• Nobles of Null is a forum based roleplay site where sci-fi and magic collide. Here, Earth remains fractured and divided despite humanity reaching out to the stars. Worse still, the trans-human slaves of one major power have escaped, only to establish their own Empire, seething with resentment at abuses of the past. Even the discovery of aliens, though medieval in development, has failed to rally these squabbling children of Earth together with its far darker implications. Worse still, is the discovery of the impossible - magic. Practiced by the alien locals, nearly depleted and therefore rare, its reality warping abilities remains abstract and distant to the general populace. All the while, unseen in the darkness of space, forces from without threaten to press in. For those with eyes opened by insight, it is clear that an era is about to end, and that a new age will dawn.

IDS Yīnghuā - Log 1.0: Swift as the Wind and Quick as Lightning (風馳電掣)

"OR!" Jun said loudly, eager to offer an alternative, "We go in there with more of a plan. I'm sure Wen will do a great Bad Cop but there's a reason they don't call the strategy 'Bad Cop, Only Cop.' Perhaps we could do Bad Cop, Beautiful Princess? Or like... stick with that reassuring princess angle and less so on the other thing?"

Jun couldn't help but think they were set up for failure. Just going talking to some hostile aliens wasn't going to get great results. They would need something to offer and begging for something from the Empress wasn't going to look good. Maybe one of the Princesses had some business thing they could do?

"We should give them some reason to work with us. Perhaps take them up into space and show them what its like living somewhere that isn't gross and full of monsters? I bet some Daqin Part--ffaaa- Parties would get them excited about not fighting us any more!" Jun said, stopping just short of saying they should do drugs with the Aos Si while in front of the Empress. That might be bad right?
 
"Given her containment here on the station, you can appear before her once you are ready," the Empress handed over a note. Hoshiko reached out and read it, the information updating for them once she did so. "However, I do note she is not too keen on our holograms. You are better off speaking to her in meatspace," the dragon tailed mother added.

"She can tell when we're holograms?" Hoshiko asked, one of her eyebrows rising as she quickly caught on. In meatspace, Hoshiko sighed as she set her body to auto-walk to the tram system. It wasn't too far, but it was best to get moving now rather than later. "Okay. I guess we could do the royalty-is-here thing."

"Ara-ara, the plot thickens," Sakamoto remarked, shaking her feathered tail in delight. "I'll send for the gifts! We fortunately have more than one princess to herald in!"
 
"OH! DO we get to be heralded in with trumpets and such!?" Jun asked excitedly, forgetting all about her previous plans to do things well.
 
"Trumpets and such?" Hoshiko thought aloud.

It didn't sound like too bad an idea.

-------------

Empire of Daqin,
Pínqióng (貧窮) System
The Forbidden City,
Secure Containment Point 250 (二百五)

Within the confines of The Forbidden City, where no human may tread, there was a place equally secure and discard-able. A place meant to house wonders and horrors beyond imagination, at least, until recently. Within this place, rested a vast expanse of stars and a pristine, endless sea underfoot. Backlit by a fantastic moon looming close, sat a single great and padded throne. The long, blue haired figure lounging upon it was dressed in scant, yet comfortable and regal clothing. Content, her head rested on one palm as she peered into a window in space that displayed spectacles of amusement. This figure was not alone however. Flanked to either side by The Empire's loyal servants, the Chongwu, her every need was attended to.

Without a word, a noble Labrador of a man strode forward beyond the volumetric display as an unseen door parted, several unfamiliar figures striding in.

"By the grace of Zhùlǐ Dānwèi Sì, fourth of her kind and ascendant to The Jade Throne of The Daqin Empire!" The Chongwu spoke in meatspace. "I stand before you as herald to her heirs and their attendants! The Empress has spoken; you shall hold audience with her daughters!" With his golden voice receding, the well dressed servant bowed and stepped aside, returning to the rank and file of those attending the figure.

"Mmm," Viz Istennoje acknowledged them, then taking in the snack between her lips and crunching the delectable.

"Okay, and to recap, Viz Istennoje is a complete megalomaniac, but fortunately for us, she's stupid in that she doesn't have common sense, so play that to your advantage," the Chongwu reminded them. "Otherwise, she's very book-smart and Powerful, so don't upset her by Pāi Mǎ Pì (拍馬屁) too much, or too little!" The poodle in charge explained all of this to them in their virtuality in triplicate to make the point known. She wasn't wagging her tail, something that was an abnormal sight in the Empire, and ominously, the fact that the Chongwu were placed in charge of containment rather than Daqinren told another story.

They were disposable.
 
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"Hold this for a moment!" Jun said, shoving an expensive looking bottle into Wen's hands moments before the door opened to Viz's chamber.

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"What Honorifics does she use?" Jun quickly asked in the virtuality.
 
"Well, so far, she's gravitated towards 'Goddess', 'Goddess of the Full Moon', 'Goddess of the Unending Seas', and Viz Istennoje in her native language," the poodle-chongwu cringed, well aware of how ridiculous this all sounded. "If you insist on talking to her in Daqinese or the more antiquated Chinese, she does respond to'Nǚshén (女神)', but it annoys her a little bit," she added. "And I know it sounds ridiculous, but we've had containment issues in the past when her previous Daqinren handlers weren't following these protocols to pacify her!" the poodle wrung her hands, tail tucked between her legs.

Her canine eyes fell on the bottle that Wen was now holding though.

"Oh! That's perfect! Make sure she drinks that!" she excitedly pointed, now hopping up and down on her feet.

Despite her meatspace outward appearance of calm though, Hoshiko had summoned a cigarrette in their virtuality, and started to smoke.
 
"Goddess of the Full Moon and Unending Seas. I come before you to share a drink, and to speak as we tour this facility." Jun said in meat space while motioning over to Wen, "My attendant has carries with him a traditional drink of our people and will graciously prepare the drinks."
 
"I see." The fair skinned Aos'Si picked up yet another crisp before delicately popping it into her mouth with another crunch. "Is it bubbly?" she asked, the Chongwu attendants maintaining their outward calm in meatspace as they prepared the baijiu.

"Don't worry, this chǔn dàn (蠢蛋) is bluffing," the Chongwu reassured them. She then perked up on realizing she let slip the insult and bowed in their virtuality. "I'm sorry masters, but Viz is an alcoholic with poor taste in quality. She can't really tell the difference, but always insists on 'the best' and she's recently bullied someone into giving her a bottle of Mother-Empress's Champaign - from France!"

Hearing this, Hoshiko pet the dog on the head in an attempt to reassure her.

"Guys, you all know how I was an Aos'Si right? That old propaganda bit?" Hoshiko asked, briefly pausing. She continued regardless. "This reminds me of what happened to Wen, but worse. She really is coming off like how the fairy tales depicted the goddess of water."
 
"It is traditional," Jun replied with a confident but conciliatory tone, "It is the most consumed spirit among humanity, and the brewing removes all of the bubbles but focuses the power of the drink. It is so strong that perhaps we should move on to some weaker drink once we've sampled this one."

Without looking at Wen, Jun would half-wave her arm, "When you're done serving, start us on the Chateau Nouvelle next."

"So we what? Put a horse in her head like we did with Wen? If she's another person then... what are we doing here? Trying to get the other person out? Put her in Wen's head?" Jun asked, trying to figure out just what the new plan was now that they had this information.
 
"Stupid cow." Wen lightly smacked Jun on the back of the head in virtual space. If she was a subordinate he would have been less kind. "The Aos Si went through a traumatic experience getting cut in half. Do you expect her to have Daqinren mental fortitude, and not degrade in personality?"

Still, he simply observed in meatspace, listening for an opening to cut in to get this pampered prisoner to open up.

"Perhaps we should get her drunk. Does alcohol work on Aos Si?"
 
Wen rolled his eyes in virtual space as he watched Jun exhibit her moronic self for no apparent reason whatsoever. She did have a point though: the Aos Si needed to be sweetened up to. Swallowing his pride, Wen took the baijiu and poured it into a small ceramic cup, an artisan craft, placed it onto a red clothed tray, then walked up to the pampered Aos Si.

"A taste of our finest, for our esteemed guest." Wen spat out with all the fake sincerity he could muster.

"So that's what it is?" Viz poured another glass of humanity's most consumed spirit. "Ahhhh!" she let out another satisfied sigh. The blue haired woman who had briefly helped to guide them through the subterranean darkness began to boorishly drink without regard for her audience, something that seemed at odds with her previously more civil self. "Drink, drink all my troubles away!" the Aos'Si sang to herself.

"She is most certainly affected by alcohol, and there's no need to bring forth this 'Chateau Nouvelle', my masters!" The lead Chongwu spoke up. "She's too preoccupied with the current one. I suspect bringing more will just confuse the Aos'Si," it suggested.

"That makes sense, thank you," Hoshiko acknowledged the Chongwu. Turning her attention back to her companions though, she was a little bit more critical. "We're supposed to ask her for useful information and such, remember?" Hoshiko reminded them. "And if the Aos'Si fairy tales are true, she's a powerful idiot that can't be forcefully controlled, so you have to give her lots of lip service, tributes and butt kissing," she explained.

"We are new to the Heartstone phenomena, and my servant here has one within which apparently contains a vengeful woman who seeks to possess him," Hoshiko addressed Viz. The Aos'Si slowed her alcoholic merriment, but did not stop, but was now apparently listening. "Our Mother-Empress, in her wisdom, saw that this she-spirit needed correction, and melded the Heartstone of a 'Bicorn' to - "

"Bahahahahaha! I see what she did there!" the megalomaniac laughed. "I've watched enough of your 'anime' now, to understand that reference, very clever!" she approved. Her laughter dying down, the not-a-water-goddess eventually continued, "I would not be surpried if he has no meaningful sernse for or ability to control the flow of mana. Worse than a novice I bet!" she shrugged with a smug smile of superiority. "I guess it cannot be helped though. One memory of a being may be suppressing another memory of a being, but they are like stories written in ink. Why continue reading a story you do not like?" She poured herself another cup of baijiu as her cheeks flushed, only to let out another boorish "Ahhhhh!" after downing the glass. "It is why simply placing a heartstone within a person is not truly effective in creating a new Caster."

"Huh. That's a neat detail," Hoshiko realized, snuffing out her cigarrete on her palm and flicking it away. "What else should we ask?"
 
"We need to hurry... that stuff is strong and meant for SHOTS... preferably among 4-5 people who don't need to work in the morning." Jun warned.

"My Attendant certainly has no meaningful sense," Jun replied, "Neutralizing that spirit in his head was a whole thing. People chanting, candles, strange sigils being drawn. I'm sure you would have had a far easier way of handling it than us?" She fished, hoping that the smug sense of superiority would require this Aos Si explain how she would have done it.

She also got to needle Wen a bit more which was also a plus.

"Also its a good thing we don't have to bring forth the bubbly. Chateau Nouvelle was just the first french thing that came up on my search... not that she'd know what she's drinking after polishing off that Baijiu. Still if worse comes to worse we can find something alcoholic and put it in a soda from the kitchen area. The Aos Si will crumble under the superiority of our wine spritzers!"
 
Wen wanted to strangle Jun. This stupid cow was making light of his embarrassment, and having positioned herself as his superior before he had the chance to say anything about it, Wen couldn't retaliate openly without jeopardizing the mission. It seemed that Jun's virtual form was also immune to negative feedback as well. The bull seethed in his powerlessness. He'd get back at her, later. His ego demanded it.

"... Yes. As my well-endowed Lady says, we have much to learn of the 'magical' arts.' Your tutelage would be much appreciated."
 
"We should probably bring her some of those small sampler bottles of something hard to start with, and then something with a lighter alcohol content to keep her under the influence in the future," Hoshiko tactically noted. As much as Jun was an air-headed bimbo, she had her uses. "I guess we'll get what we get for now." The tiger princess contacted the tiger warrior.

"Tutelage, smootilage," the Aos'Si dismissively waved as she began to slur her words. Seated upon her lunar throne, she began to pour herself some more of the hard, distilled spirit, only to splash some on the small table beside her. Viz didn't seem to notice though, as she lifted up the ceramic cup. "You can't train with a sword or spear you can't see or touch, and this is no different," she remarked, gesturing towards the baijiu she held. "I can shee this, hold this, do things with it." The cup lit on fire for emphasis, the drunk Aos'Si giggling like a pyromaniac playing with just a bit of their favorite toy.

"So how will we have him be able to perceive and manipulate it?" Hoshiko asked aloud.

"Ohhh, right." The distance between them seemed to grow as Viz closed one eye and held up a hand. "I just need to pull and pushhh, until you feel the current." Fitting them all between her fingers - from her point of view - she playfully tugged with a stupid, drunken smile on her face. It felt like their vigor was painfully yanked out of their bodies, leaving them husks about to topple when she pulled, and the moment Viz pushed, their strength returned tenfold! But she didn't stop. Another tug left them standing on death's door as she chuckled, and as they desperately clung to life, the place seemed to glimmer with strings of colour flowing out of their hearts like wisps into her hand.

And with a push, a churning, bulging, boiling wave of light washed into them.
 
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Xian wouldn't hesitate once she felt the vigor being drained from their bodies. She had a sword and pistol with her more for ceremonial purposes than for actual combat, but that wouldn't stop her from yanking the pistol out from her holster to chamber a round and then start firing at the Aos Si's chest.
 
Wen reacted slower than Xian, but only by a few milliseconds, and only because the heartstone in his body reacted strongly to the Aos Si's machinations and cause his neurons to take a pause. By his next heartbeat, he was up off the floor and threw away all pleasantries, drawing his own pistol and nailing the Aos Si in the face repeatedly until his magazine clicked empty.
 
"Nooooooooooooooo!!!"
"Nooooooooooooooo!!!"

Like a horribly made human movie, Hoshiko felt herself crying out at her subordinates, time slowing as their life force ebbed and flowed back in like a tide. But she knew it was too late. Would be too late. Was too late. All four of the chongwu present by the Aos'Si's side cried out in abject horror as they began leaping up to shield the alien from their fire, and seeing this, the feeling of dread only grew in the Tiger Princess's stomach. It was already too late, as alien blood splattered as the rounds detonated inside her body. The aggressively sinister follow-up-rounds automatically took the most ruthlessly efficient paths, punching clean through the Chongwu and again detonating inside the body of Viz.

The mess of fur and blood screamed, but they couldn't even make out what they were saying as their VR presence flickered and died with them. Magazines empty, the screaming didn't stop, the pile of bodies shifting, shaking, moving. With a horrific Scrunch, the dead Chongwu - blood and all - suddenly desiccated into dried husks, and a screaming, wailing, half-blasted apart Viz ran in the other direction while inside a bubble of water. Even through the distortion, they could see that her back was blasted open by the rounds, bits of guts and bone suspended in thick, congealed blood that refused to let go of the body's parts.

But worse was her head, split down the middle by the multitude of rounds fired into her head and eyes looking every which way, her brains absurdly jiggled and bounced as she fled. Alarms and klaxons were sounding, and the moment the Aos'Si touched an unseen wall dust and smoke rushed into the room as she hydro-eroded through the thick containment steel and into the facility beyond. A long trail of powdered steel, ceramic and polymer was left her wake, the very water used to ablate the material having ejected it onto the ground.

"Come to my laboratory. It's right this way," The Empress's voice smiled at them. Their augmented perception of reality showed the path lit up by arrows and lines. Despite her pleasant demeanor, it was clear that this was not optional.

"Let's not keep mother-empress waiting," Hoshiko sighed. Taking one last look at the containment breach and the sound of screams and chaos beyond, she took a few leading steps and beckoned to the rest.
 
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Wen took a brief look at the fallen Chongwu, a pile of gore and scattered fur by now. He could've stopped at any moment, but these Chongwu forsook the will of their true masters to protect this Aos Si instead. It was a pity that these assets malfunctioned, and are now lost to the Empire due to their own foolishness. He shook his head, then followed Hoshiko, reloading his pistol as he walked.

In virtual space, he retrieved a few seconds of his memory, replaying the impact of their bullets into the Aos Si and the aftermath. "It seems kinetic penetration is not sufficient to suppress these 'Casters'," Wen observed, "We ought to incorporate high explosives into our munitions, something that can atomize damaged organs so they cannot ever recover."
 
Jun didn't have much to say, as she was currently on the ground looking like she was ready to have some sickness happen.

Xian, meanwhile, would grab the newly minted princess and start dragging her back towards the exit. "We don't know that explosives will stop it from doing that either." Xian thought out loud, the helmet of her armored bodysuit folding onto position and switching to internal air supplies. She'd also start running checks on herself, not quite sure how this thing worked or just if it had been able to turn the Chongwu.

They would certainly need to bring real weapons instead of the ceremonial ones in the future.
 
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