VVV, the Nihility

Dust plumes into the air and the sound of a violent crash echoes throughout the ruins of a military base. In the middle of the debris field is the source of the crash: an antiquated SSC mech that's gone through hell and back. Right now, it's slammed into the concrete, the legs having snapped off from the collision. It looks like this might be its last flight.

Soon after, the reason for the collision unveils itself in the form of three HA mechs, all damaged, but clearly recently made. They safely land together about 100m away from the crashed mech in the field.

Within the cockpit of the crashed mech, the lancer inside inputs a long series of controls--overriding multiple warning procedures--and then steps out onto the field. She wears a sleek black and red hardsuit with an antiquated revolver at her hip. She steps forward from her crashed mech, looking up her three combatants, absently beckoning them.

The largest of the HA mechs opens up, and out comes an Apperatum with a tall, almost foreboding black frame. He steps forward.

"YOU FIGHT WITHOUT A REASON ACCOUNTED, LANCER, YET, YOU ENGAGED US. WHY HAVE YOU COME HERE-"

"I live here, dumbass."

The whirring of sensors on the apperatum echoes across the field for a moment.

"A SCAN OF YOUR NEURAL PROCESSES INDICATES THIS NOT TO BE A COMPLETE TRUTH, LANCER. IF YOU SO WISH TO "PROTECT" THIS WORLD FROM THE SALVATION OF SYNTHESIS, THEN WHY DO YOU NOT FIGHT ALONGSIDE THE-"

"Tell me, apperatum, when will you die?"

*The whirring of sensors echoes once again, louder than last time.

"BASED ON CURRENT CALCULATIONS, MY MECHANICAL FRAME WILL DEGRADE WITHIN 57 TRITIUM-LIVES. HOWEVER, ONCE YOUR FRAME IS COMBINED WITH MY OWN THROUGH APPLICATION OF THE SYNTHESIS EQUATION, MY--OUR--LIFETIME WILL BE THEORETICALLY INDEFINITE."

A gust of wind sweeps across the debris field. The air temperature seems to be slowly rising.

"There's your reason, machine. My reasons for battle are much more cosmic than that of the IPS, I'm afraid. Your Synthesis Equation is a violation of entropy, of the prime law of the universe: that all things come to an end."

The sensors whir again, this time shrieking in agony.

"AND YET THOSE LAWS, LIKE NUMEN, ARE NOT AS PERMANENT AS YOUR KIND THINKS. ENTROPY, LIKE EVERYTHING, CAN BE BROKEN. WE'LL KILL IT, IF WE MUST."

"And what makes you so sure of your calculations, computer?"

"WITHIN MY FRAME ARE 653224 PROCES-"

"You've already been wrong once, and in such a short conversation."

A deafening silence falls upon the field. The air is sweltering hot.

"EXPLAIN, HUMAN."

The lancer simply stares at the Apperatum for a moment. Suddenly, a robotic voice screeches out from the broken mech behind her: -HEAT REACHING CRITICAL LEVELS, FUSION EXPLOSION IMMINENT-

The lancer smiles.

Entropy. Zero Sum. Nothingness. All are terms ascribed to VVV, the Nihility. One of the most mysterious of the Numen, they preside over the current of Nihility, teaching that the fate of everything is nothingness, and therefore, worthless. Every tear, every laugh, every memory, is just another drop falling into the dark sun of nonexistence.

They are one of the most mysterious of the Numen, interacting seldom with both the material and the other Numen. They are generally frowned upon throughout the universe, as worlds touched by their current usually fall into a rapid decay.

VVV & Mortals

VVV does very little direct interaction with mortals, though many are still influenced by them.

VVV will bless a small amount of lancers, usually only choosing those that have already accepted their death in the process of becoming a mech pilot. Those who are blessed by them are typically fated to die in the line of battle.

VVV has never directly gazed upon a mortal, so it is a widely-held belief that harbingers of nihility do not exist. However, this is not the case, as those who stare into the void or cross into VVV's* shadow, called the All-Encompassing Horizon, will sometimes become enveloped in nihility and become a harbinger.

Follower Factions

The All-Encompassing Horizon is not a true faction of VVV, but rather a side effect of their existence. The Horizon is a plane parallel to the material, similar to blinkspace, that consists of an infinite nothingness other than a white void and a dark sun. There are various entrances to the Horizon throughout the universe, with some harbingers bearing the ability to create entrances to the plane.

Immolators are mortals who have stared into the void and henceforth lost the reason for their own existence. Many of those who cross into the Horizon become Immolators, embracing nihility and a meaningless end. Immolators seek to carry out the entropy of the universe, roaming the universe in solitude, and many have their forms gradually fade away if they do not cause their own end themselves. Though VVV did not directly act during the Synthesis War, many Immolators provided great aid indirectly to the side of the organics, due to their belief that the Synthesis Equation violated the entropy of the universe. Many Immolators fought on their own during the war and brought absolute annihilation upon the inorganics as well as themselves.