A light breeze blew through the pavilion. The gentle afternoon light illuminated marble pillars, holding up a sleek marble roof. Outside, clouds could be seen gently drifting below. For indeed this almost rustic piece of architecture in roman style currently hovered over 12 km above the ground, held up by high-tech hover engines adapted from the space yakuza technology. This had two functions. First, it meant that the location was hard to interfere with from the ground, and hard to reach for would-be assassins. Secondly, it provided an air of isolation, an aura of calm that might assist in the peace talks. Or at least, that was the goal. Kaldor Draigo severely doubted that some nice cloud scenery would dissuade the beasts of the Conquerors from their blasphemous ways.

The Supreme Grand Master of the Grey Knights mused this, as he stood at the head of a long oaken table. Metal-reinforced seats had been provided, allowing even his heavily armoured frame to sit, but he felt more at ease standing. He'd been fighting those beasts on the front lines for over a year now, although he had arrived more than a year after his Emperor had first confronted their forces. Made a bit of a name for himself, as well. Now he had been taken from the battlefield, and was expected to preside over a peace meeting. He respected that the Emperor wished for peace, after all, none could doubt the Emperor's judgement. And Vulkan spoke for the Emperor now. But he was a man of war, a weapon in human form. For over 200 years he had wandered the Warp, tearing his way through armies of demons. At least in that cursed place his task had been a simple one. Here, he was oddly out of his element.

Invitations had been sent to all major factions, and a couple of the smaller ones. The location was a neutral one, a small building hovering over what the locals had once known as the Pacific Ocean. All factions attending were granted the right to a single representative and a single bodyguard, as well as two unarmed servants, for a total party size of 4. All factions were allowed to bring their weapons for self defence, but to draw their weapons would be considered an act of war. No military troops were allowed to approach within 50 km of the location itself, and participants would arrive via unarmed transports, flight, or teleportation devices. The conditions had been set by agreement between the New Imperium and the Dark Outliners, and it was these two factions that had originally planned this event. The Conquerors weren't exactly intent on peace, but they would be required to show up, if only to listen to what the other factions were talking about. The damned Goa'Uld xenos were also invited, but Draigo would be damned if he could predict their actions. They seemed to be almost as expansionistic as the Conquerors, but far more subtle about it. If they did show, he'd need to keep an eye on them.

Kaldor himself performed two roles at this event. He was here together with two members of the Imperial Administration, officials who would record the event and provide important information. He himself was their bodyguard, as well as the voice of the Imperium here. He represented the God Emperor, and the bastion of order formed by his works. His secondary task was that of a peacekeeper, to ensure that no faction were to take advantage of this event to attack another. he could not be swayed or pleaded with, and therefore perfectly suitable for the role of arbiter. Should any of the representatives overstep their bounds, it would be his task to eliminate them before the talks were ruined, and to make of their foolishness a message. This day would certainly be interesting.

As the hour struck three, in Terran measurements, the large marble doors leading to the landing platform opened, as the first faction of many entered the hall. Draigo sighed, in preparation. He wasn't entirely certain whether he hoped everything to go right, or for everything to go wrong. Only time would tell.....

---

It had been almost a year since they had finally disposed of the first immediate threats present during this crisis. A year since the founders of the Alliance of Conquerors had been vanquished by the Dark Outliners. The pivotal element to this victory was none other than Eto Yoshimura, leader of the Aogiri tree and Head Executive within the mysterious organization. An absurdly powerful ghoul, she held the secrets to defeat every one of her ex-colleagues, while they knew her weakness. But what they enemy failed to achieve was exploit the weaknesses of the other Outliners on the ghoul's side. Biollante, the head spy of the Outliners ended up giving up her life to eliminate Queen Ghidorah, but she would be the only loss they would know.

Satsuki Kiryuin was killed by Eto out of petty vengeance.

Bowser was maimed by the Leading Ethereal.

Ultron was rendered to scrap metal by Cyano.

And Bambietta had turned Star Killer into a nifty bomb.

But even with this victory, they were fully aware that they were just crushing ugly cockroaches and not dealing with the hive that would simply spawn more in no time. They knew this wouldn't solve their problems, but at least they displayed their capabilities to the world, and in return, would be an honored guest to this meeting.

A circular UFO used by ADVENT would land on the designated landing pad. The ship seemed pretty typical, not exactly something one would expect from the leader of the group. Though many would quickly discover the lack of any individual they had not seen at least once before. The 'Envisioning One' didn't seem to be present among he group of people that would step out of the advanced piece of technology. There were still quite a few, nonetheless, many armed and serving as security for the VIP's that were ordered to attend this summit in the skies of Arcadia. The armed forces remained 'within' the ship, or rather near the Terminal leading to the ship, of course, while the attendees entered.

One of them was Eto, standing at the forefront of the congregation of entities marching under the banner of the Outliners. The green haired ghoul was quick to skip toward her seat on the round table they would be employing to commence negotiations. She was wearing her eccentric granny sweater with the geeky glasses she'd wear during her book signings while her hair was tied in a bun.

She'd take the seat on the immediate right of the largest chair dedicated for the Outliners' portion of the table. There were many placed specifically for them, as they had indeed helped the Imperium prepare the logistics in order to get things done as neatly as possible. Eto sat comfortably, while the chair on the left of the mighty large chair would remain empty for now. Rather if it were filled now, it would breach the agreement. As such, they simply let to be vacant, for now. The Speaker took a seat on the right of Eto, replacing the Ethereal Overlord during its mysterious absence on the radar. He would represent ADVENT in this exchange, as every branch in the Outliners would be represented.

Farther on the left sat Tatara, representing the Ghoul army as Eto came as the Head Executive and not the leader of Aogiri. As such he would be the interim leader.

An old Quincy would represent the Wandereich, as it seemed both the Executive and the mysterious second member were likely unfit for such representations.

"Well, well. We're not going to be graced by the God Emperor today? Shameful. Even the boss said they'd come."

She giggled, setting her elbows on the table as she'd leaned her head forward in order to rest it on her hands.

"Though don't ask me when, they're always so hard to agree with on schedule~"

She joked before the Speaker would raise his voice.

"We may want to commence the discussion as soon as possible. Our leader and the Elders have given us precise instructions to proceed without their presence."

The Speaker claimed, already breaking his role as a 'servant'.

The Envisioning One was coming? Odd, the list was indeed:
1) Representative: Eto
2) Bodyguard: Tatara
3) Servant: Speaker
4) Servant: Quincy

The arrogance they displayed was gargantuan from the get go, marking these representatives as servants rather than negotiators. They were discussing a peace treaty, not what pizza they were ordering, and they deemed it fit to have a representative from each branch to tip in. And to display even more by claiming they would breach the agreement to let in their superior step in. The Outliners never did hesitate to show their perceived dominance.

The city of Winnipeg was located in the contested area between the New Empirium and the Alliance of Conquerors. While both sides had withdrawn their armies, the city had seen many conflicts, and bore the scars of months of high-powered warfare. The ruins of drop pods lay amidst crashed bowser ships and scores of unmarked mass graves. Despite all this, the city had somehow acquired a population. People who wished to be associated with neither faction gathered here. Raiders and thieves, criminals and traders, those who fed on the war between the factions, preying on both sides equally. There was no law beyond the law of the jungle, as minor villains from across the multiverse gathered, warred and schemed. A vile hive of corruption and villainy, but also one of the best places for Viral at the time.

Arriving in this new universe, Viral's first order of business had been to establish the pecking order. He was at the top, of course. All who had crossed him had either been slaughtered, or enslaved. For the second order of business was to establish an army. Viral was even prepared to enlist the disgusting humans, as he realized that he alone would have no chance of establishing Beastman superiority here. But there was no doubt in his mind that if he prepared the stage, his master would soon follow him into this realm, and another world would become part of the unrelenting Spiral Empire. He would raise an army, and annihilate the fools who had mistakenly claimed the abundant resources of this world for themselves.

Of course, he had met with resistance. Few were willing to serve him, either following an allegiance to some other faction or their own desire for freedom. These particular fools were vast and diverse, and all had equally good reasons not to assist him in his assuredly suicidal task. Not that they were given a choice. Beaten into submission, bandits and raiders soon turned into useful allies, even if not entirely willing ones. The Viral Squadron was soon established as a large raiding group in the Contested Zone, wiping out trade groups and ambushing patrols on both sides of the conflict. But now, Viral was finally ready to set his grand plan in motion. He would conquer the city of Winnipeg, and he would make the scum that fought there into his new army. Then he would be ready to challenge the larger factions, an unexpected third party who would wipe out all in his path. All humans who clung to the surface would be annihilated, besides perhaps those who followed him into battle.

The mech Enkidu stood far from the edge of the city, staring out over the crumbled pillars of civilisation and hastily rebuilt houses, rickety street markets and gun shows attracting the maggots of the earth. Around the mech's feet a small force of about 50 warriors had gathered, humans armed with high-tech weaponry and riding two armoured hover-boats. The dual laser gattling guns equipped on each of these boats formed the main firepower of the attack, but firing slots allowed those inside to contribute as well, until they were offloaded to fortify an important strategic position. Just as important were the ground troops, some 200 rifraff crew from various universes. Some, more feudal types preferred melee weaponry, but more advanced versions of their standard equipment had been provided. Only the best gear would suffice. One had even managed to attach a Bolter to a turret, making for a high-powered weapon, although he possessed only limited ammo. All in all it was a small army, the product of months of work and conquering. And if this heist was successful, it would be expanded into a force to be truly reckoned with.

A bright red beam shot out from the crescent moon on Enki's helmet, slamming into a market area in the city. The resulting explosion wiped out the entire district, larger buildings shaking down and the ramshackle fortifications of the city falling down. This was the signal for attack, and the two hoverboats shot off, followed by the general infantry. Bullets, lasers and even spells flew through the air as Viral's invading force attacked, loudly declaring that this city was now property of the Viral Squad. Enki itself shot forward, flipping over a house to land in one of the many recreational areas of the city. A quick barrage of kunai fired from his left arm took out the meager defensive emplacements present in the city, as his voice rang out from the mech. "Those who wish to live, bow to your new master. Join my forces, and you may live to see the end of my purge." And with his message delivered, he moved on. Those who resisted or attempted to flee the city would soon be mopped up, few could outpace the giant legs of a Gunman after all.

((GM Note:
This scene is designed to integrate non-faction characters. Any non-faction characters may be in the city, part of the Viral Squad, or may be outsiders interfering in the carnage, visible from many kilometers away. They might even be members of the factions, moving to interject in this conflict, perhaps believing it to be an advance from the opposing faction.))

In the massive structure that had been prepared for the conclave, Supreme Commander Ba'al and his entourage would arrive in a flash of light as they teleported in. Initial demonstrations had involved his fleet, but these days he didn't see the need for such gaudy and ostentatious displays of power. They knew how strong his Empire was, the resources he could bring to bear. If he needed to then he could call in his ships, but for now he would play nice.

Besides Ba'al himself, his entourage had several other people. There were armed Jaffa bearing his personal request there to provide escort if he should need defenses, not that he would ever travel without them. There was also his wife Qe'tesh, who was....less faithful than Teal'c, and it was generally a marriage of convenience for the both of them. Teal'c had been left at home to manage things n his absence, and Ba'al had complete faith in his ability to manage things.

"How...quaint," Qe'tesh said with very thinly veiled disgust as she looked about the prepared pavilion. She was less open minded than Ba'al, but she was useful when it came to certain events. She had a keen mind after all.

"Now now, they can't help it if they are uncultured barbarians," Ba'al replied with a grin as he stepped forward, leading them towards the meeting area. The bodyguards were silent as they led the way and observed the scene, making sure there were no imminent threats to the group that they escorted. It would not do to have something happen at a meeting like this. And, well, if they could get some scans off of defenses and the like then that would be welcome too.

Stepping into the meeting hall, Ba'al grinned as he headed for the seat that had been chosen on the spur of the moment, making sure that he was well represented, at least as best he could be. "Ladies, Gentlemen, a pleasure as always," he said with an eager attitude as he took his seat, the guards standing at attention behind him and Qe'tesh at his side. At the same time, he sized up his opponents. The Imperium were the same as always, so noble and valorous with their perceived moral supremacy. Then there were the Outlier, supporting their own agenda and acting like they were so high and mighty.

Qe'tesh was less than welcoming in turn as she sat down next to her husband. "Ah, the Outliers, as pretentious as always," she said with obvious sarcasm. It was, in a way, good to see her like this. So long as she was focused on hostile foes, she wouldn't be scheming against Ba'al himself. With that said, he waited for the meeting to begin. Hopefully this would b worth his time.

Mortainius

"Colonel Mortainius!" A solider shouted as he apporached Mortainius, who was gingerly sipping on some margiritas atop of his personal battle tank, despite the fact that he did not possess taste buds. Mortainius was fited with a basic combat mechanical body and wore the standard uniform for those who have reached the rank of colonel in the Alliance but let his Rainbow Skull be clearly visible. Mortainius retorted in grumpiness. "For the last time! Call me Major Mortainius! Your Major commands it!" "R-Right sir! Yes sir!" The solider replied. "Now." Mortainius said. "What could possibly be so important that you would interupt my margirita time!?" "Sir! There is some kind of mech of unkown origin spotted just outside of the city limits!" The solider said. Mortainius immediantly did a spit take of his margirita. "What!? A mech!? Who would DARE to be so foolish and bold as to attack a city under MY jurisdiction!?" It was just then that a massive explosion could be heard originating from the town market square, just a few kilometers away. It was then that he saw the mech stomping around the living quarters and loudly proclaiming that the city was his.

Mortainius had just got this job to patrol this border city, a job he took pride in. This was his chance to prove to the Alliance how valuable he was. And he was not going to let ANYTHING stand in his way. He literally tossed aside his glass, not caring where it landed or if it shattered. "All right minions! FORM UP!" The platoon immediantly stood to attention. "All minions! Prepare to assault the city! No doubt its those Imperium bastards who want to break the treaty and declare all-out war between us! We are the frontline! And we will not be pushed back by Imperial scum!" Mortainius then turned to his Leutinent. "Sound the alarm! Deploy ALL tanks, infantry and aircraft on the double! Prepare all artiliary to open fire into the city!" The leutinent seemed very distressed at the situation. "But sir! What about the innocent civilians in the city?" Mortainius did not seemed phased. "I don;t care WHO the bombs land on! I just want them dropped! The enemy will be weakened by the bombs. Thats when we will make our attack and claim the city for the Alliance!"

The regiment was immediantly dispatched to follow their given orders. Mortainius grabbed the Rainbow Rod from beneath him. He then directed his tank to sit atop a nearby hill, where he could observe with his binoculars the carnage he was about to unleash upon his enemies.

The red demon flew along the chaotic streets of Winnipeg. Tromping along loudly underneath him were his two companions,a robot piloting a hulking armor that announced their presence with its every footstep and a young soldier carrying a rifle that seemed to jump at every noise. He didn't know their names. He didn't particularly care. Demons generally didn't. He'd only been a member of this band for a short while, having fallen in with them during those first confusing days when he'd found himself in this world, alone, and had been made to fall in line basically at gunpoint. Not that he minded working for Viral. The charismatic beastman appealed to his violent sensibilities, and with the Demon World Village so diminished one master was as good as any other.

They were making their way more easily than he had thought they would. Viral's first attack had effectively scattered the organized defense of the city and the sight of the white giant looming over the ruins was enough to make any other sane person think twice. Their orders were to go street by street, the beastmans emblem proudly displayed on the front of the robots armor, and kill anyone stupid enough to still think resisting was a good idea.

They came to the front of a ramshackle hut made from trash lashed together from whatever could be found and held together with prayer and repeated a process that had become almost mechanical at this point. The big armor would walk up and turn the wall into a door with his fists. This was usually enough to cow everyone inside. If no shots were forthcoming after that the rookie and the red demon would pop out behind the armor and menace the inhabitants until they knew who the new boss in town was, Master Viral. If they were met with resistance they did the same thing, but with more bullets and fireballs.

The wall fell inward as normal, letting daylight into the dark interior of the hut and reveling the interior. What was most apparent was that someone had gone to impressive length to light proof the room, as it was still wreathed in shadows even with the giant hole knocked in the side. The only apparent light source was a single candle burning on a table next to a ratty looking red recliner. Around the recliner were numerous books, some still in neat piles while others had been scattered to the ground by the shock. There was no bed. There were no weapons or food. The only homey touch, the red demon thought, was the skull sitting on the table beside the candle.

The armor tromped in and gave a confused look round. Usually there were screams, of the sound of frantic flight, but now the only noise were the distant sounds of battle. The rookie sighed in relief and let his shoulders relax. The humans tensed up like he was about to die every time they did this. "Looks like they did a runner." He said, turning to the red demon. "Poor bastards."

The demon had to agree. The mop up crews were much less forgiving than they were. He wanted to be in one of those, but only the veterans were allowed to have that kind of fun. He turned away in disgust. "Let's go then." He screeched. "Got a lot to do."

It was then that they heard the metallic thud of the armor hitting the ground. They turned back to find the armor in a sitting position, its pilot gone. The red demon only had a second to wonder what had happened before the rookie swore loudly and tossed a grenade into the hut. He saw something drop out of the shadows of the roof and was about to fire, but as the beat of its batlike wings carried it out into the daylight he found he couldn't. The rookie had no such reservations, and raised up his rifle, rut the figure threw something at the human that glanced off his body armor. The rookie started to scream as the robots head rolled away in the street, holding down the trigger and spraying fire in the figures direction. He somehow managed to miss every shot in his panic, long enough for the figure to line up a shot of his own. Fire leaped from his mouth, hitting the rookie and engulfing him like a hungry beast. The street was filled with the smell of cooking meat, and he flailed pointlessly for a moment before collapsing into a pile of molten slag.

The red demon looked on in awe as the Red Demon landed in the street before him. "C-c-commander!?" he asked in disbelief. Firebrand looked him over critically, then smiled.

Behind him the grenade went off, leveling his erstwhile home and everything inside. He did not turn to look.

---

"We all thought you were dead." his subordinate choked as the two of them flew over the war torn city. "Killed with Lord Astaroth when the village fell, along with the entire suppression force."

The Red Arremer couldn't be farther from the truth, but he couldn't to tell a demon that looked at him with so much hope that he taken his Demon Blazon and abandoned the village when Astaroth had been shown to be nothing but a pawn. He should, however, be dead. By all rights he should be dead. He'd gone to the material world, to the Belcrant, fully intending to die. He'd felt Arthur's lance strike true, heard his promises to end the madness that had descended across both their worlds, and then all had been darkness. At least until he had awoken in an unknown desert, weak and surrounded by the broken bodies of the Demon Blazon and Zouna's troops, and found himself dumped into a world where the same madness had taken it by the throat and choked the life from it. It had been a very confusing few months since then.

"How fares the village in my absence?" He said, changing the subject. The red arremer hung his head in shame and Firebrand took that as his answer. He nodded his head down and the pair descending from the sky, alighting atop one of the nearby buildings to survey Viral and his magnificent armor. "So, you fell in with this man?" The red arrenmer again could not answer, but Firebrand gave a satisfied grunt. "I can see why. Such lust for conquest. He reminds me of my younger self."

Which meant he was capable of turning the fragile balance of this place on its ear, he thought darkly. The world had no need of someone like him.

He didn't say that either. The hero of the Ghoul Realm couldn't say things like that. Instead he said, "What do you say we help teach this whelp a lesson is humility?"

The red arremer couldn't possibly say no. Even if he hadn't inadvertently betrayed his commander he would rather die than refuse an order from Firebrand. Even if his enemy was commander Viral, fighting and dying was what red arremers did. Something, though, confused him. "Help?"

Firebrand suddenly grabbed the young demon by the neck and pulled him over the side as an artillery strike demolished the building under them, taking flight away for the giant robot. There was no way the lords of this world would let rebellion like this go unopposed. Around them the city began to explode as bombs rained down indiscriminately, turning the landscape into a bombed out hell. That was fine with Firebrand. It reminded him of home.

He had been aimless until now, seeing himself as having been lost in the shuffle of dimensional transfer. A lone drifter from an ancient, forgotten land, alone and far from home. But if this red arremer was here, if he'd been drawn to this place by pure chance, then home could be a lot closer than he'd previously believed.

@Savato@Flamelord

First to arrive were the Dark Outliners. Strictly on time, as always. For how unruly their crew was, they seemed stunningly apt at keeping to a schedule. Draigo sighed at the antics of their head ghoul, the mutant scum known as Eto. It seemed that they had allowed their egos to go out of check, and Draigo resisted the urge to cut them down on the spot. He had listened to the audiologs and seen the camera footage, he knew full well what Eto was capable of in a fight. And while he did believe he could take her, now was not the time to test that theory. At least as long as she knew not to cross the line. "There is no need for the Emperor to attend events such as these. Creatures such as yourself are unworthy of his presence." He shot her a pointed glare, carrying some of the presence of his psychic powers. The mere force of the attention would be enough to cow most humans, although it was doubtful it would have much effect on the Ghoul.

Second to arrive were the Goa'Uld. Not as powerful as the Alliance, not as cunning as the Outliners, and with three times the ego. These xenos had spent most of the war sitting on the sidelines, feeling superior. Like the Eldar, without the higher brain functions. Kaldor himself held them in nothing but contempt, a race that lacked the will to do battle but yet was shameless enough to belittle the superior human race. It was an atrocity. Again, he forced himself in line. The jaffa formed nothing more than canon fodder to him, and he had no doubt that he could tear them to shreds if he wished it. But the Imperium did not need a new war on it's hands. "Ba'al, you will keep your wife in check. This is a peace meeting, and insolence will not be tolerated. Should you fail to do so, this uncultured barbarian will personally be forced to rectify your xenos culture." The implications of the statement were only mildly genocidal. But Kaldor had wiped out species over less, and the Goa'Uld armies did not threaten him.

The Alliance had yet to arrive, but undoubtedly their representatives would bring havoc, if they showed up at all. He might as well get this meeting underway before then. "Now that we have all gathered here, allow me to state the rules of this event. None of the representatives are to draw weapons. Use of abilities are allowed, so long as those abilities are not used in a harmful fashion. Threats will be allowed, but any attempt at carrying through on them during this meeting will be considered breaking the rules. This convene is an attempt to create peace and prosperity. Should you be unable to respect the simple requirements of this convene, then it will be ruled that your faction isn't worth the effort of talking to. Such a faction will be nothing more than a threat to a potential peaceful solution, and will be eradicated before the next meeting commences." The statement was made with certainty, in an almost matter-of-fact fashion. Regardless of how the other factions fashioned their odds against the Imperium, they would know in that instant that Kaldor knew, with absolute certainty, that the Imperium would eradicate any and all challengers. And his confidence was not without reason. "Now, allow us to begin. Sir Arus?"

The diplomat known as Malden Arus stood from his seat, smiling nervously. He was but a normal human in a room of superhumans and monsters, something that quite rightly terrified him. However, he was a diplomat, and when he spoke he did not allow his personal anxiety to change the confidence of his voice. "The first order of business is borders and lands. Each of the factions besides the Outliners has already laid claim to a certain amount of land, and the borders of each nation must be firmly established. Furthermore, the Imperium at least is interested in expanding it's borders, and integrating new lands into the Imperium. If other factions share similar interests, the remaining lands will need to be divided according to resources, location, and size." The diplomat rolled a large map onto the table, containing information on where large settlements were located. Most cities of the new world were nestled in the ruins of the old world, although there were some exceptions. Sweden was crossed out, as the location had become uninhabitable.

@Gentlemanvaultboy@NightKnight

The siege started off an excellent success. Lacking a single unified defence force, the city was easy pickings for Viral's makeshift army, and it's defences crumbled quickly. Many happily joined Viral the moment they realised the extent of the attack. His army grew rapidly, although he would need to take some time to ascertain their allegiance before he began his grand conquest. Most devastating was Enki itself, the vast war machine unmatched in battle. A swift kick sent an armoued combat drone flying through a few buildings, a quick demonstration of his firepower annihilated a row of sentry turrets. He had yet to meet a proper challenge when explosions ripped the plaza around him to shreds, Enki's screen lighting up as it detected airborne hostiles.

It appeared that another player had arrived on the scene. These devices were ancient human war machines, a pathetic attempt at airborne combat from before the era of the Spiral Empire. They were crude, slow, and weak. Viral smiled inside of his cockpit, as he quickly located the origin point of the flying pests, a small army located a dozen km from the city limits. It appeared that some fool required a demonstration of the superiority of gunman technology. He shot into the air, landing precariously perched on top of a skyscraper, as he stretched both arms. The pests were turning around for another bombing run, readying a secondary payload. Both the Enki's shoulderplates opened up, as a swarm of homing missiles shot forth from them. Some of the bombers attempted to dodge, but the unexpected missile barrage swiftly locked onto and eliminated over 90% of their number. Burning wrecks rained from the sky like confetti, as Enki stood proudly atop the crumbling pillar of human civilisation. He took a moment to pose, knowing how excellently his mech's silhouette was framed by the explosions occuring behind him. Then, he moved on to the next order of business.

Enki soared through the air once more, landing in the street this time, and shot off in a sprint. A speed and acceleration that would make a race car do a double take, the Enki flipped over and through buildings, simply barelling through any resistance in his path. The mech popped suddenly into view of the Alliance patroll as he smashed through the face of a large office building, trailing debris and dus, before coming to a well-calculated halt. The fluidity of the mech's movements was impossible for a feat of even highly advanced technology, achieved only through the wonder of Spiral Power. And although Viral was unable to use the full power of Lord Genome's tools, this amount of combat strength was more than enough to deal with his enemies.

"Behold what happens to those fools who oppose Viral, and the Beastman Regime!" Viral loudly declared his victory, even as he raised his right arm. A rain of kunai the size of cars shot out from it, propelled at supersonic speeds as they sped for Mortarius and his men. Tanks were ripped in half, walls torn to shreds, mechs devastated. It was a rain of pure destruction, an excellent demonstration of the raw power of his Gunman, high-tech even by Beastman standards. If this paltry display of crude weaponry was all they had to offer, then Viral would show them the depths of their insolence in opposing him.

Mortainius

Mortainius was quite pleased with himself, ordering to bomb his enemies to oblivion. And it was working all fine and dandy until that mech started shooting them and they started dropping like flies. "Curses!" Exclaimed Mortainius. "We'll just have to do a land assault then! Alright all minions! Prepare to-" it was at that moment giant kunai started raining down on them, decimating the preliminary force. He then saw one coming right towards him! Mortainius immediately used his Rainbow Rod's Red Ray to shoot down the middle of the kunai, melting it in half just before impact, the two halves just narrowly missing his tank.

"Ok! Now THAT is just crossing the line! All minions! Prepare an all-out assault! Make the destruction of that damn mech your top priority!" "B-but sir!" His lieutenant chimed in. "That mech just decimated a huge chunk of our armored forces in just a single blow! What possible chance do we have against that kind of thing!?" Mortainius, undeterred, responded: "Do not worry my faithful lieutenant! I myself will personally lead the charge! No one crosses the Magnificent Major Mortainius without being punished properly! And with me at the helm, victory shall be assured! Besides, he's has to run out of giant knives eventually."

Mortainius strode his tank into position at the very front of his regiment, with the remainder of his tank and armor battalions behind him and the bulk of his infantry behind them. He shouted into his megaphone. "All right minions of the Alliance! We will show those Imperial douchbags whose boss! Let nothing stand in your way! CHARGE!" The entire regiment was barreling straight towards the city, an all-out attack on the mech's front.

There came a frantic knocking on the side of the hover-boats currently floating over what used to be the market square. The pilot looked out his viewport to see a red arremer, the sunlight glinting off the fresh, wet red on his shoulder. "Open up, I been shot." It screeched. Nodding quickly, the poor pilot opened up the bay doors. The demon nodded in thanks, then vanished around the side.

The guys sitting back their glanced up as the door began to open, reveling a red demon. They weren't surprised, there had been a guy like that hanging around Viral encampment in the lead up to this invasion. A few discerning souls wondered where he'd gotten that armor, and another few even more astute bandits wondered whether he had been that big before, but none of them expected to be attacked by someone the pilot had let in. At least until Firebrand breathed a tornado into the confined space, and by then it was too late to think about anything.

Firebrand gripped the sides of the door to keep from being pulled in as the vortex threw the men inside around like fall leaves, the rhythmic "THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP" of bodies hitting metal or colliding with other bodies music to his ears. Occasionally a man hit a wall and left a bright red splatter on the interior. Someone tried to take some control by desperately firing his weapon, sending bullets ricocheting around in the chaos. By the time it was all over the lucky ones were left groaning on the ground, too disoriented to move.

His demon appeared in the doorway as Firebrand picked his way among the bodies, making his way quickly to the cockpit door. He had no wound, but it was easy to find fresh blood in this hell. After the younger demon had told him about Viral's recruitment methods, coming up with this plan had been easy. Firebrand headbutted the door, knocking it open to catch the pilot halfway up. Firebrand was on him in a instant, shoving him back down into his seat and placing one claw across his neck. "Keep your hands on the controls if you want to live."

"Commander, there's a bunch of guys still alive back here." came his demons voice from the back.

"Toss them out, leave their gear." Firebrand called back, before turning his attention back to the pilot. "You can fly this contraption. Good. Shoot down the other hover boat and I'll let you fly it out of here, along with everything left in the back. Your commander seems occupied at the moment."

The pilot looked back back at the controls in his hands, weighed his loyalty to Viral against the love he felt for his throat, added in the profit he'd get from the cargo he'd be carrying away, subtracted his fear of Viral's retaliation, then added in the facts that he'd have his own hoverboat and that Viral's robot could not fly. He wheeled around and puttered off toward the other hover boat as the red arremer levered bodies out the back.

The other boat was rightfully confused when he rolled up behind them. They hailed, but only "Hey what-" came over the radio before he spun up the gatling lasers, the message devolving into harsh screams as the boat tried to wheel around to face him and bring its guns to bear. It never even managed to get a shot off as the lasers concentrated fire punched through the armor, cutting the boat to ribbons in moments and sending it plummeting the the ground where it was engulfed in a great explosion that shook the air. He looked over to Firebrand expectantly, and the demon grinned and him and took his fingers from his throat. "Good form human." He said, walking away. "Now off with you before your boss realizes what you've done."

With that the demons dropped out of the back and watched as the boat was thrown into high gear and flew away from the combat zone as quickly as possible. It was a satisfying sight, and without it around people might take the chance to slip away without fear of being hunted down from the air.

His satisfaction was short lived shots began to sound from below and began to soar up past him and his cohort. Troops on the ground had come out to survey the scene and take some revenge. He jerked his head upwards and the two ascended outside the range of their weaponry, then kept going for good measure.

"What about the robot, commander?" the red arremer asked, pointing off away from the city where Viral was occupied. He had a point. What he had just done was only a good start, but so long as that thing existed Viral was the next best thing to unstoppable in the eyes of the men he'd dominated. If it could be brought down then that would shake their faith to the core. It would perhaps even be a killing blow. The problem was that so long as it lived it was a rallying point, and as much experience as Firebrand had stripping men of their armor the machine could well be beyond his capabilities.

"We wait." He said, beating his wings to bring him high into the air before setting off toward the giant machine, his demon following loyally behind him. Fro up here he could see the entire battlefield, see the devastation wrought by the machines weaponry, and watched the line he had decimated reform and begin a heroic charge. He almost wanted to laugh. He pointed down at them. "And we depend on those brave fools to present us with an opportunity."

---

Everyone was finally here. Keith would look around, and see just who it was he was dealing with. Over to one side, he saw the outliners, led by Eto at the moment. He wasn't surprised that the Ethereal hadn't shown up, it was probably for the same reason Cyano had decided to send Keith in her place. To the other side, he saw the Goa'uld, and another person, a representative of the Imperium. Both of them looked quite powerful, and their ego was on full display. But, that was enough spying around. It was about time that Keith made his presence known. Out of a corner, in clear view of all those around, he would step out of the shadows. Behind him three others would follow, including an incredibly large man, wearing a blood red suit of armor. And, perhaps someone that Eto would recognize, given that she had seen him before.

Keith would take his seat wordlessly, giving a small nod to acknowledge that he had indeed heard the terms and agreed to them. After all, none of the people with him were carrying any weapons. Not that they needed them, but still. A small part of him tensed up as the one in red armor made his way across. He was waiting for some kind of outburst, but, fortunately none came. Most everyone would take their seat with no problem, and no doubt the meeting would continue. Keith would pull out a small clipboard with a sheet of paper on it. Terms Cyano had wanted discussed. They weren't anything too major, typical stuff. And, should he be called upon, he would bring them up. For now though he would wait. They didn't need to be brought up immediately after all.

Keith would glance back over to the shadows he had walked out of for a moment, before looking over at the red armored man, Agonious. While many of the people here did seem rather powerful, Keith was confident that if things got out of hand, that at the very least him and his would turn out fine. After all, he had brought an insurance policy along with him. Raising his hand, he would gesture for Agonious to come closer. He wanted the man to be close to him, in case hostilities broke out.

((Post made in collaboration with Wizardguy.))
The hoverboat shot through the streets, guns blazing as they mowed down anyone within sight. The land crews would recruit those that remained to their cause, but the fast-moving weapons platform had a more military goal. They would break down all heavy defences, and prevent a large group of enemies from rallying together. As long as the inhabitants were scattered and isolated, they would be easy to conquer, but a combined effort could make this city suddenly a very hard nut to crack. In order to ensure this didn't occur, the hoverboat was tasked with capturing several important strategic locations, first of which was a large guntower located to the east of the city. As they arrived people were scrambling to get inside, and the dual laser gattling gun made short work of them. Instantly the doors opened, and a wide variety of men and women (and beings of indeterminable gender) rushed out, weapons at the ready, including a confused but unquestioning Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Last to step out was the mighty form of Fluffles, Destroyer of Worlds. A sleek steel frame covered in armoured ceramite plates made for a mighty war machine. One of it's hands contained a special trans-dimensional warp device, which was used to summon circular sawblades from the vast emptyness of the multiverse and launch them at enemies. Placed delicately on top of the 2-meter death machine was a small come constructed from bulletproof glass and hardened with diamond fibers. Within sat the true body of Fluffles, a small white kitten with a wide grin, as it fired a round of sawblades into a nearby giant slug monster. It's other hand moved to rip off the bumper plate of a car, which it used as a shield. It was tasked with guarding the hoverboat, which it did with pleasure.

"........Hello there." A voice would ring out, from under Fluffles' feet, as the face of Ozo would appear, rising out of the ground like it was water. No doubt, the giant squid esque creature may shock the fluffiest of destroyers, but what he did next would be really either annoying, or terrifying. Opening his mouth, he begins to devour the mech from the bottom, up, his huge tongue reaching out, and wrapping around the mech, aiming to slow it, and prevent the Kitten Katastrophy from using his weapons of doom to turn Ozo into sushi. The tongue, and the thick saliva both doing their part to slow the cuddly crusader of evil.

Looking down, Fluffles took a moment to realize that his weapon of world domination was being eaten by what appeared to be the bastard child of a squid and a giant frog. Yeowling, he pulled at the controls of his mech suit, as a large sawblade appeared on his right arm. The tongue kept it stuck to his body with surprising strength, but slowly the mech suit's superior pysical strength began to make a difference. With a ripping sound, the sawblade sliced through the thick tongue, as the mech moved to jump back. Unfortunately, with everything below the knees now stuck in the horrific squid-frog's mouth, this ended up sending Fluffles tumbling onto his back, covered in thick transparent goo.

"Curse you, frog-man! You will rue the day that you faced FLUFFELS! The DESTROYER OF WORLDS!!!" With this statement of magnificence, Fluffles began wildfiring sawblades in the general direction of his legs, unable to actually look down due to the bulky construction of his armoured body. "I'll hit you eventually! You hear me you fat bastard!" Meanwhile the blades tore through pretty much anything in the general vicinity, causing those who had previously been staring, dumbstruck by the absurdity of this fierce battle, to rapidly evacuate the scene.

Seeing the fluffiest of villains begin their counter attack, Ozo knew he had to move, or be turned into fugu. Biting down on the mech's ankles, which by now would of been reduced to little more than metalic goo by his stomach's digestive might, Ozo vanished into the floor once again. Somewhere, someone began to play the Jaws theme, as Fluffles no doubt knew the fish had moved by the splashing sound he had made, although one bit of his mustache was severed by a sawblade, some blood spurting from the wound. "Oi, you know how hard it is to grow that?" Ozo asks, from pretty much just under the floor, the weak barrier between there, and the great river allowing his voice to pass though.

"I'll grow your FACE OFF!" not the greatest of comebacks, perhaps, but at this point an unholy rage coursed through the tiny kitten's veins. Realizing that it's feet had been destroyed it fought it's way to it's feet, using it's left arm for balance as it aimed the sawblade canon towards the ground. "Eat THIS!" With a triumphant meow, Fluffles launched a barrage of sawblades into the ground, certain he was about to vanquish his foe.

Letting out a surprised yelp, Ozo darted around as sawblades rained down from above, his mobility in the water better than what it was on land, but not great enough to avoid all the blades, one cutting into his side, a nasty wound appearing...but this gave Ozo an idea. Taking his hat, he gently rubbed it on his wound, before sending it floating up, the bloodied hat appearing though the floor. While he expected the fluffy fool to gloat over his victory, Ozo used his tongue to grab one of the blades fired, holding it as he began to spin around, and around with it, building up momentum as he did. Soon, he launched the blade, aiming to cleave off the saw arm in a single surprise attack, eliminating his greatest fear, that of trying to eat the mech, and getting torn open from the inside by a saw.

As the bloodied hat appears on the floor, Flufflels loudly declared his victory. If it hadn't been for the current melt-y condition of his feet, he would have danced the dance of joy. However, his joy was short-lived, and in his triumph he had let down his guard. One of his own sawblades shot out from the ground, and slammed into his arm. He yelped, as the force of impact caused him to lose balance, the blade stuck in the transdimensional sawblade summoning device. Sparks of energy and crackles of electricity lit up the arm as Fluffles began screaming at the top of it's teeny tiny lungs. Sawblades shot out at incredible high speed, launching in every direction as the recoil sent the mech suit stumbling and falling. Brown and blue, rusty and diamond-edged, sawblades of all shapes, sizes and colours rained down on the small area, ripping through walls and the ground alike. Fluffles had, of course, completely lost control of the situation, and the sawblade-vortex was about to reach critical sawblade mass. In short, it was going to explode.

"Shit shit shit shit shit!" Ozo yelps, as once again, he had to dance the dance of death, with sawblades still raining down. He watched as the sawblade device was about to pull a chiaotzu, and explode. Knowing that if he kept this open for much longer, he risked being shredded like a guitar rift, so he for a moment shut his porta, covering his ears, the barrier between the river and the normal world still thin, but not thin enough to allow matter though anymore. The downside, Ozo could no longer see what was going on, only hear, and this left him blind to what would be left once he opened the portal again, but he figured this was better than sawblade nukes, so he went with this route.

With a loud bang, the device went off, sawblades launching themselves all over the place. The mech itself was shredded, although the sturdier armoured dome on top was able to survive the explosion. it was launched off of the Mech, and many annoyed cat sounds could be heard as it bounced off of the pavement. Slowly it clambered out of the device, a stray sawblade landing near it's feet, and it drew itself up to it's full (albeit unimpressive) height. "Hear this, Frog-Squid! I have a very specific skillset! And I will find you! And I WILL kill you!" With these words of everlasting vengenace, he activates a tiny jetpack, launching off into the sky as he cackles manically.

Opening the barrier once he had heard the words of his new nemesis, Ozo emerged, looking around at the carnage his fight had wrought. Ozo was impressed, shocked, and slighty disgusted, disgusted due to how the sawblades most likely caught a few other creatures in the crossfire, or at least, shredded the slug monster who Fluffles had killed before he arrived. Looking at his fluffy foe as he escaped, Ozo let out a hearty laugh, before cringing, the laugh irritating the wound on his side. "You today, tiny fluffy thing, have been bested by Ozo the Great! Protector of the weak! Punisher of evil!" The squid-frog declares, before looking at the mangled remains of the mech, before looking around to see if anyone else was near by. Seeing no one was, as the saw-nuke-splosion had scared them off, Ozo picks up the remains of the mech, and devours them, before letting out a loud, echoing belch that could be heard for miles around. "Ooh. The power source added a bit of spice...." Ozo says, before his skin shifts from orange, to a metalic grey, his eyes switching from pale white, to a dark red. Ozo's right hand shifts, turning into a sawblade launcher. Ozo had aquired a new form, Ozo 5000. "Huh...interesting." Ozo exclaims, before, for the fun of it, firing a sawblade, which bounces off of the guard tower, and into the wreckage of the boat, making it explode, again. "......I wanted to use that....." Ozo says, face palming with his left hand.

Mithias "the vampire" followed beside Keith and Agonious. He didn't hear the part about not bringing weapons and had his two swords on him. Either that, or he didn't listen. Yellow eyes glared at the poor Malden Arus for starting early, but he said nothing and continued scanning the other guests with distrust. Eto, Baal... Mithias was needless to say disappointed in them. This peace meeting was already decidedly pointless. The fact it had been called by the group of aliens who's public motto was universal domination already made the agenda clear. This was still war, even if it was on paper. Mithias scoffed at Kaldor. Humans were always gonna be humans, trying to dominate everything.

He stayed close to Keith and the red armored hulk, hands in his pockets. Keith would be doing most of the talking.

Triviality of Formalities

---

There was a possibility that the events occurring just on screen were some of the most significant to happen at this very moment but only for this very moment. The future hasn't been written and not all was written from the past. Regardless, the proceedings on the screen were significant in that it would determine the outcome of many worlds. Although the reverb from this outcome would only echo for a considerably brief moment in time, it would impact Mandus for the rest of his life, most likely. Thus, the events had relevance and importance but only due to his own bias. It was a shame that Mandus found himself so far away at this moment.

It was probably too late to come to this realization but as Mandus watched the Outliner's crew sally forth from their vessel, he thought that sending the Ghoul might have been an error. Then again, it was an error that did not have a large margin of effect on what Mandus perceived as the future. Even if Eto had managed to rile up the other parties in attendance and even if they had united under one banner, the Outliners and their Alliance would clash in battle. That much was inevitable even with this diplomatic attempt at supposedly quelling hostilities. Considering the odds, Mandus believed even still the Outliners would triumph. He had seen the future and witnessed the best course for salvation. These other factions were kidding themselves in their rebellion.

The Imperium were nothing more than self-righteous fanatics. Mandus had done his homework, he knew that their leadership was entirely entrusted to their own and it was inevitable that conflict would arise with unrepresented races. The British colonies of America rebelled on a simple penny tax on tea due to that fact and that was a much smaller scale compared to what the Imperium were currently harboring.

The new players, the Goa'uld Star Empire, have been passive up to this point. In many ways, it is a surprise that they were even invited to the delegations. They were small and entirely dependent upon their own for their military strength, which was folly. Mandus was essentially a god in his world and yet he would fall to many according to several dossiers he had. The Goa'uld's pride and xenophobia was ultimately their greatest weakness.

Finally there were the missing players, or rather mostly missing. The Alliance of Conquerors. There was a joke being passed around the Outliners and it was a shame Mandus couldn't remember because even he had a chuckle at it. Over the past year, they had been thoroughly beaten by the Outliners and have been routed since their leadership fell.

After all the parties had arrived that were going to arrive, Mandus took a glance over his shoulder to covertly spy on the infamous leader. The Envisioning One. Their leader sat in the center of a circular control room on top of throne-like pedestal. The room was dim enough to cloud the area around where the Envisioning One sat so much so that you might have not even suspected someone to be there but there was... Mandus could feel it. It would have been nice to gauge his leader's reaction but in a way, Mandus could understand the desire for secrecy. He, himself, wore a ornate pig mask at all times, more for the sake of the other Oswald Mandus's that there may be.

Mandus turned back to watch the proceedings without comment. He felt the Envision One's eyes on his back for a brief moment as he turned, reminding him, however briefly, that he was in the presence of his superior.

---

It seemed their little ploy to have as many negotiators as possible in the room didn't disturb the organizing party too much, nor was the comment on the arrival of their leader really seem to spark any issues. Perhaps the desire for such a valuable intelligence had more worth than any of their lives? The executives of the Outliners surely saw it that way, they would rather be killed off than to leave their leader exposed. Zealous? Not entirely, they were a lot more frightened by the Envisioning One's wrath than these phonies. To bring into that mindset would truly be a testament of what the middle ground organization had in store.

"Ah, the Goa'Uld. As relevant as always."

She threw one of these shit eating grins with one of these overly sweet tones. To make matters even worse, she had actually sealed her eyes as she uttered those words, a step taken to induce rage to even the most patient of individuals. Eto wasn't going to hold back, they clearly displayed their capabilities by wiping the floor with the previous Conquerors, just as the same Conquerors had done to the Imperium beforehand. The way she saw it, they were the ones with the most intimidating baggage.

But that didn't prevent the Imperium from giving off this foul impression that they some how had some upper hand. Eto simply raised an eyebrow as he inquiry was quickly addressed, and the reply was as typical as they'd expect from the 'holier than thou' types the goodie-two-shoes empire was known for.

"Not worthy? You break my heart!"

She pressed her palm against her chest while adding ridicule to her tone.

"We even brought our own boss, because you know, we're negotiating something serious? And all we get is well ..."

She sluggishly gestured toward the representatives of the Imperium, as if they were mere pawns meant to insult the other groups that had actually made a legitimate effort to make this whole thing happen.

"... Whatever you blokes are. Given, they're a bit late, but the hype is real, fellas."

She winked, before the Speaker would set his hand on her's, indicating it was perhaps time to stop. She would chuckle before waving in agreement, considering he would be the voice of reason during the alien's absence. The details were being discussed and the main talking points exposed for the factions to engage with. Unfortunately for the Outliners, none really interested them, considering their unique means of establishing themselves in the planet.

"Thank you Sir Arus. We are pleased to be with all of you today to discuss these measures. However, we must be clear on one thing, the only currency that truly matters here is one we all seem to covet to a degree in which we all equally agree upon."

He'd close his hands together before fixing the newcomers that had arrived at the round table. Keith, and the massive brute Eto recognized all too well. Keith would also be recognized due to his services to the Outliners, notably to infiltrate the Conquerors, during their time in the Outliner clique. With that short pause meant to acknowledge the presence of the most antagonistic of the factions, he'd finish his claim.

"The Terminals. They appear to be equally divided upon our three factions. A small percentage falling to the Goa'Uld and around 7% still scattered in unknown areas in the world. We must discuss limitations to their usage and perhaps aim to reduce their numbers on all sides. The more there are, the more other, less reasonable entities may accumulate these volatile tools. Do we not agree on this point?"

The Speaker was truly a reasonable man, and one quite efficient at conveying ideals. Originally designed to spread propaganda and appease the masses, he was the best for diplomatic exchanges. Though his somewhat lizard-like look did leave some rather skeptical about him.

"Hah! You're Keith, right? I remember that guy behind you. So what's the deal? Conablum Labs is suddenly leading the Conquerors? I sense desperation ..."

She taunted them, all three representatives remained silent around here, although Tatara would be the only one to keep a perfect pokerface, while the others kept their head down. They didn't agree with her methods, but Eto was not going to let this occasion go by without making it clear the Outliners weren't going to be easy targets.

"And I suppose your massive tin can of a leader couldn't fit in a Terminal's portal, huh? I mean I can get why the Imperium are doing it, they're too batshit crazy to know what's right! But you guys ... I'm just going to assume this'll be another Satsuki reign, huh?"

She scoffed, a venomous smirk on her face. Rattling the other factions, making them violent and prone to hitting each other in the end. This could only help the Outliners in the end. This 'peace' thing was indeed but a farce in which Oswald, her direct colleague, made a fantastic analysis on. She was going to enjoy this as they all parroted expired ideas that simply delayed the inevitable end goal.

@Nightknight
It appeared the fools had not learned their lesson just let. Imperiously, Viral stared out over the small army of tanks and soldiers that made their charge towards the city limits. He had no time to deal with fools who would throw their lives away for their goal. He grinned, as the mech took on a stance. His voice rang out, magnified, to meet the army as they entered into cannon range. "To those of you who value their lives over their loyalties, all who join me will be allowed to live. Join the Beastman Empire, and know that when the age of man eclipses, you will be on the winning team. Or cling to your failing armies, and die with the rest." He took a moment to see whether his speech had any impact, before a number of tank shells slammed into his suit's armour. They could barely scratch the paint individually, but if a large mass of them hit him at once, that might cause damage. And repairs were hard to get by in this place. Looked like he'd have to end this quickly. Perhaps these fools would form an example for the many fools to come.

Crackling energy gathered in a bright red orb, hovering within the crescent blade on Enki's helmet. Bright red light illuminated his surroundings, as any energy measurement devices would explode with the sudden spike. An immensely powerful concentration of energy had formed there, the preparation for his most powerful attack "This is you final warning. All who fail to turn will be vaporised along with your feeble war machines." In but a moment the laser would be charged, and he would wipe out the entire armoured brigade in a single devastating blow. All would turn to dust before the might of his Gunman.

@Gentlemanvaultboy
Unfortunately for the two demons, their acts had not been noticed. And the rest of the Viral Army was glad to take care of the additional targets. As they sat atop this building, a portal opened near them, as a creature with the lower body of a snake and four arms spilled forth. Arcane energies flowed through the lower pair of hands, which were human in appearance. The top pair wielded a pair of scimitars, scales covering the hands and the fingers tipped with wicked claws. The yuan-ti hissed, as a crew of mercenary warriors in platemail wielding energy swords spilled from the portal's entrance, shouting an arabic-sounding battlecry as they moved into battle formation. One of them lifted up a longbow, firing an explosive arrow that barely missed it's mark, lighting up another roof as the others closed into melee.

The Yuan-Ti who had brought them here meanwhile hung back, ancient spells spilling from it's lips in a tongue dead to mortal races. It wove a song of binding, a powerful magic that called forth long tendrils from portals in the air to bind it's foes. They reached out, scaly limbs shooting forward and attempting to wrap around the pair of demons. Should they be bound, the mercenaries would make swift work of them.

"Perhaps it was too much to hope for." Firebrand said as he watched the machine charge up its attack. He would have to miss the finishing blow, however. A hole opened up in space and his enemies slithered out out. Loyalists had appeared. He supposed it had to happen sometime.

If the exploding arrow and the advancing men didn't make their decision for them the probing tendrils certainly did. The demons shared a look, turned, and threw themselves off the roof. The red arremer took flight as the tendrils shot after him, waving nimbly through the air as they shot after him. He dived and rolled and took neckbreak turns, managing to keep barely one step ahead of them but leaving him no time to counterattack.

Firebrand wished he was still small enough to fly like that. He was too big and too old, and the weight of his armor pressed down gravely on his skin. He would never be able to evade like that, not now. So where the younger demon had gone up, he gripped the wall and swung himself down. There would have been a shattering crash had the windows not been lost long ago, and Firebrand was inside the building.

Once upon a time this floor had been an office farm. The toppled remains a cubical walls lay scattered on the floor, barren desks and overturned chairs being the only remnant of what this place had been used for. Someone had come in and looted all the computers, but after that this place had been left almost alone. Someone would surly be living here if the elevators in this building still worked. Firebrand wasn't looking for any of that through. What he was looking for, thankfully, obvious even as he rolled into the room and broke into a run. They stuck out like trees in a field.

Behind him the tendrils snaked their way inside and shot after him. He thought about the fire in his gut, breathed in, and compressed it. He felt it grow hotter, more combustible, and as he ran and spit it at the farthest of the white columns that dominated this corporate landscape. The flame, his brilliant blue Buster, shot like an arrow across the room and slammed into his target with explosive force. The column was obliterated, what wasn't blown to bits reduced to molten slag. He fired again and another column met its end. He looked around the room and fired again, again, again, never stopping even for a moment as his shots flew true. He could feel the tendrils at his back aching for him, gaining ground, felt their touch on the back of his wings. Without breaking stride he adjusted his course, ducked underneath one of the derelict desks, heaved upward, and heard a satisfying crunch as the tendril threw the obstacle off to continue their pursuit. That had at least bought him time.

Cracks where already beginning to form in the roof as he took out the last of the structural supports. He dove, twisted in the air, and fired three or four more busters into the roof for good measure. He saw back into the room he'd sprinted across, saw the tendrils still reaching for him, then gave his wings a mighty beat. This time there was a satisfying shattering crash as he burst through the opposite side window and back into the sun.

He rose up over the side of the building behind the enemy, raining busters down on them as the roof destabilized.

Mortainius

Mortainius heard what the voice said and saw the mech's head glowing red and knew that it wasn't good. After all, glowy red stuff was always bad! While Mortainius did not fear giant lasers, he did not want his army to be vaporized. It then occurred to Mortainius that he may not be able to stop the firing process, but he COULD change it's direction. Mortainius attempts to fire a purple ray at the mech's feet, turning parts of it into non-conductive concrete, which would destabilize its footing causing it to slip, forcing the beam to fire in a different direction, or at the very least delay it. Unfortunately, fortune was not in Mortainius's favor, as the ray backfired and turned HIS body into concrete!

Fortunately, Mortainius could still aim his staff at the mech, though the fact that it backfired meant he could probably only get one more shot off before the mech's laser was finished charging. He would still stick to the plan of destabilizing the feet, but this time he would attempt to manifest the yellow ray. "Rainbow Rod!" He shouted. "Now is NOT the time to backfire!" And it backfired. The Rod released a powerful EMP that would disable all electronics nearby. This would include the Mech assuming it was affected by such things, but unfortunately it would also affect him and the rest of his army, leaving them little more than sitting ducks just waiting to be vaporized. And on top of that, the Rainbow Rod would be disabled for about a minute or two meaning he won't be able to defend himself.

"Welp." Proclaimed Mortainius. "This is gonna suck!"

Looking over at Drago, it was easy to tell that Qetesh was not pleased with the command that he had dared to try and give her. "Primitive brute," she snapped as she glared across the meeting room at him. "You would dare to speak to a god in such a manner? I will not still my tongue simply because it offends your unrefined sensibilities." That said, she fell silent for the lack of having anything else to say at the moment.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Ba'al added with a smug grin of his own as he relaxed in his seat. "She is as much a ruler of the Empire as I am, and I doubt I could silence her even if I wanted to." It was nice to have an external foe such as this, someone who could focus his wifes energies into combating. Rather than, well, himself.

With that said though it didn't take long for the meeting itself to begin, some Imperium diplomat calling the whole thing to order so they negotiations could begin in earnest. At the same time some other guys showed up, punctually late as if that would impress people at all. Which Ba'al wasn't, and he did his best to ignore the Outliners and their volatile representatives. As best he could anyway.

Qetesh was a bit less successful in that. "Hmph, what an intriguing little creature," she noted aloud. "I'm sure Nirrti would love to get her hands on one for some of her experiments." Did Eto really think that she could insult or threaten a Goa'uld without repercussions? As if.

Nonetheless, the two of them paid attention to the conversation as well, and the Outliners initial suggestions. It was interesting, though there were several other things that would need to be handled at the same time. "The Goa'uld Star Empire will be claiming possession of the Southern Hemisphere of Arcadia," Ba'al said before glancing across the table to the Outliners. "We would also like to discuss access to orbit as well as the rest of the Solar System." He was well aware of the space based nature they had, and if he could counter that then so much the better.

That said, he then addressed the initial proposal. "While your proposal may have merit, how do you plan to enforce any sorts of limitations on the usage of the Terminals, much less come up with effective limitations on them in the first place? I will certainly not be allowing foreign oversight of the usage of the resources within my territory."

@thewizardguy@Savato@Absolis@Pirouette@Wraithblade6

@Flamelord@Savato@Absolis@Pirouette@Wraithblade6

Great. The Alliance had arrived. At least the representatives looked fairly normal, other than the giant red dude. Malden Arus sighed as the Outliners representative felt the need to poke fun at the others. Luckily there were no violent repercussions, and the discussion remained relatively civil. His face belied none of the fear he felt wrenching at his gut as he once more spoke up, now specifically addressing the Speaker, in the vain hope that ignoring Eto would cause her to cease existing. "The terminals are indeed an important strategic asset, but the imperium considers interactions on this world to bear priority for the time being. The Terminals do not appear to be responsible or directly connected to the anomaly bringing individuals to Arcadia, and therefore bear no direct threat. While certainly they are a matter that must be discussed, the acquisition of land is the more important subject of the moment." Speaking fluently and confidently, Malden quickly moved on the the next person, bearing the slight irrational fear that the Speaker was reading his mind as the strange alien watched him.

The Goa'Uld statement was of course ridiculous. They had effectively called dibs on half the planet, including all Imperium lands, as well as all other planets in the system. But Manus suppressed his disgust, speaking with the same confident and friendly demeanor that he had previously employed. "The Goa'Uld Empire will be granted appropriate right to land, but all factions must be granted land according to their requirements and desires. For the moment, the other planets in the system are not under discussion. Expansion will be mostly limited to Arcadia. As normally, space-faring vessels may be placed in geosynchronous orbit above controlled lands, or unclaimed lands. Any vessels may be left in deep space, outside of firing range of the planet." The agreements on space vessel location had never been factually stated, but most factions had realised that leaving a warship hovering over another faction's land was not a gesture of peace.

"As for the lands allotted to the Goa'Uld Empire, the Imperium suggests the entire area known by the locals as Asia be granted to them." Malden gestured, and a line appeared automatically on the holographic world map, encircling the area in question. "Discussions may be opened on the ownership of the rest of Russia, and other adjacent areas." Again circles would appear on the map around the areas in question, a difference in colour indicating the 'debatable' areas. "Furthermore, later in today's meeting, a treaty will be proposed with regards to space colonisation. All further questions and statements on the subject will have to wait until that time." Malden nodded respectfully at both Goa'Uld representatives, hoping his statements had in no way offended them. Unlike Kaldor, he was a man of diplomacy and reason, and so no value in provoking the xenos.

"Another important matter for discussion is the border between the Alliance of Conquerors and the Imperium." Malden turned now towards Keith, and the rest of the Alliance party. "While in times of war the border was the frontline, it's important to establish a proper border, and border treaty, now that we are at peace." Malden did his best to pass the remarkable optimism of such a statement off as merely stating the obvious. "The Imperium initially suggests this line be drawn. You will receive these cities, whereas this area will fall within Imperial territory." A line appeared on the map, dividing Imperial and Alliance lands. It was mildly unfair towards the Alliance, giving the Imperium slightly more lands and cities, most notably the large city of Winnipeg. But such things exist to be debated over. "This is important in order to allow for trade, solidify each nation's location, and to eliminate the remarkable amount of raiders and criminals who have made this area their home."