ROUNDERHOUSE's Jade Proposal

Link to article: ROUNDERHOUSE's Jade Proposal.

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[!-- https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/fragment:jade-proposal-0 --]
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[[include more-by:rounderhouse]]
= **[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8LWqZBaifE Recommended Reading Music]** 
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[#ACT1 ACT I] • [#ACT2 ACT II] • [#ACT3 ACT III] • [#ACT4 ACT IV] • [#ACT5 ACT V]
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ACT IV
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INFALLIBLE
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**FILESERV NOTICE:** The following document was inserted into this file at a later date, under containment protocol [[span class="label"]]HERODOTUS[[/span]]. Refer to Special Containment Procedures for more information.
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VERSE 106-109
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As witnessed by Rapplataray, Fifth Rajmata of the Scarlet Maharaja.

And once the Beast had laid waste to Amoni-Ram, torn the city asunder and set the armies loose to tear each other apart, it continued its dreadful march across the desert and into the jungles and forests of the Covenant. And in this it was victorious; for it had slaughtered the Grand Armies at Amoni-Ram, routing the men and spirits of the Daeva from the battlefield, sending them into a desperate retreat through the thickets and undergrowth, to Mamjul, to salvation.

And so it was that the armies of the Daeva were forced to abandon their peoples, their sacred charge and those of their children, as they formed a great mass, marching ceaselessly towards their stronghold, the ancestral home of the Daeva, where they could mount a defense. But as with all things, such decisions are rooted in sacrifices of blood, of honor, of duty. And the ultimate sacrifice was made a hundred times over. Loyal soldiers left to their devices against the chaos of the horde, knowing their deaths inevitable, taking solace in the fact that their deaths might preserve their afterlifes.

Because it was understood that were the **BLACKSTAR** to lead his armies across the isthmus and into Mamjul, he would lay siege to the city, and break it just as he had broken Amoni-Ram. The slaughter would be wholesale and complete, and not only of the material plane. For were the Three-Prong Army to bring down the walls of Mamjul, to seize the Tree, they would tear apart the roots seeking the original gift of the Scarlet, the source of the Maharaja's power. And should they take it from his sleeping corpse, he would crumble away to nothingness, robbed of his immortality. And as he crumbled, so too would the dream he dreamt, and Korar with it.
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----
[[=]]
++ Section 001.7
+++ {{LATER RESEARCH}}
[[/=]]
----
On April 11th, following several months of cooperative research from all teams of the Mamjul-Korar Initiative, the first revision of the Daevic Empire Cultural Briefing was finalized. The report covered nearly every aspect of cultural knowledge that the Daeva had been willing to share with Foundation personnel, and represented likely the first written record of the Daeva's existence in centuries, perhaps millennia. A meeting of the Anthropology Committee was called to discuss forward action.
[[collapsible hideLocation="both" show="▶OPEN ADDENDUM◀" hide="▷CLOSE◁"]]
[[div class="addendum"]]
[[div class="doc"]]
ATTACHED DOCUMENT - APRIL 2003
[[/div]]
= **<<IN ATTENDANCE>>**
**Doctor Pandora Galanis** --  Project Lead (LEAD)
**Operator Ajay Desai** -- Dive Team Lead (DIVE)
**Sr. Researcher Levi Sheridan** -- Archaeology Team Lead (ARCH)
**Sr. Researcher Xing Yijun** -- Linguistic Analysis Team Lead (LING)
**Doctor Karl Aberer** -- Anthropology Team Lead (ANTH)
**Sr. Researcher Vijay Ramaswamy** --  Parahistory Team Lead (HIST)
----
= **<<BEGIN LOG>>**
----
//[GALANIS and DESAI enter the conference room aboard the// Phantom//. The research committee is already assembled and waiting. The leads are seated around the conference table, while subteam leads and senior researchers crowd the walls.]//

**GALANIS:** Hello again, everyone! Big day today, huh?

**SHERIDAN (ARCH):** Morning, boss. 

**YIJUN (LING):** Well? Don't leave us in suspense!

//[GALANIS smiles.]//

**GALANIS:** Mhm. After six months, several hundred interviews with the Daeva, and thousands of hours of research and cultural study by every member of the Initiative... I've transmitted the final draft of the Cultural Briefing, all nine-hundred-fifty-four pages of it, to Overwatch Command as of 8:02 this morning.

//[The room bursts into cheers and claps. Several researchers high-five, hug or simply whistle. The celebration carries on for the better part of a minute, until GALANIS raises their hand and it dies down.]//

**GALANIS:** I know not everyone's here, but for those of you that are, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. You guys did an amazing job -- none of us knew what we were getting into when we made the first dive into Mamjul, but you've all handled the impossible job with an exceptional air of professionalism and duty. It's you guys that made this possible. Give yourselves a pat on the back.

//[Another, more reserved round of applause rings out from the researchers lined up around the room.]//

**GALANIS:** This is a huge milestone, but our work isn't over yet. The Briefing is a pretty exhaustive look at the culture and anthropology of the Daeva, but our historians still have a lot of work ahead of us. Additionally, I was informed by the Council that we'll be seeing some new faces within the week -- a crew of researchers from the Applied Thaumaturgy Division are being flown out.

**DESAI (DIVE):** We're getting wizards?

//[A polite chuckle rings out.]//

**GALANIS:** I think they're technically mages, but yeah. The Council has a lot of interest in seeing the applications of Daevic thaumaturgy, so that's a new avenue of research. But the rest of us also have a lot to do -- especially our Parahistory Team. You'll all get briefings from your team leads with your new research directives by the end of the day. For now, you're dismissed, everyone. Enjoy the day off.

//[The researchers cheer one last time before trickling out of the conference room. Eventually, just the Team Leads and GALANIS are left. SHERIDAN takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes.]//

**SHERIDAN (ARCH):** Can't believe it's really finished. 

**ABERER (ANTH):** Feels a bit like seeing your kid off to college, haha.

**YIJUN (LING):** I'm relieved, honestly.

**GALANIS:** Yeah? How so?

**YIJUN (LING):** If I never talk to a Daeva again it'll be too soon.

//[GALANIS looks at her askance.]//

**GALANIS:** What do you mean?

**SHERIDAN (ARCH):** I mean, you know what she's talking about.

**GALANIS:** I really don't.

**ABERER (ANTH):** Neither do I.

**SHERIDAN (ARCH):** Come on, you guys read the same Culture Briefing I did. I mean, hell, we wrote it! The Daeva aren't exactly a squeaky-clean culture.

**ABERER (ANTH):** Such a thing doesn't exist.

**YIJUN (LING):** Sure, but like... you guys didn't find it weird or creepy when these huge creatures started talking about sacrificing their slaves?

**RAMASWAMY (HIST):** It was not //enjoyable// but one needs to keep an open mind about such things. They are from three thousand years ago; slavery and sacrifice being taboo are modern luxuries. 

**ABERER (ANTH):** Such things were ubiquitous in the ancient world.

**SHERIDAN (ARCH):** Yeah, but we're not //in// the ancient world, are we?

**ABERER (ANTH):** The Daeva are. 

**SHERIDAN (ARCH):** You guys seriously don't see anything fucked up about this? I //wrote// the section where we talk about finding the sacrifice pits in Mamjul. They were a brutal, militaristic culture.

**YIJUN (LING):** Yeah. Just because they existed back then doesn't mean they're exempt from judgement.

**RAMASWAMY (HIST):** Four hundred thousand people died in the construction of the Great Wall of China. Countless thousands of slaves in the construction of the Pyramids. We cannot apply our modern moral axioms to the actions of kings from a thousand years before democracy was even thought of. 

**SHERIDAN (ARCH):** Even if that was true, you still have to face the fact that they did awful things. Like, boss, the Rajmata showed you the atrocities during the war.

**GALANIS:** I mean, yes, but those were mutual atrocities. The First War was rife with them from all sides.

**YIJUN (LING):** That doesn't mean that they're not guilty of doing terrible things.

**RAMASWAMY (HIST):** As though we're any different? Consider how many people die in pointless resource wars or terrorism or senseless acts of violence every day. 

**SHERIDAN (ARCH):** Dude, are you serious? Yeah, I think our culture is a little better than the people sacrificing kids to the blood god.

**ABERER (ANTH):** Are you //trying// to be reductive?

**YIJUN (LING):** I don't totally agree with Levi, but like, you guys do recognize what you're excusing, right? Their morals haven't changed -- I bet if you went in and asked any one of them right now, they'd still tell you that yeah, enslaving 'lesser creatures' is okay.

**ABERER (ANTH):** We're approaching this from an anthropological perspective. Just because I find some things morally reprehensible doesn't mean I get to cast judgement over an entire culture. That's no basis for scholarly research.

//[GALANIS raises their hands.]//

**GALANIS:** Okay, look, everyone, I think we may have gotten a little too close to the subject of the research here-

**RAMASWAMY (HIST):** I do not believe getting close to the subject is always bad. Your close relationship with the Rajmata is the only way we have learned so much about the Daeva to begin with.

**GALANIS:** That's-- I mean, yeah, you're right, but like, our work requires a little distance to be able to remain impartial.

**YIJUN (LING):** The Daevic language has forty different words for 'religious torture'. We've spent the better part of a year studying these things. Are you really telling me the image you've gotten isn't one of a brutal theocracy? How can you be impartial about that?

**GALANIS:** Look, I'm not saying that either. I think this has gotten a little heated--

**ABERER (ANTH):** Then what //are// you saying, Doctor?

**SHERIDAN (ARCH):** Whose side are you even on?

**GALANIS:** I- I-

**DESAI (DIVE):** Back the fuck off.

//[Silence.]//

**DESAI (DIVE):** I'm serious. Talk like that to them again and I'll break your nose.

//[Silence.]//

**SHERIDAN (ARCH):** //[Quietly]// Sorry, boss.

**DESAI (DIVE):** That's what I thought. You guys are all only here because Pan stuck up for you to the Council, or all of your asses would've been behind desks months ago. Show a little goddamn respect.

//[GALANIS raises a hand.]//

**GALANIS:** It's alright. It's an emotional day, people are high-strung. It's okay. You guys are dismissed. You'll get your research directives on your terminals. 

//[The team leads quietly file out of the room, avoiding eye contact with each other. DESAI and GALANIS are left.]//

**DESAI (DIVE):** You okay?

**GALANIS:** Yeah.

//[They sigh.]//

**GALANIS:** No. Not really.
----
= **<<END LOG>>**
----
[[/div]]

[[div class="addendum" style="border-style: dashed; border-width: 1px; padding-bottom: 0.7rem;"]]
[[div class="doc"]]
ATTACHED DOCUMENT -- APRIL 2003
[[/div]]
[[div style="text-align: center;"]]
**FROM THE DESK OF DOCTOR PANDORA GALANIS**
[[size 80%]]MAMJUL-KORAR INITIATIVE[[/size]]
----
[[size 110%]]//Personal thoughts on research progress//[[/size]]
[[/div]]
Well, today was shitty.

I didn't realize there was this kind of an ideological split among the leads. It's jarring. I don't know how to feel about it. On one hand, Karl and Vijay are right. The one thing they hammer into you throughout your undergrad, graduate school, doctoral work, your career, is that trying to apply modern moral conceptions to ancient cultures is foolish. That's how ethnocentrism starts. Our modern morals are a product of an exceptionally high quality of life, wealth, and lifespan. The Daeva didn't have that. Like almost all ancient empires, their culture was built off the back of a gargantuan apparatus of slavery, imperialism, and state violence.

But at the same time... it's a unique situation, right? The Daeva aren't ancient. Well, they are, but they're not //extinct//. It's not like you're talking about the Egyptian slavery system, where everyone involved has been dead for thousands of years. The Daeva still exist, and Yijun is right. They still hold these beliefs. The Rajmata certainly does. 

Everything is a matter of perspective. Whether the Daeva are a product of their time or a warlike empire... maybe both. It's more complicated than that. It's so complicated. I think we might have gotten a little close to the subject of research here. We had to immerse ourselves in the culture to learn what we did, but I'm not sure we've learned what immersing ourselves has done to our own perspectives.

Not to mention the fact that we still need to figure out what happened to the Covenant after Amoni-Ram fell. This new stuff about the Three-Prong Army and the Abominate/Wretch and the Blackstar... I'm looking through all our databases and plenty of mundane academic ones. I've come up entirely dry.

Except for one thing. Vijay caught it: the Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III. The basis for the mythology of the Sea Peoples. An unidentified culture group that sweeped through and laid waste to Asia Minor, Egypt, and the rest of the Mediterranean during the Bronze Age Collapse. We have no records of who they were or how they managed to annihilate a slew of powerful military states, just some Egyptian writings that prove their presence in the region. 

[[include component:image-block name=http://scptestwiki.wdfiles.com/local--files/jade/Shardana.jpg|
    caption=An engraving of the Sea People from the mortuary temple.|
]]

But the Rajmata mentioned the Wretch had 'crawled out of the sea' and quietly built an army that proceeded to steamroll over every other culture on its way to Amoni-Ram. Writings in Amoni-Ram and the Rajmata's testimony indicate that the Three-Prong Army came out of North Africa, and the Sea Peoples would have had to push through Egypt if they wanted to get to Amoni-Ram. It's not perfect, and the evidence is circumstantial, but it's something. 

Though it raises two more questions that have been nagging at me. The first: what happened to the historical records of the Wretch? If a culture really did sweep through North Africa and then obliterate half of Asia, there //has// to be some kind of archaeological record of it! It doesn't make sense.

And the second: why would Robert Bumaro be so terrified of something from three thousand years ago?
[[/div]]
[[/collapsible]]

Despite the finalization of the Culture Briefing, the primary goal of the Mamjul-Korar Initiative remained to construct an accurate timeline leading to the fall of the anomalous empires and identify the Abominate/Wretch. Dr. Galanis' sessions with the Rajmata had reached the Fall of Amoni-Ram in approximately 1200 BCE, which is where the historical model constructed by Dr. Hedvig Nussbaum ended. At this crucial precipice, the Council unanimously agreed to permit further sessions.

[[collapsible hideLocation="both" show="▶OPEN ADDENDUM◀" hide="▷CLOSE◁"]]
[[div class="addendum"]]
[[div class="doc"]]
ATTACHED TRANSCRIPT - APRIL 2003 
[[/div]]
**SOURCE:** Doctor Pandora Galanis
----
= **<<BEGIN LOG>>**
----
//[GALANIS and GREAVES are standing in a a lush verdant rainforest. Ahead of them, the trees grow thinner, eventually turning into a wide clearing in which sits a large village. Several dozen large stone buildings and many smaller wooden huts form the low, flat settlement; the architecture is consistent with many of the constructions in Mamjul and Korar. Aside from the pair, there is no one else visible.]//

**GALANIS:** What the hell? Where are we?

**GREAVES:** This is a dream. But I don't know where.

**GALANIS:** Where is everybody? The Rajmata isn't here. //Nobody's// here.

**GREAVES:** Wait.

//[He pauses. His hand unconsciously goes to his side.]//

**GREAVES:** Something's wrong. I recognize this feeling.

**RAJMATA:** I had a feeling you would, Greaves-//jirras//.

//[The RAJMATA materializes out of the trees, standing tall and draped in robes.]//

**GALANIS:** Woah! Sorry. You startled me.

**RAJMATA:** My apologies. But I had to gauge something.

**GREAVES:** What?

**RAJMATA:** Whether you were able to recognize an ambush. Look.

//[She waves a hand out towards the empty clearing.]//

**GALANIS:** There's nobody there.

**GREAVES:** Yes there is. They're everywhere. 

**RAJMATA:** Very good.

//[An shimmer passes over the field of view. The incandescent silhouettes of hundreds of Daeva are briefly visible, crouching on the floor or standing in formation, armed with all manner of weaponry. They face the far end of the clearing.]//

**GALANIS:** Remarkable. They're invisible?

**RAJMATA:** A brief spell by one of the sorcerers. Simply a temporary measure.

**GREAVES:** What for?

**RAJMATA:** For this.

//[Distant, a horn sounds, growing closer. For a minute, nothing happens. Then a massive, black horde rushes out of the trees, charging the Daeva line.  The Daeva flanks rush forward, crashing into the enemy. Shouting, yelling, and screaming immediately fill the air, punctuated by the horn and the steady beats of war drums.]//

**GALANIS:** Those aren't the Nälka. They're... human.

**RAJMATA:** The **BLACKSTAR**'s horde, the Three-Prong Army.

//[They watch as the soldiers charge out of the treeline. They are human warriors, dressed in dark armors and leathers, tanned skin visible underneath. The generals and leaders are clothed entirely in suits of plated armor. They don't appear to use any specific kinds of magic or anomalies -- just simple bronze weapons and wooden siege engines, their sheer numbers and ferocity enough to force the Daeva backwards.]//

**GREAVES:** They just look like any old painting of ancient soldiers. What was their deal? 

**RAJMATA:** They scorned our magic. Not just that of the Daeva; all of ours. The Nälka, the Mekhanites as well. They had no qualms using it against us, but they were not believers. 

**GALANIS:** They must have had some kind of advantage, if they were able to take Amoni-Ram and give you a fair right. 

**RAJMATA:** They did. But their advantage was not in the weapons they used -- in this sense, they were utterly human. Their advantage was in their leader. After Amoni-Ram fell, I recalled our armies from the eastern front. Half of our largest force had vanis-

 //[She catches herself.]//

**RAJMATA:** Had been killed. We were going to be marched on by the Three-Prong Army. They were too powerful for me to split my forces. 

**GREAVES:** You recalled the armies to Mamjul?

**RAJMATA:** No. Not to Mamjul. To Thijam, a smaller city on a narrow isthmus, forming the link between our peninsula and the mainland. 

**GREAVES:** A choke point.

**RAJMATA:** Yes. The Three-Prong Army was far larger than mine. I had to reduce their numbers, so I elected to trap them at Thijam. But that took several months of full retreat. Our armies scavenging the land for sustenance while running, tails tucked between their legs, from Amoni-Ram back to the homeland. But if we didn't offer any resistance, the faster and lighter armies of the Wretch would catch up. With no supply trains, no civilians, nothing weighing them down... they would catch up, and they would massacre us.

**GREAVES:** Oh, no.

**GALANIS:** What is it? I don't understand?

**GREAVES:** It was a feigned retreat. But she had to leave behind just enough soldiers to put up resistance and prevent the pursuing force from catching up. No chance of victory, just buying time and hoping the main force escapes.

**GALANIS:** Abandoning entire armies to the wolves.

**RAJMATA:** They were sacrifices. They knew this. Thousands of soldiers, left behind in abandoned settlements as pockets of resistance. They were little more than bumps in the road. The Wretch washed through from the desert, pushing through the last vestiges of the Mekhanite territory before smashing into our own. 

//[The RAJMATA sighs, and looks at the carnage occurring past the tree line. The Three-Prong Army is massive -- endless soldiers dressed in black metal armor and armed with long pikes, lances, and saw swords continue to pour out of the trees.]//

**RAJMATA:** So many lost.

//[The scene begins to cycle. It switches to a similar scene in a more temperate jungle that is aflame. The Covenant and the Three-Prong Army clash amidst thick foliage and underbrush set on a rapidly-spreading fire. Charred bodies litter the ground, and a number of Daeva are covered in fire eating away at them. It switches to a wide, flat desert plain, with a number of Covenant soldiers forming a defensive line of thick shields. A huge force of Wretch cavalry on massive black horses crash into the waiting phalanx and shatter it, routing the army. The Abominate's forces lay siege engines against the walls of a settlement, leaping over the battlements while artillery barrages the defenses. Dozens of scenes like this play out.]//

**RAJMATA:** He destroyed my Empire long before he took Mamjul. We abandoned cities, people, spirits, everything to the horde. We were walking dead.

**GALANIS:** Who?

//[The RAJMATA points a long hand forward. In every scene, a figure is visible. Dressed in the intricately-formed black armor of the Three-Prong Army, his head is obscured by a large, spiked metal crown. His shoulders are draped in a long, dark cape. Unlike the rest of the soldiers, his only weapon is a single sword hanging by his side. Rather than charging headlong into the fray, he remains on the front lines but in a rearward position. His expression is obscured.]//

**GREAVES:** He must be their commander.

**GALANIS:** The Blackstar.

**RAJMATA:** Yes. The blood of nations drenches him. One of the most powerful beings to ever walk the face of this planet.

**GALANIS:** He just looks like... a regular person.

**RAJMATA:** He is not a human. But he was, once. That is what makes him so dangerous. Why we could not face him directly on an open field, why I had to abandon my men to the wolves while I bought time..

**GALANIS:** What were you buying time //for?//

**RAJMATA:** I recalled the home guards of our smaller cities to the Isthmus of Thijam. 

//[The scene shifts to a view of a small, largely-empty narrow strip of land with seas on either side. A ramshackle village of straw huts and roots is visible near one of the beaches.]//

**RAJMATA:** It was once a quiet fishing village. Slaves would man vessels from sunup to sundown, bringing in their catch to be sold. There was an annual festival, wherein the catch would be slaughtered along with a number of slaves, their blood mixing and pouring into the sea, making the surf run red with blessings. This tiny strip of land connected us to the mainland, allowed us to trade with the fledgling city-states of your people. 

//[In fast-forward, a large, disorganized party of Daevic soldiers arrive from the north and make camp on the southern side of the isthmus. They are followed in quick succession by more forces -- bloody armies arriving in retreat from the north under scarlet banners, fresh reinforcements from the south, beasts of war, siege engines. More and more soldiers arrive, the encampment swelling to at least a hundred thousand troops, stretching far into the south, until they stop.]//

**GREAVES:** What, then? Just lying in wait for them to come and kill you?

**RAJMATA:** Quite the opposite.

//[A line of finely-dressed sorcerers stretches down the width of the isthmus, at least twenty-five kilometres. They dig their hands into the ground and, with an inhuman effort, raise the beginnings of a wall, made of intertwined stone and sand and root and vine, petrified and hardened. It slowly rises out of the ground, inch by inch, until the sorcerers collapse, many of them clearly exsanguinated of all the blood in their body. Soldiers rush forward with tools, fortifying and expanding the structure, even as the dead sorcerers are replaced, their blood spilt into the foundations of the wall, and replaced. The cycle continues as the sun sets and rises and sets and rises, until the wall is dozens of meters high and as thick as a building. Staircases and ladders let soldiers man the high battlements.]//

**GALANIS:** That has to be as tall as the Great Wall of China. No, taller. By a lot.

**GREAVES:** Thicker, too. How did you manage this without... architects, construction machines, anything?

**RAJMATA:** Do you see the gateway?

**GREAVES:** ...No. There isn't one.

**RAJMATA:** Yes. Anyone on the other side of that wall was going to be killed. This was our last stand. That is what drove us. What drove me. The understanding that I must do what I have to do for my people to survive. Because if I didn't, we wouldn't.

**GALANIS:** But your people didn't survive, did they? Mamjul is still at the bottom of the ocean, and the Covenant is dead. 

//[Silence.]//

**RAJMATA:** No. I failed.

**GALANIS:** We need to know what this thing is. We need to know how it broke you.

**RAJMATA:** This method of showing you my memories is... a loophole in the laws that I have been bound to. That the Daeva have been bound to. You are seeing more than any living creature in three thousand years has.

**GALANIS:** I appreciate that, but it's //not enough//. If this Blackstar still lives, if the god he serves //still exists//, we need to understand them to be able to defend ourselves. 

//[GALANIS swallows nervously.]//

**GALANIS:** I have to again pose the idea that I be allowed to commune with... your master.

//[Silence.]//

**RAJMATA:** You wish to speak to the Scarlet?

**GALANIS:** Yes. It's a god, right? It knows the Abominate or the Wretch or whatever. It cast it out to sea. It's the easiest way to learn what we need to know.

**RAJMATA:** Communing with the Scarlet is a dangerous task, Galanis-//hiyar//. I have been wedded to it for centuries, and I have only done so a handful of times. To commune is to invite another presence into your mind. To invite a god into your mind... like packing the seas of the world into a pot. The pressure would annihilate you from the inside-out.

**GREAVES:** But if you have a strong enough pot. A strong enough vessel.

**RAJMATA:** Perhaps then. But the last time when a man had such fortitude was the founding of our Covenant. I appreciate your struggle, but it is not a possibility.

**GREAVES:** Fine, okay.

//[The RAJMATA clutches her forehead and the dream around the group shimmers.]//

**GALANIS:** Are you okay?

**RAJMATA:** Yes. Yes. Projecting the dream is just... intensive. I am not as young as I once was. I must rest.

**GALANIS:** That sounds like a good idea. 

//[The projection dematerializes, melting into puddles of nothingness that drip off the boughs of the tree. They are still in the canopy of the tree, shaded by the branches. The RAJMATA is supported by a flock of the masked Brides, their horns draped in veils.]//

**RAJMATA:** Goodbye, Greaves-//jirras// and Galanis-//hiyar//.

//[GALANIS dematerializes out of the astral projection, fading into a cloud of glimmering noise. Lt. GREAVES lingers, staring at the RAJMATA.]//

**RAJMATA:** Greaves-//jirras//?

**GREAVES:** What do you think we're doing here?

**RAJMATA:** What do you mean?

**GREAVES:** You just told me and the doctor about your sacrifice. About your willingness to do anything if it meant your people would live to see another day. 

**RAJMATA:** What of it?

**GREAVES:** You failed. But we haven't yet. We might still have a shot at surviving. 

//[GREAVES points at the RAJMATA.]//

**GREAVES:** We're willing to do whatever it takes. If you deny us access to what we need to save ourselves... it won't just be your own blood on your hands. It'll be ours too. 

//[GREAVES dematerializes and ends the projection.]//
-----
= **<<END LOG>>**
[[/div]]
[[/collapsible]]

On May 3rd, the first group of researchers from the Thaumaturgy Division arrived at MKF-01 via helicopter. Due to their unique requirements, the Thaumaturgy Team was quartered aboard the //Haffkine// with the Psychotronics Division personnel. A meeting of the Research Committee was held shortly thereafter to determine the level of involvement and direction the Team would have. As the Psychotronics Division personnel had successfully mastered the process of inducing projections, SCP-1867 was transported back to Site-19 via the same helicopter as it departed MKF-01.

[[collapsible hideLocation="both" show="▶OPEN ADDENDUM◀" hide="▷CLOSE◁"]]
[[div class="addendum"]]
[[div class="doc"]]
ATTACHED DOCUMENT - MAY 2003
[[/div]]
= **<<IN ATTENDANCE>>**
**Doctor Pandora Galanis** --  Project Lead (LEAD)
**Lieutenant Lucian Greaves** -- Security Team Lead (SECU)
**Sr. Researcher Levi Sheridan** -- Archaeology Team Lead (ARCH)
**Sr. Researcher Xing Yijun** -- Linguistic Analysis Team Lead (LING)
**Sr. Researcher Vijay Ramaswamy** --  Parahistory Team Lead (HIST)
**Doctor Gabrielle Carrick** -- Thaumaturgy Team Lead (THAU)
----
= **<<BEGIN LOG>>**
----
//[GALANIS and GREAVES enter the conference room aboard the Phantom. The research committee is already assembled and waiting. The leads are seated around the conference table, without any aides. SHERIDAN is standing.]//

**GALANIS:** Hello, everyone. Karl and Ajay couldn't join us today, I'm afraid. 

//[A low murmur of greeting runs throughout.]//

**SHERIDAN (ARCH):** I'd... like to apologize for my behaviour in the last meeting, Dr. Galanis. It was inappropriate, and rude, and I should've voiced my concerns more professionally.

**GALANIS:** That's... thank you, Dr. Sheridan. 

**SHERIDAN (ARCH):** I still retain my concerns, and I think that we've gotten a little biased in our analysis, but... you know. 

**GALANIS:** Of course. If we're all comfortable with moving on now, we have a new face. Welcome, Dr. Carrick.

**CARRICK (THAU):** Thank you! Happy to be here. 

**GALANIS:** Is your team settled in?

**CARRICK (THAU):** As settled-in as one can be aboard a floating tin-can, yes.

//[She laughs.]//

**CARRICK (THAU):** No offense to any of you, of course. It's just that we're not a very nautical bunch. 

**GALANIS:** None of us were when the project started. Except Lucian, maybe. I'm pretty sure he was born in the Marines.

//[They nudge him, and GREAVES smiles slightly.]//

**GALANIS:** Are you finding our analysis sufficient?

**CARRICK (THAU):** Not quite, I'm afraid. It's a very solid start, especially for people who aren't thaumaturges, but all thaumaturgy really is is a framework for understanding magic. To understand what drove the Daeva's magic, and how we can utilize and recreate that, would require my team to converse directly with them. 

**GALANIS:** That can be arranged. You should sit down with Crowley from Psychotronics, and arrange tests for your... apprentices? See which ones will have the easiest time getting into Korar. 

**CARRICK (THAU):** Researchers is fine. And that'll definitely help, but the problem is moreso that... we don't really feel comfortable tapping into spirits for our thaumaturgy yet without a greater understanding of the processes at play. What we'll be able to do without the Daeva is... limited. I'm just trying to set a realistic expectation for you -- we're simply not going to be able to do the miracles they were, at least not at first.

**GALANIS:** That's fine, so long as there's progress.

**YIJUN (LING):** Oh, that reminds me -- Researcher Crowley asked me to pass along a message to you, Doctor. She noticed that the equipment they use in Psychotronics to stabilize and support the astral projections were seeing increased power draw. Something about needing to work harder to keep the projection stable. I don't know what it means, but..

**GALANIS:** That's... odd. I'll get into it, thanks.

**RAMASWAMY (HIST):** Speaking of progress, I have looked into the Sea Peoples, as you asked me to.

**GALANIS:** Find anything?

**RAMASWAMY (HIST):** Almost nothing. The old files from Amoni-Ram indicate the Middle Kingdom pharaohs were at least aware of the anomalous empires, which might help explain why only a temple in Egypt has any record of their existence. But Amoni-Ram was also conspicously lacking in contemporary sources, and it existed fine.

**GALANIS:** Gut feeling?

**RAMASWAMY (HIST):** I do not believe in coincidences, Dr. Galanis. The surviving Mekhanites spread their culture and technology throughout the Middle East and North Africa, but lacked any contemporary source. They only appeared in the Quran as Iram. The Daeva appear to have done the same for Indian culture, taking the role of Kumari Kandam. It stands to reason that this... Three-Prong Army are the kernel of truth behind the myth of the Sea People. They certainly would have had to push through the region on their way to Mamjul and beyond. 

**SHERIDAN (ARCH):** I should mention the only thing the mundane archaeological community has ever found related to the Sea People were bronze weapons. 

**RAMASWAMY (HIST):** I do not understand the relevance.

**GALANIS:** The Rajmata mentions the Blackstar's forces looted Amoni-Ram. And scuffed fuladh looks an awful lot like bronze. It just makes too much sense. Keep looking into it.

**RAMASWAMY (HIST):** Of course.

**SHERIDAN (ARCH):** What's up with that name, by the way? Three Prong Army, does that mean anything for the Daeva?

**XIJUN (LING):** I had the same thought. I looked through the preliminary translation dictionary we've compiled of the oral language -- obviously a written one is impossible -- and as far as I can tell... nothing. It quite literally just means 'three points'.

**RAMASWAMY (HIST):** Maybe a descriptor of their military strategy? A three-pronged attack.

**SHERIDAN (ARCH):** Could be referring to a trident. 

**GALANIS:** That would certainly fit with the Sea People theory. Remind me to ask the Rajmata next time. 

**SHERIDAN (ARCH):** Also on the docket: Thijam. Based on your description of her memories, it seems like it would be an isthmus connection the landmass of -- well, I guess we're calling it Kumari Kandam now, to mainland India. 

**RAMASWAMY (HIST):** Isthmuses have historically been of great importance in ancient cultures. Constantinople monopolized trade between the East and West by residing on one. I do not need to tell you how critical the Suez is. It makes sense they would make their choke point there.

**SHERIDAN (ARCH):** Yeah, but the problem is that we can't find it. We don't even have a very good understanding of what the continent looked like back then, just maps from Amoni-Ram we know are altered and maps from Blackwood's journals that are as likely to be right as they are wrong. The narrowest point of the isthmus could be a kilometre south of the tip of India, a hundred, or even inland. There's just no way to know. 

**GALANIS:** I'll see what information I can get, but keep working on it.

//[He sighs.]//

**GALANIS:** Is there something else?

**SHERIDAN (ARCH):** Permission to speak freely?

**GALANIS:** I'm not your commanding officer, Levi. Say what's on your mind.

**SHERIDAN (ARCH):** It feels like we're at a point where we've run out of knowledge to collect. And we're not any closer to finding out our answers.

**GALANIS:** That's not true, we've learned a lot about the Daeva. What they were, what happened to the world after Amoni-Ram fell. 

**SHERIDAN (ARCH):** I'm an archaeologist, Doctor. I know first-hand what it means to search after knowledge most people will never appreciate, for the sake of nothing but the knowledge itself. But if this Blackstar stuff is still an existential threat... we need knowledge we can apply. And we're not getting that here.

**GALANIS:** Dr. Carrick is making a great start on applying Daeva magic. That's not applicable.

**SHERIDAN (ARCH):** Yeah, but--

**GREAVES:** As the representative from the Council, they're quite pleased with how the project is progressing under Dr. Galanis.

//[Everyone turns to look at GREAVES. He remains silent.]//

**SHERIDAN (ARCH):** I'm not questioning your leadership, Doctor. I'm just saying that I think it's time to go to the source of the knowledge.

**GALANIS:** Well, I'll take that into account. You guys know what you're working on. Dismissed.

----
= **<<END LOG>>**
----
[[/div]]

[[div class="addendum"]]
[[div class="doc"]]
ATTACHED TRANSCRIPT - MAY 2003
[[/div]]
= **<<BEGIN LOG>>**
----
//[GREAVES and GALANIS are standing on the deck of the// Haffkine, //looking out over the Laccadive Sea. The permanent attachments to the Phantom are being maintenanced by the seamen.]//

**GALANIS:** Thanks for sticking up for me back there. I appreciate it.

**GREAVES:** I was telling the truth. 

//[He shrugs his rifle out of the way, removes a lighter from his vest pocket, and lights a cigarette before lifting it to his lips and taking a drag.]//  

**GALANIS:** Still. 

**GREAVES:** I've worked in the Foundation very nearly all my life. Our academics tend to get... myopic. Sometimes they need a reminder of who's signing their paychecks. No offense.

**GALANIS:** None taken. You're hardly wrong -- though it's also not a problem confined to the Foundation.

**GREAVES:** I'm sure. It's just all I know.

**GALANIS:** You've really been working for them -- for us your whole life?

**GREAVES:** I was twenty-one when Vietnam ended. No college, no prospects. Had a friend who said he knew a government agency that was willing to hire veterans who didn't ask questions. Did a year in Site Security, then worked in all sorts of Mobile Task Forces. Nu-7, Zeta-9, Eta-5, until I got handpicked for the big one. 

//[Silence as GREAVES takes another drag.]//

**GALANIS:** So you've killed people, then.

//[He looks at them askance.]//

**GALANIS:** Sorry.

**GREAVES:** You're alright. Yeah, I've killed people. But I'm not one of those Kilgore nutjobs. I don't take any pleasure in it, and at least for the Foundation, I know it serves a greater purpose than some... political game.

**GALANIS:** How's that?

**GREAVES:** Shooting at rice farmers with AKs to stop the Red Menace isn't doing anything for anyone. Shooting at someone who plans to release and re-capture the lizard to use in his Nazi PMC? Yeah, I feel pretty comfortable doing that. 

**GALANIS:** Still, I mean... it can't be easy, right? Killing someone.

**GREAVES:** Oh, no. 

//[He shakes his head.]//

**GREAVES:** Killing someone is the easiest thing in the world. It's what comes after that's the hard part.

**GALANIS:** How do you deal with it?

//[GREAVES takes another drag from the cigarette,]//

**GREAVES:** I have a kid. She's 13. Plays the clarinet. These people, the Mekhanites and Serpent's Hand and whoever, would have her live in a world filled with danger, where science and human society can't survive, where wizards and terrifying monsters are a real possibility. I ask myself what I would do to ensure that she has a future to look forward to.

**GALANIS:** The answer?

**GREAVES:** Pretty much anything.

**GALANIS:** Explains the loyalty.

**GREAVES:** Foundation's the only thing holding this world together. Yeah, I take orders to kill for them, because it's my role to play. 

//[He offers the cigarette to GALANIS, who waves their hand.]//

**GALANIS:** I was never any good at taking orders. I'm still not.

**GREAVES:** You seem to be doing fine. O5-1 certainly thinks so.

**GALANIS:** I'm being pulled in about thirty different directions at once. The half of the research committee that thinks we've all gone off the deep end, the half of the research committee that thinks the others are being ethnocentric troglodytes, the Council, O5-1, the Rajmata, not to mention the Initiative itself... 

**GREAVES:** Conflicting orders are a bitch. That's for certain.

**GALANIS:** It's a lot of pressure.

**GREAVES:** You'll get it done.

**GALANIS:** Why does everyone seem so //sure// of that? 

**GREAVES:** Because you're a leader, kid. Leaders rise to the occasion. They do what has to be done.

**GALANIS:** I don't //feel// like a leader. 

**GREAVES:** That's usually the first sign you'll make a good one.

//[They stand in silence for some time, watching the waves. It is late afternoon, and the cloudless sky seems to stretch on forever.]//

**GREAVES:** Awfully calm.

**GALANIS:** That's what it looks like.

**GREAVES:** Not to you?

//[They shake their head.]//

**GALANIS:** No. And no one seems to realize it. Well, except for you.

**GREAVES:** Me?

**GALANIS:** You've sat in on all the meetings with the Rajmata. We're about to learn how the Wretch destroyed Mamjul. And once we have that... show's over. The Council has what it wants, and we transition fully to trying to weaponize the knowledge we've worked so hard to collect.

//[GREAVES flicks the cigarette butt into the sea. It floats on the water for a moment before sinking out of sight.]//

**GREAVES:** You don't think we should use what we've learned from them to defend ourselves?

**GALANIS:** I think that we have an ethical responsibility to both respect the Daeva's culture, and to make sure they don't get any power. Because the last time they did, they enslaved a solid chunk of the population of Asia. And I think that the last time we tried to weaponize the powers of one of these cultures...

**GREAVES:** I don't see how researching their magic to apply ourselves is inherently evil. There's risks, for sure -- I've heard about Project London Bridge, but that was thirty years ago. We're better at this sort of thing now.

**GALANIS:** Honestly, I don't think it's evil either. But... it's complicated. It's also not what I signed up for. I'm a historian, and I came here to study history no one had ever seen before. Not this. I feel like...

//[They sigh.]//

**GALANIS:** Like we're standing on a precipice, and no one realizes it except for me.

**GREAVES:** Nobody you can talk to?

**GALANIS:** The only other person who's ever been in this position is currently a fugitive from Foundation custody, so...

//[They both chuckle.]//

**GREAVES:** Fair enough. Well, if you ever do need an ear...

**GALANIS:** Thanks. Really. We have a session with the Rajmata tomorrow night, by the way. 

**GREAVES:** I remember. This should answer some outstanding questions. Any reason we're waiting?

**GALANIS:** The Psychotronics team is fiddling with the machinery. There have been some issues with people randomly dropping out of the projection, like a bad phone connection. Not sure what to make of it yet, but hopefully it's just an equipment issue. 

**GREAVES:** Hopefully.

**GALANIS:** Hey, Lucian -- you have a higher clearance than me, right?

**GREAVES:** That's not really how clearance works, but sure.

**GALANIS:** Hm. That... weird effect when the Rajmata said Blackstar, Got me thinking so I ran a few queries against the Memetics Division database, keep running into blockers. Redactions, expungements, clearance checks.

**GREAVES:** With MEMDIV, they're probably there for good reason. 

**GALANIS:** Still, I think it could be of use. Would you mind bringing it up to the Council, next time you check in? Just, you know, pass along the request.

//[Pause.]//

**GREAVES:** Sure, kid. 

**GALANIS:** Thanks. I'll see you in the mess?

**GREAVES:** Got some work to take care of. We'll meet tomorrow for the thing.

----
= **<<END LOG>>**
[[/div]]
[[/collapsible]]

Lieutenant Greaves and Doctor Galanis entered into another astral projection with the Rajmata on May 23rd, with the goal of determining how exactly the Blackstar was able to take Mamjul and exterminate the Daevic Covenant. 

[[collapsible hideLocation="both" show="▶OPEN ADDENDUM◀" hide="▷CLOSE◁"]]
[[div class="addendum"]]
[[div class="doc"]]
ATTACHED TRANSCRIPT - MAY 2003
[[/div]]
**SOURCE:** Doctor Pandora Galanis
----
= **<<BEGIN LOG>>**
----
//[GALANIS and GREAVES enter the dream. They are in Korar, standing on the great wall that surrounds the city. The Rajmata, alone and without her handmaidens, her face veiled, stands looking out across the featureless cosmic expanse. Lightning strikes aimlessly in the distance, spiderwebbing acoss the dark sky before fizzling out.]//

**GALANIS:** Greetings, your Grace.

**RAJMATA:** Look. What do you see?

**GREAVES:** The astral plane. Emptiness.

**RAJMATA:** What //is// it, though? What is the essence of the astral plane?

**GALANIS:** It's... another layer to reality, right? Superimposed on top of our own.

**RAJMATA:** Not incorrect, but at once not what I was hoping to hear.

**GREAVES:** It's a dream.

**RAJMATA:** Ah. He understands.

//[She waves a long, slender hand out.]//

**RAJMATA:** All this was once supported by the minds of everyone in our sister city, when they dreamt. Our existence depended on them, and theirs on us. Now, there is no Mamjul to rely on. Korar rests entirely on the dream of the Scarlet Maharaja. 

**GALANIS:** Your husband.

//[She pauses.]//

**RAJMATA:** I suppose. We have no particular word for a male spouse -- every relationship in the world is formed of the dominant and the subservient elements. Master, and slave. I am master to my people, and the Maharaja is master to me.

**GALANIS:** You don't have a conception of gender, then. Interesting.

**RAJMATA:** Not in the way you would think of it. The physical body is... irrelevant. All our souls rest in Korar, and the form one takes in Mamjul in between reincarnations should not dictate their lot in life. Surely they have experienced enough lives in enough forms to make any such determination irrelevant. People are what they wished to be. No more.

**GALANIS:** Interesting. 

//[Silence for a moment, as the party looks out before the wasteland beyond the walls.]//

**GALANIS:** So are we--

**RAJMATA:** Yes.

//[Distantly, the chanting of the city takes on a different tone. Less wildly harmonious, and more into a somber register. A slower melody, the words so long and deep as to be incomprehensible. At the same time, the view changes. Grass sprouts out of nowhere far below and spreads, trees forming out of nonexistence. The sky goes from star-studded blackness to a deep blue, the sun hanging overhead. Korar melts away behind them, replaced by vast plains, and countless figures crawl out of the dust.]//

//[In a few moments, they are standing atop the battlement at the Wall of Thijum. In front of them lies a vast, unspeakably large army. Formed into tight regiments, they mass around the base of the wall with siege engines that are not even half the height of the gargantuan barrier. At this height, each soldier is the size of an ant, and the swarm spreads far, far into the foggy distance.]//

**GREAVES:** That has to be... half a million men. Good //god.// Twice the size of the largest army ever fielded.

**GALANIS:** Not just them. Turn around, Luce.

//[GREAVES turns. On the other side of the wall lies another massive force -- not as unfathomably large as the Three-Prong Army, but the Daevic Covenant occupy the vast kilometers of beach between them and the jungle line. They are organized into massive lines, polearms extended to meet a charge. From this height, far to the south, beyond the Daevic Covenant, the huge boughs of the Citadel tree are visible. The wall is the only thing that separates the two forces.]//

**GREAVES:** This has to be that largest battle ever fought. At least a million men, on one battlefield. The mother of all chokepoints. 

**RAJMATA:** Such was my belief. That the sheer size of the wall and the army would demoralize them. I was, needless to say, fatally incorrect.

//[In fast-forward, the sun sets and drops below the horizon. A scattering of huge bonfires form on both sides of the wall, soldiers gathering around them. The siege engines have been disassembled -- the attempts at scaling the wall are obviously pointless. Instead, they are reassembled into a collection of trebuchets, catapults, and ballistas, all aimed at the top of the wall. With large, heavy booms, their payloads of huge stone boulders and explosive tar collide with the battlements. Daeva soldiers huddle behind the stone barriers as the wall shakes with every impact. Shakes, but holds firm, hour after hour, night after night, as they return fire with their own weapons of war and sorcerers.]//

**RAJMATA:** I underestimated the interminable nature of human persistence. I thought they would realize the wall was impenetrable. Not just physically -- I sealed it myself, with a ward wrought in blood. 

**GALANIS:** Blood sacrifices are common in your magical school. What's so special about this one?

**RAJMATA:** They are. But the more powerful the sacrifice, the stronger the magic. //[Pause]// I rest comfortable in the knowledge that my children would have been slaughtered regardless of whether the horde broke through. 

//[Silence.]//

**GALANIS:** You... killed your //children//?

**RAJMATA:** Seven bodies, seven wards, seven chains to protect the Scarlet Maharaja from those that would seek to destroy him. Their souls belonged to Korar, to him. I simply did what he commanded, and released their physical form with the same dagger I was anointed with.

**GALANIS:** The black dagger KHAN team found in the throne room. That's why it survived when nothing else did.

//[Silence.]//

**RAJMATA:** Their flesh, so sweet, so innocent. The ultimate sacrifice for the ultimate protection.

//[Suddenly, she turns and spits on the stone wall.]//

**RAJMATA:** And look now.

//[The scene continues to fast-forward. The sun rises, and sets, and rises, and sets. The siege carries on for a week, then two weeks, then a month, then two months, then six. The wall continues to be battered, and stand firm. The vines and toxic clouds and poisoners falling from the walls collide below, thinning out the Blackstar's forces, before they are immediately crowded out and replaced. The defenders are killed and replaced by more reserves from the amassed army. Sorcerers raise water spirits to destroy any attempt to cross from the sea.]//

**GREAVES:** They're not going away. Laying siege to it, just like how they did to Amoni-Ram. But... Mamjul is protected, far to the south. You're clearly holding out. What happened?

**RAJMATA:** Their master arrived.

//[A ravine forms in the vast army as soldiers separate, standing a respectful distance away from one figure. He appears to be a regular man, but his very presence is larger than life -- the battlefield bows toward him as he makes his way to the encampment, flanked by his guard. A full moon hangs overhead in the smoky sky. He disappears into a tent.]//

**GREAVES:** What the //hell// is that thing? Every time I look at him--

**GALANIS:** It feels like my brain is boiling. 

**GREAVES:** Yeah. Like he can //see// me. 

**RAJMATA:** Most magicians in this world are simply that -- magicians. Sorcerers, warlocks. People who have a particular leaning towards the esoteric arts and have studied years to apply them to perform even the slightest magic. He... is something else. The world itself shapes around him.

**GALANIS:** Oh, //shit.// A reality bender. 

**GREAVES:** Has to be Class 4, at least. Maybe Class 5.

**GALANIS:** That's theoretical.

**GREAVES:** They're all theoretical, Pan. We haven't seen anything above Class 2 in decades.

**RAJMATA:** I do not understand. Explain.

**GALANIS:** They're called ontokinetics. Reality benders, more informally. People who can mold the world to whatever they want. This is the most powerful we've seen in a long, long time.

**RAJMATA:** Hm. I see. Such is the blessing of a god.

**GALANIS:** What did he do? I honestly don't know how reality-bending would interact with... the magic you did. It's an unexplored field.

**RAJMATA:** He stayed, in that tent, for seven days and seven nights. And for all that time, the Abominate, the Wretch, his god hung overhead, lending him power.

**GALANIS:** What do you -- the //moon?//

**RAJMATA:** Look.

//[Ahead, the bright whiteness of the full moon over the battlefield is fading as it blackens. It sinks low, a dark star in the sky, blackened and scorched, surrounded by a corona of white light, burning like the eye of a great dead god. After some time, the sun rises, but the moon remains locked in place, hovering over the horde. The tides of the sea malform, twisting and turning, rising and falling in different directions.]//

**RAJMATA:** Do you feel it?

**GALANIS:** I feel... sick to my stomach. Like I'm going to vomit.

**RAJMATA:** Yes. This is the Wretch. Primarch of chaos, lord of disorder. Where it goes, the natural laws that govern us fail. Once, the Mekhanites accused us of being wild people. In a sense they were right, but even in the most untamed wilds, a natural harmony emerges. Survival of the fittest, domination of the meek, the cycle of life. That is what the Scarlet embodies.

//[She looks out towards the battlefield as the waters rise even higher and turn into rough, raging seas, inching up the beach, constricting the Daevic forces into tighter columns.]//

**RAJMATA:** And on the eighth day, he emerged, bathed in the blood of my people.

//[A figure exits the tent. The army separates around him, flowing like water, as he marches, alone, to the base of the wall. The defenders sling vines and casks and magic, and all disintegrate before ever reaching him. A storm has gathered overhead -- dark clouds, hard sheets of cold rain slamming into the muddy ground and the stone walls. Lightning spiderwebs across the sky and the seas slam into the land as the black moon watches its prophet make his way to the base of the wall, and kneel, brow dripping sweat, hands dripping blood.]//

**RAJMATA:** And he raised his hands, and--

= **[CONNECTION SEVERED]**

//[The projection dematerializes. Dr. GALANIS reawakens aboard the// Haffkine//, gasping for air and clutching their head.]//

**GALANIS:** What the fuck just happened?

//[Silence.]//

**GALANIS:** ...Luce?
-----
= **<<END LOG>>**
[[/div]]
[[/collapsible]]

In the middle of the astral projection, a sudden and unprecedented  equipment failure occurred in the Psychotronics Lab aboard the //Haffkine//. The projection lost connection, and several pieces of equipment were heavily damaged. Doctor Galanis awoke unharmed, but for unknown reasons, Lieutenant Greaves remained unconscious and in the fugue state; an hour later, he slipped into a coma. 

The immediate assessment by Psychotronics Division personnel and medical personnel aboard the //Phantom// was that the LSAP Array embedded in Lt. Greaves' brain resulted in some kind of adverse reaction to the psychic backlash, or was in fact the cause thereof. Before any decision could be reached on moving him to the infirmary, or extracting the Array from his brain, the Array reactivated despite no longer being attached to any discernable power source. The transcript printer it was attached to begin printing a large amount of nonsense text with no clear meaning or purpose, and extremely faint delta waves were detected from Lt. Greaves in an EKG.

Per Dr. Galanis' orders, the //Haffkine// was temporarily quarantined. Reentry into Korar was not possible until replacement components for the damaged equipment were rush-ordered from the nearby MKF-02 and delivered via helicopter to the ships. Due to the time-sensitive nature of the project, typical Foundation practices to obscure logistical transportation were ignored. The components were installed on May 25th, and, two days after contact was lost, Dr. Galanis reentered the astral projection with the directive of assessing Lt. Greaves' status and, if possible, recovering him.

[[collapsible hideLocation="both" show="▶OPEN ADDENDUM◀" hide="▷CLOSE◁"]]
[[div class="addendum"]]
[[div class="doc"]]
ATTACHED TRANSCRIPT - MAY 2003
[[/div]]
**SOURCE:** Doctor Pandora Galanis
----
= **<<BEGIN LOG>>**
----
**CROWLEY:** Remember, Doctor. If anything seems weird or off, pull out immediately. If we don't get you back within 6 hours, we're going to quarantine the ship indefinitely. 

**GALANIS:** Yeah. Yeah, okay. 

//[CROWLEY hands GALANIS a small plastic cup with two RL-023 pills. They down them with a cup of water, and lean back in their seat, closing their eyes. They drift away, leaving their body, settling through space. Then they open their eyes.]//

**GALANIS:** Luce!

//[They are standing where they had been before the projection dematerialized: on the wall of Thijum, overlooking the vaste horde of the Three-Prong Army. But time is frozen -- the sheets of rain hang in the air, trembling. The surf of the rough waves is frozen in mid-splash. But despite the stillness, it is not silent -- drums beat through the air, far, far louder than ever before. The voices making up the chorus are high and strong, reaching a loud peak as they sing out from every direction. The RAJMATA and GREAVES stand overlooking the tableau. He turns.]//

**GREAVES:** Pandora!

//[They run to greet each other.]//

**GREAVES:** What happened? You just vanished. It's been hours.

**GALANIS:** Lucian, it's been... three days. 

**GREAVES:** I don't understand.

**GALANIS:** There was an accident. An equipment failure in the lab. It pulled us out of the projection but... you didn't wake up. You slipped into a coma. And the Array kept outputting nonsense text, stuff about dreams and waves and the sea. 

**GREAVES:** I'm in a //coma?//

**GALANIS:** It's okay. Calm down. We're gonna wake you up.

**RAJMATA:** Not yet.

**GALANIS:** Fuck that. We're leaving.

**RAJMATA:** Listen around you. Listen to the dreams, the growth of the words, spreading across, covering all. The Song of the Daeva has arrived at its final verses, the crescendo. Crafted by us even as the waves bore down, so that we would always remember who wrent us.

**GALANIS:** Sure, but I don't see how--

**RAJMATA:** **Listen.** You cannot leave now. You have come so far. We have both come so far. You must listen to our Song. You must be our chronicler. 

**GREAVES:** We can come back, we'll--

**RAJMATA:** You will not be able to come back.

**GALANIS:** We always have in the past. The equipment's been repaired, we'll return once Lucian's been treated.

//[The RAJMATA sighs, holding her head. The world around them shudders and glimmers for a moment.]//

**GREAVES:** Did you see that?

**RAJMATA:** The failure of the projection was not a failure of your equipment, Galanis-//hiyar//. The dream... //Korar// has been splitting apart, failing, fraying at the edges of our great tapestry. 

**GALANIS:** What does that mean? This is the Maharaja's dream, isn't it? 

**RAJMATA:** And he was able to support us, quietly worshipping him, for three thousand years. We had a balance -- a harmony formed of primal violence. And your arrival has upset it. Upset him.

**GALANIS:** Well, we didn't mean--

**RAJMATA:** Your intentions do not matter now, I'm afraid. The dream is collapsing. Leave now, and there will be no Korar for you to return to. The secrets of the Daeva will go with us to whatever lies beyond paradise.

**GALANIS:** You'll all be destroyed, you mean.

**RAJMATA:** There is no body willing to take the interminable burden of being the Maharaja, the Dreamer. A Daeva cannot do it -- we need one of the Covenant. A human. The Maharaja's physical body has long since rotted into dust, at the bottom of the sea. There is no one.

**GALANIS:** We'll find a different way. Lucian--

**GREAVES:** No. We have to listen.

**GALANIS:** Are you insane? We already have no idea how much time has passed--

**GREAVES:** This is it. This is the home stretch. If we don't take it home now, it'll all have been for nothing.

**GALANIS:** But--

**GREAVES:** I have an obligation. I'm staying.

**GALANIS:** Fine! 

//[They turn to the RAJMATA.]//

**GREAVES:** Hurry.

//[With a deep groan from the RAJMATA, the dream suddenly continues. The rain slams down, the waves crash, the Blackstar slams his palms against the ground, and the ground begins to shake as the moon hangs yet lower. Against the crescendo of drums, the Daevic army tightens its grip on its weapons and braces itself for a charge that will never come.]//

**RAJMATA:** He knew he could not take the wall. So he broadened his scope. Like the animal that sees he cannot drag home the carcass, and resolves to consume it all then. His god was thrown into the sea, and spent a thousand years crawling back up to land. Only to turn around and do the same to us.

//[The waves on either side of the Isthmus crash again, this time substantially higher. The army looks to their sides and again tightens, only for the waves to grow even higher. The forces at the rear begin a retreat, one that quickly turns to a rout. The army rushes back even as the water rushes forth from either side, drowning the base of the wall. The ground shudders again, and the soldiers in the center of the mass realize what is happening. The sea is not rising. They are sinking.]//

**RAJMATA:** Look.

//[They float off the top of the wall, rising into the air higher and higher, climbing well into the sky, past the clouds until the miniscule soldiers disappear completely. Finally, they stop at a birds-eye view of the entire region: the continent is a large freehanging peninsula extending forth from the tip of the Indian subcontinent. Thijum lies at the thinnest point, and Mamjul lies near the center of the peninsula. As they watch, the entire landmass grows incrementally, marginally smaller. The moon draws yet closer, pulling the water, sinking Kumari Kandam beneath the waves. The coastal areas disappear in a frothing mass of blue as the waters make their way inland in raging floods and violent rain. Bit by bit, the entire continent drops below the sea, until only the highest point, a small patch of land containing Mamjul, remains.]//

**GREAVES:** The deluge. 

**GALANIS:** He... sank an entire continent, alone. That was millions of people, at least.

**RAJMATA:** No. By himself, he could have flooded the plain, routed my army. The wall would still prevent him from crossing south and taking Mamjul. But by invoking his god, who lent him its power? Yes, he could sink a continent as easily as slitting a throat.

**GALANIS:** That was it. The annihilation of the Daeva. Wiped out in a matter of hours.

**RAJMATA:** No, Galanis-//hiyar//. That was not the annihilation of the Daeva. 

**GALANIS:** What could possibly be worse than that?

**RAJMATA:** Witness the final hours of Mamjul.

//[The scene shifts to the streets of the city. Terrified, confused screaming fills the air as civilians, slaves, and soldiers run in every direction, attempting to escape to higher ground that does not exist. Mothers carry their babies, or are forced to leave them behind by the shoving of the crowd. Sorcerers rush to the battlements but find their abilities useless against the raging sea. Some citizens even raise their swords to slit their own throats, secure in their future in Korar. Throughout all this the dream is strange, fragmented. It sounds and looks as through passed through a thousand filters, breaking apart the image and putting it back together again. In front of the group lies a grand, marble-panelled building.]//

**GALANIS:** This is the library. The dilapidated one we found in Mamjul, filled with blank tablets.

**RAJMATA:** Destroying us was not enough for the Blackstar. No, where the Mekhanites had ignored him until it was too late, we fought back. We held back the horde. For this affront, for daring to stand against him, he was not content to destroy us. He had to annihilate us. 

//[Scholars run through the halls of the huge Library, Daeva and human. They carry huge armfuls of scrolls and tablets, plinths and statuettes, all carved with complex, swimming writing and pictographs, rushing to get them out of the way of the flood. But even as they do so, the tablets fade, as though rubbed clean of their etchings. The ink on the scrolls melts away. The statuettes and plinths lose all features and writing, and the carved etchings throughout the rest of the hall are rubbed just as clean. The scholars stare at their objects in wide-eyed shock, even as cold water begins to seep in from under the door.]//

**GALANIS:** He... wiped you from the historical record. 

**RAJMATA:** The Daevic Empire, once the pride of scholars and artists the world over, now reduced to nothing. No evidence of our existence. No writings, no monuments, no great chronicles to survive us.

**GALANIS:** //Damnatio memoriae//. Condemnation of memory. The ancient practice of scrubbing undesirable figures from official histories. But something on this scale... 

**GREAVES:** He was breaking your spirit. 

//[The memory again flickers, twitching and melting in places.]//

**RAJMATA:** The Maharaja's dream is collapsing. We must hurry.

**GALANIS:** What does that //mean?!//

//[They rise again into the sky, to a birds-eye view of Mamjul. The raging waters around it build up against the triangular walls of the city, forming a thin barrier as the water rises, until it spills over. Buildings collapse, citizens drown under the deluge, forming a living wall of bloated bodies bearing down on others. They watch as, over the course of minutes, Mamjul sinks into the ocean, exterminated of all life, a dead city sinking to its watery grave. The boughs of the Citadel tree are the last to disappear under the waves.]//

**RAJMATA:** Now you see. We were destroyed. Totally and utterly, and the Song of the Daeva our only record of ourselves. I apologize for the deception, but I needed you to understand. To remember us, when there is no longer a dying king's dream to support us.

**GALANIS:** But why didn't you just--

//[A loud, resounding explosion sounds from above, ringing through the heavens.]//

**GREAVES:** Is that the dream falling apart?

**RAJMATA:** No. That was not from the dream.

-----
= **<<END LOG>>**
[[/div]]
[[/collapsible]]

----
[[=]]
++ Section 001.8
+++ {{INCIDENT HIEROPHANT}}
[[/=]]
----

2 hours and 44 minutes into Dr. Galanis' projection, the various sonar equipment placed in Mamjul's ruins by the Diving Team also began reporting localized underwater disturbances.

At the same time, several covert monitoring buoys that had been spread in concentric circles around the location of SCP-001 began pinging the bridge of the //Phantom// reporting multiple unknown objects detected in the vicinity.

[[div class="addendum"]]
[[div class="doc"]]
ATTACHED TRANSCRIPT - MAY 2003
[[/div]]
----
= **<<RADIO CHATTER -- PHANTOM BRIDGE TO OVERWATCH COMMAND>>**
----

**PHANTOM:** Overwatch Command, this is FMS //Phantom//, do you copy?

**OVCOM:** We have your signal locked. Please confirm identity.

**PHANTOM:** Phantom One, authcode ziggurat-gamma-7-8-9-1-1.

**OVCOM:** Identity confirmed. Sitrep?

**PHANTOM:** Several monitoring sites, both in SCP-001 and at our red radius, have sounded at the same time. 

**OVCOM:** Radar report?

**PHANTOM:** A regular systems check resulted in a delay on the radar read. We're just about to receive it.

//[Pause.]//

**PHANTOM:** Fuck me running.

**OVCOM:** Phantom?

**PHANTOM:** Surface radar reports multiple unidentified flying objects moving southeast at high velocity, inbound to MKF-01. Repeat, direct course with MKF-01. Attempting to get speed now.... objects are moving in excess of 450 kilometers per hour, and are approximately 100km away from our current position. ETA 13 minutes.

**OVCOM:** Copy. Activate Protocol Westchester, and patch me in to Captain Hickman. Stay in communication while Protocol is executed.
----
= **<<CAMERA LOGS -- MKF-01>>**
----

= **ETA: 12:21**

//[Various researchers and personnel occupy the mess hall of the Phantom, eating meals and engaging in casual chatter. They are suddenly interrupted by alarms sounding throughout the ship, and klaxon lights flashing red. Security personnel, both assigned ship security and MTF Alpha-1 troops, spread out in the large room and firmly escort researchers and personnel to their assigned quarters.]//

//[Throughout the rest of the vessels, similar experiences unfold -- security officers seal bulkheads behind researchers packed into their labs and sleeping quarters. The research staff stare at each other worriedly, as the alarms continue to sound.]//

//[In the Psychotronics Lab, several MTF Alpha-1 personnel move in, sealing the door behind them, and take up defensive positions around the bodies of Dr. Galanis and Lt. Greaves.]//

= **ETA: 08:45**

//[The remaining security personnel quickly move through the facility, grabbing weaponry from armories. Crates are pulled from storage rooms and opened, and security personnel hand out rifles. After receiving weapons, a number of personnel make their way to the top deck while others go lower.]//

= **ETA: 06:09**

//[Across the topdeck, sailors, security personnel, and Alpha-1 operatives move to battle stations. Chain gun emplacements and cannons arranged across the top of the Phantom are quickly activated and loaded, sweeping across the sky in a northwestern direction. A number of large hatches pop open, filling the topdeck with smoke as a dozen small missiles rocket away, turning into the distance.]//

= **ETA: 03:01**

//[In the lower decks, gunners crowd around the firing computers. The large automated cannons on the top deck activate, raising their barrels upward and firing another volley of missiles into the distance. They curve and fix their heading to follow their targets.]//

= **ETA: 02:15**

//[A number of explosions are visible in the distant air. Dots become visible on the horizon exiting the smoke clouds and rapidly increasing in size and proximity. They are moving extremely quickly, but separate out as they near into at least 30-40 different figures. A number of them fall into the water, damaged by the missiles; approximately two-thirds of them are still in the air.. The sun is high overhead, but even at the distance, the light gleams off their bronze forms. The automated chain guns begin firing at them indiscriminately.]//

= **ETA: 00:24**

//[Foundation personnel begin firing small arms. The chain guns fire and reload themselves constantly, switching between targets. The swarm of figures swoops overhead, each one now clearly a highly-augmented humanoid with large, bronze wings. A female with the largest wingspan on an intricate set of white-and-gold wings hovers at a distance, then rockets around the ships, far outpacing the guns following her. The rest of the bronze-armored troops charge forward.]//
----
**PHANTOM:** OVCOM, come in OVCOM. FMS //Phantom// is under attack, repeat, we are under attack.

**OVCOM:** Copy. We've emergency scrambled naval support from MKF-02, but it may take some time to reach you. Can you identify your attackers?

//[Static-ridden explosions.]//

**OVCOM:** //Phantom//, come in //Phantom.//

**PHANTOM:** //[Out-of-breath]// This is Phantom One Actual, Captain Hickman. It's the Mekhanites. 

//[A number fly low and grab hold of security personnel, lifting them into the air and dropping them into the sea or onto the metal deck, where their bones shatter on impact. Chain guns swing around and lay suppressing fire onto the cloud of Mekhanites.]//

> **WILCOX:** Get down, get the fuck down! They're dive-bombing!
> 
> **FRANKLIN:** Nine o'clock, //fire!//

//[One of the huge guns swivels on its base, following the largest cluster of Mekhanites through the air, before firing. The shell collides with one of the armored figures before exploding on impact, dispersing the cluster and sending them sailing through the air. As the smoke clears, the figure it impacts sails through the air and slams into the deck of the Haffkine.]//

> **FRANKLIN:** Scratch one!

//[The deck of the ship shakes slightly, the waters around the Phantom growing rough and frothing. For a moment, the cloud of Mekhanites hangs back.]//

>  **MCNAMARA:** What the fuck is that?!
> 
> **BENOIT:** //Get away from the hull!//

//[With an explosion of spray and foam, two dozen large bronze-armored figures rocket out of the water, slamming their swords into the sides of the ship. They began to crawl up the hull. Security personnel move to the gunwale, leaning their weapons over the sides and firing straight down. One or two Mekhanites' skulls shatter under the hail of gunfire and fall back into the sea, blood spreading into the water. The bullets harmlessly bounce off most of them as they continue to inch their way up the sides of the ship.]//

> **RODRIQUEZ:** Shit is //not// working, switch to AP!

//[The security personnel on the sides cover each other while they swap out to armor-piercing rounds. At the same time, the aerial contingent of Mekhanites turn and make another pass over the decks of the ships, this time pulling out fuladh spears and driving them through the chests of security personnel.]//

> **PHANTOM:** OVCOM, there's a terrestrial group of them. Attempting to board and take the vessel. Requesting air support.

//[Several of the flying Mekhanites land on the deck of the// Haffkine, //engaging personnel directly with close-quarters polearms and swords. Personnel turn the chain guns on them, hammering them with rounds from close proximity. Their advance is halted, but the bullets fail to pierce their fuladh armor.//

//[On the Phantom, the situation worsens as the boarding party begin to reach the top deck and pull themselves over. They are distinctly humanoid, but tall, and heavily augmented with Mekhanite prosthetics and implants. What little of their skin is visible under the armor bulges with subdermal cables and wiring. They are armed with what appear to be primitive long rifles, which they turn on the security personnel and begin firing.]//

> **PATEL:** Bridge, put up the barricades!
> 
> **PHANTOM:** Roger.

//[Several sections of the deck of the Phantom rise up and out, forming makeshift cover. Security personnel dash behind them, leaning out to fire their rifles. The large-caliber rounds from the Mekhanite weapons slam into the barricades at high velocity, a few tearing completely through personnel, who collapse onto the ground, bleeding out.]//

> **OVCOM:** Additional reinforcements have been scrambled. An Indian Navy patrol group  has been requisitioned, and is en route to your location. Fixed-wing aircraft have already been launched and are en-route.
> 
> **PHANTOM:** But--
> 
> **OVCOM:** We can amnesticize them after. Under no circumstances can the Mekhanites be allowed to take MKF-01. You need to survive until the support arrives.

//[With the close-quarters combat occuring on both decks, the remaining aerial Mekhanites can no longer effectively dive-bomb, and slam into the decks of the ships, drawing their weapons and making another advance. Under heavy machine-gun fire, a handful drop to the ground, but most continue advancing.]//

> **ALLARD:** We're getting fucking massacred out here!
> 
> **POLRYS:** Bridge, we need reinforcements //now!//

//[Through one of the doors, a group of hooded and armored personnel exit, shoulderpads emblazoned with the sigil of the Thaumaturgy Division. They form a small phalanx, one drawing a sigil in the air that expands into a moving, translucent barrier. They press forward onto the deck where the firefight is occuring -- the barrier trembles under the assault, but holds.]//

> **LIAN:** //Are those the fucking wizards!?//
> 
> **CARRICK:** Cover us! We're going to try to disable them!
> 
> **OKONKWO:** Move starboard, keep the lane clear for them!

//[The thaumaturges move forward, coming into within a few meters of the Mekhanites. CARRICK holds the barrier while the others brace themselves against the ground and whisper. A few moments later, green, expanding vines creep out through the cracks in the deck and wrap around the ankles of one of the Mekhanites, causing him to crash into the ground. An Alpha-1 operative leans around the cover and empties a magazine into his unprotected nape.]//

> **VERNE:** Shit, that worked! Keep going!
> 
> **CARRICK:** It's too energy-intensive, we can only get one at a time! We just don't have the power!

//[The phalanx is temporarily pushed back by one of the Mekhanites charging them. On the Haffkine, Alpha-1 personnel also flood out of the doors to the bridge and lay down suppressing fire from their weaponry. These weapons cause slightly more visible damage, but still fail to stop the advance towards the bridge.]//

> **PHANTOM:** All personnel, //hold the line//. Reinforcements are on their way.
> 
> **JEFFREY:** They're not going to get here in time! We can't stop them!
[[/div]]

[[collapsible hideLocation="both" show="▶OPEN ADDENDUM◀" hide="▷CLOSE◁"]]
[[div class="addendum"]]
[[div class="doc"]]
ATTACHED TRANSCRIPT - MAY 2003
[[/div]]
**SOURCE:** Lt. Greaves
----
= **<<BEGIN LOG>>**
----
//[GREAVES, GALANIS, and the RAJMATA hover in the air above MKF-01. The decks of all three ships are embroiled in firefights. Dead personnel and Mekhanites litter the decks, and the gunfire is deafening. From a bird's-eye view, it is clear that the Mekhanite advance is slow but steady, moving inch after inch towards the bridge and the access to the lower decks.]//

**GREAVES:** What the hell is this?!

**RAJMATA:** What is currently occurring in the material plane above Mamjul.

**GALANIS:** Wait, this is //happening?!// 

**GREAVES:** It's the fucking Mekhanites. How the hell did they find us?

**GALANIS:** They must've caught the emergency equipment transfer. Shit. //SHIT!//

//[GREAVES turns to the RAJMATA.]//

**GREAVES:** You need to let me out of here. Right fucking now. 

**RAJMATA:** Look at it. It is a massacre. Your weaponry, even your primitive understanding of our magic, cannot hold a candle to the Mekhanites in their prime. And they have advanced quite--

**GREAVES:** I don't care. Let me out.

//[The RAJMATA cocks her head.]//

**RAJMATA:** You would walk into certain death?

**GREAVES:** Those are //my men// getting slaughtered out there. We'll find a way to turn the tide.

**RAJMATA:** You will not.

**GREAVES:** Then the least I can do is die alongside them.

**GALANIS:** You can't keep us here.

**RAJMATA:** I cannot. And you have what you wanted from me. And I from you.

**GREAVES:** Then //let me go//.

**RAJMATA:** I am not keeping you here, Greaves-//jirras//. Your mind is.

**GREAVES:** What are you talking about?

**RAJMATA:** We have been meeting for a year, and not once in that time have I ever shown the power to trap you into the projection. Only your mind can do such a thing. Your current state was caused entirely by what your doctors thought: the object in your brain.

**GALANIS:** How the hell do you know about that?

**GREAVES:** I'm... dead?

**RAJMATA:** No. But both of you are in a torpor, from which you are unlikely to awaken. Certainly not before the Mekhanites kill your men, make it to the lower deck, and slit your throat along with those of everyone else on board. And I know this because the Scarlet whispered it to the Maharaja, and he to me. Your future is written in the trees, I'm afraid.

**GALANIS:** No. No. This can't be right. There has to be something we can do.

//[On the decks, the firefight continues, as the personnel are worn down and pushed back.]//

**RAJMATA:** There is.

**GALANIS:** What? Tell me.

**RAJMATA:** I have told you of how Korar is collapsing. How the strain has sucked out the last vestiges of the Maharaja's energy, sapped into nothing after almost a thousand years.

**GALANIS:** I thought you were supposed to be the Eternal City!

**RAJMATA:** A lie. The astral projection was never meant to be an afterlife. It was only a matter of time. And you accelerated our time.

**GREAVES:** Get to the point.

**RAJMATA:** The Maharaja is dead. Korar is dying. But were it that the Scarlet could select a new host... not only would the Daeva survive, but you witnessed the power of the Blackstar when he had his God's favor. Turning the tide of this battle would be trivial.

**GALANIS:** You told me humans would be destroyed if we tried to commune with the Scarlet!

**RAJMATA:** Most. But I have been watching you, Greaves-//jirras//. The Scarlet has told me your people, your Foundation, are sliding towards a war none of you can prevent. You are a soldier, a warrior-king. You are strong. You wish to protect your people.

**GREAVES:** What are you talking about?

**RAJMATA:** Strike a new Covenant. Become our Maharaja, our king in slumber. And destroy your enemies.

**GALANIS:** This is insane. This is completely insane. We're not going to--

**GREAVES:** I'll do it.

//[GALANIS turns to GREAVES.]//

**GALANIS:** //What?!//

**GREAVES:** Whatever this is. Accept the Scarlet. Just give me the power to stop this.

**GALANIS:** Lucian, are you out of your mind?! 

**GREAVES:** I said I'd do anything, kid. 

**GALANIS:** We'll //find another way!// You saw the reports, we can't let the Daeva return to power. This is just one battle! 

**GREAVES:** No. No, she's not talking about just this.

**RAJMATA:** No.

**GALANIS:** What are you two talking about?

**GREAVES:** There's a storm coming, Pandora. Something bigger than the Mekhanites, than any of us. The Foundation needs to survive.

//[The vision crackles and sags, like film put to a match.]//

**RAJMATA:** We are out of time. 

//[She claps her hands, and the vision melts away. The group is standing in the antechamber of the Citadel -- not in Korar, but in the ruined throne room in Mamjul. Behind the throne, in front of the epicenter of the massive floor carving that spreads across the building. The RAJMATA claps her hands again, and the wooden floor splits apart, curling back to reveal a hollow space. Inside lies the desiccated, mummified corpse of a man, skin stretched taut, a black headdress resting on his brow. A single red jewel is embedded into the headdress, shining like an ocean of blood.]//

**RAJMATA:** Our Maharaja. My master. Take it, as he took the jewel from the roots of the trees so many centuries ago.

**GALANIS:** Luce. Please. Don't do it. You don't know what you're unleashing.

//[GREAVES reaches in and grips the stone firmly, pulling. It resists, but then gives way, tearing out of the Maharaja's headdress, leaving a gaping hole. As he watches, the Maharaja's body falls in on itself, drying even further, turning to dust, fading. The stone whispers to him: promises of salvation, of divination, of victory against the enemy.]//

**RAJMATA:** Now place the stone where it belongs.

//[The far wall contains the engraving of the tree of life, of the Daeva and the humans dancing around it, of the Scarlet watching over them. GREAVES walks over, as if in a trance, and raises the stone. The wall falls away, peeling back and receding, splintering into nothing, revealing its secret. Behind the space lies an infinite scarlet ocean, a miasma of shifting and spiralling redness, stretching far into a horizon that cannot possibly exist. It speaks with the voice of a hundred thousand souls sacrificed in its name, as a great and terrible idea. A god.]//

**THE SCARLET:** WHAT ARE YOU PREPARED TO SACRIFICE?

**GREAVES:** //[Slight pause]// Everything.

//[It does not respond; it does not need to. The red beckons forth, and I step forward, across the threshold, into everything. It is around me, in me. The primal knowledge of what was before and what will be, the natural law written millions of years before any life existed. It is infinitely complex, and at once deeply simple. I see everything. The precipice we are on, and the brink we are falling towards. Our universe, severed from the others, utterly alone.//

//I see Aram in his throne room in Amoni-Ram, augmented beyond any spectre of humanity. His eyes glitter with foresight and fear: he sees what I do. He is terrified of it.//

//I see the Blackstar, sitting alone in a forgotten city on a forgotten island. A paper lies in front of him, and the weight of eras rests on his face.//

//The power of something older than the universe itself courses through me. I reach out//

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//and touch//

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//God.//
-----
= **<<END LOG>>**
[[/div]]
[[/collapsible]]
----
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[[# ACT5]]
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[[div class="act" style="margin-bottom: -15rem"]]
ACT V
[[/div]]
[[div class="sub" style="line-height: 100px;"]]
IN THE COURT OF THE SCARLET KING
[[/div]]
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[[div class="blockquote"]]
**FILESERV NOTICE:** The following document was inserted into this file at a later date, under containment protocol [[span class="label"]]HERODOTUS[[/span]]. Refer to Special Containment Procedures for more information.
[[/div]]
[[div class="scripture"]]
[[div class="doc"]]
VERSE 145-147
[[/div]]
As witnessed by Vaslirasirraj-Shirat, Seventh Rajmata of the Scarlet Maharaja.

And after the waves crested over the spires and palaces of Mamjul, and brought the city low, and slew in one fell wave the Covenant, then for a time, Mamjul rested, alone and rent, at the bottom of the sea. And there it lay, as the BLACKSTAR marched onwards, through the center of Asia, against the forces of the Nälka, and took the world into a great silence. 

And there it continued to lie, unaware of the events beyond the waters, until the ruins of the once-great were happened upon by an old enemy, one who had forgotten its own past. And such were the Daeva immortalized in the pages of the document, defiant of their prison of nonexistence. And in this way, the Song of the Daeva began to write itself once more.
[[/div]]
@@ @@
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----
[[=]]
++ Section 001.9
+++ {{SECOND COVENANT}}
[[/=]]
----

[[div class="addendum"]]
[[div class="doc"]]
ATTACHED TRANSCRIPT - MAY 2003
[[/div]]
> **OVCOM:** Satellite 15 of the Atreus Array is approaching your location, Phantom. ETA six minutes.
> 
> **PHANTOM:** I don't know if we have that much time.

//[A large amount of the security personnel have been killed, and their corpses litter the deck. The Mekhanites are nearly at the bridge, only held back by the few remaining personnel and Alpha-1 operatives, who huddle behind the barricades.]//

> **PHANTOM:** Something's happening. We're getting -- what the hell? 

//[The deck of the ship rumbles again. This time, the force is coming from below.]//

> **OVCOM:** Sitrep, Phantom.
> 
> **PHANTOM:** Subaquatic monitoring equipment is giving abnormal readings, I don't--

//[The ship shudders. For a moment, the Mekhanites pause their advance. In the center of the three ships, a circle of red light begins to form in the water, perhaps 10m across. It steadily increases in brightness and intensity.]//

> **PHANTOM:** What //is that?//

//[A single figure, wreathed in fire, breaks through the surface of the sea, immediately boiling the water around it to vapor that sprays outward. It rises into the air, a blur of red shooting up to twice the height of the// Phantom //and moving until it is hovering over the deck.]//

> **PHANTOM:** Visual contact. A red-skinned nude figure, flying above the ship.
> 
> **OVCOM:** Mekhanite?
> 
> **PHANTOM:** No. No, it doesn't appear to be. It's not wearing any armor -- or anything, actually, and I don't see any augments. It's glowing, though. A corona of red light. The Mekhanites stopped -- they're just staring at it. 

//[The figure reaches one hand out of the corona of light, waving it across the dozens of Mekhanites on the deck of the// Phantom//. The vines left abandoned by the Thaumuturgy Division suddenly engorge with thorns and violently outstretch, far more aggressive than they were. They wrap around the torsos of a slew of the Mekhanites, pulling them to the ground, burrowing through their eye sockets and mouths into their bodies, tearing them apart from the inside, leaving pools of viscera and blood-soaked augments.]//

//[The remaining Mekhanites turn their weapons on the floating figure, barraging it with spears, rifles, and conventional firearms. Several of the flying units take to the air, making a run at it. It lazily waves another hand. They stop in midair, clutching at their implants. The bare skin where their augments are attached turns yellow, then green, then black, rotting in real time. It oozes with pus and disintegrates, the dead tissue tearing away from the living, their implants going with it, and their limbless torsos fall screaming into the sea.]//

//[It turns its attention to the handful of remaining hostiles. They are preparing a retreat, about to leap over the edge of the ship and back into the sea. Some even make it, but they do not survive the fall -- their bodies split apart, vines and roots forming from inside them and tearing through their skin and flesh as they force an exit. Many are simply bisected, their bloody halves falling into the sea and sinking, turning the water red with blood as it pools around the ships. The battle is over; in the course of 40 seconds, the figure has eviscerated over a hundred Mekhanites.]//

> **PHANTOM:** It just... killed them. 
> 
> **OVCOM:** //Sitrep, please.//
> 
> **PHANTOM:** It massacred them. The Mekhanites are all dead. No further friendly casualties. It just brutalized them.
> 
> **OVCOM:** Treat as hostile, Phantom.

//[The figure begins to descend from its hovering position. It becomes clear that it is essentially a disembodied nervous system wrapped in a translucent red layer. As it descends, it begins to take firm shape -- bones grow, muscles knit themselves into place, though the figure never grows skin. Standing well over 3m tall and with large horns on its head, its skin is inscribed with symbols and markings that pulse to an inaudible rhythm. As it reaches the deck of the Phantom, MTF Alpha-1 operatives fan out from behind cover, supported by security personnel. They surround the figure in a circle, guns drawn and all pointed directly at its head. It does not react.]//

> **PHANTOM:** Wait.
> 
> **OVCOM:** What?

//[The figure looks up, raising a hand in greeting.]//

> **WILCOX:** ...Lieutenant Greaves?
[[/div]]

The figure, temporarily designated SCP-001-KING, surrendered to security forces and was detained in a secure holding cell aboard the //Phantom//. Interrogations were a failure; it insisted on speaking first to Doctor Pandora Galanis. Dr. Galanis was brought into the secure cell four hours after they awakened from their astral projection and were debriefed.

[[collapsible hideLocation="both" show="▶OPEN ADDENDUM◀" hide="▷CLOSE◁"]]
[[div class="addendum"]]
[[div class="doc"]]
ATTACHED TRANSCRIPT - MAY 2003
[[/div]]
----
= **<<BEGIN LOG>>**
----
//[GALANIS enters the cell. The room contains a number of automated gun turrets encircling the ceiling, all aiming squarely on SCP-001-KING's bare skull. A thick pane of glass separates the observation chamber from the entity.]//

**GALANIS:** Lucian?

**SCP-001-KING:** PERHAPS ONCE. NOW, I AM SO MUCH MORE. HELLO, PANDORA.

**GALANIS:** What... happened to you? 

**SCP-001-KING:** I MADE THE DECISION YOU COULD NOT. APOTHEOSIS, ESCALATION TO A HIGHER TRUTH. 

**GALANIS:** You can't be him. His body is still lying in the Psychotronics Lab.

**SCP-001-KING:** THE MATERIAL BODY. I AM THE IMMATERIAL BODY. THE SOUL.

**GALANIS:** The astral projection, made physical.

**SCP-001-KING:** I HAVE REACHED OUT AND BECOME ONE WITH SOMETHING SO MUCH GREATER THAN YOU OR I. 

**GALANIS:** You became the Scarlet Maharaja. God, Luce. How could you be so stupid?

**SCP-001-KING:** I DID WHAT I HAD TO DO. AND NOW I SEE THE WHOLE BOARD, LAID OUT IN FRONT OF ME. THE TOTAL MASS OF OUR HISTORY, BEGINNING, TO END. 

**GALANIS:** You were the one who was supposed to make sure this didn't happen! 

**SCP-001-KING:** THE SITUATION CHANGED. I AM A SOLDIER. WHEN YOU SEE ARMIES TRAMPLED, ENTIRE CITIES RENT TO ASH, NATIONS BURNED... ARAM MADE THE WRONG DECISION FOR THE RIGHT REASONS. ONLY A MADMAN WOULD SEE WHAT IS COMING AND ELECT TO DO NOTHING.

**GALANIS:** We should have never interfered with the Daeva to begin with. Goddammnit. 

**SCP-001-KING:** YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE, BUT YOU DID. I AM THE RESULT OF THE NEW COVENANT, WHATEVER I AM.

**GALANIS:** What kind of deal did you cut?

**SCP-001-KING:** THE DAEVA REALIZE THEY ARE LIMITED BY THEIR CURRENT MEANS OF EXISTENCE. THEY CAN ONLY INTERACT WITH THE WORLD THROUGH THE FOUNDATION. I AM THE VESSEL. THEIR POWER FLOWS FROM THE SCARLET, TO THEM, TO ME, TO YOU. ALL IS ONE. 

**GALANIS:** And what about you? I thought the Maharaja needed to be dreaming to ensure Korar survives.

**SCP-001-KING:** I DO. AND SOON I WILL LEAVE, TO FALL INTO THE ENDLESS SLEEP DEMANDED OF ME. SO THAT YOUR ALLIES MAY CONTINUE TO EXIST. SO THAT THEY MAY SUPPORT YOU IN THE COMING STORM. BUT BEFORE THAT... ARRANGEMENTS MUST BE MADE.

**GALANIS:** //What fucking storm?!//

**SCP-001-KING:**  I SEE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE, PAN. BUT THAT COMES WITH A RESPONSIBILITY OF CARE. THE COUNCIL WILL UNDERSTAND WHAT I MEAN; I APOLOGIZE.

**GALANIS:** You can't tell me. Shocker. 

**SCP-001-KING:** I AM BOUND BY THE SAME MAGIC THAT BOUND THE RAJMATA TO SILENCE. I HAVE INHERITED THE CURSE.

**GALANIS:** Enough magic to bind a god. 

**SCP-001-KING:** A PROPHET. THE SCARLET IS FREE TO TELL ME THE TRUTH, AND IT HAS. I SIMPLY CANNOT SHARE IT WITH YOU. YOU MUST DISCOVER IT YOURSELF.

**GALANIS:** What arrangements, then?

**SCP-001-KING:** THE DAEVA REQUIRE CERTAIN CONCESSIONS FOR THEIR SUPPORT, FOR TEACHING OUR THAUMATURGES THEIR MAGIC. CHIEF AMONG WHICH IS BEING IMMORTALIZED IN OUR ARCHIVES. SOMETHING THAT WILL LAST BEYOND THE SONG OF THE DAEVA, EVEN AS A NEW VERSE IS WRITTEN IN OUR BODIES.

**GALANIS:** You want us to //ally// with them?

**SCP-001-KING:** WE DO WHAT WE MUST TO SURVIVE. THE DECK OF THE PHANTOM IS LITTERED WITH THE BODIES OF THOSE WHO DIDN'T. THE MEKHANITES ARE TOO DANGEROUS FOR THE FOUNDATION ALONE. AND THEY ARE NOTHING -- //NOTHING// -- COMPARED TO WHAT RESTS ON THE HORIZON.

**GALANIS:** I can't-- No. We'll find another way. One that doesn't betray our principles.

**SCP-001-KING:** THE DECISION IS THE COUNCIL'S TO MAKE, BUT WE HAVE ALREADY BEEN TRADING INFORMATION, SUPPORT, ASSISTANCE.

**GALANIS:** I can't take this to the Council. I was insistent this doesn't end up like Amoni-Ram, and here we fucking are.

**SCP-001-KING:** RID YOURSELF OF THESE PETTY INSECURITIES. YOU CAN DO AS I HAVE DONE. YOU CAN BECOME SOMETHING GREATER THAN A COG IN THE MACHINE. YOU CAN SHAPE OUR FUTURE. I NEED SOMEONE I CAN TRUST, PANDORA. A NEW RAJMATA.

//[Pause.]//

**SCP-001-KING:** YOU ANSWER TO NO ONE, ONLY YOURSELF. MY WILL IS YOUR WILL. A CHANCE TO MOLD THE SOCIETY TO HOW YOU WISH? NO JUDGEMENT, NO COMMITMENTS TO MODERN BIASES AND BIGOTRIES. A PERFECT SOCIETY, BEYOND GENDER AND SCARCITY AND SUFFERING. ISN'T THIS WHAT YOU WANTED?

**GALANIS:** No. //No!// What the fuck is wrong with you? No, this isn't what I wanted at all! //[Yelling]// This isn't how any of this was supposed to go!

//[Silence.]//

**SCP-001-KING:** DISAPPOINTING. YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN LEGENDARY. 

//[Pause.]//

**SCP-001-KING:** GO NOW. TAKE THE TERMS OF MY COVENANT TO THE COUNCIL. SEE IF THEY ACCEPT THE HELP I WANT TO GIVE THEM. THEY UNDERSTAND THE THREAT.

**GALANIS:** How did we get here, Lucian?

**SCP-001-KING:** YOU LED US HERE.

**GALANIS:** //What?// 

**SCP-001-KING:** YOU LET YOURSELF BE PUSHED, PULLED, BY THE FORCES THAT SURROUND YOU. A VESSEL WITH NO AGENCY OF YOUR OWN. YOU HAVE BEEN USED, PANDORA, USED AND THROWN AWAY. 

**GALANIS:** You said I was a leader.

**SCP-001-KING:** LUCIAN SAID YOU WOULD RISE TO THE OCCASION. YOU HAVEN'T YET.

**GALANIS:** What am I supposed to //do?!//

**SCP-001-KING:** TAKE CHARGE BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.

//[Pause.]//

**SCP-001-KING:** GOODBYE, PANDORA.

//[In a flash of fire and red light, SCP-001-KING demanifests, leaving behind nothing but a few dead leaves. GALANIS stands, staring at them for a few moments. Then they turn and leave.]//
-----
= **<<END LOG>>**
[[/div]]
[[/collapsible]]

Three days later, on June 3rd, O5 Edict #2130 was released. Doctor Galanis was not invited to the deliberation session or to testify.

[[div class="addendum" style="font-weight: bold; background:#fff url(http://scp-wiki.wdfiles.com/local--files/the-great-hippo/scp_trans.png) center no-repeat;"]]
[[div class="doc"]]
ATTACHED DOCUMENT -- JUNE 2003
[[/div]]

= COUNCIL VOTE SUMMARY:
||~ YEA  ||~ ABSTAIN  ||~ NAY ||
|| O5-01 ||   ||       ||
||  ||   || O5-02 ||
|| O5-03 ||   ||       ||
|| ||   ||  O5-04  ||
|| O5-05 ||    ||          ||
|| O5-06 ||   ||          ||
||  ||   ||  O5-07  ||
|| ||   || O5-08 ||
|| O5-09 ||       ||          ||
|| O5-10 ||  ||          ||
|| X ||  X ||  X ||
||  O5-12 ||  ||     ||
|| ||   ||  O5-13    ||
@@ @@
||||~ ADDITIONAL VOTE||
|| Administrator || **N/A** ||
@@ @@
||~ STATUS ||
|| [[span style="font-weight: normal; font-family: 'Josefin Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 140%; color: green; padding: 3pt 3pt;"]]APPROVED[[/span]] ||

The Foundation is to establish formal diplomatic channels with the Daevic Empire, and occupy the role of the human element in a future Daevic Covenant, when it is established. The exactitudes of the Covenant will be worked out in a manner to benefit both parties and ensure mutual security. The Mamjul-Korar Initiative's role is to be transformed into a diplomatic one, with academic study of the Daeva allowing a better understanding of their culture and society as they pertain to the Foundation. SCP-001-KING, formerly Lieutenant Lucian Greaves of Mobile Task Force Alpha-1, currently Scarlet Maharaja of the Daevic Empire, is to serve as a channel for the thaumaturgic powers of the Daeva, allowing them to be utilized by trained Foundation thaumaturges.

The Daevic Empire is to support the Foundation in any future confrontations against hostile anomalous empires.

This vote is taken and this measure is enacted in the absence of the Administrator, who historically has handled diplomatic commitments of the Foundation. 
[[/div]]

[[collapsible hideLocation="both" show="▶OPEN ADDENDUM◀" hide="▷CLOSE◁"]]
[[div class="addendum"]]
[[div class="doc"]]
ATTACHED TRANSCRIPT  -- JUNE 2003
[[/div]]
----
= **<<BEGIN LOG>>**
----
//[DESAI and GALANIS are seated in the latter's office, looking over documents.]//

**DESAI:** This is utterly fucking insane.

**GALANIS:** I //feel// like I'm going insane.

**DESAI:** They can't possibly be serious. Can they?

**GALANIS:** A 7-5 margin. Razor thin. I just don't understand what they could possibly be thinking.

**DESAI:** They want to ally with the baby-sacrificing demons. 

**GALANIS:** They're not... ugh.

//[GALANIS sighs.]//

**GALANIS:** This was a mistake. Top to bottom.

**DESAI:** What do you mean?

**GALANIS:** WE-- //I// had an academic responsibility. I was stupid, and naive. There was no way this was going to go any other way than us weaponizing the Daeva for our purposes. Just like Amoni-Ram. I failed then, and I failed now.

**DESAI:** Hey, woah, relax. This isn't your fault.

**GALANIS:** It is, Ajay. I need to take agency.

**DESAI:** How?

**GALANIS:** I really don't know yet.

//[Silence.]//

**GALANIS:** I'm trapped between a rock and a hard place. They're expecting me to enforce this, to continue leading the Initiative into something I can't possibly support. And they did it all without so much as asking me.

**DESAI:** You're still the project lead. You can demand an audience. 

**GALANIS:** And say what?

**DESAI:** Demand a fucking answer! You were the one who saw the Rajmata's visions. They don't know what they're agreeing to, you do.

**GALANIS:** God. The Rajmata.

**DESAI:** Snake bitch.

**GALANIS:** No. No, not really. 

**DESAI:** Don't give me that protecting her people crap. We do that every day and we do it without sacrificing our baser principles.

**GALANIS:** It's more than that. There are two groups here -- one thinks the Daeva are all insane murderers and the other one thinks that's a risk we have to take.

**DESAI:** And you?

**GALANIS:** Neither. Both. Caught between a rock and a hard place. I've seen the visions. The Daeva are not morally pure, and letting a culture with the morals of 3000 years ago out into the modern world is.... obscenely careless. But at the same time... they're not inherently evil, and they don't deserve to be destroyed. 

**DESAI:** So that's what you mean by a rock and a hard place.

**GALANIS:** Yeah. Man, Ajay. The way that Lucian was talking... I'm scared.

**DESAI:** Of what?

**GALANIS:** That's what scares me. I don't know. And it's not just him. The Rajmata, even O5-1. They all seem utterly convinced we're about to crash into something and I just don't know what and that terrifies me. 

**DESAI:** We'll get through it. We're the Foundation, we always do.

**GALANIS:** Yeah. Yeah.

**DESAI:** Still, I think that you should talk to the Council.

//[They sit in silence for some time, sorting through a huge stack of debriefing documents. DESAI pulls one from the stack. It is a black envelope sealed with tamper tape.]//

**DESAI:** What's this?

//[GALANIS furrows their brow, grabbing it and inspecting it.]//

**GALANIS:** I'm not sure. It's from... Lucian? Oh. Oh, //crap.// I forgot about this.

**DESAI:** What?

**GALANIS:** I asked him to run a query on a term that kept coming up in our research, since he had a higher clearance level than me. I didn't think he'd actually do it.

//[They slit open the envelope, breaking the tamper tape. They pull out the document inside and begin reading. After they finish, they sit in silence for nearly a minute.]//

**DESAI:** Dora? You okay?

**GALANIS:** **//Motherfucker//.**

//[GALANIS abruptly stands up.]//

**DESAI:** What does it say? Where you going?

**GALANIS:** To do what I should've done a long time ago.
----
= **<<END LOG>>**
----
[[/div]]

[[div class="addendum"]]
[[div class="doc"]]
ATTACHED TRANSCRIPT  -- JUNE 2003
[[/div]]
= **<<IN ATTENDANCE>>**
----
= **<<BEGIN LOG>>**
----
**OPERATOR:** Secure Ley connection established. Incoming signal from the FRS //Lillihammer// to Overwatch Command.

//[The Leyspace activates, cycling through a number of locations before settling on a large, vast concrete room. The circular meeting table is surrounded by thirteen seats, all of them filled, and contains a small aperture in the center. The only other object in the brightly-lit room is a singular metal chair, folded and leaning against the far wall. Researcher Galanis' avatar appears in the center of the table.]//

**O5-1:** Doctor Galanis. It's nice to see you. You requested an audience?

**GALANIS:** What the hell have you people done?

//[O5-1 raises an eyebrow.]//

**O5-3:** Excuse us?

**GALANIS:** This Edict. You talked //so much// about not wanting this to end up like Amoni-Ram, and here we are.

**O5-5:** You misunderstand. This is a success for us.

**GALANIS:** In what world--

**O5-5:** We have access to a school of thaumaturgy that's an effective countermeasure to Mekhanite augments. We have a better understanding of the nature of these gods and the threats they pose. And the Daeva are indebted to us.

**GALANIS:** Wait, what? //Indebted?//

//[O5-5 stiffens.]//

**GALANIS:** What is he talking about?

//[The room is silent.]//

**O5-1:** The details are still being worked out, but... we will be strongly considering SCP-001-KING's offer for a new Covenant in the coming days.

**GALANIS:** I had a feeling. I've spent more than a year studying them. They're not evil, but this is not going to go how you think it will.

**O5-1:** I'm afraid that's a risk we're willing to take, Doctor. Now if you would just calm down--

**GALANIS:** But this doesn't explain why they'd be indebted to you. The Covenant is a mutual agreement -- it benefits them as much as it benefits you. We're getting the magic, we're getting the tools to fight the Mekhanites. What are they getting?

**O5-1:** Pandora--

**GALANIS:** What do they //want?// They've been written out of history, out of reality itself. They don't exist in any material sense anymore, they didn't until we started looking at them. And once we stop looking, they'll fade away again. They want something permanent. They want someone to write them back--

//[GALANIS abruptly looks up.]//

**GALANIS:** Oh, Jesus Christ. 

**O5-8:** Figured it out, eh? Smart kid.

**O5-1:** Aktus, please.

**GALANIS:** You're making a deal with the devil.

**O5-1:** I assure you, Doctor, I am acutely aware of the risks we're taking.

**GALANIS:** Yeah. You've been aware of them for 60 years.

//[O5-1 stiffens.]//

**O5-1:** I'm not sure what you're referring to.

**GALANIS:** Lucian used his credentials to run a database query for "BLACKSTAR", see what I was locked out of. I expected copies of my own records. And yet there it was: a database of verbal cognitohazards dating back to the original Memetics Division, World War 2. Top of the list, first record: "BLACKSTAR". You've known about it. I have no idea what the hell you know, or how, but you've known something about all of this since 1945 that you never told me or him or anyone.

**O5-1:** What?

**GALANIS:** Don’t play dumb with me. I know you’re smarter than that. 

**O5-1:** I swear to you, Doctor, I have no ides what you’re talking about. Only someone with Level 5 clearance could’ve ordered those files sealed. 

**O5-6:** We’re not the only ones with Level 5 clearance. 
 
//[A short pause, then the council bursts into overlapping chatter.]//

**O5-12:** //Could he have—//

**O5-2:** //We haven’t seen him in years, I don’t think—//

**O5-9:** //But **why**—//

**O5-1:** //[Raised voice]// Everyone! Please. Doctor, I can promise you we’ll look into this. But in isolation, it really doesn’t mean anything. There are a thousand ways they could’ve randomly stumbled across something like that.

//[GALANIS is silent.]//

**O5-1:** Pandora?

**GALANIS:** You stood there, in Amoni-Ram, and assured me that you were a historian, that you wouldn’t let this be exploited. That you understood. What the hell happened?

**O5-1:** I have people to protect, Doctor Galanis. 

**GALANIS:** Yeah. I’ve heard that before. But nobody seems willing to tell me what you’re protecting them from.

**O5-1:** Yes, I did. Another Occult War is brewing on the horizon, Doctor Galanis, and I’m just doing what we can to avert it. 

**GALANIS:** What?

**O5-1:** You're a historian, Doctor Galanis. Tell me what the Occult Wars are.

**GALANIS:** Occult Wars, from the Latin root //occultare//. Hidden. Secret wars of the anomalous world, occuring in parallel with mundane conflicts. But I don't understand, the last Occult War was nearly a hundred years ago. 

**O5-1:** Which means the next one has had a hundred years to stew. Or longer, honestly. And this time the threat won't be Nazis with anomalous arms. It will be something so powerful, the only term we have for it is reality-bender. 

**GALANIS:** You're talking about the Blackstar. 

**O5-1:** We all have our roles to play. Yours is to follow the orders I give you.

//[Silence.]//

**GALANIS:** Am I… going to stay on as project lead? To execute this new directive?

**O5-1:** Yes. You are expected to, at any rate.

**GALANIS:** Yeah. I thought so. Then consider this my immediate resignation.

**O5-1:** From the Mamjul Korar Initiative?

**GALANIS:** From the Foundation. I’m not gonna be complicit in you weaponizing the anomalous. 

**O5-1:** I strongly urge you to reconsider, Doctor.

**GALANIS:** After the Manhattan Project, a number of scientists at Los Alamos couldn’t handle the reality of what they’ve done, what they’d helped to create. They couldn’t live like that.

**O5-1:** Yes. I was there.

**GALANIS:** For all your talk of making sure I didn’t end up how Aram did, you let Lucian turn into that… //thing// the moment it was useful for you. I never should’ve gotten involved in this. And now I’m cutting myself off. 

**O5-1:** I see. That’s… disappointing.

**GALANIS:** You want to, too. You’re a historian. You understand where this road ends.

**O5-1:** I have obligations. A higher calling. My principles can’t be unimpeachable, because then people die.

**GALANIS:** Used to justify every Faustian bargain in history.

//[O5-1 shrugs.]// 

**O5-1:** We’re all slaves to something, Doctor.

//[Leyspace connection to: {{SITE-01}} terminated.]//
----
= **<<END LOG>>**
----
[[/div]]
[[/collapsible]]

Per [[span class="label"]]O5 Edict #2130[[/span]] and with a majority vote of the Overseer Council, the Daevic Empire has been designated GoI-019 and classified as an ally of the Foundation.

Additionally, the Foundation and the Daevic Empire entered into a formal Covenant; a mutually-beneficial anomalous agreement binding both sides to each other. This Covenant is contingent on several factors, and may be broken off if either party feels it has been wronged or betrayed.

* The Daevic Empire will surrender knowledge on thaumaturgy that is capable of being utilized against hostile threats.
* The Daevic Empire will remain in the astral plane, and make no attempts to forcibly breach through to the material plane.
* The Daevic Empire will not intentionally expose their existence, the Foundation's, or the anomalous to non-Veil societies.

In return:

* The Foundation will act as the human arm of the Covenant, affecting the material plane in the stead of GoI-019.
* A small number of personnel will be permitted to become temporary hosts of Daeva, thereby significantly escalating their thaumaturgic ability.


Additionally, as the Daevic Empire has been ontologically scrubbed from baseline reality by the Blackstar, the Foundation will take a leading role in restoring them. While they will not be given physical form, interviews with Daeva and the Rajmata indicate that the presence of a physical, written record of the Daeva's history will significantly stabilize Korar and begin restoring the vast historical records in Mamjul and across the Indian subcontinent that were obliterated by the Blackstar's //damnatio memoriae//. 

As their presence in baseline reality retroactively increases, so will the thaumaturgic power they can supply to the Foundation. This effect will apply retroactively -- as the document is extended and completed, more ancient artifacts and ruins of the Daeva will be unearthed. 

This anomalous effect has been classified as SCP-140, and applied to the current most complete record of the history of the Daeva: this document. Under containment protocol [[span class="label"]]HERODOTUS[[/span]], SCP-001-JADE has been separated into 5 "acts", each covering, in parallel, a broad period of the Daeva's history from the Song of the Daeva, and the events leading to their rediscovery, and the file has been designated the primary vector of SCP-140. It is recommended for perusal in its redacted forms by all cleared Foundation personnel; as more personnel go through this document, the more the Foundation's thaumaturgic capacity increases. 

As the Mamjul-Korar Initiative shifts into its new goals of training thaumaturges in Daeva magic, global Foundation priorities are to be shifted towards the investigation and approval of Thaumiel-class anomalies, particularly those effective in combat applications. Project OLYMPIA has been expedited. 

Global Threat Level has once again been elevated to Keneq-5. Project FORERUNNER TRIAD is to dedicate all possible resources to identifying, locating, and securing the final remaining city: the Nälka city of Black Adytum. 
----
[[=]]
++ Section 001.10
+++ {{CONCLUSION}}
[[/=]]
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= [[span class="label"]]WARNING[[/span]]
= **The following sections of document {{SCP-001-JADE}} are restricted to Clearance Level 5/001-JADE. Please enter valid security credentials to continue.**

[[collapsible hideLocation="both" show="DOES THE BLACK MOON HOWL?" hide="▷CLOSE◁"]]
= **{{WHEN ITS NAME IS TWISTED AGAINST IT}}**
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= **Validating...**
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= **Welcome, O5-1.**
----
Following the ratification of the Foundation-Daeva Treaty and Doctor Galanis' immediate resignation, a helicopter was dispatched to extract them from MKF-01 for processing and amnesticization, with Doctor Karl Aberer serving as the interim Project Lead. Before they were extracted, Doctor Galanis was observed to enter the Psychotronics Lab aboard the //Haffkine// for a period of forty-five minutes. The event was only noticed by security staff after Galanis had been escorted by MTF Alpha-1 operatives into the helicopter and departed the //Phantom//; however, the recording device associated with Lieutenant Greaves' LSAP Array was still active.

[[div class="addendum"]]
[[div class="doc"]]
ATTACHED TRANSCRIPT  -- JUNE 2003
[[/div]]
----
= **<<BEGIN LOG>>**
----

//[GALANIS opens their eyes. They are in the throne room of the Citadel. Once again, the city is in an orgiastic sway -- drumbeats ring throughout, but with new, joyous words. A new verse of the Song of the Daeva is being written. The RAJMATA is seated on the throne, draped in luxurious shawls and silks, layered with jewelry hanging around her arms and horns. She looks up at GALANIS.]//

**RAJMATA:** Galanis. Hello. 

**GALANIS:** Spare me. I've resigned; you're not gonna be seeing any more of me. 

**RAJMATA:** That is truly a shame. For all your faults, I thought you were... a remarkably innocent soul. Unfortunately, wars are not kind to the innocent.

**GALANIS:** I would say so, seeing what it did to your children.

//[The RAJMATA's expression does not shift.]//

**RAJMATA:** What have you come here for?

**GALANIS:** An answer.

**RAJMATA:** Just one? I'm sure you have many questions.

**GALANIS:** Honestly, no, not really. Everything I'm wondering has been just about cleared up. No thanks to you.

**RAJMATA:** I am not going to apologize for doing what I did to ensure the survival of my people, Galanis-//hiyar//. Yours would have done the same.

**GALANIS:** They did.

**RAJMATA:** Yes. Yes, they did. You cannot fault me for this; the beauty of the Covenant is that it is made with the consent of all parties. I did not force Greaves-//jirras// or your Overseers into anything they did not want to do. They simply saw the truth.

**GALANIS:** What's that?

**RAJMATA:** That the only way we are going to weather the coming storm is together. My entire nation drowned after falling under the sea. And standing from where I am, I can once again see the tides are rising.

**GALANIS:** A new Occult War.

**RAJMATA:** No. The same Occult War, the First War. It never ended. This was merely a three-thousand-year-old ceasefire that expired the moment you unleashed Amoni-Ram from its sandy tomb. 

**GALANIS:** The Council, Greaves, you. You're all sure that the Blackstar and his god are still out there, biding their time. 

**RAJMATA:** I am.

**GALANIS:** Why?

**RAJMATA:** I know because my master whispered it through the cosmos. I imagine your Overseers had a similar experience. And the **BLACKSTAR** is not the true threat. His god is. The Black Moon.

**GALANIS:** The Black Moon. Where have I heard that before? That's... that's a fucking Foundation passphrase! The Overseers were lying, they //do// know something!

**RAJMATA:** This, I cannot comment upon.

**GALANIS:** Well, none of this will matter in a bit anyway. I'm sure the Foundation'll amnesticize me before I so much as step foot on land.

**RAJMATA:** Then take this time to ask anything else you were left wondering about.

//[Silence for a moment, then GALANIS laughs.]//

**RAJMATA:** Yes?

**GALANIS:** Nothing. It's just that... it's the most trivial thing, but I promised one of my researchers that I'd ask you why the Three-Prong Army was called that. We couldn't figure it out.

**RAJMATA:** A promise is a covenant. It must be kept. They are named as such because of their insignia.

**GALANIS:** I didn't see any heraldry in your memories.

**RAJMATA:** It was as powerful a symbol as **BLACKSTAR** is a name. Not to be used lightly. But it has been a long, long time since that era. 

//[The RAJMATA claps her hands. An attendant approaches, carrying a curved black dagger, reflecting the light around it. It is sharp to a point. The attendant offers the dagger to the RAJMATA, who grasps it, and begins taking off their robes, their back to the RAJMATA. She leans down and, with a firm hand, carves a symbol into the tender flesh of their back.]//

**GALANIS:** Oh dear God.

//[The attendant turns, showing their bleeding back to GALANIS. Their flesh is marred by a wide circle, jutting into which at equidistant points are three lines with sharp tips facing inward.]//

**GALANIS:** That's... that's the Founda--

**RAJMATA:** Goodbye, Doctor Galanis. For what it's worth, I suspect this is not the end of your story.

//[She reaches a hand out, pointing at GALANIS, and the projection terminates.]//
----
= **<<END LOG>>**
----
[[/div]]

Doctor Galanis was in a state of extreme distress as they were escorted to the helicopter, and had to be sedated before being secured for transport. The sedative wore off approximately one hour after takeoff. Shortly thereafter, the helicopter went silent and disappeared from Foundation radar -- this was the last recorded transmission.

[[div class="addendum"]]
[[div class="doc"]]
ATTACHED TRANSCRIPT  -- JUNE 2003
[[/div]]
----
= **<<BEGIN LOG>>**
----

**GALANIS:** Hhuh. Wha--? Where am I?

//[They shake their handcuffs, but are too securely strapped in to even move. In the cockpit, the pilots do not react. There are three soldiers at various positions throughout the body of the helicopter, all armed and their faces covered.]//

**GALANIS:** What? Fuck.

//[GALANIS leans forward.]//

**GALANIS:** What is this? You're not Alpha-1. Your patches aren't like Lucian's.

**UNKNOWN:** Perceptive.

//[They turn their attention to their other side. A figure in a suit is sitting in the other aisle of seats, facing them. He appears to be in his fifties, with a short beard and close-cropped grey hair. He speaks in an unidentifiable accent.]//

**ADMINISTRATOR:** I suppose someone owes you an explanation, don't they?
----
= **<<END LOG>>**
----
[[/div]]
[[/collapsible]]
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