Babylon

[OmniChaos]

Babylon

Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!

The sound of footsteps, those of running, specifically, echoed throughout a small, dark ally. A man, roughly around the age of twenty five, was running through the dark alleyway, ducking into hiding every now and then. His face was covered in fear, beads of sweat pouring from his temple and forehead. His clothes seemed old and ragged and smelt of poverty, so to say. In his arms, he carried a large, brown sack packed full of diamonds, rubies, and all other sorts of jewels. In his right hand, he held a small, plasma charged gun. The man's name is unimportant, as all that is known is that he is a criminal, a rebel, specifically. He had stolen a large amount of the emperor's jewels from one of the banks, impersonating a staff member so that he could gain easy access. What he didn't foresee, however, was that he had triggered a silent alarm when opening the vault. The man now ran for his life, for if he was caught, his life would surely be ended. Those who were caught always lost their lives.

Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!

He continued to run through the dark alleyways, avoiding the open space as much as possible. He had to loose them. He couldn't return if they were still on his tail. He couldn't risk the other's safety. But he also had to think about his own safety. He had to find a place to hide, quick. As his mind went through this, his foot landed in a puddle, which was actually a somewhat large hole filled with water. His foot broke the surface and quickly hit the uneven bottom of the hole. His leg caught the edge of the hole and the man fell face first into the ground, the jewels scattering across the ground upon impact. Pain instantly ran through the man's body as he grabbed his leg. Though there were no serious injuries to it, the pain would drastically slow him down. His attention quickly shifted to the scattered jewels that laid before him. He quickly gathered them by handfuls, stuffing them into the bag.

He hadn't gotten maybe a fourth of them, when the booming words "Get him!" filled his ears. With that, he dropped all of the gems and got to his feet. Though, the instent he had placed pressure to his injured foot, a sharp pain ran through his body. He let out a cry of pain, as he fell to his knees. His heart raced and his mouth grew dry. He forced himself back to his feet, despite the unbearable pain, and began to hobble down the alleyway. He would not be able to outrun them, but he may be able to hide from them.

As he searched for a hiding space, all hope left him as the booming words "There he is! Get him!" filled his ears. He spun around and let out a cry of terror, randomly firing the plasma charged pistol into the darkness. The last thing that the man saw was a a dark mass leaping toward him.

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People walked along the scramble crossing, going about their daily lives. Amongst them stood large and small constructs known as the Reavers, which where patrolling the city. Most people did not fear them and often acted friendly toward the Reavers not out of fear, but out of regular kindness. Despite the Reavers' intimidating look and iron-fisted use, they kept the city safe and most people respected them as they would an officer of the law. Most people simply waved as they passed, while some stopped and actually talked to those which could talk back.

Ever single person in the scramble crossing fell still and silent as familiar and somewhat terrifying footsteps were heard. While most Japanese people liked the Reavers and did not fear them, there was always one model that struck every single person in Japan with a since of doom. The Cage model. Though the model was nothing a law abiding citizen should fear, its presence always indicated the doom of an unfortunate soul that broke the law. People quickly seemed to move out of the way as the Reaver "parted" the scramble. The Reaver's brown, rust colored body floated just off the ground, no higher than two feet. Its six, spider-like limbs held the spider-like body off the ground. The bottom of the legs were "feet", instead of a regular point. Two shorter arms were attached to the construct in front of the six legs. A massive claw sits at the end of these shorter arms, giving the Reaver a cross between a spider and a crab look. A large, green eye sits on the front of the Reaver's circular head. The construct's most obvious characteristic, hence the name, is the large cage built onto it's back.

The Reaver was making its way toward the castle, indicating that a criminal had already been captured. Screams of fear and panic could be heard from within the cage. As the Reaver passed, people looked upon its prisoner. The man was roughly at the age of twenty five. His ragged looks indicated his poverty, meaning he was from another country or was a rebel. The man pleaded with the people, begging them to save him. No one moved. Everyone knew that if a person was caught by a Cage model, their life was over. And so, the people simply watched as the man was marched to his inevitable death. Marched to The Stairway of Gods.

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The emperor's grand keep, The Stairway of Gods, as it is called, is a massive tower-like structure. A large tower which base is a quarter of a mile wide. The outer layer is protected by an extremely strong, black colored metal. The lower section of the tower has many openings on every level and many connecting pathways. Large, chimneys stuck out from several locations along the tower, spewing out a constant flow of smoke or gas. Pipes and tubes stick out here and there and often connect back into the tower itself. The tower's lower level's overall appearance can be seen as a form of chaos. The higher level, however, can bee seen as order. The outer armor is smooth and single, as if it were made by a single piece of metal. There are no pipes and no chimneys. At the top of the tower, which pierces the cloud cover, sits a large, castle like structure, which is a mixture of chaos and order. The castle is connected directly to the metal, meaning it was built along with the tower. Behind the castle stands another tower structure, named the Tower of Guidance, which reaches higher than the castle and is ultimately the highest area of the tower. The tower's outer armor itself is heavily fortified by bastions and other structures, which connects directly to the tower.

Most people avoided the area, as the tower's smoke and gases blocked out the sun, making it a dark spot in Tokyo. The area was always cold and stunk of death and decay. The ground was barren and all other structures in the area have either been knocked down or abandoned. Sharp vines covered a large amount of area near the tower. A few skeletal remains were thrown here and there. The Tower of Babel and the Babel Area, as the rebels called the mighty structure and the dead area near it, is truly the ultimate sign of death.

[snowdog]

Snow fell lightly over the pristine ground. The blizzards had been unrelenting for days but for now at least, the flakes fell at a lingering pace, rather than bombarding the earth as icy bullets. It was pleasant relief after days of trudging against the howling winds, nipping and biting at bare skin like a pack of ruthless wolves. There had been much snowfall in Russia this month, much more than usual, and it was quite the hinderance to the government's plans. With the lack of quick transport - thanks to the destruction of the Trans-Siberian Railway the previous century, the lack of money to import vehicles, and the lack of fuel to even run such things - long distance traveling was something of a nightmare. Elena could only be thankful that she and her group had not been so unfortunate to have had to traverse the taiga in such weather.

"We should have brought some dogs," one team member muttered to himself, arousing similar, like-minded grumbles and groans from the rest of the group. Elena released a long breath, knowing they were right. It was sad that in this, the modern age, her country was reduced to using teams of dogs as the quickest form of travel. Thankfully, their other two countries were in a little better state.

"Next time we will," she informed them, continuing to walk.

Moscow was not far off; they had found the old railway tracks, and were proceeding to follow them to the capital itself. In but a short time they would be home again, home for the first time in a few weeks. Elena wondered if any news had come to light regarding the Japanese during her absence. She sighed. Something had to be done about that horrible man. If ever there were proof of power corrupting, he was it.

<3

[afrobutt]

The streets of downtown Nagasaki were bustling with excitement. Vendors of every kind were selling mounds of goods ranging from dumplings to key chains. The cultures were spread wide, mostly Japanese, but also the occasional foreigner would be selling his or her nation's specialties. Such a foreigner was trying to sell mechanical toys from Germany when a man came to his stall. The merchant, used to his customers being small children or teenage boys buying gifts for their sweethearts, was slightly suspicious. True, parents also came by every so often, but this man didn't seem like the parental sort.

He was a tall, raggy looking man. His clothes were quite mismatched, a torn, white trench coat paired with what looked like the remains of an old uniform. But the unsettling thing was the man's face, or more specifically his eyes. They were clear, blue, without stains from the past. Few men had such eyes, and the ones that did were liars, deceiving others with their innocent eyes.

Any smart man knew eyes like that were the sign of one with a terrible past.

Slightly cautious, the man asked how he could help this new customer. The person paused for a second, and seemed to be thinking about something. Finally he answered "Guten tag !" with a German accent. So the man was German, it was obvious enough that he was a foreigner from his white skin; and fairly easy to guess he was German from his blonde hair. The merchant racked his brain for some German words. He had been raised in Japan since birth, and knew little German thanks to his mother.

"Ah, eh... wie ich kanne helbst du?" he stuttered, unsure if what he said was correct. The other man chuckled quietly, and then asked "Would it be easier for you if I spoke Japanese?".
"Ah yes, could you? My German isn't very good at all." the merchant said, relieved this man could speak the native language.
"I was just wondering, would you happen to know of any bars here that would sell beer?" the man asked. The merchant couldn't help but laugh. "Beer? Not in this part of the world, and certainly not in Nagasaki. Whisky and sake are your best choices around here." he answered.
"I see... thank you." the foreigner said, and then walked off into the busy streets.
"Tch, asking for beer in Japan, of all things" the merchant sighed, turning back to his business. But then, in the corner of his eye, he saw a glare coming off the German's right arm. Having been around machines and metal his entire life, the merchant knew well what that glare was. Shocked, he quickly started searching for a Reaver.

[Spyells]

Adelheid walked outside in the castle courtyard. She normally chose to go by the name Adel for short. She didn't much like her whole name. Adel had just returned from a government meeting that got the country no where. She was pretty sure that war would most likely be inevitable. Right now Adel was just enjoying the calm before the storm. Adel took a seat on a stone bench next to a tree. She was waiting for Abigail who was a good friend of hers. She was one of Adel's servant girls. Adel took her Sonar Gun from it's holster and began checking it to make sure that everything was working okay. The Sonar Gun made it possible for Adel to find places, people, and things. It was a nice little gadget that many would love to get their hands on. Adel finished checking it and put it away. Adel also had a whip and a sword. Both of which were powerful weapons. Her sword could slice though anything without touching it and her whip had a handle on it that could be used to retract it back and forth. Adel was good with weaponry, she has been practicing ever since childhood.

Adel looked up when she heard Abigail approaching. Abby has blond hair and blue eyes. She is from England although she was raised in Germany. She had served Adel ever since she was a little girl. Abby approached Adel but she didn't have a good look on her face. She was frowning for some reason. Adel frowned when she saw this just as Abby sat down next to her.
"What's wrong?" Adel asked.
"I don't like feeling war in my bones. It's horrible. Oh, and the mistress still wants you to talk to Gandolf."
Adel rolled her eyes in annoyance. Her mother still wanted her to marry that bloke. Apparently he was some rich guy from another nation. Adel just thought he was a sorry excuse for a noble and that he was hideous.
"Well mother can just keep dreaming. Tell her that I'm busy and I have an appointment tonight. I'm pretty sure he will be joining us for dinner no doubt. So I guess I'll miss out on that too." Adel said with a sigh.
Abby giggled stood up and bowed.
"Yes milady. I'll be sure to let her know that you will not be available for dinner. And I will decline Gandolf's invitation to the ball as well."
"Yes be sure you do. And make it sound believable. I don't get sick so saying I'm ill wont work. I'm pretty sure you can think of something." Adel said annoyed.
"Yes I will do that." Abby replied chuckling heading back to the castle.
Adel could already tell she was going to be out here for a while. So she laid down on the bench and got comfortable.

[OmniChaos]

A pale, elderly man slowly walked into a shining metallic room, his cane echoing every time it hit the ground. The man's face was stern and his dark, grey eyes stared at the man before him in contempt and disgust. A large air conditioner, which hung from the ceiling, hit the man with a rush of air, sending his hair and clothing into a chaotic fit. He continued to walk, despite the room's bone chilling temperature. The man soon came to a stop, placing the cane he held in front of him. He placed his other hand onto it and shifted the majority of his weight to it.

This man, if he could even be called human at all, was Izuka, the emperor's closest advisor and head of the empire's development. His sick and twisted mind was unparalleled. His reputation of having no compassion for human life has dubbed him a monster, as no man could ever be so heartless. To put it simply, this man was the manifestation of everything wrong with the world.

He stood in a holding cell, where he stared at a man who had all four of his limbs held still by metal restraints. The man appeared to be roughly the age of twenty five and of foreign decent. His clothes were ragged and he smelt of an unpleasant odor. The man was the Reavers' recent "catch" and hung limply from the large machine that the restraints were connected to. The man was stripped of all clothing, save for a towel that covered the man's private area. Large cuts and slashes covered the man's chest, along with several scorch marks. The man seemed to have passed out from the great amount of pain that had been inflicted on him.

"Okimasu..." Izuka said, staring at the man. No response. "Wake up!" With that, Izuka awoke the man, who slowly lifted his head, as if it were weighed down by a ton of weight, to meet Izuka eye to eye. When he did, he turned pale, as if he saw death staring him in the eye.

"That is a good boy," Izuka replied, as if speaking to a dog. "Kachou ga hanasu ni iu toki ni anata wo hanasu. Wakarimasu?"

The man simply stared at Izuka, presumably ignorant in the Japanese language. Izuka let out a sigh, which seemed to be mixed with a growl. "Ignorant dog," he mumbled. Izuka normally used a mixture of English and Japanese when he spoke, often saying one sentence in English, while saying another in Japanese. Seeing as how he would not be getting anywhere with Japanese, Izuka decided to switch to solid English. "Listen to me, you mangy scum," Izuka scolded, obviously attracting the man's attention. "When master says speak, you shall speak, and tell me what I want to know. Understood?"

The man understood this, and his angered face showed that he wasn't happy with what the old man had said. "I will tell you nothing," the man harshly replied. "Go off an die. Do the world a favor."

A very unwise thing to say, as the man soon found out. Izuka took his cane and rammed the diamond top straight into the man's gut. Before the man could even let out a cry of pain, Izuka quickly took the cane and swung it into the man's side. The sound of breaking bones could be heard as the heavily armored cane made contact with the man's ribcage. The man let out a cry of horror and pain, as the pain rushed over the man like a tidal wave. A few bones broke through the skin, causing blood to drain from the man's body. The man's breath grew heavy and shaky, as he glanced at his side in horror.

"Now speak, dog," Izuka said, uncaring toward the man completely. "And your injuries will be fixed and your life, spared. Continue this vow of silence, and you will be beaten harshly and left for dead."

The man's will had been broken and he no longer held his honorable silence. His human nature for survival kicked in and his primary concern soon became that of his own. Extremely shaken by what the elderly man had done, his heart beat raced as he slowly began to speak. "Alright..." he said, his breath shallow. "I'll... I'll speak."

A victorious, yet dark grin appeared on the old man's face. "Zen na shounen deshou?"

[Akans]

Zhang Yun prowled through the silent backalleys, ears alert for the softest sound, the lightest footstep. He was alone right now, not daring to move too far, in case the target heard or saw him. So far, only one target had escaped Zhang Yun, and it had done so only because it died before he could get to it, by suicide . He was not going to let this one be the first to live.

He had been following his target for a while through the well lit city, subtly tailing him, but it had suddenly veered into the mazes of the slums and backalley ways, of those Zhang Yun had only limited knowledge. He had thought that the aristocratic bastard he was hired to kill was like the others - spoiled, arrogant, and weak, but this was apparently not so. This man was probably engaged in some drug dealing or other such businesses, though that was not relevant to the job. Kill, no questions asked. And then the money,

A quick flash of something golden in the other corner, far away, and Zhang Yun froze, hand ready on his gun, much like a hunter who had spotted a rabbit. No slum dweller would have anything gold colored. It would definitely be the target.
He dashed forwards, his feet slapping the ground soundlessly, as he reached the corner and turned, fingers cocked on his gun, blood pulsing in his ears, to see---

An un aristocratic man. Lying on the ground a distance away from him. The man had not seen Zhang Yun appear. Apparently, he had fallen over. A bag of treasures was lying on the ground, of them, something golden glinted. A petty thief.
In the distance, shouts of "Get him!" reached his ears, and he slipped away silently, unnoticed.

The target had given him the slip. It had escaped. But there was always the next day. And the day after that.

[Takushi Rena]

Shibuya. People traversing the scramble crossing. Talking, ignoring each other; they were probably all on their cell phones, too.

Tucked off on the side from all of that noise and crowds was a little shop staring at the other wall of an alleyway. It looked odd in that place; a sparkling, bright shop in the middle of a grimy alley? Odd indeed. Through the glass doors stood nothing more than a counter and a glass case. A man stood behind the counter, pushing his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose out of habit, who looked no more than twenty years of age. In front of the counter was a child who didn't look Japanese, or even Asian, at all and had the deep grime of poverty sunken into her clothes. The man opened the glass case and pulled something out of it, handing it to the girl who looked quite curious.

"...Choko koronetto?" The girl held the piece of bread up, staring at it and looking quite curious.

"Hai," the man scratched the back of his head with a bit of a nervous grin, "Tabemasu, ne?"

"Ano..." The girl didn't seem so sure about this thing. But, it was food. She was always grateful for anything she got and this guy was always so nice to her! Shouldn't have been so unsure about it, she guessed...

The girl unwrapped the plastic wrap from around the bread, placed the plastic on the counter, placed the thick end of the cornet on top of the plastic, and then proceeded to put her hands together.

"Itadakimasu," she gave a little bit of a bow before taking the cornet and hesitantly taking a bite out of it.

She paused, still chewing on the cornet and then gulped it down, "Oishii!"

The man grinned, "Suki?"

The girl frantically nodded as she gulped down another bite. However, she stopped and pointed off to the side.

"Terebi?"

The man gave an uneasy frown. He gave a nod and reached under the counter for something. Upon standing up, he put a very small TV on the counter; it had an antenna on top and a strange gadget attached to the base of that antenna. After it was plugged into the wall, the little TV turned on and a news channel came out. The odd thing was that it was in English and definitely didn't look like it was from Japan. The whole thing made the man looked uneasy. This seemed rebellious and he didn't want to get caught just because of a kid...

The girl, on the other hand, didn't really notice anything but what was on the TV. She stared at it, watching and studying the scenes that appeared. All while gulping down bites of the chocolate cornet. Someone with an English accent was speaking as pictures of desolate places and many pictures of robots; she shook at the sight of the robots.

After a few moments of the TV being on and the man glancing outside just because he was nervous, it was shut off and quickly put back under the counter.

"Children should not be seeing that..." the man said, his Japanese accent lying thick of those English words.

Re watched as the TV was put away and now wore a small frown. She couldn't but ask something, "...Why?"

The man didn't answer. Re's frown grew wider.

"Umm..." she scratched the side of her head; the chocolate cornet had already disappeared from her hands, "Arigatou."

"Aa, douitashimashite."

Re's frown turned into a small grin and she turned towards the glass doors and the alleyway outside them.

"Ja mata!" She saw the man wave good-bye, just like she did, and Re took off into the alleyway outside. She couldn't help but stare at the scramble crossing close by, though. She felt so uneasy just staring at the Reavers within the crowds.

[sephiroth2]

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Standing on the balcony, directly facing the huge landscape of Berlin, Jörmungandr Götterdämmerung was holding his hands behind his back, thinking to himself, as one of his many advisers was reporting on some items of interest that needed Jörmungandr's attention. "We have received intelligent reports of some fighting in the cities of Cairo and Johannesburg!" the adviser said to Jörmungandr.

"Send more troops to those sectors that have the greatest percentage of the fighting, ignore anything less!" Jörmungandr replied to the adviser, his tone of voice that of bored, then interested. "Of course Emperor! The next item is on our military. We have finished the new bipedal tank forces, and have begun to train more new soldiers in the working of them, for future use!"said the adviser, looking up from the piece of paper he was reading the list from.

"Good.....good!" Jörmungandr said, again not taking any real interest in what was being said. "Is that all?" asked Jörmungandr. "Em, it is Emperor!" replied the adviser. "Then you may go!" Jörmungandr simply said, not once turning around to face him, always looking off into the distance. "Emperor" the adviser finally replied to Jörmungandr, bowing to him before turning and leaving the balcony area.

"That wasn't something you'd normally do?" a voice said to Jörmungandr in his head. "What do you mean?" Jörmungandr asked the voice. "What I mean is, usually if you heard there was break outs of fighting, you would have the ones responsible found and killed without hesitation, not just send more troops to those sectors that have the greatest percentage of fighting!" the voice said the last part, mimicking Jörmungandr's voice as he said it.

"I know!" Jörmungandr simply said, turning away from the view and walking back into the palace throne room. "Well then, what?" the voice asked. "You do know what it is today, right?" Jörmungandr said to the voice. "Ah, and now we know the problem. When are you going to get over it? It's been what, thirteen years since he died, and ever year right around the same time, you start to get much more depressed!" said the voice, as Jörmungandr sat upon his large throne.

Not even bothering to reply this time, Jörmungandr rested his chin on his hand as he just simply stared off into space. "I know! Why don't we go on a trip!" said the voice. "A trip? Well then where would we go?" Jörmungandr asked back. "I don't know.....maybe....Cairo or.....Johannesburg!" the voice replied. A small noticeable grin began to appear on Jörmungandr's face after the voice said that. "That might actually be fun!" said Jörmungandr. "Good!" replied the voice, fading back into the dark corners of Jörmungandr's mind, leaving him sitting in silence, on his throne.

[Ubiquity]

“Oh man. I slept late again.” Sol looked up from her bed and slowly crawled out of it, her head throbbing from no doubt hitting it too many times while she slept. Normally there was no need for her to sleep so much, but Sol did like to dream at times. “I probably already missed that meeting too. Damn. I wonder if they filled for me, the people in the Shu Republic were counting on me for this and I let them down.”

Now nearly an hour later, Sol sat at a desk, talking to one of her favorite advisers. It was unscheduled, but Lei Myun was always happy to speak on the Chinese Empire’s behalf. There wee just too many problems in some parts of the empire while others had everything that those struggling did NOT have. Negotiations weren’t that bad with some other empires, but Sol Yan Lian was more focused on both the American and Russian empires. They were the ones that she needed to keep her alliances with otherwise her plans for the future could fall completely apart, and that would mean she would have to resort to……well, she brushed the thought out of her mind as Lei Myun prodded her for an answer.

Her face straightened out. “Yes, set up a video conference feed with the American Emperor if you can. I know we had originally set it for a weeks later, but things have changed and talking with Gabe will set my thoughts at ease at least for the time being.” Her adviser turned and left, leaving her to ponder what to do with the rest of the day. It was only a matter of time before those in the slums realized that while they were fed, things about housing would not change anytime soon, and she needed to know where they stood on this issue…….

“Damn. The Japanese have caused so many problems. I wonder if Empress Novikov is feeling the stress of her empire as I am.”

[afrobutt]

Fritz heard the merchant he had just had a chat with start calling out for a Reaver, and quickened his pace.
I just got into Japan, and already it looks like I'll have to run somewhere else again, he sighed. Fritz considered Japan to be his last choice of nations to do business. He'd arrived here by a supply craft that made port in Omura, and from there hitched a ride with a contact of his to Nagasaki. It had cost him more the half of the money he had saved up for this trip, and he hadn't had a single job since the one that caused him to leave Germany.

It had seemed like a simple enough job, he was to help a group of bandits fight off some guys. The part these bandits had left out, however, was that these "guys" were actually part of Germany's military force. Apparently, the bandits were part of a rebel force against Germany's government. The problem with all this was...

1) Fritz had been under the assumption these would be another group of idiotic bandits involved in some sort of clan war. These were trained men, all of whom were strategically positioned around the hideout.

2) The majority of them had known Fritz while he was in the military (mostly because of his father).

The two of these factors resulted in some of the soldiers strategically retreating from the battle, and reporting that they had seen the before assumed dead soldier Fritz, aiding rebels. After that, an official bounty and warrant for arrest had been issued for Fritz's capture.

And that is why Fritz was now in Nagasaki, making his way to a mercenary's bar. There, he hoped he would be able to get a job. He hadn't eaten since earlier that morning, and was curious about Japan's delicacies.

[Akans]

"Get up you worthless ass."

The aristocrat shuddered as Zhang Yun pulled him up by his collar, from where he was lying down. Around them, guards lay dead or dying, though there was strangely no blood coming from most of them.
"I said get UP!!" Zhang Yun roared at the aristocrat, who scrambled to his feet desperately. He tugged him harshly, and led him out the door to where his partner was waiting with a vehicle.

He threw the worthless thing into the back seat, disgusted at all the fat that clung to his bones, and stepped into the side seat. Next to him was his partner for this job. He wouldn't tell his name, which was smart, but he told Zhang Yun to call him 'Laze'.
Laze's voice floated from the drivers seat as Zhang Yun got in, drawling and snide. "Do you have that thing? Its not smart to hang around too long near where the guy lives. Some bystander might see us and remember us when they find out he's gone the next morning."
Zhang Yun replied, "Shoot the bystanders then, and we'll--" and was cut off as his phone rang.

He listened silently, and then put it down. "I got another job. Some rebel soldier or whatever whose hanging around in Nagasaki. I better get going. Make sure our catch gets to where he's needed."
Zhang Yun took out a handgun from the back seat, shot his cellphone and threw it out the window, before holstering the gun. "The Reavers would have locked onto the signal of my phone. You'd better get moving." he said as he leaped out the winder.

"Where are you going, all by yourself? Do you intend to walk all the way to Nagasaki?" Laze's voice sounded from within the vehicle as he revved the engine.

"No. There's other, more efficient ways there, if you know the right people." He replied as he slunk away into the darkness.

[Chevalier Sombre]

Gabriel sighed, massaging his aching temples, and got up from his chair to look out the window. He was currently in his his very comfortable office, musing at how exhausting the day had been, and how exhausting it was to be emperor in general. Today, however, had been particularly unpleasant.

He had woken up very early in the morning, at around 5:00 AM, and his schedule had been so full he couldn't afford much time to get himself something to eat. Hencely, he just grabbed an apple (which turned out to be rotten, and thusly he had forced to throw it away, much to his dismay) and went on his way.

He had spent most of the morning being informed of problems in the Empire, such as the increasing drug traffic in Colombia, the scandals involving a few Mexican politicians, and the rise of inflation in Cuba.

Devising ways to quell the issues all the while, he had gone to a hotdog stand on the street near the White House to get himself some lunch. He ordered a large-sized one, paid the vendor (he told him to keep the change, as he was feeling generous), and had barely taken three small bites (he wasn't particularly fast eater; he chewed his food several times before swallowing) when a few kids running away from a police officer had bumped into him, causing him to drop his hotdog into the nearby sewer opening.

As he had other dealings, he could afford the time to go and get himself another hotdog. As he went back into the White House, he wondered if the crime rates in Washington had gone up since he last heard of them; he would have to look into that.

He spent his afternoon at a press conference; he had, again, been forced to put up the facade of a charming, charismatic leader while making his speech, something he wasn't particularly fond of doing, but figured he had to anyway. He spoke of how things weren't particularly good, sure, but they had been worse before, and in comparison to other empires, they weren't particularly bad. He incited the people to have patience, work hard to make it through the troubled times they were now going through. The crowd had taken his words well, it had seemed. He couldn't hear any public outcries against him(he got those on a somewhat regular basis; generally just about his refusal to come out as for or against the rebellion, and other such things), meaning that either the cries of approval from the crowd drowned out the former, or the people who had such things to say kept it to themselves. That was the highlight of his otherwise poor day.

The speech reminded Gabriel of his first two years as emperor, which he looked back upon very fondly; things had been so much better. He had gotten poverty in several countries to lower significantly, government scientists had made much progress in various areas, the country had been rich...and the people were happy.

So very different from what it was all like now. And he had no one but Gendou, the despicable japanese emperor, to blame. He had met the man only about once or twice before he had held the world ransom, and his impressions weren't particularly positive then either; he had found the man cold, intimidating, indifferent, and just generally possesed traits that a good Emperor, he felt, shouldn't have.

Now he loathed the man for not only making his Empire much worse, but for doing the same to practically the rest of the world.

He would have liked nothing more for the scumbag to vanish off the face of the Earth; him and his infernal cannon. If he had to pick one, he'd definitely choose the latter, though. Which made him think of the rebellion people often questioned him about. He had attempted, for the most part, to avoid the issue whenever asked. As much as he wanted to, he felt it would be unwise to do much else; though he might have to reconsider, as there were signs that the issue was growing in importance to a degree that he'd have to do something about it eventually.

If it was found out the Empire was secretly aiding the rebellion, horrible repercussions would follow, and he certainly didn't want that. At other times though, he wondered...

A knock on the door interrupted his reminiscing. Somewhat startled at being called on so abruptly, he told the person knocking to come in.

A short, portly woman with greying hair and hazel eyes came into the room. He recognized the figure as Danielle Boverty, a secretary he had recently hired. In the short time she had been employed, she'd been fairly efficient.

"Sir", she said, in her calm, soothing tone, "one of the chinese empress' advisors contacted us just now. The chinese empress wishes to move up the video conference we had arranged to a few weeks later to as soon as possible. What should I tell her?"

Gabriel's passive expression did not change, but his state of mind certainly did; Sol wanted the conference moved? Normally he'd have internally debated the possibility for a bit, carefully measuring up the pros and cons, but it wasn't the case this time; the day hadn't really been going well, but talking to Sol would perhaps make it better. The two knew each other well enough; Sol was one of the few people who knew what he was really like, who knew the facade he put up for what it was. That, and the American and Chinese Empire's relationship was of great importance, so all this helped to make up his mind rather quickly.

"Tell her I'm ready any time she is", he said, looking up at the video conference screen that was installed in his office; they had a video conferece room, but he felt taking the call from his office would be more appropriate. "Make it known that I'm not to be disturbed while the confference is on unless it's of absolutely dire importance", he added. "Yes sir. Is there anything else you want?", the woman asked. "No, that will be all. You're dismissed", he said. Danielle nodded, and closed the door. That reminded him; he would have to talk about arranging a confference with Elena, the Russian empress, as well. There was something the two needed to discuss.

[snowdog]

The frost-bitten rail tracks were now parallel to another, more modern set of tracks. Well, if those things could even be described as tracks.

Back in the previous century, the rulers of Russia had deemed their country far too behind in terms of modern technology. While many new-fangled inventions were in common use, many were not employed due to the reliability, and the familiarity of the older methods. Oddly, the other countries of the empire were well up to date, another factor that pushed forth the so-called Technological Revolution from mere plans to charging reality. Beginning in Moscow, governers began to load their cities with many new methods. Wind power became the most common source of energy, used alongside solar power. Lives in cities were made more efficient with new defences against the elements, not to mention newer forms of older technologies.

By far, the most ambitious project was the attempt to replace the Trans-Siberian Railway. It was proposed that a relatively new system - one by which a fairly light craft would be propelled along a track by strong currents of air - would be tried for the first time in the world. It seemed crazy, but preliminary tests run by scientists all produced positive results, and so, the leader in that era gave the plan the go-ahead.

Of course, no new project gets by without money. Much to the disgust of the people, taxes were raised in order to pay for the new - and to some extent, rather needless - transport system; while the Trans-Siberian Railway was incredibly old, it had been well-taken care of, and so was still running years after its creation. Most argue this to be the reason for Russia's initial slump in economy. Despite intense opposition, the project went ahead anyway.

Unfortunately, the plan ultimately failed. The costs were deemed much greater than previously expected, and the project had to be halted as a result. The government simply could not afford to complete it. Worse still was that no service at all could be run on it; the building only reached the borders of the city's limits, not even getting it to the next station. Bringing the thing down would be too expensive as well, so the proposed tracks simply stand, raised from the ground, as a monument to the failure of the plan.

The group couldn't suppress a collective thankful sigh as their aching feet walked alongside the supports of the tracks. Were it not for the snow, they would be able to see Moscow clearly. It had been a long journey indeed, and a rest seemed very inviting after so much traveling.

It didn't take much longer to reach the palace. It was a fairly modern building, having been created as part of that same revolution. The place's outer walls consisted of nought but toughened glass. Of course, the inner ones were thicker to provide protection, and privacy. Ties to the laws and regulations of the Russian Empire stated that the ruler had to reside in the place in order to retain their power; it was silly, but if Elena ever took up permanent residence in another place, she would be thrown from her position by the government.

Upon walking through the doors, the group were immediately met by a pair of advisors. One, a rather heavy-browed man, the other a rather shrunken-looking woman.

"Good evening, Empress," both immediately chirped in unison. Elena smiled graciously, despite hating such a title.

"Good evening," she replied softly, removing her coat, and quietly dismissing the others so that they could clean up, and get out of their wet clothes. She wanted to do the same, but there were more pressing matters to attend to. "Have I missed anything while I have been away?"

"No," the male stated, his brown eyes glimmering somewhat in the bright lighting of the entrance room. It was almost unbearably white, the light bouncing off the walls in a disorientating manner. "Nothing has happened while you were away - although, that is something we feel we should speak about."

"Yes?" she replied, raising an eyebrow in intrigue. The female followed up.

"We feel that with the current situation," she sighed, knowing the woman would not like this, "you should stay closer to the palace."

"So that you are up to date with the situation," the male added. "With all respect, Empress, we have no way of contacting you should something serious occur. There are no personal transmitters in the country, and no mobile phone service."

Elena rubbed her brow, pondering over what had been said. Her short silence led the pair to believe she had not listened, so they continued.

"Here, you are at least sure you can check up on what is happening," the man explained. "We have a telephone line, including one capable of video phonecalls, and we also have one of the few internet connections remaining. You can't afford to leave, not with Gendou around. We cannot predict his actions, nor can our allies."

"That's true," Elena mumbled. A few fingers strayed in her hair for a moment, wiping out the snow that had managed to evade her hat. "Let me think about it for tonight. I won't be able to make a correct decision until my mind is less tired."

<3

[OmniChaos]

A tall, cold looking man stood alone on a small, bastion-like platform. His hands were softly placed on the black metal of the small wall that surrounded the platform. A cool wind blew, tingling his cheeks and blowing his long, light blue trench coat. He silently stared at a large section of Tokyo City, simply watching the people go about their lives a good thirty feet below him. To his side sat a large telescope that was built into the small platform. Normally, it was used to get a better view of the city below.

The platform began to move, rotating around the tower. The platform was designed to rotate completely around the tower, so that it may view any section of the city that was desired. It was made to give the Staircase of Gods a panopticon like ability, so that a person could watch any part of Toyko simply by rotating the platform. The platform came to a still in front of a doorway, where Izuka stood next to a small control panel. The old man silently walked up next to the larger man, who simply pressed a similar control panel, moving the platform back to its previous position.

"Konnichwa Tennoui-sama," Izuka said, stopping next to the cold man. "How is everything?"

"Genki desu," the emperor simply replied. "What did he say?"

The elderly man grinned. "Takusan." Izuka cleared his throat. "As my brilliant mind suspected-"

"Save me your self praise, Izuka," the cold man interrupted. "Just get on with it."

"Very well," the old man said, a little annoyed by not getting to gloat. "There are several small rebellion groups across the Japanese empire, six of which are located inside Tokyo. I was able to get the location of the groups within Toyko, but aside from that, his knowledge on the other locations are lacked. Naturally, I have sent a decent sized group of Reavers to each of those locations. If they aren't all caught, at least they will be flushed out." He stopped for a second, to gather his thoughts. "Also, it seems there are also large rebellious groups within the American and Russian empires, from what I gathered from the man. Nothing was said of the others, so I assume the ignorant dog simply did not no or there are currently no problems that need dealing with. What will you do, Gendou-tennou?"

"Tanjun," Gendou replied in a cold tone. "I shall go to those two empires and speak face to face with the emperor and empress, personally describing what plan of action I plan to take."

"And if they decide to refuse your plan?"

"Watashi ni shinrai suru," Gendou replied. "They won't. Neither of them will have enough backbone to go against me." He turned to Izuka, his cold, different colored eyes staring into the elderly man's dark grey ones. "Summon my Elite Guards and prepare my jet, I wish to leave at once." With that, Gendou pressed a few buttons on the control panel, slowly moving the platform back to where Izuka came in.

"As you wish," Izuka said, walking into the pathway. "Tennoui-sama."

Gendou waited for a few minutes until he could hear the old man's echos no more. After one final look across Tokyo, Gendou left the platform.

[Ubiquity]

Sol smiled widely, she was pleased to hear that Gabe had no problem with moving the meeting up, and as things wee, he said that anytime was good in one word, or another. Before actually pressing her palm to the intraworld device that would auto-link her to the video feed that the American Emperor had, she first stopped to think about the situation that she would soon have to deal with once more. Her people were beginning to question the actual well being of the empire as a whole. Things really weren’t that bad off, but she had to squeeze in the equations that most of the poor didn’t have homes and while fed and not at all starving this would become two sided and a huge problem soon.

Not only did they have a great military, and a lot of medicine, weapons and food, but a lot of the people in the empire were now giving up their homes to get free food from sects that provided nourishment to those that could not afford it, which obviously defeated the purpose entirely. “I just can’t deal with all of this at times. Some of use are just too lazy, I mean jobs could be better, but there are areas where mining is foisted. Places with abundance that a lot of Chinese could build from, yet they choose not to. They choose to complain and put it all on me.” Sol smiled at the thought of the American Emperor again, and pressed her palm to start the connection.

Of course she needed to be formal from the start of the feed, but as it went on that sense of formality would be lost. Her face had no doubt already started to flit across Gabriel’s vision and soon her body up to what was behind the desk. “Hello Emperor Gabriel Vargas. I am pleased that this meeting could be moved up as I am certain that your schedule is quite busy, yet you still seem to take time to speak with me on our empires’ behalves. This notion is greatly appreciated.”

Her face softened a bit and she smiled, setting her hands on her desk. “Do you wish to speak about the current medicinal activities, or shall we start with something more urgent……”