Real Heavenly Heroes

[jeriendhal]

a Very Silly Variant For IN


Introduction

"This is your fault, you know," Dominic accused the masked, black clad figure that floating in lotus beside him.

"The naked butterfly crawls free of his cocoon/inspired by the chick in its egg," Yves replied serenely.

"The others, however much they disagree between themselves, ultimately look to you for guidance. Even Michael himself, whether he chooses to admit it. Your every action sets an example."

"The child achieves serenity/safe in the shadows of family."

That was the whole problem with talking to Yves nowadays. Everything he said scanned as Truth, but Dominic thought he might Fall before he understood it.

Nybbas is going to laugh his ass off when he hears about this one.

Through the window of Dominic's office, the endless parade of Soldiers, tanks, and aircraft marched. The Army of Heaven. God's Own Swords. And as they marched, they chanted over and over and over.

"Yo, Joe! Yo, Joe! Yo, Joe! Yo, Joe!"


Background

Unlike say, Yves' overnight conversion to Ninjitsu, or Kronos' sudden interest in 16th century privateers, Michael's, er, style change was not noticed by the Host at first. Okay, unique uniforms for individual commanders was hardly a new concept in the history of armed forces. Nor was adopting a very loose version of modern military structure and heavenly imitations of corporeal weapons considered unusual. The Host had always taken some of its cultural cues from Humanity, for were humans not the ultimate expression of the Symphony?

It was when Michael insisted on being addressed as "Big Chief" that everybody else realized something was up.

Much like Destiny's reorganization, the forces of War have not significantly changed really. It's still their mission to oppose the forces of Hell and prepare for the final War of Armageddon. They're still an army. They're just a little bit odd.

Perhaps it's the uniforms, which pay little attention to such niceties such as camouflage or practicality, and everything as to whether they look cool. Maybe it's the fact that everyone is just a hair more enthusiastic about smiting Evil than they were before. Then again, maybe it's the goofy codenames all the Word bound have adopted, like "Chowdog" (for the Angel of Rations), and "Slipstream" (for the Angel of Paratroopers).

Yeah, it's definitely the codenames.


Additions and Alterations

Honestly, aside from the spiffy uniforms and a tendency to shout in unison, not whole heckuva lot has changed from War's SOP. They're still Heaven's warrior elite. They just look rather weird. Fortunately this is mostly confined to the Word bound. Rank & file angels of War just get to plain green uniforms and helmets, which isn't much different from before. There's also an increased reliance on spiffy technology and artifacts, particularly armed vehicles, and subsequent pressure on Jean's Halls of Progress to come with more and more stuff to throw at the Enemy.


Dissonance

Unchanged, except that an angel of War may honorably surrender if the enemy it's facing is putting civilians, er, humans at risk.


Choir Attunements

Unchanged, with the following exception:

Malakim – When a Malakim of War hears danger coming across the Symphony, it is also heard by those around him, usually in the form of ominous theme music. Likewise if in a desperate situation and reinforcements are on the way, the theme music becomes more upbeat and inspirational.


Servitor Attunements

The following attunements replace the all the old ones.

Proficiency – Unchanged.

Battle Cry (replaces Howl) – As with Howl, this can be used to stun opponents. It also unfreezes any ally in range that was previously stunned or paralyzed. The usual battle cry is…

…oh, like you can't guess.

Ejector Seat (NEW) – If the angel is in a vehicle that suffers catastrophic damage, he can safely disembark from it during the same round and take no damage himself. Note that the laws of probability have no place in this attunement. Cars or tanks may roll over and break apart, but the angel will be thrown clear without notable effect. Ships whose magazines explode will just toss the crew (even the crew of a battleship) safely into the water. Airplanes without ejector seats will hold together long enough for the angel to jump out and open his chute. If he doesn't have a chute, there will be a convenient tree limb or lake to break his fall. If he bails out over a barren desert he'll drop into the only swimming pool within a thousand miles,

"…and Knowing is Half the Battle." (NEW) – The angel gains a +1 to all rolls related to gathering intelligence on hostile forces.


Distinctions – Unchanged.


Relations

Michael is still hostile to Yves, mostly because Yves gets to play with all the kewl Ninja powers. Blandine and Christopher are considered Allied, because War's current make up so neatly parallels childhood empowerment fantasies. Jean and Marc are Associated because of War's new tech toys and their need for a longer logistical tail. Laurence moves down to Neutral because, while War is still as powerful as ever, frankly this whole setup looks vaguely silly to him.

Basic Rites and Invocation Modifiers: Unchanged.

Comments

[sraun]

OK - is there any more to this Universe?

Yves' overnight conversion to Ninjitsu, or Kronos' sudden interest in 16th century privateers

just screams for more write-ups!

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

Already done, but not by me.

Ninja Yves: http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine/heretics/YvesH.htm

Pirate Kronos: http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine/heretics/KronosH.htm

And some loon came up with a G.I. Joe'd version of Baal after I originally posted, but I don't know where it is on the INL.

[sraun]

Oh, my - those are amusing!