Erebos: The Official Story

The public's first inkling that something was wrong came when the storms started. They were unlike any other sort of storm, strong gusts wind blowing up out of nowhere and a strange feeling to the air, like something was off about the pressure. The air almost tasted funny, too, with a strange tang and an odd scent. The clouds seemed to have a dark, purplish tint, and they spiraled and formed strange patterns in the sky.

These dimensional storms began in Elysia and spread outward, not ceasing after the dimensional rift was closed. Erebos seemed to have something to do with it, and its movement across the planet disrupted all sorts of patterns – weather, seismic forces, water flow, animal behavior, plant growth, everything. Lightning strikes were frequent, tremors shook the land, and panicked animals fled away from Erebos, even when it was hundreds of miles away. People living near the strongest of these disruptions and storms reported feeling physically ill and experiencing a strong sense of unease and dread. Anyone within five miles or so of Erebos were struck with sheer terror, either panicking or freezing up. Local authorities had their hands full trying to evacuate communities in Erebos' path.

At first, news reports and Network discussion focused on the effect of the strange storms and the destruction they caused. Eventually word got out about the thing that had descended upon Elysia, and rumors spread wildly. Each theory was more outlandish than the last, though none seemed sufficient to explain what was going on. The thing was an avenging being set on destroying all life as punishment for sin; it was the result of some experimental weapon gone wrong, designed by Elysia's military; it was a creature native to Hemera, newly woken from centuries of slumber and angry that its home had been overrun by humans; it was the devil itself, the embodiment of true evil; it was a force of nature, uncaring and unintelligent and destroying life purely by chance – which seemed even more horrifying to some than the alternatives.

Speculation on the nature of the threat quickly gave way to desperately wondering what could stop it. It wasn't long before Messembria's excellent propaganda machine kicked in, urging its citizens to remain calm and assuring them that the military was on the job. National guard units were dispatched to the areas worst hit by the storms, and the creation of the Global Defense Force was announced within days. According to the Network, the GDF had knowledge of what Erebos was and how it had been brought to Hemera – an accident, rather than a purposeful attack, they assured the populace – and they were working on a plan to stop it and send it back where it had come from. A week after Erebos appeared, its path began to curve south and east, moving toward the ocean and Messembria. Panic rose, especially as contact with Elysia had almost completely ceased and the few reports there were suggested that the government may have collapsed. Messembria recruited as many citizens as possible to gather information, organize drills, assemble emergency supplies, and generally do anything else they could think of to protect themselves from Erebos. Many suspected it was largely to keep them calm rather than anything that could truly have an effect on the situation, but nevertheless, it worked. Rioting and panic were stopped almost as soon as they started in most cases, and the coastal cities in southwestern Messembria were evacuated before Erebos made landfall.

It took about 22 days from the opening of the dimensional rift to the time that Erebos arrived in Messembria (a journey of about 9500 miles), where the GDF finally unveiled their rapidly thrown together plan – Project Aithre. Prototype power armor designed by the Messembrian military was retrofitted to draw power from Geodes, the strange stones that fell from the sky with the dimensional storms. No one seemed to know quite what these were, and most people fled from them, suspecting they were contaminated by the same destructive power that drove Erebos. A few were curious, however, and discovered that they seemed mostly harmless, but emanated an unusual aura of power; some found that they could spark strange effects by holding them, such as sparks of fire or electrical currents. Most were too preoccupied with the threat of Erebos to investigate the Geodes, although it later became clear that the GDF had studied them as extensively as possible in the short amount of time available, and had figured out a way to use their power to enhance military technology.

Project Aithre was a two-pronged mission set up on the plains southwest of Eunom. The military brought in equipment that was set up by a team of scientists and technicians and powered by huge generators; meanwhile, GDF operators suited up in redesigned Aithre Armor and met Erebos as it advanced, using their firepower to drive it towards the equipment. Official reports on the Network later explained the details of what had happened, as the entire area had been cleared of civilians before the operation. When everything was in position, the equipment generated a new dimensional rift, and the Aithre team forced Erebos through and sealed the portal after it. It was a perilous mission, and most of the ten Power Armor operators died. Their identities remain classified, although they are hailed as heroes and publicly celebrated by their mission codenames: Golden Hare, Avenging Blade, Cerulean Camel, Mind Singer, Titanium Wing, Clockwork Warrior, Unforgiving Gun, Crimson Razor, Argent Wyvern, and Mystic Victim. Children still idolize them (you can buy action figures and trading cards even), although most adults suspect the official story, which is inspiring and heroic and a bit ridiculous, has very little to do with the truth. Still, they acknowledge that whoever these heroes really were and whatever really happened out there, they clearly saved all of Hemera by their actions. It's known that some of them survived, though the exact number is uncertain, and no one knows who those survivors are – they are presumed to still be working for the GDF on classified missions.

Two years later, the first rumors began to spread about Erebos having left something behind. It started with attacks by bizarre creatures that resembled no known life on Hemera, whether native or of Earth origin. The first reports were of small creatures, possibly the size of a house cat, but they seemed to be growing in size. Network reports warned citizens to keep away from them, but told them not to worry, the creatures were no great threat as long as they were left alone. It didn't take long, however, before the information was leaked that testing showed the creatures had energy signatures similar to Erebos, and the things began to be called Erebos Spawn. No one knew exactly what they were or what they might become, or if they even were the same type of being as Erebos or something of similar origin, but they were being sighted throughout Hemera, not just in Elysia and Messembria or along the path Erebos had traveled. Anyone caught out in the open countryside was at serious risk of running into one of these creatures, and a few of the larger ones even rampaged through small towns. Each of the five nations came up with its own plan to deal with the threat, but it seemed that Geodes were effective against these creatures. The GDF began to study the use of Geodes to combat Erebos Spawn, for although the Geodes' magic powers had been useless against Erebos except to herd and corral it, the Spawn did seem to be susceptible to elemental magic.

A number of different programs were tried, and at first individuals using Geodes were able to lead teams to round up the Spawn and kill or capture them. The Spawn were becoming bolder and more dangerous, however, and apparently larger, if reports could be believed. Few were able to use Geodes effectively enough to deal with the growing threat. Years passed, and the GDF kept researching and experimenting and trying new strategies to eradicate the Spawn. Eventually, about eight months ago, an announcement went out across the Messembrian Network, and was also officially released to the other nations – the GDF had developed a new way of fighting the Erebos Spawn, and they required individuals talented in the use of Geodes to be trained in the new program. All patriotic citizens who believed themselves to have any real affinity for bringing forth power from a Geode were encouraged to report to military recruiting centers across Messembria, or to Messembrian embassies in other nations, for preliminary testing. Candidates who possessed a minimum level of talent would be transported to GDF headquarters in Crios for a full battery of tests, at the end of which they would be accepted to the program, if deemed qualified.

***

Eight candidates are accepted to the program and, once they have signed the necessary waivers, are welcomed to the Makhai Initiative. They are transported to a base in the mountains southeast of Eiar, where they meet their teammates and attend a briefing on the project.

The briefing covers the creation of the Makhai, or mecha, from the prototype Power Armor. These suits are larger, yet more responsive, and can magnify and utilize magical energy from Geodes to a much greater degree than the Power Armor – but they also require greater control of this energy by their pilots. This energy is controlled mentally, and most humans find it extremely difficult to do. A Xenian at the briefing explains, using a translator, that Xenians exist in a world where elemental magic suffuses everything, but humans on Hemera have always believed magic was pure myth – or at least they did until eleven years ago. GDF researchers have created a new training method to help adapt the human mind to this new type of power. The candidates are told that they will enter a long-term simulation that will help them train their psyches to accept and use elemental magic, but they are not told exactly what this simulation will consist of or what form it will take. They understand that they will work together to accomplish goals as a team, but so far they have only had a few minutes to converse and aren't really familiar with each other's background at all.

The candidates are also told a little more of the story about Erebos. The Xenian explains that while Erebos Spawn are susceptible to magic, at least to a degree, Erebos was largely immune and could only be temporarily corralled using elemental magic, but not defeated. This is why the Xenians had to send Erebos to another dimension, an act that this one, at least, deeply regrets. They never intended to inflict such a being on another civilization and had thought they could send it somewhere barren, where it couldn't hurt anyone. However, the science of creating dimensional portals is very difficult to control. It takes time to search for and lock onto a target universe, and if the process is not completed, it may open up onto the Void, which could hold many hidden dangers – the Xenians themselves weren't sure what would happen in that case. On the other hand, finding another dimension to send Erebos to might just push the problem onto yet another civilization. Still, what else could they do? They hoped they could find a target devoid of life or at least of intelligent beings. The job of the Aithre team was to fight off and hold Erebos in place while the technicians targeted a universe and opened the dimensional rift onto it; then the team would force Erebos through the rift, after which the technicians would close it again. There were unforeseen complications – Erebos broke through the defense and killed a number of the technicians, and the mission almost failed completely. It was only when several of the Aithre Armor operators sacrificed themselves to save the remaining technicians that they were able to open up a portal and eject Erebos from Hemera.

The candidates are also given more information about the Erebos Spawn. They actually come in two categories, Major and Minor Spawn. Minor Spawn are the ones that trouble most of the countryside. Many call them monsters, and they are an occasionally deadly nuisance, but not the existential threat that Erebos was. While the Minor Spawn that are found appear to be growing in size and threat, each individual Spawn found tends to stay more or less the same; new ones are different than those found previously.

Major Spawn are, so far, unknown to the public. Only a few of them have been found, and their existence has been covered up, but they are much larger and far more dangerous than Minor Spawn. What's more, they have shown themselves to grow and change. While they are also vulnerable to elemental magic, their vulnerabilities are very specific and have been known to change, making them very difficult to defeat. More troubling is the fact that observations of such creatures and testing on the few carcasses that have been retrieved suggests that Major Spawn could, with time, grow into another being like Erebos, with the power to distort, devour, and destroy any life in its path. While the Makhai Initiative is indeed tasked with protecting the populace from Minor Spawn, as the public believes, their more pressing mission is to find and take down any Major Spawn they can, and to retrieve what they can for testing by GDF scientists in order to better ascertain the severity of the threat.

After all the necessary medical checks and preparations, the candidates enter the simulation pods and are hooked up via neural links. They are placed in deep hibernation while the simulation takes full control over their consciousness. This process has been tested in part, but never a full-length simulation, and never going in so deep. (The longest testing to date has lasted no more than three days.) A full medical team is on duty, and the AI tasked with running the simulation also monitors the subjects' mental and physical health. If there are any problems, the candidates are assured they will be pulled out of the simulation immediately. Once the simulation begins, their conscious memories and true identities are buried deeply, and they take on new lives that have been designed for them by the simulation design team and the master AI tasked with overseeing the project.