Babylon

[OmniChaos]

"Then that is all," Gendou said, looking out the door before him. "My Reavers should be able to handle the bags, so extra assistance should not be necessary."

He simply stood there, waiting. Almost two minutes had passed. Finally, his two guards, with bags in hand, came to a halt in front of the door. Their massive, golden bodies sparkled brightly under the light. The two upper arms of each Reaver laid across the top of it's spherical bodies, almost limp. The other two arms carried an large amount of bags, more belonging to Izuka then Gendou.

"Then I will see you around, Gabriel."

Gendou walked out of the door and came to a stop between the two Reavers. He stood still for only a moment before he began to walk down the hall, the two Reaver guards close behind.

---------

Gendou had already left, yet Izuka remained, staring at the emperor as he had been the entire time. He slowly shifted his weight from his feet to his cane and from his cane to his feet from time to time. His stare was cold and concentrated. Finally, after several minutes of staring, Izuka spoke.

"I don't like you..." The words were cold, emotionless words. Words that would have most likely scared a lesser man to death. "Nor do I trust you," he continued, glaring at the emperor. "I bet you are a spy for the Rebellion, no, I'm sure you are!"

Izuka hit the floor with the bottom of his cane, causing a loud, near deafening echo to fill the room. The echo lingered for a little more than a minute.

"Listen here!" he shouted, pointing the cane to Gabriel's face. "If I ever get solid proof that backs up my hypothesis, I will knock that head off your shoulders."

Izuka fell silent once more, staring at Gabriel for a minute or two. He continued to shift his weight from time to time. His grip on the large diamond embedded on the top tightened.

"But, should my prediction be wrong, then you have nothing to worry about, do you?"

A dark grin grew on the advisor's face, changing from creepy to down right nightmarish. He turned his back to the emperor, now facing the door. He slowly made his way to the door, the echo of the cane sounding with every other step. The old man came to a halt right outside the door.

"Regardless," he said, keeping his back to Gabriel. "We are expecting much from you and hope that you can deal with your bug problem swiftly." The elderly man turned to face the emperor. "Until next time, emperor." With that, the elderly man turned and followed the hallway that Gendou had taken, walking toward a Reaver that had stayed behind for him.

[snowdog]

There was no point in sitting around and moping. A proud leader of their country wouldn't just sit and mope. Frankly, there was no time for self-pity, doubt, or confusion - even if it did take her a long time to ponder out situations. Rising from the chair, coupling the movement with a quick stretch of her aching back, Elena paced over to the little screen.

Her confused face gave no clue as to how to work this mechanical beast. It had been a while since she had used such a thing, and memory was evading her for now. Were it not for a lucky press of a wooden panel next to the screen - which was set into the wall - she never would have guessed how to use it. Thankfully there was a helpful little power switch, and beneath that, a host of labelled buttons, each one linking her with a governor, head of state, or emperor. After careful deliberation, she selected one - the governor of Afghanistan, Hamid Khan.

The screen burst into light, rivalling the flickering orange glow of the fire with white, artificial beam.

A fairly surprised face, that of Khan's secretary, stared back into the screen, adjusting her glasses with precise, delicate motions. It was evident from the slight parting of her lips, and the width of her hazel eyes that the sight of the Empress had taken her by surprise. A smile trembling upon her face, she managed a sincere look before speaking.

"Good evening, Empress," the girl smiled, in fair Russian, despite her accent making it a little difficult to understand, "would you like me to put you through to the governor?"

"Yes, please," Elena replied. With that, the girl flipped a button, prompting a small chart to appear from what seemed to be some sort of projector embedded in her desk. Having never seen this before, Elena watched curiously as the girl pressed a part of the chart - that seemed to be floating in mid-air - which switched her view to a somewhat exhausted-looking governor. It was Khan, his bearded face peering at his own screen from behind a pile of paperwork.

"Oh, good evening," he stuttered, pushing the piles of paper out of the view, allowing Elena to see him fully - rather than just the top of his head. "You're back from your trip?" The man spoke in broken Russian, knowing that Elena was poor at speaking other languages. Usually she borrowed advisors that could speak Dari when talking with Hamid, however, this was just to be a quick call, and his Russian was enough to carry a conversation.

"Yes," Elena nodded, "I just wanted to let you know. Also, have any major developments occurred while I was gone? Only, I couldn't keep up with things seeing as I was so far."

The man shook his head.

"None whatsoever," he replied. "Seems that Gendou's lying low as far as we're aware, and none of the other empires have been in contact. Though I suggest you make contacting some allies your priority over the next few days. Frankly it's best if we stop Japan sooner rather than later."

"I know," Elena sighed, "and for the record, I'll most likely be here all the time from now on."

"Oh?"

"Yes," her forlorn voice went on, accompanied by a somewhat lowered expression, "I suppose I can't keep disappearing for weeks at a time like this, Hamid."

"You'll hate that."

"It's for the best."

A short silence ensued, before Khan gave another reply.

"Oh, I've been meaning to let you know," he began, prompting a look of curiosity from Elena, "we're going to be sending a few fighter jets up. It's the 2600 Lunar model."

The short smile from Elena, and the shake of her head told Hamid that she had no clue of just what that was.

"We were developing the use of lunar - well, we refer to it as lunar - light as an energy source," he explained. "While we've already mastered solar-powered flight, our mechanics recently managed to harness light reflected from the moon in its entirity. Granted, there needs to be enough solar energy within the jet to manage until nightfall, but as long as the contact between the panels and the moonlight is unbroken for a short time, it can be gathered to power the jet."

"Thank you so much," Elena said, genuinely grateful. The southern states of the Russian Empire were considerably more advanced, and a little better off in terms of money. Hamid shook his head.

"It's fine, Empress," he smiled, tapping his pen on the desk. "I had best let you go. I have work to do and it looks like you need the rest. Goodnight."

With that, he was gone, in a rather rushed manner. Flipping the screen's button off, Elena turned back to the chair, flopping down into it for a sleep. She could easily wake should someone call.

<3

[Chevalier Sombre]

Gabriel watched the short, unpleasant man leave his office, a small grimace forming upon his lips as he did so.

His suspicions had been correct all along, it seemed. He would have to be exceedingly careful, something which he had nevertheless been up to that point, but which he would have to continue doing. Izuka did not trust him in the slightest and would look for the slightest bit of evidence (whether it was actually evidence or not, he didn't think it mattered; what did matter was if Izuka would THINK it was evidence) with which he could accuse of him of treachery against Gendou, which woud not garner very good results.

This brought to mind other things about Gendou's advisor. He had done some research on both some time before Gendou had pulled his little stunt with Babylon.

When the Japanese emperor, Gendou's father, hired Izuka years ago, to serve as Gendou's caretaker, he was a complete mystery, something which he probably still was to nobody but himself.

No surname. No other alias. No known birthplace, past dealings, nothing. He was like a nameless shadow just suddenly given form and existence.

He could only imagine the influence the old man must have had on Gendou (and the one he still had). Which brought to mind something he thought about from time to time.

Gendou was not originally the first in line for the throne. He was the third son. As such, it was unlikely that he would ever get to rule the country.

But that had been precisely what had occurred. All of Gendou's family had supposedly died from a terrible disease sometime after Gendou had been kicked from college, leaving him the sole heir. Or at least, that's what official sources said.

But he wondered...considering the kind of person Gendou was...had it really happened like that? Did they really fall ill? Or...could he have...?

He put that trail of thought aside. He could give the matter more thought some other time. Right now, what he really needed to do was get some rest. His day had been exhausting, and the following would likely be the same. He headed out of his office, locking his door as he went out, and then proceeded to head to the door across the hall, which led to the room where he spent most of his nights.

He went in, and locked the door as he did so. Sighing, he undressed, laid down on the large bed in the center of the room, pulled up the sheets, set the alarm clock on the nearby table, and went to bed.

[afrobutt]

Fritz smiled, catching his guest in the reflection of a glass. It was an Asian man, that was obvious. Under the brown clock this man wore, Fritz could see a slight glare. He chuckled, so much for keeping out of trouble. Although, this likely wasn’t too big of a deal. Many people disliked Fritz, this was surely just another bitter man who had met their end at Fritz's hand.

"Ah, eh.... ja, ich heiBe Fritz." he said in German, the language he always fell back on when speaking to a stranger. "Uhh... hast du arbeiten fur mich?" he asked, knowing the man likely knew little, if any German. Fritz was kidding, of course. It was obvious that this man wasn't interested in his service's. He started chuckling again, and said (in Japanese) "Might we take this outside, Herr Stranger"?

There was another unspoken agreement between Contracts and Mercenaries. You were never to start fights within a Mercenary bar, any sort of fighting was to be held outside. Hopefully, this man knew that as well. Fritz stood up, and walked out of the bar. Looking up to the stars, Fritz made a silent prayer (to no one in particular) that this wouldn't end up with someone's skull crushed against the road.

[Akans]

Zhang Yun rolled his eyes as the man started talking in German. He knew well that the target knew enough Japanese to communicate. Why put up this charade?

Then a chuckle, and a "Might we take this outside, Herr Stranger?"

Finally, some progress. Zhang Yun answered, "Gladly... I see you abide by the rules... and judging by your reaction, you seem to know why I'm here. Good, that'll make things faster. I suggest you prepare."

Zhang Yun swept out of the room and up into the main bar. His agile fingers scuttled over his knife and pistol in turn, making sure both were in good working conditions. He'll need them before the night was out. And maybe he'll get enough money from this job to finally get that ticket to Gendou's little palace.... and find some revenge.

[snowdog]

Elena had hoped for a restful sleep, but it seemed that restless might have been a better word to describe her slumber. The room was pleasantly warm, and the chair very comfortable, but the thoughts in her head were enough to keep her in a somewhat conscious state. Switching off didn't seem likely to her right now, despite it being rather late at night - or, rather, early in the morning.

The thought of Gendou and how to handle him was keeping her from settling. It seemed he was a threat that could not - nay, should not - be ignored, and so it was up to her and the other allies to bring him to justice. She wondered if his subjects willingly followed what he wanted, or if they were pushed into supporting his will by those beastly reavers, and whatever else he had stalking the streets of Japan.

Had her army been bigger, she might have considered waging war upon him. It was very tempting, but her conscience couldn't allow her to do it. Not just yet. She feared her own men were unready to face him and his fearsome power. In the future, most likely, but now was not the time for physical action. Something had to be done - and soon.

In her half-waking state, she decided to herself that a call to another leader would perhaps be necessary to discussd options. Although, that could wait until morning.

<3

[OmniChaos]

The air near the White House was cold and the wind, soft. A short, cloaked man stood out in front of the large building. His hands were carefully placed behind his back and he appeared as if he had some difficulty standing on his two legs. With every breath, smoke rose from within the man's hood.

After several minutes of waiting, another, much larger cloaked figure approached the shorter man. The man's stature would be intimidating to anyone, except, or so it seemed, the other cloaked figure. The only thing that was visible from beneath the man's cloak were two black gauntlets, which added more intimidation to the man. The man came to a stop in front of the other man.

"It is about time you arrive," the first figure scolded. "Do you have any idea how long I have been waiting for you?"

The second figure remained silent, leaving the first figure even more agitated.

"Are you listening to me? I sure hope you are, otherwise I'd-" The first man's words trained off into incomprehensible mutters. "You are the one called Raiju, correct?"

The second figure made a strange movement with his head, which seemed to be some sort of nod. "Yes, I am he," the figure replied in a deep, strict voice. "I believe you contacted me concerning a specific job?"

The first figure chuckled. "Yes, I do. A very hard job that requires your special skills." He pulled out a brown briefcase from within his cloak and held it in his hands. He pointed the top toward the other cloaked figure and opened the briefcase. Inside laid several neat stacks of money. "You shall get the first half of your payment beforehand," the figure said, closing the briefcase. He threw it at the feet of the other cloaked figure. "And the other five hundred thousand once the job is done."

The tall cloaked figure bent over and picked up the brown briefcase, gripping its handle tightly. "Very well," the figure said. "Now that the payment has been settled, what is this 'very hard job' that you require my expertise in? Who is the man that I shall put in his grave?"

The first figure let out a dark chuckle. "The American Emperor."

[Chevalier Sombre]

Gabriel let out a faint cry as he woke up, small beads of sweat covering his body. He had experienced an unpleasant nightmare, which was a little odd because he was unaccustomed to having them, despite many miscellaneous things that would seemingly contribute to help form them. Even more peculiar was the fact that every detail of the nightmare was written in stone in his mind; usually all he had when he woke up was a faint idea of whatever dreams he had, which would be quick to disappear as the day went by.

He had been standing in a completely dark place, where he couldn't even see or feel the floor; it was as if he was floating. Suddenly he would hear all sorts of voices; one was Sol, who was saying the same things she had told him during their conversation a few hours before; another was his father, uttering his last words, before he succumbed to his disease, incouraging him to be strong; one other was the voice of a citizen who had cried out at him for not adhering to the rebellion, long ago. There were other voices as well, but they were kind of hard to make out. He kept hearing them, over and over, for a period of time that seemed eternal and simultaneously like no time at all. And after the voices stopped, gigantic heads would pop up above him; Gendou's and Izuka's.

Izuka's head then declared he had found evidence of him conspiring against Japan. Gendou's features lit up a cold smile, and asked Gabriel if this was true. He denied it fervently. It was not enough to convince Gendou, who then told Izuka that he "knew what to do with the likes of him".

Izuka chuckled, and then Gabriel lost his ability to float, and began to fall. It was a horrible sensation that was extremely hard to describe; the fact that it felt as if it would never end made it all the worse.

That was pretty much how it had gone. He had a feeling he would keep having that nightmare for a while, and the thought made him wrinkle his nose in displeasure.

He looked to the side, where his alarm clock laid on a table. It was 4:45 AM. He had to start his day at around 6:30. He pondered over what to do. He doubted he would be able to get back to sleep, so he decided to go take a walk through the White House's gardens so he could relax himself a bit.

He had just opened the front doors when he saw two figures standing outside the White Houses' gates. He had a hunch he should go check up on them. Normally, he would have put it aside, and rationalized they were probably just random bystanders on the street, dealing with matters that didn't concern him, and he would then have made his way to the gardens to have his walk. However, one of them looked like Gendou, which sparked his interest to go investigate.

They hadn't turned their backs, so he assumed that they had not heard him. He began to make his way towards them, careful to not make a sound. He managed to reach a pair of bushes and hid behind them.

The distance was close enough for him to be able to make out a few words:"...man that I shall put in his grave", one voice said. He didn't believe he had ever heard it before. And then, another voice let out a dark chuckle which made the hairs on the back of Gabriel's neck stand up. The same voice then said: "The American Emperor."

His eyes widened. There could be no mistaking it. It was Gendou's voice, without a doubt. And from what he heard, he had arranged for him, The American Emperor, to be killed. He did not let this frightening discovery paralyze him. Quietly, he snuck back across the field, opened the White House's doors again, and went back in; before he did so, he took one last look
behind him. The figures were still not looking in his direction. He hoped they hadn't seen or heard him.

[OmniChaos]

"Seems a little early to be up, don't you agree?"

Gendou walked toward Gabriel from down the hall. His robe and armor seemed to have been left in the guest room he was in, as he simply wore his trench coat. His eyes were slightly squinted, as if trying to dilate to the darkness. He took in a large amount of air in through his noise and exhaled it as same, trying to cover-up a yawn.

"I awake to a dry throat and when I look for something to drink, I find the emperor sneaking in." Gendou came to a stop in front of the emperor. He blinked a few times, still trying to focus. "So where were you? Meet a girlfriend or something?" He paused for a second. "Regardless, would you be so kind to point me in the direction of something that will quench my thirst? It would be most appreciated."

---------

"Very well," the taller figure replied. "Consider him as good as dead."

With that, the taller figure gave a small bow and walked away into the darkness, leaving the shorter figure alone.

"Excellent," the shorter figure said, reaching into his hood. There was a small velcro ripping sound, as the figure pulled out a small silver device. He held the small machine hard and tight until it shattered in his hand. With a victorious chuckled, the cloaked man threw the destroyed device to the ground, causing it to shatter even more. With a quick check to see if anyone saw him, the short figure slowly walked away.

[snowdog]

The light from day did not manage to break through the thick blanket of cloud that lurked over the grey terrain of fallen Moscow. Whether it appeared so or not, it was indeed daytime. Afternoon, in fact, the time being 2.45PM. Elena woke with a start, her waking eyes too blurred to distinguish where she was. A few moments of stretching, and blinking rectified this, leaving her somewhat bewildered as she noticed the time. She had slept too long - there was too much to do.

Not bothering to go and find some food - something much protested by her grumbling stomach - she stood up, moving to quickly preen her wild blonde hair before walking back over to the communication screen. There was no time like the present, or so the saying went.

Hesitation took her. Elena was about to call the American Emperor. The problem? She knew English, but her accent made her speech horrible. Hopefully she could manage to hold a conversation with the man. Going through a few practise speeches, she then pressed a few buttons, and awaited a response from America.

Of course, she'd forgotten that they were eight hours behind Russia.

<3

[sephiroth2]

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

Sitting on a throne, located within an incredibly large armoured vehicle, Jörmungandr was deep in thought of what occurred over the past week and a half, since leaving his capital city of Berlin, to the cities of Cairo and then Johannesburg. It took almost three days to travel with a reasonably sized platoon of Bi-pedal Tanks to arrive down in Cairo. The moment they arrived though, Jörmungandr wasted no time in sending his troops to search for any signs of fighting, and whenevr they would come to a point where no one would talk, he would simply destroy the surrounding streets and areas.

Once Cairo was finished with, Jörmungandr and his troops made their way to Johannesberg, repeating the same procedure as they did with Cairo. This took considerably more time, as the troops found it slightly more difficult to find out what information was good and which was complete nonsense. Once they had finished both trips, Jörmungandr ordered for them to return to Berlin, and that was where he was traveling to at this moment.

"That was fun wasn't it?" asked the voice from within Jörmungandr's head as they continued to travel back to Berlin. "Yeah, I guess so!" Jörmungandr replied to himself. "What's the matter now?" the voice asked back. "I don't know. I just haven't been myself the past few weeks!" said Jörmungandr. "Well, we can decide on something to do, once we get back. We should travel to the Land of the Rising Sun!" said the voice. "Japan? Why?" asked Jörmungandr. "Well we haven't traveled there in a couple of years, and it would be a change of scenery." the voice said. "Very well then, we'll make the necessary arrangements the moment we get back!" Jörmungandr said to the voice, as the large armoured truck speed on it's journey back to Berlin.

[afrobutt]

Fritz leaned against a wall outside of the bar, playing with a strand of his hair.

What to do..., he pondered. The man who had come to him didn't look like the type who would take bribes, Fritz might actually have to take action. It would be wise to consider this enemy, if he was an enemy, had the ability to fight on even ground with Fritz. In that case, he might have to resort to running.


In truth, he'd never physically adjusted to his metal limb, meaning he lacked a certain amount of grace in melee combat. If this man was quick enough, Fritz would be at a serious disadvantage. He contemplated running now, but if his visitor didn't plan on killing him, there was no need to attract attention to himself.

Scanning the man as he stepped out of the bar, he noted his hand was fumbling where he saw the metallic glare from before. So he was likely armed, that didn't mean he intended violance. Fritz smiled, trying to look as harmless as possible.

"Was willst du, Herr Stranger?"

[Akans]

Zhang Yun ignored his greeting, facing away from him as he spoke back. "Since I cannot speak German, I will respond in Japanese and hope that you can understand. I really do hope you'll forgive me if I do this."

As he finished his sentence, Zhang Yun spun around, pistol in hand, and shot twice rapidly, once towards his left arm, and once towards his right foot before whipping out a small knife from who-knows-where and tossed it quickly towards him.

But those were just distractions. As they projectiles neared Fritz, Zhang Yun dropped his gun onto the floor (empty of course - never leave a loaded gun around) and sprinted up to Fritz, another dagger held up high as if to attack his throat - but then suddenly fall into a crouch and slash at his hamstrings.

The target should be alive, but whether or not it was maimed was irrelevant.

[Chevalier Sombre]

"I had some trouble getting to sleep, and decided to go for a walk", said Gabriel, a bit startled by Gendou's sudden appearance. As usual, however, he tried to present himself as cooly as possible.

"Incidentally, you can find the path to the kitchens down the hall, third door on the left side. Now, then, I'll be going to bed. Good night, Gendou". And so, the young man turned to go to his room.

However, before he could take even so much as a single step, his secretary made her presence known in the surroundings with a small coff. Turning back to face her, he saw what he expected to see: a woman who did not look pleased to have been woken in the early hours of the morning because of unforeseen circumstances.

She yawned for a bit, and then spoke to him: "Sir, I know that it's late, but the Russian empress wishes to have a word with you. It appears she forgot that Washington is eight hours behind Moscow. Shall I tell her you're unavailable and attempt to reschedule?"

Gabriel frowned. He had been planning to sleep for the following hours left till he had to get to work (there wasn't really much time left), and now this had come. He assumed that whatever Elena wanted to talk about was of importance, but should he really pick up the call?

Giving the matter some more thought, he figured he probably wouldn't be able to get to sleep even if he tried. The nightmare he had was still fresh in his mind. There wasn't really much time available for him to sleep anyway.

"No, I might as well see what she wants. Tell her I'll speak to her in a few minutes, I just need to make myself a bit more presentable."

Today was going to be a long day.

[snowdog]

Elena waited quietly, the screen displaying a rather darkened image. Squinting at it for a few moments, her eyes registering the shapes of a desk, and various other pieces of office equipment, she assumed this might have been the connection to a secretary rather than the Emperor himself. Well, that was understandable.

A figure moved in the shadow, settling itself into a chair behind the barely visible desk. Snapping its fingers, the screen was flooded with light, revealing a rather tired looking woman. Elena smiled at her, wondering why she looked so exhausted.

The clock behind her was more than enough to tell Elena just why it had been so dark. Looking at her own clock on the wall, her eyes widened, cheeks flushing in embarrassment. No words could give the woman gazing back any idea of just how ridiculous the Empress felt at that moment.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," the Empress exclaimed, shock taking precedence over the control of her accent. "I didn't realise how early it was there. I could call back in a few hours, perhaps? It is not important."

"The Emperor will be a few minutes," the secretary replied. With that, she was gone, a blank screen taking her place.

Elena bit her lip, cursing herself for such stupidity. It was ridiculous for her not to know how early it was there. She would have to do a lot of apologising once the Emperor arrived.

<3