shest | 001 Shot Fired [text; action for Rocket Base]

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001 Shot Fired [text; action for Rocket Base]

I'm going to list a series of words.

If they are at all familiar to you please respond otherwise dismiss this.

Cold War
Spetsnaz
Lyndon B. Johnson
Nikita Khrushchev
Tselinoyarsk

[About an hour later on the Rocket frequency:]

My name is Adamska. Code name Ocelot. Call me either. I'm a GRU Major if that means anything to any of you.

I would like to speak with whomever is in charge here.

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[At least he sort of understands it now. Nothing like that really exists in his own world, but then again Volgin does. And there's The Sorrow's supposed gift as well as whatever the hell The Pain could do.]

Nothing like that exists where I'm from but I think I understand the gist of it.

What do you, or did you I suppose, specialize in?

Oh, just a little bit of everything. I was something of a jack of all trades, minus the "master of none" part.

[smug prick detected]

Though, my particular specialties were spiritual evocation and the manipulation of liquids.

[Ocelot is more fascinated than anything else, honestly.

It's not like he's never gloated before himself.]

A shame you wouldn't be able to demonstrate for me.

I knew a man who could control electricity through his body. I'm not sure how he came across the ability but he would manipulate it through conductive metals.

I wouldn't call what he could do magic, however. It was more like an unusual and uncommon skill.

I may be able to at some point, at the very least --- there are occasional periods of time when things get a bit... strange here. A deluge of people show up for a short period of time, powers begin to work again, and you're transported around seemingly at random --- which honestly makes it more frustrating than enjoyable, but that's not exactly uncommon here.

...Really, now? I have to admit, that does sound like magic to me... but I'd have to observe it in action to know for sure. Either way, it certainly sounds fascinating.

I've seen a lot of things, but being able to transport around seemingly at random is new even for me.

I'll admit, there's not really a word for what he can do. He's not the only one with such an ability, either. There were a group of heroes during World War II who brought their emotions with them to battle and a few of them had rather strange abilities as an extension of it.

Maybe a version of that would be considered magic in your case.

It seems as though every remotely sensible aspect of this place breaks down at those particular points in time... and I remember one incident being even worse than usual.

...Really? I'm not entirely sure if I'm surprised about that, though I'm rather curious about what these abilities entail. Regardless, how things work in your world aren't necessarily how they'd work in mind, so perhaps that would be what it is.

The Pain had somehow managed to gain control over insects. Hornets, specifically. It left him horribly disfigured as a result but he definitely could lead them and wasn't just unleashing wild animals on people.

He also had some sort of hornet that could specifically burrow itself into a person. From what I've been able to gather about him, it would be fatal if the hornet wasn't immediately extracted.

The Fear had a remarkable stealth camouflage that reflected every surface around him, effectively rendering him invisible. I have no idea if he created the technology himself or if someone else did, but I know he had it with him up until his death.

The Sorrow could speak to the dead and did so on the battlefield. But he died years ago and I never met him so my information on him is lacking.

The End was capable of photosynthesis. I don't know how and believe me I'm not one to joke around. He was also well over 100 and might be the only sniper to ever live who worked solo. Most snipers work in pairs.

I don't know if The Fury had anything interesting about him ability wise. He always wore a cosmonaut suit and I don't think he had anything a person could call magic unless you count really liking fire a skill.

The final member would be The Joy and I know nothing about her, save for the fact that she was the leader.

Oh.

I think it's a bit telling that the spirit medium is probably the least bizarre of the individuals you just mentioned.

I still don't understand any of them but they apparently worked quite well together.

It takes all types, I suppose. Then again, I can't imagine many enemy forces managing to stay cool and collected in the face of a man who has some sort of bizarre affinity with hornets.

[His men sure hadn't been able to handle The Pain showing up.

Ocelot, however... well he's always been a bit too cool in situations that mess most people up.]

I would assume not, no.

With that said, I'm honestly curious as to what sort of things they were up against. They were with the Allies, weren't they?

Whatever the Nazis had at their disposal, I'd imagine.

I don't know anything about who they had working for them, however. The Cobras aren't a group who will ever be in the history books and the same goes for their enemies.

I'm sure that was something. There are rumors that there were some particularly bizarre magical families allied with the Nazis and the Allies in my world, but I've never particularly cared for that sort of thing.

They would have been working in the shadows from the perspective of the average person, certainly... but at least someone would have remembered them. I've never liked the idea of oblivion, myself.

I believe The Joy will be remembered, but unfortunately she defected to the Soviet Union. She won't be remembered kindly if the public wants to remember her at all in the years to come.

I can't say I relate because oblivion isn't something I particularly fear, myself. It's one of those things I signed up knowing was a possibility.

[It's a complete and utterly lie but he also isn't going to talk about the whole elaborate mission that ended in her murder which it's still fresh on his mind.

Though the whole "I don't fear being forgotten" thing is true, at least partially.]

...ah, well that's unfortunate. I can't really say that notoriety is nearly as bad as oblivion, but it's close.

Of course, that's probably more necessary for me than you. It's not meant as an insult; it's simply how magic functions.

It happens.

So how does magic function? I'm still not sure I entirely understand.

Well, it is a bit difficult to explain to people who haven't been raised on it from birth... but I've done it a few times while I've been here.

Basically, humans who are capable of magic have what are called magic circuits. Think of them like a sort of secondary nervous system, I suppose. Those allow us to use magical energy, Prana, as we see fit --- either directly from our magic circuits or conduits that can store Prana for later use.

That's the base explanation for it, of course... and the majority of us would say that most of the magic that can be performed through that method is not "true" magic. The technical term for it is Magecraft, but it's simpler to refer to it as magic when explaining it to people from other backgrounds.

[It's true that Ocelot doesn't really understand magic, but at least it makes some sort of sense, having it be something that a person is innately born with.]

I see.

There's no equivalent for me, but I believe I get the gist of it now.

That's the most basic explanation, of course. It's really far more complicated than that... but it is a science, after all.

Of course.

I only wish I could see it in action.

Well, as I said, you might... but that's really quite conditional, unfortunately.

If you ever find yourself suddenly having reacquired the skill, contact me.

I'm interested in seeing it in action.

Oh, I will, don't worry. I get to use it so rarely nowadays that I rather enjoy getting to let loose when possible.

I look forward to it.

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001 Shot Fired [text; action for Rocket Base]

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