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 Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2025 3:23 pm
Backdated to 21 March, 2025
Follows Breaking and Entering "You need a fisherman's hat and some boat to sit in, at this rate," chuckled Seraphinite as he flopped down gracelessly onto a wooden bench placed facing the scenic view. Separated from most of the pathways of this park in particular, the wide open stretch of hilltop peeked through the otherwise over shaded forested section, allowing for a spectacular view of the night sky. Even with the light pollution of the city, this spot always seemed to have some of the crispest, clearest skies, and he'd hardly lost his appreciation for the view of the void of space twinkling with countless balls of burning gas. Ignoring all the senshi and s**t. For now, though, clouds loomed off in the distance, threatening the expanse of starry skies above them. Faint purple light flickered within the depths of the clouds, and though he could barely hear the rumble of thunder, it was still enough to have his senses prickle. His eyes fell back towards the Earth, and landed on the man standing in the clearing. "Any luck on your fishing?" The moon was nearly half lost to the darkness, but enough of its silver light illuminated the area to not need much help--there were some smaller lamps in the area, not allowing anywhere pedestrians were invited to be totally pitch black, but the large street lamps were replaced with shorter varieties to assist in the star watching endeavors. Seraphinite didn't mind joining Jet on his mission for information--he'd texted him to figure out where he was for a reason--but he was still amused by the whole thing in just how... interesting the passage of time could be. He eyed the General, noting the weaker energy he gave off than what he could be tossing about as a hell of a beacon. Or rather, a hell of a warning for pests to run and hide. Something that the secondary signature of a Captain likely was just adding to, in this situation. Or so he figured. "You might need to dangle out some better bait for them, if you're not getting any bites. They all seem to come running if there's a youma around in a park, try one of them--?"Energy flickered in his mind, against his senses, and he stiffened slightly, cut off in his joking by an obnoxious, bothersome sunburn-esque sensation. He wasn't sure how else to describe an Order energy signature. This one didn't feel overly strong, and he assumed it would just flit away once they were in its range... But it kept getting closer. A dark brown rose. "...well that's rather dumb of them."--------------- Since the meeting on the Moon, Solaris' head was a tumble of considerations and buzzing thoughts, each fighting for dominance only to be tossed aside by some railroading reconsideration or reminder about some other bit of information or another. Simply put, she was confused, and exhausted, but neither were going to be solved any time soon if she didn't set about working on them. So, she'd set out that night as she had the last few nights, with the simple goal of finding some Negaverse agents. Apparently, when you want cockroaches to show up, they hide away in whatever dark hideyhole they could tuck themselves into. It was more than a tad annoying, but seeing as this was actually important to discuss with any who might have actual information, or direct her to someone who did--preferably without trying to tamper with her starseed first--she had to bite the bullet and keep patrolling around the city. When she felt the skin-crawling sensation of a Chaos aura, it was a triumph she had extremely mixed feelings on. That there were two was... less... pleasing... One felt around her level, give or take, and the other... stronger. Fantastic. Still, she headed in that direction, moving swiftly through the streets and into the park the energies were emanating from. Yes, she was doing this alone--and yes, she knew from repeat experience this was bad.... She winced slightly to herself. Really needed to stop going around solo... Her boots tapped lightly against the pavement of the walkways, trailing through some of the somewhat forested area, before coming up to a cleared hill. Gaze narrowing at the just... gross and tense sensation the auras gave her, she rolled her neck and forced her shoulders to relax. Higher rank agents had a greater chance of having the information she needed. This wasn't a horrible thing. Reminders of such were given over and over as she made her way across the cold grass, eyes constantly scanning the area till two figures came into sight. One lounged on a bench, and the other... The surprise was hard to fully hide, but she kept her voice neutral as she greeted General (?) Jet, "A nicer scenery to meet in this time, isn't it?" As she crested the top of the hill, she allowed her gaze to veer off slightly, noting the storms. "Though I'm sure you'd agree, there's more to be done to make it better." Her eyes lingered on the distant clouds pointedly before flicking between the two men. "I've heard you're willing to trade information on the storms and serpent, is that true?"
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Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2025 6:16 pm
They were running out of time, and Jet felt the weight of everything. What if the threat was just an exaggeration? What if they got by without much damage at all? Or maybe the White Moon would figure something out. Or maybe they would all die, and their time spent was better relaxing and enjoying what time they had.
Unfortunately, Jet was too stubborn to just sit back and give up.
But Lyndin already told them they didn’t have any sources of specific materials needed to replicate the spikes they needed. All of his readings were essentially useless. Minerals and names that meant nothing to Jet. Organic material that was unidentifiable but had common markers with a standard humanoid race.
How were they supposed to trap something so big when Earth was already the bait, and they had no hook?
Not quite the analogy Seraphinite was going for, but Jet let out a soft breath of exasperation at the teasing.
It was hard not to look at his friend -- his brother -- and wish they weren’t in such a horrible situation. And yet, so few seemed to be taking it seriously.
“Not as lucky as I was hoping,” he confessed, but looked up when he felt the aura as well.
The woman with the wings from the prison was a surprising sight, and Jet hated that he felt a flicker of hope when he saw her. Especially since she seemed like she was on a mission, and possible desire to obtain information.
“Do you actually have information?” he frowned, taking a step away from the bench but staying close to Seraphinite.
Especially since the aura of another, similar to this woman’s, flickered into existence nearby. He could feel the burn of poison from the Chaos of the two nearby. Along with the gentle brightness that came from someone else.
Surtur had been trying to collect information about how things were going around the city. Planning out things like where they could use Almadel’s technology if that became a valid option. He hadn’t been expecting -- or wanting -- to cross paths with anyone tainted by Chaos that night.
But he couldn’t leave whoever was facing them to do so by themselves.
He moved quickly to the place in the park, his eyes immediately looking for the other Senshi and--
Oh… He’d seen her before, of course. The Moon most recently, but also on Alastor, although they hadn’t spoken directly.
“Came to make sure everything was okay,” he announced as he approached, his eyes turning on the two Negaverse officers. “Other than the world ending?” Jet snorted, but was clearly unamused.
The other man seemed ready to cause trouble, but Jet wanted to get information, so he turned back to the woman.
“We can’t recreate the spikes used to capture the creature. The minerals used to create them are scarce or don’t exist anywhere near Earth. They were infused with some kind of humanoid blood of unknown origin, so we definitely don’t have that,” he shared, hoping that it would prove that he was being serious.
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Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2025 12:23 pm
Though he remained sitting on the bench as the senshi approached, Seraphinite leaned forward, forearms resting on his thighs and feet planted solidly on the ground. If he needed to get up, it was the quickest position for such. Not that Jet really required assistance if the senshi was stupid enough to pick a fight... didn't mean he'd just sit on his a** eating popcorn.
Jet's admission that his luck hadn't been quite what he'd wanted got a lingering glance from Seraphinite, but he said nothing for the time being. It was an alarm to him. Not that he figured Jet was hiding any big, game-changing information from him that announced they could just sit back and relax, the threat was handled. It was more that this felt beyond Ilian's usual level of concern and considerations.
The senshi that joined them was.... winged? Not the usual way he saw, if they had anything. One of the alien ones, then? --and there was another White Moon aura. Kick the nest and find one, and sure enough, more would crawl out of the woodworks...
Still, he remained sitting, even as his eyes were keen as they flicked between the woman and the newcomer with a horned headdress. He'd almost think that was neat looking... if it wasn't on a senshi.
Quietly, he tapped the pen form his tablet currently sat in, starting up the recording device.
---------------
Did she have info? Of sorts. Solaris only had time to offer a dry smile before she was distracted by the sensation and approach of another senshi. One she recognized from the Moon, even--he'd spoken to Almadel, mentioned more potential aid there. She inclined her head somewhat to him in a silent greeting, appreciating the company even if she was painfully aware of the level of power imbalance they had here.
Instead of answering right away to confirm things were totally fine, sarcasm to a degree, the General began to speak of the similar information she'd heard from Realta and the Commodore concerning the spikes. So he was serious, at least. She held up a hand slightly as she gestured to him, glancing at the other senshi. "Productive conversation, seeing as we all have the general main goal concerning the Earth right now." See? Things were totally fine....
Looking to Jet, and mindful of the other man still sitting on the bench, she rested her hand at her hip, fingertips pressing to the cold metal of the belt there. "We have two spikes with the White Moon--I assume the Negaverse has at least one, given you know about it, but how many do you have?" Of course, she knew they had at least one, as reported by the Commodore, but she was hoping they somehow had the other four or something...
"From what we've found, it's likely the serpent is using the storms to travel through space. Not directly like a ship would, but ripping and making its own path through the fabric of space." How had Almadel put it..? "It could be that the storms are a product of this rip and tear, movement happening that shouldn't be taking place in that space. "
She opened her mouth to continue with another aspect of that theory, when a new voice cut in. "That doesn't explain the storms we've already seen over the city, or are you suggesting the serpent is already here?"
Solaris glanced at the other man on the bench, needing to resist the urge to roll her eyes at the level of open disbelief she heard in his tone. "We don't have an exact breakdown of how it can do this, but the storms might be sort of... consider them anchor points, or places the thing is weakening space before it rips through there, potentially. We already know it's heading for Earth, and storms have been seen on other worlds. Including mine, and I'm from well beyond the edge of the Sol System," she added, looking back to Jet to see how he'd take such information.
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Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2025 5:58 pm
Subconsciously, Jet placed himself not quite in front of Seraphinite, but definitely blocking any attempt at the two Senshi throwing magic at him. If they tried anything, of course, he would just have to remove them both from the equation.
So… the White Moon had two spikes. That was all? Jet’s jaw tightened a bit with disappointment.
“Depends. Would you be willing to part ways with the two you have, if you knew it would save Earth?” he asked, but then added. “Not enough, for the purposes of what we need them for.” The exact amount he didn’t say. It didn’t matter, anyway, if they didn’t have all six.
She confirmed that they also believed the creature was coming through the storms, although ripping through the fabric of space seemed a little more alarming.
He’d seen the storm from Almadel’s museum, though. He knew the serpent was trying to break through. Somehow.
He frowned, looking between the two Senshi.
“Do you know how to track where it is, exactly? You went to the Moon, didn’t you?” he lifted a hand to wave off any questions that might have been sparked, not wanting to waste time on the ‘how did you know’s.
“Kerberos told me there was a plan to meet there on the full moon.” He paused to glance up in the sky, and although he couldn’t see the moon, the knew the full moon had passed.
“So… what did you find out? If you don’t tell me now, I’ll just find Kerberos or someone else,” he shrugged. He would find out very quickly how much the White Moon actually wanted to help them protect Earth, or if they were just trying to gather information to attack the Negaverse when they were focusing on something more important. Surtur stood close to Solaris, but not so close that if they needed to use their magic that either of them would be caught in each other’s crossfire. While he didn’t know the intimate details of her magic, she seemed to be someone who kept herself at an arm's length from others. For their safety, as well as her own. Physically and emotionally.
Or perhaps he was wrong, and it was just the stress of everything happening now that made her seem like she would like to keep her distance.
He cast a glance over at Solaris. He didn’t trust Chaos, but he knew his judgment was clouded. His heart was too broken for him to be able to think rationally when it came to working with the Negaverse, so he nodded to her, letting her know he supported whatever decision she made for what information to tell them.
He hoped that she wouldn’t take his silence poorly. He knew if he spoke now, he could potentially incite a fight. And that would not be the productive conversation she observed they were having.
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Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2025 4:10 pm
The fact Jet didn't specify any counts was not lost on Solaris, and she tilted her head slightly, some of her brighter, positive nature slipping at the lack of actual cooperation.
"Knowing numbers means I can report it back to people who can look into if that amount will be enough for a minimum to contain the creature, if we've weakened it enough. I'd say I'd give mine to you right now, I don't give a s**t who has it in hand so long as they can get it in place with the others when it's needed. But if you won't speak frankly, I've got less faith in your cooperation. Not that I can blame you, I'm sure your faith in mine is about on the same level, if not lower."
She was an alien here on Earth. This was not her homeworld, and the Negaverse wasn't exactly a group she was particularly buddy-buddy with. But this planet was the last truly flourishing, thriving world that she'd seen. Its protection was a requirement if they wanted to continue to encourage life to return to other parts of the galaxy, in so far as she could tell. If the Negaverse really did care about this planet--which she to a degree doubted, or at least was pretty damn sure they didn't know what Chaos will do to Earth if given the chance...--well. She was willing to set aside her personal opinions.
The mention of the moon and Kerberos had her glance up towards the sky, even though she couldn't see the celestial body in question, before shifting her gaze to Surtur. She appreciated the company, even if he was silent. Standing with allies was... something she was still adjusting to. Being outnumbered and outclassed wasn't the best feeling to inspire confidence, after all, and while they still had the latter part as a problem...
"Heralds of the Dark Star. There's more out there, not just this Calamitous Hollow. This one's just the most obvious cuz of it's never ending hunger. And no, not fully sure what the Dark Star is either, except that it's sometimes seen in dreams before the Herald arrives places, and was known as an omen of mass death to the Moon Kingdom. So once we've dealt with this one, I was already figuring on heading back to the Moon to see if I can find any info there on the others. The ghost we spoke to up there had limited knowledge to share." Because she wasn't going to outright say they spoke to a hologram from a USB chip put into a crystal-charged pedestal.
She greatly disliked that she was giving more info than he was, but her pride wasn't something she was about to choke on with such a dire situation in play. "Previously, they managed to hit it with a huge blast of energy, overloading the thing and causing it to become susceptible to magic. More they struck it from there, more unstable it got, and the more power it lost. More power it loses, the smaller its mass gets. Even non-magical force and weapons could be used then on it to continue to weaken it. We've got information to create a shield, at least, but it won't be enough to cover the globe, or take more than one shot--from my understanding," she paused, glancing to Surtur in case he wanted to add more info onto that, or if she'd gotten it wrong.
"We're looking into a potential means to get off Earth to meet it, but won't know the status on that till the New Moon."
-----------
Where he sat, Seraphinite continued to record the conversation, but the information he was hearing was... not exactly filling him with confidence on all of this. When the woman mentioned that there were more, he didn't hide his glance to Jet, an unsettling prickling sensation crawling down his spine at the notion. More? More world-ending things like this serpent? She didn't have anything useful about this Dark Star, and he wondered briefly if the Queen or the Commodore would be able to recognize the name, or perhaps have avenues to look into the matter.
A ghost? The ********? He shot the senshi a skeptical look, but she kept going, outlining how the creature had been previously contained. In concept, the procedure wasn't impossible to recreate. But the whole off Earth to meet it part made his eyes narrow.
"You senshi can already do that, can't you? Why do you need other means if you're already able to go to space?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2025 6:59 pm
“It’s a little difficult to trust aliens when we’re being attacked from space,” Jet pointed out, gesturing to the sky above them. “No offense, but you haven’t given us much we can use in exchange. I already told you we don’t have enough. It seems like it doesn’t matter if we don’t have all six.”
News of a ghost telling them what to do was-- well… actually it was quite funny.
Jet laughed. Softly at first, but it was clearly not something he’d expected to hear.
“Let me get this straight,” he started, chuckling quietly. He wanted to know what their answer was to Seraphinite’s questions, but it was too funny for him not to say anything.
“The White Moon has such a problem with authority that you can never agree on anything, but you’ll listen to ghosts and talking orbs?” he scoffed in amusement. But he didn’t really want to piss either Senshi off at the moment. So he did his best to stifle his snickering, but cast Seraphinite a glance because really?
“You’ve got information for a shield, huh? And you’re going to be giving us that? We’ve got a lot of resources. Unless the Velencians already know about it and just haven’t bothered telling us,” he hummed thoughtfully. Surtur didn’t like how he couldn’t get a read on this General. He was laughing at the information he was given (granted, it was a little strange to hear they spoke to a ghost of sorts), not giving all of the information, but also seemed to want more from them.
“I’m afraid that helps us very little if you only state how many you may or may not have. It seems as though we’re the ones providing all of the information. What do you have for us that we can help protect Earth as well?” he asked, because there seemed to be a lot of exchanging of information going on.
“We have the means to access our own worlds. Finding a place to fight before it manages to get to Earth would be ideal. This way, we can keep the Earth safe for a while longer.”
He cast a glance over to Solaris, once again trusting her decision to go into details. He knew he couldn’t make a good judgment call. He didn’t trust them, and they didn’t seem like they had information useful for them.
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Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2025 8:15 pm
"I've got wings, not scales or weird tiny arm-looking things," she chirped back with a cheeky grin. His point was valid, but she was getting more than a tad ticked at the lack of information he was offering that was of any use. Thus far, seemed they both knew all there was to really be concerned about... minus the shielding plans. To the jab at the White Moon, though, Solaris could only give a vague shrug. "AI hologram programmed by an ancient Moon Queen to offer advice and information to others after her death, but her information was limited to the time of when she was recorded, so we had limited answers. Still, she knew about the serpent, knew about hunters who went after stuff like that out in space, knew about other Heralds of the Dark Star, and knew how the previous group dealt with the thing we're currently being threatened by--and that there were plenty of losses." Her smile was bright, cheery, but to say it wasn't hedging on flippant was a lie... "Just calling it a ghost felt more reasonable to say to you, given all the magic and such. Or are you going to tell me you put any more stock in a detailed description than just calling it a 'ghost'?"
She didn't comment on the rest of the White Moon, though. If she had a problem with authority or could never agree on anything with others didn't apply here. He was allowed to think whatever he wanted. Solaris felt confident in the connections she was making through Order, senshi, knights, and Mauvians all alike. People she... actually could rely on in fights, and with information. Some, anyway. Parts that wouldn't burden them unnecessarily. Parts that could be used productively.
Whatever problems the White Moon held were before her time, insofar as she was aware. It didn't concern her.
That Surtur spoke up somewhat surprised her, though she resisted the urge to glance at him, keeping her eyes on the Negaverse agents instead. He wasn't wrong--on the lack of actual trade happening here, or the reality of how their magic worked to access space. It was limited. Not ideal for trapping monsters like this.
Holding out a hand, she reached into subspace, pulling out a copy of the plans Realta had helped her create. "I'm sure your Mauvians could figure out specifics and help send copies around to your people, if any of them are good with advanced alien technology." Her head tilted, not moving any closer to them and still holding onto the plans. "But some actual information to trade on your part would be useful, in exchange for them. Nothing you've given us is new to us, either."
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He caught Jet's look and allowed himself a small smile, uncaring if the senshi saw. But as she spoke, Seraphinite decided he really didn't like this woman's tone. It was bubbly, cheerful... but there was an edge to it, in his ears. Just brushing along mocking. His eyes narrowed, still seated but jaw set as he watched on. They weren't supposed to be hostile towards them right now, on order of the Queen... but he really wouldn't have minded at least threatening a bit.
When the other senshi spoke, his gaze slipped to him briefly, giving a soft snort of disbelief. They were rather stupid to be speaking so bluntly, in his mind. "You have your lives, don't you?" The words were a low rumble, finding their uppity remarks distasteful. They were giving information to the people of Earth. It was the least the alien and those powered by alien magic could do. They were unthreatened, unharmed, their starseeds left alone. The ******** else did they want?
That the woman then brought out some plans, he assumed for the shields, and actually tried to barter with them was pushing his patience, and Seraphinite pushed himself to his feet with a dark look. He didn't miss what he was pretty sure was a snide remark about if any in the Negaverse were skilled at working with advanced alien technology. "Are you ******** kidding me? You're hardly in a place to bargain for anything--and by your own worlds I assume you mean places that aren't Earth. So why can't you just use one of them to meet the damn thing? Keep it the ******** away from Earth."
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