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Prologue

"How did they know who I am?", "How did they find me?", "What are their plans?" Meric had plenty of questions, but they would have to wait. First, he'd do this one little task, and then he'd get some answers. Answers, and payback. How dared they force him to do their dirty work? Oh yes, they would talk, and then they would pay...

Meric still didn't know how it could have happened, but somehow someone found out about him. And what was worse, he hadn't even noticed it. Exactly four hours ago, someone had contacted him. He was told his assistance was required with a certain problem. Either he would help, or his whereabouts would be sent to his old guild. Normally, he wouldn't have listened to threats no matter what they were, but he couldn't have the Guild chasing after him. Not now. He wasn't afraid to die, but being captured by the Guild would undoubtedly be worse than death. Besides, he'd hate to leave things unfinished here, just now he was starting to get his plans in motion. So, he did as he was told.

Apparently, a monster had attacked one of the research labs in Durem. None of the Clans was allowed to get involved, because apparently there were some things being researched that would best be kept secret. Whoever was holding the strings behind the curtain seemed convinced his hold on Meric was strong enough to keep him under control. Meric, determined to prove otherwise, made a mental note to find out what was so special about the research. It could come in handy later.

Now, Meric was sneaking through the darkened facility. The building was much larger on the inside than it looked on the outside, as most of it was underground. Tracking the monster proved to be easy. It had simply torn a man-sized hole through the outer wall and made it's way deeper into the building. While it hadn't left as much as a single footprint, the trail of death and destruction it had left in it's wake was impossible to miss. Decimeter-thick steel doors were crumpled like tin foil and concrete walls had been torn open like wet cardboard. Dead guards and scientists littered the hallways, killed in ways that made it seem like the monster enjoyed finding new ways to end lives. Some looked like they had been killed with normal weapons, some had random body parts torn off by brute force, and others seemed to have been partially liquified. Meric had seen death, and had often been the cause of it, but some of the things he saw here were almost too much for him. He forced himself to look away from the carnage and focus on his objective. The sooner he would finish his task, the sooner he could put this mess behind him.

Suddenly, he stopped. A faint light shone from the room ahead, and he could hear noises. As he got closer, those noises turned out to be a human voice, as well as a rapid ticking sound he couldn't identify. He moved to the edge of what had once been a doorway and peered inside. There, a young man with short blond hair and white clothes was working on a strange machine, all the while complaining to himself about how the machine wasn't working. Was he unaware of what was going on in here? Why hadn't the monster killed him? Meric carefully approached the man. It seemed the stranger was too occupied with the machine to notice him. Meric tapped his shoulder.

In a instant, the man turned around and locked eyes with Meric. Meric staggered back. The man had turned around faster than anything he had ever seen. Nothing moved this fast. And those eyes... it was as if the sockets were filled with swirling reflective silver. This was not a man.

Just in time, Meric realised he had found the monster he had been sent to kill. He jumped back as it swung it's arm up, tearing Meric's clothes and drawing blood on his chest. Even though it's hand looked human, it had the effect of an incredibly sharp sword. Meric realized his opponent could cut him in half with one good hit. As often, he'd have to rely on tricks to win this fight. Clutching the fresh cut on his chest with one hand, he made a quick gesture with his other hand. The already poorly lit room turned to black. In the dark, he'd have the advantage. He moved away from the monster without making a sound, and observed.

He heard a soft voice. It once again spoke to itself. Meric had never heard of monsters that looked human, let alone talked like humans. Still, there was no doubt this was not a human. Meric promised himself not to make the mistake of thinking of his opponent as such. Being able to see through the darkness he had created, he saw the monster standing still, looking around with what seemed to be a puzzled look. He kept quiet, and listened to what it was saying.

"...amazing energy. It won't be enough, but still. Power like this might just do the trick. If only I could gather enough of it. Perhaps feeding the flow with enough energy from this side could reverse it. Yes, I believe it might work..." The monster paused for a second, and then turned to Meric. Through the darkness, the monster stared right into Meric's eyes, and smiled. Suddenly, the air was filled with a hellish mix of loud crackling noises and Meric's screaming. It felt as if a red-hot spear was driven through his spine. Fire filled his body as he fell to the ground. Then, all was silent again. Meric tried to get up, but his muscles didn't seem to work. He could hear the monster's footsteps coming towards him. The sound stopped next to him.

A second later, the world turned silver.

((Guess I'll make a starting post then... O_o))

Sylphia was troubled. It was not often that she worried about something long enough to really be troubled by it, but this was different. Ever since she had become leader of the Sky Clan, things had been happening that just didn't make sense. Monster attacks and strange dissapearances had pushed everyone into uneasiness at the very least. Or so she could only assume. The room she was in, where those who continued to fight were gathered, had a tense atmosphere. This was, after all, supposed to be a plan for an all-or-nothing stand. As she waited, standing by a window, she sincearly hoped that there was enough strength left to resist whatever it was that seemed to want them all dead so badly.

Vic's spear tapped smartly on the floor stones as the entered the quiet room. The hardship of the past few weeks was heard in every sigh and the sights that no man should be forced to see dulled once-bright gray eyes. She was still young, dammnit! So why did she feel so ancient?

Her parents had been among the first to be killed. It wasn't surprising, really, since they lived out in the country and were getting on in years, but it had still shocked Vic mightily. Of course, thad had only been the prelude to the host of colleagues and friends also lost. It seemed that life was going to be a lot harder from now on.

She surveyed the assembled warriors, hodgepodge collection of whatever the city could muster, with a great deal of criticism, but also with a faint glimmer of hope. Maybe they could do it. Maybe they could save this land.

Shaking her head slightly at her romanticism, Vic took a seat near the front of the gathering. She was wearing her GSF uniform, and knew with a grim determination that either she was going to honor her friends and associates by bringing it to victory, or she would join her lost colleagues sheltered in its embrace.

((OOC: Gonna split this over two seperate posts... ))

A short, overweight man makes his way to the center of the large stage that takes up about a fifth of the hall's total size. His GSF uniform and hair are messy, and his face shows the obvious signs of nearing both mental and physical exhaustion. With many of his superiors dead, injured, or missing, a large part of the hopeless defense had become his responsibility. This sudden weight on his shoulders, along with the knowledge that many of his friends and colleagues had already met an untimely end, obviously had taken a heavy toll on the man.

The crowd grew silent as he prepared to address them. His eyes wandered through the hall for a moment, quicky estimating the amount of people gathered here. The number he came up with was depressing. Still, this would be their best chance at something resembling victory. If he had been a bit younger, a bit stronger... He would have given almost everything to join them. He had a wife and two children, and he would gladly give his life to save theirs. But his role was not that of a fighter. He would only slow them down. The best he could do was what he was about to do now. To send those better suited to the mission on their way. After that, he could only pray.

"Brave warriors," he started, not even needing to raise his voice much for everyone to hear him "you all know why you have been called here. The creatures attacking us must be stopped. They have already taken too many lives. I'm certain everyone here has lost someone in their brutal attacks. If we keep trying to defend ourselves as we have been doing so far, they will wear us down, and eventually overrun us. If they manage to take the cities, noone will survive. And who knows where they will spread to next? No, we need to turn the tables before they break our strength completely. We need to strike them down not only to defend ourselves and our city, but for the sake of the entire world!"

The man paused for a moment, and then continued. "The plan we have come up with is a dangerous one, and even if you succeed not all of you may return. However, we have no choice. This mission may be the only chance to survive for all of use. At worst, it will give you a chance to go down fighting. At best, it will save all of us.

"As some of you may know, lately the monster attacks have been too effective to be the random work of mindless beasts. Because we have no proof of these beasts being capable of the level of strategy and tactics we have seen. We have concluded that someone or something must be leading them. Since we still have no idea what the creatures are, or where they are coming from, our best bet is to take out whatever is controlling them. Without the thing that is leading them, we believe they will quickly fall back to their behavior as it was before. They will still be there, and they will still pose a threat, but it will be much easier to defend the cities against them. When our defenses are fully restored, we can begin hunting them down.

"With great effort and, unfortunately, a great cost of lives, we have found the most likely location of this 'monster leader'. Many of you will be familiar with the cave system underneath the mountains to the Southeast of Durem. It is there that we believe the monster leader is located. Your mission will be simple: enter the caves, and eliminate this monster leader at all costs. It's highly unlikely that you will be able to reach the caves without attracting the attention of the monsters in the area, and it's possible that the monster leader will call the monsters to it's defense. While this will make your mission extremely dangerous, it also provides us with an opportunity to execute the second part of our plan.

"G Corp has agreed to share it's weapon technology with the GSF. A small number of GSF agents will remain here, and with the help of all non-combat volunteers and the G Corp employees they will use these weapons to reinforce the cities' defenses while the monsters are distracted. When you safely accomplish your goal, and the monsters come this way for a little payback, we will be ready for them with a few new surprises."

The man sighed, and lowered his eyes. "I wish I could tell you everything will be allright. I wish I could give you more than what little information we have. But I will not lie; your mission will be hard, perhaps impossible. Even when our information is correct and the mission is successful, there is no guarantee that we will win this war in the end. This is what it is: A last, best chance for survival. I, and all of Gaia with me, will pray for your success and safe return. Good luck."

After hearing the plan, Sylphia rasied her hand.

"Question! do we know anything at all about the monster's leader? I guess it won't come as too much of a surprise if we don't, but I hate to be charging in blind if I don't have to be. And are we going to have to comb the entire cave system to find their leader, or is there any bit of information that might narrow the location a little. Perhaps someone here is from life clan? I know that have... some sort of visonary powers..."

Sylphia cleared her throat uncomfortably. The other clans powers weren't really her special area of knowledge, so she decided to just stop talking before she said something that made no sense to anyone...

The fat man looked at Sylphia. "We... don't know. Noone has ever seen this monster leader as far as we know. Or at least noone survived to tell us about it. We've tried using various types of magic to see what's inside the caves, but either the rock itself is blocking our attempts, or something else in there is interfering with our magic. The best information we can come up with is by guessing. It's logical to assume that the creature leading the monsters is intelligent enough to come up with strategies, and somehow powerful or influencial enough to control the monsters. I wish I could tell you more, but that's about all I can give you."

"I hope that by 'us' you mean 'the city'. The weapons require some kind of power to run them, so you can't take them out of the city. They would be too heavy to carry anyway.

"I don't know any of the details, since I'm not a scientist, but I've been told it's a machine that launches metal projectiles that are wrapped in some sort of magic... G Corp claims that it will put a big hole in even the toughest of monsters. But it also takes some time to reload after each shot, so it wouldn't save us from a big assault... we would simple be overrun. Still, it's the most powerful thing we can get besides a powerful mage, so it should be a big help. I'd rather not rely on mages anyway nowadays." the man said, and then added as if he just realised who he was talking to "No offense intended, of course. I mean, with all those disappearances lately..."