Ruthless Galaxy: The Paradox Machine - IC

Emperor Zigwin woke up to a strong sense of unfamiliarity. His antennae, which were able to preform a variety of functions, already alerted him that something was wrong. This was just confirmed when Zigwin's VBT flickered to life.

Apperantly, he was in a cozy wooden cabin. Just right for the Emperor's tastes. It was... suspicious, to say the least. This isn't right. I'm apparently not in Someka, unless my house underwent some sort of metamorphosis. Younger Zigwin would have panicked, but the Emperor was able to calm himself. He examined his surroundings. His black cape, the signature for the emperor, laid neatly folded on a nightstand a foot away from his bed. Inside the nightstand he found his armor. He put it on, as he figured that he'll need it. He quickly put on his cape and stalked over to where he thought the living room was.

Zigwin opened a window and looked out into the valley below. This certainly wasn't Someka. The Emperor grunted, as if this happened to him every day. Of course, it wasn't. He opened the front door and stepped into the outside world. Inwardly, he was panicking: What will they think if they know that I'm missing? I had a speech scheduled today! They'll notice. Calm down. Xia will take care of it.

Sighing, Zigwin stepped forward onto the dirt path, his cape dragging behind him. He noticed the ominous tower, and stopped for a moment. He'd have to think about this.

His VBT shut off, allowing his antennae to fully sense the environment. They sensed subtle vibrations in regular patterns. It had to be a voice. He turned towards the voices, and turned his VBT back on. The vibrations faced away, but he had already located it. He traveled for what had to be half a mile before reaching bushes. The voices were audible now, and Zigwin was able to guess what they were by their accents: A Jorro'kil,. and possibly some form of Ryun-Wrae.

He pushed the leaves aside and revealed himself to the strangers. Zigwin suppressed a gasp: He recognized the zealot known as Xej Therus, but he looked... a lot younger. Younger than he last remembered. A few seconds after seeing them, the Emperor sighed angd gave some sort of half-hearted wave.

"Hey... you wouldn't happen to have any idea where we are or why we're here, would you?"

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Cadet Zigwin awoke with an audible gasp. He noticed immediately what was going on: This wasn't the plane he fell asleep in. He fumbled around for his VBT, and stopped when he finally found it. He placed it on his head and the world suddenly flickered to life.

He was right; this WASN'T the place he fell asleep in. He began to panic. He looked around frantically for his armor, and found it in a pile in the corner. he quickly put it on, and ran as quickly as he can out of the house. The instant he opened the door, he froze.

This was terrifying.

He closed the door behind him and stumbled onto the dirt road. he took a second to examine his surroundings. Horrified, he backed up against his house. He needed to find someone.

Aarin shrugged and made to climb on Xenos, as did Vey. "I guess we qualify," said Aarin half-humorously. "Come on Mott, I think you qualify too."

Mott seemed to be looking squeamish already, but with a shrug made to get on as well. "That all depends on if we can get on," he said, looking doubtfully at the tall Spiromander.

Teglin stood back, shaking his head. "No way! You're not getting me on that thing! I might fall."

"Sheesh," Vey could be heard muttering under his breath. "What a whimp!"
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"What should we do then?" Jiiran asked. He seemed fairly calm now that people he seemed to know well were there. "Head for that building in the middle of the valley?"

"That would seem to be the logical place to start," said Aarin. "Are you coming along with us?" he asked Scree.

"Very well then." Xej turned to leave the cabin, and after walking only thirty feet from it, he heard a vaguely familiar voice, but it certainly had a twinge of peculiarity. He only had to turn his head a few inches to let his line of sight center on Zigwin.

He listened as the Xikarian spoke to them, then replied, "No, I'm afraid not. Hello, Xikarian." He dipped his beak, and, looking hard at the old Zigwin, cautiously asked, "Zigwin? Xikarian Emperor?"

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The young Xej looked at Xenos, and, his common sense getting the better of him, turned down the ride to offer.

"If we must go... I will walk." He said. Immediately he started off towards the tower, hoping to gain some distance before the others who chose to go on foot. He didn't trust any of them, and wished to keep them at a good space from himself.

Ravage scowled, and tilted her head at Xej, "Whatever you say, zealot." She muttered under her breath, wondering why it was that he was so mistrustful of her, when normally the Jorro'kil always wanted some sort of alliance or friendship with other empires. They were a race of warriors, but Ravage was certainly no enemy, she had assisted their people on many different occasions. She then looked down at Teglin, "Alright, Teglin, you start heading over, we'll meet you there, try not to get into trouble, in the meantime." She then proceeded to look down at Vey, Aarin, and Mott, from where she sat on Xenos' saddle, "It's pretty simple, Xenos will kneel down to let you get on. If you slip on his skin, grab one of the saddle straps to help yourselves up. Easy. Just hold on tight, and if you think you're going to get sick, you're just going to have to endure it, I don't stop for things like that." Xenos' saddle was more like a large black pad on his back, the only actual straps on it were for holding the construct of silk on so that it didn't fall off. Ravage didn't need any straps to keep herself on, as her talons were perfect for gripping it, and she didn't want to get caught in the case of a combat situation. The saddle felt like silk, but looked more like leather, as it was a unique alien variant, and so solidly woven.

At a series of bird-like chirps, Xenos knelt down, allowing for everyone to climb onto his back. Once everyone had climbed on, she gave another vocal command that nobody could understand, and the Spiromander rose again, the ground seeming much further down from where they sat on the beast's great back. "Alright, hang on, we're going at top speed, and Xenos is known for how fast he is." With this, the Spiromander, following the most subtle commands that Ravage gave him, turned towards the tower, and took off, the land around everyone turning into a blur as he ran at dizzying speed. It looked almost as though Xenos moved independently, simply sensing where Ravage wanted him to go, although she and her companion were just so used to working together that the guidance she controlled him with wasn't noticed, just the faintest tap of talons against his back. There was also the fact that Ravage and Xenos were still perfectly aware of their sense of direction, both capable of moving very quickly, therefore neither of them were capable of motion sickness at their rate of movement. Wind rushed by as they moved, and it was hard to hear over it as the quickly passed Teglin and Xej both.

It wouldn't take much time at all to get to the tower, but Ravage decided to keep up a casual conversation, anyway, as this wasn't a battlefield they were running through, "So, how are you all holding up back there?!" She called, making sure her voice could be heard over the sound of the wind that would be rushing in everyone's ears. It was so casual, that it might baffle someone else. That, of course, was partially her intention, as she wanted to keep everyone distracted from how hazardous they might perceive the ride they had agreed to. Riding on an animal with no real stirrups, when the animal in question was a strange alien predator that ran like lightning and stood at nine feet tall.

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Scree looked over at the tower, "Well, sure, I'll come, I don't see the harm in it." She then spread her wings, clearly intending to take off, before she looked back at the others, and quickly folded them back again, having a somewhat sheepish look on her face. "Uh, maybe I'll just walk." She said. She wondered if it would be considered rude to fly in the presence of others that couldn't. In history books she read that a lot of races without wings or some form of flight that came naturally to them usually dreamed of flying, and that in ancient times part of diplomacy and avoiding offending them was not flying in their presence. There was also the fact that flying eliminated going over and around hills and any other obstacles, it would be more like going ahead of all of them, versus traveling alongside them. She didn't want to seem rude.

She then flicked her tail, trying to cover up the thoughts that ran through her head, "Let's go, then." She said. She then turned, and started walking towards the tower, looking over her shoulder, and then slowing, clearly waiting for them to catch up to her.

Jiiran heard Xenos heading off with his targets.

"I have no time to talk to you," he said to Unsilenced Retribution. Folding his missile-launcher back into his armor he turned and leaped onto the roof of the nearest house. A quick look told him that Vey, Mott. and Aarin were being carried away Ravage on her Spiromander. Ignoring Teglin, Xej, and Theranis, he quickly began to pursue them, leaping swiftly and agilely across the roofs of the houses. However, he was unable to keep up with Xenos, who had a head start anyways. Soon Jiiran was left far behind. However, he kept going. He knew they were most likely heading for the large building in the center of the valley.
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Mott wiped his mouth and groaned. "I think I left my last meal on your pets tail," he said weakly.

Vey and Aarin slipped off easily, helping Mott off as they did so. Vey laughed. "Woohoo! Now that was fun!"

Aarin smiled, then looked at the building and whistled.

The edifice standing before them was massive. It seemed to be more or less equal in length and width, with each side going for half a mile. The whole building looked to be made of marble. In front of them was a great stairway wider than Xenos was long, going up to a deck that was surmounted by massive pillars. At the head of the steps were two immense statues of griffins, standing posed with wings outstretched. Just visible from where they stood, there seemed to be a rail along the edge of the roof almost five hundre feet away, suggesting that there was an area up above on which one could walk. The shape of a dome was also just visible. Judging by the positions of what seemed to be long, empty windows there were at least four levels not counting the roof.

"Whoa," said Mott. He didn't need to say more.
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Teglin walked along with Theranis, keeping his distance from Xej. He soon started complaining.

"I hate this. This is so unfair. Where are we anyways? Why are we here? I want to go home. . ." And so he went on an on.
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Vey chuckled a little. "Hold up, young'n," he said to Scree. "Us old people need some consideration."

Jiiran looked at him in concern . "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," said Vey as he hobbled along. "Back trouble, that's all."

Jiiran looked hard at Vey. He was definitely older than Jiiran remembered. Jiiran also noted he had a scar on his right brow. And when had he started having back troubles to the point that he need a cane?

Jiiran found that in his musing he had unconsciously caught up to Scree as they walked along.

"I hope I didn't startle you earlier," he said slowly. "I didn't even notice you at first."

At Mott's mention of leaving his lunch, Xenos looked uneasily at his tail, before flicking it several times, and twitching as though his skin were crawling. The Spiromander was pretty good at understanding what someone was saying, even if he himself couldn't speak a word. He didn't like the thought of one of the people riding on his back vomiting up what they ate onto his tail. That was a highly disturbing thought, even for him, when normally animals had no qualms with things. Xenos was just smarter than most things, practically intelligent in his own way. Turning his tail, he wiped it onto the grass, clearly having taken note of what Mott had said. He didn't see anything, but he wanted to be sure there was no traces of anything on his tail, or in the slime that coated it. Spiromanders were clean animals, they didn't like filth of any sort, which was why Xenos enjoyed being around Ravage, and didn't mind living in her quarters. Ravage was very clean, too, and there was hardly a speck of dust in any Chimerosu facility, due to the fact that their powder down made it important that they constantly sweep a room. It would be a very dusty mess, otherwise, and most aliens would sneeze if they were forced to tolerate it.

Ravage watched Xenos, and scowled at Mott, "Well, that's one way to make him uncomfortable. You always had a weak stomach, it seems. At any rate, I did say you could get motion sickness if you rode on a Spiromander, I wasn't exaggerating how quickly my Xenos could run." She looked up at the tower, as though the subject matter were over, and then shrugged, "Well, seems innocent enough, pretty grandly built, too, though I'm partial to Cavernian mosaics and metalwork, myself." Nobody would have any idea what a Cavernian was, they probably wouldn't even realize that it was a variant of Chimerosu. She flicked her tail, "Should we go in, then?" She didn't seem as though she were quite as impressed with the building as the others were. It was possible she had seen things that were build like it, before, if she were mentioning races that nobody knew of that certainly didn't seem to be her own people. It was also equally possible that she was trained not to be stunned in any situation.

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Scree looked at Jiiran, "Well, you kind of did, but I think it's pretty normal for me to freak out in a situation like this." She said, flicking her tail, and looking up at the tower in the distance, "I was just in bed, I could barely sleep because there was an exam I studied for really hard. I was going to wake up, and pass it. Next thing I knew, I was waking up on a strange bed, on a planet where all the grass and trees are green." She frowned thoughtfully, "I didn't think leaves could be any color aside from varying shades of blue, that's how they all looked on my planet." She then folded her arms, "Well, at any rate, I'm straying from the subject. I haven't seen an alien before in my life, until today, now I'm the only Chimerosu here. I guess you haven't seen anything like me, either, but if that was the case, why do Vey, Aarin, and Mott keep looking at me like they know me from somewhere?"

The Sentinel couldn't help but grin and chuckle a bit, as what Teglin had just said was ironic. "Just the way I remember you, Teglin. I broke several bones back then and I complained less than you did." As they got closer to the building, someone sent a voice message through Theranis' COMM system in his armor.

"Warn the others, Jiiran is here," Unsilenced Retribution's voice came through, a calm, neutral tone though the Wreae was slightly worried about their situation.

"Unsilenced Retribution? Where are you?" Theranis responded incredulously, glancing to either side. Suddenly the Wreae's figure dropped from the sky and landed next to Xej, kneeling. The blue aura still surrounded him as the machine stood up, stared at Xej Therus for a moment before determining that the Zealot had become younger.

"I was above you, Sentinel." The machine approached him, tilting his head slightly. "I need to know what happened, and why. This tower seems like a good place to start, though it'll be best to look for other people." With that, the machine's thrusters activated and he burst up into the sky once more, observing. Theranis smiled slightly and continued to walk.

After studying Xej some more, the Emperor nodded grimly.

"This.... This is very strange," He said quietly. For one, both Xej's and the Wrae's armor seemed to be outdated. He wanted to point it out, but he figured that Xej already had some vague idea of what was going on. He looked off into the distance at the mysterious tower he saw earlier.

He remembered how things were when Xej looked like that. He was 34 years old, and had a Cyan cape, and was still very friendly and forgiving. Well, much more so, that is. However, that was 70 years ago, A lot has changed. Zigwin, after experiencing many more wars and almost dying at least twice, has hardened and become a lot colder. He considered the"good old days" to be over. Although his empire was in an everlasting golden age, Zigwin seemed to be descending slowly into some pit of darkness. It wasn't a pleasant time.

"Mind if I tag along, Xej?" Zigwin asked. "I'm as curious as you as to our situation..."

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Cadet Zigwin slowly walked into the valley, sporting his poison blade, which was thankfully int he pile of armor. He held the blade close to him, as if something would jump out at any moment. So far, he didn't sense any other Xikarians around, and it was still quite terrifying.

Okay, is anyone around here? I need help, he thought.

"No, Certainly not. I and-" He stopped, realizing the Wreae had not been introduced. "Ah, I'd like you to meet my companion, Wreae Unit 816." He said, gesturing in the direction of the machine.

"We are going to the tower located in the middle of this valley.. Perhaps answers will be there, or the direction to answers." He said.  As he stepped out of the shade of a group of trees, his armor became much more visible but hardly any of the parts of his armor glistened due to their texture and make.

With this, Xej once again started to walk, starting out at a slow pace for the others to easily catch up, increased his pace about halfway to the tower, but slowed again upon nearing the construct.

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Xej kept a steady pace, thinking over the situation and the best choices he could make based on what was likely to happen. Unfortunately, he had little information to work with, most of which was his belief about the possible intentions of the aliens.

His thinking was abruptly interrupted as Unsilenced Retribution jumped down beside him. He was startled but managed to maintain a steady position, and reciprocated the stare with which the Wreae used to study him.

Once Unsilenced exited the area via his jet system, Xej turned back to Theranis and also Teglin.

"What was that?" He asked, more out of honest curiousity than distrust. Xej always had an interest in machines. His current position as a Minor soldier, a basic infantry unit in active duty, didn't generally solicit large interaction with computers, much less AIs, which Xej was particularly fascinated with. "That was an AI, correct? I've never seen such an advanced model..."

Jiiran arrived at the last house right before the great building. Paying little to the architecture, he focused on his target, Vey Churim. Jiiran was determined to find out why the people he remembered were so young, and he would need to interrogate and examine one. Jiiran paid little attention at the moment to Ravage and Xenos; he figured they would pose little threat.

As the group started to mount the steps, Vey suddenly felt himself seized from behind by a hand with massive strength. Hearing Vey's cry, Aarin turned and gasped in horror. A large, black armored creature was seizing his brother and starting to make off with him. With a cry, Aarin jumped at the creature, grabbing at the arm holding Vey; however, the creature simply took Aarin with the other arm, and tossed him aside as if he weighed nothing.
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Jiiran shook his head at Scree's question.

"I don't know," he said, dropping his voice a little. "They've rather been looking at me strangely, too, like they're seeing a ghost. And they're older than I remember too."

Suddenly Jiiran paused. "Do you hear that?" From the direction they were traveling came the sound of cries and violence.

"Come on everyone," said Vey hobbling faster. "Whoever that is might need help."
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". . . and what did he mean by saying Jiiran was here?" asked Teglin. "From what I've heard, Jiiran hasn't been heard of for more than twenty years." He paused suddenly. "Do you hear fighting ahead?"

Ravage's third eyelids closed as the scent wafted into her nostrils, the smell of someone who she had personally seen die years before, partially at her own hand. She turned to see him, snatching up Vey, and then swatting Aarin aside, as though he were as light as a cloud. Behind the milky visor, her pupils contracted to thin slits, and her beak wrinkled into a snarl, as she bared her teeth. "You!" She snarled, before vanishing into a blur, as she dashed over to get the Prince away from the monster, who she knew would kill him without any second thought. She didn't know how someone could come back from the dead, but this creature was dead, the last time she saw him. She knew the nature of the armor, how it worked, and how nothing anyone else threw at it would have any effect. Ravage, however, could damage it, and that was enough to frighten him badly, hopefully enough to make him flee. She was strong enough, too, to easily rival his power with her own. This foe would not best her.

Charging over, Ravage seemed to materialize out of nowhere, and, with an extra boost from her wings, punched with as much force as she could with unsheathed claws of superior metal, metal that was unlike any other, formed into the sharpest blades that were physically possible. One fist punched the one that had seized Vey, forcing the miraculously-revived Jiiran to drop him, and the other attacked the area in the breastplate where she knew the power source was surely hiding. Just as she remembered from before, her claws didn't completely pierce through, but they left notable scratches in their wake, and the force of the blows was enough to send Jiiran flying a distance away, as Ravage landed back on her talons, seemingly unfazed, although fury was evident in her every move, and the look in her eyes.

She growled, "I thought this place just made people younger, or older, but it seems it brings people back from the dead, as well. Jiiran, you are supposed to be dead!" She snarled. She then flashed her claws, "Vey, Mott, Aarin, stay away from him! He is not the man you think he is, and by whatever means, he is somehow alive once more!"

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Scree heard shouting, but she wasn't sure what it was, although it sounded like a young woman of her kind, although oddly, there was something practically snarl-like about the qualities of the voice alone, not just the tone she was speaking with. It was almost like a growl, a sound that could only be created if there was something unusual about the beak, and slightly different about the throat. It was raspier, and it sounded furious, as though the woman was a part of the fight. She gasped, "It's another Chimerosu! Come on!" She then opened her wings, and took off, flying in the direction of the fighting, desperate to find out what it was.

She instantly stopped and landed, a bit frightened, and sickened to her stomach, by what she saw. A strange, gigantic figure clad in black armor, which seemed to have scratches on it, and a Chimerosu that looked like she came out of a nightmare. She was tall, abnormally so, enough so that she would have towered over a normal female of Scree's kind. Her feathers were a shade of midnight blue so dark it was almost black, and the stripes were black. The feathers had an oily sheen to them, like they were waterproof, and whenever the evil-looking woman moved, there was a flash of brighter blue in various places, her feathers were iridescent. Her wings, seemed to have patterns on them, and when flared out, seemed to be a pair of enormous, glaring eyes. The wings were gigantic, as well. Her beak was filled with sharp, serrated teeth, and equally sharp spines ran down the woman's back. Her horns had a strange, thicker look to them, and there was a ridge of bone on her face. Her eyes, even at a distance, clearly had slitted pupils, like a reptile's, and what should have been hands and feet tipped with blunt, lightly-pointed nails, were sharp, black, wickedly pointed and hooked talons like a bird of prey. The hands, curled into fists, were gloved, and from slits in the gloves projected sharp metal blades that gleamed silver. The woman was clad in black armor with a crucible pattern in it, and the ranks she bore on her shoulder, Scree couldn't recognize them. Overall, the Chimerosu didn't resemble anything normal at all, in fact, she fit most modern and ancient depictions of demons.

"Who. . . and what is that thing?" said Mott looking in shock at Lord Jiiran.

"I don't know, but I think we'd best let her deal with it," said Vey, pulling himself away, along with Aarin.

Lord Jiiran croutched, tensed. His armor was damaged! How as that possible? And how did this creature know him?

Gathering himself together, and flung himself at Ravage full force, but then, right in mid-leap he was snatched up by and unseen force, and flung smashing into the side of the giant building. Looking up, he froze.

A small group was coming into the area. There was another Chimerosu looking at him and Ravage in horror, and also a Krathunian. But it was the Vatarri who made Lord Jiiran freeze.

He was older than Jiiran remembered, hobbling on a cane, and had a scar on his right brow, but there was no mistaking the High Prince of Daro, nor the figures of Aarin Tiirmot and Mott Gatiir along with him.

For just one second Lord Jiiran stood frozen. Then he lunged. He had to strike the older Vey now before he could do anything more with his telekinesis. But as his toxic blade came out to spear Vey, something truly astonishing happened.

The younger Jiiran had paused to find a weapon before following everyone else, and this came in the form of a shovel. Leaping in front of Vey, Jiiran dealt the black-armored figure a blow to the chin that made him do a back-flip. "Don't you dare hurt Vey, Monster!" yelled Jiiran.

Lord Jiiran landed on all fours, and stood for a moment staring in shock. There standing in front of him was himself, albeit without armor and obviously younger. How was this possible?

Just then Jiiran felt the his armor being blasted with hand guns. From amongst some of the houses a Vatarri had leaped out, a medium-sized gun in each hand blasting away at Jiiran with them. The Vatarri was every inch a fighter by the look of him, scarred on his face, neck, and arms, his frame one of strong-looking lean muscle. He was brown-skinned, and had five flagella-form finrics, three in front, and two longer ones in back. He was simply dressed, and at his belt was a holster on each side for each of his guns, as well as a pair of brass knuckles on the right side of the belt. Strapped to his back, he had what appeared to be two Markovan blades, albeit made for someone his own size. Ravage could quickly see that this was an older version of Teglin Fess.

"Come on, Scum!" he yelled as he attacked Lord Jiiran. "I'm not running from you this time!"

This was enough. Jiiran never took on so many creatures at once if he could help it, especially if he thought any of them might be a match for him. He wasn't particularly concerned with this newcomer, but Vey Churim, and the strange creature with the metal claws were definitely dangerous. Without any more hesitation, Lord Jiiran fled, disappearing amongst the houses.

"Come back and fight, Coward," yelled the older Teglin, starting to give chase.

"Teglin?" said the older Aarin.

Teglin stopped dead. "Aarin? Aarin Tiirmot? What are you. . ." then he noticed the younger versions, as soon did everyone else. Open mouths were very much in evidence as everyone looked back and forth between the younger and older versions of Mott, Aarin, and Vey, who gazed at each other in equal surprise.

Unsilenced Retribution smashed down upon the ground once more, controlling the way he landed, and looked around the group. He had heard the commotion and knew it had involved Jiiran by hearing the dialogue, but did not see it. He quickly noted the fact that there were two versions of every person, but did not share their incredulous gazes. "Which way did he go?" The Wreae inquired, looking constantly all around him. Someone pointed him in the correct direction and Unsilenced Retribution nodded. The basin in his chest suddenly glowed a harsh blue as energy from his blackhole generator flowed everywhere and the Wreae dashed forward for two steps before leaping forward. The aura surrounded him and a loud sound reminiscent of an explosion sounded as his thrusters activated and propelled him forward in tangent with the energy. This effect created a large shockwave that pushed back a couple members of the group. The Wreae was nothing more than a glowing blur as he shot between the houses, some of their sides blowing out.

Sentinel Theranis ran forward, having seen the commotion and put down his helmet as a safety precaution. At the same time, Warrant Officer Theranis noticed what appeared to be a Sentinel - In Krathunian culture, all military personnel wear specialized black armor with red lighting. The one exception were the Sentinels - While they still have the specialized environment response armor, their lighting is deep hue of blue. Thus it was understandable when the younger Ra'agus saluted hastily, brushing his cape off of his shoulders.

"Sentinel, sir!" He barked, keeping the salute steady until the other Krathunian got closer. The Sentinel, on the other hand, could immediately see who it was, and swore several times before reaching the group. At this point, his helmet came down to reveal his face.

"Krathun..." Was all the younger Theranis could muster, not believing what he was seeing.

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8164392 clasped his hands and bowed. "It is a pleasure, Emperor." It paused to listen before responding, "Please do, we need all the help we can get."

Ravage had relatively little shock, as almost nothing struck her as impossible, and she had a very open mind. In her lifetime, she had faced so many battles and situations that most would have found unbelievable, that she had little doubt that something could happen. It didn't matter how insane that something was, because everything was possible, in her mind. What she didn't expect, however, was that she would run into a younger version of herself. It seemed, to her, that young Scree didn't even recognize her future self, not that Ravage would blame her. Once upon a time, Ravage was grieving over  her warped appearance, because on Krylon, she would have perfectly matched the depictions of a demon. It was a somewhat disturbing concept, but Ravage wasn't an evil manifestation, and even then, demons were supposed to be incredibly powerful. She had resigned herself to be perfectly fine with people comparing her to such things. However, the fact that she was looked upon with horror, made her realize how terrifying she must seem. She straightened her wrists, and her metal claws sheathed. She then folded her arms, and glanced between the two variants of each person.

Finally, she flicked her tail, remaining calm, despite the recent chain of events, "It would seem to me, that we have two versions of each person. There's a younger one, and an older one. It also seems that whenever someone died, that doesn't apply, considering the person who just ran off was killed years ago, from my perspective." She snorted sharply, something she did to express negative feelings without harming anyone, "Well, as I always say, nothing is impossible, and this is just as believable to me as anything else that's happened in my lifetime."

Xenos, still standing, braced in case of another attack, seemed to loosen up slightly, and gave a growl, agreeing with what his master had just said, although it seemed that he wasn't going to run into another Spiromander. Considering they had woken up in the same room, it was possible that for whatever reason he had come along with Ravage. That meant that there probably wasn't an untamed wild beast running around the local area. Regardless, Xenos would be very unhappy without his master. Despite being solitary predators, Spiromanders in their lifetimes were capable of forming a tight bond with at least one person, and as legend stated, once it did, it would never form the same close relationship with anyone else. Ravage, as Xenos' closest friend, meant much to the beast, and if he lost her, he would be heartbroken. Now, however, there was the confusion of this female who seemed to be his master, but had a completely different smell, and looked next to nothing like her. Confusion was all that could be described in his features.

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Scree stared at everybody, stunned by the sudden violence, and even more so by the demon lady, and the fact that despite everything, she was completely calm. She looked over and saw the Spiromander, and flinched, turning invisible, once again receiving enough shock to lose control of her natural camouflage. She stamped her foot in frustration, and then froze, hoping she wasn't noticed, as the demoness and the dangerous predator both seemed to hear her, and look in her direction. She held her breath, hoping those frightening, reptilian eyes of the woman passed by, and that she wouldn't be important enough for the Spiromander to attack her. Finally, the demon-Chimerosu snorted, "Become visible again, even if you're camouflaged, your natural variant doesn't conceal you as well as technology would, and even then, I can still smell you, and know where you are." She seemed annoyed, by this, rather than enraged.

Scree winced, and faded back into visibility again, "You're, uh....not going to hurt me, are you?" She asked, her voice quiet and small.

The woman scowled, "No, that would be considered self-harm. I just said there are two of each person, one older, and one younger. Who do you think I'm supposed to be?"

Scree's beak dropped open, "You're...me?!"

The young Xej, upon arrival, witnessed the brawl between the aliens, and kept his distance from the conflict until the odds of one side overwhelmed and extinguished the force of the other. This was more like he expected from xenoforms.
 
Then he noticed something else. There seemed to be two versions of the same people, of almost everyone there. He listened closely as Ravage stated what the others were probably thinking.
 
If there were two versions of everyone... then there must also be another version of himself. But where?
His primary feathers, sticking out from both of his upper arms, waved in the breeze created as he briskly walked past the confused-looking aliens, and up to the tower steps. He cautiously observed the architecture, scanning for any life or possible traps. Temporarily satisfied, he moved further up the steps until he reached the top, and an entrance. He stared at the doors in front of him, and, willing to take the risk, proceeded to open one of them and step inside.
 
(I'll leave the interior description to you, tonysaur)

Silence prevailed for a while, people paying little heed to Xej as he walked by.

"Weird," said both Motts at the same time. Each quickly covered their mouths. Jiiran paused a moment to chuckle at that into his hand.

"What are you laughing about?" said both Motts at the same time. "And who are you anyways?" asked the younger Mott.

"Um, ahem," said the older Vey. "This is. . . and unusual situation to say the least. . ."

"What's going on. . .? began the younger Teglin coming up, then he stopped open-mouthed. Then he noticed his older self, and really looked surprised.

Suddenly the older Teglin noticed Jiiran. With a grim look he reach for one of his guns. The senior Vey, despite his back, moved quickly, arresting Teglin's movement with his cane. "No need for that, he's on our side." He gazed hard at Teglin as he said this. With a scowl and a hostile glance at Jiiran, Teglin stepped down.

Vey quickly took control of the situation. He nodded at Ravage and the older Theranis. "It's good to see you two. I guess some introductions are underway. For all of you who don't know, this here is Jiiran."

Jiiran bowed, with his right fist to his left palm. As he did, Vey looked hard at Ravage, the senior Teglin, and the Sentinel. Don't tell him about who that was we were just fighting, his eyes said to them.
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Xej found himself gazing down a long hallway, with great oaken doors every twenty feet. Each door was doubled with another, and about ten feet in height, with large iron handles on them. Next to each door was stationed a golden Anubis.

The hall ended in a large room with a great vaulted roof soaring far away above Xej's head. At the top appeared to be a great glass dome through which light came through. The room appeared to be dining hall, with tables set up with chairs and benches of various sorts, obviously designed to be for different creatures. At one side was a long table, piled with food of every imaginable kind, once again, obviously designed to suit the taste of a wide variety of races.

Ravage looked at the older Vey, and gave a barely perceptible nod of her head, to show that she understood, before going about and giving her beak a dip, the typical Chimerosu greeting. She so rapidly disguised the discomfort she felt about being in the presence of who would one day become a terrible enemy, that it would shock anyone who was aware of the fact that she was acting. At the same, time, though, she had done the same thing on Vathors, when dealing with the traitor Godmar, whom she had immediately disliked upon first meeting him. She was used to working under pressure, how different was this, truly, to anything else she had done? Whatever the reason, she greeted the younger, less dangerous Jiiran as though nothing were wrong with him, "Greetings, I am Major General Ravage of the UCN, a pleasure to meet you, sir." She then returned to her typical relaxed position, folding her arms, with a rather natural-looking scowl on her face, as though she did it often. It wouldn't surprise anyone who knew her well, though, considering that she typically had a gruff manner, and was in almost every regard a very tough person. It took a lot of pressure, and a very specific kind, to put her under enough stress to make her genuinely lose her composure.

Scree walked up behind her, "Ravage, really? Why did you change our-" Ravage shot her a look that made her immediately clamp her beak shut.

"Best not to ask questions, Scree, I don't take kindly to them. I am a much, much different person than you." She said, her beak wrinkling, and baring her sharp, serrated teeth.

Scree felt offended, now, and puffed up, although she was nowhere near Ravage's height, "Why shouldn't I ask! You're me! It's my business, you can't be any older than twenty, how are we different in a two-years difference?" She demanded.

Ravage growled, a feral sound, and her hands tensed, talons long and threatening, "I am forty-one years old, twice as old as you, and plenty of things can happen over the course of two decades. Do not ask me questions, I'm not going to answer them." Scree flinched back, and this, and once again, vanished, and then forced herself to re-materialize, having no control over her camouflage. Seeing this, Ravage sighed, annoyed, but letting go of the anger she felt at being interrogated, "Ah, I suppose you're me when I was nineteen, and you must have been preparing to take the test to see if you can pilot the Stealth Strider upon the time you were taken." Scree's beak dropped open again, as Ravage had said exactly what Scree had been doing, and every detail was correct. Ravage's eyes narrowed, "Close your beak, would you?"

She turned away and looked back at the older versions of the people she knew, "I am glad to see all of you, versions of people I know, who actually remember who I am."

Emperor Zigwin, remembering his manners, dipped his head in the customary Xikarian fashion to Xej and Unit 816. He then began to follow Xej, using his antennae to scan the surrounding area for any activity. so far, he found none.

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The Cadet sneaked-- unsuccessfully-- into the valley, making a note to himself to head towards the ominous tower, somehow, in hopes that he might find out what was going on. He kept his hand on his venomous blade, in case something tried to ambush him.

Zigwin stopped when he realized that he could hear voices. He leaned towards the source, as if it would help him understand them. He thought for a few seconds about whether he should investigate. However, despite his cautious side's protests, he started to slowly walk towards the source.

He found himself standing some distance away from the voices, but was able to see the source-- whatever they were was-- Aliens and hear it clearly. He hid behind one of the many cabins, and listened to their conversation.

"Why shouldn't I ask! You're me! It's my business, you can't be any older than twenty, how are we different in a two-years difference?"

The Cadet was already confused. What is she talking about, He wondered. "You're me?"  I don't understand... Is the alien being sarcastic, or is this some sort of paradox?

Zigwin decided that he'd had enough. He'd continue his hike towards the mountains, and-

Snap.

He had stepped on a stick, revealing his location to everyone around. Namely, the aliens he was stalking earlier. Horrified, he looked towards the aliens. He was now in plain sight, so he was at these aliens' mercy. Zigwin gripped his blade tightly, ready to fight if he had to.

The older Vey patted Scree on the wing. "It's probably for the best you don't know these things. Knowing your own future might pollute your timeline, or something like that. We won't be telling our younger selves what's going to happen to them either, if it can be helped." The younger Mott snorted indignantly.

Everyone froze and looked up at the sound of a stick snapping, spying Zigwin. The older Teglin began to reach for a gun, when the older Aarin stepped forward, and gave Zigwin the customary Daro greeting, the right fist to the left palm combined with a small bow.

"I am Aarin Tiirmot. You need not fear us, we mean you no harm. I think i would be correct in assuming you have been mysteriously abducted, as have we."

"And not just one version of ourselves," said the older Mott, "but two, one from the future, and one from the past."

The Cadet studied the alien group. Shamefully, he realized that if they'd wanted to kill him, he'd probably be dead already. He looked at Aarin incredulously, and then managed the best response that he could think of at the moment:

"Wait... What? Two? What? Abducted!? Future!?"

It was easy to tell that Zigwin was very, very confused, but he could tell that these aliens weren't doing anything malicious. The Cadet studied them for a few seconds more before talking again.

"Well, then... I'm Cadet Zigwin Achova of the Kingdom of Rajai... It's a pleasure, I suppose..." Zigwin dipped his head downwards for a few seconds, in customary Xikarian greeting.

The Sentinel nodded at Vey and turned to Jiiran. "It's a pleasure. I suppose you've already met my younger self," Theranis glanced at his younger self, who nodded.

"Yes sir," The less experienced Theranis stated as if out of instinct, his hands clasped behind his back as he stared at the ground, avoiding the gaze of the Sentinel.

"You don't need to call me that. I may be your superior, but I'm Theranis Ra'agus of Lornatun just the same." Almost immediately after this, Zigwin made his appearance and both of the Krathunians turned in almost exactly the same way - fists closed as if holding some sort of weapon and pivoting at the waist. The only difference was that the Sentinel's upper body whirred with cybernetics as this occurred, to which he winced slightly out of embarrassment and pain. "Greetings, Cadet." He began, stepping to face Zigwin. "I am Sentinel Theranis Ra'agus, and this is..."

"Warrant Officer Theranis Ra'agus," the younger answered with a slightly air of indignation. "It's an honor."

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Unsilenced Retribution stalked through the tangle of houses, trying to locate Lord Jiiran. So far, nothing of the tyrant had been found. He turned to the nearest house, using scanners to try and locate any form of life. He found none, and blue lightning crackled down his body as he prepared to demolish it out of rage. Before he could, the machine within him stopped the organic's emotions and told him to retrace his steps and head back towards the tower, and locate any hints of Jiiran's presence.

Only a minute or so later, Unsilenced Retribution saw heat and energy signatures from what seemed to be a Jorro'kil, Xikarian, and another Wreae. He rushed forward to find a familiar face. "Zealot!" He called, stepping towards the group. "Xej, what are you doing here?"

"Another Wreae," his younger self spoke, rotating towards Unsilenced. A hologram projector in its body activated to reveal identifying data and status reports. "Chief Petty Officer Unit 8164392, ready to assist."

Unsilenced Retribution was taken slightly aback but did not let this show. "Acknowledged. I am Unsilenced Retribution, Federation Admiral." He decided not to tell his younger self of his actual identity to begin with due to knowing how reactionary he himself would be.

Xej stared in surprise at the two Wreae. They were the same... but how? One was as he had worked with, and the other a much younger version.

"I simply... appeared here. I'm afraid I'm quite without answers as to most other questions you might have... Tell me, where were you when you arrived here? Where was everyone when they first arrived here? I woke up in a cabin not too far from here." He said, hoping to present useful questions for the situation.

"And why... are there two versions of you?" He said, very puzzled by this.

The Emperor was about to welcome Unsilenced Retribution when he looked back at Unit 816. Then, he looked back at Unsilenced Retribution.

They were the same, aside from a few major differences. For one, Unsilenced Retribution seemed a lot more... knowledgeable. Unsilenced Retribution seemed like the more fleshed-out, experienced version of Unit 816. And, if Unsilenced Retribution was telling the truth, he had a higher rank than Unit 816.

Age, he realized. Unsilenced Retribution is... the older version of Unit 816? What... A strange paradox... How does that happen?

Zigwin looked back at the two Wreae, as if trying to confirm his suspicions.

Finally, the Emperor Spoke, "Hmm... I'm Emperor Zigwin Achova of the Xikarian Empire... It's a great pleasure to meet you, Admiral." Zigwin dipped his head. Then, he continued speaking, "And, I'm pretty sure I know what's going on here, but I'll let everyone figure that out for themselves."

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

The Cadet responded, "Yes... Umm, can you give me a summary of what you know? I'm completely lost, in more ways than one."

"You could say the same thing about us," chuckled the older Vey drily. "In the meantime, I'd say we should follow our Jorro'kil friends example and take a look in here."

As they made their way up the stairs, Vey and Aarin, helped by Ravage, filled Cadet Zigwin in on what had happened to them all from their own point of view.

Jiiran made his way up the stair feeling very uncomfortable. Why did the older Teglin keep looking at him in such a hostile way?

Ravage noted the death looks that Teglin was giving Jiiran, and how they seemed to be making the man uneasy. Annoyed, she moved so that she blocked their view of each other with her folded wings. She then leaned over and spoke to Jiiran, "Pay no attention to the older Teglin, he does not readily trust you, but that may come in time." She told him. It seemed that that she was completely honest, but there was also the nagging feeling that there was something that Ravage knew that she wasn't telling him. She then raised her head and shot Teglin a warning look. He was being too obvious, yes, they both knew this was the man who turned out to be a crazed creation of the Liirlith, and a warlord that had been guilty of many crimes, but for the moment, this younger Jiiran had done no wrong, and was thus innocent. It was in many ways an injustice, to treat him with cruelty when he didn't even know why he deserved it. Nobody wanted Jiiran to know that the figure clad in black that they had fought earlier was his older, demented self, either. Scree was horrified by her own future version, what would Jiiran think of his?