Patreon LogoYour support makes Blue Moon possible (Patreon)

Return of the Exalted (closed for me and Showmeyouloveme)

Joined
Oct 25, 2009
Location
Australia
December 21st, 2012. Despite professional recalculations putting the Mayan calender's long-count ending earlier, this day marked the beginning of what some have said was the end of the world.

Stories vary as to what happened on that day, but an asteroid the size of Manhattan Island appeared suddenly in the skies over New York. Not long before impact, reports tell of a man on the street suddenly becoming engulfed in brilliant golden light, leaping high into the air and obliterating the asteroid with a single blow before disappearing entirely.

Over the following weeks, isolated townships and small rural communities around the world started to go silent, as did anyone travelling to them to investigate. Satellite footage showed nothing. Eventually; the truth reached the world at large through social media - photos and videos uploaded from smartphones showed strange and horrible beings attacking these smaller communities and tearing the people apart. The militarys of the world soon realised that, whatever these creatures were, they were keeping their distance from major population centres. Needless to say; the rush of people towards larger cities across the world was almost crippling as the cities tried to cope with the massive influx of refugees. Though the actual counts were well below what people estimated, suggesting the worst had happened to the rest. Military cordons sprang up to help seal the cities from these creatures but many took a considerable amount of firepower to bring down and many outposts were simply overwhelmed once they ran out of ammunition. Then; the Exalted appeared.

The first was in England, a young man leading a large number of refugees to a camp on the outskirts of London. He did not really know how he had gained such power, but reports said that he tore the monsters apart with almost no effort and with nothing but his bare hands (though footage recently surfaced on YouTube of him killing one monster by tearing the brick wall off a public toilet block and throwing it). He was not the only one and soon there were reports across the globe of people developing such incredible, almost godlike power.

This power came with memories of another time and world, as well as answers to what they were. The Exalted - people gifted with the power of the mightiest gods of the Celestial Bureaucracy. The Solars, who blazed with the light of the Unconquered Sun. The Lunars, who's ability to become animals reflected their many-faced goddess, Luna. And the Dragon-Blooded, empowered by the Primordial Gaia, their bloodlines were re-awakened where they wielded the elements against the monsters. The memories contained in their Exaltations quickly revealed much - that at one stage, reality consisted of a single flat world called Creation, but incursions from a realm known as Malfeas triggered an unprecedented change. Not only physically changing the world to the one we know, but creating several billion years of history that was no less real than the present or Creation.

The world is still reeling from this change - history and religion challenged in their entireties while the Exalted routinely break the laws of physics. For a time, it seemed the cities were safe - the larger populations somehow stopping the demons, ghosts and Fair Folk (as the various creatures had been identified as) from manifesting in reality while handfuls of Exalted and large military defences held them at bay with long ranged munitions.
*******************************************************
"You know; this is kind of excessive," Erik managed to say, the Dragon-Blooded holding him by his neck not quite closing his windpipe entirely, "that hit to my gut got the point across." They were in a mostly-empty parking garage in downtown Seattle late at night. Erik had just left a nearby wargaming club and had put his stuff in his car when he saw the Fire Aspect being rather forward with a young woman. Despite common sense telling him that a Dragon-Blood could snap him in two with a flick of his wrist, Erik had confronted him anyway. The fact that he was still alive meant that the Exalt was having fun. The woman had done the smart thing and fled once the Dragon-Blood was distracted.

"Maybe;" the Exalt replied, his flame-red hair already moving faintly, like a low flame, "but you just cost me one lot of fun for the night so you'll have to provide some different fun."

"Well, excuse me for trying to stop a super-powered asshole from ruining a girl's life." Erik would've stepped in no matter who was trying to harm her; not because of any past experience with rape victims or the like, just because he considered it the right thing to do. He did regret that he was probably going to die, but not that he'd helped someone in the process. His defiant comment did make the Exalt let go of his neck... only to lead into a punch to the chest that sent him flying back nearly a hundred metres and through the side of a van. The punch alone would have caused major damage to his ribcage, but hitting the side of the van with enough force to break through should have killed him. All he could experience was unbelievable pain, but even through it, he realised he could only feel pain from about halfway up his chest. The impact had severed his spine.

His vision and hearing were dull and fuzzy, but he could make out the Exalt coming towards him, a faint nimbus of flame surrounding him. Despite his situation, Erik refused to give up. He wasn't going to give this bastard the satisfaction of killing him nor would he let any Exalt, no matter how powerful, get away with abusing their power like this one way.

Then he felt it; a subtle thing, but it filled his senses. The sun. He knew it wasn't the physical sun, it was nearly eleven at night, but the sun - the original one. It washed over him like a summer breeze and he could feel the pain receding and sensation return to his lower body. There was a sense of approval with it - as though some great and powerful being agreed with what he'd done and how he felt. And with that feeling; raw power flooded his body, his wounds healing instantly and his body was suffused with a light so brilliant that it bleached the van's interior and forced the Exalt to avert his eyes for a moment.

When he looked again, Erik was stepping out of the hole in the side of the van with nary a scratch on him, even his clothing was bloodless and undamaged, save for the tie holding back his long, dark hair. His green eyes shone with a new drive and purpose while a sunburst emblem blazed on his forehead. "Well," Erik said, slightly stunned as he took in what had just happened, "seems someone up in Yu-Shan agrees with me."

The Dragon-Blood seemed to only become more angry at the sight of Erik becoming a Solar of the Dawn Caste right in-front of him. Either that or he panicked. Either way, the aura of flame around him grew stronger as he raced to throw a punch at Erik several times stronger than the one that had sent him into the van. His own aura flashing brighter, Erik calmly caught the punch with one hand, somehow knowing a way to let the force harmlessly pass through him, though when it emerged from his back, it still had enough force to send the van hurtling across the garage like a toy thrown by an angry child.

The Fire Aspect's face lost the pretence of anger as Erik tightened his hand around his fist and started crushing the Exalt's hand. Pouring more Essence into his aura, Erik spoke bluntly. "If I ever catch you harming another innocent person again, we're finishing this." Even without the memories his Exaltation carried, Erik had read some of what had been discovered about them and knew that a Dawn Caste's anima banner - the aura of golden energy around him - could be tuned to terrify those near him. In its glow, mortals would see him as a huge, terrible being and would be unable to stop themselves from fleeing in terror. Exalts were more resistant to it, but not immune.
*******************************************************
It was only a few minutes later that a small team of Exalts and some mortal support staff arrived to recruit him for Bulwark; a multinational organisation formed by several different governments meant to organise the Exalted and ensure that they could be where and when they were needed, had the resources and facilities for research into the supernatural threats to the world and, when necessary, ensure they could be deployed to deal with said threats.

Bulwark agents and Exalts in Seattle were housed in what had once been a rather high-end hotel. Fortunately the owner had Exalted himself while contemplating how empty his life had become despite his material wealth and this had prompted him to donate it as a Bulwark base. Since Bulwark makes sure to group the Exalted into teams, it was barely a fortnight after the incident in the parking garage when Erik was given a dossier on a new Exalt; a woman who'd been assigned to be his teammate and who had Exalted as a Solar within the last couple of days...
 
"And I'd have found you a lot sooner if Bulwark could spare one of their own VTOLs to get me out here," Erik replied with a noticeable Australian accent (though he doubted she'd guess it right - too many Americans thinking Steve Irwin's accent being the only one and mistaking his for British), looking over the Dawn Caste the NYPD had notified Bulwark of. She had apparently either not realised or not cared that the glow from her Exaltation would last several hours. Sadly; Bulwark's division in New York was still looking for a new base after an incident (that involved a Twilight Caste, 108 electric motors, a few lotus petals and some convoluted theories on quantum entanglement) so through whatever bureaucratic process they used, she'd be joining the Seattle branch. Traffic cams picked her up and managed to keep tabs on her intermittently until Erik could get out to New York. "At least they paid for the petrol."

Erik looked over the woman in the brand new sports car - either her Exaltation or something since had given her the chance to get a lot of money and she was making the most of it. The expression on her face reminded him of someone, the memories were too vague to make out but they were from the prior world. All he could get was that it was a man and his past incarnation hadn't liked him very much. Still, he pushed it to the side, no sense pissing off the new recruit when they'd already have to drive all the way to Seattle. And when she was going to be his new roommate.

Although his choice of clothing wasn't exactly professional - a grey t-shirt over camo-pattern cargo pants and a black canvas duster and his hair kept tied back. Exaltation had neatened up his physique (which was somewhat lean and built already thanks to practising martial arts as a hobby) but the clothing didn't exactly show that. "Hope you're up for a road trip - Bulwark's decided to send you to Seattle."
 
Erik wasn't too pleased to see her not listening, but he'd been warned that new Exalts weren't always as eager to join Bulwark as he'd been, so he let it slide. When she asked why not England, he couldn't help but roll his eyes a bit.

"Well for one, I'm not British, I'm Australian; you know, country down south that could probably get away with a 'We've got the world's best beaches' tax?" he explained, stealing a joke from an online games critic (who ironically was British). "Secondly; I'm not representing any government. The Bulwark Initiative sent me; I assume you've heard of them on the news and such? Recruiting Exalted; organising them, getting them into places and positions to make the best use of their abilities to keep everyone else safe? Anyway; their New York branch isn't in a position to accept new members and through whatever convoluted maze of red-tape they use, the Seattle branch got dibs on recruiting you."

He got in when she offered, shifting one bag of shoes onto the huge pile in the backseat to make room. "Yeah, they're paying for petrol and other expenses in transit. I wouldn't worry about how long it'll take, though. You're a Solar; you could probably drive for a week without rest and still have enough energy to run a marathon."
 
That first hour had given Erik a chance to go over these conflicting feelings about her. She seemed a bit abrasive, but not enough to annoy him the way she was. All he could figure was that their previous incarnations had been somewhat rough. Odds were it had been a major feud between the two to leave such a strong impression on their Exaltations.

"Not necessarily," Erik pointed out when she said she must be a fighter, "any Exalt can learn to fight - there's an Eclipse Caste guy at the base who's fought a whole horde of hungry ghosts with his bare hands. Dawn Caste like me have a natural affinity for it but any Solar can become a swordsman good enough to cleave through a castle wall same as a Dawn. Beating down a trio of mortal thugs isn't too impressive for us in the grand scheme of things. Did you get a look at your caste mark on your forehead when you Exalted? That factors into where they'll put you but they look more at your skills than anything else - the Berlin branch of Bulwark tried assigning people by caste; ended up putting strategists on the front-lines, some of our first sorcerers in research labs and swordsmen and archers handling the paperwork."

He was already hoping that something would happen to distract them. Best case scenario was that something went wrong with the car and that then they might be able to send a VTOL out to pick them up so they could be in Seattle in a couple of hours instead of a couple of days. Worst-case was that the two ended up in a rather heated... 'impromptu training session'.
 
((OOC: Making a small retcon with my character here; making him an Eclipse Caste instead, who don't have a fear-inducing anima banner like I described in the opening. They still have an anima banner - that's just the aura around them - Eclipse Caste just don't have one that terrifies the crap out of people.))

Erik doubted she was a Lunar - he'd seen the traffic cam footage and her anima had been golden, not silver. He also hadn't seen any animal parts she'd grown since Exalting, but a Lunar's Tell could be very subtle.

He'd been about to comment on what memories her Exaltation had brought when the car suddenly lurched to one side after giving off a loud pop. Finding that his balance wasn't affected by the girl's driving (he made a point to ask her for her name after this was sorted), he turned around in his seat. "Not a bad shot," he commented when he saw the shooter, "sitting out the top of a moving four-wheel-drive and hitting the tire on such a low-riding car. No Exalt, though; he would've gone for the engine or use a bow and try to completely lock up the axle with an arrow." That was when he noticed the other cars moving with the shooter's.

"And it looks like your friend has access to a lot of muscle. And while you might want to fight; I'd suggest letting him make the first move, it'll save us a lot of time and explaining when we get to where we're going."

With that, Erik stepped out of the car and walked over to where the guy and his men were getting out. "Might want to let this one go, guys; she's Exalted and working for Bulwark now. You really want to risk pissing either off?"
 
The Exalted had gotten something of a reputation - more of a running gag on the internet, really - of using rather impractical objects as improvised weapons, even extrapolating that that could include a nearby mountain in a few centuries. By those standards, a thrown shoe was surprisingly tame.

If that hit hadn't killed him, the boss would certainly have a few broken ribs from the impact. But he was something to worry about later, for now they had a bunch of mortals who clearly underestimated just what they were facing. Erik made a motion like he was catching something out of the air and he was suddenly holding a brilliant, golden sword. The weapon looked a lot like a slightly longer katana, someone familiar with Japanese swords might mistake it for a tachi - the katana's precursor - except that it wasn't curved enough. The weapon was a daiklave; the weapons of the Exalted, forged from alloys of the Five Magical Materials (orichalcum, in this case) each one was both a work of art and a supreme testament to its creator's skill. By daiklave standards, Wind of Vengeance was rather tame, the hilt and scabbard looked to be decorated with gold but anyone knowledgeable would know that that was really orichalcum, it's real craftsmanship had been in the magic woven into it and how his past self had cast it beyond reality after binding it to her Exaltation, ensuring the blade would always be available to her successors.

Rather than draw the blade, he gripped it with one hand on the hilt and the other on the scabbard, intending to use it as a club. A single sweep of the weapon sent about ten guys flying back with various injuries. After the second or third lot of guys, Erik saw one of them pulling something out of the back of one of the cars - an assault rifle. Quickly snatching a knife out of one assailant's hands, he threw it straight for the rifle, the blade impaling the gun right through the ejection port and preventing it from firing even if he could pull the knife out. He couldn't even chamber a round to fire.

"This is getting pointless," Erik muttered to himself before slamming the end of his sword's scabbard into the road, the force shattering it as his anima banner flared to life and the mark of the Eclipse Caste formed on his forehead. Around him, the aura formed to resemble a pair of crossed sabres wreathed in flames that leapt from their edges like the mass ejections on the surface of the sun. "Those who leave now will come to no further harm!" he shouted, his voice reverberating as he poured his essence into the words. "Those who stay..." he simply let the statement hang as he drew his sword, the golden blade shining even brighter in the light of his anima.
 
"Yeah; Dawn Caste by the look of it." Erik said, looking none too pleased with what she'd done to Davis as he sheathed his sword and dismissed it to Elsewhere. "He didn't need to die. If you wanted revenge, I could have forced him to confess to the police and make him ruin his own life. Something tells me it would have been karmic." Erik realised he might have to explain.

"Every Solar and Lunar's anima banner has a particular effect when it gets to one of the higher states based on their Caste - Dawns appear to be monstrously terrifying to anyone who stands against them while Eclipses like myself can sanctify a spoken oath, compelling Heaven itself to intervene if either party breaks their word. Even if he lied when he said he would confess, that power would make it ironclad and he would have no choice but to keep to his word.

"As for a lift, it should be here in a moment," no sooner did he speak then he felt a faint pressure rising in his ears. "And speak of the devil." The space above them seemed to warp and expand as it released a sound like a light sonic boom and returned to normal, though the space was now occupied by a large VTOL dropship. The blunt-nosed Skyranger looked more like a squat, bulky jet, save for four discs of blue jade alloy in the wings that spun like turbines, allowing it to hover. The way it arrived was the real technical marvel, even if most of the scientific community described it as "bullshit magic" - a complex essence-manipulating engine combined with heavy research into the concept of folding space effectively made it a faster-than-light drive, though at this stage the range was far too small to even consider its use in space exploration (not to mention the large quantities of magical materials needed in its construction).

The landing gear and rear ramp unfolded as it descended to land on the road and a giant of a man stepped out of it. Easily seven foot tall, the man was all corded muscles and feline grace, his blonde hair wild enough that it made one think of a lion's mane while the complex, flowing tracery of moonsilver tattoos travelled across nearly every inch of exposed skin save for his face. Erik knew him - a Lunar of the Full Moon Caste who called himself Leo (not his original name; he'd gotten it legally changed after his Exaltation).

"This should have been a simple pickup, Blakson, what happened?" Leo growled. Before Erik could reply, another voice spoke up from behind him.
"Cut him some slack, Leo; like these things always go as planned." the second voice said as its owner stepped around her gigantic partner. She looked to be in her early twenties - a mousy-looking girl with unruly brown hair wearing a pair of glasses (though they were purely cosmetic; an old habit kept from her mortal life) and barely five-feet tall, making her look utterly minuscule next to Leo who simply growled low in reply. Leo wasn't a moron; he just expected everyone to be perfect - not exactly far-fetched when dealing with the Exalted, but still.

"Turns out she had some leftover nastiness," Erik explained, "and I assume this is the last of it?" he asked over his shoulder.
 
While the car had to be carried on the outside, the cargo clamps on the Skyranger's underside didn't need physical contact - a design consideration for unusual cargo - and had various devices to stop said cargo rattling around too much.

"Sorry, I should've said when we met; Erik Blakson," he said when Allison introduced herself. "And I'm Megan!" the girl sitting next to Leo chirped, "Eclipse Caste like Erik there and this big furball's Solar Companion. Although while these two specialise in reducing bad guys to bite-sized chunks, I'm kind-of a desk jockey - I handle most of Bulwark's logistics and requisitions in Seattle. But I'm not bad with a sniper rifle if I do say so myself."

Leo got down to business before Meg could go on, clearly ignoring Allison's flirting. "It depends on where your skills lie - you're Dawn Caste, how do you fight? Sword, bow, with your hands or an army?"
 
"Summoning the Loyal Steel, it's called," Erik explained when she mentioned the sword summoning trick, "not many Solars learn that Charm but there's variants for armour and bows. Someone's even discovered one that lets him create a sword from pure Essence - he ever works out one that does the same for a suit of armour and he'll officially be the flashiest Solar in the world."

Before anyone could answer her about what she'd be doing once they got to Seattle, the speakers crackled to life. "Hold onto something back there," the pilot said as a new whirring sound built up from the engines, "jumping in 3, 2, 1." As he counted down, the sound built and a new sensation filled the dropship, like things seemed to stretch out to eternity before, with a loud *thumm* and a flash of light, things seemed to snap back to normal, but the view out the windows had changed. Gone was the busy highway as, stretched out below them, was Seattle. A little too close to the Space Needle, too, not enough to need to change course, but anyone inside would probably be a bit pissed at the Skyranger passing so close and rattling the windows.

"Okay; remind me to get the altimeter in this checked once we land," the pilot joked. Meg just rolled her eyes. "He's kidding - the user interface for the jump system's that accurate and user-friendly that a kid could've made that pass safely."

"As for what you'll be doing," Leo said, getting back to business, "for tonight, we're just going to get you settled in - our base is an old hotel-"
"A high-end one too!" Meg interrupted.
"We'll set you up in one of the rooms. We'll run you through some exercises tomorrow, get a feel for where your strengths lie." Erik cringed slightly when Leo mentioned said exercises, remembering when the Lunar had tested him the same way. He looked out the window to take his mind off that when he saw the hotel come into view as the Skyranger came down towards the carpark outside, setting Allison's new car down before moving to the side and setting down to let its passenger's out.

"So," Meg said, turning to Allison as they got out, "you've been assigned to Erik's Circle - Circle's the term for a team of Exalted, FYI - so you'll be staying with him in room 410. Don't worry; four-bedroom suite. Not like we're going to ask you to sleep together."

"Yeah, the Dragon-Bloods are doing enough of that for the rest of ya!" one of the ground techs commented, getting a laugh from the other mortal personnel.

"Yeah; so don't be surprised to have the odd Exalt hitting on you," Meg explained, "between our immune systems being strong enough to slaughter any STD and the fact that we can control our own fertility... let's just say that it's a miracle that it's still done privately. The confidence boost this sort of power gets you also means that a lot of Exalts are more open about where their preferences lie so try not to get offended if some of the girls on base start showing interest."
 
"Yeah, it's just you and me in 410 for now - they'll probably assign more people to our Circle later since they like to house a Circle in one room, makes it easier to get briefing materials and other intel to them all at once." Erik explained as he unlocked the door to their suite. "Oh, while I think of it; I've got your keycard on the kitchen bench. Admin got it ready before I went out to pick you up."

Erik dropped his coat over the back of the couch as she asked about the training. "Well Leo's evaluation... I don't know how much he wants me to say about it for now but the basics are that he'll be testing your combat skill, seeing how good you are and work out what training you need. That and he has trouble... holding back." He dropped down on the couch before continuing. "You probably already know that fighting another Exalt's going to be a whole different story to dealing with Davis and his goons but Leo... he was one of the first Lunars. Exalted late January last year, not even a month after the Manhattan Meteor. He's had well over a year to hone his skill and his Essence and is one of the most powerful Lunars on the damn continent. And that's still not a good description; it's hard to describe what a Full Moon is like in battle. Don't bother trying to use YouTube to get a feel for it either; until you're facing one yourself, nothing'll prepare you.

"Anyway; after that evaluation, he'll probably organise some hand-to-hand training for you, maybe even get someone to teach you a Celestial Martial Art - I thought I saw you using the foundation Charm for Solar Hero Style back on the highway, Fists of Iron Technique. Your past self probably knew the style and his memories let you use it instinctively."
 
By the time she'd gotten back, Erik had started watching a video on YouTube on the TV (it was one of those ones with internet access) but paused it when she asked about how long he'd been in the States. "Came over for a holiday not long after the Meteor and to attend a wargaming convention to see what was coming out soon," he explained, "then things started to get bad and they were restricting a lot of air travel so I couldn't get back home and had to live off of savings... not much of that left these days. Only Exalted myself a fortnight ago. Found a Fire Aspect trying to take advantage of a girl one night and tried to stop him. Yeah, felt exactly as stupid as that sounds after he was holding me off the ground by the throat. He threw me through a van and then things got a lot brighter.

"I could head back home now if I wanted, but Australia's been managing pretty well so it wouldn't matter which country I'd be in. Besides; I'd have to pay for the flight myself and the airlines are really price-gouging these days. I mean a Skyranger could theoretically make the flight, but it would need to make one jump up into orbit and, last I heard, they're still trying to get the environmental seals working properly in a vacuum."
 
"They've been handling it pretty well;" Erik explained, "they both joked about it when I was on Skype with them after Exalting. I think they're kind of proud too; not many people in the world can claim their kid's a Solar - there's only about a hundred and fifty of us in the world on-record, after all. And the main selection criteria the Exaltations use when choosing a host is that they have a heroic soul, so Exaltation kind of proves that you raised a hell of a kid."

"I wouldn't be too worried about Leo - he's a good judge of how much you can take so he'll know when to stop without leaving you with serious injuries. And it'll be a good education if you're ever called on to deal with a rogue Exalt." When she lay down, he tried not to think about how well that dress hugged her figure, having enough trouble dealing with this animosity he kept feeling towards her courtesy of whatever the hell had happened between their past selves. He'd kept a lid on it but it was still there. He'd have unpaused the video to distract him, but it was a battle commentary video for a game of Shogun 2 and, Exalt or no, he still had trouble focussing on more than one conversation at a time. "Okay; night. Oh; your room's the one at the far end of that hall, on the left. Mine's the one across from you. Sorry; should've said earlier. I'm gonna finish this and then make a night of it myself, don't worry; I'll keep the volume down."
*************************************************************************************************************************************************
By the time they were airborne the following morning, Erik was glad he'd been able to get his coffee machine - an expensive, automated espresso one - flown up from Aus (there'd been a cargo flight bringing other stuff to Portland and he'd been able to get the pilot to agree to bring it with him if there was space in the hold - all he'd had to pay was postage from Toowoomba to Brisbane, then from Portland to Seattle). Whatever brand of instant coffee Bulwark bought for its personnel was horrific.

The evaluation was happening in a forest well outside the city. Since the Skyrangers were saved for more time-critical transport jobs, Erik and Allison were both flown out via helicopter and dropped off about a ten-minute hike from the evaluation site where Leo already was. By the time they arrived, Leo was already there, standing in a small clearing with his arms crossed over his broad chest.

"Allison," he said, sternly, "ready for your evaluation?

"This will be a test of your combat abilities and your ability to deal with threats that may be more powerful, or more familiar with supernatural abilities, than you are. And all you have to do to prove your skill to me..." as he paused, a disc of silver energy appeared on his forehead and the moonsilver tattoos across his body began to visibly shine, his anima flaring into visibility as well. His anima flowed over him, surging brightly as his his tattoos burned with silvery moonlight. It obscured him for a moment, but in that moment he'd changed. His shirt and shoes had vanished, displaying more of the complex tracery across his body, which was now considerably larger than normal. Standing before the two Solars was a prime example of why one should never underestimate a Lunar of the Full Moon Caste - now nearly ten feet tall, Leo had transformed himself into a massive, humanoid lion, displaying the raw regal power that the animal's image conveys. The change finished, his golden eyes met Allison's as he finished his sentence in a voice that rumbled like the growl of a great beast. "... is hit me."
 
Leo turned to face her, his stance relaxed. "I should have mentioned," he said, "a blow I can barely feel, doesn't count!" He punctuated that last part with a lighting-fast punch aimed at Allison's chest. Erik had known that punch was coming and even he couldn't follow it, slightly wincing as he remembered that a punch like that could hit with the same amount of force as a car. Of course; as an Exalt, Allison would come out of it with only a few bruises. The tree she slammed into wasn't quite as fortunate.

Leo's strength was only partly in the raw power his warform had; there were several Lunars around the world who could fight as well without ever learning Deadly Beastman Transformation. The Lion of Seattle, however, was a strategist as well as brawler - just as Allison had been trying to find a weakness in his defence, so had he been analysing her fighting style. If his own fight with Leo taught him anything, it's that he relied on his size and fighting style drawing assumptions - that opening on his back had been there on purpose expressly to see if she could spot it. He was well aware of the reach of his own arms and where he could and could not defend.

"You're still fighting as a mortal, Allison" Leo chastised as he approached her again, "the force you put into an attack must come from more than just your muscles - use your Essence, the raw power of your soul and Exaltation; let it lend strength and power to your strikes beyond what any mortal could hope to achieve!" He was trying to draw out more of Allison's power, to try and force ancient instincts and memories from thousands of years ago to the fore, making her remember the Charms her past self had learnt. Charms that would let her strike faster than any eye could follow, to block attacks meant to penetrate any defence and dodges that could avoid fate itself.
 
Erik was impressed to see the Charms she called up - whatever they were, they were ones that had never been seen in the present world, possibly having been invented by her past self. It wasn't that her Essence had created fire in the same way as a Fire Aspect, but that her Essence had focussed itself and concentrated the heat, like focussing sunlight through a magnifying glass but on a much larger, immediate and more destructive scale. And possibly on a conceptual scale as well; it wasn't like her Essence had literally created giant lenses to focus the light. Even the Twilight Caste had yet to work out how to create matter from nothing (although there were several dozen different theories about how, all of them giving mortal physicists headaches).

As her kick landed, Leo's anima flared even brighter and took the form of a magnificent lion roaring at Allison as thick, bony plates formed over the Lunar's back to absorb the blow. Nevertheless, the force of it still managed to send him sliding forward several feet and almost drive him to one knee. The carapace faded as he recovered from the blow, his anima collapsing back into the shapeless bonfire of Essence it had been for most of the fight. "Impressive," he said, "there's potential in you. I'll have a file describing some of the different Celestial Martial Arts we've rediscovered dropped off at your room, I'd suggest picking one to learn. It'll help you better temper and hone your power."

"In other words," Erik said, standing up from where he'd been sitting, "you passed. Come on; pilot'll be waiting for us. You coming, Leo?"
"No, I have some other things to do out here first."

As they walked back to the heli, Erik spoke up. "Well, first taste of fighting another Exalt. How'd it feel? Did you sense your anima hitting its totemic shape?" Apart from the majority of Dragon-Blooded, every Exalt's anima banner took on a form totemic to their personality when at the height of their Essence use - Erik's took on the crossed swords shape it took on the highway the day before while Leo's was the giant lion projection. During the fight, Erik had seen hers take its form as she delivered that final kick and, barring some very strange interference, she would have instinctively known what shape it took as it first formed.
 
((OOC: Sorry; turned into a bit of a long one. I'd sort-of thought of what had happened between the two, at least for the 'gun to the head' bit, at work a few days ago and finally had a chance to introduce it. Helps that the setting does have firearm-like weapons - most of the main Exalted setting is very medieval-China/Japan/etc.))

"It's not a style suited to you, trust me," Leo had said. Erik had a few theories about what style he practised, one being that he didn't practice a specific style at all and just used inherent Lunar Charms.

Erik shrugged as Allison asked what Leo might be doing, "Could be intercepting some Fair Folk or undead, could be searching for a new animal form to transform into and that's something Lunars have to do alone. Just as well, too, from what I've been told; it involves hunting a specific animal for a while, killing it, then eating its heart. After that; the Lunar can change into that specific animal whenever they want. Frankly; it makes me glad I'm a Solar. Seriously; eating a freshly ripped-out animal heart? Eugh."

Erik got flashes of memory as she bumped into him as well. There was something about jealousy but it felt different, like it wouldn't happen for years after the incident with the gun. He saw his past self pointing what looked like a flintlock pistol at the head of Allison's past self, around them were flames and the scent of blood. A corpse nearby, impaled by pieces of wood flung at high speed, wore a distinctive red kimono. Both past selves were blazing with the light of the sun but hers felt fresh; like she'd Exalted only minutes before. His face was remorseful as her thumb pulled back the hammer. "No more excuses, you careless bastard," she said, "you didn't care about the collateral damage you'd cause by fighting them, you didn't care about the innocent lives you ended with each swing of those damned fists, you killed my family!" The memory ended just as the trigger was pulled.

Erik shook his head as the memory ended, trying to get his wits back. He felt his past self's anger rise as he looked at Allison but quickly bit down on it. They weren't his emotions, Allison was not to blame for whatever happened that day more than ten thousand years ago. Erik felt there was more to it - who or what had her past self been fighting? How could it have been so destructive to level a whole village? Why didn't he care about the collateral damage? Or was it his opponent or opponents that were really at fault? He made a mental note to try meditating on the memory later in the day - it had helped him remember some of his Charms, like Summoning the Loyal Steel and finding the daiklave bound to his Exaltation - hopefully that would get him the full story. "When we get back," he said when he got his emotions back under control, "take your time looking through the files on those Celestial Martial Arts. You're not limited to learning one, but it's easier to focus on just one at a time and it could be years before you master it." It was sound advice, but it was also to make sure she left him alone long enough for him to try and recover those memories.
********************************************************
Leo must have had a mobile phone or something on him during the fight because a file describing some Celestial Martial Arts Styles had been slid under the door by the time they got back (which probably wasn't the best idea since Erik almost stepped on it as he opened the door). There were four styles described inside - Snake Style teaches the practitioner to strike quickly, slipping through their opponent's guard and striking from unexpected angles while learning to harden their Essence to protect them like a serpent's scales; Solar Hero Style is the classic brawler style refined into a more complete fighting style, that page had a note on it marking it as a particular recommendation from Leo; Mantis and Tiger Styles both worked on the same principles as their mortal kung fu versions but taken to the extreme of the Celestial Martial Arts. An extra note at the start gave a rough comparison of the three kinds of martial arts:
  • A mundane martial arts master can split a brick and jump over a hedge.
  • A Terrestrial martial arts master can split a boulder and jump over a house.
  • A Celestial martial arts master can split a city wall and jump over a mountain.

While Allison looked over those, Erik ducked into his room, sat on his bed and relaxed, meditating on the memory he'd gotten as Allison bumped him.

It was broken and fragmentary; but Erik had expected that, stories saying that a god in Yu-Shan cleaned some of the memories off an Exaltation while it was between hosts, but often left some memories on. He saw a quintet of Dragon-Blooded warriors, clad in ornate, jade armour. One was an overseer or something for the small farming village his past self had grown up in. The overseer was talking with the villagers happily, greatly loved by the locals who were eagerly talking with him while farmhands loaded a tribute of rice on their wagon.

The memory jumped forward several years, his past self racing back to the village as the sounds of battle erupted from it. Blades and fists clashing with enough force to be felt from hundreds of metres away. As she crested the hill, the memory became a crystal clear image - every facet of that moment had been burnt into her mind. Many of the houses had been obliterated by a titanic clash, many were on fire, parts of the ground were covered in a sheen of ice or smashed and drenched as though been hit by a tidal wave, a boulder had destroyed half of the teahouse while the stables had been overgrown by thorny vines.

In the town centre was a tall man blazing gold, his hands covered in blood as he looked about at the devastation in shock. The five Dragon-Blooded warriors from the previous memory all lay dead around the town, along with all of the villagers. As her eyes fell on one corpse in a fancy red kimono, she felt raw rage fill her. Common sense went out the window as she ran straight for the warrior, recognising him as a man who'd disappeared from the village years ago. A related fragment of info entered Erik's head, explaining that she later learnt he'd fled the village because he Exalted and wanted to avoid drawing the Wyld Hunt (a branch of the Realm's Immaculate Order dedicated to hunting down non-Dragon-Blooded Exalts, believing them to be demons possessing mortals).

As she reached the warrior, she started swinging at him, screaming in rage as she tried to punch him. As she punched at him, he idly deflected her blows, still in shock at the destruction he'd caused. The shock stopped him from noticing the sign of the Eclipse Caste forming on her forehead and the anima forming around her until she kicked him in the side of the knee strong enough to drive him down and pulled the flamepiece (a weapon similar to a flintlock pistol, but that fired a gout of flame instead of a projectile) out of his belt to press the barrel against his head.

That was when the bit he'd gotten in the forest picked up. As she pulled the trigger at the end, there was just a loud click as the hammer fell. The flamepiece hadn't been loaded and it fell from her numb fingers. All she could do was stare at him through tear-streaked eyes, asking him why he allowed their village to be destroyed. If he was powerful enough to kill five Dragon-Blooded, surely he could have led them away where the collateral damage wouldn't matter. He still seemed to be in shock, like he hadn't even considered the collateral damage to be a possibility or even notice it had happened until the fight was over. She demanded he leave, saying that she would kill him if she ever saw him again.


Erik let the emotions from the memories wash over him - bottling them up would just cause problems and he'd locked the door to his room to avoid interruptions. Finally, they passed, his past self - a young woman named Darting Lynx - was gone. Her memories (or at least the ones he'd viewed) were no longer affecting his emotions. There were still gaps - just who Allison's past self had been before he Exalted and what had happened between them over the next 200 years before the world was restructured into what it was now. And there was no guarantee the answers were on his Exaltation or Allison's - who knew what criteria the God of Exaltation used when deciding what memories to clean from the shards of divine power and what to leave on them?
 
((OOC: Sorry for the slow reply - distractions, work and fatigue.))

By the time Allison had gotten back, Erik had calmed himself and was gluing together miniatures for a tabletop wargame. "Was that James I heard?" he asked as she came in, "Not a bad guy for an Air Aspect. Just watch yourself; guy's silver-tongued as all getout. Then again," he remarked, attaching the boiler and exhaust to one mini's back, "people would probably say the same about me if I ever really tried to talk people into stuff. Let me put it this way; there's a reason people jokingly call social Charms 'Exalted Mind Rape'. Only reason it hasn't gotten out of control is that some of the best of us in that department actually have a conscience. And if for some reason even they can't get a wayward Exalt back under control, well... that's why we have orichalcum power bows for the Night Caste."

It wasn't something Bulwark members liked to think about, but with how insanely powerful the Exalted were, sometimes there was no way to reign them in even with other Exalts - all that could be done was to hope the next host for their Exaltation was better-suited to it and to... expedite the process. After all; the damage a rogue Exalt could cause was nothing to sneeze at and there was no way any mortal could stand up to an Exalted.

Erik did idly hope that James would step too far over the line, but just as quickly squashed that thought. Allison could see whoever she wanted, whatever jealousy he was feeling was just a lingering feeling on his Exaltation, nothing to do with him.
 
"Well," Erik said, setting the model down once he was sure the glue had set enough to hold on its own, "something did come in while you were out - not urgent, though, hence..." he gestured to the models on the table before picking up a tablet they provided each team. "Anyway, satellite recon spotted what looks like a Fair Folk freehold, basically a home or safehouse within reality. No sign of them mobilising, but it looks like they're starting to learn about aerial recon - they've tried to hide themselves with camo netting but it did a pretty poor job of it. Place looks like a proper military camp and there aren't any other freeholds or shadowlands in the area that they'd be setting up to deal with so odds are they'll be mobilising against humanity once they're ready. Portland, probably, judging by where they are. You'll be free to have your fun so long as you leave the commander alive. Be careful even engaging him - those guys are a challenge for even Solars. Especially Solars as new as us."
******************************************************************
The Skyranger didn't bother landing, just hovering over a small clearing and letting the two Solars leap out, the fall nowhere near enough for a Solar to worry about.

It wasn't too far to the freehold, which was an array of medieval-looking military tents with complex designs woven into the cloth, all hidden under primitive camouflage nets. A few hundred hobgoblins milled about the encampment, watched over by a cataphractoi who marched about clad in elegant armour of translucent glass and filigree. He was particularly worried about the commander, while cataphractoi looked more pomp than substance, they were were a match for most Exalted. While he felt a little bad about being manipulative; he wasn't going to say anything about them to Allison and let her see first-hand what cataphractoi were capable of. The seemingly-decorative bells on their armour sounded like children screaming when they fought, laughing and dancing in the mad joy of battle.

"Okay," Erik said as they hid nearby, "all yours." He waited until she was on the move and focused on the fight before summoning his sword. She would have trouble against these numbers on their own, nevermind the cataphractoi, and was ready to step in when things started going badly for her.
 
"Guess group fights aren't her strong suit," Erik mused as he watched her fight. While still new to being Exalted, he had seen enough how easy it was to fall into the belief that you were totally unstoppable. Sometimes facing insurmountable odds helped remind new Exalts that they weren't all-powerful juggernauts and that there were limits to their power. And sometimes it helped to better gauge their power and their limits.

At his signal, the Skyranger flew over the combat site and Erik dropped out the back, a dark streak hurtling towards the ground and hitting with enough force to send hobgoblins flying through the air around him, only to be sliced to pieces before they fell by the golden blur of his sword. He quickly carved a path to Allison, not bothering to hide his skill like she had. "Sorry to trick you like that," he apologised, stabbing his blade over her shoulder to pierce one hobgoblin through the face, "but I wanted to make sure you understood that there things other than fellow Exalts who can match or beat you in power." He continued fighting, covering Allison's back as he continued, the two of them able to beat the hobgoblins back enough for him to talk and fight at the same time. "For one, their leader. I'm kinda worried about why he's just standing there and watching. Cataphractoi like him are supposed to revel in battle, so why's he just standing there?"
 
The cataphractoi stepped forward, a scimitar-like blade in each hand. "It seems they did their job admirably," he remarked, calmly walking towards them, "pawns are made to be sacrificed, and I believe they did well enough in tiring you. You're running low on Essence, aren't you? That will make it easier for me to claim your heads." As he finished speaking, he dashed forward faster than either Solar could follow, stopping right in-front of Erik and bringing one blade down in a sweeping arc. Blocking the attack with his sheath, he drew his sword and struck in the same motion, almost catching the caraphractoi as he leapt back.

Annoyingly, he was right; while the hobgoblins hadn't been much of a menace, they had forced Erik and Allison to burn a lot of their Essence on their Charms. Even if they were in top form, a cataphractoi was still nothing to take lightly. While the Solars held him off, albeit getting a number of cuts in the process, it was only a matter of time before their Essence would run out and the raksha's blades would land a fatal blow. Then the cataphractoi leapt away with a cry of pain, clutching at the arrow piercing his leg as he landed. All three warriors turned to see the source of the projectile.

Standing just outside one of the tents, having already notched another arrow into her stolen bow, was a small girl who looked to be in her mid-teens wearing a black, frilly dress (which looked somewhat dishevelled and torn in a couple of places), her long dark hair left loose while a cat-ear headband sat askew on her head. What stood out most, though, was the silver ring on her forehead and the pale glow around her body, as well as the genuine cat ears poking from her head and the cat tail poking out from under her short skirt.

"Damn," the cataphractoi remarked as he pulled the arrow free, "since when does the food Exalt?" With three Exalts to worry about now, the raksha fled just as the girl loosed her arrow. One projectile turned into several and they traced a winding, twisting path through the trees before finding their mark in the cataphractoi's body, pinning him to a tree long enough for a second volley to pierce his chest and head, slaying him.

"What." Erik remarked, confused at how it had died so easily. The girl held up the quiver she'd been using. "He had his troops armed with iron arrowheads, guess he wanted to be ready in-case he had to fight another raksha. I don't think he expected one of his captives to become a Lunar, though."

((OOC: Image is just a reference for the outfit.))
 
Erik saw the punch coming but didn't bother to dodge. She was right. He just hoped that the point of it sunk in. "I'll explain later. How'd you end up in the middle of a freehold?" he asked.

"Hard to say," Sam answered, "I was leaving a smaller anime convention in Portland - hence the dress." She took off the cat ear headband, idly feeling her new real cat ears in the process. "Guess I won't be needing this anymore. Anyway, I'd left to where a friend was going to pick me up and the next thing I knew, I woke up in that tent there. I haven't been here too long, but raksha feed on emotions, so..." She seemed to shrink into herself slightly as she trailed off.

"You seem to know a lot about Fair Folk," Erik remarked, returning his sword to Elsewhere in the process, "I'd say you were good at filtering the bullshit out of the internet, but I think even some Exalts are still having trouble with that."

Sam smiled as she answered. "My big sis works for Bulwark, down in LA. She... might have told me a little more than she was supposed to?"
"Don't worry about that," Erik reassured her before activating his radio. "Angel 2, ground team requesting pickup from drop site. Be advised, we're bringing a cub back with us." After recieving acknowledgement from the pilot, he turned to Sam. "Cub's the-"
"Radio shorthand for a new Lunar," she interrupted, "don't need to have a sibling working for Bulwark to figure that one out."

**********************************************************************************************

Over the next several weeks, the new Exalts learned to better use their power. Sam received the moonsilver tattoos needed to fix her caste (so it didn't change with the phases of the moon) and protect her from mutations her transformative abilities might cause. The extra trials she had to go through as Lunar (mandated by a Lunar faction who'd formed and called themselves the Silver Pact) determined her caste as the No Moon - the intellectuals, savants and sorcerers of the Lunars. While she was gifted with just about any ranged weapon, she excelled at battlefield strategy and co-ordination. In particular, she'd taken to the use of a shellcaster; prototype firearms made using the same materials and principles as a daiklave, effectively an artifact firearm that could be empowered by its wielder. Hers, the Hunter's Eye, superficially resembled a Barrett M82, a massive .50 calibre sniper rifle made from gleaming moonsilver, the morphic properties of which allowed it to change form and become an inconspicuous (if slightly bulky for such a small girl) backpack. The trio managed to deal with a few more freeholds as well as face hungry ghosts when dealing with a shadowland.

Erik slowly grew jealous of how much time Allison was spending with James, but still was not sure how much of that was his own feelings and how much was bleeding through from his past self. Either way, he kept a lid on the feelings. It soon became apparent that Sam was Allison's Lunar Mate - the two getting along very well, though she seemed to act as a mediating force between the two Solars, sharing interests with both and having a knack for knowing just how to calm either of them down.


"Alright, you come in for a run after me," Erik said as he guided his virtual Boomerang Mk1 in on an attack run against an enemy Dornier 217. He and Sam were playing a free WW2 air combat game called War Thunder. Apparently, the only superhuman abilities that carried over into video games were reflexes and one's ability to think on their feet. Playing Planetside 2 had been somewhat disastrous until he got over the habit of trying to do stuff in game that he would in real-life (ie - charging a tank with a melee weapon).

"Okay, on your six," Sam replied as she slotted her Spitfire in on Erik's tale a kilometre and a half back. Her own computer had been hooked up to the TV, so she was reclining lazily on the couch as she played (apparently cat Lunars like her inherited their animal form's talent for relaxing in poses that would otherwise be somewhat uncomfortable). "So; any idea when our next job's coming in?"
"Hell if I know," Erik replied, opening up on the Dornier and setting one of its engines ablaze, "I think you've been here long enough to see that there's not exactly a schedule to these things."
"True," she idly remarked as she made her own run and tore the German bomber's other engine apart, with anything else she was going to say being cut off by the quiet sound of a document being slipped under the door, "but I guess whichever part of the Celestial Bureaucracy handles fortuitous coincidences is feeling generous today."
"Just as well that was the last player, then," Erik said, letting his Boomerang fly on its own as he stood up from the computer to check the file. "Well that's interesting," he remarked, "you girls ever been to Vegas?"
 
((Sorry for the delay; work's getting a bit tricky with the boss away sick.))
"Well..." Erik remarked, "that was quick."
"Guess she wanted to make sure she had something to wear on the casino floor," Sam commented as she headed to her own room to pack, "speaking of which..."
"You're still underage, remember?"
"You really think they're gonna stop an Exalt from gambling, just because she's a few years too young?" she said with a smile, showing the small feline fangs she'd gotten along with the ears and tail.
"Just as I start to forget that you're her Mate..." he mumbled to himself before moving to sort his own luggage out.

As he packed, he read over the mission details more clearly. It was another recruitment mission; this time it was a Vegas local named Jessica Rockwell. She'd Exalted as a Lunar after being stabbed in a mugging. Needless to say, the mugger was greatly regretting his decision when she started bouncing him off the walls and into her fists. She surrendered to the Vegas PD when they arrived on the scene and, until Bulwark could send a team to pick her up, was allowed to work with the police for a time. Their impromptu (and premature) attempt to examine an ancient manse that had appeared outside the city had almost gotten Jess killed, but was where she'd found a moonsilver spear that responded to her touch.

Since Las Vegas was inside the protected area of the Seattle branch (the area the branch could protect with its own Skyrangers and Exalts), she was being transferred to there and assigned to Erik's circle. Erik idly wondered why the thought of living with three attractive women roughly his age wasn't quite as appealing as it sounded.
**************************************************************************************
"Yeah, like I said," the burly Dragon-Blooded woman confirmed, barely looking up from her magazine, "James and the rest of my team flew out early this morning. Real urgent thing, too - would've only had the chance to tell ya if ya passed him in the hall on his way out. Woulda gone with, but I'm not much of a fighter an' they don't need a tech expert with 'em 'less the 'ranger breaks down." Candice was the fifth member of James' brotherhood (the designation teams of Terrestrial Exalts were given), a large Earth Aspect woman almost built like a mountain and about as sedentary as one. Popular opinion was that her muscled form only avoided a slide into obesity because of her Exaltation maintaining it. "Why ya askin'? Hopin' for a little backroom 'jolt'?" Despite her appearance, Candice also had a rather keen eye and got the feeling that Allison liked James for more than a conversation. The comment about a 'jolt' being a reference to the Air Aspect's predilection for large displays of lightning in his fighting style (he had already mastered Air Dragon Style and was already working on a way to combine it with Tiger Style).
 
Erik shook his head at Sam's mention of the threat. "I was tired and he was the tenth one asking after her within two hours. Strictly-speaking, the louder I am, the less creative I am as far as insults go. As for why it's another girl," Erik shrugged, "I'd say blame whatever system Bulwark uses to assign teams, but frankly I get the feeling that the real culprit is the Loom of Fate. Think about it; our past selves were close in the prior world, Sam's past self journeyed with us for a time, but that's all I really remember about it. What are the odds of it happening by pure chance? I guarantee you, just about every circle with at least two Celestial Exalts in it will have a similar statistical impossibility."

Sam's comment about them just doing it already distracted him long enough not to hear the pilot counting down to the jump. "Sam; it's a lot more complicated than tha-AAAAGH!" Erik had been cut off mid-sentence as the skyranger made the foldspace jump to Vegas and he hadn't gotten a hand hold like the girls, sending him flying towards the front of the ship and leaving a forehead-sized dint in the bulkhead plating. "Ow," he commented as he got back into his seat.

"I don't see why it's more complicated than that," Sam said, "I know that there was bad blood between your past selves, but I get the feeling it didn't go beyond them. Hell, it was mostly just Darting Lynx being pissed at Allison's past self for something and him beating himself up for it as far as I can recall. Neither of you have done anything to piss the other off enough to justify what's going on with you two."

"And you think getting horizontal will help?"
"Certainly can't hurt, might make you two loosen up around each other at least."
"... Did becoming part-cat make you start thinking with your libido?"
"And did you go on a bit of a Red Dwarf binge last night?" Erik kept quiet at that remark; Sam was quite happy with her new feline nature but hated being compared to the Cat, regardless of how much she liked the show.

((OOC: For reference, Celestial Exalt is the catch-all term for the Exalt types that reincarnate - basically all of them except for Dragon-Bloods, who are considered Terrestrial Exalted.))
 
Back
Top Bottom