Eclipsed Graphic Promo 3

Prelude #6 - Sundown Parity 4:1 - Redeux

Parity 4:1 2009/Seven years from !#@@$#@W$HATE#$@#WQFEAR#!#@!@ENTROPY$@#!!@!@!#!#$HISSHADOWKNOWS@!*#@#(%R!@$!#@!@

The calculations had to be checked and rechecked. If the SPANWEB transmissions were correct, and the Cross chronal scanner was right, then a massive tachyon burst had not only occurred, but had disrupted the time/space continuum for a nanosecond, actually puncturing each point at once.

With that sort of information, she felt obliged to run a comparison against the findings. Such things were not possible: Two points opening and closing at the same time could only mean one thing: At some point in the real future, a door had opened, and at some point at the real past, the door had opened again. Could it be possible that chronapthy was real? That time travel between two set points was a reality only a scant ten years in the future?

The idea that within her current lifetime that time travel wasn't just a possibility, but a reality was a bit flustering, especially since at some point in the future, she herself would be the one to perfect it. It was a myriad of ideas contained in a single thought: That outside of her knowledge, someone had perfected a device for time travel and had used it to escape the past.

She rubbed the bridge of her nose, when a cup was set down next to her. At first, she did not notice, until the rich smell of chamomile and mint caught her attention, turning slightly, she looked up, and saw herself...older...but herself none the less.

'You'll go mad trying to figure out what just happened' the older self answered, 'And believe me, I nearly did'

'How...' She began, stopping slightly to take up the cup and take a quick sip, 'How is it you're here'

The older version smiled, 'It's rather simple at the endpoint to venture back, but this....this is different....someone has upset the balance a second time'

'A second time?' she asked. The idea of her older self standing here hadn't phased her...in fact, it was a comfort in many ways, a secret visitation that had begun a decade previously, guiding her to different paths.

'A second time...and I fear that it will affect everything'

'More than it already has?' she answered, 'I mean, can true time-travel be real, outside of us?'

'Cross was close' the older version stated, 'In fact, he's the one that breaks the idea of the-'

'Yes' The younger version said, 'I know what he did....and I know that he's more obsessed than ever'

'Yes...but that's not why I'm here now' the older version began 'At some point within the next ten years, someone will use Cross's Golden Snitch to go back to the point of the first anomaly'

'And?' the younger version asked

'Well...whomever that is, they'll attempt to change what's coming...and I fear hasten it'

'Seven years ago...' the younger version said, mulling over the words while looking into the cup, 'That would be about the time of...'

'Yes' the older version, 'It puts it right then....and I fear that if whomever is successful, a cascading effect will occur across the continuum.'

'Is that a bad thing, considering?'

'It isn't the proper course of action' The older version said, 'We of all people should understand that certain events are immutable'

'Yes...but all the mucking with the universe and paradoxes the last three decades would suggest it's a moot point' the younger version said, taking the cup and drinking deeply, 'Ginger mint?'

'It's an acquired taste....one you should start now since it's one of my favorites'

The younger one nodded, stirring the cup with the small spoon before replacing it to the saucer. 'Any idea as to who?'

'The devil' was all the woman said, 'And the devil is trying hard to change the past'

'The devil...Mr Mephisto? That TAROT girl? Which one?'

'The one who has the most to gain....and the most lose.' The older version said cryptically.

'That's helpful...but why then?'

'It was during the schism' the older version nodded, 'It was at the darkest hour for the Crusaders'

'You'll have to be more specific...although....I think I know what you mean'

'The time when the Crusaders lost'

The younger version, still fresh from the scars of that time only a decade ago, nodded quietly.

'That pain never leaves' the older version said, 'It will lessen, but it does not leave'

'Is what he's attempting a bad thing?' The younger one added, 'I mean, certainly, we're safer...but...'

'It's a bad thing when you realize that the hand to make the change isn't thinking' the older countered, 'And that if *he* gets the device...'

'Then we should do something' the younger answered.

'We already have...' the older said, donning a helmet, 'As I'm headed to you now...or have you forgotten'

The younger version stopped, considering a moment and sifting through a universe of memories until the events were recalled with clarity...but were uncharacteristically hazy..

'That time...is difficult to remember'

'Yes...' The older nodded, 'It's beginning...'

'The road to hell is paved with good intentions' the older Snow said, bringing up the digital holographic display, 'And hell is coming'

@#(*@$@&@#@!#BREAKTIMELINEERRORSHADOWECLIPSE#!#!@!@!@$)#(T^%&#$

There was supposed to be a flash of light…an exit in graceful silence from the older version of Snow White into the temporal fugue maintained in a perfect suspension, but nothing happened. Both Snow Whites looked at each other, trying to figure out what had happened. Suddenly, it was as if time had simply ceased for the two of them, and the momentary lapse in timelines had caught them both off-guard. For a moment, neither could react to the situation, it simply had never occurred to either of them.

‘There has been a break in the timeline’ The older Snow began, staring off with glowing azure eyes. Young Snow simply nodded, and for a long moment, said nothing as she attempted parity with her older counterpart. The transfer of information covered the span of seconds. Younger Snow looked about, confused and overwhelmed. The images and lifetimes of her older counterpart revealed a history that was still just a momentary glimpse. While it was 2009, it was at the same time 2014 and 2019. Snow feel the connection of a million digital voice screaming at her from the far away future, and she could feel the burning crimson waves washing over the continuum at the beginning and the end of time.

‘Someone has vastly changed the timeline’ Older Snow started, trying in that way that Younger Snow often exhibited in figuring out the problem. Older Snow began to breath harder, as if effort was being made to simply stand. Young Snow saw fatigue and worry play across her older face, and for a moment, she felt that same fear begin to creep into her thoughts. For a moment, Young Snow felt she should alert the Crusaders, to let them know what was going on…but Young Snow could not understand what was happening. Older Snow cried out in sudden shock and pain, falling to her knees as the Time Tyrant armor cracked and fell away. Red light issues from seemingly every pore, and Young Snow felt the forceful disconnection from the digital voices as the future was being wrenched away.

‘R-R-Remember’ Older Snow began, her face burning hot with red light, ‘R-R-Remember the D-D-Devou----‘

And like that, Older Snow burst into a million points of reddish light. Young Snow shielded her eyes, turning away as the shadow of her former self became etched into the floor of the Crusaders conference room. For a moment, there was nothing in Snow’s world but the red light, the terrible red light that wasn’t just light…it wasn’t just anything. The ancient code began to filter into her mind, and she remembered fragments, long since purposely forgotten playing across her casual memory. Snow cried out, feeling the awful crimson maw of the beast close around her, the terrible heat that bore down from a single purpose and single mind. In that moment, Snow relieved all of her failures, all of her frailty in terrible scarlet clarity. There was something more to the light as it forcibly tore into her very being, reducing Snow’s memories to the basic elements of angelic code. The memories of her new life quickly burned in the entropic stillness of *his* gaze.

Snow was Eclipsed.

Prelude #5 - CO Gamma Redeux

The sound was deafening, shaking and shattering buildings and foundations from downtown to the bay. It was clear the beast was in its last legs, the weight of the sea-beast slowly buckling its stumpy legs. With a final roar, the creature shuddered and then fell to the ground, sending shockwaves across the city.

"That was...difficult' Solarion added, looking at the fallen form of Gakiza, slowly wiping sweat from his brow. The city had suffered from the rampage, from the Eastern points of Central Park where Gakiza had carved a new river to the Sentinel headquarters. Now, at long last, the terror from 50,000 fathoms had been stopped.

Solarion landed, looking at the Mistress of Might, Heraclea. Heraclea, the daughter of Hercules stood on the back of the beast, pulling massive cables around to secure Gakiza, and assist in the removal.

Solarion was reaching towards his communicator to signal the rest of the Sentinels about downgrading the emergency alert, when the skies seemed to shimmer, cascading into a brilliant flash of light. The light itself seemed to be of the most vibrant purple he'd ever seen, followed by an almost cascade of indigo. Long shadows fell over the city, as the Blurr moved up to Solarion's side.

"Whatinthehell?' The Blur started quickly, moving everywhere at once, 'Whatnow?'

Solarion gazed skyward, his eyes focusing into the spectrums of energy not often seen by the methods of detection available to normal technology. After a moment, he turned back to the Blurr, 'I've no idea...it doesn't match anything I'm familiar with...almost...a lack of anything'

The Blurr touched the side of his cowl, moving with an inhuman speed that none save mighty Solarion could see. 'MultiplereportsofaccidentsandproblemsstillduetoGakizaneedtogo'

With that, the Blur took off in a blink, and Solarion remained hovering close to the ground, actually shielding his eyes as if it would give him a better vantage to see. Staring hard upwards into the darkening sky, Solarion thought he made out several figures beginning to emerge from the shadows. In a moment, Solarion realized what they were....satellites...space debris...and large asteroids, falling as if pulled from the heavens. Immediately heading upwards, Solarion tried to cast his empyrean beams to stop the majority of impacts, but reports coming over his com-unit immediately let him know this was not a localized event. How could these things happen? The Bulwark defense system was to prevent such things, and now…

The blast took him by surprise as he felt himself spiral downwards. Expecting it to be Shadower taking advantage of the catastrophe, he was surprised when it was someone that hadn't registered on his spectrum senses....a figure that even the GAIA communications system had not picked up. Recovering quickly, he ran the image through the SAFEGUARD database, and was surprised to see it come up empty. Solarion quickly returned fire, and the battle over New York was quick and decisive, with Solarion managing the smallest of victories.

As Solarion tried to make sense, he could see the massive machine fall into place, and felt the very energies he powered himself with begin to drain away. At that moment, a flash of light struck him, and he felt...nothing. His last thoughts were questions...who were these people...what did they want, and why did so many innocents have to d---

The world warped and twisted, as if reality itself began to unravel in front of Solarion. The white-hot energy that had felled him ceased, replaced now with a twisting sensation that seemed to pull Solarion apart and remake him in one fell swoop. Solarion screamed in agony as the reddish light cascaded around him, and he became faintly aware of the city, smoking from Gakiza’s massive attack alight with a ruby haze. The smell of brimstone was matched with power gray ash that fell around the World’s Strongest Superhuman. Solarion could feel an acrid coldness as he started upwards, unbelieving for a long moment as the sun, the source of his power and life on all earth, turn from its familiar yellow to a shadowy blue – an eclipse that showed no climax or passage.

Feeling his own strength ebb away, Solarion stood for a moment, before launching himself upwards once again. The city wasn’t just reeling – It was decimated, bleached by ash and debris that had rendered even Sentinel Stronghold a smoking crater of what it was once. Somewhere in the back of Solarion’s mind, he could recall the genetic memory of his once proud home world, the last moments of his father and mother as they secured him amid the destruction of his sub-dimensional world. Although he could not have understood what was happening, Solarion felt the empathic sense of fear and loss that sent tremors of terrible sadness through his mother’s arms and shone in his father’s eyes. That moment of utter desolation had been the defining moment in which a lifetime of battling for truth and justice had been built, and he was feeling the terrible brunt of that emotion again. Solarion was shaking, trembling as if he felt the intense cold that normally he would shrug off. There was a purpose in the madness he now faced: An odd out-of-place feeling that made him question the very fabric of his world. Solarion fought against the weakness building within him, flying upwards, gaining speed as he moved, hoping to break atmosphere and whatever was distorting the sun.

For a moment, Solarion felt the rush of the outer atmosphere, and he stared, unbelieving, at the sight that greeted him. The non-Euclidian shape of the craft defied his ability to understand it. The craft, for what else could it be, simply could not exist, and yet, there it was, hovering like a grimly silent warden above the Earth. Solarion closed his eyes for a moment, feeling the coldness of space, the harshly silent vacuum that revealed nothing more. Solarion opened his eyes, and flew directly at what he determined the center of the ship to be. Building up space, Solarion flew faster than he had ever pushed himself, fighting back the strain and weakness, moving against a terrible force which threatened to end him. There was progress, and in that moment, Solarion felt the vestiges of hope swell within him.

A center spot ahead seemingly appeared out of the blackness, a red light that seemed to build into intensity, as if a beam has somehow been fired, but was not racing the speed of light. The beam arced with a slow and methodic deliberateness to it, and then almost seemed to stop – suspended in mid-air against the laws of time, space, and reality. Suddenly the beam flared forward, racing with a speed that even the superhuman speedster Blur would be unable to dodge. The red light engulfed Solarion, and in that moment, the sense of hope and possibility of success died. Solarion felt himself cry out, not just for himself, but for the billions he had failed. Hope deserted him, hemorrhaging from his heart, soul, and spirit. Solarion saw his father looking at him as the red whispers crept into his very being. There was no strength simply left to Solarion, as the light intensified, consuming everything in a crimson inferno.

Solarion was Eclipsed.

Prelude #4 - A bit of a problem

43 days, 22 hours, 34 seconds until Penumbra

The neon-blue screen had become almost burned into the retinas of Paul Perry. Incident after incident continued to appear on his screen, and the mountains of data had threatened to bury him alive more than once. Paul could nearly feel himself falling into the dull pattern of sleep, the data displaying records that had dated back to the Second World War, and still nothing. It was beyond infuriating, as Paul tried different avenues to connect the data together...different approaches, attacks, vectors, and lines of thinking to try to make order out of the chaos that the information provided. Four months and still nothing...no answers...no reasons...and worst of all, no real direction. Paul would soon enter a meeting with some of the most important people in the world and repeat what he had told them on eight separate occasions - He had nothing.

Defeated, Paul rose from his desk, rubbing the bridge of his nose while sighing. It wasn't like him to fail...and since his rescue and subsequent rise among the AEGIS SMEs, Paul had gained a reputation as a problem-solver. Now faced with a problem that was full of contradictions, he collected his 'Evil Abed' coffee mug and walked towards the small kitchenette that served the Advanced Data Center for AEGIS's intelligence service.

Paul stood quietly as co-workers and other AEGIS personnel conversed. Paul attempted to relax, attempted to ignore everything that was going on around him...zone out for a few moments in order to return to the mountain of files, images, and folders that awaited back at has desk. The sounds of the vending machine rejecting money playing out amid the other distractions. Paul looked up, and for a moment, seemed oblivious to the world, his eyes focusing on the attractive brunette who was attempting to feed a dollar to the notoriously difficult machine. When she turned to face the collection of AEGIS staff in the break-room, the question was obvious...and Paul for a moment felt his left hand move instinctively towards his wallet.

The bill in her hand made him freeze for a moment. The bill wasn't traditional currency, and Paul began to feel his unconscious mind working on a new problem. Another co-worker managed to solve the dilemma, and then joked that the pretty girl had inadvertently attempted to feed the machine the wrong denomination...just a casual accident. Paul's eyes looked sharply towards the dollar, as he reached out and took it. Looking at the bill, Paul's mind raced with possibility, and then it rendered everything clear...the answer was right in front of him.

Handing the dollar back, Paul ran to his desk, sweeping the piles of documents onto the floor, keeping one folder firmly in his right hand. Paul collapsed into his chair, pulling a pencil free from his desk holder and began to mark up the 70+ year old document. Once the pattern had been established, everything had fallen into place, as it always did for Paul...


43 days, 20 hours, 12 seconds until Penumbra

'Gentlemen and ladies' Paul began casually, standing before the podium and the assembled group, 'For some time we've been looking for answers and drawn to this symbol'

Paul's hand moved across the holographic display, reproducing a symbol that they had all come to know in one form or another over the course of the investigation.

'We know' Paul began, 'Historically what this symbol is. We've come to believe that the symbol is linked to the current world-wide situation, and if the intelligence is true, than we've got to believe that this symbol is key to understanding elements of God Mechanics.'

Collecting himself, Paul looked quickly around the room, realizing that he had the complete attention of some of the most powerful individuals in the world. For a moment, Paul felt out of his depth, but the data could not be denied, not by Paul...not by anyone.

'I think...that we've looked at the problem as to being around the creation and subsequent account of the project's birth. I think that we've been looking at this in a different light. We've tried to connect to the original account...the account that launched dozens of follow-up projects which did not replicate results. How is that possible? How is it we can't find the data or connection that the account was to provide?'



Paul stopped to look around the room, and then cleared his throat. Paul could feel their eyes upon him, and he knew that within a moment, he would fundamentally change the truth many of those present had accepted as fact.

'The account was a lie. A convenient lie which was created to conceal the truth...whatever that truth was. The report was created, carefully crafted at probably the highest levels of the government at that time to conceal whatever created the Star Sentinel. All of our work since then in attempts to recreate the program failed because....because the report that we based the majority of our work on was a lie'

Paul continued to look down at the document in front of him. He could hear the murmurs and discussions drowning out the world again, his eyes stared at the simplicity of his notes, the scribbled hand-writing in the margins, and the circled points he had made.

'Why?'

The man's voice resonated and ended the murmuring. Paul looked up and met the gray eyes of Michael Deckard, who stared with an intensity which made Paul slightly nervous. There was a mutual moment of silence as the two men stared at each other, and as the answer came, Paul felt himself unable or unwilling to break eye contact.

'I think....I believe....that it was orchestrated to cover up something major....something that was serious enough that they had to concoct a story about Precursor medical experimentation as a lesser alibi'

'Well' Deckard said after a moment, 'I suppose then we find out why that was...after you answer a question'

'What question' Paul said, eyes still locked with Deckard.

'Is this your best guess?' Deckard said calmly. the coolness in his voice betrayed nothing of his intentions or thoughts, and Paul found it difficult to read the older man.

'It is the only answer that makes sense. None of the other data supports any other answer...and it would answer the question you asked originally - Why is it the Precursors are so important to God Mechanics? The truth is...they're not....they didn't create the Star Sentinel, even by accident. Something else is at work here'.

Paul felt the data recombine as it always did, attempting to quietly assemble itself inside his mind into new and different avenues of thought that could make the theory fit. When after a moment he could not make the answers work any other way than how he had presented it, Paul felt himself say 'I'm absolutely certain'.

'Then...' Deckard added, 'We see what we can learn about the Star Sentinel, and why he's so damned important to Target: Shadow'

'But where to look' Paul said, 'Where to look?'



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ECLIPSED
Marscon 2014

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