A New Direction

Dmitri sends the 11th Legion, 5th Army, and 7th Army over to assist the Rutian troops. 210,000 troops. He takes his own craft and makes a stop on Earth first to pick up his fellow speedsters from that planet, the three Flashes: Barry Allen, Wally West, and Jay Garrick. All of them are much faster than Dmitri, though Wally can lend him speed, enabling him to keep up. Why does he elect to bring them along? Because the Speed Force they tap into can do weird things, such as negate the Anti-Life Equation uncovered by Prince Uxas of Apokalips, more famously known as Darkseid.

To: Teresa Trimbalt, Burnination Guard
From: Emperor Dmitri Medvedev III

I have men moving to you as I write this. I'm on my way to Earth to pick up some speedsters first.

- Emperor Dmitri III

(OOC: This was handled outside of RP. He basically uncovers a mathematical equation that enables him to enslave people and bend him entirely to his will as a means of his grand scheme to destroy reality and remake it in his image. This is where Baruch Wane "died", together with his doppelganger from Earth, Bruce Wayne. See Final Crisis if you want to wade through the ultra-complicated plot.)

To: Teresa Trimbalt, BURNINANDOM GUARD
From: Director Andreus Aaron

Transportation and Logistics Fleets #s 3, 6, and 8, as well as 10 Selathorni Light Gamma Units will immediately move to assist you.



(OOC: About 200 or so transports and 250,000 men.)

The soldiers would find themselves in silent cities, and desolate towns. Burninites are slumped over wherever it is that they happened to be at the time. And so, cities and towns resemble remarkably bloodless battlefields. The soldiers would have no problems finding and securing both Jenova and Thorogood. And any Panzerians or Rutians who were in town at the time would be found with their throats slit.

So someone's conscious...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The group who went to secure Jenova would find Teresa also there. Teresa is desperately attempting to wake her up. So far, she's tried loud noises, cold water, and prodding incessantly. All these attempts have been in vain.

"We've got to wake her up," Teresa says, "she'll know what all of this means."

Well, seeing dead Rutians mean the Rutian soldiers become very cautious and deadly to anything that moves that's not friendly.

Thorgood would be removed to off planet so that they can protect him better and even try and revive him on one of their ships in orbit. They don't see any harm in it.

Jenova, however, is left where she is for now. One of the soldiers looks to Teresa. "Well, what I know is that this may be some kind of spiritual attack. She and our Emperor were in contact with each other prior to this. When we were assigned to find her, he mentioned that if she were helpless, we had to remove her to safety, though he also showed concern that there was no safe place."

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

On Dreva, Shein lights a candle in the altar room. He's at a complete loss this time. Everyone unconscious. All Rheans and Rutians there dead. "What is going on there?" He's not asking anyone in particular. Expects no answer.

A sizable number of Spartan Army troops spend their time recovering bodies of citizens from Rhea. The rest patrol and seek out whoever was behind this, regular army on the ground, Batmen on rooftops. Dmitri arrives not long after with his speedster friends. Mainlining into the Speed Force, they all take off to search the place for those zombie things, assisted by John Stewart and Hal Jordan.

(OOC: You know, you never mentioned Selathorni. So if I did have any on your planet, their alive )

Selathorni troops join the Rheans in patrol while scans are conducted on the planet from space. Sensors are attached to various buildings, and medical observations are conducted on the unconscious Burnites in a (vain?) attempt to gain insight.

The Panzerians who were searching for the culprits of the attack would find them. More of those dead looking creatures. But not too many, and not looking to pick a fight with anyone armed. So they're not interested in fighting the new arrivals, but they are interested in staying hidden from said new arrivals.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Selathorni attempting to figure out why the Burninites are all unconscious would be completely unable to locate a medical reason. To any sophisticated sensing devices, each Burninite would reveal his or her own physical deformities or whatever sicknesses they might be carrying at the time. But there should be no reason for any of them to be unconscious.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Spiritual attack, eh?" Teresa muses. "Well, I don't think she'll forgive you if you take her away, but I have an idea."

She goes into a back room and returns with a can of alcohol and a can of peroxide. She mixes them. Then, she takes Jenova's soulstone and drops it into the cleaning mixture.

And just like a sticker, the red dot peels off the stone.

And Jenova's awake.

"What's going on?"

And just like that, the Rutians get the word out on how to wake them, not only to their own people, but also to the Rheans and Selathorni. Alcohol and peroxide with the soul stones. They wake Thorgood first, assuring him he's okay and on a Rutian ship for safety and yes he will be taken back to the planet, then start on the others. In the Imperial Republic, they begin waking those there. Yes, they did have them in hospitals, well, except for Guggenheim, which was still in custody at the Citadel.

When Shein finds out, which is pretty damned quickly, he fires off a message to Jenova, then to Thorgood via the ship that he's on.

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

To: Jenova
From: Shein

What happened? Everyone fell down unconscious. Well, every Burnite, that is. I figured this was some kind of spiritual attack. She put your stone in alcohol and peroxide and you woke up. We're going about doing the same with others, then showing them what to do so they can wake others. We're more concerned with waking your military than civilians right now. We still don't know exactly what's going on. We do have Thorgood safe. Right now, he's on a ship in orbit around your main planet. We're going to send him back if he says to, but not without guard.

-Shein

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

To: Thorgood
From: Shein

We don't know exactly what happened, but I'm sure my people have explained how they woke you. I do believe this to be a spiritual attack of some kind. My people are working on waking up others now.

Sorry about moving you without permission. I thought it would be best if we kept you protected while you were defenseless. We'll get you back to your planet if you choose, though I would appreciate it if you let us send a guard with you. If this happens again, we can wake you immediately that way.

-Shein

(OOC: Yes, I'm assuming this works on all the others too. )

Army units, when they find those undead things, capture them and take them prisoner. Upon hearing of the solution to waking up the Burninites,that task is delegated to the four speedsters, given how when they're around, they can lend enough speed to Dmitri to propel him to near light speed without burning up from the friction or squishing his internal organs from the G-Forces or taking any bystanders with him in his wake. They should finish up really quickly.

Being logistics fleets, the ships have more then enough alcohol (of the industrial and cleaning sort however) and peroxide to go around. Barrels are beamed down and brought to the military, which begins searching people for stones and cleaning them (although the Panzerians will probably get to doing that first).

Once revived, the Burninites are oddly calm. Almost as if the effects are still present despite being awoken.

Also, the first to have been awoken will notice that the red spots, which fall off once they are awoken, begin to ... grow ... back almost as soon as they are cleaned off. Also, it should be noted that the same bucket full of peroxide and alcohol stops working after cleaning a few soulstones. Almost like the things are SO unclean that it dirties a substance that cleans almost anything.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jenova is alarmed. "Everyone fell unconscious? All off-worlders had their throats slit?"

She pauses to think.

TO: Emperor Shein Darson, Emperor Dmitri Lastname, Director Aaron Lastname
FROM: Jenova Incinerator

Get all of your troops off Burnination and Burninandom! They may be in grave danger. The heart of the coming struggle will include only Burninites. But I assure you, avoiding collateral damage is NOT one of the Destroyer's primary concerns.

Shein, do you have psions whose power is to destroy the minds of others, or to defend against mental attacks? If so, these psions may be able to help us. If not, everyone should leave immediately.

Sincerely,
Jenova Incinerator

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thorgood is baffled by all this. After all, this is something he can't explain scientifically. He's speechless, nodding to whatever the Rutian soldiers say to him.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"What are we going to do?" Teresa asks Jenova. For being the first responder, and discovering how to wake her up, Jenova has allowed the young Guard to remain with her.

"We'll have to come up with some way to maximize our defenses. See if we can wear out Slaaneesh."

"And if we can't?"

"Then our souls are devoured, making the Destroyer even stronger, and condemning us to eternal damnation."

Teresa frowns. "That's not how I wanted to spend my weekend. Can't we get help from the Laughing God? The remainder of the Bloody Handed God?"

Jenova smiles. "I hadn't thought of that."

"How do we contact them?"

"EARL!" Jenova shouts to no one in particular. "EARL!"

No response.

"Well," Jenova says. "Looks like we can't."

Shein is somewhat baffled by the message from Jenova. He does call for a withdrawal as he trusts Jenova's instincts. In return, he sends as many telepaths as he can, placing them with key personnel first. Jenova and Thorgood are among those people. It does take a few moments for them to link up to know if there's going to be an attack.

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

To: Jenova
From: Shein

While I don't understand why, I'm doing as you've suggested. I've sent as many telepaths as I can. They can only defend one individual though. You're getting one for sure. Other key personnel will get one. If there's anyone in specific you want protected, let your guard know and we'll take care of it.

-Shein

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

To: Thorgood
From: Shein

I'm pulling the majority of my troops out. Jenova has convinced me to do so. I'm leaving telepaths in their place. One will stay with you and protect against any mental attack. She believes this is being done by the Destroyer.

Rest assured that we are not abandoning you or your people. Your nation and the Imperial Republic have gone through far too much together for us to completely abandon you.

-Shein

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

Remember Lucian? Shein's father? Well, he and Michael, the one he's got a mental link to, are sent to protect Thorgood. Another one, young and obviously still in the military, is sent to Jenova. The rest of them, about one hundred million total, are spared to send to both planets. Some hook up with military, some with those in the government.

On Dreva, Shein is still puzzling over this. He's looking up any references to the Destroyer in their files on Burnination. He's well aware that gods can be real, but even still, he doesn't like this. "Earl, can't you do anything to help them? Anything? I doubt the Rutian Gods would help them. There's got to be someone who can." Yeah, he's talking to himself more than anything. He's not caring if he's overheard.

To: Jenova Incinerator
From: Director Andreus Aaron

Very well, we shall pull out if that is what you want. A mental attack is definitely not something we know how to defend against, but we fear that we may be just making things worse. Still, you know more then I on spiritual matters and I will call immediate withdrawal.



***

Selathorni ships leave as fast as they come, but a few stay to watch the planet on long-distance sensors.

To: Jenova Incinerator
From: Dmitri Medvedev III

Thank you for remembering my last name. But to the matter at hand, I'll evacuate my troops, but the Wally, Barry, Jay, and I are staying, along with Hal and John. The Speed Force can do strange things. And anyway, we may move too fast for Slaneesh to do anything to us. And yes, the Speed Force can sustain us for a long time. You may need some very fast people for this.

-Dmitri

(OOC: Assume encrypted. And ignore spelling mistakes in names XD)

TO: Dmitri Medvedev III
FROM: Jenova Incinerator

Sorry. Rather busy.

Also, stay at your own risk. Not quite sure that Slaaneesh cares about physics. Or speed. But you're welcome to try.

Sincerely,
Jenova Incinerator

TO: Director Andreus Aaron
FROM: Jenova Incinerator

Thank you for your help thus far. We are in your debt. I'll keep you posted.

Sincerely,
Jenova Incinerator

TO: Shein
FROM: Jenova

We (meaning the religious elite) believe that Slaaneesh is on the attack. Your psions may be able to give us the edge and defeat Slaaneesh in a mental brawl.

If we are going to be overpowered, tell your psions to spare themselves by giving up on us and using their powers to defend each other.

Sincerely,
Jenova

TO: Shein
FROM: Thorgood

This is not possible. Working on an alternate and more reasonable explanation.

Sincerely,
Thorgood

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Earl does answer Shein.

"I'm already enlisting the help of the Laughing God, and we're making a titanic effort to pull together the bits and pieces of the Bloody Handed God. Hopefully, when the full weight of Slaaneesh falls, myself, the Laughing God, and a good portion of the Bloody Handed God, the Burninites, and your psions will all be there to fight him."

"Also, you may stop searching that database. The Laughing God (god of tricksters, jokes, and humor) survived the Fall (which was where Slaaneesh was created and destroyed Burninite civilization last time) by sheer guile. He's impossible to find if he doesn't want to be found. The Bloody Handed God (god of war) was too powerful for Slaaneesh to destroy, even after devouring the souls of trillions of Burninites. He was, however, defeated, and Slaaneesh scattered his pieces far and wide, hoping that he could never again be reincarnated. "

To: Jenova
From: Dmitri

This was just a guess based on the fact that extremely high speeds were able to repel Martian telepathic attacks. Almost wish we didn't lobotomize them all. They'd be useful right now. They're easy enough to manage if you have flamethrowers around to keep them from attacking us, too. Do you know if Slaaneesh can take physical form? It'd be easier for us to combat him. We wouldn't have to worry about changing and maintaining vibrational frequencies to enter different realms.

- Dmitri

Shein jumped a little at Earl's speaking to him. "Try enlisting the Rutian Gods too? Ares would be itching to jump in if I could get through to him. Either he's ignoring me right now or just busy elsewhere. Maybe you could contact him?" He shrugs.

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

To: Jenova
From: Shein

I can't give them that order. They won't back down from a fight. Well, okay. I can give them the order, but they'll ignore it. Sorry. You're stuck with a bunch of psions that won't save themselves if they can possibly help your people.

Earl is trying to help by finding your Laughing God and Bloody Handed God. I figured he wouldn't have told you that due to his refusing to talk to you. He's told me what he's up to. I've suggested to him to try and find the Rutian Gods to help as well. I don't know if he will. I've been trying to get Ares enlisted, but the bastard is ignoring me. He doesn't like people asking him for help.

-Shein

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

To: Thorgood
From: Shein

I remember my days of skepticism. I didn't believe until Ares himself showed up and kicked my ass. Literally. I never questioned religion after that. Some things just can't be explained by science, my friend.

-Shein

Burninites gather in Churches. Smaller churches come together and form larger congregations. It seems to have been planned by the Church for a long time. Well memorized too, because super-congregations form in no time flat. And all the Burninites present throw their soulstones in a pile. A heaping pile. And they all sit around the pile for prayer. Prayer and the preparation of the mind for the building of a mental wall for defense. There are few people not involved in this ceremony, including those orchestrating the defense (like Jenova and Teresa), and the few Burninites far enough away from the Motherland that they have a reasonable hope of escaping the hammer blow (as in Thorgood).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

TO: Dmitri
FROM: Jenova

Uhh, killed everyone that he came into contact with. Your guess is as good as mine. The only difference being that if your troops get out, their hides are safe.

Sincerely,
Jenova

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

To the other messages, there is no response. Shein is an open character. People speak their minds to him, and he speaks his mind freely as well. Thorgood may sometimes feel at ease speaking his mind. But flat out telling him he's wrong about something without citing proper research will not illicit a response if he's trying ot remain civil.

Jenova goes silent as soon as a name beginning with an 'e', ending in an 'l', and having 4 letters is brought up.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It's not Earl that ends up attempting to locate Ares. It's the Laughing God. Because Ares and the Laughing God had met before. If you recall, the Laughing God gave Shein a gift.

TLG is now asking Ares to help him. Plus promising fun if Slaaneesh is destroyed. Plus a merged Pantheon if they win and he wants.

(OOC: Neither Draco nor Deimos would bother with interfering, nor would either care enough to send their agents. My planet's God and Devil, respectively. I assume this takes place before Emerald Eclipse.)

To: Jenova
From: Dmitri

Well, we'll just have to see what happens, then. If you really need backup, we can get Hal to call Sodam Yat in. In addition to his enhanced strength, speed, and invulnerability due to his Daxamite origins, he is also the current host for the Ion willpower entity. That is a power on a near-god level.

-Dmitri

P.S. If you do feel the need to call him in, keep him away from lead. Daxamites are highly sensitive to lead poisoning.

And, naturally, Ares is interested in the deal. He did hear Shein asking for help, but didn't respond because he didn't feel it was his problem. Though now that the other pantheon is asking for help, he's up for the task. Hell, he even gets Athena and Hades in on it too. All three are ready to hunt down Slaaneesh.

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

Shein is sitting in his office when the blue light announces the arrival of one of the gods. He looks up and raises a brow. "Now you decide to respond?"

"Can it." Ares just stares at Shein. "Your pet wouldn't be able to help you against me and you know it. I'm not one of your subjects."

"Forgive me for being worried about the Burnites being attacked by one of their gods and thinking you might actually want to wage a war against said god." Shein doesn't really seem worried about the threat.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm aware of it. Athena, Hades, and myself are going to go help with the problem." Ares picks up a datapad and looks at it. "You aren't going to send this, are you?" He looks at Shein.

Shein just sits there and shakes his head with a sigh.

Ares laughs and disappears the same way he arrived. In a blue flash. The datapad clatters to the desk.

Shein picks up the datapad, edits, then sends the message.

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

To: Jenova
From: Shein

Your gods and mine are on the case. Someone got through to Ares. He, Athena, and Hades are going to help hunt down and destroy Slaaneesh.

Hang in there.

-Shein

TO: Shein
FROM: Jenova

Keep in mind, and have your gods keep in mind, that The Destroyer defeated the ENTIRE BURNINITE PANTHEON COMBINED. Granted, two gods survived, and only one fully. We seem to have amassed a serious quantity of mental energies and godly powers. But put this into perspective with what we're dealing with.

Slaaneesh has the power of the Burninite Pantheon minus the Laughing God and the Bloody Handed God. He also has the power of over three trillion dead Burninites. We've seen what he has been able to do so far, and he's just stretching sleeping muscles.

Here is the plan the Laughing God has devised, keeping in mind that to win, the Dark God Slaaneesh will have to be completely destroyed, and loss will mean the literal death of Burnination:
- The Rutians, Panzerians, and Burninites on Burnination and Burninandom will do their best to defend Slaaneesh's onslaught, sucking as much of his energy as possible.
- The Laughing God, fed by power provided by Emperor Earl, will lead Slaaneesh on a chase, taking up more of his energy.
- The Laughing God and Earl will lead Slaaneesh to the reconstruction of the Bloody Handed God, and the Rutian Gods.
- The conglomeration of Gods, plus mental attacks from the Rutian psions will destroy the God Slaaneesh.

The Laughing God has informed me that if this is successful, he has offered to create a sort of conglomerate Pantheon, in which the Bloody Handed God, Laughing God, and Earl will enter into some sort of agreement with your pantheon. Tribute or something.

As to Earl, I think we may be witnessing the ascension of a new God. He certainly is revered in Burnination.

Sincerely,
Jenova

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And in Burnination/Burninandom, anxiety permeates as the final attack draws near...

To: Jenova
From: Shein

I don't know the power base of your pantheon, but I do know that the Rutian Gods do not get power from the people. What they have is what they have. I'd warn them, but they likely already know and are up for the challenge.

Good luck.

-Shein

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

The Rutian telepaths seem to all focus inward, likely setting up defenses.

(OOC: Pass.)

And without warning, all these defenses would be pressed relentlessly. Jenova wasn't exaggerating when she called Slaaneesh powerful. He's got the power to press on the defenses of 3.863 billion Burninites as well as the Rutian psions.

Early omens look good. All defenses hold. But the attack seems to drag on for an eternity. It was more like 25 seconds, but to the defending Burninites, an eternity. Some succumb, seeming to just go limp, then vanishing completely. Gone. Poof. Fortunately, no more than 100,000 Burninites across all three planets combined succumb at this point.

After another 5 seconds, the piles of soulstones become less solid due to intense heat and begin fusing together. All of Burnination and Burninandom. Just as in illustration of the power Slaaneesh is exerting on them. Any Rutian psions who interfere are subjected to the same pressure. Any Panzerians still on the planets who do not interfere with the mental attack are ignored. If they try to interfere, they too are mentally struck.

For the moment at least, it would appear that the defenses are holding.

Which is just about when the Dark Cult shows up with hammers. They make for the piles of soulstones, probably to smash them, feeding the souls of the Burninites to Slaaneesh. They didn't count on any Panzerians or Rutians being there though, so anyone not engaged in the mental battle could try to stop them...

Which all the Rutians there are psions and defending the mental attack. About ten percent of them are able to split their attention and try and defend against the physical attacks. Kinetic weaponry only. None of them have anything lethal.

Fortunately, Ares is paying attention and is able to get word to Shein to call in the cavalry. Can't blame him really. He loves a good fight and this promises to be good.

Within thirty minutes, Rutian grounders do show up to fight against the new threat. They must have been hanging out and waiting for any order to go back. Or they just hadn't gotten to wherever they were going yet.