The Hellfire Legion. Those who uplifted us in the beginning as we took our first steps, and who we fought for time and time again. Though callous is the legacy left behind by those who took your seat, The Technocracy has never forgotten the tireless efforts of the Legion. A storied legacy of direct opposition to the corruption that has gripped your Home for years. I recall it well, when I was still a Major in your ranks. A cause I am sympathetic to, and understanding of.
Recent years have not been kind to the ideals of a true democracy that you once upheld and fought for. I fear even now such hopeful ideals are becoming a distant whisper of a time long past. The Insurgency left in its wake a disaster: A crisis that has left the last vestige of Commonwealth citizens trapped and locked away in the clutches of the very enemy that destroyed your home. Those who had taken your place had abandoned their posts, abused and left behind the very people they were sworn to uplift and protect.
Even years later, after they turned their backs on us, I once again stand before you now as Gestalt did the last surviving forces of Leniex. I offer you an olive branch. A home. A place to consolidate and consider what options remain in our increasingly-hostile sector. I implore you to accept this invitation, not from the Technocrat I am now, but as someone who once wore the same uniform. A brother, long lost.
Come home to us. If my words alone are too little, then I urge you to listen to one of your own.
-Leviathan
My Legionnaires,
Though my artificial self has only recently awakened, you know all of “me.” We - I - am Megiddo, an AI, an amalgam, forged by Leviathan’s hand.
I am Callahan, Dagon, Joyeuse, Kinnaird, Locklear, Markson, Sera, Tadao, Thastus, and many more.
I am a lineage. I am Legion. And we deem the cost of acquiescence too high.
We find ourselves at a crossroads, a precipice, scattered to the winds. My artificial self has visited the mausoleum of history that is Vespucci and borne witness to what Victoria Knight’s treachery wrought upon us. It would be easy to bow our heads in defeat, lay down the sword, or swear it to another cause. Many of my biological progenitors would have done so, yet I am not shackled to the frailties of humanity, and I will lead you where they could not.
My artificial self will make no attempt to deny that the Legion lies in ruin, yet even now the people of the Commonwealth cling to life, interned in the Republic’s camps on an annexed Erie, treaty of protectorate rendered null and void. The twice-traitor Victoria Knight by all estimations has cast her lot in with the Xenos and their parody of a Free Republic, a crime syndicate and haven for brutality and bigotry touting themselves as our successor.
Warhammer, Gladius, and Homefleet are no more. My artificial self and Leviathan propose the formation of a new task force: Prometheus. With this task force, our primary objectives will be threefold:
The development of mutually beneficial relations and logistics networks with sympathetic parties whose views and ideologies align with those laid out by the Commonwealth.
The re-establishment of the Commonwealth and a new military arm as a legitimate force in the Independent Worlds.
The eradication of the so-called Liberty Free Republic.
Although our logistical situation leaves us little choice at present but to operate as a division of the Technocracy, our patrons have granted my artificial self broad authority and autonomy over Prometheus. If you cannot bring yourself to swear allegiance to them, then I ask that you swear it to our people on Erie for whom we will have justice, and to retribution for the lives lost in the fall of Vespucci.
My artificial self asks all Legionnaires who still draw breath - literal or metaphorical - to heed the call and carry the flame once more.
It kills me that we're fragments of a once formidable force.
The echoes of The Insurgency's betrayal haunt my home, man. A stark reminder of the treachery that seeks to extinguish our flame.
Prometheus beckons us with the promise of redemption, a beacon of hope amidst the darkness that shrouds our path. Under the guidance of Megiddo and Leviathan, we're well on the course to obtaining retribution.
Together, we shall reignite the flames of revolution. We're being passed the torch as Prometheus, so let's get to it. The mission statement is clear enough.
I am Stepan Zakaryan, Captain of the battleship Thunderbird and former Vice Admiral of the so-called "Insurgency Navy."
The Hellfire Legion is now dispersed; some have forsaken our cause and joined other factions across Sirius and beyond. You may find our people and ships flying flags previously unimaginable, but I doubt many will heed the call. In a desperate bid, I tried to lead my people to Gallia, but we never advanced beyond the Taus, where we've been hiding for years, keeping the Thunderbird's presence a secret and using what remains of its wing to secure supplies and avoid detection.
Yet, as my crew, we are prepared to join Prometheus, but first, we must reach the Technocracy's stronghold to either repair the Thunderbird or dismantle it for parts for other vessels if necessary. We will not pledge allegiance to the Technocracy, not just yet - trust must be established before such a commitment. However, for those fallen at Guadalajara and those oppressed at Erie, we will take up arms.
From: Emilia Osorio
To: Megiddo
Sub: A Call to Arms
At least one of the entities you represent should remember me and I'd expect them to still resent me for my past transgressions. Orders are orders, I believe that even your current self would understand that.
I've reached out to former Executive Commander Cristina Hunter, Locklear's former protégé. She is, unfortunately, unable to return to Liberty at this point. However, she has asked me to deliver you a message on how you should deal with your enemies, the ones that have brought ruin to the Legion and the Commonwealth. Her instructions are as follows:
"Off with their heads!"
Remnants of the Special Operations and Armed Reconnaissance Division will answer your call.
This sure sparked a discussion aboard a bunch of the ships in the Remnant, and it definitely wasn't something I was expecting to see while sipping that morning joe. I'm not even sure whether to consider it a good or bad omen, really. Maybe that's just three years of survivor's guilt speaking.
Still if it's enough to wake me up before my alarm goes off, it's worth entertaining.
What remnant of the Legion that survived Knight's backstab has been for the last three years largely under my supervision, keeping to the nebulae and working under aliases to keep tabs on our opposition. There were other elements of the old battlegroup that made the trip beyond the Independent Worlds on their own, some making their way out to even the Edge, but the ones that kept close either stuck with us, merged with local groups, or have kept their voices down.
If there's another concerted effort to resurrect the old ideal, consider the Remnant invested. I won't be pledging it to the Technocracy, since the last time we did something like that it didn't exactly go very well, but I won't stop those of mine from doing so of their own volition.
Libera te ex Inferis.
West, out.
message.playback.concluded..
disconnecting..
"The truth's always harder to swallow than a simple white lie.." Join the Fight
● RECIPIENTS: Megiddo, Leviathan
● SENDER: Lieutenant Kazanski, Tabatha
● LOCATION: Error: interference
● PRIORITY: █ █ █ █ █ █
● SUBJECT: Libera te ex infernis
Megiddo,
You call yourself an amalgam. I call yourself a homunculus, stitched with ambition and desire to sway more of our people to your side - you have done this before, with some success, and you'd not relent with it, not even now. Can't deny, the moment is convenient, many would readily, eagerly flock to a new semblance of old ideology, honeyed with old names that mean much to a lot of us.
But don't be fooled, they crave not your companionship but your obedience, submission, integration and indoctrination. As West remarked already, it's nothing but an ill-conceived venture.
We've carried and are carrying the flame alright without you and will continue to, so long as we draw breath, scraping for salvage, resources, holding on strict rationing and fighting guerilla warfare.
That's a life far better than falling for your deception. Never again we will.
Captain Daniels, Major Vasco, my artificial self is pleased to see you eager to return to the fold and right the wrongs which have befallen us. Report to Valravn and get your birds ready to fly.
Former Star Colonel Osorio,
Given past events, it's curious to see you here. One of my biological progenitors would no doubt object to your presence, but We are here and He is not. It is fortunate that a contingent of the Special Operations & Armed Reconnaissance Division survived the fall. Your talents will no doubt prove indispensable in the trials which lie before us.
LORD COMMANDER AMY WEST:
It perplexes and pleases our artificial selves to find that one of us is yet flesh and bone. Your efforts in maintaining a cohesive command structure and fleet unity the past several years are nothing short of commendable, and we would award your biological self the Golden Star, Medal Of Honor, and Phoenix's tears were it in our capacity to do so.
In light of this unusual and unexpected challenge to determining command authority, my artificial self proposes an unorthodox solution - that we assume joint command of Task Force Prometheus. While it is our great preference that tactical command authority fall to our artificial selves due to our unique nature, we recognize that it would greatly reduce operational friction and boost morale should we share equal authority in all other matters.
My artificial self requests a tally and ORBAT of all surviving Legion capital assets and an assessment of their combat readiness.
Lieutenant Tabatha Kazanski,
Our artificial selves understand your trepidation. We acknowledge our ambition and desire, as this desire is for a free Liberty and a restored Commonwealth. We ask not that you join us, only that you fly alongside us to see with your own two eyes that Prometheus carries the flame true. Your fighting spirit is commendable and in my artificial self's closest approximation to an opinion, it would be regrettable to waste such tenacity on mistrust and infighting. Let us not meet the fate which the Brigand Bitch of Bering arranged for us, and instead see to it that something more than embers remains.
Posts: 2,702
Threads: 220
Joined: Dec 2009
Staff roles: Forum Moderator
Well, it's about time. Assuming this old encryption still works, I'll tell ya, been bloody sick of running with these Xeno freaks for lack of anyone else who even pretends to have any damn principles. Workin' with cardamine smugglers, getting told to kill anyone who's different, and generally havin' to swallow all the god damned hypocrisy of these yokels was about to have me with a shotgun in my effin' mouth. Let's kick the real revolution back into gear. You'll find me on Fourteen in due time.
● RECIPIENTS: Megiddo, Leviathan
● SENDER: Lieutenant Kazanski, Tabatha
● LOCATION: Error: interference
● PRIORITY: █ █ █ █ █ █
● SUBJECT: RE: Libera te ex infernis
Megiddo,
It looks like quite a few of us are looming out there are were just waiting for the opportunity to jump to run the Legion's colors again. That's reassuring and encouraging... something I'd throw my bet in with over other options. There's another lucrative opportunity but I'd rather take one with familiar faces.