New Years 2403

It had been an entire year since the event that most channelers referred to fondly as the ‘channeler recall’ had occured, and things had been going relatively well for the members of the R.E.Load Network.  Despite the initial discomfort caused by the fusion, resulting from the mass devastation of the True World War, the world, now referred to as New Gaia, had been set back on the road to recovery.  For the first time in a while now, the political situation had simmered back down to more closely resemble the dynamic equilibrium that had previously defined times of piece in Oya.  This new dynamic equilibrium, which was held in a fragile state of balance by the corresponding political understandings between the Oyan and Terran controlled nations, was something that each territory, whether controlled by an Oyan clan or Terran government, sought to maintain.

This time of piece however, despite its beneficial effects for the civilian populace, had left a number of strictly military organisations in a state of unease.  This was especially the case for the four most powerful Terran factions, which had not indulged in serious military action since the fusion, deciding to focus more strongly on their political agendas as they tried to once again find their place within the world which was controlled by the governments of nations rather than military factions.

The Rogue Special Forces had been particularly quiet in this time, having ordered a mass recall of troops at this time of the fusion and never having redistributed there troops since.  This, when combined with the massive training camp put on by their higher ranking member of the field team, had helped to strengthen the faction’s military might dramatically, while the organisation’s founder, Kyasho Mirakama, worked with diligence to re-establish the organisation as an advocate of justice and a global movement towards enforcing international laws.  This in itself proved to be quite a task, as the near Demi-god tier channeler tried to convince a number of nations, most of whom either equalled or more than likely trumped the faction in terms of military might, that they should allow the Rogues to oversee matters of international law within the boundaries of their territory.  Despite the challenges however, he did seem to be making some headway.  Though the Rogues were considered to be little more than a novelty in the western hemisphere, a number of eastern territories had begun to seriously entertain the idea of using this neutral army as a means of mediation for solving their inter-clan disputes without massive shows of military force.  This, when combined with Kyasho’s prime objective, that being the security of the Thaymeign Machine, proved to give the Rogues their purpose in the new world.

The Mercenaries, unlike the Rogue Special Forces had found adjusting to the new global environment rather easy.  Unlike most of the other factions, their modus operandi had not changed in the least.  Their relationship with Crystales greatly resembled that which they had with the United States of America, being only slightly more involved as the army was now considered to be a sub-clan within the larger Crystales area.  Like the deity class entity referred to as the Wild Vine, Maika Smerkyov was given quite  a bit of leeway in terms of the day to day running of the geographical square in which the army was located, likening him to a number of Crystales nobles who too governed over small provinces within the greater dominion.  The only problems which were faced by the army in these times was the lack of information available to the general public about their expertise, the reputation which they had carried in Terra, which had secured them a number of the high paying contract upon which the faction itself was built.  All this would change with time however Maika believed, and the faction was well on its way to facilitating such a change.

The Council of Xelots, though considerably affected by the fusion, seemed to have recovered relatively quickly, so much so that they were already ready to sanction the pursuit of direct diplomatic relations with some of their New Gaian brothers.  This was a particularly eye opening event for a number of the other Terran countries and organisations, who had been, up until this point, investing more time in securing their borders than establishing relations with potential allies.  Despite their ambition however, this could not be mistaken for an easy task.  Oyan nations were by nature extremely cautious of foreigners, being quicker to conquer foreign nations and consolidate their power into building their own clan than to exercise actual trust and work with foreign entities towards a greater goal.  Despite this nature however, the talks seemed to have been going relatively well, serving not only to strengthen the faction but to reignite the flame which drove Xelots in their pursuit of righteousness in the past.

The Order of Demai however had taken quite the opposite approach in the past few months.  Unlike the Xelots, the leader of the Order had been doing quite a bit of scheming under the new global system.  Rayad Demar rather liked the Oyan mentality of simply conquering smaller, weaker nations and absorbing them into the clan, rather than actually securing partnerships.  This had been a strategy that he had been applying abstractly for years in Terra, preferring to gain a measure of bargaining power over a nation and utilising that to manipulate its leaders, rather than indulging in the give-and-take required of real partnerships.  In such times, Rayad was also forced to adopt a more amicable persona, so as to maintain his legal and political infallibility under the U.N., but the Perfect tier channeler no longer had to invest so much effort in ensuring such things in New Gaia, he could be infinitely more transparent with his conquests as he sought to truly expanded the territory controlled by the Demai.  This would be his first order of business at the start of the New Year.

It seemed that the New Year had brought resolutions on all fronts; and such was the theme of the years New Year’s Eve party: “Onward with Resolute Minds, Towards the New Beginnings”, read the banner as the first of the members of the network began to arrive.  Without Kikoto pushing them toward punctuality, Brian and L’Qatu would be beaten out of their claim to being the first at the party by this year’s winners, young Klyste Drixxon and Nicholas D. Wolfwood who seemed to have formed a mild and potentially short lived rivalry during the time which they had spend as members of the Rogue Training Camp.  Klyste, who arrived in his finest, was noticeably outshone by his fiancé Zanthia, whose close fitting white dress took all attention away from the young alchemist.  Even Nicholas, who’s unique style could not be missed, could not help by have his focus drawn by the attractive young lady, a fact that was met with disdain from Klyste who instantly moved in to ensure that his fellow speedster would stop ‘oogling’ his date.

The next to arrive would be the unlikely pair of Demetri Pendragon and Fyst Reuss, finally deciding to take some time off from their exploration of the area surrounding the Zeta Lake to attend the festivities.  These two would be met at the door by the Mcleod twins, who arrived only moments afterwards complaining about the airborne traffic and how hectic things in Dubai were at this time of year.  Their displeasure would be mirrored by Davius and Derrick as they too entered the building, though these two were far more annoyed by their recent run-ins with their fellow R.E.Loaders than with the traffic surrounding the area.  Only now would Brian and L’Qatu arrive, accompanied by the two Delgrangers, Zeer and Kerad, who had most recently become their travelling companions.  Having regained his memories, L’Qatu was infinitely more entertaining, and somewhat more entertained by the odd gathering, feeling like slightly less of an outcast and more at home around his channelling companions.  The next to arrive would be the notorious Mavrick, drawing glares from Davius and Derrick as they made their way towards the door to confront him, only to see another two members of the loose alliance of channelers, formally referred to as DX, stroll in behind him.  This unlikely pair of the young Titan Prince, Reign, and the anomalous entity referred to only as ROM model 113 proved to be enough to deter an actual scene eventing from the encounter, despite them both having their own issues with the delusional Mavrick.

As the unaffiliated channelers got settled, the staff at the prestigious Burj Al Arab prepared for the arrival of the factions.  Unlike the previous party, arrivals had been scheduled more tightly to avoid any possible conflicts at the door, and the ground staff was highly trained to deal with anything that might occur.  As expected, the Xelot Knights would be the first to arrive, valuing punctuality strongly within their code of honour.  As usual, the group would lead by the regal Deacon DeSaint, this time decked out in the Xelot’s new blue formal attire.  The fusion of the worlds had introduced many new forms of fashion with which the Council seemed to have been taken, heavily influencing this year’s attire.  Like the more recent Terran designs, Oyans had long since dissolved the line between clothing and armour, a fact that was clearly exhibited within their attire.  The group of knights sported long flowing pants with pronounced seems, embroidered with a string of white runic enchantments along the sides and overlaid with thin lines of golden energy which ran between the runes, facilitating a unique form of shielding.  The runic patterns were mirrored in metallic gold strips along their belts, leading towards the customised buckles which bore the Council’s coat of arms.  Their blazers followed a similar pattern, with the runic markings running along their shoulders and sleeves towards the custom Xelot cufflinks which now glowed with the energy.  As with their previous attire, all of the males sported prominent shoulder pads, this time made of platinum to match the white runes, and engraved with similar runic patterns as the rest of their attire.  In addition, they all now sported the masterful capes which previously only Deacon was allowed to wear giving them all an even more uniformed look.  This year, the Xelot ranks seemed smaller than that of the previous year, missing the young Stryfe Seig and the Demonic Entity Jinzo, both of whom had gone missing during the war of the fusion.  Added to the ranks however would be Crydus’ two young subordinates, two young elementals by the name of Gale and Aurianni.  Their attire would be infinitely more simple, consisting of long, flowing white dresses adored with gold runes that matched the Xelot men and gold high heeled shoes to create an outfit which beamed of simple elegance.

As the Xelots made their way in, the staff showed them to the area in which they would be seated, clearing the entranceway so that the Agents of the Order of Demai could be ushered onto the scene.  As usual, this faction was not one to disappoint, once again outsourcing an expert designer to create the master pieces which the agents wore.  This year, the male members of the team sported deep red suits which glistened as they entered the room, drawing attention to the deep black tribal designs that formed the three thin stripes which traversed the sides of the pants and their jackets.  These tribel designs, which appeared merely as stripes from afar seemed to explode at the ends of their sleeves and the bottom of their pants, into an elaborate dance of shapes which lined their garments.  The black was further complimented by the black inside shirts and set off by the seemingly retro, but extremely fashionable bow-ties which they sported, giving their suits the look of more classical tuxedoes but with an obviously modern twist.  The entire design was set off by the ever faint, pulsing glow of the demai insignia on the back of their jackets, the black handkerchiefs in their top pockets and a new form of custom eyewear which the team had been issued.  Once again, the female staff would sport black dresses, but this time their attire would be considerably shorter, reaching only about mid thigh at the highest part at the front, before slanting down and ending in a point, only some centimetres above the ground at the back.  This revealed the deep red stockings which they all wore, flowing elegantly into the black high hell shoes which deep red tips.  The top of the dress was designed as a strapless faction, accentuated by the elaborate black pearl necklaces that they had each been issued, with the most central pearly emanating the consistent red pulse.  As these channelers made their way into the facility, accompanied by the likes of Kyo Kousein and Thales Aiden, who had recently become affiliated with the faction in a more informal sense, the contrast between their personal style and that of their rivals the Xelots was clearly visible, marking a stunning contrast between the two factions that were conveniently seated on opposite sides of the room.

The Mercenary Army would be the next arrive, sometime after the Demai, leaving some time for the members of the two factions to mingle and interact with their unaffiliated associates.  This year, the prodigious designer Misha Teragi had tried her hand at creating this faction’s formal attire.  Her personal touch was instantly obvious as they entire, wearing more traditional suits rather than their usual military attire.  In keeping with military tradition however, Misha kept the design rather simple, restricting the male suit to simply two items of clothing.  Their dark jackets did not require an inside shirt, starting out with a low circular collar than went right around their necks and ending comfortably below their belts.  The jackets were trimmed with thick silver metallic strips that flowed from the collar to the shoulders before breaking, resuming to form a small block around the elbows and then resuming to cover the entire cuff for about six inches around the wrist.  This in itself made for a very simplistic design, but it was the camouflague pattern engraved in the metal that made the suit seem aptly fitting.  This design, left quite a bit of space at the front for the jacket to play with, with Misha managing to include the coloured patches above the breast that was so characteristic of military formal wear, being holo-projected from yet another metallic strip which resided on a make-shift chest plate that was made by the seams of the would-be ‘simple’ jacket.  The pants complimented the jacket perfectly, being of the same indiscernibly dark colour, which most could only assume to be an extremely dark teal, though it seemed almost black unless in the path of direct light.  These pants also utilised the broad metallic stripe with the camouflague pattern indentations running along the sides, breaking uniformly to form three distinct stripes one above the other, rather than a single solid stripe, before ending in a full silver ring around the pants bottoms.  Interestingly enough, Misha chose to design rather interesting metallic trimmed shoes for the outfit as well, which complimented the silver metallic gloves that most of the military men chose to wear with the outfit.  Misha also put a considerable effort into ensuring that for the first year, the military men would arrive with decent hair styles, a task which she most clearly succeeded in, much to the dismay of Cloud and in particular Gabriel.  The Mercenary women would wear formal dresses, cut from the same material as their male counterparts, trimmed however with a metallic netting that traversed the entire outfit to form a number of elaborate patterns.  These dresses would reach only to knee length and would be accompanied by a more feminine version of the male jackets, which the females would wear open at the front to give them a relatively militaristic look, while still maintaining their feminine appeal.  The renowned designer would arrive with the Mercenary army at the party, wearing another one of her more unique, one of a kind, designs.

The Rogue Special Forces would be the last to enter the facility, this year sporting a slightly more elaborate design than their previous attire.  Once again, the males forewent formal buttoned shirts for closefitting, long sleeved, v-neck shirts, which provided a more comfortable choice.  These black shirts, which were tucked neatly inside their pants, disappeared behind their black belts and prominent golden buckles engraved with the Rogue insignia.  Their pants flowed on from the belts, finishing in wider bottoms which fit neatly over their shoes.  These pants, which started black, slowly faded into a rich golden tinge which ended in pronounced golden armour around the bottom of their pants.  This was further accentuated by their gold and black shoes which sported as similar design, fading instead from gold at the top to black on the soles.  The male jackets more closely resembled armour however, with heavy shoulder pads which flowed into a distinct collar and a pronounced stripe that ran down the centre of their backs into the Rogue insignia which was embroidered into the jacket.  The sleeves of the jacket ended similarly to the legs of the pants, in a golden armour which ran down to the fist at the front and tapered into a point in the underside of the hand to prevent the suit from affecting the dexterity of the wearer.  Once again, the Rogues provided its members with eyewear fitting of their attire, which were widely accepted this time.  The Rogue females once again sported bustier tops, but this time they flowed straight into the close fitting bottoms without interruptions, to form a tight, body conforming pants, which split at the knee into a loser pants that draped elegantly over their black and gold high heeled shoes.  This was complimented by the golden patterns on the breasts of the bustier tops, and mirrored in their lighter more elegant half length jackets, also trimmed with similar golden patterns and sporting a similarly embroidered Rogue insignia on the back.  As the Rogue field team moved in, they proved to be the largest team in attendance, having twelve members even without Hyaku and Erika in attendance.  This was only further compounded by Amanda Real, who was escorted by Paco and Yasmin, while Roun escorted a recently recovered Zadavia as well as Ayane to the event.

As the Rogues made it to their seats, the doors would once again be opened to the unaffiliated channelers, showing the arrival of a number of non-registered channelers, who had been affiliated with the networks for some time.  It was only now that Kikoto and her young brother Carl arrived, met at the door by the always smooth Jason Schneider, more commonly known as Breaker, who seemed to be working his natural charm on the young boss level psychic.  This came much to Brian’s amusement as he watched the whole occurrence from across the room, before the frame of a rather large channeler blocked his view.  The young Psycher’s eyes widened as he realised who that large frame belonged to, noting the arrival of the members of SABER as well as their more recent accomplices, Tener Aldron and Maximilian Stein.  Brian was also particularly puzzled to see Hyaku accompanying the usually questionable squad, before his attention was once again drawn to the door.

At this point, the door would be flooded by the entourage of the two eastern European channelers Lilith and Evelyn, the young Morphers who now owned the facility that had previously hosted the Eye of God.  This would draw Kyo’s interests in particular due to his previous dealings with the two, but their entrance would, at the time, made them inaccessible to him as they were surrounded by their mafia counterparts.

As the night rolled on, other channelers would trickle in through the gates, the likes of Illiana Roeder and W.C. Fields, the channeler more affectionately known as the Red Bullet.  Even Alexander Drago and his wife would make an appearance before vanishing off into the VIP lounge where most of the Perfect Tier channelers and other VIPs would be located.

On the outside, the channeler’s of the network would get comfortable in their seats and await the number of performances and presentations to come.  At this point, the barrier that separated the main dining hall from the VIP lounge would slowly dissolve to merge the two rooms, revealing the usual big wigs and their associates.  As usual, the four faction leaders and their respective entourages would be present, so would Shin Itami, his wife and immediate family, this time including young Setto and his Malaikin counterpart Ran.  Also in attendance would be a diplomat from each of the Oyan clans, who would be there to sample the tastes of the Terran hosts of the event and report back to their respective superiors.  Unfortunately, they would not get the chance to complete this task.  It would only be a few minutes into the actual ceremony before all hell broke loose.

A powerful explosion within the facility would send the announcer scampering before another explosion blasted him clean off the stage, throwing the middle-aged man through the air and slamming him onto a nearby wall.  That would cause a most uniform powering up as every channeler in the area simultaneously uncapped their form, sending a powerful ethereal shockwave through the area.  Oddly enough it seemed as though it was this that triggered the rest of the explosives that now rippled through the building in a chain reaction, causing pandemonium within the hotel.  Luckily for those present, the structural reinforcement of the facility was enough to prevent it from toppling instantaneously, even under the tremendous force of the explosions, however, no one could be sure how much longer the facility would remain standing.  This caused a slight panic among the occupants of the building, especially among the less experience, lower level channelers; but the more experienced channeler’s present quickly went to work.

Even the Perfect Tiers present quickly realised that these were no regular explosives, having trouble themselves controlling the effects of the Ether Neutralisation wave that seemed to be spreading through the facility, forcing them to combine their efforts to stabilise the structure while they signalled for their young charges to make their way out of the facility.  This was not a request that needed to be made twice, and was met by swift action as all of the channelers equipped with teleportation, warping or phasing abilities quickly grabbed those closest to them and vanished from the facility, while the others made their way to any exit they could find and wasted no time making their way through it.  Channelers would pour out of the building as those still inside struggled to hold up the massive structure, doing so only until the last of those inside could evacuate, before they too vanished from within the building that was soon to be little more than rubble.

Everyone on the outside would be forced to watch as the building sank into the sands on which it was built.  Amidst the onlookers, four massive spikes would be felt before they each signalled to their charges that it was time to go.  Only the unaffiliated channelers would be left to ponder exactly what was going on as the faction field teams were swept off to be debriefed on this strange development.

What a start to the New Year...