has cut off orbital territory above Jamalia for the time being though Somnus is not a planet so the launcher could only cover so much space. However, we did manage to trap them in said space so they can’t leave it’s sphere of influence until they finish clearing through and deactivating it. Buying us a bit more time before they actually try to land on Enohas and keeping them still for some of our boarding shenanigans which helped the overall results.

With a bit of coaching we’re hoping Sarnai can use the same healing spell again so that it might be more reliable but with the ongoing invasion it’s difficult for Reika to sit down with her and explore the matter. Especially since no one has cast that spell in about sixteen hundred years.

On the topic of those with an affinity for boarding plans, Akuhiko stands out. Mostly because his ethereal specialty lets him move around ships much easier than most, particularly in weird alien ships with layouts we don’t really understand.

The wolf cult have been spreading the word to the merkas to retreat to the various warrens around the planet to lay low for awhile as we prepare for Nelta’s invasion of Enohas to be possibly a little less targeted than we would like. Though we do expect them to primarily focus on Jamalia since that is where the orbital shield generator is at, sometimes they can be a little wily about their insertion plans. So keeping the merkas lying low for now seemed to be a good idea.

The arcurans instead are on a mass migration to Jamalia to fight the aliens. Because of course they are. There’s already several thousand of them here.

Sarnai and Eerihild were pulled back from the boarding attempts as we weren’t sure if the mine portal would work out spectacularly well. We’ve managed to take out some of their assets but Rikoy remains an active threat once he escapes the minefield.

In other news, the station beyond the rift back in Auwana is becoming a peculiar place. Due to the massive refugee influx at Auwana it’s hard to keep such a place secret though refugees haven’t been admitted to the station. So it’s still fairly empty but some particular potential clients are requesting to move aboard to escape the chaos of Auwana in a more controlled environment. Basically the (somewhat formerly) rich want an out of this nightmare so they can go back to ignoring the poor people.

Refugee movements to Jamalia has slowed down due to it being under active invasion, so 40th Day is just ferrying more to Auwana for now instead of it’s usual drop offs over here.

Ah-hem. “Ask Winter if she wants Rhea’s Fenalis. I want to make sure they are taken care of. And she hates traveling lately.”
“Have Peter perform the ritual through the Sahadist Mage. He may want to practice mentally connecting with it a few times, to make sure it actually works.”
“At some point in the future, we should teach Hylavi or some of her police the ritual so they can help her go longer. ”
I…don’t think that’s going to work out.

As for my cages at Phoenix Labs™, I built a lot. Though they’re more accurately described as modifiable vaults to hold dangerous subjects as needed. I have a world manipulating sahad entity in one of them, they need to be very adaptable to the needs of my holding facilities. I also have a zombie horde in another- the mindless kind- there’s a few aliens here and there, and a bunch of other shades I keep locked up for experiments. The usual.

Salied is at least up and mobile and I’m trying to teach her some of the other sahad stuff I’ve been picking up, as well as trying to figure out how to gain anything from the entity other than scanning data. The two go hand in hand lately. She seems to be much more functional here on Ash where the aethernet signals that Somnus had been rebuilding don’t affect her. I still don’t know why she’s affected by the aethernet, working on that. She has taken rather quickly to learning under these conditions though. Though that goes back to my files on the 001D phenomena about a subjects predispositions enhancing their receptiveness to material. She broke quick but she picks up new things just as fast interestingly enough.

As for the ichor pool, congrats you have a bigger barrel of goop aboard Lancaster’s carrier. Instead of a containment unit. While you’re busy in a war. I’m sure this is in no way a bad idea. I’m not sure if you’re its king or not, can try giving it commands and seeing if it works. I’ve never been in the synapse and I can’t contact Larazja from here so the mechanics of it are a mystery since you’re doing all this without my supervision.

The fleet is on its way to Zenaka. As you can see, shortly after they left Auwana exploded. I’m fine don’t worry. So is the Vivarium…so far at least.

40th Day is trying to ferry people around though facilities in general are at full capacity. Though at this point it’s just becoming a transport service, though a large chunk of its assets have recently been absconded with by pirates along the frontier beyond Somnus’ reach.

Gellix? Isn’t he that guy who had an aethernet channel of himself eating bugs? Really man? Finding him is kind of hard as Sol is a continually burning mess. We could send Adryn or Peter looking for them.

As for essentia development at the Vivarium…welcome to the field that has long since mystified researchers. The science of the soul. Due to the several treaties and bans on necrocarnum practice the manipulation of essentia is often a hard topic to get into. We might need Setani or Elgrim to help out with that stuff.

As for the Maker, it’s creations ate the butterfly. Also the fenalis we put in with it. It is a territorial creature as you may recall. Most researchers have to be exceptionally careful when entering its enclosure as it is basically a giant trap. The cult has actually been helping with this, the more day to day members have found a few day jobs helping manage the maker.

Ihaslu, with the help of the suits, is basically freely roaming and only needs to return to the vivarium for the sake of getting out of the suit. That goes for the Yelay in general. I’ve managed to question them about everything they know in regards to Sahad, which has translated well to Salied though they were never true sahad mages. More so they just lived in a world where it was commonplace for technology in particular.

Bardhe is on the way to Auwana.

Sahadist mage doesn’t necessarily know the details of the time spell that Elym used but they do know who they are. Elym the Entity is one of the greater sahad practitioners among Nelta. Their origins are a system in what would be the galactic north east. Where a cosmic entity known as Chromaclypse is worshipped as some sort of god. Though they’re generally withdrawn and somewhat mysterious but still maintain a Nelta membership for assurance that they won’t be bothered. At least that was what they told us before we shipped them off and the pirates happened.

Vaeri has been rummaging around to try and collect samples of the dead among Sol, this proves to be harder than expected. Nelta is taking the bodies to one of their ships in orbit, likely a research facility to try and figure out what exactly Solians are. That and bloodstains are not ideal samples nor can they be verified to be anyone specific.

Then everything went to hell when Kyven got into the base and we’re currently trying to restabilize. For now operations have been moved to our offices on Koura that are doing fine for now though who knows if they’ll be compromised next.