Aether is Unbreakable, Section 2

## **Squad #[REDACTED]'s Story (from Kari's perspective)**

### **Entry 16**

Help arrived, and we were returned to the Aether.  Upon checking in our CO wasn’t happy with our vigilante style as we did all of this work on our time off for the week, but for my squad’s sake I got him to compensate us financially.  He also appointed us a new member seeing as he was sure there were four of us at some point, and at first glance I could hardly tell if what stepped before us was exactly it if he weren’t so civilized.  I still don’t know what he is, a deep elf? I’m not even sure. All I saw of him was an eldritch abomination with manners. He can’t see, and instead uses echolocation and a few seconds preview of the future to see.  Whatever. He too has something like Roosevelt and Randy, except it’s even uglier than he is. Certainly this man has a lot of gall calling it “Huggy” as it is anything but; a fleshy amalgamation of human parts and chaos spawn in this surprisingly docile bundle of nightmares.  I believe you’re supposed to spell this man’s name as Caz'Thuum Palatino from what I heard him say, but now he’s one of us. Quite literally the moment we step out the door with our mission, which this new guy is supposed to specialize in, we meet another quirky fellow.

A travelling magician caught the attention of Jeff, who I had just recognized as wearing a very familiar outfit.  I could swear that he was wearing the outfit of someone familiar, but it’s not like there’d be anyone to confirm it but me. This magician attempted to make the better fool out of Jeff, but I doubt it’s possible to fool someone who’s already too foolish to be outwitted, if that makes any sense. Jeff casted some inane trick and did put the guy on the spot, and I don’t know why but something about him started getting on my nerves and I tried to beat some sense into him.  The magician guy saw it coming and Jeff noticed me with enough time to evade. I guess our antics impressed the guy, who introduced himself as Ace "Hugh" Morris, and asked of our nature. This guy is what’s called a skytouched, kinda like a fallen angel but more literal and less creepy. We presented ourselves as members of the Guard and he requested to “join in our fun”. I suppose if we made such an impression, then why the hell not.

The three of them went in their own directions for running different kinds of errands as Duke and I went for mechanical errands.  I got what I needed, a toolkit like the good old days of my youth, and then set off to clear my head for some time. Eventually I reconvened with them at some magic stand or something, I didn’t really give a shit. Afterwards the two new guys were interested in going to the bar with me even though I was just going to drink my sadness away. I showed them the trick to get in and they proceeded to do what Ping and I did last time. I just sat there and tried to drink the tears and memories away.

### **Entry 17**

I woke up just as sad as I always have been, but this time we had a job to do.  We were dropped off outside a supposed rebel base to do recon, but our M.O. didn’t exactly ever fit subtlety like mine does.  Hugh I suppose has his travelling wagon bound to him like my car, and we all took that until we were close enough to approach the base unnoticed.  We used the sewer system below to infiltrate the base, and found the end at some sort of furnace room. One of them decided it was a good idea to snuff all of the furnaces to get the attention of someone to lure down here.  A total of four guards, two at a time, attempted to fix this issue before I requested we had enough uniforms for all to use as disguises. I might have been mistaken slightly as Caz had entirely eaten two of those rebels on his own, although reassuring my stance of calling him an abomination it didn’t shake my stance on things nor my trust that was enough to consider him an ally.  I can’t say it didn’t disturb the other three to an extent.

I morphed myself into one of the not eaten ones, and everyone else took a uniform except Duke since his is more than qualified to already fool either side of this Aetherian dispute. The castle was as about as populated with these blue suits and rebels as the subway base was. Upon noticing a guarded staircase, I figured I could distract the guards for the others to pass even though it wouldn’t be easy as I no longer was myself in form.  It did work, and they had tricks up their sleeves too, but I had no permitted access upstairs myself. I used this time to assess what was on this level, which I found out was pitifully nothing. I did catch a glimpse of a blue suit scientist long enough for me to follow upstairs, waiting long enough to follow in case she had just went up there herself. I met with the two newer guys at the top of the stairs, addressing them of my being in disguise, and they told me of a sectioned off wing that required a hand print.

Caz and Hugh led me to it and I tested to see if changing form provided me with their DNA for something like this: and it did, the door opened and we entered nonchalantly. We looked around for the information we needed and soon after the other two made their way over with their own news of discoveries on the other wing of the building. Apparently the rebels were using human test subjects to combine the results of a strange disease with the Mutagen. After looking around further, we figured out this disease was an alien disease, and that its origins are extraterrestrial.  Unable to do anything about this and the specimens we had just found, all of us scouted the area for intel to secure for HQ to study. I suppose we found what we were looking for, despite the fact that I had done the equivalent of space out in the time of searching.

### **Entry 18**

A commotion out of my peripherals just after the end of the last entry caught my attention.  The very same lady that I disguised myself as had just assaulted Jeff with a dagger outside our room. Appropriately, we went to his aid but not before this woman let out a damaging scream.  At this point it was over with trying to keep our involvement silent. All of us in the room busted through the glass walls to aid Jeff with Caz creating some kind of swipe at her location, freezing her in the pocket of space she was in.  We all had that location surrounded, but I knew just as easily that even an idiot could counterattack in force just as well as we could encompass the area. Just as this spell was lifted this horrid being that was a high elf lashed out at all of us, and simply so I was prepared to counterattack this kind of motion.  After deliberately lashing back at this thing it trampled past Duke to attempt releasing the specimens in the other room, however Duke, Randy, and I put a serious stop to that before any more damage to us or the surrounding area could be done.

Swiftly we made our escape through a hatch in the original room searched that we did notice earlier led back to the sewers and into a pit.  Before our descent one by one, Caz warned us of a beast known as a “Corpse Swimmer” residing at the very bottom of the pit. While Hue can fly, and Jeff and Caz can climb down, Duke and I just had to use the rope he acquired before our mission. While he said it could support him easily, I reminded him that our weight combined was more than his alone and I was prepared for that. As we, the last two to do so, descended I noticed the grapple hook itself bending beyond its capabilities at our weight.  At the moment it bent severely further, I kicked Duke off the rope and onto Hugh, swung myself back for momentum, and used the last of the rope’s support to propel myself forward and roll to the others unscathed.

I reminded the others of our hastened exit, and got back outside the base to find Cpt. Scallion waiting for us impatiently. Upon all of us leaving the perimeter in his ship the rebels did send their own ships to pursue us, along with more of those smaller ships Duke and Ping took what felt like so long ago.  I rushed to one of the stationed MGs, knowing my place, as Jeff had Randy do the same. A blast from one of those damned ships with my already wounded self was enough to put me at a need for assistance, and dying is never the first worry I have while at death’s door. Duke again made sure I wouldn’t leave their service, but came to with the aid of an angel that had similar resemblance to a knight from one dimension Katya sent me too. I didn’t want to think about it very hard then, but what I did realize thinking back on it was that it had to do with a place known as Astora.

Upon getting myself to my feet, Cpt. Scallion and a ship with size much like ours were colliding on our starboard side interlocked close enough to punch one of those rebels from our ship over the railing. I didn’t care what was happening, I was gunning down every last one of them to prevent them knowing of us personally despite the close proximity. Some of those tiny ships even crashed into this bigger one at times, and I made an effort to eliminate their ship’s captain myself. I gunned him off of his controls and took my last swing with my scythe at his neck to decapitate him disgracefully, remarking that, “You hurt me, and now I finish you off respectively.  Now we have balance, as all things should be”. And that was the last time I ever was brought to death's door ever again.

The rebel ship was at that point veering to its destruction, and what of us that were on their ship had to evacuate. Many wanted to take hostages and salvage the ship, but I had to sternly remind them that fortune and glory is a fate of its own and seeking that fate was a choice. We left that wreck behind as it collided with an apparent larger ship pursuing us and caused the whole scenario to halt as we JATO-ed our way to safety once again.

### **Entry 19**

Not much to say about the night before then, we merely regained our composure after a long mission and they followed me as I went to locate some kind of lounge.  We did so, got to know each other more, and then respectively went to our lodges to sleep. The morning after we learned of the fact that all of us were to be on yet another break time.  I went with Caz to examine the body recovered of the lady I disguised as on our previous sortie. It wasn’t very much pleasant as upon discovering some odd blood sacs within, Caz magically activated them only to reveal the being’s transformation into some vampiric abomination.  The two of us had the doctor assisting us off-hand step back as combat wasn’t his forte as it had seemed. It took some fighting, but with two shots from me crippling a few of its many limbs and a single hard strike to its head with Sweet Dreams it finally faltered. Needless to say, the day after was not spared of Duke, Jeff, and Hugh’s assistance.

### **Entry 20**

With Hugh’s absence in combat the day prior came about his tip to follow clues regarding his old circus group to a city of Caz’s kind.  For the life of me I forget the city’s name amidst the combat, but it was within a cave and entirely dark. The first privy of the squad was Jeff finding an arcade, which for once told myself to loosen up and join him.  Despite all sense of logic telling me not to join him, I caved in anyways. Playing games and dancing with him then reminded me of my youth, which I feel is an apt means of describing it as while I don’t look like it I am roughly 80 years old.  I don’t know myself how old I am, I forgot over the years of hatred and loneliness. Come to think of it I hadn’t celebrated my birthday in decades, or any other holidays to that matter. Having fun in there with him felt like maybe these people made my pursuit of revenge bearable along the way.  Jeff won some plush turtle and I couldn’t help but smile at our situation for a while.

Well, we did have to stop at some point, and made our way to a bar that Hue led us to with some Ent that found us in that arcade. Turns out he was in some incognito form of one member in the group. They all had not only been looking for Hugh, but for us; and they had a job ready upon our preparedness.  A heist, as it were, and heist or intel mission alike it was just like my old profession in tactical espionage. In a monastery we were to find an Oracle, deep elf and in the opposite wing of where we’d be brought in. It would have been easier to have me go in on my own, and Caz agreed with me, but that wasn’t happening as the one who arranged this mission for us was the explosives expert in Hugh’s group.  We did have robes to disguise us, however with my changeling abilities I didn’t need them.

Jeff went about interacting with one of those that actually belonged in the monastery when we actually got there, I don’t know if they are an acolyte or a monk or whatnot, in an attempt to distract them. Amateur move, although it didn’t necessarily jeopardize anything since it was a public means of entry, and the rest of us continued to the Oracle’s location.  Upon getting there a more knightly, if not a simply a guard, one of the monastery wasn’t keen on letting us pass. Caz had trapped him in one of his illusionary spells and ran straight for the Oracle; who he had then recognized as his sister, as she immediately questioned his presence with a simple, “Caz?”. We had to act faster at that point, and began to make our way to the room we began in. People started to catch on to the fact that we were intruders and with haste we used one very primitive explosive: a breaching charge that was thickened with more breaching charges for more explosive power.  Then did the rest of the squad find it apt to use the emergency explosive, which created a blinding light then revealing itself as a ball of plasma within the highest point of the city akin to the sun. Avian kind flew into it and were instantly incinerated and the city below fell into panic from the looks of it.

Caz had his sentient mess of flesh hold people within the monastery so us as a squad could be then teleported back into the bar Hugh’s group were expectantly waiting for us in. We did so successfully and learned the true meaning of retrieving Caz’s Oracle sister, who I then found out was named Val Thuum, or simply as Val.  She was to aid us in bringing deities brought from mortal kind back down in order to bring about flawed immortals to their true fate, as apparently Oracles can do. The older lady in Hugh’s group insisted I go about receiving a fortune upon revealing to her that I understood the consequences of gods like this. Although I was referring to Katya, it had been a while since Azathoth crossed my mind and before I could redact my consent it was too late. She had collapsed on the floor and was having a seizure. Before I knew it her eyes were orange and her voice wasn’t her own any longer but instead one more familiar and sinister. She was then he, Azathoth, and before he could manage to cause any damage to us Duke had snuffed him out of her.

Jeff with his reaper abilities must be able to see how long people have until they die, as he was yelling his concern about how she only had a few days left to live. He then called upon Death himself with that turtle of his out and all fell silent as each light within the bar extinguished in an instant. His turtle went ablaze, only revealing his face faintly in the darkness. When the room was light again soon after he was relieved to see that he had done something to extend the life of Hugh’s friend, but all was not jubilant for long. Another one of Hue’s friends lie dead as we soon realize his life force was forfeit as a sacrifice for what Death’s assistance to Jeff was. Gloomily we made our way back to the Aether in asylum for the chaos we hath brought to yet another land of peace.

### **Entry 21**

No one stood proud on the train ride back to the Aether that day, but we split apart in our separate ways to fulfill errands in need of doing.  I can assume where everyone else went, but I did something I needed done a long while ago. Ever since Katya approached me to seek peace, I was in need of a common link to prepare for war.  I got myself a Colt SAA, or Single-Action Army for people who didn’t know. Something of a running theme in gunslinger preferred pieces. Although I can’t say I enjoyed the experience, just the most odd people work at chain corporate stores in this realm.

We did all reconvene together at some point, but I wish we hadn’t. I asked within myself to speak to Azathoth like Katya did to me, then and there did he appear. I asked what he wanted with me and at first he avoided the question and pondered at what time did he last visit the Aether.  Upon repeating myself, he told me a story that did in the end answer my question. He wished upon conquest of the gods, and Katya was in no way ever keeping a low profile. In our timeline she is among the highest of entities, but while here she did pay the price of carelessness. If I know her like I do, I can surely bet that she isn’t beating herself up about it or panicking.  Instead she is biding her time, ever patient and possibly speaking seductive words with Azathoth to curry his favor. She’d be trying to play him a fool, a folly over all man. If it were to fail, before pulling the trigger like on any other mortal, she’d trust her Anima as Azathoth has proven to be a bigger target than most.

Caz, the knowledge-hungry fool he played himself for, attempted to find within Azathoth something to record in his Grimoire.  Instead, he had been inflicted with something that made him think we were his enemy. While we as a whole did our best to fight the fight out of him, it was me that set him vulnerable enough to have Jeff play diplomat. I suppose Caz understood Jeff and ceased his fight, although right about then did we cause a scene with a dead innocent trailing back to Caz. We split in different directions for the night and called it at that. I spent time alone thinking over my options over the break, and something lit a spark in my memory.  I was certain back in our crash into hell, back when Ping the pirate was with us, there was someone who woke before us in that crash. Someone who has left for me a forever identifiable profile: Nate. From what I picked up at the wreckage, I was certain that Nate was there the whole time.

Ever since then I picked up on small trails that led back to him, so even then I knew he escaped the underworld, made it to the Natural World, and has tried his hand at looking for me. I made for the Natural World at dawn and passed Koffstead, whereas I noticed Jeff in a different car possibly to go about checking up on his home town.  I stopped at a city called Cloln and first thought to go about seeing the fellow authorities about a man matching Nate’s unique description. He was seen exiting town, in a car I knew he stole, and heading in the continued direction of the train. It was then that something from my youth lit me up inside: Nate was travelling by car. That meant I could finally do the same, I had been waiting to hop back in the driver’s seat of my trusty Shadow AE86 for some time. I did so to pursue the trail leading ever closer to Nate. Once again did I find a reason to enjoy life, and determination filled me with excitement as I took off with that damn 2JZ engine I compacted within the hood of my 86.  I hadn’t felt joy like this in some time, and I made my way briskly in Nate’s supposed direction.

### **Entry 22**

A few hours into the drive, something ethereal had forcefully shut the engine of my car off.  From behind me came a great rumble, akin to a massive natural disaster emerging. A large undead dragon rose from within the sky and began wreaking havoc on the city I had just come from.  Sometime after driving back, I had noticed Scallion’s ship hailing for my boarding. I promptly steered my car in close, jumped out the driver’s side window and retracted the 86 while entering the gunship.  Reunited with my squad, we flew up and onto the massive dragon while other Aether Guard ships held dogfights with rebel units in aerial pursuit or from within the dragon itself. This being was indeed massive, one of its appendages or limbs eclipsed even a great skyscraper in size comparatively.

At first I wasn’t sure how we were about to approach this being, but intel suggested its conscious was hijacked by a device vulnerable without a firewall. Jeff thought we, specifically I, could hack it and gain control of the dragon for Aether forces, but I tried on many cases to explain I was good at computers and small devices and nothing else.  Anything beyond that, come to think of it, is what Ren is for.

Upon descending onto the dragon, we made a breaching pattern on the roof and assaulted the rebels within. This is also the time where Hue finally got around to reminding me he purchased black powder bombs made from hollowed out grapefruit, and such unorthodox means of dispatching the enemy asunder did those handheld hellions of destruction do.

Upon maintaining a holding pattern up to the head of the dragon did we see two familiar sights. A centerpiece that composed of the device hijacking the dragon’s consciousness and an old enemy of ours: Black Fist. Jeff made very clear who he was, his intentions of becoming a god, and what it meant for Black Fist. In response he wasn’t terribly threatened and in fact displayed rebutting might one would do to anger someone out of their right mind.  For Jeff’s sake I lashed out at Black Fist saying, “We encountered you when [Jeff] was weak, and I will vouch for he has grown. But you’ve made the biggest mistake in your time since that day. One simple mistake. You really pissed me off.” To which I expectantly predicted he’d be sending grunts to prioritize me, but didn’t expect the fact that he was phased by what I said. It was a joke anyways. Someone much smaller than he, female, and much weaker than him in muscle mass I’d imagine.

I reflect on what changed his mind right then and all I can muster is that I am as intimidating as people say, or he saw Sweet Dreams. I easily thwarted all of his goons with a simple show of force, and three shots from my SAA made then three dead on the floor. At some point in the fight to finalize Jeff’s personal vendetta, another more shrouded arachnomorph charged in to seemingly do the same. Round after spinning round after slinging round piercing into his futile, solid plate armor did Black Fist fall to my faster hands.  I stashed away with the FAL sincerely to piss him off in combat and use the SAA against him instead.

As Black Fist lay dying on the floor I let Jeff finish his personal business himself rather than pick the easy way out and fire that last round in my cylinder. Black Fist’s last words were nothing but evil cackling as his decapitated head slowly lessen its grip on life, and we explosively disposed of the machine on the dragon’s brain and left with the other mysterious arachnomorph.

After returning back to Scallion we learned of a bigger disturbance that erupted back in the Aether as everyone’s attention was diverted to the dragon, an amateur move I wish I had no part in.  Nevertheless I turned to Jeff in his more rested state. He was looking into the horizon with an expression that simply said, “finally”. I called for him with a smile on my face and he came forth. I offered my hand raised in the air, and he promptly took it with a look of determination and smiled back. Never in the time as Stygian have I enjoyed working with someone like him before then, and I was glad. For my decision to stay in some way, but more glad for his sake. We made our way back to the Aether knowing our job wasn’t yet finished.

### **Entry 23**

Our arrival was met shortly by splitting up to our each responsible errands from before.  I get back onto the train and to the city past Cloln, passing Duke and Jeff as they went scavenging the dragon for whatever it is they’re hoping to find.  I forget the name of the next city as its name is extremely out of my sense of norms, even for my excessive traveling. Upon reaching the police precinct of the city, a city which I figured out to be of mountainfolk nature amusingly, I asked the lady at the front desk for anything on Nate.  She was reluctant, but I made myself clear that I needed this information. From what she had on him, it looked like he was sent to Cloln for charges pressed on him. At first I thought he was sent to Cloln and drove back for some reason, but then I reasoned that he went here second and was sent back to Cloln.

I returned to the Aether and approached our CO on where archives are kept at HQ. I was sent the appropriate place and the lady ent there figured I’d be there all day looking for Nate’s file. Sweet Dreams helped me with that, vigorously and at excessive speeds filing through different folders and binders until my eyes stopped it at Nate’s eventually.  From what was there I was able to conclude what happened to Nate in full and confirm my original suspicions back in hell. Nate drove away from Cloln only to be sent back, tried and found guilty, and sent on a ship back to the Aether itself.

Given it went smoothly I would have been his defense attorney or at least see him to his cell and let him free. It didn’t go smoothly, as the prisoner transport was intercepted and never heard from again, thus he was taken on the ship we crashed in hell.  From there I could only figure he was still there or got out in one of the two more legitimate methods my squad didn’t take. I rushed to Duke to ask if he knew where Nate would be if he did choose to go to the layers of Lucifer and Moloch, or to Lilith. He couldn’t say from what he knew, but I still appreciated his help. With nothing left to do, I went to the usual bar with Caz and Hugh again to gamble calmly given my kicking of Grace’s ass back home, the arrogant Korean one not the kind Canadian one. I could mention what I thought others were doing during that time, but I was hellbent on answers.

### **Entry 24**

I can’t say I’m surprised that nearly immediately after we return something else goes about hell soon after.  First with that we split up to properly to our own needs that day. I’ll get to what the others were doing in due time to what I was doing.  However first Jeff had gone about attempting to relocate this sister of his, to which he learned she drugged us all upon our celebratory return.  I’ll remember that the next time she crosses me like that again, and promptly show her why she shouldn’t be doing that. I asked Sweet Dreams, who seems to have slightly regressed in this universe since entering her new state, if she recalled Jeff’s sister.  She, not so much talkative but squawking like a bird, promptly replied with a negative.

I took this time to see about enchanting my FAL just to dip my head in the arcane for once, and with some success as it does seem to hit somewhat more akin to 7.62x54mmR or .338 Lapua with still the specifications and statistical properties of 7.62 NATO, otherwise known as .308 Winchester.  I also sought out the guild or temple, whatever, that fell within the realm of marksmanship to attempt to bless my revolver for a moral boost to my morale and what I stand for. Both of my errands with my firearms this day worked miraculously and ever proud I returned to reconvene with my team only for the call of duty to be heard again. An explosion erupted from the distance and we pursued it to its conclusion.

### **Entry 25**

What we found at the scene were the scorched remains of a building unrecognizable by fire.  What we did find were bodies unharmed by the flames raising from its wake, only assuming by their stature that these were belligerents that were the source of this explosion.  Upon descending into combat these scoundrels cast a wall of flame to deter us, being that it only deterred me. Sweet Dreams went forth and cast upon these insurgents the beating they deserved.  Very well made hare-brained combat skills were displayed by my teams, such as Hugh displacing himself while airborne with another belligerent therefor dropping this heavy mountainfolk onto his ally and killing the below ally.  We pursued the end of these belligerents’ lives until one remained.

After combat we settled with the end of most of their lives and barely scathing any of ours, Duke took to searching the ruins with his immunity to being hurt by the flames within the wreckage.  He came out later stating that this was a temple to Ma’ax, the god he pledges his cleric-ship to. The only surviving belligerent from the incident was very similar to Duke in formation, but we took him in for interrogation regardless. In a concise explanation to the whole interrogation it went as follows; I did most of the talking, the subject was unresponsive at first, Jeff gave him a Twinkie I suppose, I had Caz use a spell to make the subject speak only truth, the subject then spoke of what we needed to hear.

This subject was a disciple of Prometheus, one born in flame and only of it. Supposedly their goal is to never “let the flame die”, to whatever that may be is still unclear. The disciples clear the path for Prometheus and whatever there is of this “god” is perceived as humanoid flame, and whatever is heard of this god cannot be as such unless you wish to have your ears burnt off quite literally as all of us but the subject did encounter this. The subject unknowingly gave us invaluable information regarding what to expect and how in regards to this “god”.  After the interrogation we split again for our own errands, and as simply as possible I’ll say on my part it was all for Sweet Dreams. She has her own shoulder-mounted minigun, a formidable heavy resistance to any concussive force incoming, and a stylish new Keytar to use herself as she pleases instead of only helping my hand at a duet. She seemed to have really appreciated all that I did for her that day equally.

### **Entry 26**

The next day we had a hefty mission ahead of us.  Our goal was to relocate the base I had previously needed a rescue from as our CO had finally found this time to counter-attack after what had happened with the dragon.  This was to disable some sort of cloak this city base had that made it impossible to locate for the Guard, and as we would disable this stealth field would come about the planned counter-attack.  This would be a game of chance for step one in the mission and also a chance to regain the company of Val. It was rather simple getting back actually, to my surprise.

These rebels are amateurs and fools to have so many trains leading to the same eventual place.  It was easy to spot one carrying munitions forth and we descended upon it. It was virtually effortless dispatching of all the grunts within and reach the conductor unit. Sweet Dreams didn’t even have to spend more than a single hit on most of these poor souls, as it was another train within the nexus of trains yet again and some simply fell to their deaths.

I had the team wait until my action to enter the front-most car and silently stepped up to the conductor, held him by the neck with my knife, and demanded he tell us what we needed to know then. Rather unhelpful but complacent, fearing for his life, he told us to his best knowledge what we asked and with this wave of heroism that’s flushed within me ever since Katya’s contemplative approach I had a second thought.  It reminded me, I hadn’t wanted to say within these recordings when it had happened, but on the train ride returning from the city meeting Hugh’s group I had a strange desire to check on Katya.

I found myself within Azathoth’s laboratory realm and up to Katya, bound and bloodied. Before I could make sense of what to do, I found myself stuck within one of the codger’s tricks and awoke again on the train. This encounter crossed my mind in that moment holding the conductor over his life.  As if some wave of empathy crossed my path, I left the conductor unconscious instead of doing what I probably would have naturally done and slit his throat.

Upon reaching the station yet again, not exactly nostalgia behind the reason, we found each of ourselves in boxes being lifted within the facility yet again. The only difference this time being that I shared a box with Caz, somehow the two of us thinking our combined skills might be needed if our boxes all together were separated. After silence came about our transit for some time I opened the box to discover all five of us were within the same warehouse, as well as even trying the same password on the door I previously had to hack and guess.  As if the idiot doing security for the rebels were to have an IQ of 75 the same passcode worked again, I’m not sure how I even remembered it right at that moment. I don’t remember it now, as I’m relaying this information.

Well, we remained nonchalant and casual making our way up to the surface level, me making extra sure my already documented appearance wasn’t recognized by changing into one of those “blue suits” that passed by our path. We found our way back up to the surface level from the station level and made our way to the center-most building in the city hub, which the conductor of the train ever so nicely named the city for us as “Alpha-One”. I will spare the amount of exploration we had to do to get to where we needed to be as it was a bit strenuous.  When we did get to something that appeared to be what we were to find, it wasn’t as easily obvious at first. As it turns out what powered the entire several hundred floor tall monolithic tower was aquatic and organic. An extremely large aquarium within housed eels that provided immense electrical output for all needs within the entire city no doubt. I have no idea how something so large could be easily dismantled so quickly, but at this time we disowned our disguises and set about charges of “enhanced” C4, named as the personally groan-inducing name of C5, on a section of the aquarium tank itself. Hugh cast this spell that rubberized the surface the charge was set on to make it flexible and, ironically, fragile as the walls were rather thick.

Upon halfway riding the service elevator to the surface again was when we detonated the charge.  As soon as a thundering boom and flickering of the cabin lights followed I figured we were about to have trapped ourselves within the shaft. Surprisingly to me the elevator remained operating all the way back up to the top, and absolute chaos was amok when we got there. The assault of the Aether Guard had began, everyone within the building was disorganized and everywhere, and our cue then was to find and retrieve Val. It seemed by instinct almost, but Hue looked at a very specific direction upward, grabbed me, and we along with Hue ascended the tower via the exterior. We avoided gunfire and blasts that came our way and crashed into a window at a floor very much higher than we had traveled to before. If I had to guess, maybe it was from 400 to 500 floors up? Thinking about it, I couldn’t really say. I had just been in Caz’s grip for some time before we re-entered the tower.  When we did, he pointed us to a door we found as locked. I could tell he knew his sister was in this room and on a count to breach, I had Sweet Dreams mightily kick the door inwards and off its hinges. Within we found a looming figure, a wood elf standing tall above us, and strapped to an operating chair under his presence was Val. Making attacks on this guy was difficult, as it wasn’t like he took time away from our attacks but knew to look out for them much farther in advance.

Despite the chaos around and our intrusion he attempted to leave calmly, to which all attacks done to him by us were dodged within the millisecond. He threw Caz on the floor and used that to knock me down, but I’m not some coy fool in combat. I rolled backwards with the momentum of his swing and stopped time as I regained a holding pattern on my knee. I swapped my revolver with Hugh’s previously unmentioned new toy Fubar.  Fubar, as is the best way to put it, is a AK pistol operating cylinder-looking magazine loading handgun that looks like it’s from the tech-noir film “Blade Runner”. Its sinch is that its shells are not in caliber but instead as 2-bore.

With swapping his Fubar for my piece I resumed time to fire upon the supports that held the ceiling above this perceptive opponent. The ceiling collapsed upon him and after watching him take in immense pain he simply gives Caz his business card and walks away. For someone who could perceive our actions early he was weak to the instantaneous actions of time stop. After this guy leaves our sight I pull my trick again to swap my revolver back to me and Fubar back to Hugh, and the three of us find Captain Scallion’s ship immediately outside with Jeff and Duke already on. We make our escape after freeing Val and taking her with us and find ourselves off in the in-between in a flash.

### **Entry 27**

As if we had no time to relax, our transit back to the Aether was cut rather abruptly.  A colossal void black hand cuts through the in between to seemingly strike Scallion’s ship and send us to the plane below us.  I could do nothing to aid navigation other than watch at first, but as this first large hand is narrowly escaped, many more break through and allow us no quarter.  We were sent downwards into the below plane at alarming speed, like if spacecraft re-entry into Earth was a lot less than safe.

Upon waking up I found some spriggan-like creature from Tamriel that resembled Jeff standing before me and I was lying on charred ground leaning against the ship.  It waved at me, and when I reached for my USP in my leg holster I found that it was already in my left hand. What was in my holster was a small log that had a leaf wrapped around it. The leaf had writing on it that simply said, “XOXO, Jeff”. At that moment I think a combination of stress and confusion took hold of me as I looked up at this creature again and thinking of its likeliness of Jeff.  I couldn’t help myself at the moment and laughed uncontrollably, and did so with a combination of hilarity and solace. If this thing was indeed Jeff, I knew now he really did care for us. I don’t know why me as I seemed to be the only one who had received a “gift”.

I didn’t get to enjoy the moment for long as figures approached us from the distance in a marching formation. When they got close enough for talk, they announced themselves as Fey and requested we visit their herald Salieri in regards to our crash here.  With this the “Spriggan Jeff” made some odd pose sticking its “arms” outwards and flew into the sky. I watched it as it made its departure, and wondered what he was doing. I wondered if Francis ever took up his offer after all. I get the feeling he did, though.

### **Entry 28**

Before we could have done anything to protest, the Fey had already been leading us to this Salieri that Hugh and I previously randomly encountered not that long ago in a store.  The sky was a mid twilight and the grass was a desaturated color, but then in the distance came about a city in relatively similar colors but nevertheless grand in awe. We were led into a grand palace, it reminded me of grand mansions in France or something like the Louvre but in a jade or sapphire tint.  Not very far within were we led to reach the inner chambers of Salieri himself which we had a proposition to wager for each other. For half of a million “dollars”, answers to five seriously pressing questions, the airship restored and upgraded further, and protection detail for Caz’s sister during our end of the bargain Salieri proposed we enter the Spirit Jungle surrounding this Fey city and quell the calling of one Tetuakana as it is burdening the Arachnomorph population.  We agreed with no other options then or repercussions further and were offered lodging and 24 hours to prepare.

Back in our lodging I heard a lot of commotion from Duke and Hugh, I assume Duke went about finding his own answers about these mortal lords that had come to our attention, but I sat for many hours contemplating one next move: do I stab Sweet Dreams with the Arrow?  I had gotten it from a trinket a while back, a trinket of a puzzle box I had acquired back when Ping was still with us in Koffstead. What I had wasn't even really a Stand, would it even work? Hugh, Caz, and the rest of us spent our wits end opening it only for me to realize the value of what was within. Upon reaching my conclusion Sweet Dreams took the Arrow herself with in in her chest, and then a massive surge of light overtook the room and the Arrow’s head then was left on the ground in dust with me holding the shaft of it.

People must’ve thought something exploded as Duke, Hugh, and Caz all together rushed in the room to see only me and a shell that was Sweet Dreams. A crack formed within this shell and a gleaming red eye emerged. Within a second everyone was bracing themselves as the shell burst open and from within is who I lovingly now refer to as Sweet Dreams Requiem, and in my shock all I could muster was, “What can you do now?”. To everyone’s surprise she responded, “Quite a lot, you’ll see”, tilting her head with a wink and a smile.

### **Entry 29**

We set off for the Spirit Jungle that morning, me with renewed spirits and a completely sentient soul bound partner.  I could not wait to test the capabilities of my newfound strength. We did just that coming up to a clearing with arsons wantonly striking upon the trees with their fire.  My best guess was that they were under Prometheus like the last given their resistance to what Duke could have done to them. Although because of their malicious intent we had to take express action to end them where they stood, and having Sweet Dreams Requiem cease their havoc with a rapid flurry of “~イライライラ!” was just as great as it has always been.

After the last one fell we encountered what I heard was called, by the Fey, as a “Loiger”? Hue seemed to communicate with it and I can only assume he understood what it said as it ran off. Upon walking further and further into the forest after our official departure from the Fey we found that the forest was made of something organic more to the likeliness of us than of a simple tree.  The trees were mushy and their interior housed a kind of skeletal system of ribs, similar to the skeleton of a snake.

Upon travelling further into the forest we found a fenced off establishment in the trees, fenced by organic material seemingly. Dare I say we were looking for it after a series of traps was foreseen by the one known for his expertise in insight, Caz. Arachnomorphs more tribal in nature and appearance approached us with broken speech in common tongue to ward us away.  Since the nature of our business wasn’t involving theirs we did exactly that, but the one to appear in the forefront, I’d guess a tribal chief, told Jeff something I’m sure none of us could understand but him.

Eventually enough we reached a much larger clearing than before where three holes in the ground stood in a triangular formation from each other. Using these holes in the ground something began to speak to us, and it was then that we had found Tetuakana. It too wished to strike a bargain with us and found immediate concern in conversing with Jeff.  Jeff was the only one who could hear it at first but either way he was uncooperative with it. Once it moved on to all of us, it offered us a banquet during negotiations. It looked lavish and fully capable of feeding us, but I knew better than to take food from someone who wasn’t myself or a chef in a civilized environment. I had Sweet Dreams Requiem, as I’ve recently hereby referred to her as SDR similarly to a "D4C", “fix” the food back to its components. As it turns out the food was merely brought instantaneously into existence and not created by proper means as its reversal created a black hole in its place and released radiation onto SDR.  I had her then zipper pull a glass of wine to my hands for me to personally inspect. Jeff was weary and wished not for me to consume it, while Tetuakana refused to offer me knowledge until I did.

By the time I had realized our conversation with it was over and we were then again outside of the forest back towards the city the chalice was empty and I left it on the ground beside me. I often still ponder what would have occurred if I did drink the wine.

### **Entry 30**

Our return to the city of the Fey was extremely chaotic and absurd.  Our presence must really be a bad omen of chaos, as individually we represent our own fates but all together we must represent The Tower.  Despite what it is we do Jeff seems to appear seemingly like he had a bad broadcast connection, he was with us for the forest only to be gone as we return from it now.  The Fey guards claimed they were under siege by the Breakaway only to find no Breakaway and instead subordinate creatures of the forest attempting to lend its grasp over the city.

The whole town was in chaos and apparently Caz had the ability to summon a rock golem to protect his sister without question. It had done such a great job that someone did attempt to kidnap Val and was extremely punished by means of being thrown out the window and left a print where they landed exactly four stories down onto the ground.  If I had to guess it was the one Caz, Hugh, and I encountered when re secured Val during the siege itself. While Caz was meandering around the process of convincing what police or guard force there is for the Fey that his golem would respond to his every command I happen to think to myself with what mishaps must there be for the circumstances to be as this is.  That is to say, I thought why is it that trouble’s always inbound.

More talking about and eventually we stood before Salieri once again in his palace establishment. He was more concerned than we were and Caz insisted he didn’t uphold his end of the bargain in that Val would be safe, which was expressed with more concern as she was no longer in this plane altogether.  However the mysterious perpetrator that set off this chain of chaos indeed was and that by violating his chain of command he forfeit his means of confidentiality with Salieri. For all of us it meant we could freely ask away at whatever of this man we pleased to know. I suppose Duke had the bright idea of requesting in our repercussive repayment some quantity of Sprite Cranberry.  Salieri brought forth an entire crate totaling about 108 cans. Salieri was very much interested in my being tied to Azathoth and with that he asked for my hand. The sludge that makes up my being writhed in Salieri’s arm as he kept Azathoth’s influence in place rather than the last person to do so, which resulted in the possession of said individual and the death of someone very important to Hugh.  Salieri told me the likes of my thrallhood to Azathoth and what means it would take to end his grasp, an Oracle like any other.

Even overgods can be locked in place by the power of an Oracle, also including Yog-Sothoth and Ein Soph. That was surprising to me as Azathoth is a being of Einsoth meaning that, and Salieri continued to mention, if we killed Azathoth it could bring about the truth to the “Idiot Dreamer” story and possibly end reality.  I expressed how many of the greatest conflicts are concluded with many losses yet none dead and my desire to undo his influence on myself by leaving it back to Katya at the fault of no one’s death. I couldn’t simply kill Katya at any given moment to end Azathoth’s influence so long as either has my soul. I need a means to acquire my soul upon Katya’s death in order to fully restore my humanity before even thinking to kill her, otherwise it will disappear with her and I will wither away.

With that Caz spoke up that the previously brought about Sprite Cranberry had a strange property in that it was not tied into this world. Salieri took great interest in that notion and that’s when he questioned what even a “Sprite” was. I spoke up in that it is very abundant where I come from and drinks like it are also just as popular. He then mentioned that I gave off a very similar resonance to the drink, a fact that made me chuckle at, and I seem to share its connection. I then told him how I hop dimensions from my own to here, and proceeded to test if SDR’s dimension hopping could be visually perceived.  As it turns out, that’s a no as it even hurt my head to try to understand what I was seeing with what it looks like to do something passive. As much as I can begin to describe, it’s like seeing the five senses of the body rather than actually feeling them proper. Salieri then requested of me something peculiar: a scoop’s worth of my own flesh. I didn’t care so much for the pain but the reasoning then determined to be to see what else is from my dimension that Salieri has been curiously selling in his stores without knowing what the product even is. I excused myself to a private room as in order to provide any kind of sizable chunk of flesh I’d have to strip down entirely.

It didn’t feel right, standing in a foreign room in nothing but my underwear and a bra scooping at my abdomen with a sharpened ice cream scooper. I had nothing to lose in honoring his request but I still felt even less comfortable seeing the mass I had removed from myself immediately reshape into its place, the wraith changeling detail is one I could never get used to or cope with well. Upon returning Salieri used this sample I had provided him with to bring for 79 more crates of Sprite Cranberry, 74 crates of Twinkies, and 7 more of my make and model car in different paint jobs all within the room we were in. At the sheer confusion we all mutually shared in the room we had our other questions answered and were sent our way with Scallion and a restored and improved airship sailing back to the Aether.

I sat there on the edge of the ship looking out into the In-Between thinking what bizarre adventure I’ve made for myself out here, and where I’d be without SDR. Caz caught on to an interesting fact brought about with our speech with Salieri in regards to an artifact called the chamber gun and after a moment seemed as if he were being abducted by extraterrestrials. Upon landing he seemed almost brain dead and fried out, to which Duke and SDR began helping him back to a stable condition. We got back to Hugh’s circus demi-plane within the Aether and settled down, Duke having lower ranks bring our excessive haul of AE86s, Twinkies, and Sprite Cranberry to the discreet entrance of the circus itself which the members then brought within the demi-plane. Good grief.

I went around with Caz and our newly bestowed wealth of 125K in currency per person among the four of us to this explosives shop that he and Hugh have been patron of since before the dragon came about.  The shop owner there was erratic and dangerous, practically almost always near the idea of accidental suicide by explosives mishandling at every second. I asked for underbarrel attachments which he provided me with a device that adds another “gunshot” to each round as it passes the muzzle, all prompted when I asked for 40mm grenade launchers and his comment of, “I don’t do measurements, they’re a waste of time”. When I asked for something more controlled that I can use, per example a launcher of sorts, he only understood my list of “Stinger, Javelin, AT-6, M27 LAW, etc.” when I concluded it with “rocket launcher”. The shopkeeper brought forth a RPG-7, standard device that you’d find in many places all around the world. Well that would be the case if it were the 1950’s and not 1924 so this intrigued me and I subsequently purchased it. Hell the guy there offered us a minigun that fired mortars, fucking mortars! SDR could be capable of using it but I promptly requested that maybe she shouldn’t.  With that notion Caz and I made our way back to the circus and I relaxed within a tent the members very generously designated for me by woodworking some furniture. I thought about how it should be done and concluded that I’ve worked on live machinery and electronics in the sense of its hardware and software alike so woodworking would be less intense, all that’s needed are measurements and patience.

I asked the mountainfolk one, I felt bad for forgetting his name, for wood and he only requested I return the scrap for its purpose as firewood. I made myself a chair and a table, rather impressed at the sturdy, fine quality I was able to produce them at for knowing very little of both interior design and woodworking. I walked out of my tent after finishing the woodwork with my newly acquired RPG-7 in hand only to see Hugh standing next to his mannequin Lucy, who was holding Fubar and looking suspiciously murderous. The two of us traded confused nods given I was concerned with what the two of them were up to just as he probably was looking at me now having an RPG-7.  I handed the scraps of my woodwork to the mountainfolk and asked if it was safe enough to fire one RPG from the RPG-7 out into the forest to test if it were unusual in some way and the answer, given the specific conditions I asked, was in the affirmative. I called my backblast to avoid possible collateral damage and fired directly onto a tree in the distance, away from the camp. From that it seemed like the RPG-7 was perfectly normal, and from there I noticed everyone entering into the camp Duke and Jeff had told me they had an unborn dragon in its egg in.

I hadn’t seen this dragon egg yet so I admit I wanted to ask about it since I noticed traffic bustling within that tent. Upon entering it seemed like the egg was already about to hatch and out came this small, well as you’d expect, dragon. It had four legs, which I assume the mother was the large one we had rid Black Fist from and it had no legs, with developing wings and a bright yellow scale complexion that reminded me of SDR.