Larstern

"Hm..."

Haru stood some distance away from the inn, peering up at the spire of Astrid's Temple in the background. It could not have been particularly far away, which was something of a comfort to the newly displaced child, alone and lost. The architecture of the surrounding buildings seemed to be relatively consistent, yet it caused Haru to feel something akin to mild culture shock. It was as though she was stood in some kind of amusement park or a recreation of a historical site like Elizabethan Stratford. As a result of all this, Haru's first and most prominent wish was to find some kind of sanctuary and somebody who would tell her where all this actually was.

She tugged on the neck of her cardigan without really thinking about it until her mind was made up. Two people would easily be able to navigate themselves through the bustle of this lively neighbourhood, especially given Jotaro's physique. The man was practically a human steamroller. Haru couldn't imagine anyone getting in his way. Although the air was mild and she didn't feel too uncomfortable staying outside, there was a burning desire within Haru to return to something familiar.



"You know, that building up there," she spoke, pointing to the structure in question, "looks kind of like a cathedral, don't you think? Maybe if we head that way, we'll find someone who can-"



"..."

Her axe arm sinking slightly, Haru gazed ahead at the man who had appeared in front of her. A moment or two went by with her mouth agape and her blinks irregular, then she flung her axe aside with a high-pitched clatter.



"JOKER!"

The empress in pink sprinted at full speed towards her missing friend, her hair fluttering in the wind and her arms stretched out on either side.

Brace for impact.

Venom found himself waking up on the streets of a city, and a lively one at that.  That immediately caused Venom to snap to attention.  Where was he? When did he get here? Was he kidnapped? Did XOF try to get back at him for killing Skull Face? Too many questions, and that immediately put Venom on-guard.  Venom immediately checked his inventory.  Tranq gun, check, knife, check, sniper rifle, check, Phantom Cigar, check, assault rifle, check, NVG, check, binoculars, check, Fulton Extraction Device, check, and of course, the most important thing of all: Cardboard Box, check.

Weird, all of Venom's stuff was in his inventory.  He couldn't have been kidnapped, if that was the case they would've stripped him of his gear, and he would've been somewhere other than a city, probably some dark cell for him to be interrogated.  Right, that ruled out kidnapping, but it didn't explain how he got here.  Venom got down to one knee and activated his radio, switching to Miller's frequency.

"Miller, respond," Venom ordered.  "Are we still in radio contact with each other?" No response.  Venom swapped to Revolver Ocelot's frequency.  "Ocelot, respond.  Respond, dammit!" Still nothing.  Seemed like he was out of radio contact with his lieutenants.  Venom pulled out the iDroid to look at his troops at Mother Base.  He got an error, Mother Base wasn't able to be contacted where he was.  He had none of his resources, none of his troops.  He could write off the radio silence as simple interference, but the iDroid was another story.  There was no possible way he could lose contact with Mother Base like that if he was in just some other part of the world.

Venom deactivated his radio and looked around him.  It was only at this point that Venom realized that wherever he was, it was somewhere strange.  There were a lot of people here, not all of them human.  It looks like something out of some science fiction novel, or maybe Tolkien, given that he was seeing stuff like Orcs and Elves just wandering the streets.

Venom couldn't write this off as just a dream, everything was too realistic for it to just be a dream.  He could feel the wind in his face, hear the people talking about various topics, touch the ground beneath him.  No dream, not even a lucid one, was this authentic.  He doubted that it was a simulation either, VR tech wasn't developed back home yet.  He kept running possible scenarios in his mind, but only one of them made any actual sense, as much as Venom dreaded to admit it.

"...Am I even on Earth right now?" Venom muttered, mostly asking himself.  It was the only explanation that made sense.  It'd explain the radio silence from Miller and Ocelot, the strange people around him, his inability to contact Mother Base's resources...but at the same time, Venom had zero clue as to how he got here.  If this wasn't Earth, how did he get here? He couldn't possibly have been transported here by ship, the distances would be impossible to cross in a human lifetime.  He ruled out aliens abducting him too, he was sleeping in Mother Base last he checked, and he doubted that aliens could've snuck by the entire Diamond Dogs team without raising an alarm and abducted him, specifically.

So that left a question: How did he get here? It didn't seem like a random arrival, there was probably someone wanting something out of him.  Why else bring Big Boss here to wherever he was? Venom stood up and looked around the area.  Outside of the crowd, the first thing Venom noticed was a temple, a ridiculously oversized building.  Venom had trouble judging the distance because of its sheer size, but he had to guess that it was multiple square kilometers in size, and that alone troubled Venom.  Whoever owned that building was probably very important, or possibly egotistical enough to waste millions of dollars building an oversized building just because they could.

The structure reminded Venom of those old Gothic Cathedrals he saw in France.  The French might have a horrible military, and were thus less then good in his eyes, but those cathedrals were impressive, if nothing else.  It also looked like the structure functioned as a palace...was there royalty on this planet? Venom thought that kings and queens fell out of favor in the eyes of the public centuries ago.

Venom then scanned the crowd to see anyone who stood out, and there were three who did.  They mostly stood out because of how...normal they looked.  The oldest one Venom pegged in his 20s.  His features made him look older, but he moved in a manner that showed that he was still young.  He also moved in such a way that he was clearly experienced with combat.  Then there were the other two, teenagers, not even out of High School by the looks of things.  A boy and a girl.

The girl looked like a normal teenager, but her movements showed an air of grace to them that wasn't shown by just anyone...Noblility? No, that couldn't be it.  Daughter of a wealthy businessman? That's more accurate.  She was clearly friends with the boy, judging by how she was charging at him to hug him.  Venom didn't want to make any assumptions and think they were boyfriend and girlfriend, they were probably just friends who were happy to be reunited on this strange world.

Venom looked over their weapons.  The 20-year old had nothing on him.  Did he fight only with his fists? ...No, that couldn't be just that.  Given everything else on this world, Venom couldn't rule out the possibility of magic or psychic powers in play.  Hell, he's dealt with that before in the past, it's nothing new to him.  The girl, she had an axe and...was that a grenade launcher? ...Wait, no, upon closer inspection it was fake.  Why was she carrying a fake grenade launcher? What did she plan on doing with it, wave it around threateningly at people? She couldn't possibly be using it as an actual weapon, the thing wouldn't work that way.

The boy...he had daggers...and a Desert Eagle, also fake.  Odd combination there, daggers were usually meant for stealth operations, and a Desert Eagle was loud, noisy, and had one hell of a kick to it...or rather, it would, if the weapon was actually real.  Why did those two carry fake guns with them and real melee weapons? Something was off there.

All three of them looked just as lost and confused as Venom.  On the one hand, Venom had absolutely no reason to trust any of them, for all he knew they were planted XOF agents here to kill him.  On the other, they didn't look like XOF agents, none of them carried a soldier's air to them, and Venom had gotten good at judging skill in battle.  Were they like him? Dragged far away from their homeworld and deposited somewhere else?

Venom shot another glance at the temple.  His answers likely lay there, in that building.  Then he looked back to the group.  He had none of his troops with him, and he didn't know what these three were capable of.  He was confident he could take out the teenagers in a fight, but the 20-year old bothered him.  There was something about him that gave Venom the feeling that he wasn't some thug who fights with his fists.  Best to approach peacefully, though remaining on-guard.  Venom didn't know who was friend and who was foe here.  Not yet, at least.

Venom started walking over to that trio, all of his guns holstered, but within arm's reach of him.  He wasn't saying anything right now, he was just observing the scene around him.  Of course, he probably stood out to the group, given the shrapnel in his face, his eyepatch over his right eye, and his many, many weapons.  He was doing his best to take a non-threatening stance, but given his appearances, he probably didn't come across that way to three lost kids.

Not even seconds since he muttered the name of his companion, he found himself caught up in an attack that was impossible to evade. Not that he minded it, of course, having a cute girl rush to hug him certainly wasn't something he was against...although part of him started to worry. It was normal for friends like this to hug, right? Joker gulped at the thought of Makoto walking around the corner and getting the wrong idea, especially since her "Queen" identity was certainly intimidating. His girlfriend who first joined there team smashing down their enemies on a nuke shooting motorbike.


"R-relax, Haru. The way you're acting it's like I just got out of prison again."

But he took a look around them again and he couldn't be certain where they were? Were they in the Metaverse again after all? If so, he couldn't see any sign of shadows around them and it appeared that the Metaverse Navigator was still missing from his phone. As well as that, he couldn't feel his connection to his Social Links. To test what was happening, he tried to test to see if they were really in the strange world of shadows.


"PERSONA! SATANAEL! ARSENE!"

No luck. No matter what he called, nothing manifested in front of him. That meant that he couldn't be back there, that shadows or the Metaverse could be back since his own Persona didn't seem to be responding to his call.


"So...uhh...who's your friend here?" He said, motioning towards Jotaro before he heard the approaching footsteps.

Turning around he saw...a foreigner? Quite a tough looking one at that, armed to the teeth with some kind of robot arm, an eyepatch that made him look like some kind of pirate and...a devil's horn? Gulping, the boy stepped back at the sight of this rather strange looking adult. Normally in his "Joker" identity he would have had a flair for the dramatics, had some quip or would have held his ground at the sight of such an individual approaching, but what could he do? A fake gun, a knife and no Persona left him little options against a threatening soldier or mercenary like the one approaching. He prayed quietly to himself that this man just wanted directions.

During the few seconds it took to close the distance between Akira and herself, Haru’s legs felt lighter than air. And as she made contact with her friend, her head buried itself into his chest for she could not possibly reach the crook of his neck. Haru had always been quite short, having stopped growing many years ago, but the disparity in height between the two partners in crime was mostly attributable to Joker, who had always enjoyed a lanky figure.

By now, the girl had already begun welling up with thick tears that she seemed determined to conceal from her cohort and her wailing was thickly muffled against her teammate’s blazer. Her hands clung to the fabric of Joker’s clothing as though at any moment someone or something might grab her by the ankles and tear her away from the only shred of normalcy (and, by association, the sole link to her everyday life) that she had left in this strange, unfamiliar place.



“I can’t believe you’re here! I woke up… in this room… and I didn’t recognise a thing.”

Akira tried to summon his Persona in the middle of the street, only to be met with silence. Haru responded in kind, using what was left of her emotional energy to dig deep and concentrate hard. But it was no use. Wherever they were now, it simply was not possible to reach their phantom others. A resounding feeling of defeat overcame Haru, but this was somewhat overshadowed by the relief of having at least one old friend nearby. Wiping the streams of tears from across her face with the edge of her sleeve, her fingers curling to render it taut, Haru made a concerted effort to pull herself together. Things looked bad, but there was no reason to demoralise anyone else.



“It’s no use,” she declared frankly, her eyes at the cobbled ground. “I can’t feel the connection either. I know that makes sense after everything that happened but… I must have been holding out hope.”

In truth, Haru’s bond with Milady – and then Astarte – had been something of an unspoken but cherished attachment. As useful as it was to know that her back was being watched for her, it had been an undeniably crucial tie even back in the real world, where her Persona could not manifest. Even at home, inbetween one day and the next, Haru took solace in their company. From the day that Milady had first shown herself, Haru had never once felt alone. Or rather, not until they were forced to part forever by a pressing need to save the world.

And now, with both her Personas gone, Haru’s friendship with Akira had become all the more valuable. She was still caught up in a flurry of emotions now, intent on forcing her thoughts into linear form and voicing them properly.



“When I got here, I thought… that I’d never see you again. Not you, or Morgana, or Ann… I even missed Ryuji!”



“B-But I haven’t heard from you in months,” cried Haru, turning downright hostile in the space of a second. “Why don’t you ever call? All Makoto ever talks about is how worried she is!”



“Oh, this gentleman over here is Mr Kujo, by the way,” Haru informed her partner, gesturing to the man in the white coat with a simple smile. “He’s in the same situation as us so I think it’s okay for us to trust him.”

It was understandable that Akira was not immediately fond of Jotaro, given the circumstances. This was an odd place and Haru’s recently acquired travelling companion was an intimidating man who cut a dark figure. But it was more than that. Joker had always been somewhat slow to trust, even if he tended to keep up appearances, and in some people this might be considered a negative trait. However, his scepticism was healthy and his instincts were generally accurate. If it had not been for Morgana and him, an enigmatic plot might well have swallowed them all whole. In a way, Haru was glad for his distrust. Right now, though, it was important that they all banded together. Who knew what could be lurking behind the next corner they turned?

Several metres away, another newcomer had begun walking towards their group. The man was armed to the teeth with all sorts of gadgetry and weapons, but his appearance in general looked pretty off too. If Haru had to word it, she would have said that the man looked like he had been pulled apart and put back together with a few bits missing. Not that Haru would have worded it like that – or at all, for that matter. It was obvious that this military-looking man clashed with his surroundings, which made her feel slightly better. He had to be another wandering soul, just like them. And if they were to add someone like him to their party, who seemed altogether calm and capable, it would undoubtedly make up for their massive lack of guidance.

With that in mind, Haru swallowed hard and tried to keep her numerous anxieties down in her gut where they belonged. The last time she had met an imposing person like this one, her prejudices had gotten the better of her. This time, she was determined to keep her axe.

Which she had dropped. Realising this, Haru waved to the man with the eyepatch on tiptoes and then scampered over to her weapon, picking it up with a single hand and resting the head on the ground so that it stood vertically. This way, she hopefully would not come off as a crazy, axe-swinging killer.

She turned briefly to Akira with a cheery look on her face.



“Hey, leader! Maybe we should try to get this guy to come with us!”




“Our party seems rather bare at the moment.”

Yuki had currently left the apartment she and Wolf had been living at for the last few months, and had just run into the odd group. Cocking her head to the side, she observed the various members thoroughly. There was the tall one with the eyepatch, the short girl with what looked like some form of axe, a middle aged man with various pieces of tech all over his body, and a tall, lanky man with glasses.

"Where, in the name of Astrid, do you all come from?" Yuki asked the group, "Oh wait, manners... I'm Yuki, now... who the hell are you guys?"

She looked them up and down, looking at each of them carefully as they looked at the short succubus, her purple eyes looking them up and down. Sighing, she undid her hair, letting it fall down to her feet before tying it up again, something she often did when waiting for an answer.

Huh? Akira didn't quite get what was up with Haru's reaction to seeing him. From his own perspective, he had fallen asleep in the car with the others on the way back home and had woken up on some street corner only a few moments ago and yet she was acting as though it had been months since they had contact.



"Haru...? What are you talking about? It hasn't even been a day since I left."

As much as he wanted to ponder over what exactly was going on and try to come to some kind of conclusion about the situation they were in, he was reminded of the fact a rather menacing looking mercenary was kinda stood awkwardly over them like some kind of creep. Oh god, he was a creep, wasn't he? What other reason would a fully grown man like that have to stand over to two teenagers without saying anything, just staring at them and breathing. Akira bet that he was the kind of guy that harassed teenagers on public transport.

Backing away from Haru for a second, he spoke up.


"Hey, eyepatch guy. Are you going to say anything or are you just going to keep perving on us?"

There couldn't possibly be any other reason for his actions and besides, despite the fact this creep looked armed to the teeth, he was sure that this Jotaro guy looked pretty tough and would have their back.

Venom had simply stood back and been observing what was going on. It confirmed to him that they too weren't local to this city. Then, he got asked if he was perving on them. Venom decided to speak up. "No, that wasn't what I was here to do," he answered. "You just confirmed to me that you're not local to this city either from your conversation with your friend, just like me, which means you likely have no idea where we are either."

Then that other girl, Yuki showed up and asked who they all were. Even though they were probably not local to this city, Venom couldn't immediately trust them with his identity. Still, this girl swore by someone named Astrid. Was that the local equivalent of God? More questions, few answers.

Venom decided to answer Yuki's question. "...Call me 'Snake'," he replied. "We're not from around these parts. Best I can tell, this isn't Earth, though I have no idea how I got here. I doubt these three know where are either, or how they got here. I was going to check out that oversized temple off in the distance, that's probably where I'd be able to find answers. I'm sure that these three would agree that'd be our best course of action.

"Now then, Yuki, you speak as if you're used to this location. So, who's this 'Astrid' person and where exactly are we?" That was Venom's two main questions. If he could confirm where they were, he'd have some vital intel about what's going on. And this Astrid person...if she really was the local equivalent of God, the fact that they used her name explicitly meant that she might've been more like a Greek Goddess. It was a long shot, but maybe Astrid happened to be physically present on the planet, which would probably explain how they got here.

Yuki smiled at Snake, nodding at his questions.

"I'm glad you asked those questions. I am used to the area. Been living here with my husband for a few months now ever since we moved here from our home planet." She said, "Wolf said he was going to the temple up there. Now, Astrid is both the patron goddess of this planet, and the empress. She rules from that temple. This planet is called Terra Ancora, and this is the capital city of the Astridian Empire, Larstern. If you want answers to what the hell is going on, I'd go there. I'm going there anyways since I haven't heard back from my husband. C'mon, you guys, follow me."

She gestured to Snake, Jotaru, Akira, and Haru.

"Well, come on, let's not wait for the grass to grow. If you four want answers... follow me." Yuki said, a little more forcefully.

Stunned by her friend's claim, Haru put a hand to her mouth as she scanned his face for any sign of humour. Akira had always been a charmer, and so right now Haru was hoping his statement had merely been a poorly-executed joke. Maybe she was not getting the crux of it - or perhaps he had yet to drop the punchline. As the seconds ticked by, the girl realised with a lingering sense of dread that he was perfectly serious. If anything, Joker seemed even more perplexed by this whole affair. With this, Haru was entirely resigned to the fact that she could not possibly understand what was going on.

She had vanished from Shujin and appeared in this strange place instead.

There were other individuals who seemed to have been displaced in the same way.

Her comrade was here, but could not remember the last few months.

And something was calling to her.

Without warning, Haru dropped to her knee and held her head in one hand. She did not seem to be in any kind of pain or distress but there was a vacant look to her eyes, as though she were dizzy and had momentarily lost her balance. Grabbing onto whatever was closest, which happened to be Akira's arm, she reasserted herself slightly. For now, she seemed content with using him as a support.



“Did you feel that?” Haru seemed to ask no-one in particular, her gaze resting firmly upon nothing.

By the time she had come to her senses, Haru realised that several people had spoken in succession and that she had absolutely no idea what had been said.



“P-Pardon?” she asked Snake weakly, as he was the first person she had become aware of.

There was a rocking about her hand, as if the girl had exchanged her blood for caffeine. Despite this, there was a dry sensation all about her mouth. It had not been the case a moment ago, but now she appeared rapidly changed.

Jotaro politely nodded toward Akira and smiled nostalgically, thinking of his companions from his adventures in Egypt and Japan. Jotaro then said to Akira " I appreciate the introduction by the lady but Mr. Kujo is a bit too formal, Akira was it? You and Haru can call me Jotaro. Mr. Kujo makes me feel like an old man, like my dad or grandpa." Just then from the direction of the Inn came the sound of pounding footsteps and then a familiar voice calling out " JOOOOOOOTAAAARO! HEY WAIT WAIT DAMMIT! I GOTTA KNOW IF ITS YOU! Jotaro spun around with a look of shock then embarrassment.


Jotaro turned toward the voice folding his arms and sighed stating " Oh good grief, it can't be... but that commotion and voice can ONLY belong to one man."
https://i.imgur.com/o0fsib2.jpg
A large muscular, gray haired and bearded man clad in attire suspiciously reminiscent of a certain famous movie archaeologist barreld to a halt next to Jotaro. The man breathlessly stated " I thought it was you hahaha! What happened to you? You look so different, yet so much the same, but I knew it HAD to be you Jotaro! A man KNOWS his own grandson afterall" The man turned and laughed embraced Jotaro but then suddenly jumped back putting his hands on either side of his face. " OH MY GOD! JOTARO, what happened to you?...and who are all these people...AND WHERE ARE WE!?"
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oOatHrXUjVQ/maxresdefault.jpg
Jotaro firmly yet gently pushes the gray haired man off of him and sighed then turns toward his companions. Jotaro sighed again and gestures toward the gray haired man and stated " This is my grandfather, CEO of Joestar Industries and chairman of the Speedwagon foundation, Joseph Joestar."

Joseph chuckled and patted Jotaro again on the back and then dramatically struck a pose.
http://www.wtfgamersonly.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/joseph.jpg
Joseph then noticed Haru and removed his hat softening his voice. "My apologies to the young lady, for my abrupt entrance. I noticed my grandson back at the Inn but he left before I had a chance to speak to him, I got caught in a little scuffle over ordering Iced Tea but then realized my wallet had been stolen. Its as Jotaro said, my name is Joseph Joestar, oh and hi to everyone else as well. HAHAHA!"

Jotaro turned toward Snake and glared suspiciously.

"Terra Ancora, huh?" Venom parroted.  This confirmed his suspicions.  Yuki also left that interesting tidbit there saying that Astrid was both the patron goddess and Empress of the nation they were in.  Venom wasn't too sure just yet if that was merely boasting, since he hadn't met Astrid yet.  Then, Venom ordered, "Well, we have our objective.  Haru, Akira, Jotaro, Joseph, we're going to the Temple and getting our answers as to what's going on.  I'll take point."

This would be a useful bit of information to gather, and Venom wanted answers from this 'Astrid' character.  Venom reached for his Tranquilizer Pistol, but then realized that he had little reason to suspect that anyone would attack them, so he moved his hand away from there.  Still, he had one hand nearby his weapons at all times in case fighting broke out...

________________________

Leonardo looked over to Peridot.  "Peridot, if I may have a moment of your time to speak with you," he mentioned.  "There is a matter I must address with you."

Meanwhile, Shadow approached Teddie and Labrys.  "If you two need money, come with me to the Adventurer's Guild," he said.  "We'll get you some funds while we're there."

As for Astrid, she nodded to Dave. "Right, it was about time I got him the goods anyways," she mentioned, before a small, ornately jeweled box teleported into Dave's hands. "Bring him that. Please don't look inside, if you please."

Dave laziy floated in the air, hands in his pockets as he waited for Astrid's response. When she finally answered and gave him the goods, he caught the box and shrugged.

Dave: whatevers in this its secrets are safe with me
Dave: hell im just the errand boy with something else to do
Dave: snooping on other peoples mysterious contraband is far from my to do list
Dave: anyway thanks ill get this thing to him safe and sound dont worry

And with that, Dave flies away, back to the Trade Corner.

General Tommy wrote:Artanis, meanwhile, nodded to Wolf and put a hand on his own chest.  "Then it is fortunate that you will join our cause.  Your numbers may very well mean the difference between victory and defeat in this war," he mentioned.  Then, to Raynor, he said, "I will have Phase-Smith Karax begin construction of the Forge World at once.  We will need a supply of minerals and Vespene Gas to begin construction, or some other fuel source like Vespene Gas."

"There is magic," Serma mentioned, having finally spoken up.  "Both Arcane Magic and Goddess Power are very potent sources of power, and highly renewable.  We typically use magic for our power plants, though we've been steadily moving towards Goddess Power over time."

"Everyone back at the Hyperion is hearin' this right now. Am pretty sure, Swann's holeing himself back again at his place. Just give him the call to help ya out."


"Magic? I thought psionic powers were something, but Magic? Hell, might as well use what we can. I suppose this here magic can replace minerals too?"

Astrid wrote:"I'll help give ya some navigation," Astrid said. Then, to Josuke, she added, "Yes, I can help get you established with holy stuff, but first, you should probably get some coin to help establish yourselves in Larstern."

"Sure..." Josuke grumbled as he headed towards Shadow to get ready to head out to the Guild, while not making eye contact with the black hedgehog and Ventus if possible. He then pulled out his comb and combed back the stray hairs that were popping out.

"No, Goddess Power and Arcane Magic cannot replace physical materials, as we cannot create something from nothing with it," Serma answered.  "As well, it requires faith in Lady Astrid to be able to power something with Goddess Power, and Arcane Magic requires an intricate understanding of advanced mathematics to cast."

Artanis thought it over.  "I am afraid that such would not be wise for us to utilize as our fuel source then," he concluded.  "It requires things that we cannot rely on having, and I do not believe that either can help my people as a psionic catalyst.  Without such a catalyst, most of my people's technology would not work.  It is why we use Vespene Gas."

"I can help with that!" Astrid mentioned to Artanis.  "Raynor, Artanis, would you mind bringing me a sample of Vespene Gas? If you do that, I can do something very helpful for you."

Artanis looked over to Raynor. "I will bring her some Minerals to investigate, and you can bring her Vespene Gas," he declared. "I do not know what she plans to accomplish with these resources, but we shall see." With that, Artanis warped down a palette of Minerals and brought it over to Astrid, who began observing the minerals closely, as if trying to figure out their composition.

Nora had continued her work, making devices that would aid in resource gathering, including mining satellites, when her ears perked,"I believe you should let me handle the minerals,
Astrid. I can create artificial deposits in an artificial quantum dilation, allowing for continuous mining as long as this planet still has a power grid" She offers, telepathically communicating with Astrid and the individuals near her

"All I need is a sample of it, and a few hours of solitude to work on the device"

General Tommy wrote:Meanwhile, Shadow approached Teddie and Labrys. "If you two need money, come with me to the Adventurer's Guild," he said. "We'll get you some funds while we're there."

Oh great. We're stuck with the edge hog. Labrys grabbed Teddie's paw and motioned Shadow to lead the way.

Meanwhile, Croma and Raffaello stick to Chogro on the way to the bank.

"Right, well..."

Haru was visibly distressed but she didn't seem able to word her worries. Shaking it off, the girl listened carefully to what Snake had to say this time and nodded fervently, driven once more. There wasn't any point in staying around here any longer as the party seemed to have been padded sufficiently, so she righted herself fully and began to make steps towards a neighbouring street, then turned back to her friends, old and new.



"Alright, let's get going."

And with that, Haru made her way to just outside the Temple.

General Tommy wrote:Shadow crossed his arms at Vanitas' suggestion. "I think it's best for us to hold off on establishing teams until we know what we're dealing with," he mentioned. "As for the Ashbringer, we'll have to recover that at some point. We might need a bigger party before we do that though, and everyone else is prioritizing their own matters. We'll have to put the Ashbringer on hold for now."

"... I suppose. I still don't like the fact we're missing it, and Brandin's absense better not mean that he might be isolated eventually. But it's better to focus on what we can most effectively do now."



"Quests are gonna be a change of pace from that level of enemy swarm, I hope. Let's get moving."

---

Nenilein wrote:

"Don'cha worry about food. I can figure something out, heh! See?"

Kyoko shook her wrist and a stick of Hi-Chew candy appeared in it. She held it out to Sayaka to share.

"Here ya go. ...So yeah. Let's take that walk. I'd like that very much."

"Heh. Should have known you had something up your sleeve."

Nonetheless, Sayaka took a bite with a smile. Then she set off in a random direction. It was random just because she didn't know how to get anywhere in the city, really.



"OK. Now I only need to figure out how to, erm, begin. Should I recount the whole magical girl thing? It's still new to me, as I told you. You seemed very surprised, but... I really have not been a magical girl for long, that I can remember. ...A week, maybe."



"Speaking of which... I worry about Madoka. I hope she's gonna be fine without me..."

"Alright." Wolf said to Chogro, handing the blank cheque (a metal bar with circuitry going through it) to him.

"Give me a moment to send a message to the Main Bank of my people." He said, "Once the money goes through, the cheque will start to glow, signalling its ready to be converted into the amount of currency that was decided upon, and then cashed."

Taking out a comlink, Wolf turned away, establishing a connection with his homeworld. Saying a few words in his mother tongue, Wolf looked back and saw the cheque in Chogro's hand was now glowing. Thanking the man on the other end of the comlink, Wolf turned back.

"There, all done." He said.

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

Yuki lead Snake, Haru, Akira, Jotaru, and Snake into the temple.

"Here we are!!!~" Yuki said excitedly, "Where is Astrid... Oh wait..."

Yuki soon perked up upon seeing her husband, Wolf, walking back from one hall.

"JAKE!!!!!~" Yuki squealed, running over, and glomping her husband, who caught her, and stumbled back.

"Yuki, how many times have I told you, don't call me Jake in public..." Wolf pouted.

"Sowwy..." Yuki grinned, kissing him.

General Tommy wrote:Artanis looked over to Raynor.  "I will bring her some Minerals to investigate, and you can bring her Vespene Gas," he declared.  "I do not know what she plans to accomplish with these resources, but we shall see."  With that, Artanis warped down a palette of Minerals and brought it over to Astrid, who began observing the minerals closely, as if trying to figure out their composition.

"Can't even think of a good answer there.... Matt?"


"Already on it sir!"

Much later another SCV arrived carrying a container full of Vespene gas.


"Here's them Vespene gas you wanted sir! We still got plenty from our last mission."

Astrid nodded, getting a good look at the Vespene Gas as well. "Ah, so that's what this stuff is made of," she said, seemingly ignoring Nora's request. Then, she put on a smile. "Well, this won't be too hard to do then!" Then, Astrid closed her eyes and did something that elected a very specific feeling in everyone. It felt as if reality itself had just bent over backwards to please the goddess before everyone. It wasn't readily apparent how, exactly, but to the ships in orbit, they would see what just happened.

All across the Ancora system, Mineral Fields and Vespene Geysers sprouted out of the ground. Astrid had made no visible movements, she had spoken no words to make this happen. Such was the works of those without divinity, to require somatic and verbal components to power their spells. To Astrid, all she had to do was think of something she wanted to have happen, and creation itself would obey her command, no matter how absurd it was or how much it broke the laws of creation.

Venom took a look at Astrid when this happened. He wasn't sure what just happened, but he knew that whatever happened, Astrid was the cause. It was clear that she probably had some claim to the title of goddess, if this was what he felt around her. Shadow stopped from walking to the Adventurer's Guild to look back at Astrid's action. So that was the power of that goddess they were working with. Shadow had to admit, it made him more comfortable to know that he was working with someone with this much power.

Chogro took the stick that Wolf had given him, right before Astrid just changed reality. Both he and Brandin stared at Astrid. They had known Eternals, yes, but the sensation that they just got from Astrid was never given off by any mere Eternal. Brandin couldn't help but take a knee and offer a prayer for this act. Ganondorf, meanwhile, was astonished. He had heard the legends of the Golden Goddesses and their creation of the world, but never had he ever thought he would bear witness to someone who could have that level of power. It made even him look pathetic in comparison. So this was the power of a true goddess...even with the Triforce of Power, Ganondorf doubted he could truly defeat Astrid in battle. Best to keep her on his good side...

Eggman and Bowser were likewise as surprised as Ganondorf. Eggman had allied with many godlike beings before, but this was a whole different level of power. None of Eggman's prior allies could so casually warp reality with just a thought, and Bowser had never even thought such power even existed beforehand. As for Artanis, his eyes widened at what he bore witness to, especially once Phase-Smith Karax informed him of the sudden arrival of Minerals and Vespene Geysers. Artanis had to admit, he was uncertain if even the Xel'Naga were capable of such feats, though for some reason, he couldn't help but feel like it was within their grasp. No wonder Astrid was worshiped as a goddess if she was capable of such...

Astrid's feat of power done, she opened her eyes again, tilted her head, and put on a warm smile. "There we go, that oughta solve the issue of resources for us," she said. "Feel free to make use of what I just did for your own benefits."

Nora's response to this immense display of power?

A shrug, a light sneeze, and getting back to work,"Astrid, could you do me a favor and refrain from such grandiose displays of power in future? All that divine energy being thrown around makes my nose itch" She complains, currently building some kind of computer, being aided by two of her acolytes, before sighing,"Well, my synthesizer is useless now... is there any piece of technology we're desperately in need of? some kind of shield? Make the request, and I can deliver" Nora says, an almost bored tone in her voice

A little time had passed. Yato and Yukine had taken the chance to work through things a little and then escorted Hiyori (who's body had trouble staying awake after all this nonsense happening) to a nearby inn. They'd have to pay for her stay, of course, but Yato insisted not to worry of it. After this job was done, they'd be friggin' rich, after all!



"Yeah, yeah, until you find the next Pachinko Parlor and blow it all again, " Yukine remarked.



"Hey, hey now! Gambling is an investment too, you little pipsqueak! All I'm doing is trying to maximize our ultimate bottomline! You just need to know how to game the system, and-"



"You clearly don't know how to 'game the system', and that's why we're constantly broke! And we gotta make sure we can pay for Hiyori's room too! Forget about us, but you wouldn't wanna put her out on the street too, now would you!?"



"..."

That one was effective. Yato was making big, sad, puppy-dog eyes.

For once in his life, Yukine knew his god would definitely be listening to him.



"We've gotta find ourselves some work," he said. "Something that can pay for accommodations until this is all over. And we'll both have to pitch in! Someone was offering jobs earlier, right? Let's try find that guy and go for it."



"Right... You're right." Yato sighed. "'Aight, let's go search the guy. 's not like he could have gone far. This town is surrounded by walls, and I doubt with the current situation anyone would just go M.I.A... Let's see how this turns out, huh?"

Walking side by side, Yukine and Yato wandered out, in search of jobs.

---

Sayaka wrote:


"Heh. Should have known you had something up your sleeve."

Nonetheless, Sayaka took a bite with a smile. Then she set off in a random direction. It was random just because she didn't know how to get anywhere in the city, really.



"OK. Now I only need to figure out how to, erm, begin. Should I recount the whole magical girl thing? It's still new to me, as I told you. You seemed very surprised, but... I really have not been a magical girl for long, that I can remember. ...A week, maybe."



"Speaking of which... I worry about Madoka. I hope she's gonna be fine without me..."

"Madoka... You mean the girl, right? Not the law of cycles? Right..."

Kyoko sighed.

"And where you come from you're still a total newb then? Oh man. This is gonna take some explainin' then..."



"I'll start from the top. I became a Magical Girl a long while back because of... personal reasons. Mami was my mentor - you still know her, right? I'll just assume ya do. Anyway, After a while, there was an incident with my father and a wraith and... Well, my life kinda hit rock bottom for a while there. Did I already tell ya the story where you're from? I'm sure I'd have told you eventually... It just feels right."

She looked away. 

"Anyway, after that, I was on my own for a while. That's, until Mami roped me back in. She just showed up one day with you in tow and insisted the three of us form an alliance. Tch. Can you imagine the nerve of her? I wasn't fully down with it a first. Started pickin' fights with you for petty reasons, just 'cause I couldn't stand the fact Mami'd found someone else who admired her just as much as I used to... Anyway. Eventually, things just worked out. We became friends, I guess. We even recruited a new girl, who showed up, that... Homura. And we all started fightin' wraiths together, splitting the spoils by four. I even ended up movin' in with you for a while there..."



"That is... until, you..."

She fell silent for a while, then sighed.

"Well, you ain't around anymore... Or weren't. Where I come from that is. Sorry to break that to you. Yeah... But I guess that's just what happens with the likes of us, right? We just get picked off after a while. Nothin' we can do 'bout that. Anyway.. A while after you... y'know... bit it... Weird things started happening. We all suddenly ended up in a world where everything just seemed so much... easier. More fun, y'know? The battles were simple, we were fighting Nightmares instead of Wraiths, you were still with us and... There was this girl... This girl who'd never been with us before in the real world..."



"Madoka."

Kyoko looked straight at Sayaka.

"It was you who told me who... what she really is. That she's the law of cycles. A magical girl who sacrificed herself to create a world in which no magical girl has to ever succumb to 'eternal despair'... Whatever that's 'spossed to mean. Apparently, all the magical girls who fall even though their bodies are still okay end up becoming part of that law of cycles as well. That's how you could be around again. You were something like... A divine messenger, I guess? I dunno. It was all kind of messed up. Anyway, it turned out Homura, she... kinda had a thing for that girl the law of cycles used to be. She also had real vivid memories of her that none of us others had. It was crazy. It turned out that whole fake world we were in was something her mind came up with, because she was so desperate for the five of us to be together... Well, above all else, she wanted to be together with that Madoka-girl, I guess. So we went and helped that girl save Homura. Y'know. Help her... pass in peace. That's what was supposed to happen, but..."



"Homura... When you guys came to get her to join the cycle... She just totally flipped out. I mean it. Lost her marbles, her mind, whatever"

Kyoko seemed strained even just remembering.

"I ain't sure what she even did there. Break reality, I guess? I dunno. It's all messed up and hazy. But it's the last thing I remember. The whole world around us just kind of, sort of... falling apart. Just because of her."

"I always thought she was the most level-minded of us... Tch. Guess I was wrong... Darn that Homura."

---

Teddie is dragged along with Labrys. As always, she wasn't exactly gentle to him- But in a way, that fierce attitude of hers was part of what he admired so much about her. She was courageous and bold, just as she should be. It felt good to be around something familiar like that, in all this unfamiliarity! ...Even if that didn't stop him from squeaking a little as she almost tore the seams in his arm. Sheesh...! She really doesn't know her own strength, does she? Of course, that was barely the main issue right now. 



"Hey, Labby-chan... I don't really sure I beary much understand what's going on, but..."



"D-Did that guy just say job! But, I'm under lifetime exclusive image-rights contract with Junes!!" He wriggled a little. "Geez... How long... How long are we planning to stay here?"

...He seemed really worried. Out of his element.



"They said that time isn't flowing right... But are Sensei and the others really going to be alright...?"

Worried bear. Such a worried bear.

---

I don't even know where Peridot is. 
I doubt even she knows it.

What I know for sure is that she doesn't know what money is.
So... She's gonna need a little help there.

Leonardo decided to walk over to Peridot directly and offered a hand to her. "Peridot, I must speak with you," he declared. "There are some things we must discuss about the Forge World."

Chogro was the one to answer Nora's question. "Some sort of shield generator to cover the planet would be best," he answered. "Without some way to shield both this planet and the Forge World we're making, it'll be hard to defend this planet from external invasion."

________________________________

As Yato and Yuki wandered, they would eventually see large green arrows pointing them in a certain direction, namely on a path to the Adventurer's Guild. Nobody else seemed to notice these arrows but them. However, they heard Astrid's voice entering their heads. "Here, follow the green arrows and you'll get to the Adventurer's Guild, there's plenty for you to do there to make money!"

Leonardo decided to walk over to Peridot directly and offered a hand to her. "Peridot, I must speak with you," he declared. "There are some things we must discuss about the Forge World."

Chogro was the one to answer Nora's question. "Some sort of shield generator to cover the planet would be best," he answered. "Without some way to shield both this planet and the Forge World we're making, it'll be hard to defend this planet from external invasion."

Peridot, who had been shock until just now, trying to comprehend the fact that she was stranded on a foreign planet yet again (something that didn't occur to her before because psssssst), finally snapped back alive when she heard the word 'shield generator'. Her engineering senses started whirring! She leaped up.



"A shield generator? Well, I'll need parts for that! A plasma-converter, for one, and something that can pass for a projector unit... Well, except, we are trying to shield an entire planet, so we will need at least 23681 of them... Plus, minus 300 units, depending on the planet's diameter... And, of course..."

Peridot had begun to rapidly draw incredibly exact blueprints into the sand.

"Hmpf... No, no, no! I can't work like this! I'm a professional! I require exact data, you hear me!"

...She totally missed the fact that there was someone else trying to talk to her. She's inserted herself into the conversation more interesting to her, as always. Maybe this could still work out in their favor?

That, or you could just drag Peridot away from what she was doing. Your choice.

---

As Yato and Yuki wandered, they would eventually see large green arrows pointing them in a certain direction, namely on a path to the Adventurer's Guild. Nobody else seemed to notice these arrows but them. However, they heard Astrid's voice entering their heads. "Here, follow the green arrows and you'll get to the Adventurer's Guild, there's plenty for you to do there to make money!

Suddenly hearing a voice in his head that he didn't ask for sent a shudder down Yato's spine. he froze up.

"YIKES!"



"Lady! This is creepy! Could you please not keep doing that? We get it already, you're the boss around here, but I'm a god too, so some respect, please!"



"Like you wouldn't abuse the hell out of it if you could make people hear you in their heads."



"T-That's not the point! Anyway! Yukine, we're going over there! Adventure-ho, I say!!"

Still shuddering from the invasion of his mind (something he was very guarded about, you mind), he grabbed Yukine by the sleeve and marched off in the direction of the arrows.