Sutoratosu

And what do you think he's trying to do, soldier? pray tell.

You have to admit though, soldier...It is an Emmy deserving performance from Galen.

"not for a very long time... years and years ahead of this day." Anansi said cryptically. "This world... it is under dire threat yet again, as it has been in the past. and as in the past, Heroes have chosen to return to this life in order to combat it and restore the peace. But the threat it faces now... it is far more powerful than anything else mankind has known before... Stronger than even the Lord Orphont, My Lord Master." He turned to face Sinbad now. "Sinbad... you are, for lack of anyone else better suited among you, the leader of this group. In the future you will all have to make difficult decisions that seem to have no explicitly right or wrong choice of outcome. It will be up to you to guide them, Sinbad. You must be the resin that binds the four of you all together... and that later helps to also bind together those others that you must find." He looked off into the distance, pausing for a minute as he considered his next words. "And don't ever think you are alone in this task," he finally continued. "That you have no allies and no one to turn to. Plan after meticulously careful plan has been laid out by the Lord Orphont and another individual. Over thousands of years they have weaved and maneuvered things, trying to prepare this world to be able to survive, to set the field for you and those like you. When the night looks to be the darkest, look to the conqueror, for he shall bear a path forward for you all." He turned his gaze down to Stratos now, something looking like nostalgia in his eyes. "And even Leonidas himself has had an ample hand in things," he said. "There are six heroes who have proven themselves throughout history, six Souls who have answered the call of battle even after death and chose to re-enter this plain time and time again to restore order up until and all the way through the Nix War. Leonidas has fought alongside each of these valiant spirits at some point in the past... and he took it upon himself to assemble them all in Elise and gather them into a single Party. They all took the trials of rebirth... and all passed at different times. He was the first. it took the others far longer, but they are here now. They are all here to lend their strength to your fight, All you need to do...is simply find them all... and awaken their true Souls." ((It is highly suggested you begin firing off your questions now))

"All is not as it seems, Sinbad..." Anansi said cryptically in response. "But soon... all shall be revealed." he turned back to the other travelers. "If no one has any more questions, I shall go on: Over the eras, several heroic souls have risen in the world, those fighting for the sake of others or for a dire mission for the greater good, etcetera, etcetera...and of these heroes, none has ever accomplished more over his or her combined Life times than...the soul inhabiting this very body before us. The man you know as Stratos Valgiri is in fact the latest of the incarnations of the greatest Hero to ever walk the face of the planet... Leonidas, having been born anew once again four hundred years ago on the day of Stratos's birth." he took the spear Adurmedes from where it was slung across the man's shoulders, holding it up like a trophy for all the group to see. "Do you see this," he asked rhetorically. "The spear is the weapon which Leon has always wielded. Ever since his days as a Dragoneer. I assume that none of you have ever heard that term, and for good reason, it's not been used since the Nix War ended. Allow me to enlighten you now: You all know how the Legendary Dragoons would spiritually bind their souls with those of Wyrms and fight alongside them in battle, together as Rider and Mount, do you not? A Dragoneer is a much older type of Warrior... one that was the exact opposite of Dragoons in nature. They arose during the era before the Great Darkness and the Invasion, when Wyrm and Mankind were mortal enemies on the field of battle. They specialized in the tracking, confronting, and slaying of wyrms, many of them were hailed as Great men for the work they did; given that trying to mediate conflict with Dragons and the like was impossible at that point in time." he drove the thing deep into the ground by Stratos's side, like a black and white pillar to testify to the deeds of days long since gone by. "And of all the Dragoneers, Leonidas... was the first. As a boy his homeland was destroyed by a Dragon known as Sitanas, and Leonidas witnessed this massacre and vowed to someday hunt down and kill the beast who had stolen everything from him. He spent many years training himself after that promise, studying his foe and becoming familiar with their habits, learning their weaknesses. He was known for his vengeful brutality and raw unwavering cunning in battle against them, but also just as much for his mercy and compassion for his common man... but the greatest thing he was known for was his death. As an aged man, Leonidas finally found the wyrm who had destroyed his homeland, he found Sitanus Lithadeis Dalcani Valechi... a long name... It means 'Son of hell, born of fear and bathed in fury' in one of the old languages... Sitanas had risen to become the Lord of all Wyrms since his assault on the man's country and village decades prior, and with his authority was in the beginning stages of organizing a full scale assault against the human race, in an effort to exterminate them and cleanse the planet of their influence...but he did not succeed. For the Hero traveled many miles despite his old age and intervened... to avenge his loved ones from all those years ago. the ensuing fight was so... fierce and destructive that mere words can do nothing to explain it's magnitude and significance..." As he spoke, the Party experienced another change of scenery...this time the entire cavern simply fell away around them in the blink of an eye, replaced by a grass covered plateau, the winds howling in all four cardinal directions as the skies overhead were darkened with clouds of ethereal storm. It was night all around, a break in the black swabs of cotton painting the sky revealing a full moon that was far larger than it should've been. before the heroes lay a hilled landscape, covered in countless outcroppings of Granite... and many other stones none of them knew the name for, all of them glowing Eerily in the moonlight. Anansi turned to face them all, his face solemn and serious as ever. "This is the lesser Continent of Ulsaro, in the 6,898th year before the Nix War... which makes it some near 7 millenia ago." A horrifying roar shook the very landscape and sent them all to their feet as if they were actually there witnessing it in person. The judge himself was the only one left standing once the earthquake ceased. In the distance Clouds were descending from the Atmosphere, cloaking the plains in darkness so thick it could choke a man to death. "Though he fought more for personal reasons in this particular situation, this single battle could've ended Mankind if Leonidas had lost... what you are watching may damn well have become Armageddon at any moment." a tiny light blazed into life nearby, bright and red like the face of the sun. the darkness cloaking the field cleared with a burst of white, glowing wind, sending the plumes of storm back into the heavens where they belonged. And standing there were the light had originated was a bearded, Elderly man, hair grey and white as silvery snow. He wore no armor, this geezer, nor held any shield. His lone armament was a slender carved spear of pure Wyvern bone adorned in silver accents. His shoulders were swathed in a white and grey shawl that draped down his back like a Nobelmen's cape. He wore a dull colored double-breasted coat upon his broad upper body, and a pair of matching bloused trousers, tucked into his black, cuffed boots. whatever he was fighting was not visible to any of them, however... "Make sure you keep your eyes on this scenario," Anansi ordered coldly. "This is what apocalypse looks like, this is what it sounds like, this is what it feels like in your bones. This is what it looks like when the worlds hopes are all riding upon the shoulders of the few and the valiant." he turned, looking at the four warriors in turn. "And you will someday have to face something a thousand times worse."

"Now what if I were to tell you..." Anansi began, turning around to face the travelers. "That everything the Sky Slayer has done in the past... all four hundred years he has roamed the earth, from the day he was born, up until now... was all just the latest part of an Heroic Epic spanning nearly eight thousand years?" "I'd say it was impossible for someone to ever live that long..." Absalom spoke up, crossing his arms. "But then again... the majority of what I've seen tonight would be considered 'Impossible'. Go on." "As I have already apprised you all of, I am the White Judge of the Valiant, yes?" The Judge continued. "But what does this mean? I shall tell you; My task under that title is to bear witness to the lives of all people throughout history, to make record of their deeds within my web of knowledge, to recognize their virtues and vices and assign them to an Afterplain accordingly... and to ultimately stand as the judge and jury as to whether or not those who prove themselves to be true heroes are deserving of another life in this world." He reached up with a spontaneously generated arm and pulled Stratos off his back, laying the unconscious man on the barren floor of the cavern. "For those who prove themselves worthy...I reward them by suppressing their memories of the life they lived before, and leading their soul to the doors of Life of Death, where they are transferred into the body of an infant about to be born into the world." He cast a single glance down to the Sky Slayer. "They are born without knowledge of who they truly are as a soul, no conscious of the deeds they have preformed in the past. Their entire lives are seemingly as any other person's, starting the moment they are born and not a second before. But their are several things that they always retain; Their Personality, Their talents, their preference and aptitude with certain weapons, and most of all, their strength of moral character. But their true past remains hidden...until they again pass out of this life and re-enter Ellise, where they regain their true self and memories." he looked back up at the Travelers "Do you all understand thus far?"

Super "Hmmm..." Yelaza said, looking over the Ekarder. "Very well then... I see no issue with such an arrangement. What is your name though, may I ask?"

"Look, boy," Galen sighed, "You're only a kid... jail isn't where someone as young as you belongs. You should be going to school, looking for a part time job, socializing with your friends, scouting out colleges... not rotting behind bars, having to submit to the whims of some guy called 'Big Ronny' or something like that every night." He pulled up a chair beside Zeke, sitting perpendicular to him at the table, leaning forward and turning his head to the side to look him in the eyes. "But the courts aren't going to be so forgiving given the magnitude of the crime you were just involved in. They'll consider you an adult based on the severity of the actions you took part in; there won't be any mercy like in a juvenile circuit case. Leader or not, you're still gong to get a long sentence in the slammer." He pulled back in his seat, sitting up straight and removing his Aviators, revealing a pair of ice cold blue eyes that seemed to confirm everything he was saying. There was no mercy there, and if Zeke was smart, he'd realize that the man wasn't bluffing about there not being any mercy in the Adult court either. What he said next however contradicted the harsh polar cold of his irises color. "But you don't have to go on trial as an adult. You don't have to go on trial at all if you do something... You said not to tell your parents or your little sister, right? I'm guessing that you have parents who you don't despise with every once of your being then, who you actually care what they think of you. I spent a few years as a Juvenile Correctional Officer, and let me tell you, it was only every once in a blue moon when I came across a child who had gotten in trouble with the law and had ever said 'Don't tell my Parents'. Obviously they must care about you alot if their opinion of your character is a thing that worries you; if they treated you poorly, why would you care then?" He leaned back forward again, still maintaining eye contact with the teen, it was obvious he was not finished in the least bit. "You have it better than most Juvenile age offenders then," he continued. "You have a family that actually gives a damn about you and what you do. And yet here you are, going out and probably worrying them to no end, just so that you can act out or something?" He shook his head in vast disapproval, the disappointment ebbing off of him was so real the air was palpable with it. "Listen to me, Boy, You have two paths available here. and two paths only. The way your going, your life isn't going to be a good one at all. You know how hard it is for a convicted felon to get a job after release in this region? you're more likely to end up homeless... and then resort to crime again and initiate a brutal cycle. So here's path A: you do nothing to stop this path your walking. Since you already admitted to a part in the home invasion and robbery, I'll arrest you and turn you over to Federal Custody to await trail date. Now, here's path B: You co-operate with me, tell me what's really going on here. You all had to be sent by someone, there were far too many of you there for it to have been just your average classic heist planned among close associates." he stopped talking for a minute, pulling out Zeke's capsules from his back pocket and placing them on the table...along with his RoG member card. "These were the items on your person when we arrested you," Galen continued. "Both these capsules have RoG trackers embedded in the clips... and the card speaks for itself, kid. We know your a member of Rise of Greadia without the very least of a shadow of a doubt." He stood up from the table, walking back around to the opposite end from the kid and leaning down again, still looking at him. He didn't have any fear of the boy trying to release his partners... he'd made sure to disable the Triggers earlier. "Here's my proposition, take it or leave it, son," he continued, putting his Aviators back on. "You and me can sit here for the rest of the night and you can tell me everything you know about RoG, who the leaders are, how the training is conducted, who recruited you, everything you know. And Do not even think of lying to me; My Partner, Gardevoir, is watching from the other side of this here 1way mirror, and she'll be able to catch all your personal tell signs in your speech and body language." he reached up and pulled out an audio recorder from his pocket, placing it on the table. "So what is it gonna be kid? you co-operate and provide us with what you know about RoG, and we can get prosecutors to drop all charges against you. You're parents and sister will never have to know about what you did tonight." "And before you answer with your choice," his Zoroark spoke up from the far wall,the expression on it's assumed male face hard as stone. "Think about all this; Is running with terrorist really worth the next 30 years of your life? you'd be near fifty or so by the time you were even eligible for parole."

It had all happened so fast. Ethic had barely enough time to process what was going on, let alone shield himself from the shockwave let out by the blast. The result of which was him now flat on his back, knocked off balance by the force. "Kenny?" he asked as he slowly got back up to his feet, scanning the area, confused by what he saw. "What the hell just happened? Why did he...wait, is that another giant?" It indeed was from what Ethic could see. where kenny had been glowing only a moment ago, now stood another titan; badly wounded it seemed. Ethic went back over the last few minutes in his head, piecing together what had happened... "He blocked most of the blast..." he said in realization. "The only question is; Why?" He began walking towards the scene as he spoke, scanning the area to see if anyone had survived this close. His eyes immediately spotted a girl laying unconscious on the floor with a teddy bear near her. "Enya?" he called, rushing over to the child's side and kneeling down. "Enya!" The first thing he did was check for a pulse and breathing... luckily she seemed to still be alive, just out cold. That odd Giant had probably saved her life by taking the brunt of the explosion. That again raised the question...Why? "Just who are you?" he asked, taking his attention off of the kid and turning it to the much larger being. "Why did you block that blast just now? Aren't you all supposed to be like the wardens down here or something? So why go out of your way and take so much physical risk to help Live ones like us?"

Also, Sergeant chimchain, just for future reference: We can train our team to learn TM moves in the training center, right? I'm just making sure I remember correctly.

"No, son," Galen said, "I will repeat myself: You are facing a minimum of 30 years in a federal prison for the felony charge of Grand Theft in the 1st degree; All the other perpetrators who have been interrogated tonight have pointed to you as the head of this little robbery. This is not a hearing, boy, It's a police interrogation room." he stopped leaning on the table, looking Ezekiel right in the eyes from where he stood. "Look kid, How old are you? 16, 17 maybe at the most? I honestly don't think it's possible for a kid that young to have orchestrated this, but all the suspect accounts, along with the evidence we've gathered from the mansion, points to it." He paused again, deciding to let the kid absorb that explanation before going on to say "There's a very good chance that you're going away for a long time for what happened tonight."

Speaking of mons, Soldiers, I'm cosidering getting the kid a Cubone rather than a Maril during the trip. Still takes care of rocks, and it has something to do with the history of Rocket in Kanto.

Alright. Understood, Captain.

... Up to you, Soldier. I will give no answer for that question. You get no help from me on this. I won't tell you which path is correct or incorrect. but it seems you've already decided what he's going to do...

Seacrest "Hmmm.... very well then," Mercury said, sinking back beneath the waves. a moment later a short Click! was heard and the gate rose over the Entrance. He reappeared soon afterwards, hopping out of the water and onto the stepping stone pathway, looking up at the three Explorers. "Follow me, I shall escort you to her." he turned and began hopping across the white stones, entering into the castle. ((Assume that Mac is just following behind you two for now))

Seacrest It wasn't very long before the three arrived at the front gates of the castle. the place was impressive to say the least, silvery white walls and bastions rising high above a moat of pure sparkling blue. A porticus was visible on the exterior wall across the water from them, a path way of large, circular white stones leading the way to it. Before they could even take a single step, however, a Feebas popped up to the surface of the water, Calling out to the group. "Halt! Entry into the castle is for Members only! I repeat: Entry into the Castle is for members only!" Tempest "You gotta be kidding me!" Draidon shouted as the thief blitz right out of his pace and into the mountain, disappearing within the Mystery dungeon. "So damn close!" He turned around to the others as they made their way up the slope. "Hurry it up, We'll never find her if she get's too far in!" with that said he stormed off into the Dungeon, rushing up the stairs leading into the first floor and scanning the room as he came to the top. There was a Parasect sleeping in the corner...oh...no. wait. he wasn't sleeping. he had been knocked out cold and burned. Well, at least she didn't make any effort to cover her tracks... he thought to himself, heading for the corridor that split off from the room from beside where the Parasect lay unresponsive, nabbing 54 Poke from the ground as he passed. ((Yes, he will still be within sight upon you entering the room))

you can join in this chapter, Cadet. there is no way in hell I'm going to let this little hike take up an entire chapter of this RP.

"well perhaps you were raised under a rock then, Zolvier..." Anansi said before turning to Darius. "And I mean not of the Stratos infamous for the Sky Slaying... but the one famous for his exploits in the name of the false theocracy. I speak of the Stratos from before the Sky Slaying.There are plenty of tale from then as well."

right now I can have one or two more characters squeezed in by saying they're the Troopers under Leewald's command in the Base Camp. You'd have to wait until the group made it to Eden though, Soldier... and given that Nepth might not be coming back from what Notus tells me, a slot has more or less been opened up again.

Absalom and Lucian were the last ones to make their way down the stairs, the boy insisting that the man go first... so that he would be able to kick him off the cliff and to his death if the Gunslinger still wanted to try something against them. Lucian though was still unresponsive to conversation. "Good... you're here," Anansi mused, beginning to walk deeper into the depths of the Cavern. "Now keep your eyes peeled for any quartz crystal you see. I'll need it to open the way out." "What of this 'Leonidas' Fellow you told us of?" Absalom asked, following behind the arachnid along with the rest of the party. "The hero..." the Judge began. "His story is a long one indeed. But first tell me... what do you four know of Stratos Valgiri, or as you may be more familiar calling him, The Sky Slayer?"

He's only the weakest link because I'm cracking down here. even as a Melee Specialist, there were more intelligent ways to engage the foes you all have faced so far than he chose. I'd honestly prefer not to even have it be an issue, but that's not going to happen the way things are going. and I'd also prefer not to have to put a rule #7 in the OP called "Don't be Stupid while in Character" but if stuff like this continues... So sorry if I have to get a little harsher than previously known for, Soldiers, but you all knew I was going to be less tolerant of tomfoolery and stricter here than in PSS and Surge Story. I told you as much early on.

well then Sergeant, while watching TWD, I just came to a comprimise... a mix of both paths. have them kill his wife. but spare the girls and give him the chance to save them in the story. That's my decision Gotta love the Walking Dead, Soldiers...

Zero walks the entire way, Soldiers. He earned those Broken ribs through his own choice of actions, and the constant jarring pain with every breath as he hikes along with the team will serve as a reminder to not do what he did again.

Chimchain Argo went eerily quiet at that question. His face held something that almost looked like sadness...and fear. "We ask ourselves that very question every single day we yet draw breath..." With that he glanced around at the remaining members of his pack. Every single day... how many times did that amount to now? How many of them had died already? had gone missing just in this past night? How long did any of them have? "Apologies,"The horse said, quite dejectedly."but I can answer no more questions right now..."

... Oh... Yes then, Soldier. Technically the Explosion was generated purely by Kenny's power and nothing else, Ergo, everyone still inside of the Arena/ Field would've been safe because the force would've been completely nullified upon contact with the perimeter. EDIT: also, Captain Notus, I'm confused by the situation right now with the fall out from the blast. So what, has panic taken most of the force? is anyone other than kenny himself dead? how bad is the damage exactly? Would it have even reached Rose and Taylor and Ethic at all?