The Hohenzollern Empire 5: Holy Phoenix - An Empire of Jerusalem Megacampaign in New World Order

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I don't know what happened, but it seems my previous response was deleted. Something to do with a server error?
Possibly, through I still have your previous response in my gmail inbox right now, even if it links to nothing when I click on it.
Nowadays I consider it in a different multiverse from Hohenzollern Empire because their backgrounds are very different (Stargate is real in one universe and not the other).
I know it's unlikely, but Imagine how funny it would've been if Stargate as a media franchise existed in Celestial Empire before the Goa'uld invasion. :D I wonder if Stargate exists as fiction the Hohenzollernverse? It's possible since Supernatural exists as cover for Inquisition shenanigans.

That not the mentioning the possibility of Anders and Angela being fans of an X-Files style show. according to this reference. ;)
Well, OTL X-Files had a crossover with Cops, and it still exists here. It's my headcanon that the crossover led to a show similar to X-Files to help cover up the division's exploits (like how Wormhole X-Treme is used as a cover story for the stargate program in Stargate SG-1). Anders suspects the Syndicate greenlit the show, but he and Angela are big fans of it anyways, believing it could warm the population up to their findings when the time is right.
Well, OTL X-Files had a crossover with Cops, and it still exists here. It's my headcanon that the crossover led to a show similar to X-Files to help cover up the division's exploits (like how Wormhole X-Treme is used as a cover story for the stargate program in Stargate SG-
[/QUOTE]

While we are talking about the multiverse, are you considering that Chronicler idea @TWR97 bought up or are you ignoring that? Maybe we could explain that the Chronicler somehow lost his power due to the Anarchy and that it was fully restored once the Inquisition stopped the Apocalypse.
 
Possibly, through I still have your previous response in my gmail inbox right now, even if it links to nothing when I click on it.
It's weird because I know I posted that comment and it was visible for a few hours.
I know it's unlikely, but Imagine how funny it would've been if Stargate as a media franchise existed in Celestial Empire before the Goa'uld invasion. :D I wonder if Stargate exists as fiction the Hohenzollernverse? It's possible since Supernatural exists as cover for Inquisition shenanigans.
It's kind of weird because Supernatural is real in Return of the Celestial, at least the stuff with the Colt. I could just make that non canon though. In the Hohenzollernverse, I've hidden cameos of the SN-1 team throughout this story arc, generally in their fields of specialty. I've been staying away from making references to a Stargate show as a result, because I do not want to open up that can of worms.
That not the mentioning the possibility of Anders and Angela being fans of an X-Files style show. according to this reference. ;)
That would be hilarious, but I still haven't committed to making that canon yet.
Well, OTL X-Files had a crossover with Cops, and it still exists here. It's my headcanon that the crossover led to a show similar to X-Files to help cover up the division's exploits (like how Wormhole X-Treme is used as a cover story for the stargate program in Stargate SG-
That episode was funny. I do like the idea though.
While we are talking about the multiverse, are you considering that Chronicler idea @TWR97 bought up or are you ignoring that? Maybe we could explain that the Chronicler somehow lost his power due to the Anarchy and that it was fully restored once the Inquisition stopped the Apocalypse.
I actually have an idea for the narrator of this megacampaign, which would be discussed in the ending story arc. It would be different from TWR's idea.. I haven't committed to it yet.
 
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Unspeakable, Part 4

Saint-Croix Cathedral - 3:30 AM

Angela, Anders, Kevin, and Kristen entered the cathedral, where Dieter waited for them. The Inquisitor was busy repainting the sigil, only now inverted and reversed, with a pentagram and Enochian script placed over the lines and the snake imagery.

“Ah, you’re finally here,” Dieter said, “Just in time.”

“Okay, so what’s the plan?” Anders said.

“Behr probably knows we’re onto him and is sending reinforcements as we speak,” Dieter said, “We need you to protect the sigil while it powers up.”

“I’ve done the favor of repairing your perimeter spells,” Kevin said, “And laid down some more defenses around the place. They’ll be expecting countermeasures, and they’ll know how to get around them, but it’ll slow them down at least.”

“But what are we supposed to do?” Angela said. “I mean, whatever these guys want, they’ll stop at nothing to get it done.”

“This sigil should repair local reality and prevent the spell from working here,” Dieter said, “Of course, they could always use the spell somewhere else, which is why I also turned it into a banishing spell, to make it harder to summon whatever it is they’re summoning.”

“Where’s Wagner?” Anders said.

“He’s bringing even more backup,” Dieter said.

“We don’t have time,” Kristen said, “I’m hearing cars outside. Get ready!”

They took cover behind the pews and readied their guns just as the doors swung open. Behr and several Inquisitors stormed inside, wearing tactical gear and armed with automatic weapons.

“Dieter?” Behr said. “Care to give me an explanation for this?”

“I know the truth!” Dieter said, still repainting the sigil. “I know you were trying to sacrifice me to summon something!”

“Uh, what?” Behr said.

“You were trying to cover it all up, weren’t you?” Dieter said. “Your cult activities? Why not kill two birds with one stone? Get me out of the way, and use me as the sacrifice for your spell.”

“It’s over, Behr,” Kevin said, “We know what you want to do, and we won't let you do it.”

“What have you really gotten yourself into, Dieter?” Behr said. “Associating yourself with a disgraced excommunicado? You do know the punishment for associating with him is becoming excommunicado yourself.”

“If that’s what the Inquisition is going to be with you as its leader, then I don’t care,” Dieter said, “At least I’ll know the truth.”

“And I’ll have gotten justice for the Prague branch,” Kevin said.

“You know, I should’ve seen this coming,” Dieter said, “The cult has lasted for millennia. It wouldn’t have been defeated and wiped out in just one Inquisition operation in the 1930s. That’s why the mission was covered up. It was a failure. Not only did an entire branch get destroyed, but the cult ended up infiltrating the Inquisition…and taking it over. And with you as the new Head Inquisitor, you’ve completed that.”

“I suppose it’s no use denying it, then,” Behr said, “You are all heartless. You don’t accept It’s love in your hearts. That’s the problem with this world. You’ve all lost the way. It promises to lead us back to the light, back to our destiny. But first, we must cleanse you of your sins, so we may build you back up as the righteous. Through the pitch dark comes a cleansing fire. And using the Inquisition’s resources is the best way to accomplish that.”

“Through the pitch dark…” Angela said. “I’ve heard that before. On the other side.”

“They’re active there as well?” Anders said.

“I assume so,” Angela said, “Seeing as the cult predates our two universes diverging.”

“I won’t stand by and let you destroy our civilization,” Dieter said.

“You and whose army?” Behr said. “Your partner isn’t even with you.”

“Us,” Angela said.

“Hah!” Behr said. “Two Athanatoi hope to stand against us? Preposterous. Not even all of angelkind could stop us from sending a nuke to their doorstep!”

“We have backup,” Dieter said.

There was a flash of light, and Wagner, Cornelius, Minerva, and Wolfram appeared. Cornelius and Minerva wore classical Hellenic armor and carried long golden spears, while Wagner and Wolfram donned the armor of medieval Russian warriors and brandished gleaming swords.

“I missed these dramatic entrances,” Wolfram said.

“We should do this more often,” Wagner said.

“Ah, you’re here,” Behr said, “Dyeus, Manus, Perwunos, and Weltis…the false gods. We’ve been expecting you for a while.”

“Who are you calling false gods again?” Wolfram said.

“You will leave this cathedral and then the town,” Minerva ordered.

“And you will never come back,” Cornelius said, “This town is under our protection.”

“Your protection means nothing,” Behr said, “Your powers are utterly dependent on the faith of your believers. The gods of money and technology put you to shame. And our faith is growing again like it hasn’t in millennia. We already operate outside this town. Even if you drive us out of here, we still have plenty of places around the world, waiting to welcome us!”

The Inquisitor cultists stepped forward and aimed their guns at the gods. Angela and Anders stepped back and took cover behind a pew.

“Well, that escalated quickly,” Angela said.

“Tell me about it,” Anders said.

Dieter finished the spell.

“This is your last warning,” he said, “I will trigger the spell. You’ll regret it.”

“You really want to make this difficult, do you?” Behr said. “Your spells are meaningless. I got past the perimeter spells easily.”

Kevin looked at Dieter.

“What?” Dieter said. “I thought you upgraded them!”

“I did,” Kevin said.

“This is not your ordinary spell!” Dieter said.

“Your modern magic is futile,” Behr said, “It’s power is ancient, older than any of your magic. That is why It will always prevail, and has already prevailed. That is why we do what we do. Because It rewards our faith, and we know It has already rewarded us. We see our fate written in Its scales. You can’t say the same about your dead gods.”

“We’re not dead,” Wagner said, “Just in retirement.”

“And you do not want us to come out of retirement,” Wolfram said.

The Inquisitor cultists opened fire. Cornelius and Minerva spun their spears, deflecting the bullets aimed at them. Cornelius’ spear arced with electricity. Letting out a roar, he slammed his spear against the floor, and a bolt of lightning erupted from the tip of the spear, blasting several cultists down the aisle. Wolfram charged in after him, swinging his sword, which was infused with electricity. Kristen jumped down from the rafters into the midst of the cultists, hacking and slashing at them from up close with a dagger. Several of the cultists fell before Behr realized what was happening, by which time she had climbed over the pews, up the walls, and disappeared into the rafters again.

“A vampire, huh?” Behr said. “You’ve stooped so low as to make subhumans fight for you? We should’ve killed every last one of them when we had the chance!”

Those words echoed through Dieter’s mind. A recent memory he had been trying to forget instead resurfaced, just as he remembered the Blue Man bursting out of the waters of the Minch, its gaping mouth of sharp teeth opened. An unfortunate Inquisitor who was too slow to react screamed as his left arm was torn clean off. Munster quickly put a bullet in the Blue Man’s head, the monster’s corpse splashing back into the water.

“Dieter!” Munster said. “Help Paul out!”

Dieter ran over to Paul, who writhed on the ground and kept screaming.

“I’m sorry, but this might hurt a little,” Dieter said.

He whispered a Latin incantation for a healing spell. A circle of runes and a green pentagram appeared around Paul’s stump of a left shoulder. Small bolts of energy shot out from the runes and struck the wound. Paul screamed more, but Dieter held his left side down. Slowly, the magical energy stopped the bleeding and began repairing the skin and tissue.

“It’s going to be okay, Paul,” Dieter said, “We’re going to get you back to base where we can regenerate your arm.”

“Kill…kill those monsters,” Paul said, “Please…kill them all…”

“Get at target lock on that nest!” Dieter shouted.

“On it!” the captain said.

The Inquisition ship approached a small rocky island covered in branches and other debris gathered from the sea. Dieter noticed a dozen Blue Men gathered on the island. They weren’t all males. There were some females and children too, hiding behind the males, who had picked up sharpened sticks and clubs to defend themselves.

“Wait, I thought they were feral,” Dieter said.

Munster noticed the Blue Men as well.

“Yeah,” Munster said, “The briefing said nothing about the children.”

“Target lock!” the captain said. “Firing!”

“Wait!” Dieter shouted. “Stop!”

But it was too late. The ship’s guns opened fire, and the shells instantly destroyed the island and everybody on it. With the Blue Men’s screams still ringing in his mind, Dieter shook himself back to the present. While Angela and Anders laid down suppressing fire, Kevin concentrated. A dozen copies of himself split off from the real Kevin and immediately rushed the Inquisitors, spells firing from their hands almost as quickly as the enemy’s bullets. Wagner approached Dieter and the spell.

“Ready?” Dieter said.

“Yeah,” Wagner said, “Let’s do this.”

Wagner stepped into the middle of the sigil. More cultists streamed into the cathedral. Cornelius and Minerva continued to hold the line. Behr stepped back and raised his hands. The space above his hands distorted, and dark energy gathered into a ball, which he shot at Wolfram. Wolfram slashed the energy ball with his sword, dissipating it. He then charged at Behr, who drew a short sword and defended himself. The two clashed in the middle of the aisle as the other gods held off the rest of the cultists.

“We didn’t even do that much investigating, did we?” Angela said.

“Not that I know of,” Anders said, “Is this even our case anymore?”

“At this point, no,” Angela said.

“Seriously, how crazy is this?” Anders said. “I only started all this to find my sister. And now we find out the Inquisiton is run by snake people?"

"Even by our standards that’s pretty out there,” Angela said.

“Wagner, now!” Dieter said.

Wagner closed his eyes and began speaking in the dead language of ancient humanity. The sigil glowed a light blue, and wisps energy swirled around the edges. The cathedral rumbled, dust falling from the rafters. Realizing what was happening, Behr’s eyes widened in shock before turning a deep red. Then he clenched his fists, which became cloaked in dark energy. Wolfram slashed at him with his sword, but Behr grabbed the blade with one fist, dissolving, no, outright erasing the metal’s existence at his touch. The severed tip clattered on the floor. Wolfram staggered back, staring at the broken sword, just as Behr charged forward and punched him in the stomach, sending him flying over the pews and smashing against the far wall.

“Stay out of our way!” Behr shouted. “Why don’t you all go back to Taurica?!”

He let off a burst of red energy, and the gods disappeared, presumably banished elsewhere. He rushed the altar, his arms raised and more dark energy gathering around his fists. More of Kevin’s apparitions appeared around him and attacked, holding him back for a few seconds. But he eventually overpowered and vaporized them, continuing his charge. Just as Behr reached the edge of the sigil, Wagner finished the incantation. He abruptly switched to modern German.

“I sacrifice myself!” he declared, slamming his hand down on the middle of the sigil.

There was a flash of blue light, and Behr and the cultists screamed. Angela closed her eyes, but she could still see the blinding light, along with the figures of the cultists falling. When the light went away, she opened her eyes. The cultists lay on the ground, dead. Behr clutched his shoulder and grunted in pain.

“You…” he groaned. “What have you…done…”

“We stopped you,” Dieter said.

“No…” Behr said. “You’ve stopped…nothing…your fate has already been written.”

“We decide our own fate,” Dieter said, “We won’t the likes of you dictate our future. I won’t let anymore innocents die. Like in the Minch.”

“You’ve got it all wrong,” Behr said, “We aren’t dictating the future. We just know what has already transpired and what will come to pass. This empire will fall, and the family that rules it will perish to the last member. But as for right now, you haven’t seen the last of me!”

He activated a teleportation spell and disappeared in a flash of light.

“Damn,” Kevin said, “I guess we’ll get him another time.”

Kristen dropped down from the rafters.

“Uh, did you guys forget about Wagner?” she said.

They looked at the sigil, which had mostly burned itself off the floor, leaving only some ash. Hovering over it was Wagner, though his body was now ghostly and transparent, slowly flickering in and out of existence.

“Oh no,” Angela said.

“What’s happened to you?” Anders said.

“I…I don’t have much time left,” he said, “I’ve sacrificed myself…for the spell.”

“You’re dying?” Angela said.

“Not really,” Wagner said, “I’ll reconstitute after…a little bit. But right now, it’ll be like…a really long sleep. I…I just want to thank you for saving my son back then. It’s only natural I repaid the favor.”

His image became harder to see.

“Can I ask one last favor of you?” he said.

“Yeah, anything,” Dieter said.

“Destroy those cultists,” Wagner said, “I’ll try to find you or your allies when I wake up again, but it’s in your hands now. Destroy them for good. Don’t let them ruin your world.”

“I will,” Dieter said.

Wagner smiled, and he faded away. They stood there in silence for a little bit, taking in what just happened. Then Dieter packed up his things, followed by Kevin and Kristen.

“I’ll call Munster,” Dieter said, “Hopefully he’s done with his mission by now.”

“Wait, for all we know he could be one of them,” Kristen said.

“How do we know he’s with us?” Kevin said.

“There’s a reason Stahl sent him on his own mission,” Dieter said, “I’ve known him for over twenty years too. I’d know.”


Motel - 6:00 PM

Anders and Angela left their motel room. As they carried their suitcases to their car, Anders noticed Dieter, Kevin, and Kristen waiting near the exit.

“What are you guys doing?” Angela said.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Dieter said. “We’re going to avenge a god.”

“The Inquisition’s compromised,” Kevin said, “We’re going to root the cultists out of it.”

“You could help us, you know,” Kristen said, “You have experience with these matters. Conspiracies, I mean.”

“Oh, please,” Anders said, “I’m terrible in these situations.”

“You saw what I did—or didn’t do—back in the cathedral,” Angela said, “You’re better off without us.”

“You guys have each other, and Munster too,” Anders said, “And to think, Dieter, that twenty years ago you hated vampires.”

“Yes, I’ve since grown past that,” Dieter said.

“Thanks to me,” Kristen said.

“You’ve done well for yourself since then, Kristen,” Anders said.

“I have,” Kristen said, “Now I know what it means to live free.”

“You’ve also grown a lot, Kevin,” Angela said.

“I’ve honed my abilities,” Kevin said, “Now I realize this…fighting the cult…it’s my destiny. I will not stop until they are defeated.”

“So, I guess you’ll go back to your own anomalies, huh?” Dieter said.

“At this point, I’m not even sure,” Anders said, “I’ve been doing this for a long time. I’m getting really sloppy. I don’t feel like I enjoy this anymore.”

“Well, do whatever you want to do,” Dieter said.

“Guess this means goodbye, then, huh?” Angela said.

“I think so,” Kristen said.

“Will we see each other again?” Anders said.

“If we do, that would mean things went terribly wrong,” Kristen said.

“And I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen,” Dieter said, “I will not let another Minch happen on my watch.”

They shook hands one more time.

“Take care,” Angela said.

“It’ll be your word against Headquarters,” Anders said, “Which is compromised. A lot of people won’t believe you.”

“Someone has to try,” Kevin said, “Against all odds. I learned that from you two.”

“Don’t give up, Anders,” Dieter said, “You have to keep going. You have to finish the fight. It’s too important to give up now.”

Anders nodded. “I’ll try. Take care.”

Dieter pressed his finger to his phone. He, Kristen, and Kevin disappeared in a flash of light.
 
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Dieter has a rough time ahead of him, but I do believe he's right about Munster not being compromised.
 
“You’re dying?” Angela said.

“Not really,” Wagner said, “I’ll reconstitute after…a little bit. But right now, it’ll be like…a really long sleep.
So by “a little bit” does me mean that from a mortal perspective or his own godly perspective, cause I imagine a few hundred years to regenerate wouldn’t be long for an immortal being like him but would be for humans.:p

Looking forward to what Munster’s been up to, hopefully he has some luck dealing with the cult or other threats.

Overall, it seems like the Hohenzollernverse has been successful in fighting off the Worm and its cult so far, a shame that the Annionaverse wasn’t so lucky it seems.:(
 
Dieter has a rough time ahead of him, but I do believe he's right about Munster not being compromised.
We'll see what he's been up to next week.
So by “a little bit” does me mean that from a mortal perspective or his own godly perspective, cause I imagine a few hundred years to regenerate wouldn’t be long for an immortal being like him but would be for humans.:p
Could be both. I don't know if I want to bring him back in the Stellaris arc as of now.
Looking forward to what Munster’s been up to, hopefully he has some luck dealing with the cult or other threats.
He's dealing with something important, alright.
Overall, it seems like the Hohenzollernverse has been successful in fighting off the Worm and its cult so far, a shame that the Annionaverse wasn’t so lucky it seems.:(
The Terrans did find out all of their neighbors had succumbed to the Worm, after all.

There are a few possible reasons for why the Hohenzollernverse so far has fought off the Worm and Its cult. First, Wilhelm and the angels have involved themselves more in this universe than in others like the Annionaverse, and Wilhelm has a history with the Worm, so he knows what he's dealing with and how best to stop it. Second, the Hohenzollernverse X-Division is better suited to work on different cases of varying scales, being able to jump from minor small town cases to global conspiracies, while the Annionaverse X-Division is fully focused on stopping the degradation of their reality. And third, the origins of the Reich and the real reason behind its founding means that its Inquisition is more suited to fighting the Worm, even if it didn't know of the cult's existence and was eventually taken over as we see here. There could also be other supernatural-oriented agencies around the world tackling the problem in their own countries. I don't think the Annionaverse Inquisition would be as aware of such a threat or would tolerate the existence of similar agencies, given how the old HRE was constantly expanding and absorbing other countries. Though these are all just possibilities right now. Because of the nature of the cult and its shadowy operations, we may still not know for sure what exactly is keeping it from succeeding in this universe as in the other one.

Then again, the fight is only just beginning. Things could always change in the future...
 
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Man all this buildup for the inevitable confrontation with the Worm once we reach Stellaris has already made me hype as hell. But first we have to see how the empire and the rest of humanity will get there first, especially since the political arc is already making me invested. Dieter certainly will need all the help he can get, hopefully his partner isn't compromised as the others claim. I can feel we'll already approaching the end of the X-Division arc especially with Anders and Angie discussing about what to do, those two certainly aren't getting any younger.
 
Man all this buildup for the inevitable confrontation with the Worm once we reach Stellaris has already made me hype as hell. But first we have to see how the empire and the rest of humanity will get there first, especially since the political arc is already making me invested. Dieter certainly will need all the help he can get, hopefully his partner isn't compromised as the others claim. I can feel we'll already approaching the end of the X-Division arc especially with Anders and Angie discussing about what to do, those two certainly aren't getting any younger.
I'm already planning out the ending.;) But first, I have to figure out how to get there. A lot of stuff in this century will be building up to Stellaris, I can say. Including the political arc and its outcomes.

We'll see about Munster soon.

If they were real life FBI agents, Anders and Angela would be nearing the mandatory retirement age at this point. So it makes sense they'd be talking about life after the Athanatoi, because they don't have much longer in the agency.
 
Stone Hunting, Part 1

RSB black site, Persian Gulf coast - June 21, 2015, 8:00 AM

A convoy of military trucks rolled down the dusty desert road, kicking up dust behind them. The symbol of the Inquisition, an imperial eagle on top of a pentagram clutching a crucifix and torch, was printed on its sides. Inside the lead truck, Munster’s Inquisition team checked their tactical gear and loaded clips into their warded assault rifles. Munster himself read his phone, or more specifically the small magic circle projected from it, which displayed information for the spells he had cast on the convoy.

“Alright,” he said, “We’re approaching the target, get ready. Shielding spell holding.”

“Why didn’t we just teleport to the target?” Stephen asked.

“For the last time, Stephen, the target is remarkably well warded against such spells, for a non-anomalous target,” Munster said, “Don’t let your guard down because they’re from the outside.”

He rotated the magic circle, and a holographic projection of a red baseball-sized stone appeared.

“This is our objective,” he said, “It is called the philosopher’s stone. Highly dangerous reality warping artifact. Do not touch it with your bare hands. Found by an archaeologist in Giza during World War II. Since then, it’s somehow made its way into the hands of the RSB. Head Inquisitor Stahl has personally ordered us to locate and destroy the stone at all costs.”

Paulos checked his phone.

“But isn’t Behr the new Head Inquisitor now?” he said.

“True,” Munster said, “But our orders still stand. Search and destroy.”

“Yes, sir!” the Inquisitors shouted.

“Remember, use non-lethal and amnestic rounds when possible,” Munster said, “We do not want to cause more of a scene than necessary.”

“Approaching the perimeter,” Inquisitor Stephen said, “Prepare to lay down perimeter spells.”

The convoy reached a barbed-wire fence and a military checkpoint, guarded by two soldiers. Munster waved his hands. More magic circles appeared around his wrists. A barrier of energy descended around the base, cutting it off from the outside world. With another flick of his wrist, Munster wrenched the main gate open, and with a third motion, he sent the guards flying. The trucks screeched to a halt at the front door, and the Inquisitors jumped out.

“Move, move!” Munster shouted.

Alarms blared. Guards poured out of the barracks. The Inquisitors opened fire. Each of their bullets hit their target, no matter how off-aim they were. None of the hits were lethal, but each bullet was laced with healing magic and anesthetic so the target would forget the day. Munster ran up to the door and flicked his wrist. The lock broke, and the door swung open.

“Go, go, go!” Paulos shouted. “Disengage!”

The Inquisitors ran inside. The alarms continued inside, echoing down the stairways and concrete hallways lit by dim emergency lights. Where there weren’t stairways, the hallways all sloped downward, heading down into the depths of the desert. More soldiers rushed at them and opened fire. The Inquisitors quickly cast spells and threw up protective barriers, easily deflecting the bullets. They fired back, their warded bullets not missing their marks. The soldiers collapsed, unconscious.

“Don’t you think it’ll be a little coincidental that everyone on the entire base went to sleep at the same time?” Paulos said.

“That’s their problem,” Munster said.

“We’ll be long gone by then,” Stephen said.

“If only Dieter were here,” Munster said.

“Yeah, where is he right now?” Stephen said.

“Think Stahl sent him to Normandy or something?” Munster said.

“Well lucky him,” Paulos said, “He gets the glory there, and all we get? Destroy a rock.”

“What even is the stone doing here?” Stephen said. “How’d it end up with the RSB?”

“Whatever it is, it’s urgent enough that Stahl sent us all the way here,” Munster said.

They continued down the hallway and reached a blast door. Munster took out a can of spray paint and drew a sigil on the metal. In addition to the standard pentagram and sigil, he drew a chain being broken.

“Don’t let them get inside!” more soldiers shouted.

He turned around and saw soldiers bearing down on him, but Stephen and Paulos raised another barrier and threw it down the hallway, pushing them away. Munster finished his sigil.

“Recludo!” he said.

The blast door shuddered and lurched open, its locks torn apart. Munster and the Inquisitors rushed inside and stopped, confused. Diana and Olga stared back, also confused. Both parties kept their guns aimed at the other side. Munster quickly recognized Diana, despite the ancient-looking pork pie hat she wore.

“Did you really have to count down?” Olga said.

“Stand down,” Munster ordered.

His Inquisitors lowered their guns. Diana and Olga did the same.

“Agent Frank?” Munster said.

“Hello, Inquisitor Munster,” Diana said.

“What are you doing here?” Munster asked.

“Same as you are,” Diana said.

“Hey,” Olga said, “You must be the Inquisition.”

“We’re on a mission right now, and we have a tight schedule,” Munster said.

“I know, the stone,” Diana said.

“Wait, how did you know about that?” Munster said.

“Di had been gushing about her childhood hero for the last week or so,” Olga said, “Though I’m not sure if she was more excited about the real Arabia Gruber or Israel Schmidt. She talked me into coming here because she had a dream of your route and destination. Long story.”

“We should get moving,” Paulos said, “We need to find the stone.”

“We can’t stay here for much longer,” Stephen said.

“I know where they’re holding the stone,” Diana said, “I can see it. Just down the next hallway. They’re running experiments on it.”

“We have to stop them before they do more then,” Olga said.

“That’s not in doubt,” Munster said, “Let’s go.”

They walked down the hallway and approached a window at the end, where they made out scientists surrounding an imposing machine, with the stone set in the middle, hooked up to various cables and tubes. Soldiers surrounded a platform in front of the machine. Munster, Stephen, and Paulos sprayed a line of sigils on the window. The scientists noticed them. Some of them panicked and ran, while others powered up the machine and activated it. A bright red light filled the room, temporarily blinding them. When the light faded, they saw a young woman in vintage clothes standing on the platform. She looked around in confusion just as the soldiers aimed at her. The Inquisitors finished their sigils.

“Transgressio!” Munster said, putting his palm to the center sigil.

The window and wall vaporized and crumbled into dust.

“Fire in the hole!” Stephen shouted, tossing an enchanted grenade.

The grenade rolled into the middle of the room and detonated. Its shrapnel homed in on the scientists and soldiers and knocked them out.

“Dearmo!” Paulos shouted, flicking his wrist.

The soldiers’ guns disassembled themselves and flew out of their hands. Munster pointed at the far door.

“Cincinno!” he shouted.

“What, the Pokemon?” Olga said.

The far door slammed shut and locked. Paulos took out his phone.

“Lab is secure,” he said.

Stephen sat at a computer terminal and took out a flash drive with a rune engraved on it. He plugged the flash drive into the terminal and immediately gained access to the computer. A progress bar filled up in seconds.

“Obtained access to the database,” he said, taking out the flash drive and tossing it to Munster, “Data extracted and deleted.”

“Thank you,” Munster said.

Olga pried open a hatch on the machine, revealing more of the stone’s connections.

“Okay, help me get this thing out,” she said.

“On it,” Stephen said, walking over.

“Hey, what was the deal about that woman?” Olga said. “And where did she go?”

“She ran out when we charged in,” Diana said, “I don’t see her body here, which is both good and bad. Good that she’s still alive…but bad that she’s out in the rest of the base.”

“Don’t worry, one of the teams will find her,” Munster said.

“I…don’t think so,” Diana said.

Paulos got off his phone.

“Okay, great job, team,” he said, “Stephen, get the stone loose and prep it for transport to Doha.”

“I think you’re mistaken, Paulos,” Munster said, “Stahl specifically said this was a search and destroy operation. We are to destroy the stone as soon as we find it.”

“I was just talking to Head Inquisitor Behr,” Paulos said, “He said he had updated orders for us, seeing as Stahl resigned. We are now to bring the stone back to the Doha branch for analysis.”

“That’s strange,” Munster said, “Stahl specifically said his orders were not to be overridden under any circumstances, even by another Head Inquisitor.”

“Sorry, Munster, but I think the old man’s wrong on this one,” Paulos said, “Don’t worry, we can always destroy the stone after the analysis is done.”

“No, you won’t,” Diana said.

“What?” Paulos said.

“You’re lying,” Diana said.

Munster turned to Stephen.

“Destroy it, now!” he said.

“On it,” Stephen said.

He summoned a fireball, but Paulos took out his gun and shot him in the head.

“I can’t let you do that,” Paulos said.
 
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I'm glad we're getting Munster's half of the narrative. Diana and Olga being around makes it all the better.
 
I'm glad we're getting Munster's half of the narrative. Diana and Olga being around makes it all the better.
I wasn't about to bring back only one half of their duo.
 
Stone Hunting, Part 2

8:10 AM

Munster, Diana, and Olga pointed their guns at Paulos, but the rest of the Inquisitor team aimed back at them.

“What is the meaning of this?” Munster demanded.

“I’m afraid we need the stone,” Paulos said, “Just not for what you’re expecting.”

“Can someone please tell me what’s happening?” Olga said.

“It’s like al-Dud,” Diana said.

Paulos pointed at Munster.

“You’re all heartless,” he said, “You don’t see what a miracle this stone is. We are blessed It graciously bestowed the stone upon us. We will not let you destroy our sacred artifact!”

“Oh, great,” Munster said, rolling his eyes, “Cultists. I hate cultists.”

“Not just any cultists,” Diana said.

“You know about them?” Munster said.

“Exactly,” Paulos said, “For thousands of years, we have bided our time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike, to bring about our perfect world. Now is the time. It will answer our call, and It shall destroy the heartless and reward the faithful, at It always has and always will.”

“Yeah, go ahead and monologue,” Munster said.

While Paulos had been talking, Munster had been drawing a sigil on his phone. Paulos noticed the magic circle spinning around Munster too late. A magic barrier appeared just in time to deflect the cultists’ bullets.

“Run!” he said.

He and Olga set off, but Diana had already reached the far door and had unlocked it.

“You’re no fun,” Olga said.

They ran through the far door, and Olga flipped a switch. At the end of the hallway, a heavy blast door slowly descended. Diana and Olga ran under the blast door and waited. Munster followed close behind, but he was thrown off his balance by an explosion behind him. The cultists emerged into the hallway behind him.

“You will not evade us forever!” Paulos shouted.

Munster ran as fast as he could across the room and dived under the door, barely rolling under it in time before it slammed shut with a resounding thud. He got up and dusted himself off, listening to the cultists futilely banging on the other side.

“Damnit!” he said. “This is a disaster. I did not expect this. This is probably what Stahl was worrying about. I have to inform Headquarters.”

He took out his phone, but Diana grabbed it from him.

“Stop,” she said, “Paulos said he got orders from Behr. Headquarters is compromised already.”

“If Paulos and that many cultists were embedded in the Inquisition without anybody knowing until now, there’s a chance the High Command is also compromised,” Olga said.

Munster sighed. Diana handed him his phone back, and Munster put it away.

“You’re right,” he said, “This is even worse than I imagined. This was supposed to be a simple search and destroy mission!”

“Well, it just turned into an ‘escape the cultist-infested military base’ mission,” Diana said, “So let’s do that.”

“Not without the stone!” Munster said. “They have the stone now. We can’t let them take it back with them. There’s no telling what they can do with them.”

“Not really.” Diana held up the stone.

Munster and Olga stared at her.

“GODDAMNIT DI!” Olga said. “WHAT DID YOU PROMISE ME?!”

“Physical contact with the stone is dangerous!” Munster said.

“YES WE KNOW THAT!” Olga said.

“I’m already affected by the stone’s properties,” Diana said, “It won’t affect me as badly. And I’m wearing gloves just in case.”

Olga sighed.

“You better be right,” she said.

“Give me the stone,” Munster said, “I’ll destroy it now and deny it to the cultists.”

“Not yet,” Diana said, “There’s still that woman from earlier.”

“She’s a civilian,” Munster said, “There’s no reason we need her before we destroy the stone.”

“She was summoned by that machine, using the stone,” Diana said, “We know the stone has reality warping powers. And those RSB agents wanted to kill her. She’s connected to the stone for some reason. We should find her before the RSB does…or the cultists.”

Munster sighed.

“Alright, fine,” he said, “But at the first sign of trouble, I’m going to destroy the stone. I don’t care who she is.”

Diana slipped the stone into her pocket. They continued walking as the alarms continued sounding off. The hallway remained bathed in a light red light from the sirens still flashing on the walls. They could hear gunfire in the distance from the cultists, loyal Inquisitors, and RSB agents fighting each other.

“This base…” Olga said. “What is it for? What’s the stone doing here?”

“Been wondering a little of that myself,” Munster said.

“Jakob Edelweiss Hoover gave the stone to the RSB at some point,” Diana said, “Instead of giving it to the Inquisition, as he was supposed to do. It fell through the cracks and disappeared under layers of classification. They’ve been running experiments since then, no doubt to see what it can do. If they just wanted to lock it away in a large warehouse Israel Schmidt style, they would’ve done it already.”

“All the more reason to destroy it,” Munster said.

“Later,” Olga said.

“Say, Diana,” Munster said, “What’s this about being exposed to the stone’s powers before? It have any reason to do with those predictions of yours?”

“Long story,” Diana said.

They heard a scuffling around around the corner. Olga drew her gun.

“Stay behind me,” she said, approaching the corner.

“Olga, you don’t have to worry,” Diana said.

Olga rounded the corner and found the woman sitting against the wall, clutching her head and whispering to herself. She whimpered at the sight of Olga. Olga put her gun on the ground and raised her hands.

“It’s fine, ma’am,” she said, “We’re not here to hurt you.”

“What is this place?” the woman said. “Where am I?”

“This is an RSB government facility,” Olga said.

“RSB?” the woman said. “What’s that?”

Olga looked back at Diana and Munster.

“Do you remember your name?” Olga said.

“Theodora,” the woman said, “Theodora Doukas.”
 
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Doukas being a surprise aside, I feel like the Inquisition must have specific training to take advantage of when enemies begin to monologue.
 
Doukas being a surprise aside, I feel like the Inquisition must have specific training to take advantage of when enemies begin to monologue.
It's quite easy to secretly cast a spell when your enemy is monologuing.
 
Oh boy another Doukas. Things are about to get a whole lot more complicated.
 
Since that Doukas women has doesn’t know what the RSB is and the Worm has the power to pull people from different parts of history, I have to ask: Is this the same Theodora Doukas that was mentioned in HOI3 a couple times?

I wonder what the cult would think of the Sentinel and if they are even aware of each other's existence. Maybe they would see them as heartless due to their connections to the Syndicate and Jotun conspiracies, since the Cult seems to be rather anthropocentric, which would explain the xenophobic and expansionist attitudes of the Terrans. Not to mention that the Jotun was once an ally to Ancient Humanity, which probably means they were enemies with the cult and the Worm at some point.
 
Since that Doukas women has doesn’t know what the RSB is and the Worm has the power to pull people from different parts of history, I have to ask: Is this the same Theodora Doukas that was mentioned in HOI3 a couple times?
This is that same Theodora Doukas. She's also the Hohenzollern Empire counterpart of one of my recent characters in the Empire Strikes Back iAAR (where I took the KRA name from as well, though the KRA I had there was much more competent).
I wonder what the cult would think of the Sentinel and if they are even aware of each other's existence. Maybe they would see them as heartless due to their connections to the Syndicate and Jotun conspiracies, since the Cult seems to be rather anthropocentric, which would explain the xenophobic and expansionist attitudes of the Terrans. Not to mention that the Jotun was once an ally to Ancient Humanity, which probably means they were enemies with the cult and the Worm at some point.
The cult would know of Sentinel's existence but views them as a nuisance and an obstacle to their goals, since they do want to hand Earth and humanity over to the Jotun. Sentinel might vaguely know of an even more secret conspiracy, which would be ironic since they themselves were the even more secret conspiracy within the Syndicate, but like the Syndicate was barely aware of Sentinel, Sentinel would not understand the true nature of the cult.

The old Jotun were allies of ancient humanity indeed, so I agree they were probably enemies of the cult. They may have had their own version of it as well. Though this is one area I haven't really focused on as of late.
 
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Stone Hunting, Part 3

8:15 AM

“Theodora Doukas?” Olga said.

“Yes, that’s my name,” Theodora said, “I swear, whoever did this will answer to my father when I get home.”

Olga walked back to Diana and Munster.

“Did you hear that?” she said. “Says she’s Theodora Doukas.”

“The senator?” Diana said. “Impossible. She’s dead.”

Olga walked over to Theodora.

“When were you born?” she said.

“March 14, 1887,” Theodora said.

“And what day is today?” Olga said.

“September 28, 1909,” Theodora said.

Olga walked back to Diana and Munster.

“She’s from the past,” she said.

“Well, that explains the clothes,” Diana said, “I believe you.”

“She traveled in time,” Munster said, “The stone brought her to 2015. It is possible. We do have highly restricted time travel spells, though nothing that works like this.”

“You know I can hear you, right?” Theodora said.

They looked at Theodora, who had stood up.

“2015, huh?” she said. “This is what it looks like? Whatever happened to outside?”

“Look, Theodora,” Olga said, “This is a bad dream…”

“It’s not going to work,” Diana said.

“I’m not falling for that,” Theodora said, “I’m clearly not asleep.”

“Told you,” Diana said.

“DAMNIT!” Olga said.

“This place does not accurately represent the future,” Diana said, “It’s so much nicer outside…once you get past the desert. We’re in Arabia.”

She leaned over to Olga.

“Maybe we shouldn’t tell her too much,” she said, “You know, paradoxes and all that.”

“Why am I here?” Theodora said. “Why am I in the future?”

“Look, Theodora,” Olga said, “We’re just as confused as you.”

“Why did those men want to kill me?” Theodora said.

“We’re trying to figure that out,” Olga said, “And how to get you home.”

Theodora looked at Munster. “And who are you?”

“Inquisition,” Munster said.

“Inquisition?” Theodora said. “What happened to the priest robes?”

“They were uncomfortable and silly, and we wanted to separate our image from that of the Church,” Munster said/

The blast door up ahead exploded, and RSB agents charged into the hallway.

“Stop them!” they shouted.

“My name’s Olga,” Olga said, “That’s Diana over there and that’s Inquisitor Munster. Run!”

Munster threw up another barrier just as the RSB agents opened fire. While their bullets were halted by the shield, Diana drew her gun and fired back, forcing them to take cover. They ran down the hallway, Theodora struggling to keep up in her turn of the century attire. Olga slowed down to cover her from the back, occasionally laying down suppressing fire. They turned onto another hallway and entered a lab. Diana pushed a button, and the blast door slammed shut and locked behind them.

“That should hold for a little bit,” she said.

Olga paced around the lab. “We need to figure out what to do now.”

“Agreed,” Munster said, “Our first priority is to destroy the stone.”

“Whatever happened to getting her home?” Olga said.

“If it gets into the wrong hands, she won’t have a home to get back to,” Munster said, “Right now my priority is keeping it out of Paulos’ and Behr’s hands.”

“What are you even doing here?” Diana said. “Why’s the RSB so interested in you?”

“What, you can’t tell yourself, Di?” Olga said.

“No,” Diana said, “I have my limits.”

“HA!” Olga said. “FINALLY! SOME FUN!”

“I don’t know,” Theodora said, “I really don’t know what’s going on.”

“Was anything happening before you were brought here?” Olga said. “Were you thinking of something you were going to do, someone you were going to meet, some place you were going to go?”

“Tomorrow—at least what was supposed to be tomorrow—my father was going to be meeting with Crown Prince Franz Ferdinand, who’s visiting our city,” Theodora said, “I wanted to go with him and meet the Crown Prince. I’ve always been interested in politics, you know. Ever since I learned about my father’s senatorship. He’s been looking to retire for a while now, but my little brother doesn’t want to run for the seat. His only other choice is to let it go to his rival, one of the Palaiologoi, who will no doubt use it to increase their influence over the aging Kaiser for their own gain. They want to start a war with China, even. I can’t let that happen.”

“What do you plan to do?” Olga said. “Run for the seat?”

“The odds are against me,” Theodora said, “No woman has ever won a senatorship in this country. My father wouldn’t approve at all. And the Palaiologoi are rich and powerful. They’ve got all the right endorsements and enough money to steamroll anyone in their way. I hoped the Crown Prince would talk me out of running. I trust his judgment. He’d make a great Kaiser someday. Me…not so great a senator. But then all this goes and happens. I’m not sure if I’d even want to run now if I ever get home.”

She sighed again.

“If you’ll excuse me, I’d like a few minutes to myself,” she said, walking to the corner.

“Take your time,” Olga said.

She walked back over to Diana and Munster.

“Okay, so it seems the RSB took her out of the timeline before she ran for the Diet,” Olga said, “Particularly the day before she seems to have met the Crown Prince, who I think encouraged her to run. She would’ve won that race and become the first female Roman senator.”

“So if she isn’t sent back…” Munster said.

“She wouldn’t become the first female senator,” Diana said, “Setting back the rights of Roman women significantly. And giving the RSB and Sentinel easier control over the population once they are established.”

“Are we assuming Back to the Future rules or Dragon Ball Z rules?” Olga said.

“What?” Diana said.

“We’ve gone over this,” Olga said.

“Uh…from the looks of it…Back to the Future rules,” Diana said.

“Time travel rules are weird,” Munster said, “Sometimes the changes are applied like there’s only one timeline, and other times new timelines and universes are split off. It’s weird.”

“No wonder you guys classified the time travel spells,” Olga said.

“Yes, they’re unpredictable,” Munster said, “Unfortunately, the RSB and this Sentinel you speak of don’t seem to care. Is this what this place is for? Rewriting history to benefit them? What is this Sentinel even?”

“A conspiracy of men armed with alien technology plotting world domination,” Olga said, “I’ll explain later.”

“No need,” Munster said, “If it doesn’t involve supernatural entities in any way, it’s not in the Inquisition’s jurisdiction. Unless the aliens use magic or are about to win.”

“Which they don’t,” Olga said, “At least that we know of.”

“Well, isn’t that reassuring,” Diana said.

“But why do they have an entire facility for timeline manipulation?” Munster said. “As I said, meddling with history would cause unpredictable changes to the present.”

“How would you know that?” Olga said.

“Remember nuclear war breaking out in 1962?” Munster said.

“Nuclear war?” Diana said.

“Exactly,” Munster said, “We make exceptions when the future of humanity is at stake. Fortunately, we operated on Back to the Future rules at that moment, so we essentially rewound the timeline.”

“How did you know it was going to work?” Olga said.

“We found traces of even older timeline rewinding during the medieval period,” Munster said, “Starting point was around the early fifteenth century. Exit point was roughly the mid-eleventh century. Although the magical energy source was different than the one we used and required large amounts of it due to the length of that jump, we believed we could make a smaller jump with what we had.”

“So you rewound the timeline and made things go differently,” Olga said.

“Basically,” Munster said, “Now, don’t ask me about the ethical implications of all this. I’m not qualified to explain them in a way you’d understand. Suffice it to say, such powerful spells are classified for only the most extreme emergencies.”

“If we fail and Sentinel wins, or the aliens come back, will you do the same thing?” Olga said.

“As I said, we can’t intervene in non-supernatural affairs unless the circumstances are extremely dire,” Munster said, “And with the state the agency is in now, I’m pretty sure Behr would be the one causing such a dire event.”

“What was the earlier incident about, if you know what it was?” Olga said.

“We think it may have been angelic in origin,” Munster said.

“Okay, that’s enough,” Diana said, “We don’t have all day in this military base to talk about time travel physics and ethics.”

“What, you’re not interested in what angels might have been doing time traveling back to the formative years of Friedrich the Great?” Olga said. “You had plenty of questions for Wilhelm back in al-Dud.”

“Wilhelm?” Munster said. “You can’t mean the angel Wilhelm?”

“What she’s saying is, you can talk about this when I’m back home and you’re out of here,” Theodora said.

“Right,” Diana said, “Only we might not have time after this is over.”

“So I should keep asking my questions then,” Olga said.

“On the contrary, it’s taking valuable time away from getting Theodora home,” Diana said, “The more we talk, the more time the cultists have to find us.”

“I do have one more question though,” Munster said, “It stands to reason anything they change in the past would likely erase this facility from being built in the first place, if we’re assuming Back to the Future rules. So why go through the trouble of building it?”

“Wouldn’t the changes to history also erase the machine causing them?” Olga said.

“No, the stone and by extension the machine appear to be shielded from changes to the timeline due to the nature of the stone,” Munster said, “Why is there a facility here? The shielding doesn’t extend to the whole place. The stone isn’t that powerful.”

“Maybe they were idiots,” Diana said, “Maybe they didn’t take that into account.”

“Or they had another mission here,” Olga said.

Munster sat down at a computer terminal and plugged in his flash drive. He gained access to the computer and began searching through the files.

“Let’s see,” he said, “A lot of mission reports here. Okay, I found Theodora here. She seems to be filed with some other historical figures under ‘Project Rittenhouse’.”

“Rittenhouse?” Diana said. “Sounds like something from a time travel TV show that isn’t Doctor Who.”

“A Sentinel project, its goal is to develop methods of time travel with the aim to change historical events in a way favorable to the national interest,” Munster said.

“Any other missions?” Olga said.

“There is another,” Munster said, “The one this facility was originally built for. It was called Project Eden.”

“How original,” Diana said.

“Blame the RSB,” Munster said, “Now, apparently this facility was originally built to investigate an anomaly they found at the bottom of the Gulf.”

“An anomaly?” Olga said. “What are we talking about?”

“A manmade structure,” Munster said, “It’s buried so deep underwater they can’t reach it by conventional means.”

“The stone,” Diana said, “They use it to turn back time to when that structure was accessible.”

“But what could be so important there?” Munster said. “What do they want there?”

“Let’s not worry on that now,” Olga said, “What we need to sort out is Theodora’s situation and the stone.”

“We have to get her back to her time,” Diana said, “We have to preserve the flow of history.”

“But we have to destroy the stone,” Munster said.

“That was never in doubt,” Diana said, “We send her home, then destroy the stone.”

“The machine is on the other side of the facility,” Munster said, “That part’s full of cultists.”

“We’ll have to risk it,” Olga said, “It’s our only shot.”

“Let’s get ready then,” Diana said, reloading her gun.
 
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One of my favorite chapters in recent memory, Munster has some great banter here with Olga, Diana and Theodora. Him mentioning a nuclear war that technically didn't happen is such a good moment.
 
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