[font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Heralds:[/font]
[font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Mako listened to her little Lung march out the door and angrily slam it shut before she sighed with resignation. The rickety walls of their shanty-house shook with the force, and with the howl of the wind from the driving North Pacific storm coming on-shore. No illusions as to how he would get the rice. Things were getting worse in town, ever since the Yangban had arrived.[/font]
[font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]It was a crowded home for them, half-filled with documents saved from the off-books Monarch HQ they had been using before the sinking squeezed between fabric-covered frames that had been supposed to be properly boarded over six months ago dividing up the space into the promised rooms. An imported scanner attached to an imported computer in the corner, a stack of disks in a case atop all of that. Bare, wooden floors underfoot, creaking and unpolished. The generator off in another corner altogether.[/font]
[font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]A clatter, a crash from the closet of a room that she called her bedroom. Mako frowned and turned to look into the interior of their apartment. Nothing in her room should have fallen, it was all placed to avoid that. She grabbed the military flashlight from the sitting table, and the katana from beneath it as she passed, flicking on the brilliant beam of light to illuminate her way. It had not been just Mothra that her mother had instructed her in. She adjusted her movements, quieting her steps as she moved to the bead drapes separating the rooms. Calmed herself, centered herself, and she moved with purpose and a war cry of intimidation.[/font]
[font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Three small devices had lit up, each one illuminating one of the statuettes of the Titans. Blue, for Gojira; red, for Rodan; and a white one, for Mothra. A white light, sitting atop a stuffed chibi Mothra, she noted. Atop a thick envelope, a cellular phone of unknown make, a note, and a computer drive system. Mako checked behind her again, approaching the shrine warily. Still nothing, no-one.[/font]
[font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]It was a very nice little chibi Mothra.[/font]
[font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Nothing to it, then, but to find out. A prayer first, to the King, his Queen, and their champion for protection. That they might give insight, wisdom, and luck against whatever threats may be coming to stand against her. She knelt before the shrine, bowing to each statue in turn as she recited the relevant prayer. Then came out the protective breath mask from under the shrine, and the earmuffs to go with them, and the sword and flashlight went down beneath it. Better safe than sorry. Gojira would better protect those who adequately prepared themselves for the coming fight.[/font]
[font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]A flutter rustled in the dark behind Mako, smacking up against the thick bead curtain separating the rooms.[/font]
[font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Mako was mortified as she screamed like she was thirty years younger. If her mother, or Rodan forbid her Kenta, saw her flailing and trying to remove the gigantic moth that had firmly attached itself to her face she would never live it down. Still sensible enough to avoid using the blade as the wings batted against her face, Mako continued screaming from the shock of the experience as she stumbled around blindly. A small corner of her mind depreciated her dignity even further, insisting loudly to the rest of the internal peanut gallery that to add to all the other indignities being heaped upon her the moth was more terrified of her than she was of it and she was being defeated in honorable combat. No, not being defeated, she would reflect a second later. From the floor. No, she had been soundly defeated by a lowly moth, having been distracted into tripping over the sitting table. Really, she should renounce the blade if a moth was all it took to bring her down.[/font]
[font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Glittering wings, shaded from that brilliant blue-white at their base to tiger stripes of white and black flicked once, then opened wider to reveal the raging yellow-orange eyespots at their tip. Somehow, the posture of the moth changed, raising the disturbingly shaped forelegs into a ready posture before it as it stood up straighter; challenging her. The glow of the abdomen light grew brighter as the moth shook it menacingly. Well, that was probably the intent.[/font]
[font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]A glare, through the gloom and dark. Two relics of an age supposedly long since past, staring each other down. A conflict of wills, one that ended as abruptly as it started as the moth dropped out of the challenge and flicked its wings once more in a feathery-sounding buzz. Mako glared at it longer yet, daring it to try again.[/font]
[font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Smack. Flutter-flutter-flutter-buzz. Smack. Flutter-flutter-flutter-buzz-buzz. Smack...[/font]
[font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Ah, the impatience of the young. She was temped to let the little moth stew there until Kenta returned, so that she could use his resistance to master effects to verify whether or not she was somehow being mastered. Then again, it was a Shobijin moth, back from the dead, and likely sitting atop the Mothra statuette. There was a flutter of wings, then the sounds of scraping and clacking from within. No, it was probably not wise to let it suffer. It was petty.[/font]
[font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]She flipped over the envelope, discovering it had been crudely opened at least once, then resealed with a blue-green wax seal the same color as the glow from the little Shobijin. She looked at the seal carefully, noting the Greek Omega embossed into the wax, and the elegant kanji written across the back. A symbol that rang a hint of familiarity from somewhere within her memory, lost somewhere between the trivia concerning the mythological history of Gamera, tales she had reconstructed of The One Who Was Many, and the research project she had been working on to try and link mythic heroes and some form of Titan-granted parahuman powers. No, not ancient, something more recent. Probably nothing.[/font]
[font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Honorable Serizawa,[/font]
[font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Pray to Rodan with your son. Ask for the blessings of the champion so as to bestow a measure of his skill unto a humbled dragon, so that he may continue climbing the falls to a place of wisdom. You will need it. Her humble messenger will convey a portion of her wisdom unto you and assist in guiding you to where you need to be.[/font]
[font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Heed this warning, more rides on it than you can know. Victory can only be found by following this Path To it. Keep the faith, there are dark times. The dawn draws near. It will be many years yet, but there has been a turning of the tide.[/font]
[font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Your penitent sister of the faith,[/font]
[font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]The Fortunate Daughter of Mosura.[/font]
[font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]All Hail the Newborn Queen. Peace on Earth, Goodwill to All. Is Making a Garden of Eden In Her Name. Come, See. If You Can. Have a Place for You. City at Large Showing Signs of Unusual Growth. Theories of Being Key to Balance MAY be True. Could be New Start. Come, and See.[/font]
[font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]-------------------------[/font]
[font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Yangban[/font][font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif][/font][font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Titans[/font]
[font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]As such, the Yangban has been a traditional adversarial force against the multinational Titan organization, Monarch ([/font][font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Link[/font][font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]), since the mid-1990s as part of their efforts to gain and control the information that Monarch has in order to at least deny that information to others. Notable incidents include the 2001 Hokkaido Incident ([/font][font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Link[/font][font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]), the 2005 Newfoundland Miracle ([/font][font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Link[/font][font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]), and the 2009 Brockton Bay Battle ([/font][font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Link[/font][font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]). Monarch has avoided directly antagonizing the Yangban but has refused direct national protection from the various national and international Parahuman and Intelligence organizations on the grounds that they believe they would be mined for their knowledge by those organizations instead.[/font]
[font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]The Yangban uses a mix of cape and non-cape actors, typically using a squad or cell-based approach to their actions. These typically compose a team of non-Parahuman agents backed up by a mixed team of Parahumans who assist, with variations depending on assignment, security of the target, and other factors. It is unknown how many of these cells exist at this time (Citation Needed).[/font]
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[font=tahoma, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]The cape uncrossed their arms, dramatically rising into the air in a flurry of wind that whipped the raging downpour into a microcosm of the out-of-season storm. Rain splattered against the interior of the shop in blasts, swept around by the bands of wind. All grew relatively silent once more as the cape vanished into the swirling winds of the storm.[/font]
. Also interesting to hear Monarch was devoured by those other organizations, I recognize the names as being from the Wormverse but don't know much about them beyond that, and sad to hear so many kaiju got offed by Scion. Well interested to see where you're taking this so consider this thread watched!