Sons of Mars II

@ Arakhor: My VMs are being wonky, but to answer your question - Salt Empire has lost about 20-30 provinces as I recall.

===


Link to video.

Returning home from battle, the seemingly invincible Enerjak collapsed into his room, not out of exhaustion, but out of tears. Why had Horus dared to disobey?! He had followed his father into combat... and the blue echidna had paid for it. His other sons, Set, Osiris, Anubis, Amun, all named after Egyptian Gods and his closest companions over the years, had not gotten a response upon welcoming their father home.

"Horus, why... why..?!" His anger and sorrow mixed, anger at Horus' disobedience as much as the fact the would-be God had been unable to save him. Many an expensive furnishing was destroyed by his fists or his chaos energy.

...it then hit him.

He removed his helmet, looking at those empty, menacing sockets where his amethyst eyes would be.

"How could I hope to protect a planet, no, a multiverse... if I cannot protect but one person..."

But that just led into another epiphany. He grasped his head as a horrible emotional pain struck him like a dagger, deep into his strongly-beating heart...

youshouldknow.png


All the pain he had caused. How had he turn a desire to protect the world and all within into such a dark nightmare? Sonic? How did he do that to such a cheerful, kind person... Shadow? Not as cheerful, but fundamentally good... the list went on.

But it didn't end with the heroes. What about the villains? One could argue for such cruel justice, but now that the dreadlocked dictator thought about it... it felt... wrong.

And... he had done that horrible process to his own love, Julie-Su. What kind of monster would...?

Well, Knuckles answered his own question, cursing. His tears were copious. At that moment, he stood up, and began to viciously rip his armor and suit off.

"It was a beautiful design, so unfortunate..."

He pointed both his palms at it, together...

"..that I have to destroy it!" The energy blast incinerated the blue and gold suit that was associated with Enerjak, and his entire wardrobe would soon be purged as well.

Completely naked, he donned the outfit his father, Locke, had worn. He had been posing as the Avatar "Locke" for quite some time now, the Grandmaster of the Palatinate that ruled over this vast nation, with his sons as the Paladins. Their charade as mortals would end here and now.

===

Locke01.png


The crowd of reporters and various foreign dignitaries was quite eager upon seeing the white-robed, goateed Avatar make his way to the podium. True to the idea of simple living for the religiously inclined, the one known as Locke didn't have the most exorbiant outfit by far despite his role as head of state and head of government.

"People of the Palatinate... no, the entire world... we have not been entirely truthful to you. While the power of the unified Southwestern continent is all too well known and very real, the facade we have propped up is not."

He took a deep breath... he hoped this was the right move.

With a snap of his fingers, the shape of Locke had contorted into the visage of Enerjak... it was surreal; Enerjak was the God of both the Auroran Caliphate and the Palatinate of Enerjak, two superpowers with global reach.

"A brief history lesson. As you know, 'Enerjak' is the God of two great nations, with additional influence in the Salt Empire. Millennia ago, the Echidna Empire was formed, led by the Avatar as head of state, while an individual would don the title of Enerjak and be head of government. This whole time, I have masqueraded as the Avatar until the nation fell to the Ottomans. My vanity shows - I myself have considered Enerjak my true name for quite some time, hence where the idea for the title came from. Using that visage, I convinced the people of the Nile I was a God, and they all bowed to me."

The crowd was silent... they'd question such rubbish normally, but then again, he had just spawned armor out of nowhere...

Enerjak removed his helmet, revealing a youthful echidna with a robotic right eye.

"I have used various complex stories to obscure the supernatural nature of myself and my children, who often took turns posing as Enerjak. I have masked that we are ageless, out of fear this world would foil plans of world domination..."

The crowd booed... had he really just said that?! Knuckles cringed, but making the room shake a bit with a wave of his hand, they were silent.

"Those plans, I am announcing, are hereby discarded. I lost my son Horus to the Floridians, and it has triggered a chain of revelations from the deepest reaches of my heart. My home world - I forcefully took over the entire thing in the belief I could protect it through unquestioned power. But now I realise that such reliance on power will only lead to ruin for one's moral fiber as much as the planet around you. I did horrible things in the name of the greater good, and only now understand just how in the wrong I was..."

The crowd did show some pity... others questioned why this lunatic was in power. With a bit of concentration, the robes had vanished, the simplistic outfit Knuckles had once worn - gloves and shoes - now all he possessed.

"I am no longer Enerjak, Locke, or any other title or pseudonym. I proudly embrace my birth name, Knuckles. I shall do my best to guard this planet, and welcome any and all assistance... I cannot protect everyone by lording over them, for what shall protect them from me? I shall protect this planet... by protecting every person's divinely-given right to be free, to control their lives, free from interference by any and all.

I hope that this was not too much to swallow... and that you accept my good intentions. I will do everything in my power to make this world better and better, until we can safely say we have achieved perfection... and I am eager to hear your thoughts, and your nations'. May we work together, to create a world superior to the one we inherited.

Thank you."

Some booed, some applauded, but Knuckles smiled as he left the podium. He had contemplated suicide to make amends, but that'd be cowardly. In the midst of battle, Silver had said he should help fix the mess he created. He could not do that on this world he had travelled to with the intention of conquering... but he could still work to improve it until the day he could return home and face the justice that awaited him for his crimes.

===

The Palatinate of Enerjak is now Haven. It is colored white.

Knuckles' peaceful stance shall be realised - it presses for the Echidna Empire and Salt Empire to reach a peace accord.

Likewise, all states are guaranteed! Knuckles' might shall be used to protect the weak from all who would do them harm!

Wars of aggression will be severely punished in this new world order.
 
If the Echidnas will return at least 20 provinces to the Salt Empire and then declare peace, Austria will be satisfied by that result.
 
peacewithsalt.png


The Auroran Caliphate has deliberated, and has come to a decision. The provinces in purple will be returned to the Salt Empire if they sign peace now. We have even given them a southern coastal province so as to not disrupt their trading networks.
 
The Echidnas should also surrender Sicily, Naples and the remaining province in Northwest Africa. If the Echidnas are an African power, they must return all land seized from powers in Europe.
 
The Japanese are imperialist extraordinaires. Noticing that the Centaurians haven't attacked and having a net profit of provinces this war, they offer peace to Centaurium.

Srivijaya and the other Pacific powers are also included in this peace offer.

Will Centaurium, having thoroughly destroyed Java and Auralia, accept peace?

Knuckles puts his money where his mouth is - he says he will give all 400 of his gold to Centaurium's foes if they do not accept peace.
 
It is good that they are prepared to return the bulk of the provinces stolen, but are the Echidnas prepared to surrender their European land as well?
 
Spain comments on austria's er... demanding attitude: enough, before echinda decides you are too arrogant to live.
 
So, after Spain insults Austria by calling us soft for not declaring war on the Echidnas, you are now calling us arrogant for negotiating a peace treaty between them and our ally? Perhaps Spain should worry more about its own politics and worry less about ours.
 
So, after Spain insults Austria by calling us soft for not declaring war on the Echidnas, you are now calling us arrogant for negotiating a peace treaty between them and our ally? Perhaps Spain should worry more about its own politics and worry less about ours.

the echinda peace treaty is perfectly reasonable. in fact, its better than reasonable, how can you not accept it? you will not be able to force echinda to accept what you want.

moreover, you are representing an ally without any known permission. that....angers us.
 
The Spanish President is well known for being temperamental, argumentative and vacillating. We have no time for such things.
 
all true, but i still make a valid point. any war that you make with the echinda's will not involve us. suicide is a sin.
 
The Auroran Caliphate will also abandon Sicily and Naples.

We consider Tunis, however, to be our rightful territory by this point, especially considering it is African.

---

Knuckles, meanwhile, is disappointed no one has shown interest in his changed moral alignment!
 
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Centarium's newly bought armies shall be used to attack the enemies of Centarium
 
Can I have an updated map?

The NCR moves in to take the remainder of Florida's territories.
 
look, i had no idea that God would take control of the Spanish military and kick some Floridians ass. but we should have suspected enerjaks involvement. i mean, he wouldn't just sit still while i take it over right?

we could hand over the USA Floridan territories, if enerjak agrees to let us have Floridan Caribbeans, to the last island. well?
 
Knuckles warns the NCR; while Spain has its own allies, he is willing to commit his resources to the conflict - wars of aggression will not be tolerated by anyone against anything.

Knuckles is also offended at being called "Enerjak," given that it is a villainous persona he has discarded.

He views the newly-acquired territories as too valuable to give up. Spain will, however, enjoy not only Europe, but Haven's support should the NCR strike.
 
then i guess we cant hand over the territories California. we apologize.

and, we didn't get the memo of you being knuckles. the minister for intelligence is fired.
 
we could hand over the USA Floridan territories, if enerjak agrees to let us have Floridan Caribbeans, to the last island. well?
The NCR agrees to that.

Knuckles warns the NCR; while Spain has its own allies, he is willing to commit his resources to the conflict - wars of aggression will not be tolerated by anyone against anything.
The NCR laughs at the imperialistic furry and responds with "Don't piss on the bear" while giving the so called Knuckles a hang up. He is the so called evil Enerjack.

The NCR does not care if Knuckles is offended, his reputation overshadows his so called efforts at being "nice".

(Translation: We don't buy his so called change of heart, nor his change of name)
 
Back
Top Bottom