Vanguard Debriefing Report: Binary Fusion, Temporal Fault
Subject: Status of Villainous Groups in "Vanguard Earth", Arachnos
[Recording begins]
"It's kind of funny, yeah? You'd think that Arachnos would've been the first to take advantage of the weakness caused when the Rikti started winning battles directly all over Paragon. And they would have, probably....if the Rikti hadn't hit Grandville first. The video from Reporter Vines on the scene was just....even though you knew these people were evil? No one deserved that."
[Video recording found in files brought with arrivals begins playing.]
The skies of Grandville go sickly green as Arachnos' equivalent to the War Walls are overloaded by the strain of the attack ships. Dozens of dropships pour through arriving portals, opening fire into the city below. A Huntsman on the street is screaming into his communicator. The words "56 ships" are visible on his lips, though no one can hear him through the thrumming noise of the Rikti dropships' antigrav and the pulsing thumps of Grandville's anti-air defenses filling the skies with coherent light and deadly shrapnel. One dropship flickers and explodes in mid-air under concentrated bombardment, before deadly lightning of Rikti particle beams rips into the defenses. Walls explode inward and screams are heard. The camera jerks towards the central tower of Grandville and sees for a brief moment the gnat-like specks of people who'd been standing on sections of the upper towers as the Rikti beams carve into the structure, severing gantryways, causing landslides of debris into the lower levels. With a creaking groan like a damned soul, one huge section of "web" breaks free, tumbling down into the urban scrawl below. The impact is audible from a mile away, even as Arachnos fliers launch from the remaining bays, using their VTOL capability to scratch out whatever advantadge they can get against the advanced warships bearing down on them. There's a horrific thud and the camera jerks around again, to see the sight of a dropship impaled upon the upper level of the tower, its thrusters still burning. Which is when the dropship itself explodes, severing the head of Grandville Tower and sending the throne of Arachnos plummeting into freefall into the ground below...
[Video Recording Ends.]
"Apparently Recluse was in the tower when it happened. No one found any body, but given how hard that area got hit by the Rikti later with bombs and particle fire, and his absence since then, most people are fairly sure he's dead."
"So who's in charge now?"
"The one person Daos was sure he could trust. Ghost Widow's been loyal to Arachnos above everything else for some time. And Daos wasn't stupid enough to want the head seat himself. The advantadges, as they explained them to us, were pretty good. Arachnos could effectively no longer be decapitated when its leader was literally immortal by dint of being dead already. Ghost Widow's loyalty assured that her actions would benefit Arachnos, and she was powerful enough to hold onto power if anyone'd challenge her. Of course, no one did."
"Really? Black Scorpion hated her."
"Lost in the initial attack. Ghost Widow would've been too, if not for her being dead and all. Apparently the tower collapse couldn't kill her more than anything else."
"And the other Patrons?"
"Scirocco'd been on the front lines in St. Martial, fighting a Rikti offensive. Mako was with him, under orders to find the Rikti war leader and take him out."
"So Silver Mantis..."
"Naw. She just...disappeared after Scorpion died. She was still alive, obviously, but something must've...broke inside of her. Aeon took over Scorpion's post, while Kalinda replaced Ghost Widow since her acension to the head of Arachnos. Truthfully, the setup's pretty ideal."
"Ideal? Scirocco and Ghost Widow, I'll give you, but Mako?"
"It's war, man. Ghost Widow comitted the full assistance of the Rogue Isles to Vanguard after the attack, something Recluse had refused consistently to do even when the ships started falling. She's more pragmatic than him. Similarly, Mako's a highly trained, vicious assassin. He's racked up more kills of highly ranked Rikti generals than any other single hero, villian, or soldier, and probably more than any ten combined. Scirocco's Ghost Widow's default second in command, while Aeon and Kalinda are too new to their positions to really offer any resistance regarding policy. Given what the tactical section's gotten from the precog divisions of Arachnos, it may be they see their survival as tied to ours as everyone else does."
"I see. And Vanguard's opinion?"
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend....but the fact they're still an enemy has to be respected. Arachnos is on our side...for now. Doesn't mean we aren't waiting for the back-stabbers to try to gank us from behind if we win the war."
[Record ends]
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."
Subject: Status of Villainous Groups in "Vanguard Earth", Arachnos
[Recording begins]
"It's kind of funny, yeah? You'd think that Arachnos would've been the first to take advantage of the weakness caused when the Rikti started winning battles directly all over Paragon. And they would have, probably....if the Rikti hadn't hit Grandville first. The video from Reporter Vines on the scene was just....even though you knew these people were evil? No one deserved that."
[Video recording found in files brought with arrivals begins playing.]
The skies of Grandville go sickly green as Arachnos' equivalent to the War Walls are overloaded by the strain of the attack ships. Dozens of dropships pour through arriving portals, opening fire into the city below. A Huntsman on the street is screaming into his communicator. The words "56 ships" are visible on his lips, though no one can hear him through the thrumming noise of the Rikti dropships' antigrav and the pulsing thumps of Grandville's anti-air defenses filling the skies with coherent light and deadly shrapnel. One dropship flickers and explodes in mid-air under concentrated bombardment, before deadly lightning of Rikti particle beams rips into the defenses. Walls explode inward and screams are heard. The camera jerks towards the central tower of Grandville and sees for a brief moment the gnat-like specks of people who'd been standing on sections of the upper towers as the Rikti beams carve into the structure, severing gantryways, causing landslides of debris into the lower levels. With a creaking groan like a damned soul, one huge section of "web" breaks free, tumbling down into the urban scrawl below. The impact is audible from a mile away, even as Arachnos fliers launch from the remaining bays, using their VTOL capability to scratch out whatever advantadge they can get against the advanced warships bearing down on them. There's a horrific thud and the camera jerks around again, to see the sight of a dropship impaled upon the upper level of the tower, its thrusters still burning. Which is when the dropship itself explodes, severing the head of Grandville Tower and sending the throne of Arachnos plummeting into freefall into the ground below...
[Video Recording Ends.]
"Apparently Recluse was in the tower when it happened. No one found any body, but given how hard that area got hit by the Rikti later with bombs and particle fire, and his absence since then, most people are fairly sure he's dead."
"So who's in charge now?"
"The one person Daos was sure he could trust. Ghost Widow's been loyal to Arachnos above everything else for some time. And Daos wasn't stupid enough to want the head seat himself. The advantadges, as they explained them to us, were pretty good. Arachnos could effectively no longer be decapitated when its leader was literally immortal by dint of being dead already. Ghost Widow's loyalty assured that her actions would benefit Arachnos, and she was powerful enough to hold onto power if anyone'd challenge her. Of course, no one did."
"Really? Black Scorpion hated her."
"Lost in the initial attack. Ghost Widow would've been too, if not for her being dead and all. Apparently the tower collapse couldn't kill her more than anything else."
"And the other Patrons?"
"Scirocco'd been on the front lines in St. Martial, fighting a Rikti offensive. Mako was with him, under orders to find the Rikti war leader and take him out."
"So Silver Mantis..."
"Naw. She just...disappeared after Scorpion died. She was still alive, obviously, but something must've...broke inside of her. Aeon took over Scorpion's post, while Kalinda replaced Ghost Widow since her acension to the head of Arachnos. Truthfully, the setup's pretty ideal."
"Ideal? Scirocco and Ghost Widow, I'll give you, but Mako?"
"It's war, man. Ghost Widow comitted the full assistance of the Rogue Isles to Vanguard after the attack, something Recluse had refused consistently to do even when the ships started falling. She's more pragmatic than him. Similarly, Mako's a highly trained, vicious assassin. He's racked up more kills of highly ranked Rikti generals than any other single hero, villian, or soldier, and probably more than any ten combined. Scirocco's Ghost Widow's default second in command, while Aeon and Kalinda are too new to their positions to really offer any resistance regarding policy. Given what the tactical section's gotten from the precog divisions of Arachnos, it may be they see their survival as tied to ours as everyone else does."
"I see. And Vanguard's opinion?"
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend....but the fact they're still an enemy has to be respected. Arachnos is on our side...for now. Doesn't mean we aren't waiting for the back-stabbers to try to gank us from behind if we win the war."
[Record ends]
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."