Earth

[Zelth]

The year 2250. Earth has made great strides in the fields of technology and science. Robots and space travel are commonplace in this era. As humans started their journey into space it attracted the attention of many other beings, most were friendly and wished to establish trade links, aid scientific advancements and such, but of course Earth has also attracted the attention of many possible conquerors.
Due to a failed attempt at conquering Earth much of the water supply and landscape is heavily polluted. The major cities have of course developed ways of cleaning the water and landscape but have limited it (for reasons of cost the officials say) to only the most heavily populated areas.
The cities are populated not just by humans but by all manner of beings.

Earth is open to visitors and traders.
Conqueror races will be attacked and expelled on sight. (Hide well )


((Experienced writers please forgive the almost note format of this setting post. After all it's not the place but what happens there.))

[DarkXenith]

Location:  The Temple of The Order of Light,  Japan

An elderly monk in an ochre robe, skin weathered to a leathery tan, shuffled into the inner chamber of the altar room. The smell of incense mingled with that of melting wax from the myriad candles arranged around the central dais, each represented an individual prayer. The monk stopped at the sight of a familiar figure knelt before the altar, it was humid outside but wherever the crouched figure went within the confines of the temple complex he brought with him the freshness that follows the monsoon storms. 

The figure glanced up from beneath the hood of a rough-woven white robe, his traditional casual attire when present in the temple; the monk automatically bowed his head in respect. Grey-blue eyes glinted beneath the hood, subtly traced with minute tendrils of electrical energy, as the robed figure returned the nod with a faint smile. There was no need for him to maintain the pretense of humanity here by concealing his power.

"My Lord Raiden, forgive me, I was unaware of your arrival and intended no disrespect in my interruption."

The monks of the order were always so self-effacing, humble even. It was a trait he found in equal parts infuriating and reassuring. They, at least, had not forgotten him though. Unlike the millions of other humans he watched over.

Taking a sip from the ladle of water in his hand, the Thundergod returned the utensil to a nearby bucket and flicked a hand quickly over a candle to light it as he stood. He appeared younger than the monk, physically at least, until the onlooker took note of the greying hair at his brow and the faint tracery of lines that webbed his skin. Earth's decline to the abuses of his charges over the centuries had aged him, his connection leaving him as a mirror to the condition of the mother planet. Still, he was more than capable of upholding his duty to the realm.

"After this many years, I would have thought you and the others of the order would be wise enough to understand I take no offence in seeing you carry out your appointed duties, brother. My coming was foretold, no doubt, by the elders? I have much work to do. Is everything ready?"

The monk nodded, "As you instructed, my Lord."

"Raiden. How many times? - It's just Raiden now," the Thundergod was amused it seemed, "I live among you, treat me as one of your own."

Again, the monk nodded, but Raiden knew his request had fallen on dulled hearing. He would always be 'Lord' Raiden to the brothers of The Order. Watching as the monk shuffled out of the chamber to advise his superiors, the deity waited for him to fully clear the room before allowing a sigh to escape. Formality wasn't something he could hold to for long, but it was necessary here. He had a reputation to maintain after all.

Pulling the hood more firmly down to defend his eyes from the glare of the sun, Raiden headed out into the temple courtyard to await the gathering of the brotherhood and set things into motion. There was a change in the air and action needed to be taken to ensure the continued safety of the realm and its inhabitants.

[Zelth]

Somewhere between Earth and the Moon:
An Irken ship analyzes the various defenses positioned in orbit of Earth.
"Computer what are we up against?" The computer simply bleeps and displays a lot of text. Zelth sighs, not even on the planet yet and already beginning to resent being sent as a spy.
Nova jumps up and taps the screen. "You could hide the ship on one of those?" She points at the image of a large shuttle transporter.
"Have you not been watching the same screen as me for the past 24 hours? They scan the transporter vessels for life signs."
"Exactly. Life signs."
Zelth's eyes widen. "OH NO! You had better not be thinking of what I think you're thinking of..."
"Well we need to get down there some how."
"NO! Never. I hate the revival process."
"Got any better ideas Mistress?"
"Not yet..." Zelth trails off. "Hmm... We'll have to decrease the temperature of the ship..."
"But then you'll freeze to death."
"No. Well maybe if it stays cold too long." She pauses and gives a frustrated sigh. "Okay, here's the plan..."

A short while later:
The atmospheric conditioning system of the ship has been deactivated along with practically all the power excluding the lower thrusters and cloak.
"Are you sure about this?"
"The defensive grid reacts to anything above a certain temperature. It's designed to keep cloaked ships out. The ship almost matches the exterior temperature." She pauses shivering. "I won't be enough to trip the sensors but the ship would be. So long as we manage to restart the ship before impact we should be fine."
The lower thrusters strain against the gravitational pull of the planet. This is it, disengaging thrusters. Zelth holds her breath as the ship starts to fall rapidly. A counter appears on the only active screen falling rapidly. The exterior of the ship heats up as it falls through the atmosphere. Zelth restarts the ship and it suddenly halts 5000 ft above the ground.
"Anything after us?"
The ship's computer replies speaking with a male voice. "There is nothing within sensory range."
"We made it."
"Not yet we haven't, we've still got to find somewhere to set up base."
"There is an abandoned house in what appears to be a wilderness region."
"What's close to it?"
The ship brings up images of the surrounding area with distances to things and places which might be of use.
"Hmm, that will do then. Nova we'll have to disguise ourselves, and the ship."
The ship's computer bleeps and displays several images of local lifeforms.
"You're being very efficient today. I'm almost suspicious."
"This mission is important." The ship displays a few more images this time of vehicles and spacecraft.
Zelth taps one and the ship projects it masking it's Irken form. Zelth then taps one of the images for herself, a pair of red tinted glasses appear under a materializer. She slots the arms of the glasses into the implants on the sides of her head. The hologram disguise flashes into life. "Back up." A hoodie materializes with the same circuitry and Zelth puts it on, now looking human.
Nova taps an image of a servant bot and downloads the image to her memory. "Do I really need to be disguised?"
Zelth taps the Irken military symbol on Nova's chest plate.
"Forgot about that..." Nova projects her disguise, it only looks a little different from her normal appearance.
Zelth takes the ship down closer to the ground and deactivates the cloak now making their way to the abandoned building...

[DarkXenith]

Location:  Tokyo City, Honshu, Japan

The lights dimmed momentarily throughout the apartment complex, as they would normally once the city's power grid changed from daylight to night-time conditions, only according to any given timepiece in the building it was barely 3pm. Apartment 1220 had been empty for some time, but then the tenant was known for keeping odd hours when at home, he traveled extensively and only used this small complex as a base of operations between journeys.

Most locals thought him to be a westerner with a penchant for the oriental according to his appearance. He was too fair of complexion to be Japanese with his greying hair and grey eyes and also taller than most. He wore a plain, traditional cut white shirt with the high collar favored in the old style and what appeared to be black rough-woven linen pants; these were tucked into black calf-height boots. The only ornament to this outfit being blackened, engraved metal guards laced to each wrist and ankle. All in all, he considered this quite utilitarian and low-key by all accounts. He wouldn't turn heads walking down any given street in the sprawling megaplex that was Tokyo city. In fact, he was decidedly under dressed according to current paradigms of fashion.

Looking up at the dimming of the lights, the occupant of apartment 1220 shrugged and took the stairs, knowing full well that the elevator wouldn't be working as of his arrival. Chuckling lowly at the irony of the situation, he gained the door of the apartment and stepped inside. First port of call, the info-console to check on the days events around the globe. Events had been set in motion at the temple three days earlier, now it was purely the waiting game.

Seeing nothing of great import in the news feeds, Raiden headed into the compact kitchen area of his apartment and keyed up a little light refreshment... sake and sushi. 

Well, some things had to stay traditional. 

Returning to the main room and the info-console, he began to work his way through various other news sources he kept track of. Something would make itself apparent to him as being of import or interest eventually.

[Zelth]

Now at bandoned building Zelth's ship links itself to the wall of the building with a couple of pipes which snake their way all throughout the structure before connecting to an ancient looking generator.
"That's all we have for power?" Zelth scowls at it.
"It's decrepit."
"And would nowhere near cover our power requirements." Zelth still scowling starts to take it apart flinging the rusted ancient parts behind her. "Don't just stand there go get parts from the ship."
Nova does as ordered.
After about an hour the generator is running and the base continues it's automated setup.
"Right, now for our mission..."

After about three hours of looking over data...
"Grr! They've locked up the place so tight I can't find a way into anything without drawing a huge amount of attention to us!"
"Time to go out into the field then."
"Really? I never would have thought of that!" Zelth replies mocking the small robot. "The very last thing I wanted to be doing..." She charges out to the ship.
"Where are we going Invader?" The ship asks.
"To the nearest city..."

---

The Wraithic Isles
An area of small islands constantly covered by a snow storm, the Earthly home for the last remaining wraiths.

"Recruitment goes slowly." A shadow wraith leans against the entrance casually as he gives his report.
"Not what I wanted to hear... The plan should and must continue. Get back to recruiting." The Wraith King responds.
"As you wish..." Varjo replies heading out into the snow. He sighs to himself thinking as he trudges through the snowstorm. If that damn cyber wraith was pulling her weight we might be further along in this plan...

[Ironshot]

On the far side of the planet from it's natural moon, space ripples for a moment before spitting out a second 'moon' of purple flesh and diamond hard bone.  The new arrival was a Leviathan of a Zerg Swarm with Primal features.  Deep within the creature, it's master looks over the parameters of the planetary defense network and frowns.  Prepare a drop pod with my Arclite and Vulture as well as six drones and two primal hydralisks.  And throw in that toy light freighter as well, the Lord of Blades commands his minions through the Hive Mind.  While the Leviathan was just too big, most lifeforms that could survive in a vacuum could slip past the defenses as long as they landed outside the inhabited regions.

"This is just great.  The FTL drives are supposed to fail before you drop inside a large gravity well but with my odd luck I not only end up inside a moon sized gravity well, it happens to be some kind of lifeform," Ironshot grumbles to himself from inside the 'toy' light freighter.  Despite using his bio electric detection skill, the earth pixie fails to notice as his ship is placed inside an organic drop pod until after the pod launches  on it's way to a relatively clear section of the planet inhabited only by ruins and abandoned buildings.

Okay, you two morph to hatcheries while you two morph to extractors.  You two can start breaking down the surrounding buildings after scouting for stray locals.  Primal hydralisks, you're on guard duty until we can get crawlers in place to protect our perimeter, the Lord of Blades directs his landing party as soon as the drop pod bursts open.

[Zelth]

((I think Zelth is going to have a lack of anything to do in this thread for a while so for now I'll only post with the wraiths))

Hah! There's that cyber wraith... and her lady friend. He darts over to the outdoor ice pool. "Haven't you rested long enough Aquilla? We have orders to recruit."
"I know, I'll catch up... You just get your ass to Tokyo."
Varjo sarcastically salutes and darts off to the closest shuttle heading towards Tokyo.
"Who the hell does he think he is anyway? I outrank him!" Aquilla continues to rest in the ice.
"It would be nice to be somewhere warmer..." Grey says giving Aquilla a pleading look while shivering under her thick wool cape.
Aquilla looks at Grey. "Damn it, why can't I say no to you?..." She climbs out of the pool draping her clothing over her shoulder, ice crystals forming on her wet swimsuit as they both head for her nearby ship.

[Ironshot]

"Good thinking bringing another batch of drones down," the Lord of Blades comments as a second sac drops from orbit and releases a Queen and ten more Drones.  "Now perhaps the pilot of the 'toy' would like to introduce himself?"

"The name's Ironshot.  From what I can see, I'd be interested in joining your little group," the Earth Pixie replies through his ship's external speakers.  With a nod from Chris, the Queen quickly spits viral goo all over the Pixie's ship and begins the infestation process while the Lord of Blades explains what is happening to the Pixie.  Sending the new batch of Drones to collect resources,the Zerg leader settles down for a long wait while the Hatchery and Extractor finish growing.

Meanwhile on the outskirts of Tokyo a ghostly figure retreats into the deep shadows of an alleyway.  I wonder how long it will take the others to get here.  Guess I'll do a little Dream-walking, Phobos thinks to himself as he projects his consciousness into the dreamworld where he searches for a few likely targets.

[Zelth]

((There's a post in the dreamworld to fill the time lapse. If you haven't seen it already, even though I wrote this one first...))
The first small ship containing Varjo arrives.
"I was told there is another wraith here?"
"Yeah a dream walker, so that's likely what he'll be doing. As for where and who he is, you'll have to find that out yourself."
"Great... Well thanks for the lift." Varjo says as he steps out of the craft.
The driver nods as he closes the door behind him.

A short while later and Aquilla's ship arrives, though this ship takes the time to search the area for other wraiths. It only finds Varjo, so Aquilla sets off in his direction leaving her ship in a parking bay.
"So much warmer here..." Grey clings to Aquilla's arm as they walk. "You never told me why we're here."
"Recruitment, speaking of which... Have you decided if you'll let me turn you?"
"Erm, no, not yet... I still don't see the benefits of it."
"Found our dream walker yet?"
"No, not really had much chance to look."
"I guess this gives me an excuse to enter the dream world..." She starts to dreamwalk herself.
"Yeah you go ahead and do that after all it's not like we know for certain that he's there... Damn showoff any excuse..." He continues to grumble in wraithic while Grey keeps an eye on her partner.

[Ironshot]

Half an hour later...

Knowing the location of his partners for the assignment, Phobos glides through the intervening city blocks.  "I've found a few likely targets in this city.  Do either of you know who is assigned to the landmass on the other side of the planet?  I thought I detected a powerful presence over there, but it would be good to confirm it," he said in place of a greeting as he comes up behind the other wraiths and the cyber-ice wraith's companion.

Meanwhile in low orbit on the other side of the planet, Pyria spots the moon sized lifeform just past the edges of Earth's defense grid.  "Orbital Control, this is Pyria.  You have an extra moon hovering near the location of the anomaly you mentioned.  I'll go to ground over here and check out any landing party it may have sent but you might want to send someone to check out the moon," she sends even as she uses the proper flight plan for the United States landing to enter the atmosphere.  Just as she lands near a pair of serpent like lifeforms, four large organic masses and a four foot tall chrysalis explode to reveal two foreign looking nests, two organic structures that appear to be cleaning the air, and strangest of all, an infested freighter with a diameter of only one foot.  As she exits her ship alongside Ellie and the two digimon, all four notice a rubbery looking fungus spreading from the two nests.  "Any sentients around here?" Ellie asks as they stop at the edge of the fungus.

Two that you would believe and several you would not, the Lord of Blades comments mentally as he approaches from behind one of the Hatcheries.  "I prefer not to draw attention to myself, but it seems my arrival was noticed.  I'm setting up defenses to supplement what this planet already has in preparation for the arrival of a hostile force that could sweep across this planet like it was a pebble in the road.  At the moment I only have two Hatcheries supplying creep and a pair of Extractors collecting toxins from the air.  Oh, that's not counting my mobile troops on the surface which consist of two Primal Hydralisks, one Queen and a handful of Drones as well as two vehicles for my personal use and a Broodfather for a new strain I just finished developing," he says aloud as he commands a pair of Drones to mutate into spawning pools.

[Bowhead]

Main System: Initiating Operating System Bootup Sequence
...
...
Sequence complete, initiating auditory sensors...
Initiating gustatory sensors...
Initiating visual sensors...
Initiating touch and temperature sensors...
All sensors online, mobility partition decompressing...
Compiling all files...

Grunting as it stepped out of a charging cradel on the wall of an effectively bunker-like staging area, a nearly three-meter tall reptilian biped shook off the dust that had landed upon it. "External security cameras, main sceen." He spoke with a gesture to a glossy black pannel, several live feeds of the exterior of the liquor store acting as a front for his hideout appearing, as well as a few interior shots of viable entry points. "Cycle sensor arrays between all standard patterns in three second intervals, alert me if there are any unusual energy, gas, or thermal readings as well as of any unidentified personnel beyond the storefront." The entity stated before moving to sit in a well-worn leather armchair and turning a second monitor to display the major Sol-System News Networks. "Today feels like it's going to be another one of those days...".

[Zelth]

In orbit:
"What is that?" Xardan askes his only fellow irken in range.

"I don't know you tell me you're the one up there with it." Zelth snaps while staring at the second moon on her screen.

"Since you're grounded I'll check it out..." Xardan jets over to the purple moon and proceeds to have his ship analyse it. "Well it's organic and not a ship though it appears to be being used like one. My ship has detected several similar entities coincidentally on the same landmass as you Zelth. Now I better clear off before the guards start trying to shoot at me again, see ya!" The last thing he sends to Zelth is the rough coordinates of the entities before zooming off into the depths of space.

"Maybe we should take a look? It might be the prep work for another invasion." Nova looks at the location on screen. "We should hurry if we're going to before the humans start poking around it."

"Hmm, yes it may be of importance. It's a good couple of hundred miles from here but it won't take us long to get there if we stick to the wilderness regions." Zelth sets off at top speed.

The guard captain in orbit sends out the following message to Pyria and the few smaller civilian ships that have taken it upon themselves to investigate:
"We are aware that there is a large entity in orbit and we are sending units to investigate. All civilians in small spacecraft are to stay back until we have assessed the potential threat. Ground units have been mobilised. Civilians joining the investigation are to proceed with caution and are expected to cooperate fully with the guards once they arrive."

Tokyo
"Pretty hard to ignore that..." Varjo comments folding his arms.
"I hope it's not the start of another invasion Earth has been through enough..." Grey tries to pick up on the presence and possible intent but fails.
"The king has probably sent some scouts he'll call us if it's of any importance. Before we continue with our task I must ask, what did you do in the dreamworld? I've never met a nightmare lord who immediately sets hunters on you for nothing."

Wraithic Isles
"Get out of the way this is important!" A red eyed wraith barges past into the room he bows before addressing Richard. "Your highness we've detected a large entity in orbit and several smaller ones landing on earth. Should I send some scouts to investigate?"
Richard is silent for a moment apparently already having sensed the large entity's presence. "No, I'll see to this one personally." With that he darts off towards a small stealthy ship.

[Ironshot]

Tokyo:


"I think the Nightmare Lord was disappointed no wraithlings were available for training.  That, and I kind of suggested a practice fight while I wait for you to show up," Phobos comments with a chuckle.


Hive Cluster outside KC:


Do not engage the locals unless attacked.  I will explain our purpose to any who meet me on the surface, the Lord of Blades commands his troops in orbit through the hive mind.  "If you'd like to help out, I could use volunteers to join my swarm through infestation," Chris comments to his guests as the spawning pools finish spawning.  With another quick mental command, he has one drone mutate into an evolution chamber while the Hatcheries evolves into a Lairs and the six Larvae spawned by the Hatcheries evolve into more Drones.  Another Drone begins mutating into a Baneling Nest while half the remaining Drones move to the edge of the creep and begin mutating into Spine Crawlers.

"We'd love to join your Swarm," Pyria and Ellie say after exchanging glances.  Instantly the Queen spits the same viral goo used earlier over both volunteers encasing both of them in cocoons for the duration of the infestation process.  Unexpectedly, Ellie's cocoon explodes in a flash of golden light revealing an infested form that looks like a more streamlined/organic version of her digivolve form with gold digizoid prosthetics replacing her limbs.  At the same time, Ellementiamon gains infested traits.  "This is going to be fun," Ellie grins as she releases the Starmon from her Xros loader and notices they have become infested as well.

[Bowhead]

Looking to an alert on one of his monitors, the crime boss rapidly entered a series of keystrokes; a relativistic shell being launched from a nearby silo on a trajectory for North America and arriving almost instantly. From the impact crater a small, hovering drone floated into the air and began scanning the toxin-laced surroundings.

"Cell thirteen, report unidentified signiature locations. I've sent a recon machine to investigate. Nobody better be moving in on my manufacturing plants, hard enough to make substances in the hellhole that is that region. Do not engage any forces unless attacked or they come within fifty meters of a lab. Lethal force is authorized if they attempt to tresspass, scorched earth policy if they begin to take over; you already know the method." The reptile-like machine sent via encrypted communications to his facilities in Kansas, remotely arming the security systems and beginning to scout with the drone. "We're not the Mafia, Triad, Tongs, Cartels, or Yakuza, assholes... we have the firepower to get rid of any little upstarts who think they can take what they want..." He growled to himself as the machine scanned the environment; growing ever closer to the reported location of the unidentified xenos.