Artyom 'Zion' Hunt's Story

Zion peeled back his mask and looked out across the ruins of the blackzone, he had jumped the barriers stopping entry, literally, he entered the location to find anyone he could and bring back anything of importance to a group of survivors “well i doubt there’s much to fight accept the few ballsy thugs and those psycho bastards who did this”

He walked through the rubble filled streets, his telekinetic abilities allowing him to easily pass by and over the collapsed structures and hills of rubble, he put the mask back on and fetched from the pouch on his belt, thirteen of the slates of adamantium and threw them into the air, and in a staggered quite random pattern they began to rotate around him slowly.

The young man would stop hearing movement and then a voice in one of the nearby buildings, in such an environment Zion would react in a defence way drawing the rest of the thirty nine slates from their carry pouch they’d link and slide together into a singular shield hovering close to the ESPer’s form.

“OI!” Zion cupped his gloved hands around his mouth and yelled “WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT HERE?” He waited for a response the shield floating about aimlessly keeping an angled flat surface in all directions during its rotations. There wasn’t much need for somatic movements for this to happen, Artyom keeping his arms crossed, standing in the shadow of a flipped truck.

It was dark in the room he occupied, but as Lance's eyes adjusted to the setting, he could make out some key intricacies. A coffee mug lay on it's side on a wooden table, cracked but not broken. Most chairs were toppled over, as if the occupants had left in a hurry. There were even papers scattered around everywhere, a couple marked with dirty footprints. Not much was left in here apart from a singular safe tucked away in the corner of the room, open and empty. Whoever had been in here had taken their important belongings, it seemed.

Judging from the description of the area he's warped into, it was probably money that lived in that safe for a long time.

"How long till we're set for another Transicom set-up?" Lance asked Dr. Burkton.

"Well, given that you used the last one on a simple bucket, it should actually cool down a lot quicker than it typically does."

Lance's eyes widened slightly. That was news to him. "Really?"

"Yeah. You're looking at an hour, maybe two tops. What you should be worried about is whether or not I'm actually going to send anything to you ever again."

Lance laughed...and then froze as a young, male voice penetrated the silence of the area.

“OI! “WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT HERE?”

Aaaah...christ...Lance kicked himself inwardly for carrying on as loud as he had. So much for inconspicuous...

Burkton seemed to notice the change in atmosphere. "Everything okay over there? Your laughter cut short."

"I hope so. Someone else is here," Lance whispered as he neared a window, slightly tensed, "I'll get back to ya."

"You better."

Lance kept his back to the wall as he edged his face out, making no sudden movement so as not to suggest an aggressive strike on the young man dressed in black. Like...everything black. From the pants and trench coat to the leathery gloves and polished boots. He held an intense aura of power around himself...or maybe that was due to his makeshift shield which he was just too far away to inspect closer. However, it seemed to be moving as if it were alive.

Thank God it was a shield and not a sword...

"Looking for someone!" he called back, keeping himself vague for obvious reasons. He didn't know this stranger. For all he knew, this could be a espionage agent from Kanwar's enemies. Draco did dress in black, now that his memory recalled. "What about you?"

He wondered if this individual had just stumbled onto the scene like he had or if he was a local around these parts. If the latter was true, maybe he could get a little more information about what had caused this magnitude of destruction. He just hoped that the Shadow Legion hadn't arrived here first...

Zion glanced about, and back to the stranger in the window, the slates disconnected from one another and quickly stacked back up and returned to his belt pouch. If anyone wanted to shoot him, now would be the time, most would think.

“Looking about, was trying to do some favours for the folks who lost their homes, but the city is a ghost town to my knowledge” he lightly shrugged to himself and approached the building setting his foot onto the wall and then firmly pressing his boot against the wall, keeping the one foot there he’d look up at the window and then at his foot. “You don’t mind me joining you up there?”

Zion didn’t really wait for an answer and in the fashion of showing off, he set his other foot upon the stone and began to walk up the walk, stopping about halfway up to the window, he yawns and stands there looking up at the window waiting for a response.

“If you’re looking for someone, i could help, if you want my help that is” he shrugs arms crossed and his coat hanging down towards gravity.

A ghost town, eh? Lance wasn't sure if he liked the sound of that. It was considerably harder to find people in a ghost town where no people existed. Or maybe it was easier due to the lack of people. Regardless, he was starting to doubt Kanwar's source more and more with each passing moment.

“You don’t mind me joining you up there?”

"Well actually, I don't know you very well and you seem to possess a floating shield of some sort, so...oh. Nope, you're just gonna make stairs out of rubble and walk up here then? Alright, cool," Lance crossed his arms as the man got closer, noticing his well-groomed brown hair and smooth eyes staring up at him, "Y'know, part of a courtesy is allowing the other the opportunity to say no."

His words were more out of light heart than genuine seriousness. If he wanted to kill him, he would've tried already. Lance had left plenty of opportunities for him to strike. But just because he'd left himself "open" doesn't mean this was a person to trust with his personal business right off the bat.

So he said, "At the moment, I'm doubting my source, since everyone seems to have...left." He wasn't sure how to say there were probably dead folks lying under the rubble they were walking through, so he went broad and hoped the man would catch on. "Got a clue what happened here?"

“You still have that opportunity?” Artyom smirked and glanced about from halfway up the wall “As for what happened here, i didn’t see all too much apart from the aftermath, though i saw some pictures the locals took, those that could anyway, the aschen? Is it? Fired a missile that just about wiped out everything in this part of the city.”

He took his mobile out from his pocket and flipped through it for a brief moment and then floating the phone up to the new acquaintance, the picture visible is of one of the bloodthirsters that seemed to lead the assault. A massive winged beast faced demon bedecked in skulls and bronze coloured armour.


“If you’re at all curious as how i do this, i’m an ESPer, specifically telekinesis” he rubs his shoulder and pushes off the wall and floats back down to the pavement below, he leaned up against the wall and held out his hand the phone floating back down after a couple minutes.

“I got left behind, was and been gathering stuff for the folks who left” he shrugged “hell since we're both trapped here why not help one another out?” he stretches and yawns before pulling up his wireless headphones up from beneath the collar of his shirt and putting one of the ear buds in his ear, and connecting it up to his mobile, just to listen to some random song saved to the device.

Lance sighed as he put his hand to his temple, confused. He had just gotten a grasp of what Kanwar and her problems were like. Now it seemed he had leaped out of one conflict and into an entirely new one. Or rather, was learning about a new one that already seemed to...resolve itself. Though whether the good guys won in the end or not had yet to be determined.

"Not sure who the Aschen are," he admitted, glancing around the rubble-inspired landscape, "But they seem to have a lot of firepower on their side."

He glanced at the photo, rubbing his chin as he processed the creature wearing skulls and armor into his mind. Kind of looks like a demon he had fought some time ago...he thought.

The Ordan Guardian's brow raised as the first familiar technical word crossed his ears, "You're a telekinetic?" he mused. He wasn't sure what being an ESPer entailed, but he knew about mind stuff and people who had such a power. Many of the Scribes from the Firsts and even a few scientists Dr. Burkton was in touch with, for example. Unfortunately for Lance, he never was strengthened enough in the mind to learn such techniques.

"I know enough about telekinesis to know you need a stable and a very...very coherent mind," he went on, "So at least that means you're not crazy."

“the aschen are empire spanning less than a quarter that of the milky way galaxy, the leaders are a bit...trigger happy in dealing with outsiders” Zion glanced back up and upon hearing the words about strong minds and not crazy, Zion laughed, falling over and laughing like he had heard the galaxy’s funniest joke, he pulled himself up to his feet.


“The simplest way i can explain how we ESPers work is through Schrödinger's theory, to a normal human it's 50% alive, 50% dead. To an ESPer it's actually 49% alive, 49% dead and 2% i can do this” a nearby car is thrown down the street barreling end over end for one hundred yards before coming to a halt, Zion barely moved from his position, he had used his eyes to direct his powers, though really he didn’t need to do that, just making sure it didn’t hit anyone.

Zion was easily a gloating kind of person. “However there are six different known levels to us ESPers, level zeros are on the same footing as normal humans, level ones weak, only simple things can be done, mostly weak telekinesis or telepathy; level twos their power strengthens level threes is where one’s own true powers manifest; some are electromancers others pyromancers, or can control vectors, level four; is what i am, some say we level fours have the power to wipe out small armies, i’ve never tried to claim such, and the level fives, of which there are only ten, they are the most powerful, and truly terrifying to face in combat”

He pushes off the wall and looks back at the window above. “also some of the shit they put us through to reach this level of power...can really mess one up”

the Name is 'Zion', by the way

"Hmph," was all Lance said in relation to the Aschen Empire. Sounds like they're evil in the name of good, he thought as he finally caved in and began climbing over the shoddy window frame. Like another group of people I know...

As he made the comment about the male's telekinesis, he stepped onto the floating stairs beneath him, testing his weight against the jagged concrete pieces beneath him with a foot before placing himself on the platform. He found they were actually steady beneath him, not bobbing or sinking due to his weight at all. If anything, it showed how much of a fortress the man had stacked in his power, which he would then choose to demonstrate after a laugh by flinging a totaled car down the street, making it more totaled than before. Lance watched a wheel fling off into an alley from the telekinetic force.

Neat...

"Lance," he said with a smile, "And I'll tell you what I tell all telekinetics. You can probably kick my ass with your power. But without it, you'll have a hard time doing anything to me." The tone of voice he used suggested a simple jest and maybe a smaller showcase of his own bravado, but deep down it was a bit of a warning. Zion may have the destructive power to tear through armies, but Lance was no ordinary soldier. He'd slain many opponents who were stronger then him, faster than him, and even smarter than him. The trick was not to duel strengths, but to strike at weaknesses.

"Or at least with a sword, anyway," Lance continued, reaching the bottom of the floating steps.

Zion smiled and held out his hand to shake Lance’s hand “aye, the more powerful one becomes the more immortal they believe they are” he knew the underlying threat for what it was but, like Lance said, sure Zion knew how to use weapons beyond his telekinetic powers and martial arts training, but his power was his strength.

“So Lance, which way are you wanting to head, there’s an old public square area not far from here with one of the older looking structures, I haven’t checked that place out and then there’s all the underground subway tunnels” Zion was just blurting out ideas, not quite rambling just yet.

He fell silent and pulled the bud from his ear and stopped his music. He thought he had heard something but it was probably the wind, he glanced about but sighed “wow, this place has made me paranoid as all hell” he shakes his head and chuckles; too light hearted for his own good some would say.

"Dunno," Lance replied honestly, "I know nothing about this place. I was just following a lead. I guess...the square? Or wherever you'd think people would be hanging out at." Though he wasn't sure exactly where that was. If the other placed he looked through were as decrepit as this part of town, he had almost no hope of finding the Champion of Light here.

Dammit, Kanwar...I hope you're right about this...

"Eh, could be worse," Lance continued to small talk with the younger lad, "You could be in Kaos."

“let's head underground, what better way to hide then out of sight” Zion began to walk, before stopping and looking around.

Though with how paranoid the Aschen are. he points to the remains of a shattered camera. “not much in the way of hiding around them...totalitarian psychos.”

Zion began walking towards the closest subway entrance that he could remember, glancing back to Lance “you’ve got the look like you’re worrying about someone? And what’s Kaos?”

Upon arriving Zion stopped looking at the gates that barred their way, he’d reach down to his belt and unclip his mask before putting it on, the motion tracker coming to life, he’d watch the small radar in the corner of his vision, with a deep sigh he’d look back at Lance “quietly or don’t give a damn?”

The center of the Blackout Zone was largely unscathed from the recent fighting. Most people lived in the buildings and sold their wears in a market of a sort. The underground was the most active area allowing freedom and in many cases dirty deals to occur. Which also allowed for other unsavory things. Easily ignoring the cameras that didnt work a young woman wandered through the many buildings under the original city above. it was a packed maket filled with people. A few men and women stood guard at certain points through out the area but they largely were there to keep the peace in the area.

Taking an item she had purchased with a few slivers of gemestones the young woman with fair skin dressed in various shades of pink and gray slid the thing into her sleeve. Passing from the stall near a guard she wandered towards what had to be a brothel of a sort. At least it was an eating place. So that did fine for her since there were outdoor tables to eat at. Allowing her to take a seat and observe what happened around her. Oddly the raised portion of the eating area allowed for vast views of the crowded and in some areas overcrowded streets and former subway stations

Lance did his best to keep a cool exterior when Zion referred to the Aschen as "totalitarian psychos", but there was a subtle trace of inner anger behind that complacent stare as they walked onward. He knew damn well what totalitarian psychos were all about. He'd both taken them down and worked for them.

"Quietly is probably the wise choice," Lance said when they reached the entrance to an underground portion of the area, "Just in case..."

As they proceeded with caution, he was more than happy to share with Zion a little bit about his past, "Well, Kaos is...hell on Earth, so to speak." Which was actually the case, given the context. "It's a planet overtaken by scavengers. No food, little water, plenty of shelter if you're lucky to be in one spot for more than a day. Harsh, harsh conditions otherwise. The only real way to survive out there is to kill those you see along the way...or else they'll do the same. Hey..." he stopped as his ears began to pick up voices...a lot of voices. "Didn't you say this part of the city was wiped out?"

As they rounded a corner, there it was. People about, trying to get by on a day to day lifestyle like the buildings above them didn't exist or come crashing down at any moment. The shops were discounted in structure and merchandise from their current perspective, but they were still there. It was like they didn't have time to rebuild what had been lost, so they made do with what they had.

"So, uh..." Lance rubbed the back of his head as he viewed the civilization from the outside, "I guess here they are then, huh?"

It was the totalitarian psychos as they were so aptly named, that was among the crowd of people assembling near the ruins of a once thriving community center. Despite the rubble all around them, dozers had managed to clear a small assembly area, and people were lined up in a relatively orderly fashion around a landed Aschen Condor VTOL.

Imperial soldiers armed with MC-1 Carbines and Type 53 disruptor rifles patrolled this small area, keeping the crowds from completely mobbing the aid workers whom had set up in a small booth near the VTOL, surrounded by pallets of food, fresh clean water, and medical supplies.

One by one they were slowly doling out the supplies to the people of the neighborhood, checking names and addresses, before passing out the large sack of supplies.

A pair of Aschen Marines stood watch atop a small scaffolding tower, one was scanning the population with a pair of binoculars, while the second stood quietly, watching as people came and went.

Their urban camouflage pattern fatigues were a dazzling and confusing fractal pattern in blacks, grays, browns, tans, and whites, making them very difficult to discern among the rubble. This trademark camouflage pattern was almost exclusively used by forces of the Aschen Empire.

Overall, however, they paid no heed to the newcomers, largely ignoring them as they passed through.

Zion nodded as Lance said ‘quietly’ and the ESPer had moved up placing a gloved hand against the lock of the gate and focused, he tumbled the pins inside the lock and opened it up, once inside he had closed the gate and when they moved on down the staircase, hearing voices.


“Not the first time i’ve been wrong” Zion chuckled, lifting his mask back up to just peer through one of the lenses, clipping the mask back to his belt, he moved on. Passing through this cordoned area that the Aschen had set up for the people, for their own publicity.

Passing through Zion, payed the aschen marines no mind, leaving them to help the harmed people, that they harmed as well. “funny they drop a nuke on their people and treat it like it never happened” Zion ‘tsked’ moving onto the next gate, instead of unlocking it like he had done before he jumped over it, using his telekinesis to clear the gate and fence.

Turning back to Lance. “the subway isn’t that far from here.” he waited for Lance or would’ve helped him if asked. “The last time i saw this kind of crap was back home, Academy city, after the fighting” he rubbed the back of his head, passing through a desolated park, Zion had to double take when passing the barrier, Zion glanced about and shrugged, before wincing in pain, his left eye bloodshot so suddenly. “there’s the underground”

Lance wasn't going to say anything to that bold claim, even if there was truth in those words. As they walked, he would observe and obtain some information on the Aschen people. The small ship that people were gathering around was new and didn't even have a scratch on it, telling him that it had come from a different planet or at least from a different part of this one. Their uniforms were unique and cleverly designed to fit the urban landscape, but would prove to be an invaluable weakness in a more rural setting. At least they were helping the people that were still alive by providing them necessary accommodations, though it remained to be addressed the reason: genuine concern for their people or positive propaganda for the rest of the world to see.

Either way, it was clear they had added security methods set up to avoid being mobbed. Lance and Zion passed by these measures without even a second glance. Given the circumstances, he would assume some fresh faces would spark some intrigue among the residents and local militias. But Zion had been here a while and Lance did accumulate some dust from exploring the Blackout Zone ruins, not to mention there weren't any visible weapons to give reason for the Aschen to turn their guns towards them. Lucky break for them, he thought...they needed more of those.

Passing through the refuge camp and wandering into the park, he felt a bit more safe talking to Zion again. He couldn't describe it, but there was a sixth sense of his telling him not to speak too much in that area. "Academy City...don't think I've heard of it." Lance said earnestly, "But there's still a lot of this place I've never explored, really. Hey, you okay?" Lance got to one knee as he suddenly saw Zion flinch, his left eye going red so instantly he was concerned the landscape wasn't so carefree to traverse after all.

But why did it only affect him? his mind was racing. Why didn't it hurt me?

When they went through the unseen barrier the illiuon of a desolate parkland was dropped a a priestine green parkland was seen packed with people a good two dozen were milling about while tohers were overseeing set up of a tent or the like. Very well aware of the desolation outside the barrier as it seemed to hit a line in the grass to not cross.

As brief as it was the effects of the barrier would soon pass along both to reach the Underground stairs to go down to the subway down below ground. And when they did they entered seemingly an entirely new world different than the one up top.

New underground pathways and the normal tunnels of the subway were packed with people of all sorts. Some built houses and spaces to wat. others sold their wares in little stalls along what had to be the main drag of the underground area. Towers seem to go deep into the ground when they came to a bridge to look about and could easily see down below.

At one of the eating places a young woman sat and ate at table, a waiter came by refilled her drink and food and went to the next table. when lance and Zion neared the eating place the water called to them and offered a table. pale green blue eyes watched everyone as they entered and left the eating place

“magic and us ESPers don’t mix, and say if i was to use a spell, i’d be spewing up blood as my internal organs exploded” sounds extreme, but that’s what happened. “I’ll be fine, it’ll fade, i think.”

If it didn’t, well when he gets back home, trip to the hospital, Zion looked over at the waiter and then back to Lance “I don’t know about you, but I could do with something to eat” Zion headed towards the eating place taking a seat at an empty table.

Awaiting a waiter to approach, after dealing with other patrons, he relaxed a little though kept his eyes on most if not all of his surroundings. “I wonder why this lot of folks are busy down here instead of in the aschen camp.” he said mostly to himself, before he shrugged it off and waited patiently, ordering a breakfast sandwich: fried egg, bacon, sausage, and a hash brown in cob.

"Mmm..." was all Lance said to that. It was weird for him to not think of Telekinesis as magic, considering how he and other Ordan Guardians used the term "magic". But if that was the case around here, or at least with Zion, he could retain that knowledge. As well as the knowledge that they had passed through a barrier of some sort to arrive here...a barrier that kept the Aschen from seeing what was going on within. And hurt his new acquaintances. That, too.

"Yeah, I guess," he said to Zion's request for food. Lance wasn't that hungry, given he'd just ate while in the company of Kanwar and her impressive palace, but he was more than willing to let the ESPer rest for a bit. He joined Zion at the table, sitting across from him. The waiter asked for their order and Lance smiled politely, "Just a water for me."

After the waiter had gone to process the order, Lance leaned in a bit closer to Zion, "I'm more curious as to why this place is safeguarded with magic. And who's conjuring it." he added as he raked a hand through his blonde hair, grooming it into a somewhat respectable appearance. He'd prefer a comb, but those weren't just lying around. At least, not here anyway.

"That barrier is a bit...odd, don't you think? I mean I can only think of one purpose it's around this place and that's to keep the Aschen from seeing in. So maybe these guys don't want to be found by your 'totalitarian psychos'," he frowned in thought as he glanced around towards the other patrons. There weren't many celebratory moods to be had. Just people talking to one another. Two gentlemen in business attire were shaking hands as they got up from the table, a transaction of some sort finalized. A lady dressed in an elegant dress was sitting alone, looking around at the other patrons. Probably waiting for a date to arrive, Lance thought.

“I’m not from this side of the galaxy, i had been hoping ships since i left home, kinda an odd feeling to be honest.” he sat back, his eye slowly losing the bloodshot look, while they waited he took out the slates from his pouch on his belt and began playing solitaire with them, the faded engravings on the slates looking like a deck of cards well there were fifty two of them.

“i hope my roommate has been feeding my cat” he stops halfway to setting a card down and then sets the slates in his hands down before rubbing his face and sighing, setting the slates back into their pile and then putting them into his belt pouch.

Glancing about to the finalised deal by the two suited gentlemen, and then all around this designated cafeteria area, he tapped the table with his fingers, he ended up glancing over and looking at the lone woman, noticing Lance had done the same. He smirked to himself

“checking her out now?” he said low enough not to be overheard, but loud enough to threaten such. All the while a cheeky smirk on his lips. “well i can agree, she’s a pleasent view on the eyes.”

He sat back leaning a little and lifted his hands to the back of his head.