Power Struggle 4.5

= Power Struggle 4.5 (PS4.5) =
== Overview ==
Power Struggle 4.5 (PS4.5) is an installment in the unofficial saga of Power Struggle role-playing games, which includes PS4.5 and a subsequent follow-up called Power Struggle 4.75 (PS4.75). It is the first of the unofficial saga and kick-started a wave of this sort of roleplay in the footsteps of the official Power Struggle game. Running from January 5th, 2022, to August 14th, 2023, the roleplay went through 7 narrative divisions, dubbed "arcs" by the community.
A basic synopsis would be that PS4.5 is directly what the name implies, being a continuation of the story from the last official installment, Power Struggle 4, carries a lot of the same characters and storylines established in PS4. It revolves around the central cast of characters, Benjamin Arlert, Basil Attenborough, and Lilith oof Braganca, and their adventures around the world, and later the Universe. From expanding on the world built upon by previous Power Struggle entries in the series, to thoroughly fleshing out the colorful cast of creative characters, introducing new ones, and building an intricate system of worldbuilding surrounding the vast expanse of space. One of the additions in late PS4 is the inclusion of the Dungeon, a place in Brazil which allows interdimensional travel. For PS4.5 , this is a central plot point and is important to remember. 
Much as it did narratively, PS4.5 also took on many of the mechanical aspects of previous games by taking places in one channel, dubbed "England" after the initial session of PS4.5 was hosted there, set in the English city of Blackpool. The system used throughout much of the game was (and presently in PS4.75, is) a dice roll system. An overview of the system enables two players/characters to roll a d100 die using Tatsumaki, and the lower number of the two being the winner in a direct competition. Later on, the ideas of buffs, nerfs, abilities, and even supernatural abilities were added on top of the frankly standard combat of early PS4.5.
== Origins ==
Initially, PS4.5 originated in the #elite-chat channel, started by member iiighh, who posted an image of Romario Zuev, otherwise known as 'Sminem', on Jan 5th, 2022. Mr. Cap subsequently followed this up by posting pictures of Igor and Grichka Bogdanoff in poses. Jokingly, Ben commented "holy shit PS5", and the spinoff began from that point on.
Though iiighh was the one to originally post in the unofficial spinoff, he was not part of the main cast of players. In fact, many other people came in to pick up the reins, with Cap and Ben going back and forth as the Bogdanoff twins, fighting Ben's character. (Author's Note: It should be noted that Ben, the person, had a main character who shares the same name as him. From here on out, they will be both referred to as Ben.)
Later, Rayan, who had reinstated mod powers at the time, warned the two for disrupting the channel, and asked them to move to the #england channel (then called #degeneracy). From there, the first message in degeneracy discussing PS was born.
Many of the reasons surrounding the creation of the spinoff had to do with the disappointed feeling shared among a few of the players of PS4, mainly the change in PS4's gameplay and core plot as opposed to earlier installments. Many also had characters that they wanted to see grow past the abrupt ending of PS4. Because of this reason, PS4.5 sees many characters be re-introduced into the story from their places in PS4 and given proper characterization. Also, the use of real-life people in Sminem and the Bogdanoff twins set a precedent for just the type of shitpost-esque sensation of many characters, even later into PS4.5.
== Characters ==
The characters of PS4.5 are enigmas, to put it mildly, ranging from "insane Russian bitches" (actual quote from Kaisa) to "otters" (actual quote from Nexus)
=== Main Cast ===
For much of the story, these characters are at the center of most things happening in the plot. 
- Benjamin Arlert (not to be confused with Ben, the player.) 
- Basil Attenborough
- Lilith oof Braganca
- Mister Cap Galag (not to be confused with Cap, the player.)
- Space Kaisa (don't worry about it.)
These spend a lot of time surrounding the central plot.
=== Antagonists (include) ===
- Evil Kaisa / (later renamed) Lev
- Monika
- Claudio Graziano
- Bruno
- Galag
etc.
== Setting ==
The story is set in the fictional world of BMC, inspired heavily by the server of the same name, where the world is still reeling from the civil war brought on by the death of its emperor, Brazilian I. The Empire, which had already started fracturing into various factions vying either for autonomy or replacing the existing institutions altogether since a long time before the Emperor's death, collapsed into open warfare between the Liberals, Weebs, Hehists and the rump Regency, formally established to rule in the name of Brazilian's successor. The Liberals, through lengthy fighting and cunning diplomacy, ousted the Regency from power and defeated the Weebs, eventually capturing the Imperial City and renaming it into Liberty City - the new capital. While Trantor and Daniell took control of the government as President and Prime Minister respectively, the former was forced to resign as part of a deal concerning Hehist reintegration. The situation, made precarious by various monarchist insurgencies spearheaded by the elusive Yossarian and Cap's rogue Marine units, got only worse with a timely Diarchist invasion from the Far North, which was eventually repelled only through a cooperation between the former enemies. With Trantor having seemingly died on the battlefield while attempting to save the life of Mister Cap, a post war Pact of Reconstruction was signed between monarchists and republicans, ensuring an uncertain compromise for the time being. Meanwhile, the other major player is the nation of Shanghai, established in the central-northeastern portion of the former Empire when the local section of the imperial army declared independence. Despite being a monarchy, Shanghai's leader Ben aligned the nation with the Liberal faction and thus obtained Trantor's trust and protection. However, with the latter's disappearance and the lingering sense of uncertainty regarding the future of relations with Brazil, the nation has started heavily investing in military technologies to secure its newly acquired freedom.
This sets the stage for the main conflicts within BMC in the early arcs.
== Narrative Divisions ==
The story of Power Struggle 4.5 can be categorized into 7 divisions, called "arcs". They each pertain to the focus of the arc, and often have an outlandish scheme or evil plot the main characters have to fight through to triumph. They go as such: 
Evil Kaisa/Claudio Arc
Space Cannon/Galag Arc
Space Soviet Arc
Franco-British Arc
Sector D Arc
Red Dawn Arc
Berlusconi Arc
== Story ==
The story officially starts two years after the events of its predecessor, PS4, and focuses on the pseudo-main character of Ben, who will have the focus for the remainder of PS4.5. Because of the nature of it being a roleplaying game, its story can be dissected by sessions.
=== Evil Kaisa/Claudio Arc ===
==== Session 0 - Prologue ====
Cap and Ben are cornered by Sminem, who calls in the Bog twins to beat them up, seemingly in the middle of a mission. The duo manages to scrape out a victory, before being taken to a local hospital for recovery. While there, Evil Kaisa surprise attacks them and forcibly sends them to the England dimension, in the city of Blackpool.
==== Session 1 - Blackpool ====
Ben and Cap are kidnapped by an alternate version of Kaisa, dubbed Evil Kaisa, or Lev. he tricks them and gets them high with cocaine, transporting them into Callaghan and into the England dimension, specifically to Blackpool. There, he also kidnaps a few other people, including Lilith. When they all come to, Ben is possessed by the spirit of a retarded small Irish child by the name of Bread. While on their trip, they meet Para, who is crying uncontrollably, and supposedly Sixela, although Six never replies.
While there, they are harassed constantly by Evil Kaisa, being forced to fight a disgruntled Shrek. They run away to Blackpool Airport, where they find a kind man by the name of Gigachad. He lets them board his plane as he flies to London. There, they learn that if they enter a stadium in London, they will be able to make it back to their original dimension. However, Evil Kaisa, forces Gigachad to have a mental breakdown, almost killing Ben and Lilith. They are forced to jump.
==== Session 2 - London ====
Ben dons the Gigasuit, a futuristic armor that is sort of like being Iron Man. Together, Ben and Lilith jump. The suit autopilots them over Merton, where a sentient AI by the name of Monika hunts them. An assistant of Evil Kaisa, she pursues Lilith as she flees while he stays and fights Ben and Cap in the skies. Eventually, Evil Kaisa gets worried he may actually be defeated, and instead begins sending clones after them. Monika, seeing this, gives up looking for Lilith and ends up almost fighting Ben. However, Ben quoting a misogynist makes her decide to also leave.
The trio regroup, but Ben encounters a man wearing a shirt with the Turkish flag on it. Türkiye Man engages with Ben, fighting him in the sky with hundreds of exploding goats, then promptly explaining all of Turkish history to them. After they escape his grips, they continue beelining to Wembley Stadium, where they will find a portal back to their world. Then, they realize they are being followed by a man called Saitama, who seemingly wants to absolutely obliterate them. However, Evil Kaisa's clones catch up with them, and he gets stuck fighting all of them there. When Saitama beats the clones, he catches up with the duo of Ben and Cap, who find the portal and jump in, reaching their world again.
However, Lilith, suffering a panic attack, ends up missing the portal time, and is stuck in Wembley Stadium. Evil Kaisa comes to her with a proposal.
==== Session 3 - Nightmare Dimension ====
Lilith is transported to a separate dimension, where she is approached and nearly ambushed by a being dubbed Pakistani Spongebob. With the guidance of her leader, Commander Craig, she escapes and finds herself on the backstage of an empty movie set. She finds Evil Kaisa there, asking her to choose between three doors which he conjures. Tired and without respite, Lilith picks at random, to which Evil Kaisa slams her through the second. There, she ends up in a restaurant, facing a particularly disgruntled Chilean man.
==== Session 4 - Gus ====
Gus sees the commotion and reprimands Lilith, then shoots her for trespassing. He guns her down, but not before Ben, Cap, and the BMC Marine Corps show up. Scared to be outnumbered, Gus retired to the back of the restaurant and called one of his compatriots, a being by the name of Pluto. The BMC Marines, Ben, Cap, and Lilith get in a fight with him, eventually needing to rely on their makeshift ally, Saitama, to back them up. The group escape, much to Gus' chagrin.
==== Session 5 - Pluto ====
Saitama literally punches Pluto out of the Dungeon and into a large forest, somewhere in Central Brazil. The two have an epic fight that begins in Brazil, but as Saitama gains the upper hand, Pluto get catapulted into space. He gets punched into the actual moon, and is killed, throwing his carcass further into space. With that, Saitama returns to the group back on BMC.
==== Session 6 - The Jumpening ====
Goofy confronts Saitama about his actions, seeing as he broke the moon in his quest to seek out somebody as strong as him. The gang are terrorized by Bread and Spamton. Goofy and Saitama begin fighting, and even though Saitama is so incredibly strong, Goofy reveals he is, essentially, a god. To the gang, he reveals his abilities and history of the universe, his position in all of it and everything. Finally, Goofy nearly beats Saitama, but not before Evil Kaisa interrupts them and pushes Saitama in a portal back to his dimension. Evil Kaisa and Goofy have a short confrontation, before the former breaks off and goes back. 
Monika shows up after the fact with a note written in Italian and shows it to the gang. She reveals that, despite Evil Kaisa being surrounded by clones that look identical to him, the original one has a mark that differentiates him from the rest. She also speaks about her annoyances and grievances with the man, but nevertheless acts antagonistic toward the gang. She then leaves.
==== Session 7 - Callaghan ====
The group, mainly Ben, are recovering from their encounters in the Dungeon, and decide to decipher the note Monika gave them. They discover that the note is the location coordinates for the facility producing Evil Kaisa's clones, called Weyer Factory, run by a man of the same name. They gather the BMC Marines stationed nearby, and recruit the help of Basil, Ben's husband, and Angus, Basil's sentient pet plant. Along with Lilith, they prepare to leave, but not before Evil Kaisa makes a sudden appearance, to promptly mess around and insult everybody in the group one by one, juking and dodging their attacks.
Finally, he leaves, and the group begin heading off for the Clone City in the Dungeon, awaiting the trap Evil Kaisa may have laid out now that he has spied on their intentions. And sure enough, the moment the group entered the Dungeon dimension on the Ekranoplan, Kaisa began ambushing them all with his clones, causing chaos within the plane. During his fight, he seethes his frustrations with Monika's insubordination. 
Bread returns, and makes the situation even more chaotic, possessing a sleeping Angus and harassing the rest of the crew, even going so far as to attempt and eat Lilith. The situation is put under control by the sudden arrival within the city limits of the Clone City, throwing a sense of vertigo into everybody.
==== Session 8 - Assault on Weyer Factory ====
The Ekranoplan makes it through the portal and enters the city limits of Clone City, and are immediately apprehended by a clone of Evil Kaisa, but rapidly get out of the situation and beeline through the futuristic city skyline toward Weyer's Factory.
Weyer's Factory is an industrialist megastructure set upon 12 kilometers to the West of Clone City, run by Weyer, a subservient of Aimless.
One of the Evil Kaisa clones, Passport Kaisa, reveals that Monika helped build the entire expanse of the city, explaining that she had not only given funding for it, but had given many of the clones the algorithm that let them bend to Evil Kaisa's will. They pull away from Passport Kaisa's ship, and they head to Weyer's factory, but not before an EMP and a subsequent attack makes Cap go through with planning to drop Angus as a distraction to tear up the defenses haphazardly set up below, in the fields around Weyer. Then, Bread returns and possesses Angus, and begins pestering the Marines. This causes an argument between them and Bread-Angus, and in the end he doesn't get dropped. In exchange, Cap proposes they set up shields around the plane, but anti-aircraft batteries below strike before they can even consider the plan. The Ekranoplan is barely scathed by sheer luck, and Cap continues to pressure the now-normal Angus out of the plane. He drops down and begins slowly carving through the defenses with his power.
While the plane begins preparing for a landing at the tarmac near Weyer's Factory, a clone of Kaisa shows up in power armor and fights the gang. Monika shows up and livestreams the fight to the entirety of Clone City. The clone gets beaten, and Monika leaves after Basil slaps her, leaving the crew in the Ekranoplan to infiltrate Weyer's Factory.
Besides producing clones for Evil Kaisa, the factory also satiates his many twisted ideas, seen by the crew as they find a gender-bent version of Basil with his exact same powers. Weyer interrupts the introspective session between Basil and fem-Basil (Basilia) and scolds the clones around for letting an experimental out of its proper department. In the midst of Weyer's rant, Cap, Lilith, and the Marines depart to spread out across the facility to find ways to disable it.
Meanwhile, Ben, Basil, and Basilia watch as Weyer sends the clones to go search for Cap & co. around the factory. They notice noises from the vents, and find Evil Kaisa and Monika in a vent, drinking. While Basil runs, Evil Kaisa pop in front of him, but Basil just runs through him, knocking him down. In response, Monika threatens to deepfake nudes of his and spread them across the Internet, which makes the group reconsider their actions going forward.
Basil faces Evil Kaisa alone, whilst Cap and his Marines, including Lilith, go around and smash a bunch of different important looking controls, planting bombs in each room they check. Whilst they ransack it, they find the control room, and press a self-destruct button. 
Basil scares Evil Kaisa off, and begins fleeing the facility, but runs into Monika. Seeing as Evil Kaisa fled, she decides to blow the facility sky-high, despite the fact it was already going to self-destruct. She waves goodbye to Basil, and Evil Kaisa shows up once more, punching him in the face. A fight ensues as the facility starts melting down, and Basil triumphs. He grabs Ben and starts rushing back to the Ekranoplan.
Meanwhile, the Marines are fleeing the facility when Evil Kaisa shows up on the tarmac where the Marines are loading the Ekranoplan. After multiple warnings, the Marines open fire on Evil Kaisa, gunning him down, and he falls into a portal. Suddenly, he appears above Cap, and drives a knife into his abdomen. He laughs like a maniac as he retreats, allowing the gang some respite as they all retreat the exploding factory of Weyer.
Weyer is livid.
==== Session 9 - Claudio's Betrayal ====
Immediately after the events at Weyer's, Basil and Lilith discuss her sudden fainting and incapacitation during the ensuing chaos after they fled but are interrupted when they get a call from an unknown number. It is revealed to be the original version of Kaisaras, and a woman accompanying him named Power. 
Monika visits the Ekranoplan and reveals Evil Kaisa (henceforth referred to as Lev) is absolutely enraged and has hired the help of a man named "Tighten". She then suddenly leaves.
Space Kaisa (henceforth referred to as Kaisa) returns with his companion, Power, and greets the crew. As they talk, Cap awakens, and the two reconvene for the first time in a long while. Cap heads to the cockpit and prepares for the landing while the rest of the gang screws around in the hangar of the plane. Cap learns from one of his subordinates that things are changing back in Brazil. 
The Liberal Government, led by a general named Claudio Graziano, has slowly taken control of the nation of Brazil in the past few months, and since Cap has operated the BMC Marines semi-independently of Brazil's military, Claudio has not been eager to let them exist for much longer. Lev, shortly after he was beaten by the group at Weyer. went to Claudio and proposed the arrest of Cap Galag and his group of marines.
When they land, Cap reveals the news to the gang, but Kaisa proposes the solution of exiling him. cap agrees, and then is sent to the far North, someplace in the Diarchy. As soon as he does this, the remainder of the BMC Marines flee, but promise to keep in touch with the gang. Now, they are all left in the large hangar of the Dungeon.
A group of Liberal soldiers approach but are confused by the lack of Cap's presence. Noting that Lilith, Ben, Basil, Angus, Kaisa, and Power still remain, they resolve to just detain them and take them to Claudio. However, the gang heavily oppose this, and a fight ensues. Then, the "hero", Tighten, shows up and begins open combat with Kaisa individually as the rest of the gang engages the incoming Liberal soldiers.
Tighten runs off after Kaisa expends his energy beating him up, and despite his fortitude, he decides that he has better things to do. A series of explosions rocks Callaghan Bunker, and the remainder of the gang flee the Liberal forces, going deep into the forests.
==== Session 10 - War in BMC ====
As the gang escape, Kaisa teleports them all to an office in Shanghai. They learn it is the Prime Minister's office in Shanghai, where they meet Sunny, the current Prime Minister of Shanghai. There, they discuss what they might do to counter this sudden betrayal by Claudio but are interrupted by a broadcast from Brazil. In it, he blames Shanghai of harboring a traitorous man in Ben, and demands they hand him over or else it be considered a betrayal of Brazil and the Liberal Republic's government, and as an act of war against Brazil. 
Later that day, Shanghai makes a response stating that they will not tolerate the attitude of the Brazilian government, and both nations, now on the warpath, are taken aback by the sudden actions of Claudio as he invades Shanghai with tens of thousands of troops.
Sunny, with the knowledge that Shanghai can't do much against the sheer number of Brazilians invading, sends the gang off to recover blueprints from Weyer Factory. He believes that Shanghai can defend itself if it has the weapons to do so, and so they run off to Weyer.
On the way to Weyer, Kaisa teaches the group, mainly Ben and Lilith, to form portals, a technology he discovered a couple of years back. They manage to form their own portals and implement them into the following mission.
When they make it to Weyer, it is desolate and abandoned. They infiltrate the complex once again, but with one small issue. Lev ambushes them, and corners Ben, beating him up. Hurt, Ben escapes, but Lev continues to harass the group as they survey for any blueprints they may find. Along with not only Lev, the gang find themselves being stopped by the actual incarnation of Lucifer stopping them in their tracks. She fights for a short while, but when Kaisa proposes to make a deal with the devil, she is satiated.
Out of nowhere, an older Trantor stops by and helps the gang fight Lev, who finds it inopportune to fight so many people at once, and portals away. Lilith grabs a USB stick containing incomplete plans for Lev's weapons, including a railgun system. She takes it and gives it to Ben, and the group begins a tactical retreat as Lev goes all out and extends his fighting skills through portals.
Distracted by Lev, they don't notice a demon sneaking up on them, which flanks and corners them. They blow a hole through Weyer to escape, fighting both Lev and the demon as they retreat. They go through portals, and narrowly escape with the blueprints necessary to provide support to Shanghai. Successful, the group go back to Shanghai and bring the blueprints to Sunny, who gets to work as soon as possible on developing these weapons for Shanghai. In the meanwhile, war rages on in Southwestern Shanghai, as the country fights hard to beat back the Brazilian invasion. The ragtag defense force falters, however. As such, the group makes a plan to not only stop this war but stop Claudio once and for all.
As the gang recover in the hospital, Trantor reveals that he has returned from the dark and came to restore the true Liberal government with his mastiffs. He reveals himself to the gang, too, and is taught by Kaisa to form portals of his own. Suspicious of Ben's sudden affiliation with cap, formerly on opposing sides of the civil war, Trantor calls his Mastiffs.
Lilith goes onto the roof to take a breather, and notices two Mastiff soldiers heading toward the door. She tries to resist, but is subdued, and Trantor reveals that, since he led the Liberal movement, is going to use the gang to reinstate the Liberals and not whatever they may have planned previously. He drives them to the local airport, and they begin their flight to Libertopolis.
Trantor and Ben reconcile after the short hiccup of kidnapping the gang, and Trantor agrees to help them out in their goal, learning of the actions of General Claudio. With this, they set off to across Brazilian airspace. The gang expect a fierce resistance but learn of the absolutely catastrophic aerial assault conducted on Shanghai, which left the Brazilian Air Force absolutely neutered. So, they enter Brazil without worries.
==== Session 11 - Battle of Libertopolis ====
Ben has an absolute shitshow in his own mind as he tries desperately to expel Bread from his conscious after being hit with multiple possessions over the past week. An intense battle ensues, and Bread is defeated, pushed out into the world as a floating core of adamantium. The horrifying creature cries and whines, but Ben is basically cured of his schizophrenic tendencies.
The group meet another wacky man, Japanese Spiderman, who is entirely foreign to the idea of violence and anything bad. Yep. Together, him and the group land in the military base at Libertopolis, and pull up to the Libertopolis Capitol Building. An intense battle breaks out between the Claudio Loyalists and the Mastiffs, fighting fiercely through the streets of Libertopolis.
The group then realize that Claudio is in the central Capitol Building at Libertopolis, and they fight through groups of soldiers inside, trying desperately to reach Claudio and kill him. Instead, however, they are met by a TV screen, with Claudio's face projected to a conference room where the gang are at. Suddenly, a portal forms in the room, and Claudio steps through. The group are suspicious, and pat him down, finding only a gun. The gun is confiscated and Claudio is questioned further, but no answer is met. With everyone on edge, a gunshot from outside sends the room into a frenzy.
A portal opens from above, and Lev drops down, taking the now hand-cuffed Claudio and backing away from everybody. Claudio disappears, and everybody opens fire on Lev, but he masterfully maneuvers against all of them, and gains the upper hand. As the battle progresses, everybody becomes worn down, and they break out of the locked conference room, taking the scuffle into the hallways.
All around them, the Liberal forces are being wiped out by the Mastiffs, and the war in Shanghai is taking a turn for the worst for the Liberal government, as the armies invading are beaten back by the newly produced weapons of Shanghai, credit due to the Gang. 
A group of Loyalist soldiers break into the capitol, forcing Ben, Lilith, and Japanese Spiderman to refocus their efforts on keeping Lev contained and unable to break out. Meanwhile, Trantor is in a struggle with Lev, intensely fighting him within the conference room. The internals of the Capitol become a mess as a mix of Mastiff and Loyalist soldiers scuffle in the halls, whilst Ben and Lilith fight through Loyalist soldiers cornering them in a room. The confusion gets to a point where Mastiff soldiers begin turning on each other, unsure of whether or not the Loyalists have infiltrated their ranks. The mess comes to a head when a stray grenade explodes, blowing out a significant chunk of the building. The sudden explosion, coupled with Japanese Spiderman gaining the upper hand after fighting Lev, results in Lev retreating once more.
The day ends with the Mastiffs regaining control of Libertopolis, and the Loyalists surrendering inside the city en masse. The gang lick their wounds, when Monika visits them and uncovers the position of Claudio, in the Brazilian Imperial Mansion. The gang begin the long journey to the city of Port Saigon.
==== Session 12 - Claudio's Fall ====
The day begins with the group catching up on some quite needed sleep in the midst of a road to the city of Port Saigon. Japanese Spiderman returns to his dimension, and after a short hiccup of being interrupted by Lev, the gang make their way to an abandoned sewage plant in an abandoned ghost town. They navigate the sewage tunnels, encountering the wonders of sanitation on their way to Port Saigon.
When they reach the port at the bottom of a colossal cliff, they meet Lucifer, who is still under a contract with Lev. They discover, however, Lucy is not there for a battle, but rather to have a pancake making contest. The gang all suck, and Lucy seems about to kill them, but Kaisa decides to make pancakes of his own, enough to satiate the incarnation of Satan. 
Before they can make it to the Mansion, a group of Loyalists ambush them in the streets, and a grand fight breaks out. The gang gets pummeled, and the fight is close, but they barely scrape out a victory, with one of them nearly dying in the process. Ben, who had taken a ton of damage, nearly has a mental breakdown over killing so many Loyalists, and criticizes Kaisa for his flippant attitude throughout the entire journey.
As such, Kaisa removes their abilities he granted to them, and makes them weaker. He disappears, and leaves with Lucy. The remaining gang move past this road bump, and board a boat that takes them to the Mansion's island. Lev descends and mocks them for arriving without a proper assault, and torments Ben over his killing of an "innocent man". Ben, exhausted and unable to separate the visions from his reality, breaks down as the "man" (Lev) continues to harass him and yell at him. Lilith shoots the man, and Lev, breaking the vision. Lev takes the body back to Clone City, and retreats, still bombarding Ben with insults and shaming him.
The group makes it to the front garden of the mansion, when all hell breaks loose. Claudio holes himself up at the Imperial Chambers, with Loyalists guarding nearly every entrance to the building. Japanese Spiderman returns and begins causing havoc within the mansion, allowing for the gang to regroup.
Cap returns from the Diarchy.
With Cap back, the group suddenly retreat as a bomber from Shanghai begins leveling the mansion.
When the gang are retreating through the sewage tunnels, Claudio contacts them via a radio. He says a cryptic message, and cuts the line. Suddenly, something arrives and begins terrorizing them all by yelling "*BRAZIL AND ESTONIA WILL BRING EUROPE TO ITS KNEES*" and "*LOOK AT MY DRAWINGS*". The gang shoots at it, but Eestimaa can only show them his drawings. After trying to grope literally everybody in the group, he decides to take Bread with him, and drags him back into the void, otherwise known as Sergipe.
When Eestimaa is defeated, the group learn that Claudio is still in the rubble of the mansion, and begin hightailing it back to the Mansion. When they make it back, they find Lev and Claudio at the rubble, Claudio kneeling before Lev. They witness Claudio try to kill Lev and failing in a spectacular fashion. Claudio begins running away, but Lev tackles him and begins beating him. In a gruesome way, Lev cuts Claudio's face in half with a portal, and ends up killing him.
The gang engage in a scuffle with Lev, and begin pushing him on the backfoot. When it seems he is about to surrender, he reaches for a button under his ear and begins rapidly teleporting across the battlefield. He beats the gang thoroughly with his newfound powers, and nearly destroys them before Kaisa comes back and decks Lev in the face, disabling his abilities.
Lev retreats once again, and the gang, demoralized as they are, simply revel in the fact that Claudio is dead, the Liberals have been defeated, and Shanghai lives another day.
They return to the sewage system to Libertopolis, but are stopped by a passive Monika. She thanks them, and promptly leaves.
After which, the gang goes its separate ways, still reeling from the last few days and its developments.
==== Session 12.5 - Epilogue ====
"Good morning people of BMC, brave patriots and fighters in the name of what we hold dear the most. My name is Trantor oof Braganca, and I think most of you already know who I am, what I've done, what I'll always do. I had promised I would have retired, and I did retire. I had promised I would have not participated in public life no more, and I refused to comment the political developments of the nation. But that was, up until now. I could not watch and sit idle as everything we all did and sacrificed to build our just democracy was destroyed one decree at a time, one arrest at a time, one protest suppression after the other. The military is supposed to operate as the constitution's guardian, and instead, my successor at its helm attempted to kill our Republic in its cradle. To back up his plans, he staged the arrest of innocent civil servants the like of national hero Mr. Cap and His Majesty, the King of Shanghai, Ben I. He started a war that would kill thousands, and for nothing. Nothing more than his petty pride, his corruption, his evil scheme of power."
"General Claudio Graziano was a traitor to the Republic, and we the people loyal to the Republic constitution above all else have acted to bring justice to this traitor."
"Facing arrest for his violent crimes, he chose the road of violence and attempted to resist the course of history, of course, to no avail."
"Peace has been restored, the traitors of the Republic have been defeated, it's a new dawn, a new day, a new life for BMC! Finally, the cancer brewing in the military has been removed, the infectious metastasis having been terminated."
"Today is the day when we mourn the dead."
Trantor looks down at his feet. Briefly, the crowd in front of him does the same. For a few moments, the entirety of Libertopolis is in mourning with him.
"But, tomorrow is the future. And the future shall be bright with hope. The events of this past week prove that this country is stronger than a single man. May this serve as a timeless example to all would-be tyrants that will attempt to follow the shoes of General Claudio Graziano."
"Not in Brazil. Not in the home of the free."
"Long live the Republic! Long live Brazil!"
=== Galag/Space Cannon Arc ===
==== Session 0 - Aftermath ====
This session mainly follows the effects of the prior arc on our main cast, with Lilith dealing with rushing memories through her amnesia, Ben tackling the ramifications of killing and the blood on his hands through the events of PS4 and the Battle of Saigon. It is... very silent in the days, even weeks following this unfortunate event that left tens of thousands dead. For now, our main cast can relax...
==== Session 1 - Consolidation ====
One day, Kaisa walks, or rather teleports, in on one of Ben's therapy sessions with the infamous Doctor Bollocks. He gives Ben special pills, and reveals he has found something out about the universe. There are multiple Universes. After he drops this world-shattering information, he lets Ben add it to his list of therapy topics, and teleports to Callaghan Bunker where Lilith is staying at. He knocks her out, installing some form of aim bot into her head, before teleporting away from sight. While talking to Basil, Kaisa reveals where he is going, and as Basil finds himself lacking in the courage department like his husband and friends, he asks to come along with Kaisa on his trip. Kaisa considers the proposal, and eventually the group arrives at the former BMC Throne Room. They are visited by a ruler of the Weeblands, Sasha, who sticks around long enough to witness a fight between the demon, Bread, and a group of apples. Entertained enough, the group bid their goodbyes to Kaisa and Basil as they depart for space.
In the meanwhile, there are whispers around the Southwest of unruly happenings. Lilith, on one plane-trip back from the Weeblands, spots black smoke. Upon arriving at Callaghan, she investigates the origin of the smoke, the Triads territory. It is decimated by a crater.
==== Session 2 - Twenty Minute Adventure ====
Now, by the time of a day later, it's clearly captivated the eyes of everybody on BMC. Head-scientists and meteorologists in Shanghai have spotted the black smoke and cratering in the Triads, who have been absolutely demolished by a projectile of some unknown origin. In addition, something has been caught in a strange elliptical orbit around BMC. It is not long before Shanghai is contacted by the Al-Mogus Caliphate.
Sunny, the current prime minister of Shanghai, receives a phone call. From the Al-Mogus Caliphate, the Caliph Al-Mogus (yes, really) is panicking as the orbital object has him worried over the safety of his country. He pleads to Sunny to reveal information, asking him about unknown entities like "Shaytan" and "Capitao", to which Sunny expresses confusion. Lilith shows up with Bread, but they sit on the sidelines as the discussion progresses to Al-Mogus shifting the blame to Mr. Cap. He states that Cap called him and had bombed the Holy Al-Mogus Impostor Mosque in Mount Sustanbul. The two calm down and discuss their options on how to proceed, with Al-Mogus calling for Cap to be "ejected from his space cannon". The statement throws Sunny off and he hangs up.