Network Imperium Chronicles. Episode 1: A ballad for fallen Angels

13 posts · 2005-10-21 10:43:43 to 2005-10-31 21:43:27

#23700000004 10/21/2005 10:43:43 Network Imperium Chronicles. Episode 1: A ballad for fallen Angels

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It all began with that **bleep** sting operation. Commander Pyxel suggested that we disguise ourselves as machinists in order to gain info. Myself, Pyx, Tem, Databit and Grieve had joined the jokerz, arguably the top machine faction in the matrix short of the machines themselves. After a few weeks it was time to thank our hosts, little did we know that it would cause so much grief…

- Imperial Supreme Commander Rhyse’s debriefing in Zion

Segment 1:
The Jokez on you

“We ready to do this, guys?” Rhyse piped into his cell phone. Through the listening device in built into his RSI he heard the voice of his crew all agree. They formed up at the hardline in Central Kedemoth. The four of them looked at each other. “Where’s Grieve?” it was Pyxel, the head of the op. “He’s upstairs, he arranged for the faction meeting to be here.” Rhyse pointed up to the top of the tower, where in the moonlit night you could see the lasers and lights coming from the penthouse club Duality. “Kid always had an ironic sense of humor.” Remarked Temsik. “Let’s get this over with” interjected Databit, the most reluctant to join with the Jokerz, who were famous for attacking inexperienced operatives. They proceeded up into the Kedemoth tower, ignoring the looks the bluepills were giving them. They approached the reception desk in the front. She gave them a once over glance. “Let me guess, the club?” Rhyse gave a little chuckle, “Yeh.” She tapped a few buttons on her computer. “The elevator will allow you to go up to the 21st floor now.” She looked at Pyxel, “Maybe later I’ll come up to join you.” Before Pyxel could respond, Data and Temsik dragged him to the elevator.

Up at the club, ShadowGriever, the fifth member of the operation was waiting on the top floor of the club. Surrounded by members of the Jokerz, he was ready to get out of this mess. Everyone was talking, having a good time, trading weapon and clothing codes. He was sitting by himself at the counter, downing his drink. He knew that the drink wasn’t real, that it was a code telling his mind that he was getting intoxicated, it was mostly to give himself something to so. Without noticing, someone was sitting beside him. It was Ginity, one of the heads of the Jokerz. She had a suitcase in front of her on the counter. “What’s wrong, bro?” he sobered up a bit. “Nothing.” “you’ve been like this all night.” “I’m not much for bars.” She placed her hand on his. “wanna tell me?” Just in time to save him the rest of his crew reached the floor. He slipped his hand from hers. “Bad memories.” He approached Rhyse and his crewmates. “Let’s get this over with, please?”

After the festivities, they all formed a circle on the dance floor. Ginity was in the center. “Alrite guys, you all know why we are here.” “No we don’t!” cried one Joker. “Oh right, you don’t, well let me tell you. We are to…” “That will be enough, Ms Simmons.” The voice interrupting her could only come from one person, or one kind of person. It was an Agent, anyone’s guess which one. Apparantly he had taken over the body of one of the Bouncers. He broke through the circle, right past Pyxel and Temsik. Rhyse quickly grabbed onto Grieve, knowing full well what he would do. “not yet.” He whispered. The Agent quickly looked around at the redpills surrounding him. “For some time now, we have been monitoring your actions. And we are pleased with what we have seen.” Everyone in the group started celebratring themselves for a brief moment, stopping when the Agent began again.

“you are the best we have, you are also our greatest example of humanity. Your erratic and violent behavior towards your fellow humans has been the topic of many of our studies, but I digress. The reason why I have requested your presence here is to assign you a task. We have been noticing certain anomalous activities occurring in the Matrix, activities involving redpills. We want you to report any odd activity from other operatives, regardless of what faction they belong to. We have also been receiving reports of…” The Agent put his hand up to his earpiece, nodding as if agreeing with something. “I must go. I have given Ginity all the information you need. Good night.” Without another word, he began to convulse, like he was having a seizure. His body slowly changed back to the large bouncer, who was more than a little curious as to why and how he got in the circle.

Ginity re-entered the circle. “I will give the information to each captain. They will brief you on what machine central is asking. That is all, now go back to the party.” After that the DJ’s cranked up the music and everyone either stayed on the dance floor, the bar, or their own little corners with friends. The five crewmates gathered in a corner of the bar floor. Rhyse turned to Pyxel. “Now?” “Not yet, I’m waiting for something…” Databit downed his drink. “Whatever it is better happen soon, I want back into Zion and fast.” “**bleep**in’ right.” Stated Tem. Grieve remained quiet. Pyxels cell phone started to ring. “yeah? Good, thanks Mord. Leave the light on for us.” He hung up the phone. “Ok, in five minutes we are home free. “Home free from what?” It was Amon-rah, a Joker. He and his crew approached the five of them. He eyed Pyxel. “Y’know, I always thought it was funny that you joined us and coincidentally had a crew of best friends to sign up with you.” “What are you trying to say?” At that moment, the thing Pyxel had been waiting for.

At that moment, Shadowkiller, leader of the Zionist Digital Remnant entered the club followed by all the members of his faction. “Guys, this is a bust.” Without another word the entire building exploded in fighting. Pyxel’s crew calmly took their drinks up stairs, walking over fighting masses and dodging bullet fire. They made their way to the dance floor upstairs. They saw Ginity and Shadow going blow for blow in the middle of the dance floor, trance music blaring the whole time. Rhyse looked at Pyxel. “Now?” Pyxel took a swig from the bottle in his hand, threw it in the air and with the swiftest of movements, took out one of his guns and shot the bottle, creating an explosion in the air. Everyone stopped. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is where we introduce ourselves.”

Pyxel removed his guns and began shooting at Jokerz using trick shots. Bouncing bullets off the walls and catching his targets in the ricochet. Databit, Grieve, and Temsik, each expert in Karate, Kung Fu and Aikido respectively, began to take on the unarmed machinists. Rhyse, an expert in altering the code of the matrix, started hacking the area around him, restoring the stability of the Digital Remnant operatives and enhancing their physical abilities. By the time the five of them were done, not a lot of jokerz were alive to fight back. Shadowkiller emerged from the carnage. “Your rides here guys.” “’Bout **bleep**ing time.” Pyxel holstered his guns. They all started to calmly walk down the stairs towards the elevator. Temisk, placed something at the DJ booth. Grieve looked at it, “A viral bomb?” “Helps clean our tracks.” Tem set it for five minutes. They bolted down the several flights of stairs to the elevator. The doors were about to close when Grieve slipped passed them and back into the club. Rhyse tried to pull him back in but the doors closed in on him. “Where the **bleep** is he going? GRIEVE!!”
They reached it down stairs and headed to the hardline, all the time looking at the top of the tower. Temsik looked as his watch. “Ten seconds, he’s not gonna make it.” They all looked on as the code bomb went off, the entire roof was aglow with the green code of the Matrix, with it, every trace of the meeting, and any Joker dumb enough to not reconstruct or jackout was erased. In the glow a growing shadowy figure dedcended down. The body landed on the ground in a way that would liquefy regular people, but standard for redpills. It was Grieve, in his hand was a black briefcase with the Joker insignia on it. “I thought we could use this. Ginity was carrying it around.” He tossed it to Rhyse. Pyxel turned on his cell. “Mord, we need to upload some info of the Jokerz.” He was silent for a second. “He can’t upload it. We need to store it somewhere in here.” He handed the case to Shadowkiller. “I know just the place, take care you guys.” He and his men got into their muscle car and drove off into the slums. The phone booth near the crew began to ring. One by one they answered, jacking out of the false world of the Matrix and into the Real world. As their minds entered their bodies, their operator, Mordain, asked. “So, how was your vacation?”

“I’ll start coming up with a system to hold that info you found.” Mordain said as the debriefing ended. Rhyse and Pyxel signed off on it. “Ok guys, we all did a good job, in a few days all the crews are going to meet and we’ll be back and flying in no time.” As they separated, Pyxel pulled Grieve aside. “What was that back there?” “What?” “The Jump and the bomb and the briefcase.” “What about it?” “You’re acting like you don’t care if you live or die.” Despite Pyxel’s annoyance, Grieve remained calm. “Some things you lose fear of…” he broke away from Pyxel’s grip and walked down the hallway. “…Once you’ve already done them.” Pyxel watched him disappear into the shadows of the hallway, and then went down the other hall to his own quarters of the base for the Zion Network Imperium.

-End of Segment 1-

“Network Imperium: Zion Faction Characterized by renegade antics. Pranksters, Misfits,Radicals. They are the disobedient of the disobedient. They are led by Rhyse, who handles the operations in the Matrix, and the retired Mordain, who serves as operator for their main base of operations, known only as “The Imperium.” Matrix operations are seconded by Commander Pyxel and Lt. Commander Temsik. They currently have four ships:
The Arbiter: Led by Zelder, ship focuses on firepower
The Locaz: Led by Seavyan , Hybrid Ship
The Titan: Led by Aomis, Mass Ship, able to carry the others. Used as the mobile base for Rhyse and Mordain

Despite their lack of discipline and disregard for law, they are fiercely loyal to Zion and should not be taken lightly
-Zionist Faction Listing

Segment 2:La Familia

#23700000006 10/21/2005 10:44:47 Re: Network Imperium Chronicles. Episode 1: A ballad for fallen Angels

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“Network Imperium: Zion Faction Characterized by renegade antics. Pranksters, Misfits,Radicals. They are the disobedient of the disobedient. They are led by Rhyse, who handles the operations in the Matrix, and the retired Mordain, who serves as operator for their main base of operations, known only as “The Imperium.” Matrix operations are seconded by Commander Pyxel and Lt. Commander Temsik. They currently have three ships:
The Arbiter: Led by Zelder, ship focuses on firepower
The Locaz: Led by Seavyan , Hybrid Ship
The Titan: Led by Aomis, Mass Ship, able to carry the others. Used as the mobile base for Rhyse and Mordain

Despite their lack of discipline and disregard for law, they are fiercely loyal to Zion and should not be taken lightly
-Zionist Faction Listing

Segment 2:La Familia

Three days later the rest of the Imperium formed at HQ. The three captains, Zelder, Aomis, and Seavyan, had brought their crews together. It had been months since they had all met in The Real. After the welcomes and the talks they all sat down for a debriefing of the Sting operation. The debriefing was held by Sharred, head of intelligence and a member of the Locaz. She is also the only female operative in the Imperium. “Well, it appears that that pointless exercise in pissing off the jokerz actually paid off.” Pyxel was beaming with pride. Sharred obviously wasn’t impressed. “The Jokerz were charged by the Agents to suspect any anomalous activities in redpills?” It was Vidicus. Seavyan, the burly captain of the Locaz laughed. “Yeah, like running at mach 2 and jumping over skyscrapers isn’t odd enough!” The faction began to chuckle.” Sharred loudly cleared her throat, silencing the group. “We believe that the briefcase that Grieve recovered contains specific information as to what kind of activities the Agents mean. Unfortunately the briefcase is protected up the *CENSORED* and we are currently unable to remove it from the Matrix. Mord has been in contact with The Digital Remnant, who are safeguarding it. They believe the briefcase is a specialized “black box” program that can only open using the correct code.”

Aomis, captain of the Titan, raised his hand. “We have some of the best hackers in Zion, yourself included, cher.” She did a little curtsey. “And you’re saying that we can’t hack the **bleep** thing?” “Not yet. From what the DR have sent me it seems like the black bow is protected by a binary sequence key.” Half the room looked at her blankly and the rest were only faking they knew what she was talking about. “Think of it like this, and odd shaped lock that will open only for the key it was designed for.” Rhyse interjected, “so we need to find the key?” “Yes.” “Do we know where it is?” It was Zelder, captain of the Arbiter. “Not at this moment. I suggest, if we want to open this black box up. We need to do some reconnaissance.Kilobit, your area is the slums, search there. Grieve, use your exile contacts, see if they know anything.” Grieve smiled, “Why’sa yassa Ms. Sharred, I’ll doos what’cha say.” He suddenly dropped the black slave accent. “But what’s to say they’ll help us?” Aomis sat up, “He’s right; most of the exiles in the matrix are out for themselves. We could be set up.” Rhyse replied “Chance worth taking, go for it SG. Ok folks, your ships will be fueled up within the day. When you reach broadcast depth I want you to all to keep an eye out as well for anything “out of the ordinary”, even by our standards. Any questions?” Dead silence. “Ok, mates, to the pub!” They all cheered, except for Sharred. “THE PUB!!!”

“**bleep** the ships, let’s get **bleep**faced!” Sevyan, the captain of the Locaz, and one of the most impressive drunks in the history of Zion, he ran the Pub Construct for the Imperium. Him, Rhyse, Mordain, Aomis, Zelder and Pyxel both started pouring the drinks freely. While everyone was off sleeping or practicing these guys spent their time drinking. Pyxel was telling them about the events of the Sting. “So we clean up the place, I mean a complete cluster**bleep**. Tem set the code bomb, all of a sudden Grieve runs back into the club to get the briefcase. He could’ve killed himself in there. And all of a sudden does this swan dive down 21 floors onto the pavement. I asked him what he was thinking and he acts spooky and **bleep**.” “Try livin with him for a few months.” Zelder stated. “He has nightmares, some so bad that you can hear the screams while jacked in. He’s really…” The doors busted open, a man covered in hair skidded through the bar floor. Suddenly Grieve came in, the Lupine warrior got up. In a move that would’ve made Bruce Lee proud, Grieve did a running cross kick, sending the Lupine sailing into the men’s bathroom. The rest of the patrons went back to their chairs and began drinking while the sounds of fighting could be heard in the bathroom. Mordain broke the silence, “Grieve’s been through a lot, remember, he didn’t escape the Matrix using the red pill like the rest of us, He…” The sound of the door opening interrupted him. It was Sharred, she walked calmly to the counter. “So, who’s gonna buy me a drink.” The entire bar stood up. Seav put one down on the table. “No one pays.” She took a sip of her beer. “Everyone pays.”

The bathroom door opened up. Grieve, slightly disheveled, came stormed out and turned towards the door. “And I don’t ever, EVER, wanna have this conversation again!” He walked towards the counter. Seav handed him a glass as well, except He downed it as opposed to Sharred’s sipping. The crew looked at him funny. “What!? Oh, seav, my friend in the bathroom will be paying the tab. When he’s done paying can we get sharred a asian restauraunt program to get rid of him.” Sharred sneered a bit, Mordain laughed. “A pub for seav, a restaurant for Shar, what’s next? A **bleep** porn shop for pyx?” Pyx was about to say something when the bar phone rang. Seav picked it up, his face dropped. He slammed the phone on the receiver. “That was Ivan, Shadowkiller called…”

In the Real, the entire Imperium looked at the image of Shadowkiller on monitor. “There was a break in last night. We didn’t see who, but they snuck past our noses and took the black box.” One of the crew members muttered a curse. “Some of my guys got hit bad. We’re sorry.” “So are we.” Rhyse’s voice was flat, then he let out a long sigh. “Alright, we’ll take it it from here. See you back in Zion.” The monitor shut off. Rhyse turned towards the crew. It was Aomis to speak first, “what now?” “we get that case back.” It was Pyxel. “Everyone, jack in, search the city for anything. Grieve, you have contacts with the Exiles?” “yeah.” “Use em. We are not gonna let someone steal what we rightly stole!”

-End of Segment 2-

“I’m one of the only Redpills that Exiles will talk freely to, not just give them stuff to do for them. I think they can relate to me in a way. I was part of the Matrix and escaped by my own means and they were apart of the machine world and escaped to the Matrix. Just because I am allowed to talk to them, does not mean I like doing it…”
-ShadowGriever: Comments

Segment 3:
Word on the Street

#23700000007 10/21/2005 10:45:57 Re: Network Imperium Chronicles. Episode 1: A ballad for fallen Angels

#23700000008 10/21/2005 10:47:45 Re: Network Imperium Chronicles. Episode 1: A ballad for fallen Angels

#23700000009 10/21/2005 10:48:57 Re: Network Imperium Chronicles. Episode 1: A ballad for fallen Angels

#23700000016 10/21/2005 20:09:09 Re: Network Imperium Chronicles. Episode 1: A ballad for fallen Angels

That is some really good writing. keep em coming.

#23700000023 10/23/2005 09:00:14 Re: Network Imperium Chronicles. Episode 1: A ballad for fallen Angels

Nice.........

#23700000024 10/23/2005 21:51:26 Re: Network Imperium Chronicles. Episode 1: A ballad for fallen Angels

“Pyxel: Commander of the Zionist Network Imperium. An orphan in the Matrix he was not given a name. It was only until he became a pre-adolescent hacker did he refer to himself as Pyxel. Oft times laid back, more oft times outrageous. His trademark is his trick shot style gunslinging, using flash and speed to his advantage. He is also proficient in several martial arts, as well he should be, for he was trained by the Exile known as “Seraph”

Segment 6

Angels

It was three days after the meeting; the ships had separated and began patrolling the tunnels near the Imperium, where Mordain, assisted by data experts Sharred, Kilobit and Vidicus were working day and night to decode the data from the disk. Griever rested in his cabin on the Arbiter, still feeling the effects of the attack from the Cardinal. He kept asking himself why the Cardinal was interested in him so much. Was it because of the way he escaped the matrix? Was he change more than he realized when he trans-substantiated? Why did he go through the trouble of handing him the case just to try to kill him when he opened it? What’s inside that disk? He then thought of Pyxel, through sheer willpower he broke free of the Cardinals grip and gave him the time to fight back. Where had he gone?

The Locaz was flying through the caverns of the real. Hovercrafts weren’t used like before the war. They were used to protect their territories located in broadcasting spots instead of sneaking through the core of the earth looking for broadcast points. Seavyan was in the captain’s chair, drinking some of Etheno’s special brand of moonshine. He sat there drinking his the time away while Ziguarath pilote the ship. “Three days without a **bleep**ing word.” He slurred, “Pyx! Where are ya Pyx!? Come back home boy!” He began whistling like he was looking for a lost dog. The cockpit door swung open, it was Simia, the ships operator. “Seav, we got a call.” “Pfffft. Tell Sharred I’m done playing games, she can kiss…” “It’s from inside the Matrix,sir.” Seav looked at Zig, “Hey, maybe Persephone finally took me up on that offer. Tell her I’ll be right there. He sloppily swung out of his chair and down to the loading dock where he picked up the phone at the operators chair. “Here babe, finally glad you dropped the Frog and decided to get with a real man.” “Listen to me now…” Seav immediately sobered up when he realized it was a an asian man with a whisper of a voice on the other end, he knew immediately who it was… “Meet me at the teahouse on Wo Ping street in international. You, and only you.” Seav was at a loss for words. “Yeah Seraph, sure thing.”

It was nearly day four of no sleep for Mordain and company. Sharred wasn’t mistaken when she said it was protected up the *CENSORED*. Unlocking the case was the first step, decoding the disk was another. Finally, Kilobit had had enough. “That’s it!! I’m done with this **bleep**!.” He began typing quickly on the computer, as if he was typing gibberish out of frustration. He sank back in his chair out of exhaustion, only to wake up when he realized that whatever he typed had actually done the job. The disk was decoding. The four of them looked over what they saw on the screen. Sharred spoke first “It’s some kind of database on abnormal brain patterns.” Vidicus sat up. “They don’t look human, they look machine. AI thought waves.” “But why would they be looking for AI brain patterns in redpills?” Mord moved his colleagues aside and began typing. “what are you doing Mord?” Sharred asked. “Cross referencing these patterns with the Zion Mainframe.” “But the mainframe is heavily protected.” Mordain chuckled at Kilo’s statement as he easily gained access into the Mainframe, which in it contained a file on every redpill ever extracted. Mord was now typing in a sequence of keys. “ok, now I cross-reference the database with the list on the disk, and we’ll see if we got any matches, maybe that’ll help us with some of our answers. The matching system began sorting through profiles of redpills one by one and mind numbing speed. Out of the hundreds of thousands, only a handful of names appeared as matches. “Ok, these people show anomalous brain patterns that match AI signatures…” Mordain slowed down the last word. “what?” sharred looked at the answer almost as fast as she said it. Both Kilo and Vid looked at the screen in disbelief. “I need to call Zelder and tell him to get back here now.”

Seavyan entered the small teahouse in the matrix. Where he was greeted by an asian man in a white oriental shirt and whereing small, circular sunglasses. “Seavyan, an honor.” His voice was calm. He waved his hand toward the tea tray. “No thanks, never touch the stuff.” Seraph calmly continued to drink his tea. “Uh, Seraph, I’m in a bit of a rush, why’d you call?” “She wants a word with your faction.” Seav’s face dropped. The Oracle, wanting to see the them? “But what about Pyxel?” “He is fine. What is your answer?” Seav began to chuckle. “It’s not everyday the god **bleep** Oracle wants to have a word with you. Yes.” Seraph smirked as he stood up. “Good. But first, I must apologize.” Seav already knew what was coming when he asked “What for?” “This.” Seraph came after him with a flurry of kicks that connected with his broad chest. He rolled out of the way and charged after Seraph, throwing swing after swing. But the exile was proving to be too swift for seav and kept dodging them. Seavyan’s break came when Seraph tried a low kick to his ribs. He grabbed the Exile’s leg and began swinging around the room, slamming him into pillars. Seraph slipped one quick kick to Seav’s arm, breaking free. Seav would’ve continued the fight but Seraph raised his hand. “Stop.” Espite being flung into the wall, his voice was stone calm. “Good. You do not truly know someone until you fight them.” Seav lowered his fighting posture. “Could’ve discussed it over a few rounds.” “I need you to deliver a message to your faction mates.”

The arbiter was docked in the Imperium base. Zelder and Griever were in the briefing room. Only they were allowed in. Rhyse and Temsik were also there, although they were not aware what the briefing was about. Mordain, Sharred, Kilobit an vidicus were standing infront of them. Mord was the first to speak. “the reason we are all here is because we have decoded the disk that we retrieved.” He pressed a key on his console, displaying a list of wavelengths on the screen behind him. “These are the thought patterns of AI programs. We believe that the Machines wanted the Jokerz to use this list to discover redpills who exhibited these wavelengths. We used the Zion mainframe to cross-reference these waves with the profiles of all repills to come through Zion.” “That’s all of em.” Temsik interjected. “We found very few matches, but found this one.” He pressed a button, and a specific wavelength appeared on screen. It’s was codenamed “Nephillim”. “And here is his match.” Another press of a key and a list of names ran down, stopping on one. Griever’s. His profile proved that his brainwaves matched that of the AI. Everyone looked at him closely, but all he could do was look down on the ground. “well, that explains it.” Stated vidicus Zelder stood up, “explains what? That Griever is an AI in disguise? What the hell is going on.” “It means that my escape from the Matrix wasn’t an accident, it was intentional.” Griever’s voice was cold as he laid out the har fact. “I don’t know how, but it’s there, and for some reason that attracts the Cardinal to me.” Rhyse finally stepped in. “This changes nothing about Griever, what we need to do now is figure what to do next.” After saying that the automated system turned on –The Locaz is on approach- Everyone ran to the hanger bay as Seavyan emerged from the ship, looking a little hung over. “Hey guys.” He seemed like he had a lot. “I just got a…call…from seraph.” “Yeh,” said sharred, “After how many shots?” “No, I met the man himself. He gave me a message, The Oracle wants to see us, now.” He looked at Griever. “Especially you.”

An hour later, Rhyse, Sharred, Seavyan and Griever were back in the Matrix. They met Seraph at Debir courts in Mara. “Greetings.” He said. Then he turned his head towards Griever. “Come, she is waiting.” He turned around and pulled out a set of keys. He set the key into the lock of one of the apartment doors, opening it to reveal the now infamous White hallway. They all entered and followed their exile guide down the hall, past countless of doors. He finally stopped at one. Without saying a word he unlocked that door, opening it up inside the hallway of an apartment building, seemingly they had moved all the way to the other sie of the city. He led them down the dark and dirty hallway and knocked on one of the last doors down. A small hindu girl opened it. “Seraph, you’re back.” “Hello Sati.” She hugged him at the waist and then looked at his guest. She did a small curtsy. “Welcome.” They all stepped into the apartment. Only to be greeted by a familiar face lying on the couch. The first thing Pyxel said was. “What kept ya?”

-End of Segment 6-

see those birds? At some point a program was written to govern them. A program was written to watch over the trees, and the wind, the sunrise, and sunset. There are programs running all over the place. The ones doing their job, doing what they were meant to do, are invisible. You'd never even know they were here. But the other ones, well, we hear about them all the time.

-The Oracle

Segment 7

Sight

#23700000025 10/23/2005 21:52:23 Re: Network Imperium Chronicles. Episode 1: A ballad for fallen Angels

-The Oracle

Segment 7

Sight

“So what kept ya?” Before anyone could answer Pyxel, Sharred went up to him and punched him. “Four days and not a word!?” The rest of the crew held her back from giving him the rest of her mind. She slowly calmed down when she heard the soft giggling of Sati. “Still fighting I see, Leka.” They all turned around and saw the woman they had come to see. She was an elderly African American woman with a green sun dress on. She was standing there, smoking a cigarette. Sharred walked up to her a and gave her a hug. “It’s been a long time, Lady.” “You’ve grown up,dear. I barely recognized you.” “Barely recognized you too.” “Well you know how it goes.” The Oracle looked at the rest of the crew. “Gentlemen, thank you for coming.” She looked at Griever. “we have many things to talk about. But first.” She averted her eyes to Rhyse. “Rhyse, step into my parlor. The rest can make themselves at home. One of my kids will bring out some tea.” Rhyse walked into the Next room with the Old Lady. The Rest sat down as a dark lady in a green gown walked in with a tea tray. “Your favorite, Leka.” She handed Sharred a cup and then gave them to the rest. Before they could ask, Sharred answered their question. “Leka was my name while I was here. I’m one of the orphans that the Oracle raised.” The lady came up to Seav with his cup. He put his hand up “Never touch the stuff. So you’re like that spoon kid in Zion?” Sharred laughed, “Yeh, like that spoon kid.”

“So good to see you again Rhyse.” The old lady was checking on her oven, the scent of cookies coming from the oven. “Those for me?” “Maybe.” She turned around. “But there’s still time, please sit.” Rhyse sat down in the chair opposite of the Oracles. “How’s Mordain?” “He’s good.” “Still retired?” She lit a Double Destiny Cigarette. “Still.” He watched as she took a drag, “Mordain, he had such potential, it’s a shame what happened.” She took another drag. “But that’s not why you’re here. Do you know why?” “It has something to do with Griever, doesn’t it?” She looked towards her window with her deep eyes. “He was given something that should not have been given, yet here it is, fulfilling it’s purpose.” “Which is what?” “To understand the nature of something similar to itself.” “You’re not going to tell me exactly what, are you.” She smiled and took in another drag. “You are a good man, Rhyse, but it seems you keep stumbling into one amazing situation into another, for that I’m sorry. But you are the only hope that both Griever and both our worlds will have in the coming storm.” “What storm?” “You saw him.” “The Cardinal, Grieve said he was considered to be a Smith-like threat.” “He’s much worse than Smith.” “How?” She stood up. “You remind me of someone I once knew, a leader,like you. Except your life isn’t driven solely by the cause, you have other things that drive you, and maybe that’s what will keep you alive. Because you believe in more, you have more to fight for. He had lost his belief and began fighting blindly.” “You didn’t answer my question!” He raised his voice at her, but she didn’t blink. The Oracle came close to him, whispering something in his ear. His face was awash with horror. “Now you understand why?” He slowly nodded. “We don’t have much time, Rhyse, and we need all we can get. All I can tell you is, you are in for a bumpy ride.” She took one long drag on her cigarette, burning it down to the filter. “But for now, sit back and relax, because I want you to be prepared for this.”

Grieve was sipping his tea, watching Leka and the Oracle’s attendant reminisce over the past. He suddenly noticed young Sati standing next to him. “Are you from the Matrix?” He responded quickly. “Yes…No…” He looked puzzled. “I’m not sure.” “You look like one of us.” “One of what?” She gestured to Seraph and herself. “Us.” He looked at Seraph. “Is this true? Do I appear as one of you?” All Seraph could do was bow his head. He said only one word in a whisper. “Sifu.” Pyxel looked at Grieve. Whatever was in Grieve’s head was someone Seraph respected very deeply. Grieve looked at Sati. “Do I look Like anyone you know?” She smiled. “One…” She ran off to another room after saying that. Like she just kissed someone and nervously ran away. His mind was now swimming at the meaning of what was going on. All he could do was keep drinking his tea. Quickly after, Rhyse emerged from the room, as if he’d seen a ghost.” He looked at Grieve like a stranger. “She wants to see you.” His voice was disconnected. When Grieve passed him Rhyse looked him in the eyes as if he were trying to see into his very soul through them. “You didn’t know this whole time what was going on?” Grieve very quickly went past him and into the kitchen.

When he walked into the parlor, the Oracles back was towards him. “You wanted to see me, ma’am?” She raised her hand. “Just a second.” She got up, picking up a tray of cookies from the oven. She gave him a look as she placed them on the window sill to cool. “I thought you’d be older.” She smiled. “You’re not what I expected either.” He replied. “I know, everyone thinks that the first time. They expect this Mystical Magical being where as I’m just here doing what I need to do.” “And that is?” she smiled again. “Have a seat, Grieve.” He sat down, across from her. She took a cigarette from her pack of Double Destiny and lit it. “So, what do you want to talk about?” He was confused. “I thought you wanted to tell me something.” She raised her head towards a plaque over the door. “Do you know what that means?” He looked at it. “Know Thyself.” You have all the answers, question is: are you ready for them?” She took a drag of cigarette. He stare at the plaque again. “The Nephillim is tied in with The One, isn’t it? The equations in Stamos, I knew what they were like I had seen them everyday of my life.” She exhaled, a trail of smoke billowed out of her mouth. “Before Neo, there were 5 other Ones, based on an system anomaly. The Architect created several programs to analyze the anomaly. To understand it, and possibly solve it. The Nephillim is one of them. The Cardinal is the other.” “Why is he so interested in me?” She again took a drag. “Both Programs were created from fragments of the equation. However, as we all know. That equation prouced more than just the One.” “Smith.” “The Cardinal was made from a part of the equation that resulted in Smith. Just as The Nephillim is from the equation that Created Neo.”

He closed his eyes in anger. “It’s happening again, all over again. That **bleep** war. Morpheus said that you told Neo that he and Smith, their war, was the end of it. But now the two of us are going to continue it. When’s it going to end!” Despite his shouting, she just smiled, took in another deep breath of her cigarette, but this time she blew it in his face. His eyes burned from it, but beneath the tears he saw something happening. Everything turned into the Code. He saw the Oracle as well, or, what looked like the Oracle. He knew that this wasn’t her own doing, but the Program in his head. He heard throw the swirling of the code her voice. “Sometimes the End is just the Beginning.” The world slowly shifted back to the way he originally saw it. His mind felt like it had expanded, like he had seen more than any human should see. “I remember…everything. I…The Nephillim…he left the machine world once Neo was killed, he knew once Neo was gone he would have to return to the source. But he was curious, he wanted to see the world that the One was so eager to save. The Cardinal followed him, also curious. But soon they argued, the Nephillim admired the human’s struggle where the Cardinal saw it as a cancer. He was still focused on finding balance. They fought, and the Cardinal destroyed The Nephillims shell. Bodiless, he found his way to Mara, where Jason…I was being chased by the Agents, right before I fell.” Griever looked up at her. “He’s the reason I jacked out…” She lit another cigarette. “The Nephillim recognized something in you,saw that you needed help, and gave it to you. I’m sorry kid, that you got dragged into this. It seems like I got nothing but bad news for the ones I like.” “Maybe because you know we’ll get out of it.” She looked at him, as if she didn’t expect him to say that. He got up. “It’s been an honor, ma’am.” He raised his hand. “No, it’s been mine.” She extended it and the two of them looked at each other. “I hope I can come back.” “So do I.”

Griever came out of the door and looked at everyone as if it were the first time he saw it. He looked at Seraph. “You remember don’t you?” his voice was a natural whisper. “Yes, and you were right to leave the merovingian” Grieve walked to his faction mates. Rhyse was the first to respond. “So, you remember?” “Yes, be I don’t think we have much time.” “Time for what?” asked Sharred. “The Cardinal wants me dead, actually, he wants every one dead. He’s been waiting for me...the Nephillim to come back to do it.” Pyxel got up. “So what should we do.” Rhyse stood up next to him. “Fight back.” Sharred and Seav got up, and they proceeded out. Pyxel bowed his head to Seraph as they walked out of the apartment. The Oracle walked out of the kitchen. Sati came up to her and hugged her leg. “I don’t want him to go like Neo.” All the Oracle could do was look at Seraph. “I don’t know sweetie, it’s not my choice”

-End of Segment 7-

“After we met the Oracle, it all changed. For the faction, for Grieve…for me too. We were now set on a course that could threaten the lives of every Human, Machine and Exile in existence. Damnit Tyndall why can’t you see that!?”

-High Senator Mordain’s Debriefing in Zion

-Segment 8-

Run for your life

#23700000037 10/24/2005 15:09:48 Re: Network Imperium Chronicles. Episode 1: A ballad for fallen Angels

#23700000047 10/26/2005 16:09:06 Re: Network Imperium Chronicles. Episode 1: A ballad for fallen Angels

##Welcome to Network Imperium Archives...
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## Begin Transmission...

“Zion, last free city the humans have. It is governed by a Counsel and enforced by Zion Command. It’s interesting how the two don’t usually have the same opinions about things. Typically human.”

-Agent Grey’s synopsis of Zion

Segment 9:
Sleeping Awake…

It had taken the Imperium two days to get near Zion . During that time, the Locaz joined up for yet another debriefing, where Ivan and Pyxel explained the events on The Arbiter. Griever had not left his room and refused any company since seeing Rhyse two days previous. “So he’s the One…” murmured Etheno. “Does it matter at this point?” replied Sharred, who had spent the past few days with Zeldar, who remained comatose. Rhyse was leaning over the podium, washed out from the past weeks events. “It doesn’t…all that matters now is getting back to Zion, help Zell, fix the Arbiter an get back at the sonofabitch responsible for what’s happened.” Kilobit raised his hand. “Who becomes the captain of the Arbiter?” “There’s always one who has to ask.” Muttered one of the faction members. Rhyse straightened himself. “Commander Pyxel will be in command of the Arbiter until a suitable captain is found.” Kilobit was a little hesitant. “But…” “End of discussion!” Rhyse was obviously exasperated. He let out a sigh. “We’re all tired, I think we should just go back to our ships until we reach Zion. Dismissed.” Everyone scattered to their ships, leaving Rhyse, Temsik, Mordain and Pyxel in the Briefing room. Temsik was the first to talk when the last were gone. “Purple eyes, my god.” “should’ve seen him when he got out of the ship.” Pyxel kicked up his legs on one of the chairs. “His body was hot, and he looked like he was crying blood, I thought jesus came back.” “That’s exactly what Zion is going to think.” “What do you mean Mord?” Asked Tem. “Oh please. A report saying that a person resembling “The One”…” Mord made the quotation marks in the air. “…Is going to spread to the people.” Temsik’s face was incredulous. “That transmission was high priority, only The commander and his lieutenants would see that.” “He’s right though.” Said Rhyse. “Something like this is not going to be contained. Someone is going to spill. We need to get ready for an uprising.” He let out a sigh. “I just don’t know what Grieve’s reaction to this will be.” Pyxel was tapping his boot up on the chair. “Well we all know what he thinks of the Neo-ites. God knows what they think of him when they find out.” He let out a laugh. “I’d pay good money to see that meeting.” “And you’re going to.” Said Rhyse. “The crew of the Arbiter is to monitor Grieve while in Zion.” “No complaints here.” The radio began crackling, it was Simia. “We are approaching Zion territory.”

“This is the Network Imperium hovercraft Leviathan, carrying the Arbiter and Locaz. We request docking and emergency medical assistanc for one of our members.” It took Rhyse a few seconds until a female voice came on. “Network Imperium, You are cleared for Docking at Hanger 13. Commander Lock has Medical and Security on the way. “Security?” asked Simia. “Not surprised, we aren’t exactly Deadbolt’s favorite faction.” “Copy Control, hangar 13.” “Welcome home, Network Imperium.” Rhyse moaned as the Aomis Piloted the ship through the tunnels and to the hangar doors. Which swung open to reveal the massive interior of the Human City. The ship landing at docking bay 13. Where attendants began connecting cables and tubes to the exterior in order to refuel and recharge the ship. The inside the Leviathan the Arbiter and Locaz would be charge from cables in the Leviathan. The first to be taken out of the ship was Zeldar, the paramedics team carted him off with Sharred quickly in toe. The Rest of the faction walked down the ramp to be greeted by twenty members of the “Mifune Squad” a crack team of free born Zionists who were the best that Zion Command had to offer. The reputation of the NI proceeded them. “Commander Rhyse!” Shouted the Squad leader. “Commander Lock has ordered…” A forceful grunt from Seavyan interrupted him. The two Bulls looked ready to pummel each other until the Squad leader began again. “…Requests, that you and your faction are to be debriefed at 2200 hours tonight.” “Or what?” Seav was intentionally giving them a hard time. “Or you will be thrown in the brig and will be summarily judged of all your crimes against Zion. Which from what I hear will…result in….” his voice trailed off as Griever walked down the ramp. He kept his eyes closed but moved down the ramp calmly and coolly. Several of the Security squad began to get nervous, including the squad leader.”Jesus, it’s Him!” exclaimed one of them. It seemed that the rumours had spread fast in three days. “You were saying something?” With his eyes still closed, Griever looked up at the leader, who was visibly sweating. “You will be tried summarily of your charges and sentenced to…” “Death.” He began chuckling. “Look me in the eyes lieutenant.” He slowly raised his lids, revealing the purple pools that were his eyes. “And ask yourself if death is something I’m worried about.” The Squad leader backed up a few feet. “2200 hours.” They all hurried away. “It’s gonna be a long stay.” Griever closed his eyes once again and walked out of the docking bay with the faction following.

The elevator finally stopped at their level and they slowly went their different ways. Pyxel and the Arbiter Crew walked towards their group quarters and quickly stopped at the connecting bridge. The entire deck was filled with people, some carrying baskets of fruit, wheat and trinkets. All of them were looking at Grieve. “Oh **bleep**.” He muttered to Pyxel as a familiar face walked towards them. “Hello brother.” The Kid said. since Neo’s death and the attack on Zion, the Kid was declared a hero and a prophet of Neo as he claimed it was it ws Neo’s power that helped him transcend the matrix. The only other human to do this was Griever. “I knew when I heard you escaped the Matrix like I did you were meant for great things. Who better to preach his word then the One…” “Stop right there.” Griever got up to him real close. “I didn’t ask for these powers, I didn’t ask to be freed, I didn’t ask for this.” He motioned to his eyes. He then looked over to the Crowd. “I will tell you this. Do not revere Neo, pity him. He did not save the world because you prayed to him, gave him offerings. He saved the world because he had the gift necessary to do it. In that regard, I am like him.” He looked at the Kid. “But I am NOT the One. Neo saw to it that there would not be a need for another.” He began to walk towards the crowd, intent on walking through them. “Move…” the crowd was hesitant to respond. “Don’t make me…” despite his pupil less eyes, his face showed infinite sorrow. The crowd slowly parted. The Arbiter crew walked past with Pyxel coming up the rear. He looked at The Kid as he walked past. “Nerd.” He laughed as he walked to his quarters.

The medical quarters in Zion had grown since the Machine’s attack and the mass awakenings. With more people came more problems, that’s what the chief medical officer had said while talking to Mordain as he walked to the Intensive care wing where Zeldar was being held. Sharred had not left his side. “how is he?” She looked up from her chair, it was evident she hadn’t slept much or at all since he was injured. “His body took on a lot of plasma from the pads. He’s in a coma, the doctor say that there is a slim chance he will ever wake up. She sounded like she was about to collapse. “Did you know that Zeldar’s parents were redpills?” He was trying to keep her awake, it worked. He took a seat next to hers. “They were freed after he was born. They posted a Program to be his guardian. Growing up he resented his parents, and Zion. Then one day the Merovingian’s men came knocking. They died protecting him, nearly forced the red pill down his throat.” She perked up. “Explains his dislike for Merv.” “yeh, and he also blamed Zion for freeing his parents and abandoning him.” “Sounds familiar.” He had to laugh, it was true. Most, hell, every member of the faction had a beef with their own people. But they (Mordain Believed) still stayed in the hopes to change the system. The initial purpose pf the Imperium was to train and protect new redpills in the matrix. They were suppose to be the great guardians of Zion, but it seemed like the ones who truly wanted to protect Zion were the ones causing most of the disturbances. Now Mordains thoughts traveled to Grieve, who had a unique origin like Zeldar. Who knew what was going through his mind right now, or what Zion command would do to that mind if they had the chance. Mordain quickly got up out of his seat and placed a blanket over Sharred, who had fallen asleep.

He began to walk towards the residential quarters of the Arbiter, walking past several patches of Neo worshippers trying to get a glimpse of Their returning Messiah. Just by passing them Mord had learned of the incident with The Kid. He knocked on Grievers door, only to see Pyxel answer. “He’s not here.” “Where’d he go then?” “He slipped through the tunnels to a place he could think straight without these **bleep**ing morons constantly praying!” Pyxel’s voice raised with every word as he yelled at the fanatics. “How’d he slip by?” Pyxel quickly drew him into the room and told him that Griever knew of a system of tunnels from an operator friend who used to spend days in them. “But where did he go.” “he said that the tunnel connects to this room also connects to Neo’s quarters, better place than any.” Mord hurriedly walked out of the room and past the Fanatics, making sure that he wasn’t being followed. Surprisingly, the are around Neo’s door was relatively empty. Only baskets of food were left at the door, offerings to their messiah as if he would walk out to thank them. The door had been sealed shut by request of the Council and Morpheus. But Mord new all the access codes. He unlocked the door and found Griever, in the shadows of the room, staring at the door. “Had a feelin you’d bfind me.” “I wanted to see how you were.” “just fine, I figured the best place to hide from a bunch of religious nuts is to hide in the home of their Savior.” “The logic is scary.” Mordain laughed. “How’s Zeldar?” “Not good, comatose.” Griever groaned. “They don’t know if he’ll pull through.” “I…we…grr…should have been able to save him.” “It’s not your fault. The Cardinal came after us. It’s him whose to blame.” Grieve lowered his head. “I’m not so sure about that.” Mordain could hear the bitterness in his voice. “what do you mean?” “I mean that at some point you might have to stop us from doing something I’d regret.” The fact that he clearly stated “us” and “I’d” did not escape him. “No matter what, the Imperium won’t let you be taken over.” “No Mord. Not the Imperium. You.” Mordain’s eyes widened. “One day, real soon, you are going to have to get over whatever happened to you in the Matrix and stop me yourself. I feel you are the only one who can.” After that, he looked around the room. “What time is it?” It took Mordain a moment to realize what time it was. “The debriefing.” “You mean our trial.” “Yeah, well let’s not give Lock a reason to throw us in the brig.” The two of them got up to leave the room. “at least not until we see him.” He added as he locked the door.

The Faction was ordered to meet at the Council Chambers. Even with all of them there it still looked bare. Rows of seats were filled for briefings, discussions, and of course, judicial hearings. The all knew they were there probably for all three. As they took their seats they were in awe as the entire Council entered the Room. Chancillors Hamman, Dillard and West led the congregation. “Gentlemen, welcome.” Started Councillor Dillard, her voice soft but firm. Several members said hello. “We have gone over the information you sent us. The fact that it resembles the situation with Neo has not alluded us.” She looked at Grieve, who averted his eyes from everyone in the room. “But we have one question:” She was directing herself towards Griever. “Is this Cardinal such a threat?” Without looking at her, and with sadness in his voice he answered. “Ask Zeldar.” Councillor Dillard’s face tightened. “We would make our decision but there are those that have something to say.” “Thank you chancellor” The voice came from the back of the chamber. Everyone looked and found Tyndall, the Head of Operations in the Matrix and Commander Lock’s second in command. “this should faction is to be detained until further notice.” Hamman stood up. “On whose orders?” “Mine.” The gravel voice could only belong to Commander Lock. “**bleep**.” Muttered Pyxel, just loud enough for everyone to hear. “This…faction, has violated half the laws in our city.” He began walking down the line. “Aiding known Machines.” He signaled to Sharred, Saint and Kilobit. Sharred merely made a “pfft” at him. “Lewd conduct.” He directed to Pyxel. “I prefer raising the population.” Lock ignored him.” “Drunk and disorderly conduct.” This covered most of the faction, to which Etheno, Ziguarath and Zemaj both seemed particularly pleased. “Assaulting a superior officer.” Seavyan looked him in the eyes. “Just a higher ranking one, glassjaw.” He quickly moved to Mordain. “Breaking into Zion archives.” “I did It a few days ago if it helps.” “very cute.” He stopped walking when he reached Rhyse. “Disobeying a direct order.” “You wanted me to fire into a crowd of bluepills for one Merovingian lieutenant.” “You could have gotten him.” “Oh sure, but the twenty or so exiles would’ve shredded me and the entire crowd.” Frustrated, Lock went to Grieve, who was at the end. “And aiding the known fugitive Morpheus.” Grieve didn’t flinch. “I guess now we see why Morpheus was so fascinated in you, he always did like to collect freaks didn’t he?” Grieves eyes twitched towards Lock, and the lights began to flicker for a few seconds until abruptly stopping. “Freak is our word and we do not like it when your kind uses it.” “Grieve.” It was Hammon, who befriended Griever when he was new in the Real. “I’m sorry councilor.” Rhyse began, “But this is ridiculous.”

He stood up and to address them all. “Since the creation of this faction, we have been labled outcasts, delinquents. And yet, we have done everything in our power to serve Zion.” Mordain stood up. “Now is no different, except now, the fate of the world hangs in the balance. We need to be able to go back into the Matrix to stop the Cardinal.” “You want us to send you back so you can cause more havoc?” “We are on a course that could threaten the lives of every man, Machine and exile, damnit Tyndall can’t you see that!?” “Enough both of you!” Shouted Dillard. The councilors spoke with each other for a few minutes whule Lock and Tyndall stared down the faction. “We have decided.” Everyone one on edge. “That the Network Imperium, who are responcible for both great deeds and great indiscretions against Zion. They shall be allowed to enter the Matrix once again.” Everyone but Lock brightened up, even Tyndall showed signs of relief. “You can’t be serious!?” Lock was fuming. Hammon was smiling. “careful commander.” Councillor west spoke first the first time. “Commander, you seem to have a problem with nearly every faction in Zion, the Imperium seems to be no different in that they do it just to annoy you most of the time.” “Then why are you letting them back in!?” “Because WE like to annoy you most of the time.” Hammon tried to refrain from laughing. Dillard merely stood up. “Gentlemen, good day.” The Crew stood up as the Council filed out. The faction stood up and began to exit as well. “Well that was pointless.” Stated Sharred. “I rather got a kick out of it.” Temsik said as he walked past Lock. Pyxel had approached Tyndall. “ I was wondering if you were up for commiting a few “lewd” acts like your boss calls them.” “GUARDS!!” Pyxel quickly walked away. “Just a suggestion.” Rhyse, Mord and Grieve were the last to leave. They stopped for Lock. “you should be proud.” He said. “No Lock, but you fail to understand.” “what’s there to understand? You break the rules. “Only so the rules can be upheld.” Chimed Mordain. They began to pass when Grieve came up to him. “And what do you have to say.” Grieve’s voice was soft and monotone “you’re still an **bleep**. Just thought you’d like an update.” He left Lock alone with Tyndall. “I’ll get them.” “Yes, but they are the only hope we have if this Cardinal is such a threat.” “Hope, is something I don’t have a lot of.” He walked out as well, leavin Tyndall alone. “That’s why you’re an **bleep**.”

-End of Segment 9-

Ever since Neo defeated Smith there has been a massive surge of redpill activity both in and out of the Matrix. Zion underwent a boom and developed ten-fold as the people began to cultivate and rebuild. With this many people, other diversions were sought. Gardens, parks. Even bars and clubs were built. One of the more important were the broadcast station for Awakened Radio, which boasted a broadcast system as big as Zion Command’s.
-Zion Historical Archives, post Neo

Segment 10:
Dreaming of Zion

#23700000048 10/26/2005 16:24:53 Re: Network Imperium Chronicles. Episode 1: A ballad for fallen Angels

#23700000055 10/31/2005 21:43:27 Re: Network Imperium Chronicles. Episode 1: A ballad for fallen Angels