AFTER INSURRECTION 0025
APRIL 22ND
11:56AM
4 MINUTES, 32 SECONDS BEFORE EMERGENCE
Jupiter.
The greatest prison ever designed in human history, home to countless ravenous machines caged by a permanent, roiling electromagnetic storm, the so-called "Eye of Jupiter" was such in its dimensions that the entire Earth could have fit into its confines...
Yet, for those that benefited from it, the Eye could never be large enough to hold all of their enemies.
Movement.
Cloud banks parted and whirled, the surface of the spot churning murkily as something stirred. Overhead, hundreds of mechanical eyes - cameras embedded in state-of-the-art satellites snapped to immediate attention, focusing their wayward gazes on the spot. Though they had been designed to pick out even the smallest, slightest disturbance, it was rare that the machines would ever so much as try to sneak out of their confinement.
No... Brute force, for their kind, was far more efficient.
The swell below showed no signs of abating - and in less than a minute, it burst. Smoke and matter pouring from its winged form, the machine took flight into the stars, thrusters flaring behind it as it climbed, forcing its way through the intense gravity well of the gas giant. As it rose, ahead of it the very same satellites that had watched its emergence lined up with its projected flight path, thrusters and verniers flitting and fluttering across their boxy frames-
And unleashed Hell.
Missiles were loosed in row after row, leaving smoky trails in the void as they careened forward in search of their target - a crushing hail of ordinance that was as devastating as it was necessary, for nothing less could deter one of them. Only moments later, muzzles lit up across the defense line, sending a rain of piercing light - beam weapons, pulsing down into the path of the escapee. Explosions covered its form as each found its mark, sending up a cloud of dust. The barrage halted - not to assess the damage, but because every warhead had been spent, and every barrel glowed.
A minute passed. Two. The universe held its collective breath.
But then-
A jet-black black, spiteful lance of energy burst forth from the cloud, penetrating one of the satellites, causing it to erupt into a cascade of flame that sent its fellows scrambling away - and which afforded the escapee the opening it needed.
Dread, pointed wings beating soullessly against the stars, it lunged forward, one frigid blue cycloptic eye glowing in frenzied anticipation, its appearance mangled - but far from defeated, as it was suddenly upon its oppressors. The satellites were callously smashed aside, to sink into the gravity well, where they would be crushed like cans, paltry trophies for those still held below...
The first scalps, it seemed, of many to come.
As the Mobile Armor vanished from sight, the satellite arrays began to blink in unison - an array of laser transmissions, a sea of lights flashing out to distant islands of humanity. The next set of defenders had to be alerted. Humanity had to be warned.
The first line of defense had failed.
APRIL 22ND
11:56AM
4 MINUTES, 32 SECONDS BEFORE EMERGENCE
Jupiter.
The greatest prison ever designed in human history, home to countless ravenous machines caged by a permanent, roiling electromagnetic storm, the so-called "Eye of Jupiter" was such in its dimensions that the entire Earth could have fit into its confines...
Yet, for those that benefited from it, the Eye could never be large enough to hold all of their enemies.
Movement.
Cloud banks parted and whirled, the surface of the spot churning murkily as something stirred. Overhead, hundreds of mechanical eyes - cameras embedded in state-of-the-art satellites snapped to immediate attention, focusing their wayward gazes on the spot. Though they had been designed to pick out even the smallest, slightest disturbance, it was rare that the machines would ever so much as try to sneak out of their confinement.
No... Brute force, for their kind, was far more efficient.
The swell below showed no signs of abating - and in less than a minute, it burst. Smoke and matter pouring from its winged form, the machine took flight into the stars, thrusters flaring behind it as it climbed, forcing its way through the intense gravity well of the gas giant. As it rose, ahead of it the very same satellites that had watched its emergence lined up with its projected flight path, thrusters and verniers flitting and fluttering across their boxy frames-
And unleashed Hell.
Missiles were loosed in row after row, leaving smoky trails in the void as they careened forward in search of their target - a crushing hail of ordinance that was as devastating as it was necessary, for nothing less could deter one of them. Only moments later, muzzles lit up across the defense line, sending a rain of piercing light - beam weapons, pulsing down into the path of the escapee. Explosions covered its form as each found its mark, sending up a cloud of dust. The barrage halted - not to assess the damage, but because every warhead had been spent, and every barrel glowed.
A minute passed. Two. The universe held its collective breath.
But then-
A jet-black black, spiteful lance of energy burst forth from the cloud, penetrating one of the satellites, causing it to erupt into a cascade of flame that sent its fellows scrambling away - and which afforded the escapee the opening it needed.
Dread, pointed wings beating soullessly against the stars, it lunged forward, one frigid blue cycloptic eye glowing in frenzied anticipation, its appearance mangled - but far from defeated, as it was suddenly upon its oppressors. The satellites were callously smashed aside, to sink into the gravity well, where they would be crushed like cans, paltry trophies for those still held below...
The first scalps, it seemed, of many to come.
As the Mobile Armor vanished from sight, the satellite arrays began to blink in unison - an array of laser transmissions, a sea of lights flashing out to distant islands of humanity. The next set of defenders had to be alerted. Humanity had to be warned.
The first line of defense had failed.
T-MINUS 12 HOURS UNTIL ARRIVAL
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