Sub-Sector: [Data Redacted]
System: [Data Redacted]
Planet – Lapurnus
Population: Formerly 3 billion citizens, plus wild-life and local fauna
Current Status: Undergoing planetary wide bombardment – Base Delta Zero
"Varl, call off the evac, we're done."
"Defiance, Bravo One Six. Hold off your birds. We aren't gonna make it. We are low on ammo and hostiles are closing in. They have us completely surrounded and there's no end to them."
"Bravo One Six, Defiance. Your actions today will not be forgotten. Thanks to your team, countless Imperial citizens were rescued. Your deaths will not have been in vain. Good luck."
"For the Empire."
Sergeant John 'Kilroy' Varl of the doomed unit known as Bravo One Six, silently cursed under his breath about the current situation he found himself in. Shavit, this was never supposed to be a suicide op. He thought, furious at the fact that what was supposed to be a relatively simple capture mission had devolved into utter chaos when some idiot…no...Half-crazed lunatic of a scientist decided to release a horrendous plague upon the world. The fact that anyone or anything, regardless of species, turned into mindless beast all hungering for living flesh once infected, essentially made the sensitive nature of his units task into something that could be delicately put into the term FUBAR.
"All in the name of science, my Imperial ass."
Snarling at the sight of one of his comrade's position getting overrun, John was morbidly pleased that within mere seconds of this occurring, his fellow trooper's thermal detonator went off spectacularly; the explosion killing off several of the horde and cutting off a sizeable avenue of approach. Grimly aware that the six man squad was now down to half strength, barring their very helpful 'package', the weary sergeant slung his current weapon for a nearby E-11. Despite the fact that the GR-110(M) rifle that he carried was formidable on its own, it did not have anywhere as much in terms of ammo capacity in comparison to the standard issued E-11 blaster rifle. The irony that a storm commando, an elite soldier in the Imperial Army whose tactics and success placed heavy emphasis on stealth and covert ops, was now favoring the brute force method known as, "Taking you bastards with me!", was not lost to him.
"Hey Jedi, when this is all over, I'll see you in Valhalla…Or Hell, whichever you prefer."
I hate this, I hate this so much. Oh Brimir, our Blessed Founder, please grant me this one wish; please, grant me a successful summoning this day. Louise thought, praying to her spiritual founder for a chance of redemption.
Despite the fact that it was a beautiful day in the land of Tristain, the sixteen year old girl's current mood was just the opposite. Branded by her classmates as Louise 'The Zero' for her constant failure of casting spells, she had no reservations about her chances were. For if she were to fail today during the summoning ritual, then the amount of worth the pink haired girl had, could very well be regarded as next to nil. Like a commoner.
"Miss Vallière, it's your turn." Her professor, Mr. Colbert, kindly stated. Unlike most of the teaching staff at the academy that she never really got along with, Louise had always liked Mr. Colbert, for despite being a failure of a mage, he had always supported her.
Furtively glancing at the rest of her class, especially at her rival Kirche, she couldn't help but feel envy and rage over just how lucky the big breasted idiot was in summoning a salamander. Jealous over this, Louise silently wished for a familiar that was just as worthy, nay, even more powerful or majestic of a creature. Something that she could show her mother with pride, and not have to go through the constant abuse of being considered trash that merely playing as a noble-born.
Then again, anything will do. And I truly mean anything, be it a monster or a spiritual guide, just something to prove I am not worthless.
Using her runes to carve out a flawless pentagram in the dirt, she hoped that the rest of the ritual would go just as smoothly. Rising up, the young mage extended her wand and began to perform both the chant as well as wand motions perfectly. This was the fruit of her efforts, everything she was doing, she had drilled and mesmerized into herself constantly for several days as if all of her life had lead to this point. As she cast the spell and fully expecting yet another failure, Louise quietly prayed for success.
Instead, the ritual circle exploded, leaving nothing but a few blood stains as the smoke and dust cleared.
Oh Brimir, not only did I fail the ritual, I completely screwed up and killed whatever it was! Might as drag myself out and live with all those commoners then! Cause that's what I apparently am!
Giggling, as if her mind had finally cracked, Louise barely noticed the gentle and supporting hand of Professor Colbert upon her shoulder. Her own tears prevented her from seeing all the other students jeering and taunting her. Thoughts of redemption were replaced with despair.
"DAMN IT!"
Heedless of what others would think, the now depressed and angry teenage girl, decided to try once more. Not even bothering with the proper procedure, Louise pointed vehemently at the remains of her summoning circle; reputation be damned because she would not go down without a fight. Ignorant of the snickers coming from her classmates, the feeling she got from trying the summoning ritual her own way felt very, cathartic.
"I, Louise de la Valierre, noble-born daughter of our Founder Brimir, will call upon you from whatever forsaken place that you come from to serve me until death. Whether you are a dog of war or a wise and graceful being, I don't care, but you will heed my call and become my familiar. Heavens be damned; NOW SUMMON!"
The resulting explosion was quite satisfying, even if it knocked everyone down on their feet. What came afterwards though, was even more surprising. Louise herself could not fathom what she had done.
Louise the Zero didn't summon one familiar. She summoned two.
Hey all, glad to be back...In case any of you are wondering why exactly there has been little to no...ok zero progress onto Halo:Vereor Nex for the last two years; the truth is my co-writer sort of ditched me. So, while I have been able to create multiple drafts for future/later chapters, the overall feeling of having it work as an actual military unit and what not, would have been lost had I continued to post what I had. Still, if there are any actual military personnel (active or retired) willing to help out in the editing/writing process, I am perfectly fine with restarting the series up again with the new-found help.
Nonetheless, I have worked on other projects in the mean time, some of the stuff you can find in the Vast Empire verse under the pen name Kilroy, which I've worked with the last year or so; currently taking a break on it due to work and what-not, great group of people to work with in terms of group stories...You can find some good posts there where' I've been able to flesh out my own personal 'avatar/OC' for myself, whom I've started to use in any story. This OC is none other than the one known as John 'Kilroy' Varl. He is essentially based off of my own characteristics and thought patterns to a degree, barring the difference in backgrounds.
I've been tempted to do a ZnT cross-over for a while, thumbing through ideas similar to Vereor Nex, but on a smaller scale and with less military personnel to focus upon. Now considering the fact that I'm a huge fan of Star Wars, and have my own set of TK/stormtrooper armor as well as working on a set of TX/storm commando/shadow scout (WIP - 90%), I figured why the hell not? And so, we follow the adventures of one Imp, one Jedi, and our inept...err floundering pink haired witch...I mean mage. Comments and criticisms are much appreciated here.