Origin...

[Comrade]

Katrina feels compelled to reach under her foot. Underneath, she finds a shard of Weaponized Tiberium that...almost speaks to her. She Grabs it and her mind suddenly calms. Almost as if...the shard has taken her voxed thoughts out.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

“Who is going to stop me? The choice is yours.

I’m going down there with or without you.

Don’t underestimate me . . . Just who the hell do you think I am?

I’ve survived worse because I’m Generalissimo, Generalissimo of Procinctia! ! !

Reject common sense and we can make the impossible possible.”

Generalissimo closes his eyes and jumps into the darkness.

"No!" She watched him escape from her arms and dive down into the hole. But there was no hesitation in her movement now, as Sarah jumped back and flew down into the darkness as fast as she could. Deep down, terrified of what might await her at the bottom.

[Maelstrom Vortex]

"Well damn." He began to crawl after the others...

AI noted, "This isn't wise Sir. They're not large. This cavern cannot accomodate us well. We are a risk to the party. Stay out. Send the drones."

Maelstrom relented, "GAH.. fine.."

Maelstrom's ID was so frustrated it roared with sufficient will to make the creature's body roar out also.. causing it to get stern looks from both the Conscious centers of Maelstrom and the AI.

They pulled back from the edge of the cavern.. and instead.. a global hawk dove down the cavern to explore it and to monitor the progress of the teams.

In the meantime, he sat by the entrance with his legs crossed, meditating.. linking up with his network in more detail.

The AI chimed in, "Repairs at 92%"

Edited July 28, 2009 by Maelstrom Vortex

[Generalissimo]

"No!" She watched him escape from her arms and dive down into the hole. But there was no hesitation in her movement now, as Sarah jumped back and flew down into the darkness as fast as she could. Deep down, terrified of what might await her at the bottom.

Generalissimo could imagine far worse places in the darkness than Sarah's arms

“That wasn’t so bad was it?” Generalissimo smiled, “You were hesitating, you were taking too long.

This isn’t the time for hesitation, I just gave you the push you needed.

You’re now where you need to be to make a difference.

Feel free to set me down whenever you find bottom of this hole.”

Edited July 28, 2009 by Generalissimo

[Sargun II]

Katrina feels compelled to reach under her foot. Underneath, she finds a shard of Weaponized Tiberium that...almost speaks to her. She Grabs it and her mind suddenly calms. Almost as if...the shard has taken her voxed thoughts out.

You will go back to your Master Kane, Katrina. I will save your life - only because I have already ruined it.

The green glow from the weaponized tiberium suddenly stopped. His cannon flashed violently, green light blasting out of the hole with more force than what light should have. It was followed by silence.

What came after was the most destructive force the world had yet to see. At the center of Jerusalem, a huge mount erupted from the ground. Almost like a mountain, the pillar of dirt and earth and debris continued to rise. However, it turned into a wave. A shockwave spread out from the center, the earth rolling as if a liquid. Gashes a mile long appeared in the city as the very Earth started to split apart at Jerusalem. Entire city blocks were sheared straight off the face of the earth, others destroyed immediately as the wave enveloped the city like an atomic bomb.

It moved slowly.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

Generalissimo could imagine far worse places in the darkness than Sarah's arms

“That wasn’t so bad was it?” Generalissimo smiled, “You were hesitating, you were taking too long.

This isn’t the time for hesitation, I just gave you the push you needed.

You’re now where you need to be to make a difference.

Feel free to set me down whenever you find bottom of this hole.”

"No." She held him close. "You're staying near me for the rest of this little adventure of ours. I told you that you shouldn't be down here, but nevertheless, we can't turn around now." The darkness still lay in front of them as they flew. "Whenever we do reach the bottom..."

But darkness was the only thing that enveloped them.

[Maelstrom Vortex]

The AI chattered, "WARNING! SIR! WARNING! GET US OUT OF HERE! POSSIBLE MAGMA CHAMBER BREACH! SUPERVOLCANOE POTENTIAL HIGH..."

"Get us out of her.. magnetic drive full strength 45 degree angle." And with that the creature accelerated to the speed of an outbound icbm from Jerusalem. "By the Gods..."

Edited July 28, 2009 by Maelstrom Vortex

[Generalissimo]

"No." She held him close. "You're staying near me for the rest of this little adventure of ours. I told you that you shouldn't be down here, but nevertheless, we can't turn around now." The darkness still lay in front of them as they flew. "Whenever we do reach the bottom..."

But darkness was the only thing that enveloped them.

Sarah’s tightening grip would have been a pleasant sensation - if it weren’t for her incredible strength.

She was holding on like he just tried to kill himself or something, probably because she thought he just did.

Generalissimo chose to shrug off his arms’ lack of sensation by focusing on Sarah’s last remark.

“You worry too much Sarah, decisive action is the only action.

If we don't reach the base level soon I might actually have time to tell you a little of what I know.

Are you sure you're going as fast as you can?"

Edited July 28, 2009 by Generalissimo

[Sarah Tintagyl]

The green glow from the weaponized tiberium suddenly stopped. His cannon flashed violently, green light blasting out of the hole with more force than what light should have. It was followed by silence.

What came after was the most destructive force the world had yet to see. At the center of Jerusalem, a huge mount erupted from the ground. Almost like a mountain, the pillar of dirt and earth and debris continued to rise. However, it turned into a wave. A shockwave spread out from the center, the earth rolling as if a liquid. Gashes a mile long appeared in the city as the very Earth started to split apart at Jerusalem. Entire city blocks were sheared straight off the face of the earth, others destroyed immediately as the wave enveloped the city like an atomic bomb.

It moved slowly.

The entire tunnel began to shake as Sarah stopped her descent and held Generalissimo closer to her body. "Damn it all. I knew we should have come down here!" As she finished speaking the earthquake began to rock the tunnel, as massive stones, rocks, sand, and bits of earth came crashing down around them. They were being trapped inside the Earth, with no way out, unless Sarah moved incredibly fast. "We have to get out of here before its too late!" She shouted and turned her body upwards as she began searching for the sunlight seeping into the hole. But there was no such light.

The rocks began falling faster and faster, hitting down further and further. Sarah tucked Generalissimo under her body as best as she could, to keep him from getting hit by the rocks while taking the beating herself. But as the Earth caved in more and more, their tunnel of escape became thinner and thinner.

"No! We have to get out! We have to get out!" She shouted as the tunnel closed up around them, encasing them in utter dark. "NO! NO! I WON'T LET THIS HAPPEN TO US!" Sarah screamed as she bore into the Earth with her body, the rocks falling all around her, blood dripping from her head, hands, arms, and legs. She screamed in pain as the earth scraped against her body, but slowly and surely, she thrust through the rock and then at the last minute when all hope seemed lost. They bore into the sunlight above, staring at a ruined city.

Sarah flew into the air, weak, tired, battered and only to begin to fall to the ground meters away from the hole. She let Generalissimo go landed on her feet. "We're safe...we're...saf..." She said, then collapsed unconsciously onto the ground.

Edited July 28, 2009 by Sarah Tintagyl

[Maelstrom Vortex]

Maelstrom landed. "Hrmm.. I don't think there is much more we can do here." He scooped Sarah up in a large claw and then looked to the General, "Suggestions?"

Internally he was screaming at his AI for miscalculating the event.. which turned out to simply be a magnitude 9 tremor.

Edited July 28, 2009 by Maelstrom Vortex

[Shadowsage]

A portal of swirling purple hues mixed with obsidian slowly formed next to the unmoving form of Sarah. Out of this passageway to the Dark Corridors walked Kevin, his face heavy with guilt. If he had interfered, none of this would have happened. Hopefully Sarah would recover before the Robot returned; Kevin had no intention of revealing his capabilities just yet.

Kevin made sure she was secure in the gigantic dragon's grip before turning to gaze at Generalissimo. The man hadn't aged at all in decades, and something about his form suggested he knew something. Something important.

'Torture him! We must get that information!' His Doppelganger screamed inside his head. It was hard to disagree, and instead Kevin found himself putting off the decision.

"Do you have some sort of medical facility we can go to?" He indicated the unconscious Sarah with an inclination of his head. "She's going to need some place to recover, hopefully a defensible one."

Edited July 28, 2009 by Shadowsage

[Generalissimo]

Sarah flew into the air, weak, tired, battered and only to begin to fall to the ground meters away from the hole. She let Generalissimo go landed on her feet. "We're safe...we're...saf..." She said, then collapsed unconsciously onto the ground.

The rapid ascent physically rattled Generalissimo but while every muscle ached that was the least of his worries.

“Lady Sarah, Sarah. Sarah please get up.”

Generalissimo couldn’t help but to poke her, the prodding determined she wasn’t going anywhere quickly.

“That was too much too soon. So powerful, yet not a fraction of your potential – not yet.”

Generalissimo placed his paramilitary jacket and gently placed it over Sarah’s unconscious form.

[Generalissimo]

A portal of swirling purple hues mixed with obsidian slowly formed next to the unmoving form of Sarah. Out of this passageway to the Dark Corridors walked Kevin, his face heavy with guilt. If he had interfered, none of this would have happened. Hopefully Sarah would recover before the Robot returned; Kevin had no intention of revealing his capabilities just yet.

Kevin made sure she was secure in the gigantic dragon's grip before turning to gaze at Generalissimo. The man hadn't aged at all in decades, and something about his form suggested he knew something. Something important.

'Torture him! We must get that information!' His Doppelganger screamed inside his head. It was hard to disagree, and instead Kevin found himself putting off the decision.

"Do you have some sort of medical facility we can go to?" He indicated the unconscious Sarah with an inclination of his head. "She's going to need some place to recover, hopefully a defensible one."

Generalissimo looked past kevin, “You’re here earlier than anticipated.”

Reaching for his radio Generalissimo called support, “This is command central, all units expeditionary converge on this position, emergency airlift requested.”

Turning to the interlopers, “Is that a satisfactory response?”

Edited July 28, 2009 by Generalissimo

[Maelstrom Vortex]

The Dragon stared at Generalissimo even as it held Sarah in his large claw, "Airlift will not be necessary. Where do you want her taken?" It inquired.

[Shadowsage]

"General, I have the intense urge to rend you limb from limb right now, and I have a feeling that it has to do with something you can tell me. I'll refrain for the moment out of respect to Sarah," he nodded in her direction, "But you WILL tell me what you know, and you will take me wherever you are going to keep Sarah."

[Generalissimo]

The Dragon stared at Generalissimo even as it held Sarah in his large claw, "Airlift will not be necessary. Where do you want her taken?" It inquired.

"General, I have the intense urge to rend you limb from limb right now, and I have a feeling that it has to do with something you can tell me. I'll refrain for the moment out of respect to Sarah," he nodded in her direction, "But you WILL tell me what you know, and you will take me wherever you are going to keep Sarah."

"What if I told you I didn’t want Sarah anywhere?

There isn’t anything else capable of deactivating N-17."

Generalissimo smirked

"What do I know? I’m just an old generalissimo trying to stop a giant robot."

Edited July 28, 2009 by Generalissimo

[Maelstrom Vortex]

"Do you want taken somewhere general.. or is the airlift for your men?" Then he looked around at the devastated area, "Or the local population?"

"Structural repairs at 94%...." the AI chimed in his head.

Edited July 28, 2009 by Maelstrom Vortex

[Shadowsage]

Tendrils of Darkness flared in agitation from Kevin's trembling form. He attempted to control his pent-up rage and only partially succeeded. Even while his hands turned clawed and his eyes faded to a sickly yellow color, he kept his sanity.

"Do not test me, Old Man." Kevin's voice was distorted, sounding like two of him spoke at the same time. "You will comply with my wishes."

[Generalissimo]

"Do you want taken somewhere general.. or is the airlift for your men?" Then he looked around at the devastated area, "Or the local population?"

"The local population needs to be as far away from here as possible, but my remaining men aren’t going anywhere.

If even a fraction of second can be bought for the survivors it’s worth the sacrifice."

Tendrils of Darkness flared in agitation from Kevin's trembling form. He attempted to control his pent-up rage and only partially succeeded. Even while his hands turned clawed and his eyes faded to a sickly yellow color, he kept his sanity.

"Do not test me, Old Man." Kevin's voice was distorted, sounding like two of him spoke at the same time. "You will comply with my wishes."

"Don’t you already see more than most? Perhaps you should ask your shadow, he knows almost a third what I know.

This is the moment. The moment when Darkness, Light, Order, Chaos converge. . .

This is where the lines between causality, imagination, time, space, and even reality blur."

Edited July 28, 2009 by Generalissimo

[Maelstrom Vortex]

"I have a solution." Maelstrom tapped global civilian communications networks and began to stream live the video from the inputs of his eyes concerning the disaster in Jerusalem on all cable and satellite commercial television channels. The broadcast was 10 minutes long, at the bottom of the screen flashed the words in bright red, "HELP US.. HELP US.. EMERGENCY! JERUSALEM IN RUINS!!" Then normal broadcasting was restored.

"I estimate help will be arriving for these people shortly."

"If what you say is true.. I should be called to open the pit soon."

Edited July 28, 2009 by Maelstrom Vortex

[Shadowsage]

"Oh? A third of what you know? That means you have even MORE explaining to do." At this point even Kevin's skin began fading to black, becoming infused with enough Dark Energy to destroy the Earth. "You had better explain what you know. People have a bad habit of disappearing when they refuse to at least be civil with me." The Darkness streaming off of his form began to blot out the light in the area around the conversing group.

[Generalissimo]

"Oh? A third of what you know? That means you have even MORE explaining to do." At this point even Kevin's skin began fading to black, becoming infused with enough Dark Energy to destroy the Earth. "You had better explain what you know. People have a bad habit of disappearing when they refuse to at least be civil with me." The Darkness streaming off of his form began to blot out the light in the area around the conversing group.

Generalissimo tilts his head in casual curiosity.

“Dark Energy, isn’t that quaint.

I had my suspicions, but I didn’t actually know what you were until you revealed yourself. . .

which means your shadow believes Lady Tintagyl is. . . but it has no idea.

You ask what I know, let’s start with time and space.

It’s not well known but time in this world passes differently in separate countries, three months in Procinctia was sixteen years of Nadine’s life.

I eventually discovered that individuals are only physically affected by the time of their central location, once I realized the relative time geographic disparity I used it to my advantage. I eventually found where time passes most rapidly, which was conveniently located in the Saint Paul City Wasteland, and spent a year which actually several millennia studying the mysteries of this universe – I’ve forgotten more than you’ll ever know."

(If he’s telling the truth it’s Maximum CNRP rules exploit for the win, Generalissimo in actual CNRP is borderline crazy and in therapy for realizing CNRP's relative timescale)

Edited July 28, 2009 by Generalissimo

[Maelstrom Vortex]

"Something.. is calling me..." He looked around quietly.. he walked towards the rubble of the Dome of the Rock...

[Maelstrom Vortex]

He reached down, picking up what he did not know had been the cornerstone of the old Temple of Solomon.. as the brick fell apart in his hand it left a single key. On one side, a carpenter's square and a compass lay side by side, on the other.. it was an image of a dragon. He felt strange... "Elochai?" He held his head confusion increasing...

[Shadowsage]

Generalissimo tilts his head in casual curiosity.

“Dark Energy, isn’t that quaint.

I had my suspicions, but I didn’t actually know what you were until you revealed yourself. . .

which means your shadow believes Lady Tintagyl is. . . but it has no idea.

You ask what I know, let’s start with time and space.

It’s not well known but time in this world passes differently in separate countries, three months in Procinctia was sixteen years of Nadine’s life.

I eventually discovered that individuals are only physically affected by the time of their central location, once I realized the relative time geographic disparity I used it to my advantage. I eventually found where time passes most rapidly, which was conveniently located in the Saint Paul City Wasteland, and spent a year which actually several millennia studying the mysteries of this universe – I’ve forgotten more than you’ll ever know."

(If he’s telling the truth it’s Maximum CNRP rules exploit for the win, Generalissimo in actual CNRP is borderline crazy and in therapy for realizing CNRP's relative timescale)

"A notion with various exceptions, and yet one which has time and again been proven the only possible explanation. Of course I realize this, man of lesser years or not. The real question," Kevin began gathering Dark Energy in a puddle at his feet, "is what you know of me, and what that can do to help me understand my place in the universe. Lady Tintagyl is uninvolved in my quest for knowledge aside from her Light balancing my Darkness."