Cataclysm

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## **Main Background**

Tenshicho

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**Cataclysm** is the 17th Standard Regional Ultimate Wizard quest released for the Global version of Crash Fever, albeit at Spectre difficulty.

The quest starts by showing a meeting that occurred at an unknown point in the past. People are discussing the development of Black Ground, and the "Sidereus Plan", specifically the "1st Orbit Phase". One of the members present says that that with all of their resources, the plan can't be behind schedule. They tell a figure that they can't forget their real goal and top priority, and that they are already considering the budget set forth. The person speaking says that this process will take years, but they will finally be able to complete it - the Chronos Code. The figure mentions that using Black Ground as a cover is their only hope to complete the code. The speaker asks the figure if they've already decided who is going to be the host, and names the figure as Orion.

Orion confirms that he has, and says that out of the 87 potential hosts, he has found one that can be their host. He mentions that the first Sagittarius appearance is scheduled in two months. The person he is speaking with says that he should be aware that there is no turning back once they activate Sagittarius, and that they must proceed no matter the cost, as The Light protocol has been completed. The speaker says that they are entrusting Orion with their only chance of victory. The speaker then says the committee will take over now, and both the speaker and Orion state "Long live the Triumvirate". Orion then says to himself that "May the stars forgive me for what I am about to do."

In the present, some time after the events of Spanish Lion Dance, Libra notices something is bothering Ptolemaeus, and asks what it is. Ptolemaeus mentions that she has been studying Sagittarius, but something seems off about it. She looks at the appearance logs, and had noticed that there was a pattern behind them. Gemini's Sister comes over to look at the data. Ptolemaeus mentions that all accesses and rules were fixed to the Black Ground mainframe. The first three appearances were relatively close to each other, but then it took more and more time to appear again. Looking at the registry, Ptolemaeus noticed that it was exponential behavior.

Ophiuchus notices that one of the entries was empty, and Ptolemaeus remarks that she wasn't able to recover the data, and that it seemed like it had been erased completely at the hardware level. She mentions that she had no choice but to cross search it with all the data they collected, from Almagest's blacklisted avatars list, the Nubila Arcana's log, and data from their previous missions. She mentions that it did expose themselves to the risk of being found by a hacker, even if there was little potential info to retrieve. She remarks that she came to the conclusion that that one was the first appearance of Sagittarius, but if she is correct, it had to occur way before The Light.

Scorpio, Virgo, and Libra just stand silent, and Gemini's Sister asks what that's supposed to mean. Suddenly a voice starts speaking, and says that Sagittarius was activated just after the Star Council was created, and the activation was done on purpose. Taurus asks who is there, while Cancer says he can't believe who it is. Leo says "My mother of all people!" in Spanish, and Cassiopeia steps forward. She speaks to Virgo and Cancer, and asks if they're afraid to know the truth. Cassiopeia tells Leo that she sees that she has grown up, and says that she heard that Leo continued to track down bounties all by herself, and asks if that's true. Leo responds that she has nothing to tell Cassiopeia.

Cassiopeia says she understands how she feels, but remarks that there is no time for that now. She says that she has come to warn them all, and Aquarius asks what it is about. Cassiopeia says that the first orbit of Sagittarius is almost done, and it's power is at its maximum. She says that Black Ground is about to be destroyed, and all avatars inside along with it. Libra just stands there silent, and Cassiopeia says that Libra already knows what she came back to ask, while Scorpio asks Libra what is going on.

Libra asks if this means Cassiopeia failed. She responds that she did not; rather, they were tricked, and didn't really have any choice from the start. Capricorn says that this is interesting, and she wonders what will happen next. Pisces yells at her for not being serious about this, and says they can't have the server destroyed. She says there are people out there, and they need to search for every avatar and evacuate, or else everybody is going to die. Cassiopeia apologizes to Pisces and says that she is afraid they will not be able to find Aries in time. Pisces says that she is lying and there must be something else they can do, and asks how they can trust the words of a traitor like her.

Cassiopeia says that while she may be a traitor, that just means her and Pisces are very similar. Libra starts to ask if she really means to go through with this, and Cassiopeia says that he knew this could have happened. She asks if he has told Scorpio anything yet, and Libra just pleads with her to not do it. Scorpio asks what's he is talking about. Cassiopeia then speaks to Scorpio, and says that what she is about to say may seem absurd to her. She tells her that she must destroy Black Ground, and leave no trace of its existence.

Leo, angry, says that first Cassiopeia had the nerve to leave without saying anything and dismantling the Forsaken, and now she has the courage to show up like nothing happened and ask Scorpio to destroy everything and kill thousands. Gemini tells Ophiuchus she is scared, and Ophiuchus says that Leo is right. He says that what Cassiopeia is asking is crazy, and that he didn't fight just to let a stranger tell him to let everyone die and leave.

Ptolemaeus says that they've secured Almagest, and were able to take down it's security. She mentions that they already defeated Sagittarius once, and they can do it again. Cassiopeia warns them that it isn't that simple, and that Sagittarius has acquired a power that hasn't been seen before. She says that it's approaching the end of its first orbit, where it will destroy Black Ground.

Virgo tells Cassiopeia that he has always trusted her, but asks what she means by the "first". Cassiopeia says that this is the first orbit according to the Sidereus Plan documents, and that it is the first of six orbits. She says that they won't be able to stop Sagittarius this time, which will give it the chance to start another orbit and development cycle. She says she came as fast as she could, but there is no time left and they have to trust her.

Suddenly an alarm sounds, declaring the Tenshicho security protocol. It warns that unauthorized objects have been detected, and advises all citizens to take shelter and wait for instructions. Cassiopeia remarks that the old speakers still work, but then reiterates that they have no time. She tells Scorpio to listen to her, saying that they have no chance against Sagittarius now and that they can do nothing more than escape and leave behind everyone else. She says another Black Ground will be created, and another orbit will be initialized; other people will suffer the same destiny. Cassiopeia states that Scorpio has the power to end all of this.

Taurus tells everyone to look at the sky, and says that a huge fleet is headed towards Terranova. Virgo and Cancer recognize it as being Orion's fleet. Orion calls out to everyone, and tells them to listen to him. He announces that today they will witness the final appearance of Sagittarius. However, the power that Sagittarius will use against them is unimaginable. Orion says that he comes from a distant place, where he had time to understand what is right. He announces he is here to help, and that if they join his fleet they can avoid contact with Sagittarius.

Libra asks if Orion still believes in the Triumvirate after all these years, and Orion asks why he out of all people is patronizing him. Orion says that while the Triumvirate has committed injustices, if their plan succeeds the injustices will be viewed as necessary due to the circumstances and needs. And once the Triumvirate has extended its power over ALICE, what they currently call wrongdoings will be called sacrifices by history. Cassiopeia tells Orion that he can't let allow this to happen again, and that she will stop him.

Orion tells her that they both know they don't have any other choice, and he asks her to get on the ship. Cassiopeia tells him to shut up, and says that she doesn't take orders anymore, and that she won't let hundreds of thousands of people experience what they did. She says that injustices will never turn into righteous actions, and that which brings war and destruction brings the dark smell of the dead.

Orion asks what she is planning to do, and reminds her that the only ones who could stop this have been exterminated. He then asks if they should speak directly to their executioner, and asks Libra to tell everyone how he hunted down and killed the last Astral Warrior.

Warning alarms sound, mentioning an anomalous energy reaction at the center of Sector 6. It announces that there is a potential loss of power, and that the server's integrity is at risk. Cassiopeia says that Sagittarius is already here, and begs Scorpio to do what she said. Scorpio asks if it was all a lie, and Orion realizes that Scorpio is an Astral Warrior. He asks how that could be, and accuses Libra of lying to him about having killed all of the Astral Warriors.

Another warning alarm sounds, mentioning that a massive explosion was detected at the Sector 11 suburbs. The sensors on the screen show a visualization of the area as Sagittarius destroys everything in his path. Virgo tells everyone that they can't stay there, and Gemini's sister agrees that the fleet is probably the safest place right now. Ptolemaeus tells them to wait a moment, and Ophiuchus tells her to follow them and they won't let her vanish. Ptolemaeus admits that she has nothing else to lose, and says that she will go get Almagest.

Libra asks Cassiopeia if she really means for Scorpio to kill all of these innocents, but Cassiopeia says that the decision is no longer up to them anymore. Scorpio tells Libra that she lived in a world ruined by war, and was trained since she was a child to be a warrior; she won't allow this to happen again to anyone else. Orion tries to stop her, but Cassiopeia stands in his way. Libra tells them all to forgive him, as Scorpio tries to unleash the power of the Full Antares.

Orion mentions that the Saiph Vessel is ready, and tells everyone to hurry onto the fleets. Scorpio tells Orion that he won't stop her, but suddenly she starts to change into a dark version of herself. Orion says in shock that the Chronos Code is still incomplete and shouldn't have been able to alter her personality like this yet. Scorpio begins wrecking havoc on Black Ground, saying that she is no longer her old self, and that she was chained before. Now that she is free, she knows what she wants to do - punish the avarice of mankind. She tells Orion that she will hunt Orion down.

One of the fleet officers tells Orion to hurry up as they are ready to leave. Orion notes that Black Ground is collapsing, and Taurus asks if everyone is there. Ophiuchus notices that Ptolemaeus is missing. Gemini says that she was still with Almagest, and starts to say that Scorpio is still out there but doesn't finish. Cassiopeia says that they can't wait anymore, and they have to go now. Orion agrees with her, and tells all personnel to prepare for immediate emergency mobilization.

Ophiuchus says they can't just leave without them, but Virgo and Cancer remain silent while Pisces thinks about Aries. Libra worries about Scorpio, and wonders what happened. Orion apologizes, and says that they have to hope they can survive on their own. The staff says that the core engine is charged, and the course is clear; the Saiph Vessel is ready to launch.

Cassiopeia mentions that she saw the destination, and asks if Orion is sure that he wants to go there, while Orion gives the order to launch. Gemini cries, saying she doesn't understand what's going on at all. Black Ground is being destroyed and their friends are still out there, what are they doing here? And where are they going? She asks somebody to tell her what's going on as nothing makes sense to her anymore.

Virgo tries to calm her down, but Leo mentions that Gemini is asking important questions. She says that it was the same as many years ago, and disasters always come without any notice. They suddenly had Cassiopeia back like nothing happened, then suddenly Orion arrives and starts fighting with her. She says that it is some pretty crazy stuff, even ignoring the fact that one of them went mad and started destroying the entire server, and is still out there hunting them.

The main deck door opens, and Cassiopeia asks if what happened to Scorpio was what she thinks it was. Orion says that while it was incomplete, the computing power from Sagittarius was enough to complete part of the Chronos Code. He says that they believe that it has overwritten part of if not all of Scorpio's personal data, and in the worst case scenario her entire personality may have been completely overwritten. Cancer asks him to explain what he is talking about with the "Chronos Code", but Cassiopeia says that there is only one person that can help them understand what is happening to Scorpio, and that it has to do with the true reason behind Black Ground's creation.

The encryption procedure for the ship is confirmed, and the safety locks are removed as the coordinates are located and protection initialized. A mysterious man that had previously been seen outside of Black Ground arrives, and apologizes for the precautions as he supposedly can't be seen speaking with them. He introduces himself as Aleister, one of the Prophets.

This quest has a harder difficulty version with a different layout, Cataclysm (Insane).

## Counter Units

The Regional Festival counter units to this quest are Cassiopeia, Orion, and the Astral Warrior version of Scorpio.

## Quest Overview

* [Prologue 1]
* [Prologue 2]
* [Prologue 3]
* [Spectre]
* [Epilogue]

## Trivia

Work in progress.