AES

[Jeff theTrumpetdude]

Damian waltzed through the familiar street, relishing in the morning air looking around trying to find a mark. He raised an eyebrow at everyone's tension and the unusual abundance of militia, had he missed something? Nevertheless this strange buzz made his life easier. The biggest part of pick pocketing was is creating a small distraction. With everyone's mind on whatever was happening most of his work was done.

Leaning up against a wall Damian watched hurried patrons purchase newspapers. He watched carefully for a mark sizing up individuals for the best score. Finally spotted someone promising enough. The older man looked impatient holding a briefcase in his right hand and an umbrella I his left looking down at the ground and tapping his foot while standing in line to buy a paper. The thief waited until the man purchased his paper then made his move. Damian pushed off the wall and began to walk towards the man. Easily at first, then as he closed on the man his stride changed, the pace of his steps increased. The look on his face changed from the usual relaxed indifference to the quiet worry he'd seen on countless faces today. Finally he reached his mark. Damian slammed into the man. "Oh dear! I'm so sorry are you alright?" He placed a hand on the man's shoulder and another in the man's pocket slipping the wallet out of his pocket. Flawlessly.

Damian gave a curt nod and continued walking. He opened the man's wallet taking a couple of bills, not much just enough for the paper and maybe a coffee. He mainly picked pockets to keep up his skill. Damian turned and waved the wallet in the air. "Sir! Sir! you dropped this." The man took a second to understand the situation before hurriedly coming back to get it. Damian smiled and returned to the news stand, buying a paper. He raised an eyebrow at the headline. "Oh." So that was what everyone seemed so worried about. He looked over to the small motorcade that made it's way down the street. What a strange beginning to his day.  

[The Deviation]

(How goes it?)  

[lord-kensington]

The Deviation

(How goes it?)

((Pretty good, getting things nicely into place))  

[lord-kensington]

Vice Admiral Hugo Monmouth
Naval Intelligence
Naval Intelligence HQ - Konigsburgh

Monmouth watched Bregil for a moment, she was a refreshing change of pace, more focused on the job than the ceremonial niceties. Some of the upper echelons would consider her rude and insubordinate for not adhering to protocol. Monmouth admired her honesty.

He grabbed a small plate of food and made his way to his desk, as he ate he read over situation reports from all over Aes, the civilian population were still reeling from the news about Vossler. Soon they would be calling for retribution and that could very well start a war that Aes could scarcely afford.
The country needed strong leadership now more than ever.
Monmouth had a plan, already certain cogs in the machine had started turning, soon the power plays would begin in earnest.

After breakfast Monmouth gathered his staff together and layed out his plan. 'Ladies and Gentlemen, Aes stands on the precipice of destruction. With our High Commander dead and his body now buried in a foreign land our people are worried angry and in need of strong leadership. A new High Commander will be chosen before the end of today, and we need to ensure the right candidate is chosen. The two strongest candidates were myself and the Admiral of the Navy. However these are extraordinary times, the Admiral of the Flotilla has a lot of support with the public as he promises them a strong military and retribution. I will not allow him to take the seat of power he will destroy our fair nation. We need to stop him! Now Bregil, I need your special operations people. What I am about to propose will be considered treason if word gets out.'
As he said that he drew his pistol and shot dead one of his staff, a young Commander. The man fell backwards a stunned look on his face.
The rest of the staff looked wide eyed at him in disbelief.
'The man was a spy for that b*****d Admiral in the Flotilla!' He said by way of an explanation. He picked up the phone on his desk and dialed a number.
'Main security? Put the building on lockdown! No one in or out without orders signed by me personally.'
The building intercom crackled to life moments later.

"ATTENTION! ATTENTION! CODE RED! THIS BUILDING IS NOW IN LOCKDOWN!"

There was a knock at the door and several guards burst in, obviously alerted by the gunshot. They looked at the Admiral and then to the body.

'Take him away, the man was a traitor. Dispose of the body discreetly.'
The guards dragged the body out of the Admiral's office. A clean up crew would come along later to get rid of the blood.

Monmouth returned to his staff, 'Make no mistake this is how serious things have become. Bregil, I need your spec ops to sabotage the flotilla air-dock at Illum. Ensure the Dragon's Teeth is destroyed. Make it look like Aesian right wing extremists were posing as Lucidus Magus terrorists intent on throwing us into a war. It'll make the public stop and think before crying out for blood and it'll have the added bonus of discrediting the Flotilla. How can their Admiral promise a strong Aesian State when he can't even police his own bases properly.
Monmouth looked around the table, 'This is distasteful work, I know, but Aes needs time to recover properly from this incident and the last thing we need is a war.'

'Bregil, you have your orders, any questions?'  

[Jeff theTrumpetdude]

What a strange occurrence. A foreign leader buried in home soil. No country in their right mind would commit such an act, the repercussions would be too great.

Damian sat calmly outside the coffee shop with his legs stretched out in front of him reading his news paper. As he finished the last sentence of the article he folded the paper placing it down on the table next to his cup of coffee. A dramatic change in leadership was always trouble, he leaned forward interlocking his fingers and resting his chin on top of them. Radical political change was bad for business. Fear makes people frugal and there was nothing worse than trying to take money from a miser. Damian closed his eyes cringing at the thought.

His mind moved away from the troubling future to the enigmatic events he'd just read in the article. Damian slid back into his chair staring at the militia outside the government building the theories building up in his head. So many possibilities, Assassination was the first to spring into this mind. But why not return the body? Something seemed off about that. Another possibility would be that they didn't have the body. That would explain the rather flimsy excuse. Kidnapping perhaps? Damian sighed, casting the thoughts aside. Whatever the intentions the lack of professionalism was blatant. It gave him the feeling that perhaps something else was going on. “It’s all too fishy.”  

[Penandsword81]

Susan nodded. Her teams would get on that once she made the call. However, there was something she had to address first. "Excuse me sir, but I do have two pressing issues that we must deal with before I can call in the teams. Both are of pressing national security." Susan took a deep breath, and considered her words carefully. She had to say the right thing, otherwise this could start something that could not be controlled.

"During my last mission as a Special Forces Operative, I was on a four-man team. The operation is classified to the highest level of national security, only the Vice-Admiral can even have knowledge of half of what happened on the mission, the rest redacted for High-Commander's knowledge only. I can't give you any details except to confirm that we were engaged against a terrorist organization threatening to overthrow the government. And in that mission, we came across documents for an Operation Bell Fire. This was a plan to ensure that the government could be destroyed and a terrorist organization or foreign power take command. The actual plan is currently limited to the knowledge of five people, with the assassination of the High Commander. The four member team, and one man: an information broker who sold the plan to the terrorist organization. The High-Commander diverted teams to find this man. Officially he isn't wanted by the Aesian government, but in reality this man was, and to my knowledge still is, the number one enemy of the Aesian people. However, he has no known moniker, nor do we have a description of who he is. Currently we have him down as the Invisible One. In fact, we aren't even sure he exists, which is why he is not considered an enemy of the Aesian people." Susan paused at this moment, to take a sip of water. "That is, until the assassination of Vossler Stone. Now we know he exists for certain. We aren't certain if he played a role in the assassination. However, one team, lead by Mikael Somonov, one of the men I served with in the discovery of Operation Bell Fire discovered another copy of Operation Bell Fire, this time with modifications against the counter measures we enacted. For the past six years we have focused on external spies, indeed focusing on Novum Folgar and Lucidus Magus as the key sources of spies. Now; we must face the truth; we have a leak inside our government, or at least someone who has access to top secret information." Susan bowed her head. "Which leads me to the second point."

"Currently I have our Special Operations split into three groups. Group One consists of four teams of four, and are currently on the hunt for the Invisible Man. These men are loyal to me, men I trust with my life, and will continue with their mission, this order will not be overridden until the Invisible Man is found. Group Two consists teams that are loyal to me, but have flexible missions. This group is about twenty teams, varying between pairs and five-men squads depending on their mission. Currently I have three-fourths of the teams looking into information about the assassination of Vossler Stone, and his current burial spot. The other one-fourth are on counter-intelligence duty, and will participate in the destruction of the Dragon's Teeth. Lastly there are sixteen teams that I have no sway over. Their allegiances change. Some of them will do as I say, seeing how I am the most decorated member of the Special Forces. However others currently are supported by different members of the Government, with seven teams reporting directly to the Admiral of the Navy. Those seven teams are the most dangerous to our goals today. I would recommend that we avoid engaging these men, as their ultimate loyalty does lie with the High-Commander. However, if the Admiral of the Navy does act rashly and try to seize the government by force, I cannot guarantee that the sixteen teams will not side with him. My recommendation is to pull back ten of the fifteen teams currently working Vosslers case to work counter-intelligence. That way we can have the advantage in terms of Special Forces. Any questions or counter active orders from the Committee?" Susan asked, her mouth dry from speaking too much. She still hadn't covered intelligence from Lucidus Magus, Armatus, or Ater Nox. Novum Fulgar was proving frustrating, as an Information Broker had taken over all flow of information in and out of the Metropolis. His name, unlike the Invisible Man, was well known in the Intelligence community, having been around for many years. Still, the two issues she spoke about were the most pressing, and were the two stepping stones before Operation Guards Men as she has personally code-named it began.  

[Jeff theTrumpetdude]

Damian folded the paper then stuck it under his arm as he got up from his seat. Laying down a couple of bills to pay for the coffee also leaving a hefty tip. He had developed a habit of over tipping. Then again it was easy to give when it wasn't your money. He gave the cute waitress one last wink before leaving. There weren't any pressing matters Damian had to attend to at the moment so he opted to take a stroll around the city. Walking around without a spec of worry allowed Damian a higher level of perception, he could read every face he passed by, each f them seemed to have the same worry. It was honestly starting to bother him. "This is a downer." His shoulders slummed and a frown found its way onto his face. "I get the feeling something bad is going to happen." With the situation as it was Damian did something very unlike him. He slipped his hands in his own pockets and continued walking, trying to ignore the atmosphere.  

[Arcine]

(Please, guys, check out the latest post in Lucidus Magus.)  

[Penandsword81]

(Read it. I'm talking to Piratequeen to see what we can set up.)  

[Arcine]

Penandsword81

(Read it. I'm talking to Piratequeen to see what we can set up.)

Awesome. Awesome.  

[Jeff theTrumpetdude]

(I've no idea where to go/do....) >.>  

[Arcine]

Jeff theTrumpetdude

(I've no idea where to go/do....) >.>

(A trip to Lucidus Magus would be interesting.)  

[Jeff theTrumpetdude]

Damian continued to walk down the streets by now his swagger had completely disappeared. He had to leave, this place was a brewing ground for utter chaos. The young man entered his apartment and quickly packed a bag taking some money from his stash while scribbling a note. He knew leaving on such short notice would be frowned upon but the city was beginning to to stifle him. Damian needed to get out and anywhere seemed like a better option. 'Sorry for the short notice, but at the current time I have deemed it perfect time for my yearly sabbatical. I know I don't need to put down a destination because you'll find me if I'm needed. He looked at the note momentarily. Not his best work but in the circumstance it would have to do. He placed the note on his table picked up his bag and hurriedly left his his apartment. A few moments later he returned. Damian picked up some more cash stuffing it into his bag. Clearly something had unnerved him. he closed the bag and left his home for good.

Damian entered the station heading straight for the counter. "Hello love, I'd like a ticket. Never mind the destination. Surprise me." he smiled at the confused clerk. The short trip to the station had help him recover some of his vaunt. The clerk printed up a ticket and pointed him towards gate three. Damian quickly boarded sitting comfortably in his seat. Where was he heading? He looked down at the the ticket. "Lucidus Magus...great."  

[Arcine]

( heart mrgreen )  

[Piratequeen91]

Transmission from the Aes Embassy in Lucidus Magus to the Martial Court and Synarch: Koningsburgh.

Triesten Millagon was most pleased with himself. First he took the Aes Embassy and was prepared to burn it to the ground. Second he managed to find the link between the Embassy and the Aes Military base. Third, well, that was a special surprise he would have very soon. Two screens turned on, showing the governing chambers of Aes. On the right sat the Martial Court; though a noticable exception was Lord Hugo Monmouth. On the left was the Synarch, the democratically elected government of Aes.

"Men of the Court and Synarch, though by now you know who I am; I still feel oblidged to introduce myself. My name is Triesten Millagon, and I am currently the leader of the Free-State of Lucidus Magus. As you sit here, debating the best course of action in order to eliminate the threat that you deem my nation; I in turn have been wondering how best to protect my people from your warmongering ways. I had originally wished to talk to all members, however I am pleased enough to have a majority." As Triesten spoke, a snake twisted around his arm, slithering up it. "I was studying the tactics of warfare, as a member of the military for Lucidus Magus, and later in preparing the war that will bring the rightful rulers of this planet to the front: The Mages of Lucidus Magus. I noticed a pattern; a weapon, if you will, that can be used to immoblize the enemy quickly and with extreme prejudice. If you are fighting a snake, what do you do?" With actions quick and extremely efficient, Triesten Millagon seperated the head of the snake that was climbing up his arm. "You cut off its head. And, my friends, the length of this transmission has given me enough time to locate your position, and to introduce a new weapon of warfare. A magical bomb that can be fired at extremely long distances. For example; from Lucidus Magus to Koningsburgh. And the head of the snake is removed. Good day gentlemen." And Triesten Millagon watched as the Martial Court and Synarch was blown to tiny pieces.

"The head of the snake has been cut off indeed." And the rest of the bombs he had fired continued to rain down on Koningsburgh, indescriminately killing all those who stood underneath it. The Coup de Grace of his plan, now Aes had no leaders to fight their war, Lucidus Magus would be able to fight their war unobstructed.