JACK’S AFTER ACTION REPORT

GENERATOR HIT

“I am the writing on the wall, the whisper in the classroom. Without these things, I am nothing. So now, I must shed innocent blood. Come with me.” — Candyman

Setup: Jack is getting ready for the assault on Iru Plant when shit goes sideways, as an example a wife he has never met before reaching through a mirror and pulling him

MISSION BRIEFING

DATE: June 7, 1997 (1-2024)

FROM: Kelly “Faerie Fire” Thurman & Liaison Officer Kiley Minor.
TO: Team Leader, Jack O’Leary & Special Projects Manager Qian “Stanley” Xuefang.

Subj: Missed the Hit on the Generators

Information:

Dream Discussions

My wives helped me dream my way to talk to Life. In order for this to work, if she could hold back her river for 48 hours, that would help blow the dam they use to parasitically harvest her power.

To do that, first I had to talk to The Void (Not her real name) and ask for permission to talk to Life.

I went to the Void in my dream. She was an emaciated girl in a throne room. Except I am pretty sure she does not physically look like a pre-teen. Her mannerisms and reactions are so much older than that. I feel like under that facade are sharp eyes of someone that has power and knows how to use it.

I asked if she was okay and told her I had not forgotten. That would free her, but I had to untangle things to do it. She felt shrewd and careful as she watched me. When I expressed concern she rolled her eyes. When I thanked her for the dinosaur-like monsters that ate the elves, she seemed pleased I noticed.

Then she grabbed my face and shoved me away as someone, presumably her captor, entered the throne room. She had placed herself between me and the shadow entering.

I found myself in Life’s cells. She felt too big to be confined in such a small space. Like The Void, she looked like an emaciated pre-teen. I know she is far too old to look that way.

I checked in and asked if she was okay. She was weirdly worried I would not like her if I knew what she was. That’s actually a sign she has empathy and concerns and is not the fabled killing machine everyone makes her out to be. She seemed tired, but shrewd and strategically cunning. I told her I was going to blow the power sources to the dams and she said it would cost her some, but she could hold back for 48 hours. She immediately grasped the plan, and asked a few very pointed questions, not enough to know it, but enough that I am sure she was a great military commander. I did ask her if she had wings and she froze, and looked genuinely panicked, so I moved on. It did not occur to me her race might be secret.

Then Strife/Horklos came in. He appeared middle aged and human. He, like always, treated me as a friend. For a man that has personally tortured and killed Voice after Voice, he seemed to be completely unaware that he was not the hero in this story.

I took the opportunity to try and get information from Strife.

He does not remember slamming Oblivion into the lower prison.
He didn’t remember cracking the prison walls, but did ominously say once cracked they cannot be fixed.
He had the terror of the prisoners in that prison etched firmly in his mind despite the memory wipe.
He responded to the name Oleg.
He knew King Carl.

Eventually I took my leave, but it is disorientating to be treated like an ally by Strife.

King Carl

I went straight to King Carl. I told him what I learned from Oleg/Strife/Horklos

While Carl was still evasive, he did say he was closer to 10,000 years old than not, and because a vampire very recently. He’s one of our elusive hero humans that keep turning up, that we can’t seem to figure out.

Oleg was one of them too. Also Oleg had a habit of taking pre-teen girls to his bed, so he was alway a pedophile, or whatever they want to call it. He always had rough tastes, but not Strife levels of psychotic.

I asked if Oleg had any knacks that would have helped him put Oblivion in that prison, and Carl said that Oleg was a guy you sent into a sieged castle and would open the doors for you. He never knew how Oleg did it, but that’s what the man was known for.

Security Alert: We must fortify the girls and come up with a plan when Life and Strife are fished out of the prison. He may try to come here as he’s delusional enough to think I am his ally. The girls must be protected.

I told him I think whatever he did with Oblivion broke the inner prison inside The Void, and it took all his fucked up impulses and made them worse. It’s just a theory but it has the feel of being close to the truth. Something happened then.

Kidnapped

I was in the bathroom washing my hands, and got yanked through a mirror Kevan Rus-style and ended up at the power generator site we were going to hit the next day.

Our targets of Lattice and Lace are two Kievan Rus women that are voices. They are unlike any Voices we have ever met. Lattice is a full Voice with visions, and Lace is a fighter style Voice.

We had a lot of back and forth, because they scared the crap out of me, and I screamed into the network before I was cut off. That, in hindsight, might have created an issue with my other wives.

By all rights, they should not be Voices. they have no ball. It’s just empty. . . . . like Candy is inside. There is something Oblivion-like about this. No. Maybe something Oblivion was before she was turned into Oblivion. I have no idea but there is a connection.

I have no idea how Kevin Rus Voices are my wives. There is a component of mirror. They are reversed in every way. Like inside out? Mirrored? I can’t tell.

House Maegeus

Then the Elven Council member Aleksandra Vinogradova, from the Estonian Council, stopped by to make me come with her. She looked annoyed at being someone’s errand girl.

I was led to an elaborate banquet room where the head of House Maegeus, Nikoli Maegeus, was basically holding court with several other Elven Lords that I did not recognize.

Can we take a moment to discuss Elven House names. I mean, clearly they took human house names when they came to Earth plane. Are these names of human houses they usurped and took over? Did they look around and say “That! That name there! That looks important?!”

I only mention it because Maegeus? Like really?

Nikoli was holding court, and strutting around like a peacock because he knew we were planning a raid. He seemed to think I was targeting him personally, so I said I didn’t know who he was, and could care less about him or his house. I am just trying to get shit done and he was in the way.

I also pointed out what he was doing here with mining the Titan bodies for power was fucked up and like parasites digging at people. He wanted to argue.

This is a crazy situation anyways. These physical and magical generators power not only the mining operations, with 6 generators and a central hub to control them, but the dam holding Life’s river flowing from her prison.

Nobody should have doubled this up, but it was a way to cut costs. Totally bad idea to put all your infrastructure eggs in one basket.

The Blood

Next a bunch of royal aids or something come running in and they are losing it. I thought perhaps this was the start of the raid. I was wrong.

Turns out, The Blood had been requested by Nikoli to come defend the facility. He was prepared to host 1 or 2. Grandpa Mustache came in, with a half dozen old elves. They were all old fighters and seemed to be his fellow fighters from the elven/fairy wars. They all had some version of facial hair.

I have this theory that elves are always about the tiniest signals. They are neurotic about it. Either 1) the embargo on facial hair is because of the younger lords denying any trace of old power, or 2) it’s because the old ones are showing a distinct signal that they do not support the current Lords. Either way, that is a message I think, and we should pay attention.

He greeted me by name, and accorded me the respect of talking to me plainly as almost an equal. We discussed how his daughter was doing’s and I get the feeling she, being a Voice in the network, heard my scream and went straight to him.

Knowing we already were on friendly terms spooked the rest of the Lords Nikoli was entertaining and they left without me noticing. I will give those rats their due for identifying sinking ship.

I got the very immediate feeling they might have come because they were bound to respond, but all of them came to see if Grandpa Mustache was right.

I wizened and stooped old elf approached me. To take him for weak would be a lie, as I am sure he’s equal to Grandpa Mustache. He did not give me his name, but circled me assessing me.

He asked how old I was, and where I got my wings. Then he looked annoyed when I said new. I think he owed Grandpa Mustache money. I felt a bet had been lost.

I got the impression all of them were there to see me, and assess if I was a new baby Titan. They all tittered at me being in my 90s and not even a century old.

We discussed things casually and eventually a fairy came in. She was their equal, and we said hello in my people’s way. Her wings were purple but that’s a lie. My Keivan Rus wives said she had black and yellow wings covered in skulls that turn to look at elves she is annoyed at.

She’s a death moth like Candy, but it’s her secret. I should go to her and ask her about Candy. It would be dangerous but she might know something.

She talked frankly with me about how the mining of Titans was wrong, and seemed to support my idea that if they kept it up and killed the Titans, whole planes would go down.

I also discussed the broken prison inside The Void. They were aware, but not as intimately as I a was, as I had just come from there.

Grandpa Mustache then asked what I was doing here, and I said freeing my wife. He looked at the Keivan Rus wives next to me than asked with ones and I said the one in Tartarus.

He just laughed, and the rest of his buddies seemed to think this was funny as well. I am not sure they doubt me.

I again offered to break any bonds that held anyone, if I could. I offered them hospitality at Free Cities. I think if they came, it would be good. I don’t know. I have a feeling.

I also told him Hannah says hi, and she really likes him. He smiled.

Then Lattice and Lace’s father came. He’s of The Blood as well. Nikoli did not summon a fair and a Blood member of Keivan Rus to his home. I think they all came because of me, to see what I am. He was there to see who his daughters had chosen. I think I gave the right answers, and those answers seemed to please Grandpa Mustache as well. Even the bits where I said I didn’t know why.

I did not remotely indicate I am not the only one in Free Cities. I can’t hide because my marriage, and because of what they do, but they don’t need to know about the rest of us at this time.

The Raid

Then the raid did start. Nikoli started to leave, but the The Blood elves demanded he say goodbye in the traditional way, which was like 20 minutes of ritual.

At some point someone caught sight of FireWing and Maybel, and Grandpa Mustache asked if that was true too about FireWing and I said yes.

He then said to visit him later at his home, and he’d tell me about Tal. There is something to tell there.

The raid itself was quick and easy. I sat doing nothing while generators blew, and my people and wives hunted and destroyed House Maegeus. Nikoli survived, but he has nothing to command as a Lord now.

Another Elven House down.

Recommendations for Future OperationsNo recommendations at this time.

J. O’Leary
Fucking Fairy
Lord of the Northern Marches
FCY-011480VEI8464-621

Copy to: Standard Project Distribution List

AGENDA

Talk to the endless that came back with Elena. He knew a lot about fairy.
Hunt the location of the old Blood Fairy. See if she can help Candy with any information.
Rescue the Keven Ruse that stole Elena’s ladybug for us.
Rescue the half living Kevan Rus.
Bring Lattice and Lace home. They are my wives as well.
Destroy the Tartarus Dam. See if it will go or if I have to drop some ordinance on it.
Need a lead on Oblivion Lethe so we can figure out how to fix Candy.
Need a lead on Kevan Rus.
Have Tomi show jack her horde and get a ring for Maybel, and some of the other girls while he’s there.
Meet Lucifer and ask how he got free from Tartarus and his wife, and confirm his suspicions that Prit is free, as in as free as he can be, but he’s still a hide bound dork.
Blood brother Colt and Arwen.
Talk to Grandpa Mustache about Tal.

REPORT 06

CARD FRONT

CARD BACK

SORRY YOU MISSED OUT!

You might have missed out, but you did the more important thing. Without you the attack would have never been successful and a lot of people might have died.