A New Direction

This really is Dmitri's moment. He and his three speedster friends snatch up hammers, stop, punch the cult member they're confiscating hammers from at the time in the face, and move on to the next guy. They should have the planet's cult members disarmed within the hour and ready for Rutian grounders to pick up.

Unfortunately the Selathorni cannot interfere directly with ground troops, but they do begin scanning for cult centers and preparing kinetic bombardment if they find any. A bit overkill, yes, but there's no better way to do it.

Two planets is a lot of ground to cover. So while they did a good job, it's impossible for the Panzerian sprinters and the Rutian grounders to have covered ALL the Burninite mental defense locations. Because of their efforts, only 25,000 or so Burninites are caught undefended by the physical attackers, resulting in their defeat by Slaaneesh. The Selathorni efforts to locate 'cult centers' fail. (OOC: Sorry :p)

And as the mental attack nears the two minute mark, another 30,000 or so Burninites succumb to the mental pressure and are destroyed, bringing the total so far to 155,000 dead. At this point, even some of the psions who Slaaneesh might have found particularly annoying may begin to fall. Serious sustained mental pressure here.

And The Laughing God is taking his time apparently...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"This is silly," Teresa says finally.

"What?" Jenova asks.

"The fact that I'm sitting here with my fingers crossed. There must be something that I can DO."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At which point, Earl and The Laughing God decide to act. David and Goliath don't enter into it. It's more like the Horsefly and the T. Rex. If Slaaneesh were a T Rex, then the attack Earl and the Laughing God make on him would be the equivalent of a horsefly bite.

The only differences being that Slaaneesh is a heck of a lot more powerful than a T Rex, and The Laughing God is a bit more difficult to catch than a horsefly.

Slaaneesh's energy is diverted...

The weaker Psions that are being annoying would fall. Those who are bound together do not. Two minds working together are much stronger than those alone. Dylan (sorry, Shein's cousin. Called him father earlier, my mistake) and Michael do not succumb and they're likely a prime target since they're protecting Thorgood. They're also two strong telepaths. In any case, the psions are trained to take on severe mental attacks. Just in case. They may start failing if it goes longer than four hours though.Also, Shein wouldn't have sent weaklings to the fight.

The Rutian Gods wait for their signal to attack. Ares, in particular, is being pretty good by waiting. He's itching to jump in and find out who's more powerful, but that's got do with the whole God of War thing.

The two Green Lanterns on the scene work on trying to absorb Slaaneesh's energy into their power batteries. If it can imprison a chunk of Parallax, it may be able to contain Slaaneesh. If need be, they will attempt to summon Sodam Yat to help.

The dejected Selathorni jump off of their ships into space continue monitoring and watch for any physical attacks that may require greater military interference.

And Earl and the Laughing God pull Slaaneesh further and further from his original target, splitting his energies and annoying the hell out of him. They are also infuriatingly clever, lightning quick, and at the end of another 20 seconds, uncaught by Slaaneesh.

Slaaneesh temporarily stops his attacks on the Burninites and psions.

Due to some basic incompatibility, the Panzerian attempt to imprison either all of or a part of Slaaneesh has failed.

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

TO: Shein
FROM: Jenova

I sent an order to your psions; you can reiterate it if you don't think they'll listen. It essentially says regroup and prepare to launch an attack.

Sincerely,
Jenova

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

TO: All Rutian Psions On Burnination or Burninandom
FROM: Teresa Trimbalt, Burnination Defense Command

Slaaneesh is now diverted according to plan. Regroup and prepare to launch a coordinated counter-attack.

Sincerely,
Teresa Trimbalt

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

TO: Director Andreus Aaron
FROM: Emperor Thorgood

Your troops may return to Burnination to assist in crowd control for the moment. Please send no more than 50,000. Thank you for your help so far.

Sincerely,
Emperor Thorgood

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

TO: Emperor Dmitri
FROM: Emperor Thorgood

Thank you for your assistance, especially the assistance of your speed units. You are welcome to stay until this is finished.

Sincerely,
Emperor Thorgood

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

Well, he seems to have regained the ability to communicate all the sudden.

(OOC: Eh. The GLs aren't Panzerian. They're humans from Earth, as are the three speedsters with Dmitri.)

Sodam Yat does not answer their summons. Unknown to them at the time, he'd sacrificed himself to turn Daxam's red sun yellow to liberate the planet from the Sinestro Corps (see Emerald Eclipse). Their attempt at summoning help, however, made it to Ganthet, one of the Guardians of the Blue Lantern Corps and one of the most powerful and oldest beings in the universe, despite being only four feet tall. Powers demonstrated by his species include manipulation of time, space, matter, and reality, flight, vast knowledge, and very importantly, psionic powers described as capable of cracking a planet in half with a thought. This, at the very least, should shore up the Rutian efforts.

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

To: Emperor Thorgood
From: Emperor Dmitri

Thanks for the invite, but I don't think there's more I can do here. And they aren't really my units. They are personal friends from Earth and the only ones I can talk to without agonizingly long waits between syllables.

-Dmitri

(OOC: Yeah, those powers would be another reason they declared themselves the Guardians of the Universe.)

To: Emperor Thorgood
From: Director Andreus Aaron

We'll send a few troops, but we're not exactly sure if this is over yet.



***

10,000 Selathorni troops move for crowd control and restoration of order.

To: Jenova
From: Shein

They should listen to you, though I'll back up the order.

-Shein

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

And he does. A message goes out for the Rutian telepaths to regroup and prepare an attack.

The Rutian Gods still wait for their cue to attack, though Ares is growing impatient. Let's hope he doesn't do anything stupid. The other Rutian Gods look ready to hold him back if he tries to go before they're ready to be brought into it.

Ares should keep in mind that 10 minutes haven't even passed yet. I can get my 6-year-old campers to wait for longer than this mental battle has been going on. Ares should really be having no trouble. But, just in case he really WAS about to act apart from the plan, I'll bring this plan together in one post. Shouldn't be too hard.

After running for another good 10 seconds, The Laughing God and Emperor Earl split up, causing Slaaneesh to pause for a split second to think about who to follow. He chooses Earl, thinking that the Laughing God will come to his defense. Which isn't a bad guess. Only problem with that reasoning is that he missed a few gods.

The call is given to strike. The psions should hear it as well.

Earl, The Laughing God, and the Burninites throw all their energies into attacking Slaaneesh.

As does Ganthet, demonstrating by the power of his psionic attack why he deserves to be considered a Guardian of the Universe.

Ares doesn't think about anything but fighting. If there's a fight going on, he wants to be in the middle of it. And yeah, he's got the mentality of a two year old when it comes to patience.

When the call is given, the Rutian psions do lash out. Some are stronger than others. The bound telepaths are clearly the strongest.

The Rutian Gods, particularly Ares, join in as well. All of them strike Slaaneesh from behind. Ares and Athena seem to fight harder than the others, but they're also both slippery. Hard to catch and annoying as hell.

Slaaneesh seems to have expected something of this sort. He's fought against armies commanded by The Laughing God before.

When everything is thrown at him in a coordinated fashion, he retreats inside his own mental shell, deflecting the attacks. And when the Rutian gods strike, he avoids allowing them to penetrate his defenses, waiting for one to slip, allowing him to take that one alone. (To be sure, it's not that the super-powerful Lanterns and Rutian gods have done nothing at this point, it's simply that Slaaneesh has been able to deflect enough of the power, and taken the rest in nonessential places that he is able to appear unaffected. Keep in mind that at this rate, within a few minutes, he will be drained and very vulnerable.)

Emperor Earl withdraws from the battle, drained of most of his energy.

(OOC: My solution to everything right now is apparently to chuck a Lantern of some sort at the problem and hope it solves it.)

The small number of Blue Lanterns available (just two) arrive soon after. For one thing, it keeps the rings of the two Green Lanterns charged and enables the Blue power rings to function, as Hope is nothing without the Will to enact it. Another effect of their presence is the nullification of any fear, anger, or greed (supposing that anybody would have this right now) on the two planets. If it works, it should also restore any of the Rutian psions who have collapsed and heal any wounded, as well as give Earl and any god who needs it a recharge. If Slaaneesh feels emotion at all, this may affect him and project his greatest hope. Doing so is an attempt to nullify any rage or fear or greed of his and weaken him.

(OOC: Given that Blackest Night has not begun yet, I can't use the Indigo Tribe, who could expose to him the pain Slaaneesh has inflicted on other people. Hopefully, Blue can have some effect. They are supposed to be the strongest of all the Lanterns, but only with a Green Lantern in their vicinity. However, supplemented by the hope of other beings, they can still accomplish enormous deeds, such as reverse the age of a red sun 8.6 billion years and turn it into a blue sun.)

The Rutian Gods are led by both Ares and Athena, so there's really no getting one alone. They also anticipated this. Instead of pressing, they fall back and let Artemis use her arrows from a distance. It seems that none of them are willing to go up alone. Not because they're scared, but because they're working together to rid the universe of a threat. Ares and Athena do try and keep themselves between Slaaneesh and Earl though. No sense in letting Slaaneesh get hold of Earl right now.

Ares is also keeping Shein up to date on the battle through some mystical link at the moment, and that information is being sent to both Jenova and Thorgood.

And so the battle continues. Slaaneesh fights like a bulldog, preferring to block, take, or deflect energies sent against him. (They're doing damage, but it may not be showing just yet, as it hasn't been long enough for it to really add up.) His enemies prefer to avoid taking damage from their more powerful, slower foe. Unfortunately, bulldogs tend to be victorious against quicker, weaker foes. It's just how the fights usually pan out. There will be a mistake before the bulldog is drained, and it will score a crippling blow. Usually being the operative word. Remember, Ares is a god of war, and the Burninite god of war is the only one Slaaneesh failed to destroy last time. At this rate, when the Bloody Handed God is revealed, it is still likely that the coalition will prevail.

And so Slaaneesh blocks the numerous mental attacks. If anything, his greatest hope is destruction. Which doesn't really weaken him. However, the addition of yet another super-powerful psion is sure to make a difference in the long run.

The Rutian Gods succeed in shielding Earl while he escapes the combat.

On the ground, the majority of the elderly and young are forced to lay off their attacks, and the rest are forced to move to more defensive mental stances. Only the psions would be continuing to attack Slaaneesh, if they still have the power.

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

TO: Shein
FROM: Jenova

Tell Ares to stop wasting power on that link. I'd prefer he wins and us not be kept up to date than for him to lose and me to know every moment of it.

Sincerely,
Jenova

And the Rutian Gods are really starting to get pissed off. They're not on the same power base. They're strongest when on the immortal plane. They're completely unsure of how Slaaneesh is defending against their weapons, which have been known to cut and pierce through anything. In fact, they look almost ready to leave the Burnites to their fate.

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

To: Jenova
From: Shein

There's no power drain for him to keep it upheld, however, they're a little confused as to why Slaaneesh is so damned powerful that they can't get a hit on him. They're not used to this kind of thing with their ability to create and destroy at will and Ares has told me that he's not going to stick around much longer. Neither will the others. I'm trying to convince him otherwise, but you may be on your own soon.

-Shein

(OOC: Edits are up in red. The main fix in my first post was that I had meant to say what the post now says. My failure was mostly in communication; I thought responses that I did not necessarily post. Also, keep in mind that I have a tendency to make threads which end in a triple-alliance. It's difficult to make an enemy that can stand up to this reasonably for more than a few posts. Reserve your judgement until after you read the fixes and this post right here.)

TO: Shein
FROM: Jenova

All indications on the ground here are that you're winning. Slaaneesh has been unable to divert even an iota of energy into attacking Burnination again. He must be using ALL of it defending your attacks.

Sincerely,
Jenova

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

Sure enough, even though Slaaneesh is powerful, and his ability to attack and defend himself are ridiculous, the effort of fighting these several Rutian gods, the Rutian ground psionic attacks, and the more powerful Panzerian psionic attacks is clearly beginning to show. Slaaneesh appears less mobile. Less willing to make for a risky attack. He's holding back now, hoping (maybe that hope lantern WAS a help ) that someone will slip and allow him to get a good grab in, before his defenses inevitably fail.

And just as this is beginning to show, the Bloody Handed God, or, what's left of him, appears on the plane of battle. He's less powerful at this point than any single one of the Rutian gods, though more powerful than the Laughing God. He would also likely be defeated by the Lanterns and the Rutian psions. But his weakness, especially compared to what he used to be, isn't the point. Simply seeing him seems to have given Slaaneesh another shake. It's like a mouth-hanging-open-in-shock moment. He's seeing a ghost. A dead god.

And also revealing a perfect chance to push while his mouth is open.

(OOC: Makes more sense now. I'm going to wait for Panzer before replying.)

(OOC: Maybe so. I don't think it actually discriminates much, the blue light.)

The Greens fly around patching up anything on the planets that got damaged, along with the four speedsters, but not far away enough from the Blues to make them lose their charge. Ganthet takes a crack at Slaaneesh and launches a big psionic attack against him.

(OOC: Eh. Don't really know what to say.)

To: Jenova
From: Shein

I don't know what he's up to. Don't ask me either. I never understand them.

- Shein

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

Ares and Athena see the opening and strike hard while Slaaneesh is distracted by the arrival of another God on the scene. In reaction to their actions, the other Rutian Gods present do the same.

And Slaaneesh is hit HARD by these attacks. In fact, he's thrown so far back, those responsible for the attack almost lose sight of him. Oh, he's damaged now. If he were a car, you'd see the mirrors hanging off, the windshield cracked, the doors dented irreparably, and fluids leaking out of the damaged engine. Oh yeah, he's a sinking ship now. Just a matter of time.

And now he's angry. Did I say slow? He charges at the Laughing God faster than the eye can track, smashing into him at full speed. The Laughing God explodes into what would resemble a poof of dust motes. Like you blew the dust of an old novel.

Whirling around, he then makes to throw all his strength at the Rutian Gods. He seems to be at a loss as far as the Lanterns. They're clearly affecting him, but he doesn't seem to know how to respond to them. And so for now, they're spared his attacks. He's not nearly as fast as he was when he hit the Laughing God. As if the weight of the Rutian and Lantern attacks is slowing him visibly even as he does his best to push by and get at them.

And whatever it was they were doing, they continue doing it.

The Rutian Gods don't go poof when Slaaneesh turns on them. They give as good as they're getting. The only one he could probably get close to is Ares, who just laughs at the attacks. "It's a bitch, ain't it, when you go up against someone who doesn't seem to get power the same way you do." He's slippery too. Even if Slaaneesh gets hold of him, he'd just disappear and reappear elsewhere. He might take a few hits, but the other Rutian Gods don't seem concerned for him. They're attacking from a distance. Athena using a bow and arrows like Artemis. Hades is just throwing fireballs. Ares is the only one who's daring to get close. Well, he is War and he's got guts.