The First Age

For once it was not a chore to work with Nikolai Brandon. Whatever the arrogant man was, he was far better than this fool of a Secretary.

The man put his faith in smoke and mist. Illusions, all of them. He did not have either the intelligence or the experience to understand the scope of the changes that would come. It seemed he relied on the inspiring - although ultimately futile, despite his good intentions - vision of this Trano fellow.

Even more surprising than the current lack of hatred for Nikolai, it seemed that Michael had actually done something right in the eyes of their benevolent overlord.. The Secretary looked angry. He did well to hide it, but Michael knew rage intimately. He wondered if Nikolai had brought him here actually hoping that he would anger the man; throw him off balance.

His thoughts were cut short as yet another group entered the room. As Nikolai introduced them, Michael's gaze passed over the two women briefly. More women, no doubt likely to caues me trouble, he thought as he was reminded of Torri, Teyha, Aria and that blasted Victoria Wolff.

"A pleasure,I am sure,"
he said with a nod and as pleasant and welcoming a tone as one could make with a voice of icy calm.

He settled back and allowed Nikolai to do what he did best until the damned Secretary decided to poke his nose into Custody business further. Americans... he thought with scathing vitriol. Ever arrogant, blustering blindly into their own graves.

Michael did not fail to notice Nikolai's abrupt change in demeanour. Perhaps I should heed my own words.

Anger built inside the wall of glacial calm that surrounded his heart. Of all the things to talk about, the man chose this.

Cursed bureaucrats, they will bring the world to ruin.

He glanced at Nikolai momentarily. Now was not the time for anger. Whether he liked it or not, he had to play their games.

He would simply add a few extra touches of his own.

Michael leaned forward, his blue eyes fixed on the Secretary. "Indeed, I call them my Ascendants. I am a military man and an Ascendant who has survived against all odds. If the Ascendants do not die from the Sickness, they die in accidents because they do not know how to control their power. Or they are butchered by men who fear us because we are different."
He carefully avoided mention of the Atharim, not knowing what Nikolai had told these people.

"Before I found my way to Moscow, I had nobody. I was pursued by mobs of ignorant men who thought I was a monster. Would you like to see the scars - at least the physical ones?"
he pressed.

"Yet I survived. The Ascendancy found me,"
Michael said, not wishing to go into the details of that incident. "He gave me the task of training Ascendants. My men do not die of the Sickness. They are not hunted. They do not die attempting to control their powers."


"I am a Commander who serves the Ascendancy. I have saved these men the pain that I had to endure. So yes, they are my brothers. My comrades. I care for them, just as a Captain cares for his men,"
the intensity in his voice reached it's zenith.

"I have no time to play word games. They are family and we serve the one who gave me the opportunity. The Ascendancy."


After he settled back in his seat, Michael was surprised at his own words. Defending the authority of Nikolai, the self-absorbed egotist...

Stranger things had happened; but not many.


Edited by Michael Vellas, Jan 16 2018, 01:28 AM.

Evelyn had no idea of the tension stringing the room until she was wound with it herself.

She dipped her head in greetings, but her glorious smile did not wane. Great powers sat at this table, and she would not allow them to see her entrance as a minor interruption to a larger conversation.

She recognized the strain in Arnold's voice. He buried his feelings deep, but Evelyn knew him well enough to read the signs. Ascendancy's explanation interpreted the expression, though. She could not allow her admiration of the Ascendancy to linger, however. Judging Arnold as he judged her entrance was enough of a reason to avoid awkwardness, but moreso in that she had done nothing wrong. Sofia's impression had shifted already, Evelyn noted as the Senator sat beside her.

Now, Commander Vellas was worth a look. His welcome was as warm as a North Dakota pond in winter. "Greetings, Commander, and welcome."
She sat smoothly in one of the remaining seats. This one was at the head of the table at Nikolai's right hand.

A waiter brought her coffee, but she brushed it aside with the graze of fingertips, "I prefer tea,"
she said with a smile. The waiter nodded and returned shortly thereafter with a little miniature pot all for her own. She smiled happily and listened as the discussion continued. Certainly, her tardiness was costly. An interesting topic was on everyone's lips.

Michael's sermon was quite the tale. She had no idea of the extent of his back story. Of course his face was utterly familiar. He was almost as infamous as Nikolai in Washington. Especially to those on the foreign defense committee.

Her tea swirled gloriously dark beneath her. She readily warmed her hands on the porcelain and cleared her throat. All the faces turned to her even as hers laid firmly upon Michael's. His accent was interesting. Australian, perhaps?
"Are you suggesting channelers serve Ascendancy? Like a waiter or waitress? No offense, gentlemen, but channelers are autonomous people."


She scoffed. "A force to police channelers as we would any other criminal is unfortunately necessary. The laws of our Constitution must be upheld, such as they are currently written. Subduing any individual is always fraught with danger, channeler or otherwise. However, we, as civilized nations, cannot allow police forces to be charged haphazardly to contain threats emerging from a channeler. Policy cannot be written without an accord between nations. First and foremost, that is our goal. To come together as a group, much as we have at this breakfast table, and draft regulations to be outlined in such an accord."


She smiled with the conviction of her beliefs. Regardless of the fate of the United States, until such time as it's fate was realized, they would need to act as an enlightened society. That included fair and equitable treatment for all channelers, including due process of law.

"We especially cannot allow our militaries to transform channelers into living weapons. These men are human beings. They deserve more."
She gestured to the two men flanking Michael. As a self-proclaimed warfare strategist, Michael especially needed to be reminded. Those two men were human beings, not missiles. "If you trained your men to build roads and heal the sick as hard as you trained them for war, society would already be elevated."
The challenge in her brown eyes swirled like the warm tea in her hands. She readily took a sip.

Trouble indeed... Michael thought as the woman repeated what he had already discussed. Her comments on serving were quaint, but not untrue. However, he could not simply say that he did not take Nikolai's orders. That would see him hunted again, and he doubted he could take on the most powerful nation in the world.

"You are quite correct,"
he said. "As you were not present when I mentioned this, I will repeat it for you."


"Think what you will of me. I know what the media has reported. I do not care for their stories. I used my power to save the people I was charged to work with, Jacques Danjou and his men. Good men who were about to be killed by terrorists led by a man who thought he was a god."


"When I was approached, I agreed on the condition that those with abilities of healing or building be allowed to pursue those abilities. One of the men I trained has exceptional abilities in healing, a former surgeon. al'Shaddis here,"
he gesture to the Arabian man, "is a scholar."


"I leave the politics to you people. I was called to make sure nothing disrupted your talks - and they will not be. All I care for is Ascendant beings - channelers, as you call them - saved from the Sickness and guided properly so that they do not have to die needlessly."


"That is what I have done, if that is serving, so be it."



Edited by Michael Vellas, Jan 17 2018, 11:28 AM.

This was breakfast, not an official talk. Nikolai learned what he needed from the Americans. Invariably, Evelyn let slip her true intentions. They wanted an agreement that channelers refrain from military positions, while the United States would consider police forces tolerable. Nik wanted to shake his head. Like he said before, neither the US, China, nor himself had any intention of withholding channelers from foreign defense positions. It would be impossible. "What you're really seeking is a promise from me that I won't turn a channeler against the United States."
All the faces turned toward him, but he was rather dismissive. He cherished Evelyn and all she could do for him, but her naiveté showed. "They are humans, the channelers residing in all our borders, but we are here to talk about missiles. You want a promise that I will not turn a missile against foreign nations, and in turn, you will promise likewise. So far, the world has resisted another catastrophic war. None of us have unleashed hell against any other nation. If you want an agreement that I will not seek war against the United States, you already have one."
He smiled.

When was the last time a country made a dime invading another country? Invasions squander vast amounts of money and blood needlessly. Nations made more money by avoiding wars than engaging in them. Nikolai proved the better way to conquer. He's stated his interests over and over again. Third world nations were an entirely different story. Lebanon and Chad, Tibet and China, Honduras and El Salvador. Borders were compromised all over the world. That the major powers refrained from attacking fellow first world nations was not out of the goodness of their hearts, it was economical not to. You steal far more with a briefcase than with a gun. Besides, all the channeling needed to take what he wanted occurred thirty years ago. Should he take an interest in shaking the foundations of the world a second time, the United States could not stop him. They shouldn't be worried about channelers in the army. They should be terrified that Nikolai didn't flatten a mountain range on a fly-over.

"Draft your documents and I will read your proposal. In the meantime, Commander Vellas, a word in private?"
As soon as he stood from the table, others followed. His gaze lingered on Evelyn as he passed, but only momentarily. She was the key to this. She didn't realize it, but she was the missile she feared. She would win him the United States, and once they were absorbed, the rest of the world would follow.

Outside the dining hall, he gathered Michael to him and created a wall of silence around them to speak freely. The two walked casually, Nik with his hands clasped behind his back. "I never properly thanked you for dealing with Andlain."
He made himself do so now. "Thank you."
He had a feeling Michael had been all too eager to unleash a plague of carnage upon Andlain and his cult of followers.

"I also never told you what really happened in the basements. I gather you have pieced it together, but you should know more. The Atharim that attacked me included the head of their order. His title is Regus, and he is of the Vatican. Yes, the Vatican."
He raised a brow. Vatican City was the only city-state in all of Europe that was outside his dominion. Yet they continued to endure. Nikolai didn't care. His memories flashed back to his own time there, brief as it was. The torn tattoo on his arm seemingly burned bright with those thoughts. Regus' office, Garrett's father had been an incredible man. It pained Nikolai to kill him, but the zealot would not relent.

He turned and looked at Michael. A pair of Staffers passed by. They took a wide berth but both dipped their heads low in reverence for the Ascendancy and his chief general as they passed. Clearly they could not hear what was being said. Nikolai took a breath, but the fury he felt in the hospital had cooled to deadly determination. "He wielded weapons I did not know exist. He called, no he commanded, an ijiraq as they are named. Through me, it pulled the power with such ferocity I thought I was going to rip the world apart, Michael. Such power. Surely it should have killed me, but the creature buffered the danger somehow. I do not understand it. Have you ever encountered tale of such a creature?"
he grit his teeth. A member of the Consulate of the Interior passed just then, caught a glimpse of his expression and hurried onward.

Nik steadied his emotions. "Had I known he commanded such a creature, I would not have let him in."

Michael dismissed Rykovi and al'Shaddis as soon as Nikolai gestured for him to follow in private. It was no surprise to him that Nikolai had sought him out. He himself had given the Ascendancy enough information strewn into the conversation that hinted at his knowledge of the events that had transpired in the Kremlin.

Curiously, the hatred he felt almost involuntarily when he was in the same room as Nikolai faded to nothing more than a distant throb. Perhaps it was the fact that they shared a united belief for once in their acquaintanceship.

They walked through the halls, staff eyeing them then quickly darting out of the way. Nikolai talked. Michael listened. It was almost...peaceful.

Michael resisted the urge to raise a questioning eyebrow when Nikolai actually thanked him. Whatever had happened that night must have shaken him; badly.

Instead he simply nodded sharply. "It had to be done. You will be pleased to know that our men fought well. Several sustained serious injury but there were no casualties. Two of the cultists were captured. I ordered them placed in an induced coma guarded at the Facility. I thought that you may wish to have them questioned. Perhaps they can also be rehabilitated and trained to serve the people instead of killing them."


Indeed, all seemed to be going well. Michael did not once have the urge to destroy the man. That was until he mentioned the Atharim.

The fury in Nikolai's voice was palpable. Michael grit his teeth, the flickers of rage subdued in icy control. "You let him in,"
he stated flatly. "Our absence provided this...Regus,"
he spat the word, "with an opening. Bait. A good plan."


It was one he may have conceived himself. Although his instinct screamed that Nikolai's plan was foolishly dangerous, he was capable of handling these Atharim with the number of men Michael had seen slain. None could have foreseen the presence of an Ijiraq.

The name made him shiver. He thought he could almost sense fear in Nikolai's voice. As well it should be; only a fool would not be afraid of that thing.

Michael nodded slowly. "I have encountered one of the creatures before. Although I did not know it at the time, it was the creature of mist that I reported to you from the Jedda Campaign."


"It nearly killed me twice before I drove it away,"
he suppressed a shudder, locking eyes with Nikolai. "Aria told me of them. They feed on the Ascendant Power. Each time they feed on one of us, they grow stronger. al'Hasan's followers had been disappearing. I found it strange, but thought nothing of it. Now I see that the Ijiraq is to blame."


"That the Atharim have managed to harness one of them..."
he thought of the repercussions of such a thing. "There are few things that phase me, Ascendancy,"
he said, his voice intent and his eyes as hard as diamond. "but the Ijiraq is a creature I dread."


"I saw the remnants of your battle and the corpse. I do not believe this Regus could harness an Ijiraq of great strength. The one I faced in Jedda...It taunted me. I could feel it's contempt. I may be wrong, but I believe it prudent to act as if the one that the Atharim harnessed was weakened."


"They are drawn to our Power. More will come, of that I am sure. When they do, we must work together. It galls me to admit, but should a fully strengthened Ijiraq attack, neither of us could face it alone."



Edited by Michael Vellas, Jan 18 2018, 02:22 AM.

Evelyn withheld a scoff. If what Michael did was described as service, he was slightly delusional. Why would Nikolai keep such a man close? He was clearly dangerous, even without sitting on the Foreign Defense committee, she would know that. Worse, he seemed unstable. His allegiance to Nikolai was declared, but Evelyn thought she saw a hint of toleration to his words. He was so cold. Evelyn might have shivered if it weren't for the tea warming her hands.

She smiled when Ascendancy declared his readiness to read her proposal. "It will be ready as soon as possible, Ascendancy."
Her smile beamed with victory as she crossed gazes with Arnold and Sofia. She had a lot of work to do.


Edited by Evelyn, Jan 18 2018, 04:08 PM.

The blood drained from his face. If the Ijiraq that drank his powers was but of minor strength, the magnitude of a fully matured one would be truly terrifying. Michael was of similar disposition, though his reaction was colored with more hatred. Nik could understand. How had Regus commanded it?

"It taunted me too. I heard it in my mind, though it did not speak. It said a name and that it had waited for this moment. It did not just drink from the power, it delighted that it was from me."
He grit his teeth to keep from shuddering. So much power. He had wanted to die rather than endure another moment.

"If more come, we have to be able to defend ourselves."
His mind swirled with consequences. There were others completely vulnerable to their attack. One was in Jedda. How many ijiraq existed? He would have to delve into the book of the Atharim. If it survived the battle in the basements. Evelyn needed to be told.

"Do what you can to fight against these creatures. If Regus controlled one, so could we."


As soon as he said it, a dark epiphany nearly stopped his heart. Harnessing the power of an ijiraq and wielding it against his enemies would be an unstoppable weapon in their arsenal. "Aria said that Regus used a tablet to summon the ijiraq. It nearly killed them then, but he spoke the right words and it was commanded to find me. Regus is missing, presumed dead, but I will not believe it until I see the body. Knowing his office as I do, he is incredibly skilled and likely groomed for the position his whole life,"
as Nik had once been propositioned to do just that. "For not being a channeler, he's the most dangerous man alive. Do not underestimate him, Michael. You must find out how he commanded that Ijiraq. Find that tablet for me. We must control them."


He shook off talk of the Ijiraq. "There's something else. Ever been to Africa?"

Michael frowned. The thought of one of those creatures targeting him specifically was unnerving. He had thought a great deal about how to kill them, but it did not include ramming a sword into its heart.

Perhaps he should expand on his first efforts. "I have some thoughts,"
he said, "but we need to know more about these things."


It was all going well, until Nikolai wanted to control one. Usually, Michael would have risen in anger against the sheer foolishness of trying it, but Nikolai had been more amicable than usual, and in truth, he knew so little about the Ijiraq, capturing one alive might be able to help determine the best way to end it, if Nikolai's plan did not go as he wanted.

As for this Regus, if Nikolai said he was dangerous, he was likely doubly so. "I will do what I can to find this...tablet. It is a powerful weapon and cannot be left in the enemy's hands,"
he agreed.

Michael frowned again as Nikolai changed the subject. "Africa? No. I have not been there. I hear that Jacques Danjou and his men are making progress, but it is in chaos. Do you believe this tablet to be there? Or is this something else?"

He hadn't considered the tablet to be located in Africa. For the most part, Nikolai dismissed much of the continent. He hadn't lied to Jacques when he emphasized Africa's value, but until recently, higher priorities occupied his attention. As a young man studying the Atharim, there were ancient histories to discover, but his memory, distant as it was, included no lore of theirs.

Perhaps a tablet, or some other object of value, was buried far and away. Egypt was rife with stories of powerful gods. A schoolboy could recite the fearsome names woven throughout Egyptian mythology. Now that he considered the possibility, it seemed obvious. "Possible. Look to the lands of Egypt as a start. The country is currently overrun by Al'Janyar, the overlords that rose in the aftermath of the disturbance in Dominance V."


Perhaps two birds could be killed with one stone. If Michael discovered a trinket or weapon of the gods of mythology while leading Danjou's channelers to defeat the darkness sweeping the states, Nikolai would be more than pleased. "Danjou is in need of our help, and as it serves my purposes at the moment, I fully intend to give him that help. Make sure he uses my resources wisely. Meanwhile, he has some channelers in the Legion who need ... guidance. I can think of no one better for the job than you. I'm also told native channelers exist in the region."

As Michael listened, he grew more interested in the assignment as Nikolai revealed the details. Of course, it was not something he could simply choose to do or not. He could, however, make the best of it.

The prospect of training men so they did not kill themselves while subduing those who wreaked havoc with their power, giving credence to the Atharim's idea that they were too dangerous was most appealing. He did not like war, but he had accepted it as a part of him, and he would use his talents to do what was right.

"An important task,"
he replied. "I will train as many of these people as possible. I do not know the details of your relationship with Jacques and his men are, but the natives I have high hopes for."


The prospect that Nikolai wanted him away from the Facility crossed his mind, but it was not something he was unprepared for. Besides, whatever else, he was best suited to the task.

"I will need some of the men that I trained. They have been tested in battle and will provide a great asset. It also serves another purpose. The original men I trained will in some ways guide those who come after. Some are not suited, dangerous. I would take some of the more power-hungry men with me to keep an eye on. If they are focused on battle, they cannot sway others."


"I suggest leaving al'Shaddis as my temporary substitute in the Facility. He is level-headed and one of the few I trust with my life. He will not betray the Custody, nor will he attempt anything like Andlain."


Speaking of such things, Michael forgot pretence and focused on the best way to handle the situation. He already began to run through several strategies. Of course, the tactics could not be discerned until he had a better understanding of the situation in Egypt, but Michael's plans were broader in scope. He had been given a role, and he would make sure that nothing would undermine it.

"In addition, what will be my status with Danjou and his men? An Ascendant, or military representative for the Custody? What can I expect in support and supplies from the Custody?"



Edited by Michael Vellas, Jan 26 2018, 01:18 PM.