Post by Vapovile on Oct 30, 2022 5:44:50 GMT
In the dead of the night, most people within the HWIC building had gone home for the day. But at the top floor, working under the glow of the room lights, sat the HWIC president Aria Miyata. She was filling out several forms on her desk, neatly organized into their own stacks.
“If we can convince the Trinidad government to allow us access, we can finally go about addressing that Satan Squid problem…I’ll contact them in the morning…” She murmured to herself. Suddenly, her phone lit up.
“Miss Miyata, you have the head of Flipside on the line. He says it’s urgent.” Her secretary Marty announced. Aria stared at the phone for several seconds. “Patch him through, please.” She instructed, curious to see what an organization like that wanted with her.
“President Miyata. Words cannot express how glad I am that you are still at your desk. We already have little enough time. How quickly can you get yourself to Jerusalem? I will send you exact coordinates.” His voice, usually so smooth with that ancient accent, sounded as harried as she felt.
“Excuse me, Ophiochus. I am the president of the HWIC. I need to know the situation before I agree to go anywhere on your behalf, or perhaps assign agents to deal with this.” She shot back, sensing there must have been some sort of con going on here.
“My apologies. I get ahead of myself. I suppose your father kept his secrets. Nearly 30 years ago now, the HWIC and Flipside worked together to prevent the end of the world. The trumpets were sounded, the seals broken, and the horsemen were upon us. Together, we sealed them. Now, they have gathered their strength and seek to return.”
Aria stared at her desk, trying to understand this cryptic speech. “Prevent the end of the world? Knowing my father, I’m sure there is more to this story. How about you explain while I gather some intel, and do not lie to me.” She said sternly, grabbing her jacket. If this concerned her father, she wanted to see for herself.
—
The Temple Mount was abuzz with activity, but none of it was the usual swarm of pilgrims and tourists. They looked right at the people there and simply walked away, kept at bay by paper charms and strange radio towers. Scientists scrambled between their odd devices and guardians of all sorts. Drones, heavily-armed soldiers, and monsters all kept watch at a safe distance from the center of the anomaly. The problem was clear, a throbbing wound in space just beside the Dome of the Rock, exposed to broad daylight but for the cage of machinery around it.
“Holding stable, for now.” A shuddering figure reported. They looked like a horribly glitching video game character, multiple people occupying the same space. It was difficult to make out any features on such a chaotic being, but no face they had seemed to be quite the same, and none were human, all with a black skin with the texture of a wetsuit and glowing eyes of various colors. “I will spearhead the investigation squad.”
“You are going nowhere. You are the best person we have to keep this thing contained.” Ophiochus said.
Walking up to the scene, Aria led a small team of agents through the throng of humanity and stopped near the Flipside leader’s location. She stepped up while a man in a black suit started directing his agents.
“Aria Miyata, HWIC president.” She showed her ID. “What can you tell me about this rift?” She asked, studying it herself.
“Ah, President Miyata. A pleasure.” The multiple-man managed to condense a single hand long enough to shake Aria’s. “We are Sagittarius, Flipside’s premier extradimensional specialist. What you see here is a scale-3 realm with a divinity rating of .77, in layman’s terms a godly realm similar to Heaven and Olympus, although on a smaller scale. This realm is not stable, and the growth in power of its inhabitants is causing it to expand. Through this expansion it has come back in contact with our reality and is currently testing its bonds.”
“That realm is where, with your father’s help, Flipside contained the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. He was tipped off by… a heavenly informant of the incoming end of days and enlisted us in his efforts to contain it. It seems that they are gathering their strength to try again.”
This information made Aria pause. She only knew of a few ‘heavenly informants’, and looked at Sagittarius. “This informant…it wouldn’t happen to be a woman currently in our custody, would it?” She asked, squinting her eyes.
“They are not at liberty to say.” Ophiochus silenced Sagittarius with a glare. “We cornered and defeated the horsemen in the middle of the Pacific. It seems they have manifested here due to the sheer concentration of faith. With that, we estimate an uncontainable breach within the next 48 hours. Enough that the horsemen themselves can enter our world once more. Already their minions keep slipping through. I have more of my security officers coming, but the situation will only grow worse from here. The horsemen must die.”
Aria put her hand to her mouth, pondering the situation. The main in the suit came up, having heard the briefing.
“President Miyata, I am having my agents helping with the perimeter. I request you allow me to go in and sort this out.” Alex said, Aria shaking her head.
“I appreciate your efforts, Enforcement captain…but respectfully, I want to take a look myself. But I request you remain on standby, should we need backup. Your portals will prove invaluable.” Aria replied. Alex nodded his head in acknowledgement, and went back to directing his team.
Turning back to Ophiochus, Aria motioned to the rift. “Do you have anyone with knowledge of this rift that could go in as well? I’ll get in contact with our research team, I’m sure our captain could be of service when she arrives.”
“They opened the rift themselves when Cyrus and his forces were poised to destroy them entirely. Whatever is inside, it is their design, not ours. We have our most capable lieutenant of Aries’ squad here. Unfortunately, Aries himself… could not make it. Laura Crown, approach.” Ophiochus waved, and one of the armored figures came closer.
She wasn’t wearing modern body armor or some cyborg power armor, but something like ancient Greek bronze armor, molded to show off a divine body. In one hand she held a spear with a head glowing like the sun’s rays, the other a shield with the same property of divine light, difficult to look directly at.
“At your service, mam. I’m not a team leader, but you can’t have better backup. Others will be leading incursions to keep the Horseman’s forces busy while we tackle them directly.” Laura spoke like she was reading from a script, which given the look she gave Ophiochus, wasn’t unlikely.
Aria looked the warrior up and down, her visual being transmitted to the Intelligence branch. They informed her she was a simple street punk, before being put into an orphanage for demigods, and now works for the HWBC. Her father was Apollo, mother unknown. But Aria took special note of her powers; able to tell truth or lie from others.
“Thank you, I look forward to working with you, Miss Crown.” Aria said professionally, shaking Laura’s hand. “I believe we have two more people joining us…?” She asked, looking off to the side. If the HWIC were going to be dealing with the 4 Horsemen, they thought it prudent to hire someone well versed in the divine to assist them.
It would be incredible if Aria believed he was inconspicuous, but even among the menagerie present, he seemed to believe that he was. Over 8 feet tall, so dark he looked like a hole in reality, Theo, the Swallower of Worlds, stepped forth. The only features visible in his impossible were his four glowing red eyes, burning like coals above the near-crocodilian snout he showed when his head turned.
“It is my honor to make your acquaintance. It would please me to be of service to all present.” He bowed, hiding those eyes and becoming a pitch-black boulder until he straightened his spine.
“Another one touched by the divine. Excellent. Perhaps this is what we need.” Ophiochus said.
“Merely touched?” Theo sounded offended.
“If we can convince the Trinidad government to allow us access, we can finally go about addressing that Satan Squid problem…I’ll contact them in the morning…” She murmured to herself. Suddenly, her phone lit up.
“Miss Miyata, you have the head of Flipside on the line. He says it’s urgent.” Her secretary Marty announced. Aria stared at the phone for several seconds. “Patch him through, please.” She instructed, curious to see what an organization like that wanted with her.
“President Miyata. Words cannot express how glad I am that you are still at your desk. We already have little enough time. How quickly can you get yourself to Jerusalem? I will send you exact coordinates.” His voice, usually so smooth with that ancient accent, sounded as harried as she felt.
“Excuse me, Ophiochus. I am the president of the HWIC. I need to know the situation before I agree to go anywhere on your behalf, or perhaps assign agents to deal with this.” She shot back, sensing there must have been some sort of con going on here.
“My apologies. I get ahead of myself. I suppose your father kept his secrets. Nearly 30 years ago now, the HWIC and Flipside worked together to prevent the end of the world. The trumpets were sounded, the seals broken, and the horsemen were upon us. Together, we sealed them. Now, they have gathered their strength and seek to return.”
Aria stared at her desk, trying to understand this cryptic speech. “Prevent the end of the world? Knowing my father, I’m sure there is more to this story. How about you explain while I gather some intel, and do not lie to me.” She said sternly, grabbing her jacket. If this concerned her father, she wanted to see for herself.
—
The Temple Mount was abuzz with activity, but none of it was the usual swarm of pilgrims and tourists. They looked right at the people there and simply walked away, kept at bay by paper charms and strange radio towers. Scientists scrambled between their odd devices and guardians of all sorts. Drones, heavily-armed soldiers, and monsters all kept watch at a safe distance from the center of the anomaly. The problem was clear, a throbbing wound in space just beside the Dome of the Rock, exposed to broad daylight but for the cage of machinery around it.
“Holding stable, for now.” A shuddering figure reported. They looked like a horribly glitching video game character, multiple people occupying the same space. It was difficult to make out any features on such a chaotic being, but no face they had seemed to be quite the same, and none were human, all with a black skin with the texture of a wetsuit and glowing eyes of various colors. “I will spearhead the investigation squad.”
“You are going nowhere. You are the best person we have to keep this thing contained.” Ophiochus said.
Walking up to the scene, Aria led a small team of agents through the throng of humanity and stopped near the Flipside leader’s location. She stepped up while a man in a black suit started directing his agents.
“Aria Miyata, HWIC president.” She showed her ID. “What can you tell me about this rift?” She asked, studying it herself.
“Ah, President Miyata. A pleasure.” The multiple-man managed to condense a single hand long enough to shake Aria’s. “We are Sagittarius, Flipside’s premier extradimensional specialist. What you see here is a scale-3 realm with a divinity rating of .77, in layman’s terms a godly realm similar to Heaven and Olympus, although on a smaller scale. This realm is not stable, and the growth in power of its inhabitants is causing it to expand. Through this expansion it has come back in contact with our reality and is currently testing its bonds.”
“That realm is where, with your father’s help, Flipside contained the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. He was tipped off by… a heavenly informant of the incoming end of days and enlisted us in his efforts to contain it. It seems that they are gathering their strength to try again.”
This information made Aria pause. She only knew of a few ‘heavenly informants’, and looked at Sagittarius. “This informant…it wouldn’t happen to be a woman currently in our custody, would it?” She asked, squinting her eyes.
“They are not at liberty to say.” Ophiochus silenced Sagittarius with a glare. “We cornered and defeated the horsemen in the middle of the Pacific. It seems they have manifested here due to the sheer concentration of faith. With that, we estimate an uncontainable breach within the next 48 hours. Enough that the horsemen themselves can enter our world once more. Already their minions keep slipping through. I have more of my security officers coming, but the situation will only grow worse from here. The horsemen must die.”
Aria put her hand to her mouth, pondering the situation. The main in the suit came up, having heard the briefing.
“President Miyata, I am having my agents helping with the perimeter. I request you allow me to go in and sort this out.” Alex said, Aria shaking her head.
“I appreciate your efforts, Enforcement captain…but respectfully, I want to take a look myself. But I request you remain on standby, should we need backup. Your portals will prove invaluable.” Aria replied. Alex nodded his head in acknowledgement, and went back to directing his team.
Turning back to Ophiochus, Aria motioned to the rift. “Do you have anyone with knowledge of this rift that could go in as well? I’ll get in contact with our research team, I’m sure our captain could be of service when she arrives.”
“They opened the rift themselves when Cyrus and his forces were poised to destroy them entirely. Whatever is inside, it is their design, not ours. We have our most capable lieutenant of Aries’ squad here. Unfortunately, Aries himself… could not make it. Laura Crown, approach.” Ophiochus waved, and one of the armored figures came closer.
She wasn’t wearing modern body armor or some cyborg power armor, but something like ancient Greek bronze armor, molded to show off a divine body. In one hand she held a spear with a head glowing like the sun’s rays, the other a shield with the same property of divine light, difficult to look directly at.
“At your service, mam. I’m not a team leader, but you can’t have better backup. Others will be leading incursions to keep the Horseman’s forces busy while we tackle them directly.” Laura spoke like she was reading from a script, which given the look she gave Ophiochus, wasn’t unlikely.
Aria looked the warrior up and down, her visual being transmitted to the Intelligence branch. They informed her she was a simple street punk, before being put into an orphanage for demigods, and now works for the HWBC. Her father was Apollo, mother unknown. But Aria took special note of her powers; able to tell truth or lie from others.
“Thank you, I look forward to working with you, Miss Crown.” Aria said professionally, shaking Laura’s hand. “I believe we have two more people joining us…?” She asked, looking off to the side. If the HWIC were going to be dealing with the 4 Horsemen, they thought it prudent to hire someone well versed in the divine to assist them.
It would be incredible if Aria believed he was inconspicuous, but even among the menagerie present, he seemed to believe that he was. Over 8 feet tall, so dark he looked like a hole in reality, Theo, the Swallower of Worlds, stepped forth. The only features visible in his impossible were his four glowing red eyes, burning like coals above the near-crocodilian snout he showed when his head turned.
“It is my honor to make your acquaintance. It would please me to be of service to all present.” He bowed, hiding those eyes and becoming a pitch-black boulder until he straightened his spine.
“Another one touched by the divine. Excellent. Perhaps this is what we need.” Ophiochus said.
“Merely touched?” Theo sounded offended.