[Locked To Luceti Residents!] Dated to the 18th

[yourfononsarewhack]

[Jade Curtiss types his words and then speaks them, well aware of the many death penalties currently floating around Luceti.]

People of Luceti. This is Colonel Jade Curtiss speaking. For those of you who are new, this is a private channel that is a secret to the Malnosso. Please don't go discussing it freely on the journals. As for the purpose of this transmission? I would like to discuss a number of recent matters, with a focus on the draft that was held last month at Zompania. There's quite a bit of sensitive information to be relayed through this report, and please be warned that a majority of the subject matter may be disturbing in nature. [A light-hearted, beleaguered tone tints his speech.] Normally, I'd have someone else handle the explanations. But I suppose that in this case, it can't be helped...

[Especially with the other commanding units of the battle being out of reach. He's failed to make contact with Kakashi or Erwin, and Gai has been recuperating. So it falls on Jade's shoulders. And in this case, it's part of the responsibility that comes with having tried to organize them in the battle. So he's in a more formal mode than usual, with his snark kept in restraint.]

A number of you must have already heard about the occurrences in the draft from your peers or allies. However, I doubt that many of you have heard it in a comprehensive matter, so I will do my best to record what intelligence I have accumulated through my own experiences as well as what I have heard from others so far. Of course, anyone else who has any additional information to add may do so when I am done.

As many of you know, the draftees were called out at approximately half past oh two hundred hours on May 23rd. From there, we were sent to the enclosure of Zompania and immediately found ourselves in the midst of a chaotic battlefield. The confused fighting went on for several hours until the series of unbelievable events came into play. [He takes a moment to let that breathe. And then, there's more weariness than anything in his voice as he covers the next parts] Please, feel free to replay the next portion until it makes sense to you.

The Third Party turned out to have a specially designed bomb at their disposal, and they used it on us. As far as we know, no one on the battlefield was spared from the blast radius. At that time, we all experienced what seemed to be a state of death. This came with visions and sensations which were both disturbing and painful in nature. The fact that we are still here at all is actually due to the Malnosso. In particular, it was our local scientist John who utilized a type of time-based Shift that seems to have never been used before, and it prevented us from being wiped out in the bomb's detonation by yanking us back along the timeline, so to speak. One moment, we were experiencing a death-like state that is likely similar to those who undergo Sacrifice in this world. The next, we were waking up, alive again in Zompania. In fact, this shift brought us back several days earlier, to the morning of the 20th. As confusing as it sounds, the important part is that it succeeded. This extra time enabled us to turn the tide into battle. Most importantly, we were able to contain and dismantle the bomb before it could be used on us.

The rest of the battle after the point is more common knowledge. Although... I suppose that not everyone might have heard that Specialist Davis was lost in the attack.

With the general events covered, I would like to address the nature of the bomb itself. It may seem to be similar to the shift bomb which many of you have heard from in the past, and its effect may prove to be very similar. [The irony is not lost on Jade; help the Iron Eye to develop one weapon of mass destruction, then have another get dropped on him.] However, it's power seems to be connected more specifically to the Third Party's methods. The city itself was decorated with the corpses of men, women and children who were all victims of the Third Party's Sacrifices. Through Doctor Law's work, we have autopsy information regarding these victims. Furthermore, it was found that these victims were not just citizens of Zompania, but also included subjects from the enclosures of Quell and Pagoda.

You may be wondering how that is relevant to the Cultists' bomb, or perhaps you're already piecing it together. The bomb itself was powered by the energy from those mass Sacrifices. It is a weapon of mass destruction formed out of the life energy - or as some might say, souls - of those who have already been destroyed.

Essentially, it seems that the Third Party has been hard at working creating fates worse than death.

In summary, it seems that there are a number of new factors in play. Different enclosures may have been endangered without us receiving any word of it, the Cultists have been creating deadly new weapons, and the Malnosso have been experimenting with time shifts. The latter is most likely connected to the odd phenomena that we have been experiencing in the village for the past two months. For one, I'm surprised that this computer did not revert into something much more archaic in the process of my operating it.

If anyone else has any other insights to add, please feel free to provide them. Let's not be shy. I'm also interested in hearing from any others who were present when the bomb detonated. Have you experienced anything unusual or unsettling since returning to the enclosure? Even if you have not experienced anything at all, that in itself would be a worthwhile contribution.

Thank you for your time.

[ooc: Feel free to threadjack and spin up all kinds of conversations!]

Comments

Voice

[takesyoubytheheart]

Thanks for the good explanation. Hope that clears things up for everyone.

As for anythin' unusual... Folks like me who were part of the first draft have been gettin' bad dreams.

Voice

[yourfononsarewhack]

[Ah, that seems to be the... talking mouse fighter.

Well, Jade's not one to doubt the impossible after he sees it with his own eyes.]

Yes, that seems to be the overall shared experience. I imagine that they're not quite like ordinary nightmares. [A real pain that feels so real.]

Voice

[takesyoubytheheart]

They're the worst kind of stuff... Feelin' like that bomb went off all over again, or just dissolvin' into pieces, or... d-drownin'...

[Mickey's drowned wayyy too much for one lifetime.]

[stilldontgotit]

It's like Mickey said. I've been having nightmares every once in a while, similar to the vision I saw wen that bomb went off. They're brief-- probably because I've got Sonar to wipe out the nightmare before it gets too far, but... I guess it just makes me wonder if there are some other side effects from getting stuck in the blast.

Guess that'd depend on who else is having these visions. Maybe it's just stress from the battle, but I'm not so sure...

[yourfononsarewhack]

Stress tends to have different effects on different people. And a number of people seem nearly impervious to true stress. [He might consider himself to be like that.]

Give that, isn't it curious that all of us seem to be affected the same way? [He muses on vaguely. He'll let Riku think that out.]

[video]

[relictusdeus]

[The sense of unsated vengeance on the draft has been eating at him from the moment the bomb was neutralized by others -- although, until this moment, it had been moving further and further towards the back of his mind with other thoughts vying for his attention.

His intentions were to lurk and gather as much fresh information as possible to further his goals. Answering the post was never part of the plan.]

Should the members of the Third Party gain entry to this cage of ours armed with a weapon similar in make to the bomb, there is no place they can hide it. [His lips pull tightly into a dangerous grin.] The souls harvested shall once more reveal its location.

[video]

[yourfononsarewhack]

Is that so? [He muses with a neutral tone, but an eyebrow raised in curiosity.] Are you well acquainted with such souls?

[Written]

[whiskytraitorfirefight]

Thank you for the write-up, Colonel.

I can also confirm nightmares or the occasional unsettling feeling during waking hours. The feeling that someone is watching me.

Also if anyone is interested in studying them, I have feathers taken off the wings of Third Party soldiers.

[Written]

[yourfononsarewhack]

Thank you. The experiences seem to be nearly identical across the board. I imagine you're not the type to have nightmares often?

And so ambitious to bring home feather. I doubt that I can get much out of them, but perhaps there may be another in the village who can.

[Written]

[windandrain]

[Saori is unwilling to actually voice her thoughts on this, not sure she could convey them without her voice choking up, so she writes in with a somewhat shaky hand.]

I was there for the bomb's detonation as well, Colonel. I have been plagued by nightmares as well, both waking and in my sleep. I've had the distinct feeling of being watched when I'm alone at times, too.

I have a few thoughts on what we saw in that death-state. Namely, the entity that seemed to be examining us. I've spoken to some of those who were present, and a common thought seems to be that we were being offered up to it. A sacrifice implies a purpose behind the act, and the word itself has connotations of a religious offering typically given to a higher power. To say nothing of the fact that the act is performed by a Shaman, a figure typically associated with spiritual leadership, a role they seem to play in cultist society.

This leads me and some others to the thought that the enemy is aware of, and very likely in league with or drawing on this entity's power in some way. It might not be the case, but given the parallels to ritual sacrificial magic that exists in my world and others, it's also not a large leap of logic to make.

This could be some insight into the cultist's motivations, or it could be nothing. Forgive me if this seems obvious to some, but as it's never been mentioned I thought it might be worth bringing up for discussion. Of course, I and the others I've talked to may be missing something that someone else has seen, too.

[Voice]

[feistytrader]

Once the world has you, it never really lets go. No matter how many times we escape from this world's grip, the world will keep drawing us back in.

That's about what the General said to me. I had the chance to meet him through a strange set of events on a mission gone wrong around a year ago. The members of the Third Party following him want us dead for good to break the cycle of death and rebirth. They find the Malnosso's use of shifting to be reckless and believe their way is the only solution. Someone else that's also had the chance to speak to him might know more.

He's not the only person leading the Third Party, though. The rest of them could have a very different goal in mind. [Especially since Zompano's leading them. He'd add in his opinion- that the sacrifices are awful and downright evil and that the Third Party needs to be stopped at all costs regardless of what their "goal" is- but this is a time for information, not opinions. His voice remains level through his words.]

[Written]

[yourfononsarewhack]

I've considered the possibility that the entity could be a massive shared hallucination. However, I also admit that it is wholly possible that it is real in some way, and perhaps it it is similar to an aggregate sentience that I know of on my own world.

I can see the potential connections, especially if the entity truly is real. In that case, trying to find a way to reach this entity could be a vital step in the war effort.

[Voice]

[feistytrader]

[...It's uncomfortable to admit, but it looks like everyone else is admitting it too, and if it's important information...]

I've been having nightmares too. I can't shake the feeling that someone's been watching me, either. [It almost feels like that thing is trying to take him back- but that's his personal feelings, and feelings don't have a place in information like this.]

Is there anyone that hasn't been affected?

[Voice]

[yourfononsarewhack]

[Don't mind him, just stalking the information given to Saori.]

I've yet to find any exception among those of us who were caught in the bomb. It appears that we are all sharing the exact same reaction. [He doesn't feel the need to point out why that's unusual. He seems like a bright kid.]

Do you remember anyone else who was present on that mission involving the General?

Voice

[that_is_asecret]

I am passably familiar with similar effects that can be created through magic. It seems that the bomb is a mix of technology and magic. I have seen both used to devastate on a massive scale. It seems that the creation of the device depends upon a ritual element, and if the exacts are learned, it could be countered. There is an unfortunate amount of ifs and buts there though.

Voice

[complicatedliar]

The delineation people insist upon drawing between science and magic is a false one. It is all science of a sort.

The ritual element is the extraction of energies using their "sacrifice." I find it unlikely that it could be disrupted at a distance.

Voice

[generalflirt]

Well, there were also those scientist fellows.

[ Who he was guarding for the tail end of the draft wit ha few other people ]

Voice

[complicatedliar]

Were they turned over to the Malnosso or killed?

Voice

[yourfononsarewhack]

My, my, I suppose that I'll lose points for an incomplete report.

Do you know what information, if any, was able to be extracted from those scientists?

[written, camera obscured]

[readytobe]

[This is a lot to take in. Where do you start with this, seriously.]

...I was not aware that it was possible to lock channels from the Malnosso.

[written]

[yourfononsarewhack]

It is not possible using just the journals. It's the kind of thing that is only discussed in person, to be truly safe.

Voice

[complicatedliar]

I've been working on understanding the time effects. We're experiencing the ripples of disruption, and were prior to the draft. But the maths aren't working out in a way I like.

Voice

[yourfononsarewhack]

It seems that math has a tendency of doing that in this place.

I am interested in your thoughts on these being 'ripples'.

( Text )

[padme_amidala]

Thank you for compiling all of this information in one place. I have been asked many questions pertaining to the draft. I will send those who want further information on the last draft to this entry.

( Text )

[yourfononsarewhack]

How very efficient of you.

I believe that everyone is entitled to the truth about what happened. It is more valuable for this information to be put out here, as no one can tell for sure who long any of us will remain in this world.