The Great Return

[The Joshness ™]

Alpha was hard at work adding the finishing touches to his latest creation, something he called the Tormentress. A nasty machine that liquifies flesh and turns it into a machine lubricant, specifically designed to maximize the natural oils found in human bodies. This is something he made not out of necessity, but out of an increasingly overwhelming desire to do what he was denied so long ago.

Plasma torch in hand he was approached by one of his lessers, who was almost hesitant with his words "General? Can we converse for a moment?" the smaller God said, its glowing eyes lighting up the dark room in one of the various underground hangers in which they dwelled. Alpha did not cease his work for a reply, in fact he did not even acknowledge the request. The smaller one looked nervously around and continued "Our maintenance drones have all been reporting a dramatic drop in pressures and relative moistures. "

Alpha turned his head backwards and all six of his optic orbs burned a fiery blue "So reduce the number of Drones dedicated to moisture absorption and begin pressure stabilization on all supply tanks! The next time you address me over something so trivial i will use your lifeless shell as a cannon holster after i use the cannon to kill you. Am i clear?" The smaller God was still in fright; its optics retracted into its cranium. "But General, theres one more thing the-"

Alpha immediately cease his work on the Tormentress, raising his body from a folded position and spun around to face the small worker in full stature. "What? WHAT?! The generators are on above optimal output? The interior support beams erosion have miraculously reversed? Why are you bothering me with this non-critical update?!!!" The legs of the smaller god retracted along with the rest of its limbs as with each passing word from Alpha getting louder and ferocious; intimidating the little one almost to the point where he was catatonic. "I swear if you do not have something vital to tell me in the next five milliseconds i will retrofit this thing to turn you into cog degreaser!" The smaller one snapped out of it quickly. "Well General, there appears to be several points of light coming from the hatches of the Main Hall..." Alpha was quiet, but his head and optics raised slowly up towards the ceiling.

Meanwhile above them off the coast of what was once Florida, midway among the southern tip and Cuba, the water had just exceeded another 50 meters after a severely cold blizzard froze much of the north Atlantic. The once submerged oceanic floor was still painted with the algal green of ocean life, creatures were still crawling around. In a single instant the ground erupted upward in an explosion of rock and coral; smoke billowing up miles into the air. There is no doubt that the colony of Humans to the northern mountains of what was formerly the Florida Keys could see this. What they would see next would either awe them or absolutely terrify them.

From inside the crater and the pillar of smoke great shining lights start to appear. At first just a few, but in minutes there would be hundreds and hundreds of them flowing from the scene. Each of the shiny dots glittering in the sun were moving in their own direction, but there was one formation easily seen over the rest. It was the largest of the formations, and the glowing metallic objects were obviously larger. Little did anyone farther north realize that at the head of this group was Alpha, his thrusters blasting huge plumes of fire into the sky behind him. He was heading directly to the largest heat signature around, there was even a few electrical pulses emanating from the area.

It was finally time, he would have what should have been his the first time.

[Moses Mendez]

Moses woke up with a splitting headache. He opened his eyes gingerly, expecting to see the old mud brick ceiling that was his hut. Instead he saw hundreds of different sized stalactites, and it all came flooding back to him.

‘Stupid, so stupid!

He muttered to himself as he tilted his neck backwards, trying to see where he’d fallen from. He could see a steep decline in the stone and ice; he’d slid straight down and hit his head on the low hanging iced over stone. He hadn’t had expected so much ice, not this far underground. It was dark in the old antechamber and Moses strained his eyes waiting for them adjust to the darkness. His clan had uncovered the old relic months ago; they had been planning an expedition for months. Moses promised he’d wait for the other clan members who were willing to risk the deep dark, but Moses couldn’t wait. He went alone. Oops.

Moses lifted himself up, pulling his jacket closer around his lean frame, the long brown jacket was old and the leather cracked, but it was fur lined and warm. He ran a hand over his head and felt the large bump forming on the back of his head, his dark hair was cut very short so their would be no hiding the large egg forming on his skull.

Moses eyes finally adjusted to the dark, he moved forward carefully, watching the above stalactites, they hadn’t been disturbed for hundreds of years, even the slightest bump could bring the razor sharp ice crashing down. He was lucky his fall hadn’t caused too much of a disruption. Moses heavy boots were spiked and he made sure to dig his feet into the ice with each step. He came up to a reflective panel, it was an olive green colour, but the ice was thin and he could clearly see his reflection in it. The unusual birth mark he was born with looked even more shocking contrasted against his pale skin in the ice. He ran a hand down the perfectly straight purple line the crossed over his skull and over his eye, finally finishing with a small dot directly under the line. He sighed bitterly. He’d had a long time to get used to it, but he was reminded of the taunts he received as a child every time he looked at his reflection. The room was circular in shape, with unusual curved panels surrounded it. It was ice cool chrome with many different mechanical objects frozen solid against the wall.

Moses absently moved his hands to the twin revolvers that sat in their holsters around his belt. He was lucky he hadn’t damaged them. The oversized weapons were old, his fathers, but they did the job, not that he’d had many occasions to use them. The warring clans weren’t so much at war anymore. The Human race was an extinct species, they couldn’t afford to fight.

Moses had been too wrapped up in his own thoughts, he hadn’t noticed the small red type flashing across the dark screen, he jumped back suddenly terrified, all around him various lights and screens began to flash and activate. A horrible sound began to ring through the antechamber, a rumbled that came from every direction at once. At Moses’ feet, a large crack suddenly split apart the ice he was standing on; Stalactites began to crash from the ceiling.

‘Shit!’

Moses cursed as he ran towards the slope in the ice he’d fallen from, reaching into his coat he pulled out two razor sharp hooks, he leapt onto the ice digging the hooks in place so he could climb up the slope. It took several minuets before Moses saw the sky from the narrow crack in the ice he’d originally traveled down. When he got to the surface, in the distance he could see the huge mechanical creatures flying into the air, breaking through the thick acid clouds above.

‘Oh god...’

Moses managed to mutter starring at the new catastrophe in awe.

[The Joshness ™]

=- Jackson DeVille -=


Jackson DeVille VII is the eldest son of Jackson DeVille VI, the DeVille clan has been a prominent force in Colonization since his the first five came down from the mountains of Kentucky after the water began to recede. The first real bit of luck they had was discovering a large Military Vessel still very much in tact under layers of debris and silt at a town called Jacksonville in north eastern Florida.

Since at the time water levels were still high the managed to repair the ship well enough to be ocean worthy once more. Using the promise of a better life at sea, he vowed that if they could get the ship to deeper waters his people could navigate the whole eastern coast and avoid many of the other Survivors that were out to kill rather than populate. He took the name Jackson DeVille after the city where he had come up with the idea. It took only 10 years and they had dug a trench 50 miles through the vast land still submerged through 10 or 15 feet of water out to the deep water; which marked the original coast line.

His family along with many others boarded the Aircraft Carrier and fired up the heavily worked on diesel Engines for the first time, the ship sailed as if it were never submerged. They built an empire on the surface of the Carrier with homes being constructed from the remnant scavenged from the man areas they sailed to. Of course the fuel supplies they required from underground, often submerged reservoir tanks beneath bases and gas stations were getting harder and harder to come by.

In a last stitch effort to maintain his floating cities life, they filled the ship up for one last make it or break it campaign down the east coast and around the southern tip of Florida, which in the past would have been known as Miami and across the Big Bowl (Gulf of Mexico) to the slowly returning Texas territories where stories of mad men turning oil into gasoline emerged.

Sure enough on arrival they saw exactly that; towering and rusted out oil wells being repaired and manufactured the precious liquids they so desperately desired. The DeVille clan started an empire by using their ship to launch expeditions into getting more ships up and running. Jackson DeVille got the first one up and functional before he died, and his son continued the job until he himself had overlooked the repair of five additional vessels.

By the time Jackson DeVille III was at the helm they had more than a dozen large ships going in different directions salvaging and scavenging everything they the receding water was revealing. Weapons, machinery, even house hold appliances like blenders and refrigerators were being repaired or replicated. They founded many colonies along their travels, placing people in strategic locations on the coast to scout for the relics and weapons to further fuel the DeVille empire. This plan too worked beautifully as most of the largest cities of the past were clustered on the shores.

Jackson's father was just a mere boy when the DeVille floating compound struck the submerged island fortress known as the Dry Tortugas just west of the southernmost island of the Florida Keys. It dug into the stone structure hard; tearing through the hull in multiple sections.and ultimately rendered the floating city permanently grounded. As they had neither the supplies to rectify their predicament. Apparently the water levels were dropping more dramatically now as the legendary storms in the north only became more powerful and froze everything; the polar ice caps casually encroaching towards the equator and swallowing vast quantities of water in the process. Using smaller boats to return back to land and inform the rest of their empire, their vast network took it upon themselves to become singular clans apart from the DeVilles.

The DeVilles themselves stayed with their now grounded city, continuing business to and from their capitol ship. Of course by the time Jackson's father had given the Clan another son, the oceans were still receding revealing ocean floors that hadn't seen the sun in almost 10 thousand years. Stretches of oceans used for sea-going transit were gone, creating enormous land bridges from north to south America. That gave rise to the new amphibious transports; ships fitted with wheels and axles capable of traveling across land and ocean when needed. The DeVille clan quickly turned the southern islands, specifically Key West itself as a major pit stop for traveling scavengers and merchants going to and coming from all directions. Their flagship still sits stranded atop the old fortress of Tortugas now known as DeVille Tortugas; Key West became Southernmost Trading Company. Many consider these places the epicenter of Human Survival.

Jackson's father died a few years ago and he himself was in his late 20's constantly being bothered by the fact he needed to bear a son soon, his death could mean the loss of his family's whole empire without and heir to lay claim. He sat in the captains chair of the DeVille Tortugas, overlooking the surroundings like he did everyday, keeping and open eye for incoming Vessels. The bi-monthly visit from the Big Texican oil rig caravan was about due, he knew they needed it earlier now with the ever increasing distances his people were having to travel to reach water suitable for purification.

He contemplated visiting Southernmost, just to make sure nothing new and exciting had been turned in. The last valuable shipment they got was a crate of brand new radio equipment salvaged from an old military base inside of a mountain ridge in the north. Both saved from the water and apparently abandoned for quite some time. His people were unable to breach the inner doors as they were massive and impressive in the means of durability. Jackson was very interested and recruiting both scavengers and transporters for an expedition up the mountain. Some random group of scavengers may not have been able to breach the door, but Jackson knew he had both the tools and people necessary to get in. And planned to.

The horizon was suddenly obscured by a pillar of smoke, followed by the storm of shinning metal objects that flowed from the smokes source. For a moment he figured it to be a volcanic event, but the metallic debris didn't fall; instead they maneuvered and appeared to be flying closer; quickly. He jumps up from his chair and snatched up his binoculars to get a better look, when he focused the lenses he became very confused. His ancestors always told stories of thing called 'planes' that looked like what he was seeing; but who were the pilots? This was not good he could feel his stomach saying so. Without putting down the binoculars he reached for the ship radio that was programmed to the same frequency all of the hundred. Radios he had sold in market. "This is Jackson DeVille, we have a big problem, something coming at us at high speeds and appear to be flying. Again, unidentified objects flying directly at us. Please gather everyone you can and report to DeVille Tortugas, this is not a drill. This is NOT a drill." Jackson hopes everyone got that and acted quick. Its been a long time since there was a war between Clans, and if a clan managed to get their hands on a fleet of operating planes; his empire wouldn't stand a chance.

Little did he know that they were not an opposing clan, and he stood less of a chance than he thought.

[The Joshness ™]

-= ALPHA =-
Alpha led the pack, a group of seven highly upgraded Gods altered by Alpha himself during the wait. He brought it upon himself to be first encounter with the humans while the rest of his army spread out in all directions to survey the human population and map out their cities. After just a moment his scanner had already picked up transmissions. A couple of nonsense about the stew some woman was cooking her mate, but then a broadcast sent from straight ahead warning the people about Alpha heading there way. He decided to do the same :: It looks like the Humans are aware of our arrival, be prepared for some resistance.:: Alpha kicked his thrusters into high gear and even though the soldiers with him were heavily upgraded they couldn't manage to keep up with his excessive speed.

Slowly pulling away from his group of seven, he zoomed in with his optics and got two visuals; one of DeVille Tortugas and the other of DeVille Trading, in a split decision he set his course for the Trading Company. Although DeVille Tortugas had an obviously high population and heat signature; the Trading outpost had much higher reading of heavy equipment and electronics. He didn't want to impose on the Humans while they mounted their defenses behind his back. If they had any artillery or heavy guns Alpha wanted to disable them immediately before the Humans could mount and assault. One of his soldiers opened transmission with him :: General Alpha, i have just entered the outer Atmosphere and it appears as if there are only two or there Satellite still in orbit. All of which seem to be without normal maintenance for quite some time and nothing but mere communications hubs. ::

::There should be Thousands of those in orbit right now, what do you mean three?:: The subordinate replied :: Sir i know, i was the last one up here. There should at least be an orbiting Defense System. But there's nothing, after attempting to access the nearest Satellite remotely the mainframe had informed me that the system had not been updated in over and hundred years.:: Alpha was confused, unable to processes what may have happened to all of the satellites. It just occurred to him that other than some low frequency chatter among civilians there was no heavy frequency travel besides that. He has a sensors that go five hundred miles in all direction and has the ability to pick up radio feeds being intercepted by his soldiers anywhere on the planet. This was not Kosher, not at all.


Alpha gave his thrusters one last boost of energy before cutting them off completely and gaining landing composure as he struck the ground in a landing so fiery that it ripped the earth up around him and sent Debris hurdling in all directions. He was crouched in a cloud of dusty debris smack dab in the Center of what was Duval Street in downtown Key West, now known as Merchant Row in DeVille Trading Company. Several shade covers over stands in the remnants of old buildings were blown off by his arrival and the less dramatic touchdowns of his seven soldiers. They used their thrusters to gently glide down to the street surface. Alpha stood up to his full height and peered down at the people below who were crouched in fear, but not able to remove their stare from the eight shinning machines in front of them. Alpha looked around at the city, which the last time he saw it was a spiraling military base with technology capable of both defeating and dominating his forces. Now it was nothing but a city of half destroyed building that have been partially repaired by nothing but mere peasants and traders.

"What is this place called?" He boomed with a loudspeaker hidden somewhere in his gigantic frame. "DeVille Trading Company Post # 1..." a small child chimed at him from the protective grips of her parents. The name and reference meant nothing to him. His seven soldiers were already dispatched and roaming through the island quickly making note of the various machinery around. Alpha glimpsed several large machines compiled of different machines retrofitted to carry supplies and farming necessities. He wasn't pleased, this wasn't supposed to be this way. This place shouldn't look anything like this.

Everything should be completely different. With the raise of one arm it quickly transformed into a large cannon like structure with prongs erecting from the rim of the barrel. The prongs sent a chain of electricity encircling the opening of the barrel until a small ball of blue energy appeared and retracted into the barrel of the cannon. Inside the strain of being pulled away from the energy source makes the power of the energy ball even more powerful as the atoms urged to become close to the power source.

He aimed the cannon at a structure to his right and released the energy out and it slammed into the building blasting through it and several building behind it. The rim of the hole it created has a bright blue energy residue that ate away at the remaining structure like acid and the same happened to everything it touches. People where were watching were awe struck, not able to comprehend what was happening; or even what they were looking at. "Who is in charge here?" Alpha asked with his booming voice. Without question they immediately contacted Jackson as he was the boss, not necessarily in charge of anything but he -was- the one they got orders for business on. There wasn't a Sheriff or any true military force, "Jackson, you need to get here immediately....im not sure what to say other than, HOLY SHIT GET THE FUCK DOWN HERE!!" Alpha heard the transmission. <Jackon?> He asked himself.

(EDITED/ADDED BELOW)

Meanwhile, down in the numerous caverns and crevices off the newly revealed coast; Moses had stumbled into something quite important. The various half frozen pieces of machinery and electronics were almost unimportant when set next to the large ominous object nestled in the corner of this room. Frozen almost completely solid was a God, unlike the ones now ravaging the world above Moses. It was actually one of the first models made, only a little smaller over all but not as near weaponized as its predecessors.

The chest cavity is dismantled, revealing a gaping hole inside where the power source should be. Although there is an abundance of parts and pieces spread throughout the icy structure, without proper knowledge determining if the power source is among the debris would be literally impossible. Moses is face to face with an enemy he doesn't even know he has yet, in a room with boundless advanced technology; and if he doesn't play his cards right at this point his adventure could be short lived.

With all of the hustle and bustle going on above, the room lights up around him with what lighting systems are still functioning and hadn't succumbed to nearly ten thousand years of erosion and decay. Even some of the machines and terminals started humming back to life. Its a testament the power of this technology for it to still be functioning; let alone even in existence at this point. What Moses doesn't know is that the power is coming from the God's Mainframe booting up to full extension and the generating forcing out maximum capacity to supply their forces with the signal needed to traverse the globe and beyond. Moses himself is just miles from their Home Base; treading swiftly and carefully would be his only means of survival.