Interlude
Adala Lagerkvist
"Clock-tower I"
The Four Factors.
A set of abilities, or rather innate magics, that enabled one manipulate the four main aspects of the universe as one saw fit. They were rare powers that did not belong in the hands of humans, so rare in fact, that even amongst those few humans who were born with a connection to the universe, there had never been a single one capable of holding more than one at a time...
The mission of the Demon Summoners aboard the battleship S.L.E.I.P.N.I.R, as well as some of the surviving exorcists and ESPers of the SDCD, was to cross a technological limit and force artificial reproduction of those same powers. It was a mission that had been surprisingly successful, enabled by a number of miracles ranging from the appearance and cooperation of a certain God of Finite Time who had agreed to be studied for the purpose of creating a program capable of 'hacking' it's counterpart, as well as fragments of the spiritual power of the one man in this generation who had naturally held the "Factor of Time," within himself...
In short, they were not abilities that were easy to come by; and Adala Lagerkvist, leader of Germany's Rothschild Organization, and the woman who has quickly moved into the spot of "leader of humanity's defense forces" for this particular world-wide incident, had been full prepared to accept the knowledge that they would be going into battle with that "Almighty God" with only a single one of the factors on their side.
To hope for any more would be insanity, fate had already thrown enough miracles her way for her to feasibly hope for anything more to work with, and thus-
"Where did it come from? Operator, Trace the sender, simply considering it good will is impossible."
-The sudden transmission of data onto the ship's supercomputer, data that had identified itself as corresponding to that of the "Factor of Power," has left her in an unexpected position.
---Enough so that she can't help but be suspicious.
"A trace is already being attempted Admiral, however, first response indicates that the origin no longer exists. It is possible that the area was destroyed soon after the transmission; attempting dimensional shift... Dimensional probing has also proven to be ineffective."
"...Of course. Well then, send it down to the labs. Both Christou and Genesis, I want this scanned in it's entirety for errors or traps; it's authenticity needs to be identified within the hour, inform them of that, we can't afford to take defective weapons."
"Understood, commander."
This incident is far beyond what she has handled in her own lifetime, and yet her sense of casual ease is a refined one that betrays none of the uncertainty she feels in the pit of her stomach.
Her affairs normally do not extend beyond the bounds of Germany, and yet now that the SDCD has fallen due to what seemed to be internal sabotage, this series of events with Nyarlathotep has led to her being the highest ranking commander on the scene -even the church is still attempting to recover from the damage that had been by Nyarlathotep's worldwide flame- and that, in turn...
Has caused her area of protection to move from "Germany," to "Japan," and now "Planet Earth."
---Depending upon how one interpreted the Devourer, it was possible "Planet Earth" would extend to "Existence."
For any lesser human, it would be a crushing responsibility, and indeed, the weight of it on her shoulders has made it impossible for her to rest in any real capacity.
Not only is there a timer on the apocalypse, a number of demons have appeared all around the world, all of them with differing dispositions; some are being helpful, while others have started on the path of a rampage, and a number of her lieutenants have continued to request her aid in forming their responses... Priority has to be given to the other Summoner Organizations, if they can recover, then the amount of units that can be deployed should be sufficient to get the situation back under control...
It was the much easier task all things considered; and the incoming reports show the United Kingdom at least is heading in a more positive direction with the appearance of a certain forgotten organization; and with the Rose Cross's second in command stepping up to the plate, she should be able to focus completely on their newest and greatest opponent soon...
---It's a game of chess where the opponent can win simply by cheating, but is allowing them to set up their side as they pleased because it believes it cam knock down whatever powers manifested against it in a heartbeat, it is a literal game of humans against a "God" that is close to omnipotent, and it is easily the most difficult challenge she has ever come up against, but-
"Ma'am! Global spatial distortions detected! Devourer's signature confirmed!"
"What? Reinforce the barriers, and give me visuals on the locations."
Over forty screens ignite at this remark, each showing not the area outside of the ship, but various cities all around the world; it is not a network she would ordinarily be allowed access too due to conditions with political relations, but circumstances and her charisma had enabled her to more or less force use of them out of the hands of foreign governments.
---When the world was at stake, she really didn't care about politics.
If she had to use the ship's computer to hack the network, she would have done that as well... This is not the time for that sort of nonsense.
What appears within the frames is a descending tower; while she had partially expected some sort of random divine assault, the reality is that it's simply a building descending from the heavens... It makes sense not to be an attack, the God had already declared the time of their demise, and clearly wasn't impatient about it, as determined by the fact that it was even allowing them time to mount an offense and defense, but-
---It's still a worrying sight, something that could almost be called passive aggressive in nature, but also a fulfillment of the God's promise to "let the world know."
It's a Clock Tower.
Not many Clock-Towers, merely a single one that just so happens to be in multiple places at once, a spacial nexus, and a use perhaps, of the "Factor of Space." It's a clock that is somewhat accurate to the current hour, showing the same 4 AM reading as the ship's many clocks, but in comparison to a full clock face...
That distant -massive- tower is only labeled up until 9 AM.
Everything after that is blank, and the message that comes with that nothingness is clear.
---That is the amount of time they have left until the end of the world; there is no need to mark any hours past that, as nothing will exist beyond that distant time, in other words...
"Five hours left huh... That's a twisted sense of humor..."
She smiles.
It's not funny, not at all, but to her it's sort of a relief because...
---She had thought she merely had until 6 o'clock.
This gave her much more time to work with...!
"Well, looks like even the enemy is getting ready. Once the second Factor is confirmed authentic, begin uploading them onto the spare COMPs. Reinforce the material as much as you can, if they break during the battle, whoever is wearing it might as well accept defeat."
Standing up, the woman makes her way past her operators, the sound of furiously tapping keyboards and retreating footsteps fading from her thoughts as she gazes at the distant tower not through a screen, but rather through a window with her own eyes...
"...Confident enough for taunts, huh? Hate to disappoint you... But we're not going quietly."
---Clouds have started to flow in, slowly overcoming the starless sky.
"You chose to devour people that don't go down so easily. One way or the other..."
"This finale isn't going to go as you planned."
Interlude Out
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Originally Posted by The Final Rest
