Demetri Rodnem's Story

=The Streets of every sector in the ring is filled with a sense of nationalist pride. Over every street pole hangs flags symbolizing the Stratian Republic, on the sides of buildings were posters heroically depicting the Stratian soldiers, and other posters vilifying their enemies the A.N.G. A soft melodic tune is heard be broadcasted over the cities as intercoms that are scattered across the ring are switched on. A young woman informs the citizens to turn their televisions on to a specific channel, or to standby via intercom while the Stratian President Demetri Rodnem addresses the nation. Patrons young and old can be seen gathering around televisions, whether they are their own or ones out in public. On the television a man at a podium tells those at the televised location to rise for the President. The Stratian National Anthem plays as the president, dressed in a mix of formal civilian and military attire walks up on stage. When the music stops he begins to speak=

=A few heads turn as the doors swing open and witness the entrance of Commander Lorian and her subordinate S1C Soren.=
“Sarah Lorian, CO of the Tactical Piercer Squadron; and Soldier First Class Trent Soren, It’s an honour, President.”

=General Minos turns to President Rodnem and elaborates more on her introduction=

Mr President, Commander Lorian, was one of our finest...

=With a simple raise of the hand to gesturing the general that he didn't need to continue the President interrupts General Minos=




Thank you, but I am aware of who Commander Lorian is, I have had the privilege of decorating her with two of her awards personally; the Vicento's Halo, and the Cross Bolt of Prestige if I remember right? No matter, it goes without saying your reputation precedes you Ms. Lorian, please have a seat.

=The panel allowed for Commander Lorian and S1C Soren to study the footage, that was filmed by (fmr) Major Garlon, his soldiers, and Mia Flay observing the eniknights agile performance as well as the never before seen chi attacks=

“Though my analysis is only a rough and preliminary estimate, even if taken on a conservative level, the performance of those ‘unique’ units are terrifying. Their maneuverability, acceleration, speed, firepower and defenses are well beyond anything I’ve ever seen, that said, and given the collection of personnel present; am I wrong in assuming that this meeting is indicative of a counter response team to this unprecedented threat?” ”

=President Rodnem nodded= Precisely.

=Petras voice raises up mostly directed toward Commander Lorian= Do we even know who the new enemy's leaders are?....

=President Rodnem speaks up=
Allow for our next guest to explain these matters as her presence here today is vital for us to maintain the upper hand in the peoples struggle. =With the push of a button the president turns on the intercom and speaks into it= bring her in. "Yes Mr. President." =came the brief response back from the intercom=

=The automated doors swing open once more, and as the figure steps further Azmeen Seriph's eyes widen as the Artomidian girl Nia Tavian establishes her presence=

You?! =he more or less said to himself though the word was audible enough to be heard.=

=Azmeen remembers the woman well, she was the artomidian girl huddled in a war-torn church with two of her siblings to whom they were ordered to execute during the invasion of Arkacello. The woman who invoked Azmeen's humiliation by causing their former comrade Vage Leer to commit the act of treason by attacking him and allowing her and her siblings to escape. Now the woman is adorned in a Stratian dress uniform, similar to Petra, baring no rank except a simple gold letter 'A' upon her chest. The woman sets a briefcase down upon the table, then proceeds to snap her heels together and administers a salute=
Agent Suna Dae, reporting on behalf of the S.I.A., Mr. President.

=President Rodnem provides her with a welcoming gesture= You have the floor Agent Dae.

Thank you Mr. President =A silent pause fills the room as the woman who refers to herself as Agent Dae surveys her audience, her glance eventually locking in on Captain Seriph who appears to be burning a hole through her with his glare=
I see you have really climbed up the chain of command the last I seen you Mr. Seriph..

=Holding in his emotions at the sight at her he speaks up since she has openly addressed him=

Care to fill me in a little on why you are here and not with that treasonous dog that got you out of Arkacello, Artomidian?

Ah yes, I think that would be wise since it will help me explain exactly why we are all here. =Agent Dae looks to the others=
You are all perhaps wondering why he referred to me as an Artomidian and why he claims I have associated myself with treasonous dogs. In brief we ran into one another during the aftermath of Arkacello. At least that's what he thinks.

I remember your face quite well. =commented Seriph=

Not mine, You remember Nia Tavian's face Mr. Seriph, eldest daughter to a highly influential Artomidian senator whom of which I am currently borrowing. Allow me to elaborate, while Mr. Seriph is correct that I associate myself with treasonous dogs, I am not the person he thinks I am, nor have we ever actually met. I am what you call an identity thief master, while the invasion of Arkacello was going on I was currently sifting through the corpses and scanning the survivors of a believable host identity to acquire so that and I could infiltrate Holygrounds unnoticed, as I was doing so I heard shouting in a church. There I seen Mr. Seriph, a sniper, and the now infamous former soldier Leer exchanging words and then shots over the lives of two kids and a young woman identified as a Ms. Nia Tavian. The woman, kids, and Leer managed to escape. I took on the disguise of an Artomidian soldier and followed the small convoy which made a brief stop to Portston.

There I was able to isolate my host from the others, terminate her, and take on her identity, upon studying her belongings I have seen I have hit a lottery by discovering she was the eldest daughter of a highly influential Artomidain Senator that perished during the invasion, I used this to my advantage.
By assuming the identity of a senators daughter I was able to successfully infiltrate the security at Holygrounds where I was finally able to then assume a handful of other identities and commence my operations in one the A.N.G.'s highest secret weapons compounds as well as utilize my strengths as this rather useful role to manipulate certain strings in the ANG government by pleading final wishes of a perished father, not to mention set the recent defector soldier Leer as a scapegoat for events that will later transpire.

=Azmeen sneers under his breath to know that Leer is still alive and by the sounds of things doing fairly better than what he had hoped, still though the details of Suna Dae's true identity and the fact that her espionage is designed to work against the traitor and the A.N.G. as a whole brings his blood down from boiling to luke warm=

=General Minos then speaks up to move the agents back story to the main details=
While this is all very impressive Agent Dae, what is your motive for the infiltration the A.N.G.s weapons compound, I could only assume it has to do with the mecha we witnessed at Sulta?






Indeed General, though they are not mecha, but armors. =Agent Dae opens her brief case and pulls out and gently sets down Vai's enicrystal on the table in front of General Minos who then hands it carefully to Comander Lorian=
Take care not to damage or lose this, its a loaner from the reverse engineering team. What you are seeing here is something truly revolutionary, even to Stratian tech standards, and coming from the conservatively theistic Artomidian National Government, it is quite a bold and profound feat in Artomidian technology. Because of this, their weapons development branch stuck out like a sore thumb for our espionage department, and so we he monitoring them for quite some time now. That branch, the ones that have created this crystal that is going around, has recently acquired a new alias called A.N.G.E.L. which you all should familiarize yourselves with diligently since they are the ones that upturned your last battle. A.N.G.E.L. being an acronym for Artomidian National Government's Eniknight Legion

=Agent Dae allowed for the others to make their observations and get a word in before she continues=

Trent awkwardly shuffled aside at the arrival of Ms. Dae, allowing her the opportunity to speak across the table. A lot of things were going over his head, and he inwardly grimaced at how callously the Identity thief referred to her ‘host’ persona. The idea that she’d murdered a civilian without remorse, and then utilised her face to-… It just didn’t sit right with him. Still, war wasn’t pretty, and no doubt such dark actions occurred on both sides. Personally, he would’ve preferred being ignorant to such things. That probably explained why he’d always be a soldier rather than anything more.

Sarah’s expression did little to show her feelings on the matter, examining Suna with marked interest and scrutiny as she listened to the exchange. Though she didn’t approve of the methods, she couldn’t deny the results; and would simply have to accept the reality that these were the times they lived in. Still, as a tactician she’d probably never be all too friendly towards Suna. Fair and honourable combat were her forte – Sabotage and espionage were the side of the battle she wanted no real part in.

Wordlessly, she took the crystal from General Minos, examining it carefully, but unable to derive much without the proper equipment. This simple little thing was responsible for creating those combat suits? The prospect seemed ludicrous, but here it was in her hands. Carefully, she handed the piece back to Suna, before speaking. “So the combat suits in the last battle, they’re known as Eniknights then?” She looked to Suna for the simple clarification, before turning to address the President and General. “If at all possible, I’d like to lend my expertise to the engineering department. I have a marked interest in this project.” Still stern in her expression, her curiosity in these devices were peaked. If this was to be the future of combat, she’d need every bit of understanding to better fulfill her role.

Argyle slammed his face against the screen of the two way feed at the site of the object "Hold the phone! I recognize that little bobble!! Don't bullshit me! You bastards know perfectly well what that is! You lot shoved one in my smaaall intestiiiines!! ~Zaaap~ ArrRRdgggGGGhhhHHrRRRedVdfbggBnhnhgleeeek!!!". "Who told you to speak freak!?" One of the labcoats barked at Argyle holding the remote to his collar down on high causing Argyle to convulse and foam at the mouth still smiling all the while as the second labcoat wrestled the remote from the first releasing the switch. after some bickering between the two the first had to leave the room. After catching his breath from the electricution Argyle put his forehead to the screen again "So sorry about that. It's just the effect I have on people hehehehehe!". The second labcoat pushed his glasses up his nose "On that matter I would like to move this on to the reason he's here so I can move him into your care".

Horatio remained silent for longer than he had expected, mostly due to the fact that no matter what thought popped into his head, it was destroyed by either the new evidence or the fact that there was simply nothing to say. Out of the entire room, he was easily the least educated in any other field that wasn't military tactics: after all, he had been a simpleton before, a farmer that had never thought his business would become in any way violent. The words that would be thrown around, or the knowledge instantly assumed by the folks easily went over his head, and for most of the time he gave the entire room a blank stare. But enough of the generalities; back to the plot.

Jorge watched as a lady entered the room, a blank yet confused look in his eyes. He had no recollection of her face, nor anything about her that stood out - yet Seriph reacted as if his former Lt had come back from the grave to give him another disciplinary action. She introduced herself as an Agent named Dae, and again Garlon knew nothing of her, and very little of her program she gave afterwards, the S.I.A - which Garlon assumed to be the Stratian Intelligence Agency. She then addressed Seriph directly, to which he retaliated with very harsh accusations. Yet the agent seemed unfazed by the terms, and briefly explained Seriph's outburst; she was a face stealer, one that had stolen the face of an important Artomidian girl.

The rest of her words blurred for a while as Garlon became hesitant of the agent; while he knew the value of such types of people, the idea of face stealers left him slightly squeamish. To Garlon, a man's identity was his own, and nobody elses - yet here was a lady that had deliberately stolen a girls face, murdered her, and posed as her to extract information. The whole idea left him uneasy, that somebody would go to such lengths to extract information. Nothing about her settled with Garlon, even as Minos finally interrupted to get the agent back onto task with her debrief. Her revelation, however, was not exactly what he had hoped for; to start, she gave a piece of information that Garlon had already hinted at knowing, as Flay had mentioned that the robots had people within them. What shocked Garlon was the crystal in which the armor came within. It was beautiful, yet Garlon dare not touch it in the slightest; while not a superstitious man, he did not trust himself with something so foreign and unknown.

Ignoring a lot of the espionage details in which she continued to go into - again, face stealing still unsettled him - Horatio's focus slowly shifted from the crystal to his own robotic hand, watching it clench. Had technology progressed so far now that little fragile crystals held the power to destroy nations? Before, it had always seemed unthinkable; even his own arm had been risky when they rewired his nerves. They had no idea if the nerve endings would sync correctly with the wires and electricity, and no amount of calculations would have been able to tell them that. Nevertheless, here he was with two working arms, in the presence of a childhood hero and a foreign destroyer. There was only one thought that came to mind, yet he still refused to look up towards the rest even as everybody continued talking and conversing about other ideas. Eventually, that thought was formed into words.

How can we combat that which is highly concealable, easily applied, and horribly destructive?

His tone was soft; instead of being an actual question, Garlon was really speaking his mind without realizing it.

::Petra would turn his head to Garlon:: As powerful these armors are..everything has a weakness::he would then point to his cybernetic hand to the combat footage::..if the wings are damage i believe it would keep them grounded if not crippled....the neck and a well place hit on the head....A EMP might do some funny things...but in the long run that would hurt us and might kill me..::speaking about dieing like he really did not care if he lived or die::it would weaken our forces or damage the ring even more...tactical nukes are out of the questions because radiation makes everything usless...::he would turn to the Lady wearing someone elses face believeing they met somewhere before::...nice skill...miss suna i believe...::he did how ever grew tired of the of the man on the screen ranting away but chosen to ignore him::.....i would like to sign up as a test pilot for the prototype...if i die no one here would mourn my death..and i am sure another MDS would take my place..::his eye would flash for a set::...other than this...i am more than ready or capable to do my job now...when do we begin?

Horatio was impressed by the man's analysis of the robotic soldiers; granted, if he wasn't in his current predicament that had altered his state of mind for the day, he may have been able to more clearly see the robotic suits. The Agent then continued with her debrief, explaining that it had been Splietzer that had been the one to get the A.N.G.E.L program up and running, the name instantly ringing a bell for Horatio: Splietzer had been that scientist who made the phenominal breakthroughs in robotics, which lead to the development of his arm. He looked down at his cybernetic arm and tensed it slightly in concern. So the Artomidians had a Stratian tech prodigy on their side - that seriously placed a few thorns into the Stratian offense, and this was even before a battle was fought again. How much would Splietzer's son know about the Stratian military?

Horatio refocused himself back into the conversation, only missing a few words of the debrief and easily piecing together that which he had missed: Leer with the Artomidians, Agent Dae finding out that the DNA coding was tightly interwoven with the suit resulting in blood discoloration and transformation. She finally got to the verdict of her debrief, stating that they were recreating the suits into three categories, and that was when Horatio perked up considerably; a tactical advantage, that was something he wanted to hear. The first suit on screen was apparently for the military, and wasn't the greatest in any way shape or form. Apparently it was simply for the common grunt, so that the Stratians could get the jump on the infantry.

The next two were where the intrigue began: The Militon variant would be almost on par with the 'eniknights', an exoskeleton to combat theirs. It seemed to be best for tanking damage, which was always a plus - yet something about it didn't sit right with Garlon. It was then that the Iscariot model was shown and explained that Horatio studied intently: it was to be stronger than the eniknights of the Artomidians, yet also more volatile. Dae also explained why Argyle - that insane man on the TV - and Petra were here, as they were to be the test subjects for each of the models. With that, Dae finished her debrief, and left the room in silence.

Rodnem then piped up to speak of the greater incentive given to the I-Varient pilots, and then turned to Garlon. He resisted the urge to salute the man again as Minos turned to him and gave him his orders: he and his Ghost platoon were to be reassigned to be pilots for these exoskeletons. His eyes widened as Minos continued, stating that he would get to choose which armor set he personally would wish to utilize, along with Seriph and two others that he could personally pick. Horatio descended into silence as Rodnem took the lead once again and spoke to Lorain - however, he heard neither of them as he decided. He didn't even look as Seriph to question him on what his decision would be. The choice was his and his alone: would he play it safe and go with the military unit? No, it wasn't even worth suggesting: Garlon had a feeling that his cybernetic arm could probably take one of those things out. The next safest was the Militon Varient: a tanking unit that was on par with the eniknights. But did he even want to play it safe? Garlon mulled over the Iscariot some more, the option enticing yet somewhat nerve-wracking. How dangerous could those things be to their user?

After a bit of silence, Garlon stood to adress his superior. General Minos, sir, I've come to decision. A pause, Garlon gave a sideways glance at Seriph before speaking. If Seriph is in agreement, I would like to give the right to Technical Sergeant Vincent Cairo and Soldier Aster Rei Elionsvie. The pause returned before he gave his final statement. For my personal decision, I would like to be a candidate for the Iscariot Varient armors, sir. Horatio stared straight ahead as he spoke, and left another pause afterwards.

::memory spikes would flood Petra mind as he heard his name for the 1st time in years.things and faces that he could not make out some he could like a young girl about the age of 12 to 14 years old with long soft white hair,then a part where he was on another battle feild with a old friend in another uniform before a hail of gunfire tore into him::...that is not not my name like that is not your face. i am not a Artomidians or do i come for the cold north crater..:: a bug in his programming as tidal wave of angery being held back with a lot of self control.yet non could be heard in his voice:: due remember i am called MDS Grim:::his eye would flash as he turn his head to his new capt::if the armor is as dangerous as they say would it be logical to have the chain of command be tainted...you might lose more than rank if you do go off the deep::nods to Argyle::that could be your future..:: never seem to amaze him how some people would just jump for rank in these times.this reason he was glad that most MDS never had rank.it was easy and simpler to do his job.another boon was that he could legally tell any rank but for the top brass to not confuse their rank for his mission authority ::...::Petra would remove a small black box and place it on the table and slowly slide it over to General Minos:: i was order to give this to you before i leave....in case i do go out of control for any reason ..this box will fry any cybernetics that would keep me alive....so if this armor is that dangerous...i see why they would have a fail safe now and what my mission is.....::following his protocols he would turn and head back to his spot in the corner and waited to be dismiss so he can go get this armor::....::this was illogical that they was throwing the freak word around then now begging to become that freak..he would guess they would become a family of freaks:::...::he wounder what if any mutations might happen with his cybernetics::..........::he would remain silent till spoken to::

Trent listened and watched the presentation in genuine interest, taking in what he could about the programs, their capabilities and potential side effects. They all seemed to be on a continuum, and the more one seemed to give up, the more power they’d have access to. A dangerous prospect, and no doubt many would be tempted by the perks of the Iscariot variant. Still, he wasn’t deaf. Accelerated mutation and ‘slight’ physical abnormalities, along with added incentive for soldiers willing to sign up for that particular program made it all too clear that the deficits could be quite life changing. He wasn’t sure he could commit to that.

For a brief moment, he looked to Sarah. As his commanding officer, he didn’t feel right to make a decision without her express permission. Still, she seemed to be in just as deep a thought as his own, perhaps about her own decision she was going to make. Turning back to the table, Trent looked as Garlon and Seriph declared their intent to inherit an Iscariot model. Clearly, they had no fear of the repercussions, and in some respects, Trent found that respectable – if a little foolhardy. Still, people didn’t get to move up the ranks without taking a few calculated risks. Trent himself was never really a risk taker. He tended to stick with what he knew and who he knew, and didn’t exactly mind not having a position of power. Let him take things at his own pace and follow the example set by those more talented than he was.

That said, when the gazes turned towards him, he froze up slightly, realising they intended to hear his decision now. He really intended to ask Amelia what she had planned before coming to any sort of decision, so maybe he’d just ask to-

“Trent.” Sarah spoke somewhat sharply, drawing his attention to her as he looked down to where she was sitting.

“This is a great honour the president is giving you, and you’ve already proven your capability numerous times.” She paused again, before turning slightly to look at him. Her expression wasn’t the stern one he was used to, but simply earnest. “Trust your own judgement.”

“Sir,” Trent swallowed once, looking back to the president and company before saluting. “I would be grateful for the opportunity to be assigned to the Militon company.”

He remained at attention for a few more moments, wondering just why he’d decided to go with the Militon group. Sarah always told him that a tactician’s greatest strength was their intuition, and for some reason, he felt his stomach turn when they referred to the Iscariot model. He hoped it was just empty feelings, for both Horatio and Azmeen’s sake.
“With that said, I believe I will work to oversee Trent and the rest of the Militon project.” Sarah sat up, collecting up her files and also giving a brief salute. “Given the extent of Senior Soldier Flay’s injuries, I’d also like to see her assigned to my unit.”

Whatever the President’s response, he didn’t get much opportunity to reply as the doors burst open, Flay herself storming through amongst bandages and an IV drip, grinning to the extent that she’d even give Argyle a run for his money. Sarah and Trent’s face said it all as they looked at her in total surprise, but Sarah was the first to recover, quickly striding forward to meet Flay before-

“Iscariot, right?” Sarah froze as Mia spoke, eying her directly before looking past her CO to the president. “That’s the group making the model that’s said to be stronger than those bastards?”

Sarah glared at Flay, but the braggart ace could not be silenced, pushing past slightly and moving up to the table, slamming her hand down enough to rattle the few cups about.

“Tell them to bow, ‘cuz they’re going to have the pleasure of helping the greatest pilot who ever lived ascend to a whole new level of perfectionism!”

To the side, Trent brought his hand to his face in embarrassment before moving up to pull Flay away, apologising profusely to the president for her language and insubordination. Sarah simply remained quiet, looking over to Flay and then the president, her eyes narrowed. She could only hope that Flay’s outburst deemed her unfit to join the Iscariot program.