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[LP CYOA] Epic

a cut of domestic sheep prime

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At last, I have been vindicated. Naim is not Theseus!
:lol: And we'll just forget when he shot us in the eye. (edit: seriously, the fucking EYE. only a MASSIVE asshole does that.) Or when he was going to kill us for Julia.

Theseus was first and foremost a delusional wannabe hero. Had Ean not saved him, the original Theseus would have thrown his life away battling the minotaur. Naim was probably doing something similar here.

Besides, in order for a Theseus to manifest his full dickishness, he has to have some girl he's in love with. Since Kyrie's "death", that requirement was no longer satisfied and Naim has had to settle for merely being the stuck-up A-hole he's always been. Were she alive, you can bet that Naim would have gladly murdered Senya, Ean, Shulgi, Sek, and everyone else out of some bizarre thought process that Dio could ensure her safety better than we could.

I laugh at Naim and his ego-driven death. I really wish we would have gotten Qin to kick him in the balls earlier. If it were up to me, Senya would urinate on the smoking ashes of his mech (only if Kyrie couldn't see of course).

The true bro here is Camna's descendant. I remember when we all mistrusted him simply because of his heritage. How blind we were. :salute::salute::salute:
 
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treave

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Codex 2012
Man · God · Machine

“Master!” chirps Yua’s voice happily, glad at having found me at last.

That is impossible. This dimension is locked down. It still is! Diogenes exclaims in disbelief, having just watched Anhur-Shu break through the lock down.

“I told you,” I reply. “I am the arbiter and the gatekeeper. None shall pass except through my will. I didn’t think I’d have to spell it out.”

I will not be mocked by trash such as you.

Vajra Deva raises its six arms as more spears materialize in the hands.

The space around me shifts as I am transferred into the cockpit directly. I glance briefly at the place where Rei used to sit before placing my hands on the control orbs. The pitch-black surroundings of Anhur-Shu’s cockpit light up, displaying the outside of the frame. “Good job taking care of Anhur-Shu, Yua.” I praise my faithful AI as I plug my tendrils into the system. This time it feels different – without a co-pilot, with the full use of my powers, I find myself sinking into sync with the frame, as if we were one.

I can feel the generators warming up, pulsating with power, as if they are my own heart.

The claws at the tip of Anhur-Shu’s arms twitch, as if they are my own fingers.

I stretch, flexing the gravity wings on my back.

“Master, the enemy mech has launched an incoming attack. There are six spears heading our way,” warns Yua. I respond immediately, bringing the gravity wings forward. They immobilize the thrown spears, crumpling and bending the weapons until they are harmless. Suddenly, Vajra Deva is at my side, a weapon in each of its six arms. Staves, spears, swords – it swings these at me simultaneously, lightning crackling around its movements. I evade the initial flurry of blows, fending them off with my limbs and wings; Diogenes continues his attack, faster and stronger. My degeneration field is not strong enough to even give him pause. I miss a beat and a stave shatters the solid darkness that is one wing. A spear slams into my forearm, cracking the armour. I fire the micro-missiles mounted on the leg; the explosions give me time to pull away from Diogenes and his mech. He laughs.

After all that bluster, it is just a man-made toy after all. The gleaming surface of Vajra Deva, scuffed by the detonation of the missiles, restores itself rapidly until not a single scratch can be seen. I attempt to repair Anhur-Shu’s damage with my powers, but the Vajra strikes from the white mech have a disruptive property that interferes with regeneration, slowing it down. I abandon the notion after a second of trying.

Do you think you can resist me with such petty weapons? Vajra Deva charges forward as Diogenes taunts me. I concentrate, breathing in deeply. Most of Anhur-Shu’s munitions had been expended prior to its arrival here; Rei had not been taken without a fight. I activate one of the beam sabers and raise them to parry Diogenes’s relentless attack. The saber holds out for a while under the assault, but within seconds the blade has been dispersed into particles as the Vajra weapons power past my defense. Diogenes lets out a gleeful howl as he swings all six arms towards me. I shout out, “Yua, now!”

“Aye aye, Master!” The two remaining ring slaves that I have left rocket towards Vajra Deva from the sides, slamming into the mech’s head in an act of self-destruction. While he is distracted, I power up the black hole cannon. A swirling black orb is formed from the chest cannon and slams into Diogenes’s robot before he can react, tearing through the shimmering veil that protects it. Vajra Deva’s weapons vanish as it brings its six hands to close around the black hole, blue energy crackling from the fingers as they compress and crush the orb into nothingness. The feedback from the process strikes Anhur-Shu’s chest panel, fusing it shut.

As I said, it is a mere toy-

I land a solid punch on Vajra Deva’s head, sending it flying backwards. It regains its balance almost immediately, hovering in mid-air. The damaged portions of the machine repair themselves quickly before my eyes, wires snaking back into position, metal coverings regenerating.

That is enough. No more games, Diogenes states impatiently. The lightning wings flare outward, growing in size as they stretch towards space. As each bolt of electricity touches a Vajra Shula fortress, they come to life, the three-pronged point of the main cannons swivelling to face me.

“This is not good,” I mutter. I push all power to the gravity wings and fold them in front of me immediately, barely making it in time before the bombardment starts. A hundred fortresses spit forth energy in an unending torrent with enough power to kill stars a thousand times over. The almost indestructible white surface that I am standing on begins to crack under my feet. “Master, the generators cannot take this level of stress,” says Yua. “Keep it steady, Yua. We’ll think of something.” I’m channelling my own power into Anhur-Shu so that the bombardment doesn’t disintegrate me instantly, but the frame was not designed to handle such a large quantity of energy. If I transfer any more energy to the generators, they will likely overload and explode. Unlike the Vajra Deva, Anhur-Shu is of a more mundane construction.

“Wait, Master, the enemy mech is charging up an attack!”

A halo of energy has appeared in front of the Vajra Shula, a bright, shining lance emerging from it. Space itself begins to ripple and twist as the lance slowly inches forward – there is more energy concentrated into that weapon than a supernova.

Be reduced to nothingness! I will not leave even a scrap of your memories in existence! Vajra Deva grasps hold of the lance, electricity running up and down its length as Diogenes sneers at me. I cannot do anything but defend at the moment, held down as I am by the fortresses’s bombardment, and there is nothing I can do to defend against that lance.

“Senya. Take it,” says Kyrie, her hand over mine. I hesitate, staring at her. If I absorb all of those thoughts, hopes and dreams, I can overcome the fortresses easily, but in doing so…

I shake my head. “No, not yet. We haven’t lost yet.”

You haven’t lost? What sort of nonsense are you spouting? Are you holding out for a miracle? The power of friendship? There will be no miracles here except if I grant it.

“The power of friendship?” I murmur, and then grin, noticing the figure in the distance. “Yes, something like that.”

A powerful bolt of lightning shoots upwards from the ground, penetrating the Vajra Deva’s shield and blowing off one of its wings. I see Shulgi holding what looks to be a combination of twenty Vajras; they are blackened and charred from the overload, as are his disintegrating arms. “That’s the last of our reserves!” shouts Mikey. The lightning wings flicker, temporarily losing power. As the fortresses cease their bombardment, I am given time. Not a lot of time, but just enough. Unfurling the gravity wings, I rip open the chest panel that had been welded together with my own hands. Tearing the metal apart, the black cylinder within is revealed. “Yua, activate the Annihilation Cannon.” It elongates and unfolds. Matter. Anti-matter. Twin black holes spin into existence, each a destructive mirror to the other. I feed them with boundless power; their size balloons as they convert energy into mass.

Diogenes lets out a roar of rage as he hurls the lance at me. The projectile streaks groundward, overflowing with his divine power. Forcing Anhur-Shu upright, I fire the Annihilation Cannon. The created black holes collide, begetting a light of pure destruction. As the lance smashes into the beam of energy, reality begins to crack around the point of impact. In the next instant, the beam overpowers and engulfs the lance in a massive explosion as pieces of the white sky begin to fall away, revealing the dark void behind. The energy from the explosion buffets the Vajra Deva and my own mech, stripping away more of our armour.

I focus all power into the reactive energy armour and the propulsion. The weakened ground crumbles as I blast off, flying straight at Vajra Deva before it can recover. I smash into the white mech, carrying it off into space. We slam into one of the inactive fortresses, creating a massive crater in the alloyed exterior. The Vajra Deva is already regenerating from the explosion. A spear pierces my shoulder, tearing through the actuator joint. I attempt to hold the Vajra Deva down to charge up a point-blank blast from the black hole cannon, but its other arms grab the black cylinder and crush it. With a kick, it sends me flying away, smashing into the wall of the crater.

You still do not accept the futility of it all. I am truly immortal. I cannot be destroyed.

As Vajra Deva sets its feet on the ground, a tangle of golden branches sprouts up around it. One of the branches opens up, disgorging Ean. Moving swiftly, he drives his deadly black blade into the white robot. Diogenes screams in pain as he grabs the immortal with one hand and flings him away, throwing him through the space fortress.
You. Ean. Always you stand in my way at the last of it, Diogenes growls, preparing to finish off his foe with a lightning lance. The blade had left a small cut on the armour of the robot. A cut that was not healing.

I break into a run, launching myself at Vajra Deva. I’m out of weapons – all that is left are Anhur-Shu’s hands. My first blow crushes half of the enemy’s face, though he retaliates by tearing off part of my shoulder. I clutch the hand that did so and pull, ripping it off. Diogenes summons more weapons and attempt to drive them into my back – my wings fend off four but not the fifth, which impales Anhur-Shu in the waist, narrowly missing the generators. Grabbing Vajra Deva by two of its arms, I twist and swing it over my shoulder, slamming it into the ground. I stomp on the arms and break them.

Wait. Wait, Diogenes says, suddenly affecting a reasonable tone. You are acting irrationally. Think. We are sharing our power, are we not? We can come to terms.

I smash my fist into Vajra Deva’s abdomen, cracking past the metal. Grabbing the innards, I rip it out. With a burst of lightning, Vajra Deva attempts to flee, but I wrestle it to the ground. I grip the remaining wing and tear it off.

You are just driven by fear of me, Diogenes says. Can’t you understand that? Our power is infinite, and beyond such petty emotions. There is nothing to fear.

“There is nothing wrong with fear.” I reply, trapping its leg between my claws and crushing it at the shin. I drive my knee into Vajra Deva’s side, puncturing its armour. “Fear is what drives someone to evolve, to surpass their limits. We are nothing without fear. A man without fear cares for nothing.”

A punch, smashing a huge dent into Vajra Deva’s chest.

“We may be afraid, but we overcome that fear and must continue to do so as long as we exist. That is what living is. That is what courage is. That is what makes us stronger! What do you fear? What are you afraid of losing?”

Vajra Deva closes its remaining hands around my arm before I can withdraw it and returns the favour by tearing it off. Energy crackles around its multiple wounds. I can sense that Diogenes has lost his temper.

WHAT DOES A GOD HAVE TO FEAR?

He roars as he comes at me. Vajra Deva’s fist smashes into the cockpit, tearing past the metal until it is mere inches away from me, while my counter punch rips off its head. With a shout, Diogenes himself emerges from the robot with a flash, charging towards me with a blade in hand. Still buckled down in the cockpit, I have no room to dodge. The sword slips into me and out my back. The pain is sharp – I feel blood trickling down my lips.

“That is why you have lost,” I say, as I withdraw my fist from the nexus of his existence, the point from which all his lines emanate.

“No… I cannot… I am… Diogenes… Camna…” croaks the old man, his skin and flesh turning into a fine powder that is rapidly disintegrating.

“You are nothing,” I whisper.

And then, the god is no more.

***

“They’re here, Senya.” Kyrie says. I’ve landed Anhur-Shu at a mountain at the original Earth, near where the Imperial Academy would be if the Shinar Empire existed in this world.

“Mount Olympus, huh?” says Ean, as he looks around the barren peak. Sekhenun is following behind him. “I haven’t seen this place in a while, but I guess you wouldn’t remember it. It was before your time.”

“What came of its destruction was more beautiful than the mountain would have been,” I reply.

Ean nods. “Perhaps,” He draws his sword. “I’m sorry. We are out of time.”

“Oh, no. Don’t be. It’s the perfect time to strike, while I am wounded and have not yet gained full control over the system.” I say. "You've prepared for this from the start, haven't you?"

“Yes. You cannot be the new Observer,” says Sekhenun sadly. “It will fix nothing. Now that you’ve destroyed the console, the only way is for Ean to devour you and ascend.”

“No,” I shake my head. “I don’t think so.” I hop down from Anhur-Shu’s knee and walk in front of them. “I destroyed that console for a reason. Life should not be governed by the system. I will destroy and create anew a world that is free from such oversight. There will be no more gods. No more masters.”

“And how do you propose to do such a thing?” Shulgi asks, walking up behind Ean and Sekhenun. The remaining Masters and immortals are also there.

“Well…”

***

A. The world existed before the system – in its absence, it will return to its original state. Of that I am certain. There are the fears of a nebulous apocalypse that the IAE system was created to prevent, but even if it does exist, it is up to us to defeat it by our own strength, not by creating a god to fight it for us.

B. I will create a new system – a world that observes itself. This is a world that will not be subject to the whims of a sentient observer. I will turn the gods and masters of today into the foundation of tomorrow’s existence. They will be weaved into the fabric of the multiverse, becoming the new world.

***

“You can see how we cannot accept that,” mutters Sekhenun. “Your sacrifice is the simplest way to fix things. Don’t be selfish, boy.”

A strong wind begins to blow up the dust, as time slowly returns to the world. Shulgi laughs. “I’m not sure to say whether you have grown or regressed, but at least you have come to your own conclusion. I’m sorry to say that I disagree with that conclusion, though.”

“I don’t think your proposal is acceptable,” says Sheldon, as he summons Vajra into his hand. “There are too many risks and uncertainties.”

Ean points his sword at me without a word.

“Fair enough. I suppose negotiations are off,” I say, as I step backwards, a grin on my face. “If you want the throne, come and take it.”


--CHAPTER END--
 
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Baltika9

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Holy shit, what a way to end the LP. Masterful troll, I guess we'll never get that drink from Shulgi, eh?
“Fair enough. I suppose negotiations are off,” I say, as I step backwards, a grin on my face. “If you want the throne, come and take it.”

Come get some, you arrogant pricks.
:yeah:

A. That is how it was meant to be. If the next generations want to fuck it up again... well, let them.
 

treave

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The Ghostpocalypse will be solved either way, whether it's A or B or if Ean wins and devours Senya.
 

Baltika9

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Not to mention, aparently IAE was created to substitute a previous malfunctioning Observer.
Exactly, the Observers are imperfect, ours will be even more so. Ean, Shulgi, Senya, Sheldon, all the candidates have massive flaws because they are, in the end, human. I don't think any human can handle this responsibility, no matter how much power they have.

That's why we should put a stop to this shit here and now. Creation didn't need a system in it's beggining and it doesn't need one now, if there is an Apocalypse coming, then I'm sure the races will think a way out of it. All that matters is...

:salute:
 

treave

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In A Ean and co. will be beat down, if Senya wins. In B they will be beat down and turned into material for the new world. In both cases the Ghostpocalypse will cease, in A you have to chance the coming of a new (old?) threat, while in B no such threat will exist. It's the last choice, so I'm making it clear.
 

Baltika9

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Well, if we leave them alive in A after the beatdown, then they'll probably be around to stop the possible Apocalypse. A really does sound like the new Senya.
 

treave

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They might not be able to stop it either, if it exists. That's the uncertain part.
 

Baltika9

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True, but that's the price of real freedom. And all things do eventually come to an end, it's only natural. Still, I have a good feeling that the multiverse, guided by Ean & Co, plus Sheldon, will be able to stop it.
 

treave

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B is no less free, just that you sacrifice some people for the certainty that life will continue to thrive. At any rate, this is far from being the worst ending that can be obtained. There was always the high possibility of it heading down an everyone dies, multiverse reboots end.
 

Baltika9

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Uh, could you write the worst possible ending as a bonus chapter? Downer endings have their unique charm.
 

treave

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That's a whole other path altogether. Devoid of context it'd be rather pointless, unless I take the time to write a few thousand more words. Just imagine Senya slaughtering everyone then killing himself/getting killed by Ean.

It's ultimately what would have happened had we chosen to willingly sacrifice Rei.
 

treave

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Senya did sense echoes while walking about the Masters' dimension, I think it's briefly mentioned. Otherwise, you are correct in that the IAE system's activation 'killed' the Earth, though one could argue that Iae was preserving it, or even protecting it, in a way.
 

treave

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The creation of a Diogenes Camna statue the size of an entire universe to finally commemorate his long-deserved victory.

Ego trips aside, expect him to get rid of anything that might challenge him, and once he is secure, rule over the entire multiverse while pruning civilizations that advance too close for his comfort.
 

Baltika9

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Sounds downright Orwellian.
"If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever."
 

treave

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Epilogue

"Did that all really happen?" asked the boy.

"Yes, but some of the details have been lost in time." The old man answers. The winds are cold tonight, and he is feeling every bit of it in his aged bones. "It all happened so very long ago."

"When can I go to the stars?" The boy is hopeful.

"One day, my sweet."

"What will be there?

"Anything you can imagine. Our galaxy has billions of stars... minus the ones destroyed by the black holes... and the FTL cannons... uh... anyway, each of those stars could have many worlds. Every world could be home to a different form of life. And every life is a special story of its own. Though its usually just tentacles. Tentacles everywhere. Every planet." The old man shivers.

"Tell me another story about the Shepherd."

"It's getting late, but, okay. One more story. This is a tale about how the Shepherd led his sheep into a temple to fight the tentacles..."


---THANK YOU FOR PLAYING MASS CONSEQUENCES EPIC DLC---

***

And it's a wrap!
 
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Tigranes

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Wait, so voting is over?

That said, I suppose it must be A...
 

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