Skyside 4

[Ashen Lilies]

Current Events: A Chimera Syndicate Trade Platform (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=19857569&postcount=1476) has appeared close to Skyside

A bustling trade city famously situated atop a high-tech array of anti-gravity generators that give the flying city its name, Skyside has seen better days. Once a booming, futuristic metropolis with a strict legal system and formidable state-supported economy, the collapse of Skyside's monarchy has blown the city's political system into a state of literal anarchy. A plague of change and opportunity has infected the city at all levels, from the nobles and other persons of substance jockeying to to fill the political void left by the collapse of the old system, to new immigrants attracted by Skyside's new lack of taxes or restriction. The markets of Skyside's Tempest Row, once tightly regulated, are now open to all kinds of vice and debauchery unseen in the more stable cities of the Nexus, including a growing slave market.

While the forces of the remaining nobility and the presence of the Royal Guard generally stops widespread fighting in the streets before it gets too out of hand, violence on a smaller scale is still common, and people who cannot protect themselves (or hire others to protect them) are often beaten, killed or kidnapped to be used in experiments or sold into slavery for those with lower standards.

In general, visitors and residents of Skyside learn to stay on their toes pretty quickly. Even the safest and most affluent areas of Skyside are vulnerable to some amateur mad scientist's latest giant robot or genetic abomination running loose and causing havoc, or a temporal anomaly rolling through and causing a street full of people to suddenly age several weeks in the space of a few seconds. The city can be chaotic, and often times dangerous, but there is potential for great wealth here, if someone has a talent for spotting opportunity and grabbing it. Whether with their own hands or the remotely controlled mecha hands that they designed in their attic is highly dependent on the person, of course.

History

Coming soon!

Factions


With no ruler or central government in Skyside to maintain order and uphold the laws, political power in Skyside has broken down into dozens of individual political factions with differing goals and operations. Some seriously look to the palace, seeking to claim Skyside's throne and restore the city to its former position. Others are factions merely of convenience, providing certain protections and services in exchange for loyalty or money. Others may have their own goals entirely.

Any player can make any number of factions, with any form of political goal in competition with the other factions. Weaker factions might slip under the radar, but more powerful factions might be the target of other player based factions, who might seek to sabotage or undermine other factions in order to achieve an advantage. Of course, that's not to say that the target faction can't fight back...

Please remember to be courteous to other players though, and don't force conflict if it's clear that it's not wanted. On the other hand, please don't create a faction if your plan is to make them untouchable and stonewall everyone's attempts to try and interact with or compete with your faction. This is a collaborative thread, everyone have fun! :smallsmile:

Please PM if you want a faction added to this OP.

House Sky (player: Kris on a Stick)

Formerly the rulers of Skyside, the royal lineage is now held hostage within their own palace, barred from entering politics by the Royal Guard for their own safety. A king or queen of Skyside hasn't been crowned for almost a century, however the most recent and last remaining Skyside heir, Princess YoonJi, has been a little unusual in her seeming immunity to assassination plots. Countless attempts have been made on the life of the princess (scarcely into her teens) and yet all assassins have either been caught, died under mysterious circumstances, or been involved in sudden romances with palace servants, eventually settling down to become simple farmers.

Skyside Royal Guard (player: Kris on a Stick)

The chief line of defense for the city and the crown, the Skyside Royal Guard remains a formidable fighting force, despite their reduced numbers and seeming lack of political involvement. The primary duty of the Skyside Royal Guard is to protect the Sky family, and as such they are rarely seen outside the immediate surroundings of the Sky Palace Tower, unless something happens in the city to attract their notice - or incur their wrath.

House Han (player: Kris on a Stick)

An old family with a high place in Skyside’s traditional aristocracy, House Han is a ruthless, cutthroat family with eyes on the throne. Despite their wealth and prestigious heritage, however, House Han faces a crisis as the health of their patriarch, the 93-year old Han Feizi, is beginning, leaving the family with a potential gulf in leadership as his granddaughter, Ziyi, seems a natural replacement as the head of the house, yet must contend with challenges from her aunt, Wangmu, who wishes to secure the position for one of her sons. Han Feizi himself has chosen no successor, expressing public contempt and disappointment for a family seemingly rife with corruption, vice, and other failings.

BrightStar Corporation (player: Kris on a Stick)

An old company name dating from the monarchy days of Skyside, BrightStar Corporation seems to have taken full advantage of the chaos in Skyside to emerge as one of the largest corporate powers. Their flourishing in this new lawless environment has led to rumors of them actively working to maintain the status quo, including murdering promising Skyside heirs, or sabotaging any noble house or political force that looks like it may become too powerful and restore order back to the city.

Tempest Spaceport Commerce Guild (player: Kris on a Stick, in theory - though anyone is open to play a member of the guild)

A small conglomerate of mostly Ferengi and Hutt partners that run the Tempest Spaceport. The Commerce Guild provides security to the spaceport and its immediate surroundings, as well as collects a light tax on spaceport business and trade, but are otherwise pretty chill dudes, and uninterested in wider Skyside politics.


City Defense

Though effectively lawless, some semblance of peace in Skyside is maintained by both the private security forces of the various guilds and factions that operate within the city, as well as through the overwatch of the Syside Royal Guard, who protect the Sky Palace Tower and also the city as a whole from foreign invasion. Oeioke raising too much of a disturbance should expect to draw attention from any number of concerned parties, who may have an interest in keeping their business running smoothly, as tumultuous as the political situation may be.

As a whole city, Skyside's defenses against aerial and ground assault are dedicated and formidable. As uninvolved as they are in local politics, the Royal Guard has no desire to see Skyside fall to any foreign invasion or interference, and does not slack off in its duties when it comes to city defense, even if they are a total non-presence in Skyside's day-to-day order.

Zones



Old Skyside/"The Raindrop District"
The historic city nearest to Skyside's Sky Palace Tower, what's come to be known as the "Raindrop District" by newer generations of Skysiders is a place of incredible change.

The older estates, temples and monuments, abandoned by all but the most stubborn of Skyside's old order, are being demolished, replaced by new residential growth of various types, from the absolutely dismal to the actually-pretty-nice. Some of the more novel developments in housing include ad-sponsored houses, and other low-cost developments for moderate quality housing. In between the housing developments come all the small businesses you'd expect from Skyside's fastest-growing residential sector, including corner stores, fast food, laundromats, and all the other handy spots that let people get everything they need without having to travel far.

The Raindrop District is relatively safe by day, especially in the parts of the town still held on to by the old Skyside elites, nearer to the Palace Tower, but generally is more dangerous at night. Especially in the more ramshackle parts of the Raindrop District, the back alleys tend to be frequented by muggers and the like, and break-ins are very common during the day when the occupants are likely out working. The wise Raindrop District inhabitant keeps good locks and a trusty firearm close at hand, at the very least, and some shell out for more, opting to rely on protection from mercenary and security firms that provide added safety... for a price.when the occupants are likely out working. The wise Raindrop District inhabitant keeps good locks and a trusty firearm close at hand, at the very least, and some shell out for more, opting to rely on protection from mercenary and security firms that provide added safety... for a price.

The Cloudtops

The wealthiest and most glamorous section of Skyside, the Cloudtops form the new fortress of Skyside's new elites: an incredibly tall, shiny fortress, dominated by tall skyscrapers of glass and steel, covered in bright lights and connected by paved roads and elevated walkways galore.

The Cloudtops is home to Skyside's richest residents, and Skyside's biggest businesses and corporations. The Cloudtops is also Skyside's safest district, kept such by the forces of countless taskforces of well-equipped private security teams.

Tempest Row

Depending on who you ask, Tempest Row is either a vibrant, colorful area full of exotic wares and noisy taverns where ale flows freely, and the barmaids are very accommodating; or a raging, screaming drunk who will drag you into a back alley, beat you over the head with a stick, and run off with your valuables. Or both at once.

Housing the main airship docks and largest spaceport zone, Tempest Row is the nickname for the bustling market and entertainment district of Skyside. With the constant traffic in and out of the city, Tempest Row is home to countless taverns, bars, clubs, and brothels of various sorts, providing boisterous and often debauched entertainment for Skyside's visitors.

With its large crowds and large numbers of shop guards, Tempest Row is relatively safe from violence, though the odd scientific anomaly or experiment-got-loose may amble through occasionally. Visitors in Tempest Row should instead keep a closer watch on their valuables rather than their safety, keeping a close eye out for the pickpockets, scam-artists, and cutpurses of various sorts walking through the crowds, looking for easy money; or the gangs of street toughs roaming the back alleys, waiting for someone too drunk to put up a good fight to stumble along.

Thunderhead

The constant black smoke belching from the sprawling jumble of towering smokestacks and open smelting furnaces gives this area its name among the locals. Thunderhead is the main industrial area of Skyside, filled with factories, smelteries, warehouseries, and a whole array of other varied monuments to urban squalor. Everything from airship construction to weapons manufacture takes place here, and accidents can sometimes happen, especially with the more unscrupulous employers who care little about what happens to their factory workers, whether they be paid workers, slaves, robots or the mutated fishmen your mad scientist donor kindly granted you.

Thunderhead is among the most dangerous of the districts, with vicious gangs and supervillains hiding out in the mysteriously abandoned warehouses (seriously, Skyside is short on space, why are all there all these abandoned warehouses?), and gangs frequently forming among the poorest of Skyside's communities: the underpaid factory workers and industrial chattel that fill row upon row of unmaintained tenement housing and ruined apartments. Most good factories have guards to protect their workers (or keep them from escaping), but among the houses of the working poor, the streets can turn into a danger zone at any point, with very few people willing to stick around and bear witness.

Groundtown

For those who couldn't get onto Skyside proper, one can always live in its shadow. While Skyside once was a mobile city, moving place to place for safety and resources, since its collapse it has remained stationary, allowing secondary development under and around the city. Located directly under and around the floating city, Groundtown is a small, but growing settlement of improvised buildings and pre-fab housing blocks, populated largely by Skyside's poorest and most unfortunate workers, poorer even than Thunderhead's inhabitants, commuting morning and evening to the city above by way of hanging basket-lifts and small flying skiffs.

Located outside even Skyside's limited bubble of security and order, and utterly ignored by the Royal Guard, Groundtown can be truly hellish at times. Fighting on the streets between warring gangs is an all too common sight, and even the heaviest of personal weaponry cannot always guarantee personal safety. Residents of Groundtown lock their valuables up tight and keep their gun under their pillow, and visitors should always keep their eyes peeled for thieves and muggers. What little safety can be had in Groundtown comes from the powerful gangs who do their best to control the disorder within their own territory, and the superpowered and/or costumed vigilantes who can be found patrolling nightly, unwilling to let Groundtown fall apart and be consumed by darkness.


Locations


Please PM the thread creator with a description if you want a location added to this index!

Sky Palace Tower (Player: Kris on a Stick, Raindrop District)

BrightStar Spaceport (The Cloudtops)

The second largest spaceport in Skyside, the shiny new BrightStar Spaceport, owned by BrightStar Corporation, is a chief connection between Skyside and the great final frontier. Frequent shuttles and cargo ships make trips between this spaceport and various space-stations close to the Nexus, including Salmagundi station, and there's talk of BrightStar Corporation expanding the spaceport to include a space elevator between the spaceport and Salmagundi station.

Tempest Spaceport (Tempest Row)

Larger than BrightStar Spaceport, Tempest Spaceport is a little less well adapted for big business and heavy shipping, as Tempest Spaceport is not actually just one spaceport, but a loose connection of spaceports and associated businesses, all run by members of the Tempest Spaceport Commerce Guild. The Tempest Spaceport is a favorite stop for independent spacers and smaller shipping industries, being a cheaper, if less glamorous alternative to the BrightStar Spaceport in the Cloudtops.

Attila's Cantina (Player: Kris on a Stick, Tempest Row)

Located within the Tempest Spaceport complex, Attila's Cantina is a bar run by an enterprising Hutt named Attila, who caters mostly to the pilots, captains and crew of starships stopping at Skyside. A large variety of food and beverages can be found here, with a special emphasis on items resembling what can be found from Attila's home galaxy, making it especially popular among those who have been sucked into the Nexus from said galaxy. People who know to ask can purchase small quantities of rare Spice from Attila, and he has a wide variety of contacts among Tempest Row traders and dock keepers, making him a good source of information for people looking to know what's what in the area.

The Cantina is relatively clean and bright, though noisy with the constant chatter of alien species. The ubiquitous Bith space-jazz band plays on a raised stage to once side, along with Twi'lek dancers (free and well payed) and vocalists. A few heavily armed guards dot the edges, and Attila himself keeps his powerful blaster shotgun clearly visible above the bar (along with a larger, even more powerful blaster hidden under it) in order to dissuade troublemakers.

Atlas Park (Player: Kris on a Stick, The Cloudtops)

Located in the midst of the Cloudtops, Atlas Park is a little bit of an anomaly within the urbanized city center. Owned and operated by Dr. Graves, Atlas Park is covered by a transparent dome, keeping out any pollution from the city, while allowing the climate inside to be manipulated to a fine degree. Atlas Park is home to some very attractive landscaping, exotic plants, a small lake, and in general is just a very nice green space for people to relax away from the buildings and bustle of the rest of Skyside. A massive statue of the titan the park is named after stands proudly in the middle of the park, carrying aloft a sphere covered in stars and constellations on his shoulders in reference to the original myth. Oddly enough, though, anyone who manages to get a close look at his face might note an odd expression carved there, which, combined with the slightly odd tilt to his shoulders vaguely suggests an image of Atlas shrugging.

Entrance to Atlas Park requires payment of a moderate fee to keep the park running, though membership cards can be purchased to allow free access over a period of time.

Brickstown Free Clinic (Player: Kris on a Stick, The Raindrop District)

A humble looking brick building in one of the more dismal parts of the Raindrop District, the Brickstown Free Clinic, true to its name, provides free service to any and all patients who visit. The previously red brick of its outer facade has been stained soot black by its proximity to the smoky foundries of Thunderhead, and the inside is somewhat dingy and depressing, with a smell halfway between disinfectant and old vomit. The building and regular staff are payed for entirely through donations, whether it be from the locked steel donation box in the lobby, or more importantly, a set of undisclosed benefactors. Despite this, the clinic continues to be understaffed and overburdened. However, those in the area will know of a mysterious doctor who visits the clinic on occasion, typically at odd hours of the night, to treat the clinic's more critical or chronic patients, before leaving. The identity of this mysterious doctor is a secret kept closely by the clinic's staff and management, as is whether they have any ulterior motives for their aid.

Tinkertown (Player: None, Thunderhead)

A small sub-district located in between Thunderhead and the Raindrop District, Tinkertown is an odd district full of warehouses that have been mostly rented as labspace for the large cohort of mad scientists and visionaries who call Skyside home. As such, Tinkertown tends to be even more chaotic than Skyside at large, home to a wide variety of technicolored explosions, noxious gas outbreaks, and half-fish abominations wandering the streets, looking for their mummy. The non-Mad Scientist population of Skyside usually knows to stay well away from Tinkertown, though some find themselves drawn to the noise and excitement, or the glamorous (and occasionally lucrative) occupation of being some up-and-coming supervillain's henchman, hunchbacked assistant or attractive mistress.

Temple to Pazuzu (Player: Earl of Purple, Tempest Row)

One of the buildings here, an overhanging pub with a novelty glass floor that quickly went out of business due to one short gunfight and a very long drop, has been taken over by a new group.

They've put up a sign outside depicting a red vulture with wings and talons outstretched superimposed on a silver cloud. Beneath that is a sign proclaiming this to be the Temple of Pazuzu, and on the other side is a list of the dates of various religious celebrations.

Outside, it still resembles the other taverns, being a three-storey building with a flat roof to dock smaller aircraft. Inside, there's an altar at the far end with a cage suspended over a hole in the floor next to it. There's a central aisle with rows of pews on either side, most suited for winged individuals.


OoC Notes and Rules

For we are not Gods, merely Men. Godmodding is not permissible! As stated in the rules in the FFRP Central Thread,, godmodding is generally not allowed without permission. If you're shaky on what might be, and what might not be godmodding, please follow the above link.
An interior decorator is you! Remember the curtain! It is accepted that there will of course be some inter-PC relationships, and that romance and certain physical interactions (commonly known as sex) happen. However, please be courteous to others and curtain any scene that you wouldn't be willing to write with your parents watching. This is so you can stay within forum rules, as well as letting those uninterested in the scene pass by without having to glimpse your poorly written and anatomically impossible erotica. Thank you.
It's probably a Nemesis plot.
I can save this planet! “My character is an escaped slave who became a paladin and hates slavery! She's going to attack every slaver she sees and singlehandedly tear down Skyside's slave industry!” Since everything is legal in Skyside, it's inevitable that some less well-looked upon industries, such as slavery, will find a foothold there, which more morally upright characters may take affront to. However, always be mindful of the consequences of a random paladin trying to attack slavers in the streets, burn markets down or knock down doors and bash in heads. Even in a lawless city, slavery is still unpopular, and any slavers brave enough to be operating in the open are likely to have lots of guards to protect their interests. Also, Skyside does still have some factions interested in public order, as well as the Royal Guard, who will try to stop any fights that start spreading and disrupting safety and order in a large area. Someone who consistently acts very aggressive and randomly assaults people and property in the open is likely to find themselves in a lot of trouble, very quickly. Also, not everyone wants to have to constantly respond to every Joseph McHero and Sally Superwoman who wants to pick a fight with them. If you plan on having a character take action and take down a specific store or organization, please be courteous and ask the players involved if they're willing to RP it, and remember that there are more subtle ways to take down an industry than kicking them in the teeth.
Our words are backed by NUCLEAR WEAPONS. Remnant/Riverside/Orgs hunting down supervillains hiding out in Skyside: Go ahead. In general, it's perfectly alright to carry out retribution against any criminals trying to hide out in Skyside, as long as the force sent is relatively discrete or small scale enough to avoid notice from the powers-that-be. Large numbers of troops or powerful strike forces will generally draw negative attention from the Royal Guard, though, unless they have been informed of the operation beforehand and approve (though they probably won't). Gotta protect that independence, yo.
3 EDGY 5 MEPlease do your best to avoid excessively dark or disturbing roleplay. Skyside can be a den for cruelties and evil of all sorts, however, some situations are simply too dark for this forum. Try to avoid roleplaying or alluding to scenarios that could be disturbing or potentially triggering, even if it may be realistic or showcase how awful your character is.
Long Live the Queen! Princess YoonJi is immortal. Period. You can try to kill her and dismantle the Sky dynasty. You will fail.

[Zefir]

[Arkant's Factory]

"I'm afraid that VIGIL starting to hunt down slavers won't really change anything besides causing more death and misery for the people caught in-between. In the end we might just cause more suffering than we were meant to stop. This is because VIGIL simply isn't well-equipped with dealing with problems more complex than destroying it with overwhelming force which won't work here. We are a paramilitary organization after all which would simply be one of many here in Skyside." Cessie explains.


[Arkant's Factory]

"I think they would appreciate our discretion," Wenomir says. "Their goals were more selfish than yours, in any event. And Cessie is correct. As a group, we are... poorly equipped to police a place like Skyside. The problems here have deep roots. We can't solve them just by fighting the slavers."

[Arkant's Factory]

"Hmm, I see." Arkant says and nods to both of them. A worried expression runs over his face as Wenomir talks about the other party, but he soon get's back to topic.
"I understand your point. I think I set my conditions to high. I did already think about this way of events and I might have another suggestion for you." he makes a short break as he shifts some papers around.
"Since the kidnappings happen regular I set on a few things. You likly saw those guys with guns outside. That way I get informations where they bring some of my employees. I can't sens anyone since those 'men with guns' are nothing more then men with guns. The lost would be even higher then when I buy as many back as possible. If I could call you to get them out we might have less sacrefice AND, a more important fact, it could prevent smaller gangs from taking my employees hostage, since it would cause them to deal with you. That way you wouldn't need to police here, but at least lower the amount of people caught by slavers."

He makes a break and stares blank between cessi and Wenomir. The broadcast can barly be heared in the office, it's prepared to shut out the noise from the factories after all. He shakes his head looking down worried.

"Chimera Syndicate? That sounds like trouble." he turns back to the vigil members. "Oh, I'm sorry. I was informed something called 'Chimera Syndicate Trade Platform' appeared and I was just informed by an employee. What do you think about my suggestion ?"

[Earl of Purple]

Chimera Syndicate Trade Platform

From a warehouse in Groundtown, a small shuttle takes off. It's a clumsy thing, with the hull taken from what appears to be an old cargo plane. The wings were taken from a different plane. Five different propellers push the vessel through the air, two on each wing and a larger, main propeller mounted on the back of the hull, all pointing backwards. It makes a tremendous amount of noise, clattering and sputtering, thick black smoke pushed out of the exhausts. As it approaches the flying tower, the engines slow down and eventually stop, all bar the one in the back of the plane. The shuttle slows down, and briefly drops as an internal anti-gravity generator kicks in as the vehicle's sole form of propulsion, the smoke mixed with green sparks and red flashes, as it drifts around looking for somewhere to land.

The vehicle doesn't seem to be armed, but it is large enough for thirty people. If thirty people can be found willing to ride such a haphazard looking vehicle.

[Cyber Punk]

"My parents were lecturers in the arcane arts at a prestigious university. I... Felt their influence and pressure to follow them grating, so trained in sneaking, survival and hitting things with swords. Really annoyed them, but led to unusual knowledge that didn't fit my chosen path." The ring, when put on, causes the undead plant-creature's clothing to seem fully repaired, into a very nice red silk shirt with blue lace at the cuffs, a pair of nice leather trousers and some well-polished black boots. His frame is no longer dessicated, filling out to a skinny, handsome young elf-man, with bright blue eyes, sun-darkened skin and long brown hair tied back with a green ribbon. He's smiling, and the expression seems comfortable and natural upon his face. "How do I look?"

Groundtown Alley

"Sneaking and survival, eh? There's nothing wrong with unusual knowledge. People with unusual knowledge go places."

It takes all of Yvette's willpower to keep from gawking and staring, and instead nods twice. "Very effective. You look very... err, nice." She combats the urge to smile by trying to look serious. Geri can see through this, however, and just shakes her head.

Yvette however reaches over to grab Tilalle's hand. "Thank--" She is shushed by Geri. "Don't thank me too much." Without another word, she up and flies away. Automatically, Yvette reaches for her weapon before realizing that wasn't a wise choice of action, to show her mistrust. She attempts to pass it off as her scratching her hip.

[ThirdEmperor]

[Three Furies]

The hospital has done remarkably little - his paperwork is mostly the short, uncomfortably clear terms of the payment contract without any mention what was paid for, and no line to sign on. The outpatient desk has a prescription slip for painkillers and his clothes in a plastic bag, the gun sitting on top. The receptionist doesn't seem surprised. They don't seem to have been surprised by anything for a long, long time.


[Triangle Street - Factory]

The brute roars, not in the spellsong but a crude display of magic force. His fingers shatter the vial, crushing the glass and letting liquid fire burst out, expanding into brilliant blue flames as they drink in the oxygen - but it does not burn him. He flings it forward, twisting the fire into a brilliant lance that turns through the air to seek it's target. It moves like a thing alive, carries on with a will of it's own even as the effort brings it's master crashing down.

He takes the first shot in the gut, and with a low groan, crumples inwards. The gun wreaks havoc on the line behind him, sending the closest crashing down and the rest diving for safety, screaming as bullets drive between the armored plates of their uniforms.

[Earl of Purple]

Groundtown Alley

"I can track a spider across its web, though if the spider is large enough, it is far easier to pretend to be caught and let it come to you. If you have a pressing need for a large, venomous arachnid with a taste for mammalian flesh." The undead plant-elf's lips twitch upwards as he fights a wider smile of his own. "May I have a mirror, so I can judge for myself? I was once accounted the best-looking member of the March Guard." March Guard in this case indicates a border-watch, with the marches being an oft-contested border region between two nations, with regular raids and skirmishes. The border between England and Wales was once such an area, with powerful local Marcher Lords on the English side making their own alliances, marriages and feuds with the Welsh Princes on the other, with little official guidance from the crown.

[Orm-Embar]

[Triangle Street - Factory]

Bo's eyes narrow as the fiery strike leaps out, and he gets a shield up barely in time to deflect it - at least partially. It's still like being clipped by an aircar. A tremendous impact against the shield, and an explosive flowering of light. The sorcerer spins halfway around and falls on one side, half stunned for a moment.

[Cyber Punk]

Groundtown Alley

Yvette hands Tilalle a small hand mirror. "With good reason, I see." She mutters back.

"Well! I do have business with AMEN at the moment, and I need to go and familiarize myself with the base. You comin'?" It's a rhetorical question.

[Earl of Purple]

Groundtown Alley

"Oh, yes. I haven't seen myself like this for a very long time. Though... Hmm." Tilalle reaches up and moves the illusory hair so he can get a better look. "Yes, slightly darker. And my eyes were originally green, not blue. Guess that's a product of the vine." With that, he folds the mirror and tries to hand it back, since he no longer has any pockets. "Indeed, let us be off." The amulet doesn't disguise his slightly shambling gait, however, trying to hold itself as close to what is actually occurring as possible.

[Cyber Punk]

Groundtown Alley

Yvette takes the mirror back. "Let's be off, then."

It probably wouldn't be too contrived to say that Yvette got a henchman to drive her here, and so the henchman is currently waiting to pick them both up. If it is too contrived, then a carriage of some sort with a lovestruck rider. Whichever it is, the carriage takes them to AMEN's base.

[Deathkeeper]

Three Furies

Sam will check out of the hospital with plenty of grumbling, taking his clothes and the gun before walking out, hopefully being able to find some way to plan this.

[Darkcomet]

Chimera Syndicate Trade Platform

From a warehouse in Groundtown, a small shuttle takes off. It's a clumsy thing, with the hull taken from what appears to be an old cargo plane. The wings were taken from a different plane. Five different propellers push the vessel through the air, two on each wing and a larger, main propeller mounted on the back of the hull, all pointing backwards. It makes a tremendous amount of noise, clattering and sputtering, thick black smoke pushed out of the exhausts. As it approaches the flying tower, the engines slow down and eventually stop, all bar the one in the back of the plane. The shuttle slows down, and briefly drops as an internal anti-gravity generator kicks in as the vehicle's sole form of propulsion, the smoke mixed with green sparks and red flashes, as it drifts around looking for somewhere to land.

The vehicle doesn't seem to be armed, but it is large enough for thirty people. If thirty people can be found willing to ride such a haphazard looking vehicle.

There are various open landing areas on the station, though the one on the ceiling isn't open for public use, leaving the areas on the platforms that branch out from the central structure. The Chimera guard drones and shuttles present in that area, should the approaching hunk of junk have any method of seeing through their invisibility, cease their regular patrols and float about, as if staring at the haphazardly constructed craft and in some cases, backing away slowly.

It'll be able to land, though, and one of the drones will decloak and hover about, waiting for those aboard to disembark.

[Earl of Purple]

Chimera Syndicate Trading Platform

The mismatched aircraft does not possess technology that enables it to detect cloaked objects or items, and can't even scan the area around it.

After landing, twenty people disembark. They're a rather mismatched bunch, with Great Khans (http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Great_Khans) in their leather outfits and bearing 10mm pistols and sub-machineguns disembarking first, followed by six individuals in long, fringed dusters and bowler hats armed with revolvers and two very muscular men in vests armed with short batons. After the escort disembark, a man wearing long red-and-green striped robes and lots of pewter jewellery leaves the plane, followed by a pale bluish-grey woman with pale hair that has black roots, wearing a dull black armour-padded catsuit and red-lensed goggles with a pair of pistols at her hip, an apparently unarmed, frail young man in a stained labcoat and finally an ash-grey Dunmer woman in red robes. The plane does not resist scanning, and all sensors will suggest that there's only one person remaining, sitting in the cockpit. The same scanners will fail to pick up the Nebari in her catsuit, however.

The man in the robes and pewter jewellery will step forward, apparently the leader, and wait for somebody to appear.

[Shadowcaller]

[Arkant's Factory]

"Hmm, I see." Arkant says and nods to both of them. A worried expression runs over his face as Wenomir talks about the other party, but he soon get's back to topic.
"I understand your point. I think I set my conditions to high. I did already think about this way of events and I might have another suggestion for you." he makes a short break as he shifts some papers around.
"Since the kidnappings happen regular I set on a few things. You likly saw those guys with guns outside. That way I get informations where they bring some of my employees. I can't sens anyone since those 'men with guns' are nothing more then men with guns. The lost would be even higher then when I buy as many back as possible. If I could call you to get them out we might have less sacrefice AND, a more important fact, it could prevent smaller gangs from taking my employees hostage, since it would cause them to deal with you. That way you wouldn't need to police here, but at least lower the amount of people caught by slavers."

He makes a break and stares blank between cessi and Wenomir. The broadcast can barly be heared in the office, it's prepared to shut out the noise from the factories after all. He shakes his head looking down worried.

"Chimera Syndicate? That sounds like trouble." he turns back to the vigil members. "Oh, I'm sorry. I was informed something called 'Chimera Syndicate Trade Platform' appeared and I was just informed by an employee. What do you think about my suggestion ?"

[Arkant's Factory]

"Okay, so in exchange of sponsorship we will simply rescue your workers?" Cessie summarizes after hearing Arkant out. "It sounds more reasonable but before we associate with you can we get an guarantee that you have a good reputation? We like to avoid associating with criminals if possible." Jezebel would be an exception, though only since Cessie actually knew her.

[Skyside Streets]

Ambrosia hurries along the streets wearing her spirit armor, it's sparkingly clean obsidian surface and her equally immaculate white robe in sharp contrast with the streets she moves through. Normally she'd stay and look around but frankly she had enough of this so-called city already. Everywhere she looked was more signs of corruption and injustice. Somehow this place was even worse than most cities worth mentioning back home despite being much more advanced. She had figured technological advancement also would bring more wisdom but this was clearly not the case here, these people had even resorted to slavery despite how ineffective it was. It was barbaric.

So she keeps her tome pressed against her chest as she walks, both to move faster and to avoid thievery. There had already been one attempt and she wouldn't be surprised if there were more considering she stuck out like a sore thumb in these wretched streets.

[Deathkeeper]

[Skyside Streets]

Sam walks sullenly on Ambrosia's side of the street, though in the opposite direction. The black-haired youth is not taking his new crippled status very well, and while his clothes were cleaned of the blood, his fresh-from the hospital cleanliness does nothing to hide his despair.
Perhaps Ambrosia feels like doing a good deed?

[Morty]

[Arkant's Factory]

"A mission with a clear goal gives us a much better chance of upholding our end of the deal," Wenomir says in agreement with Cessie.

[Darkcomet]

[Chimera Syndicate Trading Platform]

The visible floating drone, with its three weakly-glowing points of light on its apparent 'front' arranged like a set of eyes, hovers in front of the group. For a drone of this general type, it's rather large, though still not exactly up there with even Chimera's relatively light shuttles, perhaps more similar to a car in mass, if one were to guess. A voice, sounding like a fairly standard human male's, emanates from it, despite the lack of visible speakers.

"Please state your business to be led to the appropriate area."

[Zefir]

[Arkant's Factory]

"Okay, so in exchange of sponsorship we will simply rescue your workers?" Cessie summarizes after hearing Arkant out. "It sounds more reasonable but before we associate with you can we get an guarantee that you have a good reputation? We like to avoid associating with criminals if possible." Jezebel would be an exception, though only since Cessie actually knew her.



[Arkant's Factory]

"A mission with a clear goal gives us a much better chance of upholding our end of the deal," Wenomir says in agreement with Cessie.

[Arkant's Factory]

"You could sum that up this way, yes." Arkant says to Cessie.

"A guarantee? Hmm" Arkant rubs his chin. "I'm sure my word is worth nothing for that case, since I could just lie on you without a proove.
So let's see some other options.
You could check out the factories, but that would be very time consuming, you can also talk to some of the employees and I could give you the books. Does that fit for you?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Skyside Streets]

Ambrosia stops and considers as she sees the boy. Hmm.
"Excuse me young one, but could you tell me how you lost that arm? I might be able to help you." She asks in a gentle voice.

[Deathkeeper]

Skyside Streets

"Poison. So they lopped it off." he says glumly. He doesn't want to talk about it, and he doesn't want false hope from this strange lady.

[Shadowcaller]

Skyside Streets

"How gruesome." Ambrosia replies with distaste. "I believe I could replace it however but it requires you to put a lot of trust into a stranger like me I'm afraid. I swear I can give you a new arm though, one such as young as you shouldn't have to live a cripple the rest of his live." She pauses. "Are you willing to hear me out at least? Since I'm going to need something from you first. Not as payment but... as reagents I guess you could call it. I'm Abrosia by the way." She offers her hand to shake while smiling awkwardly. "Maybe I should have said that first."

[Deathkeeper]

Skyside Streets

Sam takes the hand awkwardly, and judging from the quality of the movement, he's either absolutely terrible at handshakes, or he used to be right-handed.
"Uh, I'll hear you out; I have nothing to lose from it. But forgive me if I don't feel all that comfortable in giving total trust to someone I just met. I've been burned on that too many times already." he says, annoyance in his voice from that last statement but not at Ambrosia herself.

[Shadowcaller]

Skyside Streets

She nods emphatically. "I completely understand and what I'm asking of you won't be a small thing either. I need something you have owned for a long time. Preferably something practical that you've used often, like a pocket knife, a watch or something you depend on a lot. Something which you believe you can trust in." She explains. "See, I work with symbols, concepts and through using something you can rely on I can create a reliable arm for you."

[Deathkeeper]

Skyside Streets

Sam looks down at his watch.
"I...don't think I have anything like that. I've only had this watch for a year or so, and I haven't really had anything besides some clothes and places to stay." he says with a half-shrug.

[Shadowcaller]

Skyside Streets

"Clothes would actually work fine for this. Is there something you've worn a lot for a longer time?" If he was so poor at least he couldn't replace his clothes. That might be the opening she was looking for.

[Deathkeeper]

Skyside Streets

Sam looks down at his clothes.
"I mean...at my age? Not really. I haven't had anything for more than a year or so. They're all hand-me downs or from thrift stores, but I couldn't wear something for very long at all before I outgrew them. Maybe a hat. I wish I had hats." he says sadly.

[ThirdEmperor]

[Triangle Street - Factory]

Bo's eyes narrow as the fiery strike leaps out, and he gets a shield up barely in time to deflect it - at least partially. It's still like being clipped by an aircar. A tremendous impact against the shield, and an explosive flowering of light. The sorcerer spins halfway around and falls on one side, half stunned for a moment.

He lands among the splinters of the table, among a cloud of dusted metals and scrap, vials of fiery light rolling every which way. A chain rasps through the dust as he struggles back up, sliding back as the huddled slaves draw into the shadows. A hand reaches for him, the grasp of a mercenary still standing despite the bloody break spilling down from his left hip.

[Orm-Embar]

He lands among the splinters of the table, among a cloud of dusted metals and scrap, vials of fiery light rolling every which way. A chain rasps through the dust as he struggles back up, sliding back as the huddled slaves draw into the shadows. A hand reaches for him, the grasp of a mercenary still standing despite the bloody break spilling down from his left hip.

It's like being underwater, the feeling of murk and slowed movement as he tries to shake it off. Get up. Focus, he thinks. Somehow he's on his feet. When did that happen? A momentary pang of loss at the thought, If I had my armor and weapons - A memory: pair of enemy tanks, burning, Imperial squad of six advancing across a field banked by forest, also burning. Stop it. Focus. An automatic reflex blocks the reaching hand up and away.

Fist launching forward. An all out attack. Attempting to strike through the middle of the guard's body. Backed by magic, enhanced by magic, black fire distortion around his hand. Don't lose control - It's a blow that could tear steel plate, if it lands. Shockwave to follow.

[Shadowcaller]

[Arkant's Factory]

"You could sum that up this way, yes." Arkant says to Cessie.

"A guarantee? Hmm" Arkant rubs his chin. "I'm sure my word is worth nothing for that case, since I could just lie on you without a proove.
So let's see some other options.
You could check out the factories, but that would be very time consuming, you can also talk to some of the employees and I could give you the books. Does that fit for you?"

[Arkant's Factory]

Cessie looks back at Wenomir for a moment. Even if gave them all that insurance there was no way to tell if he really was a criminal or not. In fact she considered it extremely likely he were considered he had his factories in Skyside which was a big no-no for her. But would they simply accept this aid anyway and plead ignorance when he turned out to have a criminal empire. People would already question Jezebel's contributions though if they knew so would another criminal make a difference? "I'd like to discuss this with Wenomir first." She tells Arkant. "Is there anywhere were we could talk privately?"

Skyside Streets

Ah yes. He must be talking about "puberty". Humans went through that right? They grow awfully quick during that period if she recalled correctly from her books. Especially the males. That would explain why he had to change clothing so often. "Perhaps..." She utters while stroking her chin. "Perhaps a part of yourself? I would lend you something of mine but I'm not sure how loyal it would be to you."

[Deathkeeper]

Skyside Streets

Sam is taken aback.
"Listen Ambrosia,I appreciate the offer but I don't think I want anything alive for one of my limbs. That's just not within my comfort zone, no matter how desperate I am." he says, clearly spooked by the concept.

[Shadowcaller]

Skyside Streets

Ambrosia blinks at his reaction only to realize what she just had said. She groans. "Terribly sorry, sometimes I'm just too ingrained in my own way of thinking. I didn't mean a physical part of you. I meant more like a old memory you want gone or a mental part of yourself you think would be of better use elsewhere. A concept of yourself you'd think serve better as a hand." She pauses. "Sorry if it sounds a bit metaphysical but it's how it works."

[Deathkeeper]

Skyside Streets

Sam doesn't look comforted by any stretch.
"Look, you seem nice, but there's no way I'm letting someone I've never met mess with my mind, especially in a way I can't understand. Sorry. " he says, looking a bit afraid of her.

[Earl of Purple]

Chimera Syndicate Trade Platform

"We have been sent by the Night Queen of Groundtown to procure some weaponry. And possibly some vehicles. That ride was most unpleasant. In exchange, we have some items you might be interested in." Though he's not certain how interested the Chimera Syndicate will be in the combat drugs produced by the Great Khans, he suspects they may be interested in some of the technology they've managed to scrounge.

[ThirdEmperor]

[Triangle Street - Factory]

The guard makes a terrible sound, crumpling down around the fist in his gut. In his gut, blood and awful stuff spilling forward as the initial impact sloshes back, and that gurgling breath is the last sound the man will make as his dead weight topples over onto Bo.
And a second later a bullet slams into the dead man's back. The gunshot echoes painfully within the low concrete space, the flash of muzzle fire coming from behind the staircase, an upturned table, a slave trying to struggle free as the guard holds him as a shield and braces the shotgun over his captive's shoulder.

[Orm-Embar]

[Triangle Street - Factory]

If Bo didn't already have a low opinion of these guards, these latest shenanigans would be enough to convince him.

The sorcerer almost triggers another shield spell by reflex at the muzzle flash. But it's draining to keep doing that kind of thing. Instead Bo responds in kind, sort of, by dragging the dead man's body in front of him as a shield for the few steps needed to reach better cover. He finishes up crouching among the broken glass and litter with an overturned workbench between him and the guard.

As he moves, the shimmering air around him takes on an ugly red tone. From cover, he sights the guard - and then the sorcerer's magic lashes out at the gunman in a wave of red light. The attack is aimed at the gun itself. If Bo's spell is on target, the man's weapon should rapidly heat up and become too hot to hold. After that, if left to continue, it could even cause the metal parts to melt; and at that point bad things would be likely to happen to any chemical propellants in the ammunition.

During the few seconds' wait to see if the spell worked, he keeps taking quick looks all around, trying to gain an impression of the changing situation.

The blood all over his hand is sticky. His coat is going to need professional cleaning.

[Darkcomet]

[Chimera Syndicate Trade Platform]

"Barter requires the judgment of a representative appointed by the ID-EM council overseeing this facility. You will be escorted to an area to browse, and the representative will be with you shortly afterward. Do you want to look at weaponry, shuttles, or other vehicles first?" The drone inquires, with its oddly-lifelike speech. "Or would you prefer to meet with the representative here?"

[Zefir]

[Arkant's Factory]

"Hmm." Arkant thinks a moment. "Most of the other rooms are occupied. I could lend you my office for that, just give me a moment."
He stands up and shifts a few files around. If they take a look they see that most of the files he put into the cupboards are employee datas. He puts the books on the table and heads for the door.
"Just knock if you are done." He says and if there aren't any questions he heads out and followed by the man with the gasmask.

[Earl of Purple]

Chimera Street Trade Platform

"If we may see the weapons to begin, that would be much appreciated." The man smiles. He seems totally at ease with talking to a robot, or possibly with somebody through a robot. His home universe has yet to develop telephones, but after getting over the novelty of talking to others through devices with no cables, wires or obvious source of energy to a late-Industrial-Revolution-type-world native (trains, and early cars, but not yet radio or telephones and only recent electricity), he found robots and other mechanisms to be approximately similar.

[Shadowcaller]

Skyside Streets

Sam doesn't look comforted by any stretch.
"Look, you seem nice, but there's no way I'm letting someone I've never met mess with my mind, especially in a way I can't understand. Sorry. " he says, looking a bit afraid of her.

Skyside Streets

"Yes... I suppose..." The scholar scratches her head nervously. She was a complete fool when it came to actually interacting with people, wasn't she? "In that case, if I cannot give you an arm I may at least give you something to ease your suffering. Something to help you carry things." She suddenly opens her tome and tears out an empty ark of paper. "This should do, tabula rasa." She then hands over the ark to him. "Simply project something, the first thing that comes to mind on this."

[Morty]

[Arkant's Factory]

"His new offer sounds reasonable," Wenomir tells Cessie once Arkant leaves the office. "Freeing his employees is something we can do, as opposed to waging war against this entire rotten city. It's also not shameful or dishonourable for us."

[Deathkeeper]

Skyside Streets

Sam stares at the little paper sheet.
"Uh..." he says idly.
He thinks of food. He's only had a few paltry meals in the hospital, and his boss robbed him of even one of those from him.

[Shadowcaller]

Skyside Streets

As Sam thinks the sheet of paper suddenly start to fold itself. First a simply into two halves and then faster and faster, so fast he can't even see what's going on as the paper seem to gain additional dimensions, folding in ways that shouldn't be possible.
Ambrosia quickly let's it go as it starts to fold, watching it with vivid fascination. "I'm not sure that was such a good idea..." She mumbles to herself as she stares at the paper which now seem to slowly fold itself into what appears to be a maw crowned with jagged teeth (https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4114/4886130786_16ffc06cde.jpg).

But she then seem to take courage again and stares down the piece of paper. "Help your owner." She commands it in a much deeper tone than she otherwise speaks in.

Then the jaws simply fly away using it's jaws like wings as some kind of bizarre butterfly. It's fast too considering it shouldn't really be able to fly like that. A moment later it's gone.
"...it should be back soon." Ambrosia ensures, though her voice is anything from confident.

[Deathkeeper]

Skyside Streets

"That thing's just made of paper, right? If it goes psycho I can just burn it, right?" Sam asks worriedly as he watches the thing depart. He isn't holding his breath, that's for sure.

[Shadowcaller]

[Arkant's Factory]

"His new offer sounds reasonable," Wenomir tells Cessie once Arkant leaves the office. "Freeing his employees is something we can do, as opposed to waging war against this entire rotten city. It's also not shameful or dishonourable for us."


Skyside Streets

"That thing's just made of paper, right? If it goes psycho I can just burn it, right?" Sam asks worriedly as he watches the thing depart. He isn't holding his breath, that's for sure.

[Arkant's Factory]

"I'm worried about his real intentions. Just the fact he has his factories in Skyside is a red flag, I'm just considering how it will look for us if it turns out that he's a villain. Can we simply claim ignorance then? You have to admit this seems a bit shady. Why hire VIGIL to deal with something like this?" Cessie replies quietly.

Skyside Streets

"O-of course. Not that it would." Ambrosia replies as she looks around after the flying mouth. Just what had she created now?

But sure enough the paper-mouth comes flying back, stopping in front of Sam and then hurls out a number of hot dogs, ketchup bottles and bread in front of him from out of nowhere. While they're now on the ground it at least doesn't look like the mouth chewed on them, it simply devoured them whole.

[Morty]

[Arkant's Factory]

"Maybe he doesn't trust mercenaries? Or think he needs someone of our skill to deal with those slavers," Wenomir says. "You're right, though. We can't be sure if this isn't some sort of scheme. But then, no one deserves to be a slave, no matter who they work for. Freeing his employees from slavery is unlikely to make us look bad, even if he's hiding something."

[Deathkeeper]

Skyside Streets

Sam takes one of the sausages that conveniently landed on top of the bread and not on the sidewalk. He munches on it idly.
"Yeah, kinda glad I set limits outside the head on this one." he says, looking at the paper mouth and its notable lack of intelligence in doing its one job.

[Earl of Purple]

Tempest Row, Near the Street of Slavers

An open wagon trundles along, pulled by what looks like a clockwork triceratops, headed for the Street of Slavers. Ten people escort the vehicle, dressed in smart waistcoats, trousers and bowler hats, armed with batons, stun-prods and shotguns loaded with beanbags, whilst two more direct the polished brass beast of burden at walking pace. Within the wagon are twelve people, all shabbily dressed in tattered clothing and chained to the floor of the wagon by heavy iron links leading from their shackles. One of the people is a girl wearing a ragged blue dress, and she seems to be concentrating. She's leaning backwards, putting all her weight back, away from where the chain is anchored. Despite her slender build, the chain of her shackles is straining with pressure, and break. She's left with a pair of iron shackles upon her wrists, but the chain between them is broken as she tumbles to the floor, turning the fall into an awkward roll off the wagon and away.

One of the slavers moves to interpose himself between her and freedom. Desperately pushing weight into the iron shackles, she runs toward him, faster than usual as her muscles have less work to do. Just before contact, she pulls the weight she had stored in her shackles back, increasing in weight- not mass, density, or size, just pure physical weight- and bowls him over. Recovering quickly, she pushes the weight back into her shackles as she sprints away.

((Interaction Wanted!))

[Shadowcaller]

Skyside Streets

Sam takes one of the sausages that conveniently landed on top of the bread and not on the sidewalk. He munches on it idly.
"Yeah, kinda glad I set limits outside the head on this one." he says, looking at the paper mouth and its notable lack of intelligence in doing its one job.

Skyside Streets

Ambrosia scratches her head again and let's out a sigh. "I should simply have given you money. This is a disaster." Spirits rarely did what you intended of them sadly.

[Deathkeeper]

Skyside Streets

Sam finishes the sausage and wipes his mouth.
"Probably. I should probably go; these were probably stolen and I don't want to get caught with them. You need directions or anything else?" he asks, turning slightly away.

[Shadowcaller]

[Arkant's Factory]

"Maybe he doesn't trust mercenaries? Or think he needs someone of our skill to deal with those slavers," Wenomir says. "You're right, though. We can't be sure if this isn't some sort of scheme. But then, no one deserves to be a slave, no matter who they work for. Freeing his employees from slavery is unlikely to make us look bad, even if he's hiding something."


Skyside Streets

Sam finishes the sausage and wipes his mouth.
"Probably. I should probably go; these were probably stolen and I don't want to get caught with them. You need directions or anything else?" he asks, turning slightly away.

[Arkant's Factory]

"So we're going with the ignorance plead then if anything happens." Cessie summarizes. "If it come down to it, that's what we're both are going to claim. Agreed?"

Skyside Streets

"Just tell me how to get out of here." Ambrosia says with a sigh as she reaches into her tome to pick out a gold coin which she attempts to hand over as discreetly as possible.

[Deathkeeper]

Skyside Streets

Sam smiles and points her to a transit terminal again, palming the coin easily.

[Darkcomet]

[Chimera Syndicate Trade Platform]


"If we may see the weapons to begin, that would be much appreciated." The man smiles. He seems totally at ease with talking to a robot, or possibly with somebody through a robot. His home universe has yet to develop telephones, but after getting over the novelty of talking to others through devices with no cables, wires or obvious source of energy to a late-Industrial-Revolution-type-world native (trains, and early cars, but not yet radio or telephones and only recent electricity), he found robots and other mechanisms to be approximately similar.

"Follow the unit you see here to the designated area and a representative will be with you shortly." The drone will then turn and float along, leading the group to another area. Fortunately for everyone on this otherwise-precarious collection of bridges and platforms, Chimera did in fact bother to install guard rails, or it might be a bit hazardous. Hopefully no one tries to deliberately throw someone off or something. Various other drones are visible leading other groups around, though none quite so large as this one just yet, mostly those interested in browsing and seeing what the Syndicate is up to here.

Eventually, after a few turns on the precarious network of paths, they will arrive at an area best described as a sort of open gun show. Racks of weapons, deployed from hatches in the floor, line the area, from pistols to heavy weapons, as well as a few more unusual pieces mixed in that don't seem to match the other, more common examples.

"Should you wish to test a weapon before purchase, we can deploy a holographic firing range."

[Morty]

[Arkant's Factory]

Wenomir nods.

"More or less. We saved his employees from slavers, which is within our general mode of operations, and had no part in whatever other operations he may have."

[Earl of Purple]

Chimera Syndicate Trade Platform

The group of people will follow the robot. The Great Khans stay away from the edge, but nobody in the group is so blatantly sociopathic as to deliberately throw somebody off the air-station.

"Thank you for your assistance. We'll let you know if anything immediately jumps up at us." The man in stripy robes smiles and bows to the drone, though not especially deeply.

The group of people quickly spread out to look at the differing weapons. The Great Khans are most interested in solid-slug rapid fire weaponry, preferring the reliability of gunpowder to the flashiness of energy weaponry. The two in vests will search out the largest weapons and try to pick them up; they've supernaturally boosted their strength far beyond human limits, so even if the weapon is designed for use on a tripod they should have little difficulty. The man in the labcoat is far more interested in the energy weapons and their principles. The six in their fringed dusters will look for shotguns, hunting rifles and other such weaponry. Their current weapons are revolvers and Wild West-era weapons. The Dunmer isn't particularly interested in the weapons, and the striped-robed man is looking for the weapons that can be bought in bulk and used with little training; the others are more interested in weapons for themselves, whilst he is looking to arm his organisation.

[Darkcomet]

[Chimera Syndicate Trade Platform]

Guns.

Easily the most common of the weapons are a pair of laser models, a rifle and pistol, designated the LR-46 and LP-50, each with slight variability from a lethal kill mode to a merely extremely painful stun setting. While neither is made to deal with extra-heavy armor, and they only have semi-automatic capability, they're quite sufficient for less, and are the tried and true weapons Chimera's used for a while now. Though not bleeding edge, they're common, cheaper, and have been made extremely reliable as the models were used and updated over time. There's also a sniper equivalent in the same group, the high-powered LR-50, which does about what you'd expect, and then, most highly celebrated among the lasers is the much more expensive Infinite Descent LR-52B Vari-Las Rifle Mk II. In addition to the LR-46's power modes, the 52B can be adjusted into a number of different firing rates, varyng depending on the current charge. The sustained-beam 'full-auto' mode is comparable to the LR-46 in lethality, and as the user dials up the power further, its rate of fire decreases, effectively giving it a semi-automatic mode with heavier armor-piercing abilities likely sufficient for the heavier personal armor around, and finally a full-blown sniper mode akin to the LR-50. All this comes at the cost of a high pricetag, and there aren't as many of them available. No one's getting 52Bs in bulk. There's also the LP-52X, a much higher-powered laser pistol that could probably burn through near any personal armor, but it has an extremely low rate of fire and charge. Or, it does in theory, anyway. It can fire faster, but it's prone to overheating if you do that. Infinite Descent does not take responsibility for the result of firing LP-52Xs that fast.

Those looking for heavy weaponry will encounter three types, two energy weapon variants and a much more expensive missile launcher. The HL-23 and HL-24 are more laser weapons, each curiously appearing to have some kind of magnetic clamps and linkages on them to interface with...something that isn't seen here, though they still have conventional grips for normal use. The 23 is an anti-tank laser cannon, held akin to a modern man-portable missile launcher, and is powerful and precise. The 24 is more of a heavy rifle-shaped weapon, more like a machine gun, with three barrels arranged in a triangle pattern. It fires heavier sustained beams easily capable of cutting through most any infantry armor, and typically alternates between the barrels to compensate for heating issues, though if one really wanted someone dead, they could focus all three on them at once. That'll cause overheating and heavy power drain, though, and unlike EI tech, these don't recharge on their own, though you can recharge the charge packs if you have compatible wiring and a power source. The last of the heavy weapons is the HP-01X missile launcher, noted as experimental, which uses charge packs similar to the lasers' to power a system that superheats the fuel in specialized warheads, which are then fired as crude, brutal plasma missiles that explode into superheated, plasma-based death for anything nearby, easily capable of wrecking heavy vehicles and anything else that gets caught in it.

Those looking for projectile weapons will find the selection a bit boring, as Chimera strongly favors energy weaponry. However, while it's not exactly gunpowder, one set of weapons does stand out, the CMW-004 and 005, deviating from Chimera's weapon naming conventions. Simultaneously, these are heavy, built to be tough, unlike Chimera's usual preference for sleeker technology. This is because these are older weapons as well, and not originally made by any within the Chimera Syndicate. Heavy gauss weapons with a limited fire rate but very high power, the 004 is a rifle, and the 005 a pistol. The designation stands for 'Cross Magnetic Weapon,' as the weapons were originally developed by the Altaran Dominion's Project Haven for the Dominion's royal guard, and appropriated by Infinite Descent following the seizure of Project Haven's records. They're fairly crude compared to more recent UDN gauss weapons, but still very nasty.

While those looking for shotguns will be a bit disappointed by the lack of any models that stand out, there is a weapon modification of note, compatible with the LR-46, LP-50, and LR-52B, a beam splitter that can be fitted into the laser weapons to make them into impromptu shotguns.

Other than that, there's a selection of older, less notable weapons, like regular old gunpowder weapons and the like. They don't really merit much of a description and you can probably decide the exact details for yourself.

[Earl of Purple]

Chimera Syndicate Trade Platform

The Nebari shall pick up an LR-50, and ask for a target. She's interested in the accuracy, but more interested in how visible the beam is. She's a trained infiltrator and assassin, and whilst lasers make less noise than projectile snipers, the beam can point out exactly where they're hiding.

The Terrisman in the striped robes motions to the Great Khans, and orders one to try the LR-46 and LP-50, both with and without the beam-splitter. Another Great Khan will try the CMW range; more for himself and his colleagues, than the organisation as a whole.

The Thugs in vests are far more interested in explosions than lasers, and will try the missile launcher.

The Dunmer is only here in case things get out of hand and magic is required, though she'll look around, joined after a while by the people in dusters and bowlers.

[Shadowcaller]

Skyside Streets

Sam smiles and points her to a transit terminal again, palming the coin easily.


[Arkant's Factory]

Wenomir nods.

"More or less. We saved his employees from slavers, which is within our general mode of operations, and had no part in whatever other operations he may have."

[Arkant's Factory]

"Very well, let's go back and tell him we agree to his terms then." Cessie replies before heading that way.

Skyside Streets

Once Ambrosia takes her leave Sam won't get a calm moment as another strange person approaches him. "Ah-excuse me, sar but I couldn't help but to hear about your... predicament." While the person is definitely humanoid, it could be easily be mistaken for a mummy wrapped in white bindings as it is with the only hint of what lies underneath is a bright white light that streams through the small openings of the bindings. It wears clothes though, a hood, gloves and a longer skirt. "Your, ah, body is broken is it not?" The being gestures at his missing arm.

[Deathkeeper]

Skyside Streets

Sam frowns at the stranger. Not even enough time to make off with some of the food.
"Uh, yeah, I guess you could say that." he responds simply, and a little bit defensively.

[Shadowcaller]

Skyside Streets

"Ah, but what if I could offer you something even better? A completely new body that would be exactly like your old one except with a complete arm? You'd even be able to make adjustments to it if you so desire, sar." The being offers. "I'm talking about a sar-body, not a robotic replacement. A perfect clone."

[Zefir]

[Arkant's Factory]

When they knock at the door, the big guy opens it. It takes a few moments and Arkant appears right behind him. they enter and Arkant takes his place again.

"So you came to an decission?"

[Deathkeeper]

Skyside Streets

Sam narrow his eyes.
"I don't know what sar is, but I would say that it sounds expensive." he says. What's this guy's game?

[Recaiden]

"The sooner I get to come in the better, I think." Says the voice over the phone. "My schedule is completely open."

"Well, if you could come to <address> tomorrow at <very early, before the sun comes up>, ready to work, that would be perfect. We look forward to working with you."

[Shadowcaller]

Skyside Streets

Sam narrow his eyes.
"I don't know what sar is, but I would say that it sounds expensive." he says. What's this guy's game?

Skyside Streets

"Apologies, it's simply..." The being seem to hesitate. "A word used to describe physical entities. Terrestrial..." It continues but seems to be unsure what to say once again. "Ah, I'm sure you know what I mean, the same kind of body that you have now. Having trouble finding words." The being explains. "In any case, I would give you to it for free. The only I want in exchange is to record your reactions and thoughts and be able to publish them through various media. It is a... project of mine. You would have to be subjected to brain scanning and reading but it's not as bad as it sounds. Think it as taking a picture of your brain." It tilts it's bandaged head, as if looking at him curiously.

[Deathkeeper]

Skyside Streets

Sam considers this.
"Uh, how public will this media be? I don't think I want to have my thoughts screamed to the world, but if it's basically just a study that you're publishing that sounds like it'll work out fine." he says tentatively. This is probably the best offer he's ever going to get to fix this "problem" of his.

[Shadowcaller]

[Arkant's Factory]

When they knock at the door, the big guy opens it. It takes a few moments and Arkant appears right behind him. they enter and Arkant takes his place again.

"So you came to an decission?"

[Arkant's Factory]

"Yes, we have decided to agree to your proposal Mr. Arkant ." Cessie says with a smile. "We're ready to help you."

Skyside Streets

"The medium will be public, but not anywhere that will be relevant for you. The project I'm working on is intended for Storm spire only, a city in seaside. So it's unlikely anyone actually taking part of it actually will realize who I've collected the information from. But you will also get the chance to review and approve all of the material I collect before it's published. Any information you will is unwanted will be edited out of course." The being explains.

[Morty]

[Arkant's Factory]

"Indeed. Your terms are acceptable," Wenomir says, nodding.

[Deathkeeper]

Skyside Streets

Sam nods slowly.
"Well, okay, that sounds fine. When will this happen?" he asks, optimism blossoming slowly.

[Shadowcaller]

Skyside Streets

"I will contact you again once I've set anything in order. Until then perhaps you should consider if you want to do modifications on your new body or not? I've heard that flesh-art is in these days." It states while crossing its arms over it's chest.

[Deathkeeper]

Skyside Street

Sam nods again, hesitantly this time. Modification? Not sure that sounds like something he wants to get into.
"Alright. Uh, I don't have a phone or anything. Do you have some way to find me?" he asks. This guy is weird.

[Darkcomet]

Chimera Syndicate Trade Platform

The Nebari shall pick up an LR-50, and ask for a target. She's interested in the accuracy, but more interested in how visible the beam is. She's a trained infiltrator and assassin, and whilst lasers make less noise than projectile snipers, the beam can point out exactly where they're hiding.

The Terrisman in the striped robes motions to the Great Khans, and orders one to try the LR-46 and LP-50, both with and without the beam-splitter. Another Great Khan will try the CMW range; more for himself and his colleagues, than the organisation as a whole.

The Thugs in vests are far more interested in explosions than lasers, and will try the missile launcher.

The Dunmer is only here in case things get out of hand and magic is required, though she'll look around, joined after a while by the people in dusters and bowlers.

At the edge of the area, smaller drones deploy and arrange themselves, deploying holographic targets (both circular and humanoid-shaped) at various ranges for those interested in the lasers and Dominion gauss weapons. The holograms will distort upon being 'hit', and then will be marked where the hit occurred, with a range of colors ranging from blue for light damage to red for the most serious, marring the gray images. However, the guard drone present has something to point out about the missile launcher.

"While you are free to use dummy ammunition for the HP-01X on the range here, please bear in mind that this is an inadequate test of its destructive potential. Live ammunition testing will require access to local targets, possibly a junkyard, and payment for the ammunition used."

Meanwhile, the LR-50 proves quite adept in what it does. Being a laser-based high-powered marksman weapon, it is very difficult to miss what you're pointing at with it. It does have a visible blue beam, but if this is brought up as an issue, the LR-50B is offered with a nonvisible beam, with a thermal sight installed by default so the user can see exactly where it went. It's a bit more expensive, though.

The LR-46 and LP-50 are both quite accurate and easy to use, though for a Khan with little experience with energy weapons, the lack of recoil and spread might seem alien. Their range limitation is largely based on beam coherence, as it drops off over longer ranges, with a shorter range on the pistol. The beam splitter deliberately reduces the core beam's coherence to the point of it scattering, creating a lower-intensity, but shotgun-like weapon that delivers its damage over a wider area.

The gauss weapons pack a more brutal, visceral punch than the lasers, but prove to not be quite as accurate. Due to the technology involved, they're more powerful and longer-ranged than conventional firearms of similar types, but simultaneously, they have more difficult upkeep than either gunpowder weapons and the Syndicate's preferred lasers, requiring both power packs and solid ammunition. Hard to argue with the raw damage they're capable of, though.

[Shadowcaller]

Skyside Street

Sam nods again, hesitantly this time. Modification? Not sure that sounds like something he wants to get into.
"Alright. Uh, I don't have a phone or anything. Do you have some way to find me?" he asks. This guy is weird.

Skyside Street

"I will find you, don't worry about that." The being replies. "Are there any other questions while we're... face to face?"

[Deathkeeper]

Skyside Streets

Sam shakes his head.
"No, just...how long do you think it will be? I could really use my arm ASAP..." he says with a shrug.

[Shadowcaller]

Skyside Streets

"Truly? Then I'll hurry. Will say, an hour suffice?" The being asks.

[Deathkeeper]

Skyside Streets

"Uh, okay. I'll be around." he says, still wondering about how this guy operates.

[Earl of Purple]

Chimera Syndicate Trade Platform

The Nebari will be impressed by the gun's accuracy, though when practising amongst people she may later have to kill, she doesn't aim for the centre of the targets. Rather, she'll aim for wherever she pleases and gauge the accuracy from that. It tends to mislead people as to how good she is. After trying the version with the infrared beam, she smiles and asks for a price. She'll offer an opportunity to study her stealth-suit for a discount. As mentioned, she is still visible, but any body-scans will find the Nebari a ghost, with only her uncovered head detectable.

The Thugs are slightly disappointed by that, and will try the lasers instead. They ask the Terrisman to place an order for one anyway, and several cases of missiles.

The Khan gets the hang of the energy weapon after a while, and nods to the Terrisman in striped robes.

The first shot of the gauss pistol causes a whoop from the spectators, and they all immediately start pulling out their wallets and money-pouches. I think they're sold on the serious damage they are capable of, and want to own them.

[Zefir]

[Arkant's Factory]
"Indeed. Your terms are acceptable," Wenomir says, nodding.

[Arkant's Factory]
"Yes, we have decided to agree to your proposal Mr. Arkant ." Cessie says with a smile. "We're ready to help you."

[Arkant's Factory]

"That's good." he says. "I guess we should hold this in a contract. But first, do you have any questions?"

[Shadowcaller]

Skyside Streets==> Sam's Home

As an hour passed the being suddenly appear outside Sam's home in a purple flash. "An hour has passed. Are you ready?" It says loudly.

[Deathkeeper]

Sam's Home

Sam's home would be a small building in which he's been squatting with a few others. He's out quickly.
"Hey hey, no need to be loud, almost gave a few people a scare. Yeah, I'm ready." he says, some nervousness in his voice.

[Shadowcaller]

[Arkant's Factory]

"That's good." he says. "I guess we should hold this in a contract. But first, do you have any questions?"

[Arkant's Factory]

"You could give us some more details on the situation and our contract. Like for instance what demands the kidnappers have made. Are they just interested in money or something else?" Cessie asks as she takes a seat once again.

Sam's Home==> Metallic Room

The being looks down at Sam. "Excellent." There is a flash and the next moment Sam will find himself in a perfectly white room with round metal walls, making it shaped like an egg. It appears to be completely sterile and also lack doors and exits of any kind. In the middle of the room is a chair with what appears to be a scanner mounted to the back of it. The energy being appears a moment later, gesturing towards the chair. "Have a seat. While on this permiss your brain thoughts will be recorded and catalogued. Is this acceptable?"

[Deathkeeper]

Metallic Room

Sam jumps a bit at the sudden teleportation, and after taking a moment to get his bearings, hesitantly gets into the chair.
"Uh, yeah, it's acceptable. I hope this won't be too weird..." he says quietly.

[Earl of Purple]

Tempest Row, Near the Street of Slavers

An open wagon trundles along, pulled by what looks like a clockwork triceratops, headed for the Street of Slavers. Ten people escort the vehicle, dressed in smart waistcoats, trousers and bowler hats, armed with batons, stun-prods and shotguns loaded with beanbags, whilst two more direct the polished brass beast of burden at walking pace. Within the wagon are twelve people, all shabbily dressed in tattered clothing and chained to the floor of the wagon by heavy iron links leading from their shackles. One of the people is a girl wearing a ragged blue dress, and she seems to be concentrating. She's leaning backwards, putting all her weight back, away from where the chain is anchored. Despite her slender build, the chain of her shackles is straining with pressure, and breaks. She's left with a pair of iron shackles upon her wrists, but the chain between them is broken as she tumbles to the floor, turning the fall into an awkward roll off the wagon and away.

One of the slavers moves to interpose himself between her and freedom. Desperately pushing weight into the iron shackles, she runs toward him, faster than usual as her muscles have less work to do. Just before contact, she pulls the weight she had stored in her shackles back, increasing in weight- not mass, density, or size, just pure physical weight- and bowls him over. Recovering quickly, she pushes the weight back into her shackles as she sprints away.

((Interaction Wanted! Reposting to hope for traffic.))

[Morty]

[Arkant's Factory]

Wenomir says nothing for now, having nothing to add.

[goto124]

Tempest Row, Near the Street of Slavers

A translucent grey wispy thing hangs along the walls of the buildings lining Tempest Row, difficult to spot without a sharp eye.

As the Ragged Blue Dress girl dashes down the street, however, the wisp departs from the walls and swiftly moves to fly alongside the girl. Said wisp reveals itself to be the ghost of a 14-year-old girl, wearing a ragged white dress.

'Psst,' she winks at the almost-slave. 'Need a little help?'

[Zefir]

[Arkant's Factory]

"You could give us some more details on the situation and our contract. Like for instance what demands the kidnappers have made. Are they just interested in money or something else?" Cessie asks as she takes a seat once again.



[Arkant's Factory]

Wenomir says nothing for now, having nothing to add.

[Arkant's Factory]

"The situation so far is that some of my employees get caught every week. Most of them get sold quick on the slave market. If they made a demand itwas either about money or some of the stuff my compani produces. It was never enougth to get us into delivery trouble." Arkant says.

"For the contract, I assumed we make something like a service contract. I pay you [high amount of money] per month and for that I can request your help when they catch my employees again. That would be a rawr example. Details like call times, respond times and so on would be added in both parties agreement."

[Shadowcaller]

[Arkant's Factory]

Cessie raises an eyebrow, every week? That was insane. How many slaves did this city need? It simply couldn't be profitable forcing that many people to simple manual labor. "Do you know what these slaves are used for? I find it hard to believe they could need that many." Perhaps they were used for body parts? As grotesque as it sounded it sounded more likely than someone needing that much manual labor. What about jobs that required more education? How did they even keep control of so many slaves?

Metallic Room

Once Sam takes a seat the being motions towards his head. "Now that you're seated I need some of your biological material. Your DNA. May I remove a s strand of hair?" It inquires. "Once I have it I will be able to create a completely new body for you. Have you considered any improvements? They don't have to be visible ones if you aren't comfortable with it. I could optimize your immunity system, make you able to manage with less food and sleep, just to mention a few examples."

[Deathkeeper]

Metallic Room

Sam frowns, considering, though he offers his head. He's had plenty of thoughts.
"I mean, I'm not even sure what's on the table. I'm mostly doing this for my arm. I mean, I guess if it's anything I could have more than two." he says, chuckling. "I don't think that'd be good for me. But well, I guess I could use being a little bit bigger. I mean, I haven't really always been able to afford to eat as much as I'd like. Probably more thin than I should be. But uh, immune system, durability, that sort of thing sounds good. I would consider something to help with my shoe situation, but that probably would be weird." he says. When money's an issue, shoes are expensive!

[Shadowcaller]

Metallic Room

"I could either make your feet covered in fur or perhaps make them more like claws?" The being suggests as it looks up from it's datapad where it appears to be typing down Sam's suggestions. "I might not be an expert on biological enhancements but that sounds sound. Frankly, while humans are amazing beings this kind of technology could optimize their- your bodies in amazing ways. It might seem daunting but the possibilities are nearly endless."

[Deathkeeper]

Metallic room

Sam shakes his head. "Uh, nah, I don't think that would work. Wouldn't look right with the rest of me...me. I don't really know what I'd want, really. Maybe we'd find ideas while you're looking through my brain. Though, who exactly are you people? I thought it was rude to ask before..."

[Earl of Purple]

Near the Street of Slavers

The near-slave nods when asked if she needs help, barely turning her head to see whom is offering help. She's presently assuming the ghost was herself a slave, and is after vengeance. Revenge is a common motivator for restless spirits, she's heard; never met one before.

Three guards in the smart clothes are running after the escaping slave, before one stops and raises his shotgun, aiming a beanbag at the running girl. He doesn't fire yet, though; one of his colleagues has got in front of him.

[Morty]

[Arkant's Factory]

"That is indeed a lot of slaves," Wenomir says. He's not as shocked as Cessie, but it's still disturbing.

[goto124]

Near the Street of Slavers

The near-slave nods when asked if she needs help, barely turning her head to see whom is offering help. She's presently assuming the ghost was herself a slave, and is after vengeance. Revenge is a common motivator for restless spirits, she's heard; never met one before.

Three guards in the smart clothes are running after the escaping slave, before one stops and raises his shotgun, aiming a beanbag at the running girl. He doesn't fire yet, though; one of his colleagues has got in front of him.

Near the Street of Slavers

The Blue Dress girl isn't entirely wrong. Though, if she wants to know more about the ghost, she'll have to wait until there's time for a little chit-chat.

The girl ghost flies over the colleague and dashes straight at the guard raising his shotgun - she's still unclear on what guns are, but the way he's holding it implies it's some kind of weapon. Along the way, what appears to be an energy construct in the shape of a morningstar mace (http://www.heavenlyswords.com/images/T/KT2065A.jpg) forms within her right hand. She then takes a good swing at the shotgun-wielding guard, aiming to smash his skull in.

Do these guards have the means to attack a ghost? Pretty much any kind of magic would work.

[Earl of Purple]

Near The Street of Slavers

The Iron Ferring keeps running, without looking back.

The ectoplasmic morningstar proves very effective, smashing through the hardened velvet of his bowler hat and the skull beneath, laying him flat and dead.

These particular slavers work primarily with technology, so don't have any magical weapons or armour. In their line of work, weapons that are more effective are actually a hindrance, and ones with non-lethal enchantments are rare and expensive. Cattleprods, tasers, clubs and beanbag rounds are what they go for.

[Shadowcaller]

Metallic room

Sam shakes his head. "Uh, nah, I don't think that would work. Wouldn't look right with the rest of me...me. I don't really know what I'd want, really. Maybe we'd find ideas while you're looking through my brain. Though, who exactly are you people? I thought it was rude to ask before..."

Metallic room

"Ah. Very well. I see no harm in satisfying your curiosity while we wait. I am Jin. My people are known as the ethereals, we prefer to operate without corporal bodies as you can see." It gestures towards itself. "Anything specific you wanted to know?" It will press a few buttons on it's wrist computer and one of Sam's strands of hair will suddenly disappear.

[Deathkeeper]

Metallic Room

"Uh, well, I guess I just wanted to know what this is all for, but I'm sure I won't understand all the details. " he says.
He's hoping that everything about this offer is legitimate. He meant what he said about wanting to be less skinny, and getting his number of limbs in order is crucially important. He wonders about asking about his pig problem, but that's nothing he thinks they can help with. For now, more arms, better body. The feet thing is tempting. The few people squatting around with hooves and paws and the like don't have to worry about shoes and the like, but you can't have that sort of thing as a human. It'd be weird. Wouldn't look right at all!
He does wonder why they're doing this, but as long as there aren't too many strings attached he doesn't really care.

[Zefir]

[Arkant's Factory]

Cessie raises an eyebrow, every week? That was insane. How many slaves did this city need? It simply couldn't be profitable forcing that many people to simple manual labor. "Do you know what these slaves are used for? I find it hard to believe they could need that many." Perhaps they were used for body parts? As grotesque as it sounded it sounded more likely than someone needing that much manual labor. What about jobs that required more education? How did they even keep control of so many slaves?



[Arkant's Factory]

"That is indeed a lot of slaves," Wenomir says. He's not as shocked as Cessie, but it's still disturbing.

[Arkant's Factory]

"Sadly, no. We just see a few on the slave market, but thats only around halve of those who dissapeared. We got no sign about the rest." Arkant replies.
"I'm not aware how many slaves are needed in this city and I haven't been here for long with my company. I guess they focused on my employee after I aranged a health care for them. I didn't thought that would backfire."

[Darkcomet]

((I actually have a reason for being slow this time. Namely, I have been low on will to do anything on the internet on account of my connection flipping its lid constantly, often to the point of being unusable, and frustrating when not. Sorry about that.))

[Chimera Syndicate Trade Platform]

"Data relayed," is all the drone replies with.

Then the representative shows up, a sight perhaps far more unusual than the drone. A bald man of dark complexion, looking to be in at least his forties or older, wearing a business suit marked with the lion logo of Infinite Descent on the shoulders, his strangest feature is the obvious surgical scarring on his head. One wonders what that is. "I've been informed you want to try barter here." The voice is slightly monotonous, though not quite completely. "I'm authorized to work out a deal," he explains, looking over the group and waiting for whichever one they want to do the talking.

[ThirdEmperor]

[Triangle Street - Factory]

If Bo didn't already have a low opinion of these guards, these latest shenanigans would be enough to convince him.

The sorcerer almost triggers another shield spell by reflex at the muzzle flash. But it's draining to keep doing that kind of thing. Instead Bo responds in kind, sort of, by dragging the dead man's body in front of him as a shield for the few steps needed to reach better cover. He finishes up crouching among the broken glass and litter with an overturned workbench between him and the guard.

As he moves, the shimmering air around him takes on an ugly red tone. From cover, he sights the guard - and then the sorcerer's magic lashes out at the gunman in a wave of red light. The attack is aimed at the gun itself. If Bo's spell is on target, the man's weapon should rapidly heat up and become too hot to hold. After that, if left to continue, it could even cause the metal parts to melt; and at that point bad things would be likely to happen to any chemical propellants in the ammunition.

During the few seconds' wait to see if the spell worked, he keeps taking quick looks all around, trying to gain an impression of the changing situation.

The blood all over his hand is sticky. His coat is going to need professional cleaning.

Sparks skitter across the concrete flooring, tumbling droplets of gold rolling together to take shape as a curl of solid flame. The golden fire serpent rears its head again as Bo drags himself and his shield towards an intact table, coiling itself around the broken splinters and growing bright, growing large as they burn away within its molten flesh, brief shadowy cinders on the surface of flowing gold and flaring sunspots of red. Its eyes follow him, tongue searing the air it drinks.

Across the way, the gunman loses his job as the gun slips from his hand, landing with a melted *thunk* as its form collapses against the floor. With a brief crackle of powder going, it splutters in volcanic bubbles, spitting out the shapeless bullets as leaden streaks from the cooling puddle of gunmetal. The guard reaches instead for the slim blade on his hip, gripping the knife tense between his fingers as he draws the smarting hand up and squints to aim.

And with a flick of the wrist and a little snapping motion, the blade whirls into a long glimmer of silver stretching over the table and arcing down towards Bo.

[Earl of Purple]

Chimera Syndicate Trade Platform

The Nebari steps forward to begin. "I would like this rifle, and asked its price. If it is out of my price range, I asked if some tests on the stealth-suit I wear would serve as a discount." She hopes the rifle is affordable, since she relies on this suit when somebody needs killing.

"I have offers from my organisation, to find a supply of uniform weaponry rather than our present eclectic mix, and also to see if you would be interested in the combat drugs we produce." He sincerely doubts they are, though. Everything he's seen suggest nice, clean and efficient, and some of the drugs they produce are nasty, messy and brutal. The drugs are made principally by the Great Khans, and are therefore primarily from the Fallout universe.

[Shadowcaller]

Metallic Room

"Uh, well, I guess I just wanted to know what this is all for, but I'm sure I won't understand all the details. " he says.
He's hoping that everything about this offer is legitimate. He meant what he said about wanting to be less skinny, and getting his number of limbs in order is crucially important. He wonders about asking about his pig problem, but that's nothing he thinks they can help with. For now, more arms, better body. The feet thing is tempting. The few people squatting around with hooves and paws and the like don't have to worry about shoes and the like, but you can't have that sort of thing as a human. It'd be weird. Wouldn't look right at all!
He does wonder why they're doing this, but as long as there aren't too many strings attached he doesn't really care.


[Arkant's Factory]

"Sadly, no. We just see a few on the slave market, but thats only around halve of those who dissapeared. We got no sign about the rest." Arkant replies.
"I'm not aware how many slaves are needed in this city and I haven't been here for long with my company. I guess they focused on my employee after I aranged a health care for them. I didn't thought that would backfire."


[Arkant's Factory]

"That is indeed a lot of slaves," Wenomir says. He's not as shocked as Cessie, but it's still disturbing.

Metallic Room

"You are probably right." Jinn says as he/she looks at the wrist-computer once again for a moment before looking up at Sam. "Say, would you be comfortable letting your own mind decide the shape of your new body within reason? It would be a lot simpler." There are no eyes behind those bandages, just a glowing purple energy.

[Arkant's Factory]

"I see. So have you any clue who's responsible for this? Considering you didn't want us to fight all slavers, I assume you suspect there might be a single group behind the majority of these kidnappings." Cessie asks.

[Deathkeeper]

Metallic Room

"Uh, sure? That sounds pretty reasonable." says Sam.
He isn't honestly sure what he's referring to. Jinn presumably means subconsciously. Otherwise, wouldn't this conversation be his own mind choosing things?

[Zefir]

[Arkant's Factory]

"With my research I found three groups responsible for the kidnapping." Arkant says. "They are to big for us to do anything. We got a few places they have been seen, but we don't know where their main bases are."

[Shadowcaller]

[Arkant's Factory]

"Three groups targeting your company? This is going to be more complicated than I thought. Are they working together or separately?" Cessie asks, three groups were going to be hard to deal with.

Metallic Room

"Excellent. If it's okay with you I will but you to sleep now to make the procedure easier. Don't worry though, you will wake up in your new body once it is over." Jinn tilts his/her head. "May I?"

[Deathkeeper]

Metallic Room

Sam nods slowly, dread creeping up his spine, but it's too late to turn back now.
"Yeah, sure."

[Orm-Embar]

[Triangle Street - Factory]




Sparks skitter across the concrete flooring, tumbling droplets of gold rolling together to take shape as a curl of solid flame. The golden fire serpent rears its head again as Bo drags himself and his shield towards an intact table, coiling itself around the broken splinters and growing bright, growing large as they burn away within its molten flesh, brief shadowy cinders on the surface of flowing gold and flaring sunspots of red. Its eyes follow him, tongue searing the air it drinks.

Across the way, the gunman loses his job as the gun slips from his hand, landing with a melted *thunk* as its form collapses against the floor. With a brief crackle of powder going, it splutters in volcanic bubbles, spitting out the shapeless bullets as leaden streaks from the cooling puddle of gunmetal. The guard reaches instead for the slim blade on his hip, gripping the knife tense between his fingers as he draws the smarting hand up and squints to aim.

And with a flick of the wrist and a little snapping motion, the blade whirls into a long glimmer of silver stretching over the table and arcing down towards Bo.

The Imperial agent glances at the fiery serpent as he regains his feet. The creature doesn't seem hostile... and besides: dragon! "Welcome to the field of battle, dragon spirit!" he says. Then the smile fades from his face as his attention returns to the guard, and Bo's sword once again appears in his hand.

The warrior stands ready, waiting for the right moment when the guard commits to his throw. Only then, at the last second, he steps to the side, sword rising to brush the knife away; the shining bit of sharp metal goes flickering by him to clatter somewhere in the gloom.

And then the swordsman moves fast, vaulting over the fallen table and taking a few steps towards the guard before launching himself into the air in tobi-yoko-geri, a leaping sideways kick that could break the man's neck or cause a concussion, if applied correctly; the follow-on swordstroke aimed at the guard's head comes immediately after while he's still in the air.

Unless events intervene, Bo lands on his feet and looks about him swiftly, once more trying to gain an impression of the overall situation.

[Zefir]

[Arkant's Factory]

"Three groups targeting your company? This is going to be more complicated than I thought. Are they working together or separately?" Cessie asks, three groups were going to be hard to deal with.

Metallic Room

"Excellent. If it's okay with you I will but you to sleep now to make the procedure easier. Don't worry though, you will wake up in your new body once it is over." Jinn tilts his/her head. "May I?"

[Arkant's Factory]

"We don't know. It is hard to tell . We only know this by retracking where the slaves come from. I guess they got some kind of agreement, since I haven't heared about any fight between these groups, at least not in the last time." Arkant replies. The documents lay in front, mostly data about the captured person. The main informations are the time when they dissapeared, the time they appeared on the market, the gang that was mentioned who sells them and the price he had to pay.

[Shadowcaller]

[Arkant's Factory]

"So what are these groups exactly? What names do they go by? We need any information that you have on them." Cessie asks.

Metallic Room

"Excellent. I'll start the procedure immediately then." Jinn takes up a mask which she/he will attempt to put over Sam's mouth. "So just relax, this won't take long." If Sam doesn't protest, he will be out of it in a manner of seconds.

-Later-

Sam will wake up in what appears to be a different room, quite unlike the one he fell asleep in. The wallpaper is pink with white clouds and there are fluffy sheeps floating around near the ceiling. They appear to be some kind of illusion. Sam seems to be laying in a bed with blue covers. "How are you feeling?" He can suddenly hear Jinn's voice.

[Deathkeeper]

Metallic Room

Sam attempts to sit up, groggily opening his eyes and looking around for the source of the voice.

"I'm getting near twenty, you know. Sheep are a bit juvenile, don't you think?" he jokes, still tired.
He'll also immediately turn his attention to his right hand, which unlike before he went to sleep, should actually exist now.

[FireFox]

[Vetting Omecha Herrienegoiakakoa]

A man remembers a mental note he made to himself long ago. Or, rather, he recalls something a younger version of himself wants him to do in both of their presents. Because this man is a king, and kings have people to do things for them, he picks up the phone and calls the chief of Nexus station for his intelligence service. He spends a few minutes explaining what he wants done, then hangs up the phone, his part played. The clandestine manager entrusted with this mission, however unimportant and beneath his talents and training it may be, handles it professionally. Might as well use his bloated operational budget lest it be cut next fiscal year. He makes a call to a lawyer who supplements his legal practice by occasionally working as professional middleman and arranges for a wire transfer to pay for the hiring of three groups.

A cheap private detective is hired to locate and confirm the identity of a certain winged elf. The only thing he was given to go on is the long family name and the title "Magos Genetress", so he'll be doing a lot of bumbling around and unsubtly poking his nose in whatever addresses a directory search will lead him to.

The second group is a rather expensive security firm, specializing in surveillance and very good at doing it discreetly. They put a team of trained professionals on the amateur PI 24/7, staying far back from him even if they don't think the Philip Marlowe wannabe will ever make them. They have been hired, through the intermediary, to conduct counter-surveillance. The idea is to see who shows any interest in him after he starts looking into the Herrienegoiakakoas. If the experts can, they'll split the detail to follow anyone following the first detective and see if the hypothetical watcher leads them anywhere informative.

The lawyer was supposed to hire another private investigator, this one more discreet, to make one last phonecall, but he just pockets the money and tells his secretary to do it. The woman first looks for any information in the city about an "Urban Development Committee". Then she'll call the number given to the lawyer (if the number is different than any public number she finds listed for the Committee, she'll make a note of that for the client) and asks if they might be able to provide a job reference for a girl named Omecha. That conversation will be recorded and transcribed for the client, who will be billed by the long, drawn out, busywork hour.

Positive security vetting is a sometimes expensive and rarely definitive, but always boring task. Then again, this is the Nexus and bioweapons may possibly be at stake. Perhaps something interesting will come of this necessary precaution.

[Recaiden]

[Vetting Omecha Herrienegoiakakoa]

The cheap PI should easily discern that "Magos Genetress" is one of a collection of titles held by the person at the center of Tower Industries, an old foreign merchant company that's been largely eclipsed by BrightStar since the fall of the monarchy. Atorre Tavlii is rarely seen outside the heavily fortified company HQ. No two people could give the same answer as to what her company does.
Seems to have no connection to the Herrienegoiakakoa family, three winged elves who live down in Thunderhead in a tiny and but surprisingly posh apartment. A man, Baubo, in his late twenties who works on the docks, Tyson, a boy of age 14 who's still in school, and Omecha. They seem to be relatively recent entrants to the city, appearing a few years back, with their citizenship applications sponsored by the Seaside Committee for Prudence, an organization of which no other record can be easily found.

Counter-surveillance? By some nobodies? The PI attracts an unusual amount of attention, but isn't followed by anyone in particular.

The Urban Development Committee seems to be a cluster of low-level civil servants. They're responsible for the unusual proliferation of abandoned warehouses in the city, getting buildings put into use and and sometimes renaming roads. It takes a while for the secretary of the Committee to find the file on the person being asked about - keep misspelling the name, you see. The numbers are different, the public number, if called, is listed as out-of-service, but the number given works. A job reference, they're all too happy to provide a job reference. Nothing but good things to say about their former employee. Goes off into tangents easily, starts talking about other employees and how hard ti is to get good help these days.

[Darkcomet]

Chimera Syndicate Trade Platform

The Nebari steps forward to begin. "I would like this rifle, and asked its price. If it is out of my price range, I asked if some tests on the stealth-suit I wear would serve as a discount." She hopes the rifle is affordable, since she relies on this suit when somebody needs killing.

"I have offers from my organisation, to find a supply of uniform weaponry rather than our present eclectic mix, and also to see if you would be interested in the combat drugs we produce." He sincerely doubts they are, though. Everything he's seen suggest nice, clean and efficient, and some of the drugs they produce are nasty, messy and brutal. The drugs are made principally by the Great Khans, and are therefore primarily from the Fallout universe.

"We are actually prepared to offer you that weapon free, in exchange for the examination of the stealth suit," the representative offers, oddly generously for Chimera. "Combat drugs are...those might be interesting, but we'll require further information on them. I'm sure you understand."

[Shadowcaller]

Metallic Room

Sam attempts to sit up, groggily opening his eyes and looking around for the source of the voice.

"I'm getting near twenty, you know. Sheep are a bit juvenile, don't you think?" he jokes, still tired.
He'll also immediately turn his attention to his right hand, which unlike before he went to sleep, should actually exist now.

Metallic Room==> Fluffy Room

"My information suggested that it would have a calming effect in most sar's. It must have been mistaken." By now Sam can see, even underneath the sheets that that his body-shaped have rounded out and that his skin has become a grey blue-ish color. His arms are now rather muscular and there appears to be a second pair of them just below the original two. "I wanted to give you a distinctive color. It could be changed of course. This body is perfectly healthy though, it will likely last at least twice as long as the old one."

[Deathkeeper]

Fluffy Room

Sam look in surprise at his hand, and then gapes a bit at the other one. "This..." Four arms? He could have sworn he had told Jinn that he'd been joking about that. He flexes his hands in front of him over and over, mystified. They feel pretty good, to be honest. Strong. He's distracted enough by them for now he doesn't notice his enlarged belly.
Blue? Why? He probably looks ridiculous. "How'd you pick this color? You have a mirror, right?" he asks, looking around. If there is one, he'll try to get out of bed and examine himself. He wonders if Jim put clothes on him...

[Earl of Purple]

Chimera Syndicate- Trade Platform

The Nebari's mouth twitches up in a half-smile as she hears the news. "Excellent. What kind of tests would you like?" If they include destroying the suit, she'll have to decline.

"Of course. We have Psycho, Turbo, Cateye, Slasher, Mentats and Fixer. Psycho is an addictive, psychoactive drug, as suggested by its name. It increases aggression, but decreases higher brain function. It can cause dementia, memory loss and misplaced hostility. Turbo speeds all the reactions up, making everything seem slower, but it is the most addictive drug we've got. Cateye causes eye-dilation, and hyperactivity in the rods, or maybe cones; I don't understand the science. It boosts eye sight in the dark, and has no addictive components. Slasher is a mix of Psycho and painkillers, letting somebody hit hard and ignore injuries, as addictive as the Turbo. Mentats boost mental acuity, creativity and intelligent reasoning, though addicts suffer the reverse. Fixer helps addicts recover, permanently neutralising the physical side-effects, and causing temporary disorientation." The Night Queen's Daywalker motions to one of the Khans, who pulls out a collection of injectors, several boxes of pills and a large inhaler from inside his leather vest.

[Shadowcaller]

Fluffy Room

"The color was randomly selected. Your mind expressed a desire for your new body to look 'different' so no one would mistake it for the old one." Jinn replies, the ethereal standing right behind him, gesturing towards a large mirror nearby. The rest of the room Sam might notice is filled with teddy bears and other cuddly dolls.

Jinn steps back as Sam approaches the mirror. He will feel stronger overall and even if his belly is now partly hiding his legs, he can tell that they're also more muscular. His movements might feel more sluggish however. Once he reaches the mirror he can see that he's larger overall, both in length and width. He's huge. Not to mention those four arms. His face looks slightly different too, you'd have to look hard to see it's him. (His player can decide the details.)

"Is this to your satisfaction? There are also a great deal of improvements that aren't visible. I'll give you a list of them."

[Deathkeeper]

Fluffy Room

As Sam throws off the covers, he takes a moment to look in horror at his big, round belly. He pats it in disbelief, and finds the rather unfamiliar feeling of fat under his fingers. Shaken, he hops off the bed and lumbers over to the mirror. His hair's gotten a bit more blueish to go with his skin and his nose more wide and upturned, along with a few differences in the shape of his eyes and head. Though since the body is brand new he now has perfectly clean teeth, and straight ones at that!
He pokes at his belly, and his slightly flabby pecs, but it seems that despite his rather round appearance, he at least has a lot of muscle underneath it. That's...manageable, he supposes. It could have been worse; now he can get a good job lifting things. He tries to look at Jinn to get a scope of how big he's gotten. And judging from his reflection, his feet are still normal, so he didn't go off and do that, too. Just out of curiosity, he lifts his shirt to see if whatever process they used to make this body still left a belly-button

"I'd like that list. I don't know, Jinn. I'm flat broke. I don't know if I'm going to be able to feed myself when I'm this big, let alone buy a whole new wardrobe for all of this." he says, shaking a hand at his torso. His voice sounds the same to his ears, but due to the size increase it's probably a lot deeper to people listening. "And are you sure there's no health issues with this body? I look downright fat."
Sorry, Sam, but "look" is a bit misleading. "I am" would have been a more appropriate phrase.

[Shadowcaller]

Fluffy Room

Jinn looks up from his/her wrist computer for just a moment. "I have other models. But the 'fat' was to include the other features I included." The ethereal presses a button and a long list of holographic features is projected from the computer so that Sam may see it.
The list features and improve immunity system, a more effective metabolism (which really should make him thinner, not fatter), improved nightvision, less need for sleep... among other features that we can decide on.
"I could make you another body though if you're not satisfied with this one. As I said, there are other models I prepared you might want to have a look at. Of course, we should decide what to do with your old body first. It's still sleeping in the other room."

[Deathkeeper]

Fluffy Room

Sam raises an eyebrow.
"So I have to be fat to include all that stuff? I guess that would make it worth it...
The body? If my original dna is on record and I can just get a straight copy of it whenever I'd need, I don't think there's any use for it. Yeah, I think I should look at the other bodies though. I think this one might be too big." he says hesitantly.

[Darkcomet]

[Chimera Syndicate Trade Platform]

"A set of scans, an examination by our engineers, that sort of thing. Nothing destructive-we're not AS." Even the other two Syndicate factions seem to be distancing themselves from their allies'...activities here. "As for the drugs..." The representative pauses in thought for a moment. "I believe we may be able to find a use for the combat drugs. The Psycho, Turbo, and Slasher, specifically, plus the Fixer to be safe." One wonders what this guy's idea is. "Less so the cateye and mentats-technology obsoletes the former and we prefer to keep our thinkers sober."

Knowing Big MT, they're probably right.

[Earl of Purple]

Chimera Syndicate Trade Platform

"Then we have a deal." The Nebari will not let it out of her sight, though. She doesn't want them to swap it with an inferior copy.

"I'm glad to hear it." He also places an order for two hundred of the basic laser rifles, an appropriate amount of ammunition (I have no idea how much is needed or wanted, but enough to last a hundred such rifles for at least a week), one of the missile launchers and four of the HL-24 laser cannons, and sorting out the amount of drugs Chimera wants to buy.

Each of the Khans will place an order for a Gauss pistol, ammunition, and power packs.

[Zefir]

[Arkant's Factory]

"So what are these groups exactly? What names do they go by? We need any information that you have on them." Cessie asks.

Metallic Room

"Excellent. I'll start the procedure immediately then." Jinn takes up a mask which she/he will attempt to put over Sam's mouth. "So just relax, this won't take long." If Sam doesn't protest, he will be out of it in a manner of seconds.

-Later-

Sam will wake up in what appears to be a different room, quite unlike the one he fell asleep in. The wallpaper is pink with white clouds and there are fluffy sheeps floating around near the ceiling. They appear to be some kind of illusion. Sam seems to be laying in a bed with blue covers. "How are you feeling?" He can suddenly hear Jinn's voice.

[Arkant's Factory]

"I can give you the papers. We just just know they seem to kidnapp people and sell them. Whatever they do futher is not at our knowledge." Arkant says. "The reports contain all the informations we got. Sadly we can just assume when people got caught."

((Note I just waited if anyone wants to play a groupe so I leave the names open))

[Darkcomet]

[Chimera Syndicate Trade Platform]

The Nebari will be allowed to watch that, and true to their word, the Infinite Descent engineers doing the scanning don't break it over the course of the scans and tests. They do, however, insist on making sure there are no recording devices on her, and they beeline straight for the lab inside. She won't see any more than a small section of lab where they're doing the scans, and some halls and lifts.

The rest is fiddly numbers stuff no one wants to think about too much.

[Earl of Purple]

Chimera Syndicate Trade Platform

The material the suit's made of absorbs active scanning when it's deactivated, so most scans will be pointless. The base material the suit's made of is artificial spider silk, with plates of carbon fibre-reinforced kevlar to provide protection. The suit also has an active mode, which the Nebari will activate if asked- she describes it as a 'cuttlefish circuit', changing the colour and apparent texture of the suit to match its surroundings; it's good against a wall, in a darkened corner, but less good out in the middle of the room. That makes it harder to spot visually, but produces a slight electronic charge across the suit's surface that can be picked up. Or one could simply copy Artemis Fowl's tactic when he looked for a stealthed shuttle- he scanned the atmosphere, and found the shuttle by detecting the void of its presence; that works when it's active or deactivated.

I was expecting less labwork, more "OK, go down that corridor and yell when you reach the end. We'll see if we can find you."

[Shadowcaller]

Fluffy Room

Sam raises an eyebrow.
"So I have to be fat to include all that stuff? I guess that would make it worth it...
The body? If my original dna is on record and I can just get a straight copy of it whenever I'd need, I don't think there's any use for it. Yeah, I think I should look at the other bodies though. I think this one might be too big." he says hesitantly.

Fluffy Room

"In one of the prototypes, yes. But I should clarify, the 'copy' isn't dead or mindless. The process doesn't actually transfer your consciousness anywhere, it simply copies it. As a part of this experiment, I'm going to take care of the other you." Jinn explains as he seem to observe the boy closely as if looking for something in his expression. "I hope that's alright with you Sam?"

[Deathkeeper]

Fluffy Room

Sam's expression darkens. For a moment his mind reels, and he reins himself in only with the reminder to stay on the problem at hand.
"You misled me. If that's the case there's no point in looking at the other models, is there? I'll still be me, like this. Yes, you can take care of him. Better that than killing him."
He figures Jinn means Take Care and not "Take Care" but maybe it's better if he just doesn't ask.

[Shadowcaller]

Fluffy Room

"I could argue with you about the definition of misleading but I have been open with you. Would you really not have gone through all this if I had told you this would happen? I didn't think it would matter to be honest." Jinn replies. "In either case, with your consent I will make sure the other Sam is comfortable." Whatever that means. "Now, you are not interested in the other models then? Perhaps you like me to simply modify your current body in some way instead."

[Deathkeeper]

Fluffy Room

Sam crosses his arms, hesitantly doing the same for his lower pair when he remembers they exist.
"Fine, you have my consent. I'll look at the other models if they're going to be me. If all it's going to do is make a copy of me in a better body, that doesn't actually help me. If you can modify this one to the other models, I'll be glad to check them out." he decides.

[Darkcomet]

[Chimera Syndicate Trade Platform]

There'll probably be a bit of that too. The Chimera engineers will note the lack of an off switch though, and ferry all information gained back up. That sort of thing. Boring, really.

[Shadowcaller]

Fluffy Room

Sam crosses his arms, hesitantly doing the same for his lower pair when he remembers they exist.
"Fine, you have my consent. I'll look at the other models if they're going to be me. If all it's going to do is make a copy of me in a better body, that doesn't actually help me. If you can modify this one to the other models, I'll be glad to check them out." he decides.

Fluffy Room

"Excellent. We're of a similar mind-set then." Jinn let's his bandaged fingers run-across his wrist computer. "So I believe you wanted thinner? I have a model that makes you really tall instead but it might make it difficult to enter some buildings. There is different gender model. It is true that gender is perceived through your sexual characteristics yes? I'm using the standard body-type for instance which you view as male as it lacks, ah, what's the term? Jugs?" Jinn wiggles his fingers at Sam and then shrugs. "Either way, it's modified to a more, eh, female body-type. Quite interesting. Gender and sex are fascinating, yes?" The ethereal then looks back at it's computer and seems to scroll past something. "Anything that interests you so far? There are some non-humanoid models here too..."

[Deathkeeper]

Fluffy Room

Sam shakes his head.
"I think I'm already tall enough that I'm going to have trouble with doorways. I don't think I want to be any taller. And I guess if the improvements really need the space, I don't mind it too much. I mean, I'm interested in seeing how you would imagine me as a girl, but I hope you understand how genetics and organs between our genders work. Just giving a guy breasts and a thinner waist isn't going to make him female; he'd still have all the male organs and genes and stuff.
But anyway, is there any way I can see these instead of just hearing descriptions? Otherwise, I'd like to be at least at a size so I don't have to worry about fitting into places, or having to worry about portions for sustenance, though it sounds like you did mess with my metabolism. This body isn't too bad about the first one, but it's close. The arms are okay I guess, and you were right that I wanted to be more or less unrecognizable from my old self. I need to keep my hands, though. So if any of your non-humanoids don't have those, you can disregard them.
Oh, and does this project come with any pay besides the body? Because I think no matter what I'm going to need to buy all new clothes for whatever I choose. And if I'm nearly the same size just the shoes are going to be a nightmare. Cobblers love jacking up prices when they know we can't go elsewhere. And four-armed shirts are a bit less common..." he says, starting to mutter to himself by the end.

[Shadowcaller]

Fluffy Room

"Thinner waist?" Jinn writes something on their wrist computer. "As for... payment. I can create clothes here the same way I can create bodies. It's simply a matter of converting energy into the desired material. Hypothetically I could create your currency too but... actually, I will let you decide. It's not like this city holds the laws in high regard in the first place." Jinn shrugs and then presses some more buttons and the holographic image of what Sam looks now appear floating just above the floor near the ethereal. "How do you feel about the ability of flight? It's not really optimized with the humanoid body shape but I could give you some boosts. I just imagine that wings would be something that would be extremely valuable in a city like this."

[Deathkeeper]

Fluffy Room

Sam looks at Jinn in shock.
"Uh, wings? While looking like this? I don't think it'd be remotely possibly with how much I must weigh now. It'd be too awkward even if you could make me ignore gravity. Wings and body shapes like this don't get along as far as I can tell." he says.

[Shadowcaller]

Fluffy Room

"Not literal wings, I was speaking metaphorically of course. Though frankly I'm not sure it is possible. I have some specs for reptilian and ah, mammals though." The ethereal pauses. "There are a lot of them so perhaps you could give me a direction to go for? Since you're so far pleased with the results I don't want to change too much but there might be potential untapped here. More arms, more muscles..." Jinn continues scrolling through the screen of their wrist computer. "Say, you do assign this body-type male characteristics, correct? I just need to make sure." Jinn seems to be referring to their own body.

[Deathkeeper]

Fluffy Room

Sam shrugs, an odd movement with his extra arms.
"Well, I don't think I want any more arms. Four is fine with me. Well, I haven't gotten used to them yet, but I think four will be fine with me.
And I think that I could probably use being a little bit shorter. Maybe just a foot or so? It would make fitting into normal doorways and rooms easier. I also wouldn't mind if my face was even more different, just to make sure that no one ever recognizes me. Just an idea, though. I don't know, could you mess with my feet so it's easier for me to walk on them without getting sore? I don't know how that works, being as big as you made this frame. I don't mind if you wanted to optimize my legs or something, since I'll probably end up with a physical job like this.

And uh, yeah, I'd say you look more like a guy than a lady." he says.

[Shadowcaller]

Fluffy Room

"I see." Jinn taps some more buttons. "Should be easy enough. I have one more question however before I go through with the changes, how do you decide on gender? I've heard that, er, biologicals, have a certain feeling of right and wrong when it comes to gender... or sex? I'm not clear on the difference. You feel like male, correct?"

[Deathkeeper]

Fluffy Room

Sam nods.
"For a lot of people, they identify as what they're born as. I'm like that way. Some people aren't, and it's hard to explain if you don't even know much about being...biological. But for these purposes, yes, I'm a male."

[Zefir]

[Arkants company]

After the representativ of Vigil have left, Arkant stands at the window of a meeting room, watching them leave.
"Keep an eye on them. I want to know when they are in Skyside and what they do." he says.
In the same room stands the messenger who was send to Vigil and the bodygueard of Arkant.
"Senior, what do you think they do?" he asks.
"I assume they sell themself to another party in Skyside. Non of the parties here can be called 'good' after all. We need to be save."
The mexican man nods and turns off.

[Shadowcaller]

Fluffy Room

"You do seem like extremely complex yet very simple beings." Jinn replies. "In any case, I will need to keep you asleep wile I make these adjustments so just lay back in that chair and we'll get this started." The ethereal gestures towards the chair.

[Deathkeeper]

Fluffy Room

Sam sighs and goes back to the chair for whatever Jinn has in store for him.

[Shadowcaller]

Fluffy Room

As Sam beings to fall asleep he can hear Jinn talking to theirself. "Four arms, shorter, different feet, different face... humanoid form..."

He then falls into a deep slumber.

-----------------------------------------

As he wakes up he's still in the fluffy room with Jinn standing nearby tapping the buttons of their wrist computer. "Let's see. I changed your face a bit, added two legs, made your design a bit sleeker, shortened you down a bit... I'm not sure how you feel about a slightly more spider-like body so I added some other elements." They gesture at the mirror. "But judge yourself."

[Deathkeeper]

Fluffy Room

Sam's eyes snap open.
"You did what?" he nearly shouts, clambering over to the mirror. Hopefully without tripping over himself.

[Morty]

[Tempest Row]

Something big is happening at one of the busier, central streets of the district. A large banner is flying over one of the buildings, proclaiming:



MERCENARY ESPIONAGE AND RECONEISSANCE CORPORATION
Morality is relative - professional standards aren't

In front of the building, a certain goblin is sitting in a podium, surrounded by a bit of a crowd. There are spectators, but more importantly, mercenaries. A crew of them, in a few different groups. One is a gathering of very varied humans, orks, trolls, dwarves and elves, packing different weapons and gear. Then there are gnolls, skaven, trolls of a different sort, and a small, tight group of engineers. They're interspersed with some more typical bodyguards and private security contractors in body armour and with guns.

Around the mercenaries are stationed golems (http://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/6/62/7-Series_Golem.jpg). The sleek, metal frames gleam in the sun and the machines hum quietly.

Then, on the edges of the mercenary grouping, there's a few monsters. One is a manticore, sitting lazily behind Dipsnig. There's also a pack of feathered raptors, wandering around and watching everyone. Finally, they seem to have rounded up what looks like enormous canines with rocky outcroppings on their backs.

"You heard right, citizens of Skyside," Dipsnig announces through a loudspeaker from his podium. "The Corporation is finally here to bring Skyside protection, security and problem-solving of the highest quality. We're here to stay, and you all stand to benefit from our presence."

"With the mercenaries, creatures and equipment assembled here, we'll soon begin bringing our services to the entire city. All it takes is the right price, and we're more than willing to negotiate. Rich or poor - we can make a deal."

[Earl of Purple]

Tempest Row

Somebody is watching Dipsnig's announcement, as parked to one side, but where any occupants have a good view, is a black van. The front cab has been completely boarded off from the back, and the windscreen is much reduced to limit the amount of light entering the vehicle. Leaning nonchalantly against the vehicle's side is a man dressed in rather drab street clothes, carrying a camcorder connected to a cable leading into the van. Also present is an excessively large half-ogre with a massive spiked club resting on his shoulder. He's a little distracted, holding up a nearby hot-dog seller though fortunately not literally. Each hot dog made is put into the half-ogre's beefy hand and devoured whole, and it seems unlikely the half-ogre intends to pay. Dipsnig may recognise the half-ogre, or indeed the van. The Night Queen wishes to ensure that she knows what's going on.

[Shadowcaller]

Fluffy Room

"See for yourself." Jinn states with a gesture at the mirror. And as LDK already have described Sam, I'm just gonna let him do that again if he wants to. :smalltongue:
"I don't think it's so bad honestly. I made sure it had masculine features of course."

[Tempest Row]

Dena has decided to wear her full adventuring gear and her cloak which is pulled over her head. All in black for the occasion, looked more intimidating. She stands near Dipsnig in the bag, tugging at the hood. She snakes underneath didn't like being stuffed so tightly underneath the clothing. She probably would need to make it a bit larger to accommodate her "condition".
As the goblin is done talking she slowly approaches him. "So what now? I'm itching for something to do."

[Deathkeeper]

Fluffy Room

Sam's tails lash angrily, which only makes him more angry, though he does breathe a sigh of relief that he doesn't actually have any more legs. Maybe it was a joke, or Jinn was getting terms wrong.
"I...what's spidery about this? Why would you even think about spiders? Or that I needed fewer fingers?" he says, flexing his new, new hands. He will admit that going from thirty to twelve extremities is a lot easier to manage.
But then he shakes his head, pinching is nose with his fingers.
"I don't think I even care. I want off Mr. Jinn's Wild Ride, before I ask for normal stuff and wind up as a hutt. I'll take the money and clothes you offered, Jinn, but I want out now." he says, quietly.

[Morty]

[Tempest Row]

The Night Queen would have been informed MERC would do something big. She wouldn't get all the details, for security purposes, but she's know.

"It probably won't be long before someone makes a move against us," Dipsnig tells Dena. "When it happens, we'll need to be ready. We should also check in with the allies I've made here."

[Arkant's Factory]

Wenomir arrives there. He needs to speak to Arkant about the help Vigil needs.

[Zefir]

[Arkant's Factory]

Wenomir will be lead in front of the Office where he can sit down on a seat and wait. There is business going on Arkant has to take care of. After around half an hour two people he saw befor leave. they appear even madder then last time and doesn't seem to notice the Vigil man.
"That's it." one says. "He will regret it." The other one replies as they leave.
The Wenomir can go inside.
"Ah Hello Mr. Wenomir was it?" Arkant says. "How can I help you?"

[Tempest Row]

Arkant is here as well. As he listens he uses his power to manipulate some people in the crowed.

"Poor and rich? How should the poor pay you?"

[Earl of Purple]

Tempest Row

She may be know MERC had something planned, but she'd still like to see it, and where she goes, so goes her half-ogre bodyguard. A few more members of her organisation are hiding amongst the crowd, but they're quite well trained in blending in and subterfuge, and they're also all dressed as relatively affluent businessmen, in suits with briefcases, but not so important to have hired muscle.

[Morty]

[Arkant's Factory]

"We do need your help, mister Arkant," Wenomir says. "We have a plan for our new base. But it involves moving a flying island from the Hunting Grounds. It'll need a lot of power, if it's even possible."

[Tempest Row]

"We're open to collective bargaining from whole communities," Dipsnig says. "As well as non-monetary forms of compensation. We'll do our best to negotiate an individually-tailored price with anyone who comes to seek our services."

[Shadowcaller]

[Tempest Row]

"What do we do with those slavers Bo were investigating?" Dena asks Dipsnig. "I could check them out if you want me to."

Fluffy Room

"Oh, I'm genuinely sorry that you feel that way Sam. But of course. Let me just create a sum of money... illegally of course. If that means anything here." Jinn replies casually as clothes that should fit him (of whatever style his player wants), appear nearby. "How much money did you want? I should advise against too large sums. Would attract unwanted attention. If you do want to see me again by the way, I have a number you could call."

[Deathkeeper]

Fluffy Room

Sam thinks Jinn might not be lying, but his readiness to do things like make copies of people and doom his poor original self to remain a cripple doesn't lend itself to seeming very empathetic.
"I want enough for a small home, furnishings for it, and enough for a nice phone and food for a few weeks while I look for a job. Unless you have an apartment you can give me. I can't go back to squatting in buildings.
Oh and uh, give me a printout of whatever you put in me. I should probably know the capabilities."

[Zefir]

[Arkant's Factory]

"We do need your help, mister Arkant," Wenomir says. "We have a plan for our new base. But it involves moving a flying island from the Hunting Grounds. It'll need a lot of power, if it's even possible."

[Tempest Row]

"We're open to collective bargaining from whole communities," Dipsnig says. "As well as non-monetary forms of compensation. We'll do our best to negotiate an individually-tailored price with anyone who comes to seek our services."

[Arkant's Factory]

"Oh, a flying base. That's aneat idea and not very cheap." Arkant says.
"I hope this island of yours flys by some kind of effect, since it would be very expensive to keep engines running just to let it fly."
Then Arkant looks away, rubbing his chin. He will be silent for a bit befor he speaks up.
"We use some shuttle to transport our products to the ground." he finally says. "I could give you a few, they should at least be able to pull the island out of the hunting grounds."

[Tempest Row]

"So we need to sell our bodies to you?" another one shouts. A few other people nod, but they are obviously outnumbered.

[Morty]

[Tempest Row]

"What do we do with those slavers Bo were investigating?" Dena asks Dipsnig. "I could check them out if you want me to."


Dipsnig considers this.

"It could be a good idea. They won't be happy to see us here, so we need to be one step ahead."


[Arkant's Factory]

"Oh, a flying base. That's aneat idea and not very cheap." Arkant says.
"I hope this island of yours flys by some kind of effect, since it would be very expensive to keep engines running just to let it fly."
Then Arkant looks away, rubbing his chin. He will be silent for a bit befor he speaks up.
"We use some shuttle to transport our products to the ground." he finally says. "I could give you a few, they should at least be able to pull the island out of the hunting grounds."

"We hope the island will fly by itself once it's out of the Grounds, yes," Wenomir says. "We'll be researching that. What we need from you is enough power to get it out of there. We'll take care of the rest."


[Tempest Row]

"So we need to sell our bodies to you?" another one shouts. A few other people nod, but they are obviously outnumbered.

"That's a gross, unfair assumption made in bad faith," Dipsnig says dismissively. "I will respond to questions and concerns, but not baseless accusations."

[Zefir]

[Tempest Row]

"What else can we offer? Without money we only got our manpower and bodys." the first one shouts.

[Arkant's Factory]

"I see." he says. "One moving the shuttles shoud have enougth power. After all they carry heavy loads for us. I can have some ready . When would you need them?"

[Morty]

[Tempest Row]

"There's always the option of working for us," Dipsnig says. "Our operations will require a fair deal of workers."

[Arkant's Factory]

"We'll contact you when we need it," Wenomir says. "Like I said, we need to examine the island and make other preparations first. Today I just wanted to know if you can do it."

[Zefir]

[Tempest Row]

The crowed remains quiet for now and Arkant leaves. For now he got what he wanted.

[Arkant's Factory]

"Sure." Arkant says.
"Oh and here." he takes a paper from the table. "A recent event about the slavers. Their last victims."

[Shadowcaller]

Fluffy Room

Sam thinks Jinn might not be lying, but his readiness to do things like make copies of people and doom his poor original self to remain a cripple doesn't lend itself to seeming very empathetic.
"I want enough for a small home, furnishings for it, and enough for a nice phone and food for a few weeks while I look for a job. Unless you have an apartment you can give me. I can't go back to squatting in buildings.
Oh and uh, give me a printout of whatever you put in me. I should probably know the capabilities."


Dipsnig considers this.

"It could be a good idea. They won't be happy to see us here, so we need to be one step ahead."

Fluffy Room

"I see. Let me do a calculation how much that would cost and send it somewhere. Would your current home be a good place? It might be a bit much to carry." Jinn remarks as a small computer pad materializes in their hand. "This should contain all the information you need about yourself though. It will also be useful looking up other information, communication... among many other useful functions."

[Deathkeeper]

Fluffy Room

Sam shakes his head, but greedily takes the little tablet. It's more or less normal phone size for him.
"Just send it to the banking clan under my name. It's probably the only place you can send anything without fear of it being stolen." he says. There are some reputable banks in Skyside. After all, where are gangsters going to store their money if there is no neutral ground?

[Shadowcaller]

Dipsnig considers this.

"It could be a good idea. They won't be happy to see us here, so we need to be one step ahead."


Fluffy Room

Sam shakes his head, but greedily takes the little tablet. It's more or less normal phone size for him.
"Just send it to the banking clan under my name. It's probably the only place you can send anything without fear of it being stolen." he says. There are some reputable banks in Skyside. After all, where are gangsters going to store their money if there is no neutral ground?

Fluffy Room

"Banking clan? A clan of goblins? I friend of mine deals with goblins in this city." Jinn asks as they suddenly look up from their computer.

[Tempest Row - Dena]

"I'll look into it then. But I likely have to get to know this city a bit better first. Don't really like it up here." Too much slaves and slavers.

[Deathkeeper]

Fluffy Room

"I don't really know who runs it, but it's one of the biggest banks I know of. Look up a map of the city, you'll know it." Sam insists, getting a bit irritable.

[Morty]

[Tempest Row - Dena]

"Neither do I, but we do what we gotta do," Dipsnig says. "It's not so bad, as long as I stay away from the edges and high buildings."

[Shadowcaller]

Fluffy Room

"Very well. It shall be done, along with your clothes." Jinn pauses. "Anything else you desire before I let you out of here?"

[Tempest Row - Dena]

"I wasn't talking about the heights, boss. It feels like someone should burn this city down and then rebuild it since it probably is the only way to get rid of all the slavers in it." A tempting idea right about now.

[Deathkeeper]

Fluffy Room

"No, I'll handle the rest, Jinn. Thanks." Sam says, waving a hand dismissively. He just wants out of here.

[Morty]

[Tempest Row - Dena]

"I wasn't talking about the heights, boss. It feels like someone should burn this city down and then rebuild it since it probably is the only way to get rid of all the slavers in it." A tempting idea right about now.

"I know what you meant, yes. Burning this place and staring from scratch isn't an option, but hopefully our activities here will prove to be at least something of a thorn in their backsides," Dipsnig says. "Providing affordable security to the downtrodden masses of this cesspit could be our niche. It's worth considering, at least."

[Shadowcaller]

[Tempest Row - Dena]

"Yes, I'm sure it's the downtrodden masses that will be able to afford our security." Dena remarks with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "I doubt standing around waiting for people to hire us is going to work out. We gotta hit the competition hard, only after that are people going to consider us since that's how places like this work."

Fluffy Room==>Skyside

"Very well. Prepare to be transported then." Jinn replies and Sam will suddenly be teleported back to the location he came from.

[ThirdEmperor]

[Dining and Dashing]

Sam, Alexia, and all the pursuing hordes come tumbling out the doors of the Olympia, pursued by swirling snowflakes and burning threads of unraveling spellfire. The things burst into existence as they cross the doorway, all rusted red fur and dozens of limbs, sinuous bodies, human faces. Long fangs and dark-stained lips, club-ended tails bristling with spines. They break from the door in a practiced maneuver, two blurs of red darting to either side and coming in again to catch Sam between them - aiming low, snapping for his legs.
The third comes a second late, chasing at Alexia's heels. It tries to leap onto her back, claws digging in for a terrible moment, and then fling itself onwards and over, to leave her in the snow piling up on the roadside.

[Morty]

[Tempest Row - Dena]

"Give me a break, Dena. I'm just trying to consider all the angles. We need to hit the competition fast before they hit us, yes. But it won't hurt if we figure out something we can offer that no one else has, will it?" Dipsnig asks rhetorically. "But either way, let's not give the slavers the time to prepare a welcome for us."

[Shadowcaller]

[Tempest Row - Dena]

"So what is our first move then? We already got some information about the slavers whereabouts." Dena asks.

[Morty]

[Tempest Row - Dena]

"I was thinking some sabotage," Dipsnig says. "Go through our information and see which resources they could use against us. Then deprive them of those resources. Preferably by blowing them up. And then..." Dipsnig taps his tusk. "Then we ought to do something that'll leave everyone no choice but to respond. Not just the slavers. Like declaring an entire district to be under our protection, and no one else's. Either way, we can't give them time to prepare for us."

[Shadowcaller]

[Tempest Row - Dena]

"Sabotage? We don't even know what to sabotage yet, boss. I suggest we start by establishing a base around here somewhere and then just start taking things over. Probably pay a visit to whatever counts as 'government' around here too. Maybe we can stage some kind of slave revolution and make profit from it? Whatever we'd do, we still come off as the good guys." Dena argues.

[Morty]

[Tempest Row - Dena]

"The closest thing to a government would be the people who control a given area," Dipsnig says. "A slave revolt is an interesting idea, but we might need to entrench ourselves properly first. Slave revolts tend to spiral out of control very quickly." He taps his bracer and pulls up a map of Skyside. "Let's see. Tempest Row. It's the entertainment and commerce district of Skyside. Plenty of private security to protect all the commerce there. And I have a covert deal with one of the largest businessmen. Sounds like it might be a good place to start taking over. What do you think?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Tempest Row - Dena]

"Aren't there guards around that keep the city safe? They must be part of some government." Or at least so Dena figured. "But tempest row sounds fine, we just need to find a building we can set up in. Maybe a store or a warehouse." Though the second choice might cause adventurers to burst inside from time to time.

[Morty]

[Tempest Row - Dena]

"Not as such, actually," Dipsnig says. "There's technically some sort of... royal guard, but they guard the palace of the dynasty that used to run the place, and defend the city from outside invasion. Everywhere else, on the street level, anyone who wants security needs to provide their own, or pay for it. Which is where we come in, to make sure as many people as possible pay us for it. Acquiring a suitable building to act as our base of operations in Tempest Row won't be a problem."

[Shadowcaller]

[Tempest Row - Dena]

"Right, so I guess we just have to start looking around then. Should we be discreet or public about it?" Considering how Dipsnig were playing it to this point, she was guessing public.

[Morty]

[Tempest Row - Dena]

"Let's keep it quiet at first," Dipsnig decides, after some thought. "We might do another event like this one later, but it's better to lay the groundwork quietly."

[Shadowcaller]

[Tempest Row - Dena]

Dena gestures around. "So after all this we're all cloak and dagger huh? Fair enough then, I like to think I brought this hood for a reason." She gestures at the piece of fabric which now is poorly concealing her snakes. "We should head out right away, gotta act quick in situations like these."

[Morty]

[Tempest Row - Dena]

"There's time and place for everything Dena," Dipsnig says, getting up. "But yes. We need to be quick about it, before the people there manage to scramble together a response. There's a lot of feathers that we've probably left very ruffled."

[Shadowcaller]

[Tempest Row - Dena]

"Great, so we're heading down to tempest row then?" Dena asks.

[Morty]

[Tempest Row - Dena]

"Yeah," Dipsnig says, pulling a hood over his own face and leading the way. "One good thing about Skyside is how easy it is to blend in."

[UncleWolf]

[Dining and Dashing]

Sam, Alexia, and all the pursuing hordes come tumbling out the doors of the Olympia, pursued by swirling snowflakes and burning threads of unraveling spellfire. The things burst into existence as they cross the doorway, all rusted red fur and dozens of limbs, sinuous bodies, human faces. Long fangs and dark-stained lips, club-ended tails bristling with spines. They break from the door in a practiced maneuver, two blurs of red darting to either side and coming in again to catch Sam between them - aiming low, snapping for his legs.
The third comes a second late, chasing at Alexia's heels. It tries to leap onto her back, claws digging in for a terrible moment, and then fling itself onwards and over, to leave her in the snow piling up on the roadside.

Dining and Dashing

Now that Alexia wasn't in a crowded area and could see the beasts, she could fight back with far more ease than before. She doesn't let the creature at her back reach her, instead using her powers to launch herself high into the air. About fourteen feet into the air she twists and gestures at the beast that was behind her, launching her pair of jagged daggers at its main body with great force. If they hit, they should be able to stab into it to the hilts.

[Deathkeeper]

Dining and Dashing

Sam lets out a roar and swings his arms at the creatures. If he can, he'll get one hand around each neck and another somewhere else, so he can slam their skulls together will all the strength his enormous body can muster. And that's a lot.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Tempest Row - Dizba the Hutt's Palace]

<I say we strike immediately! Send out our mercenaries and show them what it means to cross the Hutts!> Said Torlux, waving his flabby arm in an almost energetic gesture of anger. To his left his translator droid relayed the message to the waiting table of twelve. Attila had one too, of course. Everyone at the table did, Hutt and Ferengi alike, but in Attila's case it was largely a ruse. He had taken the time long ago to learn the Ferengi's vile tongue. An effort that had served him well.

One of the Ferengi, a particularly noxious individual by the name of Gripak, laughed. <Yes, open war in the streets! And while we're throwing all of our resources at MERC, I'm sure the slavers, steam-barons, Dust guilds, and every other wretch in Tempest Row looking for a piece of us will sit idly by while we do it.> He said scornfully. <You're almost as dumb as you look, Hutt.>

As offensive as the Ferengi was, Attila had to agree, and raised a placating hand to calm the other Hutt's rising temper, once the translators had relayed the Ferengi's insults.

<But you must agree that we must set an example of MERC, surely.> He said. <If we let this... Dipsnig... this 'goblin'... move in on our holdings here, surely that will also send a message to Benedict Percival Paxton, Stone and Ishkur Sulayman that our territory is easy taking, to say nothing of the slavers.>

The Ferengi bristled. <Of course not. And I have a plan on how->

"Alliance." The third Hutt's voice was not raised, but the weight of his authority silenced the discussion in the room nevertheless. That, and his use of the Nexus Common, which everyone present knew of course, but had elected not to use, out of the same close-minded pride and xenophobia that Attila so detested in both species. It was a testament to the stress caused by the MERC situation that Dizba had chosen to break decorum. Attila would have almost respected Dizba for speaking directly, instead of hiding behind translator droids. Would have, had Dizba the Hutt, current head of the Ferengi-Hutt Tempest Row Alliance, not been the one person in the room Attila hated the most.

"The slavers, mages, and steamers will like MERC coming into Tempest Row as little as we do. This city is too small for all of us. They will agree that MERC must go.” He declared.

Torlux swelled up like a balloon. <Alliance?> He croaked. <With our competitors?>
<A dangerous notion.> Said Gripak.

Attila had to agree, though for different reasons. An alliance with the other Tempest Row factions against MERC would make the one between the Ferengi and Hutts stronger than ever. Such petty superficial differences that they had, they were still more similar to each other than they were to the likes of the steam ship barons or the magic using Dust peddlers. And a strong Hutt-Ferengi alliance, in Attila’s view, was bad for just about everyone, especially Attila and his business.

While the discussion continued, he schemed.

[The Raindrop District - Lucretia's Manse (The Real One)]

“Your concerns are all our concerns, Han the Greater.” Said Lucretia, trying and failing to keep the mockery out of the name. Han the Greater was anything but, of course. The oldest son of the venerable, yet unfortunately elderly Lord Han could, in another life, been a highly capable accountant. Maybe an actuary or lesser bureaucrat of some sort. But in lordly strengths and graces he was sorely lacking. Already his famous hair-trigger temper was approaching a low boil, triggered again by Lucretia’s slight jab after his impassioned rant on the events of the past day, though the content of her speech seemed to placate him just a little. “This mercenary scum is merely the latest indignity to grace our fair city’s decline into incivility and chaos. Surely, it’s our responsibility as the nobility to prevent our city from sliding further into the hands of these degenerates.”

Lucretia watched the faces of the nobles sitting around, nodding in agreement. Fools. As if Lucretia cared one bit about whether the city was ruled by riffraff or these chattering, self-important peacocks. So long as she kept her place just where it was. Only a few of the faces weren’t nodding, and Lucretia latched on to one of them, only to be interrupted by the bobbing bald spot of Han the Greater.

“I’m so pleased you side with us, Lady Lucretia.” He said, nodding repeatedly. “We are glad to have such a staunch ally as you.”

“Come now, must these parties be all politics?”

Ishkur Sulayman was a large man, sure, but size alone couldn’t describe the way he dominated the room, an aura of presence extending beyond his mere bulk, commanding attention with his broad, charming smile and the rich bass of his voice. To the untrained eye, he might fit right in with the crowd of affluence and indulgence Lucretia had gathered. His ebony skin shone underneath his brightly colored wax fabrics, and his beard and long dreadlocks were heavy with gold chains and scented oils. But Lucretia knew that under his pampered, princely visage was real power. Power that burned behind his fiery blue eyes, and crackled in the air around him like a storm cloud. A fine friend to have. Or a fearsome foe.

“Enough of this ‘MERC’ business. Wine all around, and be merry! Lucretia, your taste surpasses comprehension, my dear. One day you must tell us all the secret to your ability.”

“Why, Lord Ishkur, what can I say? It’s just a natural talent of mine.”

[The Cloudtops - Club Typhoon]

The Professional was a consummate professional. That’s how he got the name, after all. And as a professional, the last place he expected to be would be here. A high class strip-club was still a strip-club as far as he was concerned, and not even the best in neomodernist aesthetic could disguise the fact that, at the end of the day, a bunch of grown men were throwing credit chips at half naked ladies gyrating on the stage. Including his boss.

The Professional sighed. Desperate times.

Leon Brightstar had declined in recent months. Not that he had ever been wholly admirable. As a twin he had always invited comparison. Physically he had always exceeded his sibling, of course. The other Brightstar, as a boy, had never been one for athletics. It was in the athletics of the mind that Leon had proven to be a disappointment. Slower. More gullible. Less daring and meeker of wit. The other one… ‘Vix’ as she now called herself - she was always the clear choice as the heir to the Brightstar empire. The Professional would have once been happy to follow her into a new Brightstar era. Until he found out what that had entailed. “The family comes first.” That was the Brightstar code. That was the one the Professional had been proud to uphold - in all his 120 years of service, he had never been contracted to draw Brighstar blood. Until Vix had asked him to. And he had complied.

So that was how he came to be standing in a strip club, watching a 35 year man with a shaggy blond beard sprawled across a chair in the darkest corner of the establishment, too drunk to even know what a thong was, but still resolutely trying to slip whatever barest scraps of an allowance Vix still allowed him into the strap of one. One attached to a woman the Professional thought was surely only a legal adult by the smallest of margins, squirming in the lap of a wretched figure of a man easily three times her size. Well, for whatever pretense of ‘legality’ still existed in this city.

Desperate times indeed.

“Leon.”

“Uuuuuuhhhhhh….”

The Professional frowned.

“Get up.” He told the stripper, grabbing Leon’s arm. Once she was out of the way, he pulled him up, easily slinging the massive man over his shoulder in a fireman’s lift. The woman gasped, her hair implants shifting through a rainbow of colors as she tried to process the sight of a man who most closely resembled someone’s favorite kindly grandpa easily manhandling the hairy bulk that was Leon Brightstar like a sack of cotton fluff, but the Professional didn’t have time for nonsense or explanations.

“Show me the nearest unoccupied private room.” He said.

The stripper pointed. “But you can’t go in there.” She said.

“That’s no concern of yours.” He said, reaching down and picking up the remains of Leon’s money. He tossed it to her. “And by the way, you have no idea who this man is.”

“Uh… okay.”

He tossed Leon Brightstar down on the bed, paying not much attention to whether any of the man’s limbs happened to get crushed underneath the rest of him in the process.

“Whooo….. whuuhh….”

“Please don’t speak, sir.” Said the Professional, pulling a syringe out of a jacket pocket. “Relaxing won’t make this any less painful, but it’d be certainly much more pleasant for me.”

He jabbed the syringe into Leon’s chest, pushing the plunger all the way down. Immediately the serum took effect, and Leon arched backwards, screaming in pain as the specially engineered bacterium in the solution coursed through his body, purging any trace of alcohol found within. As far as detoxes go, there were definitely prettier ways to do it. A flailing arm caught the Professional across the face, slamming into him like a side of beef. He picked his round-framed glasses off the floor and settled them back onto his nose. When it was over, Leon curled up on the bed, clutching his head and groaning as he nursed the mother of all hangovers.

“Leon.”

Leon looked up, eyes widening in shock, and then anger.

“You!” He shouted, exploding to his feet. “You killed him! You killed my fa-”

“I know what I did.” Said the Professional, grabbing Leon by the lapel and lifting him up over his head, one hand clamped tight over the larger man’s throat. “And it is something I will regret until the end of my days. Which is why I’m helping you now.” He said icily. He dropped Leon, who fell onto the bed with much screeching of bedsprings. Of course a place like this would be so barbaric as to still use springs. No doubt the clientele thought it added to the atmosphere.
“Why the hell should I trust you. You’re a betrayer, just like that bitch I used to call my brother. For all I know, you’ve been sent to kill me as well.” Leon said, sneering.

The Professional slapped him. Lightly. He really wasn’t here to kill him, but the boy was really starting to get on his nerves.

“You know me well enough. If I were here to kill you, we wouldn’t be talking.”

“Well obviously you’re not going to kill me yet.” Said Leon, nursing the developing bruise on his cheek. “You’ve got to build me up first, give me hope. You claim you’re helping me, but it’s just an elaborate ruse.”

The Professional scoffed.

“Vix isn’t that sentimental. If she wants you to die, you die. Which she might still decide to do. But it won’t be at my hand. I’m here to give you back what should be mine.”

“What is… mine?”

“Your company, Leon Brightstar. You’re the one who deserves it, Nexus help us all. And I’m here to make sure you get it.”

“But… how? The bitch has everything now. The resources. The private security. The tech.”

“You have me. And you still have money. Not the allowance Vix gives you. Your father kept some inheritance away, out of reach. That’s yours now. And there’s something… interesting that happened in Tempest Row this morning. I think they can be of use to us.”

Leon swallowed. Taking back his company… that was certainly something he wanted. That he desperately wanted. And trusting this man… the family assassin… well, it’s not as if he had much of a choice.

“Well then. Who are ‘they’?”

[Thunderhead - An Abandoned Factory]

The dining room was one of Dr. Graves’s last conceits to luxury. Most other trappings of aristocratic life he had long since discarded, but the dining room, converted out of a back room of the abandoned building the Night Police called ‘Midnight Base’, was as lushly decorated as could be found in any palace. Perfect for banquets, Bond Villain-esque cordial interrogations, or weekly lunches with his most trusted lieutenant. Not that ‘lunch’ was anything that Dr. Graves himself ever partook in. His utter lack of biological function was something Erik Slater continued to be unnerved by, even after the decades they had worked together since that fateful rainy day in Poland where they had first met. That, and the faceless mask and metal body.

Dr. Graves reached over, pouring Slater another cup of coffee from the French press. It was excellent coffee, as always. His knack for finding fine foods, even under the tightest of budgets or rations, was unnatural. And for someone who never ate himself, Graves was an uncommonly good cook. ‘A family talent’, he had always claimed.

“Another gang of mercenaries taking root in Tempest Row is nothing new, Erik. Why should the activities of MERC concern us?”

Erik took a moment to wipe away a few stray crumbs from his mouth.

“MERC are no common racketeers. They have already created near-monopoly conditions in Riverside, and tenaciously hold on to much of the freelance business in Inside, despite multiple attempts by the Union to root out their operations. They are uncommonly well equipped and have access to powers beyond normal expectation. Even in Tempest Row, they may tip the fragile balance of power.”

“And what is it you suggest we do about this?”

“The Night Police need to grow, Herr Doktor. The treatment has a better success rate than ever, and we are getting more volunteers by the day.”

“Volunteers to die?”

“Volunteers to keep the peace. Crime rates in this district have decreased by 15% since we increased our patrols, and some of the special operatives you authorized have already taken down some of the most prominent slaver rings. We are no shadow organization anymore. People recognize us and trust us. Why should they have need of mercenary protection with the Night Police in place to keep them safe?” Said Erik forcefully.

Graves sighed, the noise a metallic crackle through the filters of his mask.

“Your faith in force concerns me sometimes, Erik.”

Erik gave Dr. Graves a steady look. On the other side of the table, Graves seemed to be distracted, almost lethargic. Erik knew the timing of Graves’s more hesitant moods well. Quarterly, on the last Thursday of every third month - like clockwork it would strike. Erik had never asked why, and Graves, of course, had never volunteered the information himself. One of many secrets Erik was content to let lie between them. Their friendship had always been based on mutual respect more than it ever had been on intimacy. Graves had ever seemed to have little to share. Thankfully, even the queerest of his partner's moods rarely stood in the way of real progress.

“Perhaps we should discuss this at a later time, Herr Doktor? It seems clear to me that you need more time to think.” Erik said, putting down his fork. "We can have this lunch again... tomorrow, perhaps? I will alter my schedule to compensate."

“No.” Said Dr. Graves, responding with sudden decisiveness, his fists clenched. “We cannot squander time. If MERC are as dangerous as you say, we must be prepared for their first moves. Take whatever precautions you deem necessary.”

“Of course, Herr Doktor.” Said Erik, smiling. "I'll send your orders out immediately."

[Tempest Row - Attila's Cantina, a back room]

<Torlux, you know I have nothing but the utmost respect for you.> Attila said.

It was a lie, of course. Attila respected Torlux about as much as he respected a piece of moldy bread. Less, actually. With a piece of moldy bread, the mold might end up being penicillin, and heal a great many people. Torlux couldn’t dream of being that useful. Not on his own, anyway. In Attila’s hands, however… Torlux was a moody, temperamental Hutt, with twice the average dose of Hutt xenophobia, and three times the average dose of Hutt arrogance. In other words, a perfect patsy.

<Of course, Attila.> Said Torlux. <Dizmak is a fool to think we can benefit from an alliance from the scum of this city. We glorious Hutts are the only ones keeping this overgrown blister of a settlement together.>
Attila almost smiled. It was almost too easy.

<Dizmak was always too trusting.> Attila said. <Even this alliance with the Ferengi was ill-advised. They have already betrayed us.>

Torlux’s eyes narrowed. <What do you mean, Attila?>

Attila feigned surprised. <Why, this whole business with MERC, of course. Surely you have figured it out as well as I. They wouldn’t come into this city unless they knew they had an ally. An insider who could give them business and feed them information on where to strike. And the Ferengi have always detested their reliance on mercenaries supplied by the Hutts.>

<Are… are you sure about this?>

<Yes. We should strike them - soon - before they strike at us.>

Attila could see the wheels turning in Torlux’s head. Even as hateful and suspicious as he was, he still had the basest capacity for reason, and that reason was telling him not to make the first move on an ostensible ally. Not until he had evidence. Well, such ‘evidence’ could easily be arranged.

<This is… much to think on, Attila. Thank you for coming to me with this information. I will consider what you have said.>

<Don’t think too long, Torlux. I fear they will make their move soon.>

Attila turned off the holotransmission. He had his own moves to make soon.

[Tempest Row - Dipsnig]

Wherever he is, his transmitter should start warning of an incoming call.

[Morty]

[Tempest Row - Dipsnig]

"<Dipsnig Razortooth,>" the leader of MERC says into his transmitter. Having seen who the call is from, he speaks in his native language. If it's Atilla or one of his people on the other side, they'll have a translator droid on hand. To Dena, Dipsnig's speech will sound like someone trying to chew on walnuts.

[ThirdEmperor]

[Lucretia's Manse]

"So far as I'm concerned, and I'm only a little concerned.." As much wine as might be put in front of him, Metzhultultaran Stone is not a merry dwarf. A rich one, with jeweled rings on his stubby fingers, his nearly square physique swaddled in a midnight blue suit shot with threads that catch the turning of the light into racing streaks of starlight. But his voice is sour and the mood of the party grinds to a halt at his seat.
"They're new money. By best reports, the whole lot they've moved in with, that's hired muscle and tech, and the core of them is only a half-dozen strong at best. Just starve them. If nobody at this table offers them a scrap to eat, and I've got the slavers in my pocket, they will starve." One arm sits in a sling, the hand a lump of dull unmoving stone. His bald forehead gleams with insets of steel and granite, an elaborate mosaic, and a charm of bone binds the single braid of his beard. "But if the Lord Han wants the vermin out fast.. With his backing I can arrange for it to be done."

[Dining & Dashing]

The manticore's claws strike through air and onto the cement, and skids out sparks as the lithe creature turns its momentum, coiling up its bulk for the blink of an eye and then springing aside. The daggers pierce empty air, and the beast rears up and bucks its tail - to let loose a volley of long thin spikes streaking towards Alexia.
Sam seizes one by the throat alright, and hauls it up into the air, tail lashing at his midsection. But the other, the other gets its jaws around his incoming hand, and terrible teeth try to clamp down around his fingers.

[UncleWolf]

Dashing

Alexia forcefully tugs herself to the side to avoid the spikes right before landing. She stumbles just slightly as she flings out her hands, one calling her knives back towards her while the other tries to "catch" one of the spikes that had been launched at her. If she's able to catch it, she'll fling it sideways at the manticore that's bitten Sam's hand as her daggers spin defensively around her.

[Deathkeeper]

Dining and Dashing

Sam roars in pain as he's bitten, and tries to grab the beast with the other hand. Either way, if it wants to bite his hand and clamp, it's welcome to. Sam holds his hand at his side, holding it close to keep the monster in place as he...well, jumps up in the air...and bringing all of his weight down on the monster, while he uses that momentum also to use his other hand to drive the other into the ground as hard as he can.

[ThirdEmperor]

[Dining and Dashing]

The spine sinks in with a meaty thud, and a moment later Sam drives it deep into the beast's guts as he dashes its skull to the pavement, claws ripping at his arms in a frenzy as the blood spills out and the life twitches away. The other's tail draws back and lashes out for his shoulder, so swift and strong there's a crack as it comes down - again and again and again as Sam smashes the wretched thing into the ground.

And Alexia, she's taken her attention from her own hunter. Another hail of spines is sent flying towards the elf, and the daggers won't ward the beast away as it leaps up and rebounds off the alley walls to dart around them, throws itself in from behind to bowl her off feet and get her pinned beneath its claws.

[Darkcomet]

[Tempest Row - Wherever]

An unknown party is attempting to raise one of the local Ferengi, Gripak, on a years-old subspace channel, in some hope that it's still there. That there are spaceports around helps, though, since that means it's entirely likely that the locals kept their ships at least partially intact.

If he's not present to receive the message, well, presumably this thing has space caller ID so he can catch that later.

Not to mention the message left after the beep, which consists of the text-only words 'Rule 285,' except in Klingon. How bizarre.

[Cyber Punk]

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVT]

It's Luna's latest gig. She's been on a mission to spy on this particular baron, going undercover in order to glean information about him to give the organization that hired her a tactical advantage. She'd been posing as a blind swordslady who was offering her services to protect this particular baron. One that would fight for him for pay. He had declined, until she presented him with credible evidence that an attempt was being made on his life. That changed his mind quickly, and now here she is.

At present, she is standing beside him in his home, dressed with a straw hat covering her head, a blindfold covering her face, two katanas on her waist, her body covered by a pink kimono. Ah, the wonders of digistruction technology and instant disguises! Good thing she's learnt to handle herself even without her sight.

They are also surrounded by half a dozen other such mercs out to make a name for themselves, though she's clearly the only professional. Shows how desperate the baron is, after learning of an impending attempt on his life, for him to depend on, in addition to the bodyguards he already has. Luna knows it won't help him, as she's gotten her orders to 'take him out'. She won't kill him, but he'll be as good as dead to the rest of the world once she's done with him.

Even while 'blind', she can feel the baron's eyes on her body. He's been ogling her any chance he gets, and she gets the feeling that he'd pounce her if he thought he could get away with it. She rests her hand on her katana and taps it, and he gets the message, chuckling nervously and turning away. One person is after his life already, no need to make it two.

[DoomITP]

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVT]


Our resident baron being preoccupied by his ill advised ogling won't even hear it coming. There is a low buzzing noise followed by a thhptSLPRRT as a bullet strikes the baron's forehead, leaving an explosion of gore in it's wake. Silence fills the room for half a second before the roar of the bullet traveling faster than sound finally catches up and echoes throughout the safe house. Something about the sound is almost eerily familiar.

All of the other mercs duck down behind cover trying to discern where the fire came from. There was no window in this room, the only point of entry could have possibly been a firing point that is in the next room, at such an angle that to land a shot like the one would be a miracle shot, virtually impossible for any conventional shooter.

[Cyber Punk]

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVT]

Blind!Luna ducks down as well, squinting as she tries to place the sound of the shot. "Supersonic ammo, keep your heads down!" Her voice comes out as higher-pitched and more shrill than normal as she takes cover and 'scans' her environment.

She grips the scabbard of her main katana with one hand, the other hand ready to pull her sword out, slash and sheathe it back all in one motion.

There's quite a few people she knows who can pull off a shot like that. River is helping her with the shop back at home, and he doesn't know the way here. Fixer isn't in the Nexus. Zither has little reason to be out of the tower after all that's happened. (all of the names rhyme. Unintentional! :smalltongue:) She and Evan separated ways and she hasn't seen him since.

No. It can't be.

Well, it can, but she doesn't want it to be.

Not now.

[DoomITP]

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVT]


Now see, those other people are good shots. But what comes next is Evan work. Rounds fly through the same hole, ricocheting around the room, striking the mercs through the chest and face leaving the whole room decimated. The only person left alive at this point is Luna herself.

--

Meanwhile Evan breaks down his rifle and rests the pieces inside his coat and moves away from his firing point. He hums a tune to himself as the familiar silver mist envelops him he disappears, evidently heading towards his next job in town.

[Cyber Punk]

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVT]

At least two of those mentioned could give Evan a run for his money. Regardless, the trick shots pulled off, somehow sparing only her causes her to sigh exasperatedly, as there is no longer any doubt in her mind that her old ex-fiance is responsible.

Darn you, Evan Armire.

Luna turns off her nanogenerated disguise and begins to search the room for clues, using her version of detective mode to try and ascertain the source of the shot. It might not matter if he's left, though, so she also searches the bodies, trying to pull bullet out of heads and chests.

[DoomITP]

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVT]

Luna will find a note on the baron's person, that would explain his increasing paranoia.


"Sir, we have reason to believe someone has payed out the money needed to have Evan Armire come kill you. I would suggest moving to a safe location until we can find and kill him. He has other targets in the area. The Assassin's guild leader on the other side of town is also on his list. I'd suggest sending a runner to talk to him. A really fast runner. Or better yet, just give him a call. That'd probably be safest."

[Cyber Punk]

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVTs]

Evan Armire.

Luna stares at the name for a moment, before crumpling the note, creating a hole in the wall and leap-of-faith-ing out to ground level, landing on her waiting SkySurfer hoverboard. Without a moment's pause, she zooms off, using her lightning to greatly increase the speed of her hovercraft, periodically chugging some hard alcohol in order to 'recharge'. Within a short while, she's at the other side of town.

"I guess it'd be too much to hope that Evan hasn't stolen this prey from me." She mutters to herself as she steps inside the guild and takes a look around.

[DoomITP]

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVTs]

The assassin's guild is on watch, looking around for anyone matching Evan's description. The windows are blocked by extremely thick ballistic glass with armed guards watching every firing point.

The guild master is allowing no one near him except for his body guards and a girl. She seems to be his daughter perhaps, five feet tall, blond hair that comes down to her waist with grey eyes. The young lady has a short barrel shotgun in her right hand resting at her side, looking around the room disinterestedly.

[Cyber Punk]

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVTs]

"It won't help you." Luna says to everyone in the guild. She has no targets here, so she won't try and 'take out' the assassin leader.

"I know. We were close... once. Evan Armire's coming for you? Guards or not, won't make a difference."

Pity about the young girl. Pretty thing like that will just end up as collateral damage.

[DoomITP]

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVTs]

The guards ignore Luna. They've heard nonsense like that before. They're the best after all. Right? Riiiight.

The young woman does walk up to Luna and smirks in an eerily familiar way.

I know where Evan is. She whispers. Betcha don't know how.

[Cyber Punk]

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVTs]

(Depending on how the current part of the Outside scene goes, this Luna might or might not have her split personalties either merged or working together with her.)

"He's using you, huh? Not surprised." Luna says, looking away with a hint of emotion in her eyes. "He uses people, and then disappears from their lives when he doesn't need them anymore." She's still feeling bitter about having Evan disappear from her life without warning.

Then she shoots the girl a double-take, realizing the familiarity of the smirk. "Wait. Evan?"

If she's right, she'll frown. "Figures."

[DoomITP]

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVTs]

Evangeline shakes her head.

Not exactly no. I'm him, she's me. We're not the same person but we are and aren't. It makes no sense and it isn't supposed to.

The strange girl says brightly.

Wherever I am or what I'm doing. He'll probably be in the exactly opposite place doing the opposite thing. It's pretty cool, huh?

[Cyber Punk]

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVTs]

Luna listens closely, peering at the girl as she speaks. When she finishes, all she's capable of getting out at first is: "What."

After a long moment, she shakes her head. "So, you're in here, and he's outside of here. If he's trying to kill Mr. Bigshot assassin there, then you're trying to protect him?"

[DoomITP]

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVTs]

Evangeline shakes her head.

Nope. Not exactly. Just whatever I'm not doing. I mean I might be here to get this guy. But he might be at home playing a game. It's not easy to explain. Besides, it hardly matters. You probably won't see that me around any time soon. He does different stuff than me.

[Cyber Punk]

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVTs]

"Uh-uh." Luna has one eyebrow raised as she studies the girl. "How'd that happen, anyway? What's the story behind... 'this'?"

[DoomITP]

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVTs]

Evangeline looks quite confused.

What story? I mean I've always been this way.

Then a rather adorable smile comes across her face.

But back to the fun stuff that brought us here!

Then she wheels around, raising the shotgun in her hand and proceeds to slaughter the assassin's guild leader. Before the smoke clears she smirks in a rather Evanesque way back at Luna before she starts to fade away.

Have fun! Bye bye!

Oh my, it seems that as no one was looking at Luna or Evangeline at the time, the guards all seem to immediately think that Luna was the one that shot their boss.

Luna might wanna run. Fast.

[Cyber Punk]

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVTs]

"Figures." Luna says once more on the sound of the gun blast. Once she starts to fade away, Luna zooms out the door before the smoke fully clears. (http://i.imgur.com/al5BDHH.png) Hey, she wasn't going to wait for the smoke to clear while she was alone in an assassins' guild!

While she's moving away from the building, she contemplates introducing the side of Evan's face to her right palm. Evangeline, too, if she ever meets her again. Just transfer weeks of hurt feelings to him with some percussive physical contact.

She activates her commlink and pings her employers. "Mission update: A sniper got to the baron before I could. Evan Armire." He killed him too quickly. One thing Evan will never understand is that killing certain people is too merciful. "Mission complete, either way, though messier than intended."

There's a pause on the other end of the line. "Mission complete either way. Wiring your payment to you now. I'll contact you if anything comes up. -click-"

Now that that's handled, it's time to find Evan, no matter how much she doesn't want to. She needs some answers. But where could he be?

[DoomITP]

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVTs]

Well considering Evangeline is gone, Evan is probably here again. In fact...

Silver mist envelops Luna's position and our easily amused sniper steps surreptitiously from the vapor.

Oh good! You're still here. The best bit still hasn't started yet.

Evan is... Different somehow. He has the smug, I'm glorious in every way possible sort of grin he normally wears but his eyes. They lack the spark from before. They're the cold, calculating, baleful eyes of the assassin. His rifle in his arms, where there were once neat tally marks is now covered from muzzle to butt stock in the marks.

[Cyber Punk]

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVTs]

Luna whirls to face Evan, ready to tell him off when she sees the look in his eyes and pauses. She herself appears the same for the time being, though she appears changed somehow. Maybe it's the seeming increased grumpiness. Maybe it's the fact that she appears somehow colder. Maybe it's...

"Let me handle this one, Luna." Comes the familiar voice of Raikiri, this time inhabiting the left side of Luna's face. The change is marked, with her right face frowning at Evan and the left face grinning rather smugly.

"Oh, alright, Rai. Don't wanna see him, anyway. I'll be watching. Ask him about that thing." She sighs and goes somewhere deep in their mind, with Raikiri taking the reins of their shared body. "Don't you worry, sis. I'm sure he didn't mean to leave us hanging while he went to..." Her eyes fall on his rifle. "Ooh, you've been busy!" She grins appreciatively, looking at the weapon.

And yes, before you ask, we're working together now. A truce. All I ever wanted, it's a joy! Though you... Ol'Snipey didn't grin like that. What happened to you? I sense... a merge." She leans in with an exaggerated look of deep thought on her face, staring at Evan.

[DoomITP]

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVTs]


Evan shrugs, there hadn't been two of him in this fashion that there seems to be in Luna. Though his original suspicion that Luna is cracked becomes more valid as this conversation goes on.

I'm me. Couldn't imagine what you mean.

He goes back to his original task and takes a pair of binoculars and looks at a nearby rooftop.

To be completely honest, I don't know why you thought coming on the same contracts as me would yield you any results. Figured my little bit of showmanship with the baron would have illustrated the point.

[Cyber Punk]

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVTs]

"Don't be so smug, Evan. We haven't seen you for quite a while, in fact we didn't expect to see you." Rai!Luna explains, grinning. "We've been testing our newfound alliance. Delegating tasks to each side of us."

Luna groans and mentally tells Rai to get on with it already. "Luna oughta be talking to you now, but she's allergic to the truth. It's alright if you moved on."
"Rai!" Luna appears once more, her half of her face shocked.
"What? Just saying." Rai chuckles as Luna huffs and disappears again.

[UncleWolf]

Dining and Dashing

Sam roars in pain as he's bitten, and tries to grab the beast with the other hand. Either way, if it wants to bite his hand and clamp, it's welcome to. Sam holds his hand at his side, holding it close to keep the monster in place as he...well, jumps up in the air...and bringing all of his weight down on the monster, while he uses that momentum also to use his other hand to drive the other into the ground as hard as he can.


[Dining and Dashing]

The spine sinks in with a meaty thud, and a moment later Sam drives it deep into the beast's guts as he dashes its skull to the pavement, claws ripping at his arms in a frenzy as the blood spills out and the life twitches away. The other's tail draws back and lashes out for his shoulder, so swift and strong there's a crack as it comes down - again and again and again as Sam smashes the wretched thing into the ground.

And Alexia, she's taken her attention from her own hunter. Another hail of spines is sent flying towards the elf, and the daggers won't ward the beast away as it leaps up and rebounds off the alley walls to dart around them, throws itself in from behind to bowl her off feet and get her pinned beneath its claws.

Dine and Dash

The barrage of spines hit Alexia dead on, but two skip off of her armor plates while the third hits between them with a meaty slap as it digs in several inches into her left side. She gives a grunt and keeps her good eye on the manticore as it leaps around her, used to such attacks from her homeland and right when it is about to hit her, she gives a sharp upward motion of her right hand, attempting to throw the manticore a good forty feet into the air. If it works, she'll complete the attack with a sharp down motion when it reaches its peak, forcing it into the ground at great speed.

[Deathkeeper]

Dining and Dashing

Sam lets go of the horrible monster and leaves it to bleed out. Its brother has already left what'll become a nasty bruise on his shoulder, and luckily the death-swipes of the dying creature aren't enough to slice through the thick hair, hide, and flesh of Sam's arms enough to leave any noticeable injuries. So, with his hands free, he takes one of the hands not holding up the flailing manticore, and simply tries to give its head a twist.

He would really like to have both of these things dead right about now. Hopefully Alexia's handled hers? He thinks he's going to need stitches on these bite marks. And probably disinfectant. Oh, and the wounds are also searing with terrible pain, but right now the adrenaline is blocking that a bit.

[ThirdEmperor]

[Dining and Dashing]

There's a sound, a sudden give under his hand, and the manticore goes limp.

Across the way, Alexia catches the hound just in time, claws scything the air a bare fraction of an inch from her face as she throws it back. Something breaks in the impact against the sidewalk, the beast groaning as it scrambles onto its feet - one leg dragging limply. Its hackles rise, teeth bared in threat.

[DoomITP]

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVTs]

"Don't be so smug, Evan. We haven't seen you for quite a while, in fact we didn't expect to see you." Rai!Luna explains, grinning. "We've been testing our newfound alliance. Delegating tasks to each side of us."

Luna groans and mentally tells Rai to get on with it already. "Luna oughta be talking to you now, but she's allergic to the truth. It's alright if you moved on."
"Rai!" Luna appears once more, her half of her face shocked.
"What? Just saying." Rai chuckles as Luna huffs and disappears again.

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVTs]

Evan's expression darkens a hair.

Is there a point? Or can I get on with my business and leave this irritating place?

[Cyber Punk]

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVTs]

"Touchy." Rai grins smugly. "You two really deserve each other. Now! What's the best part? Please tell me something blows up. I kept telling Luna to call down an airstrike on the building, but you know her: 'no unnecessary deaths'."

She rolls her eyes.

[DoomITP]

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVTs]


Evan retrieves a bullet painted over with a green tip and drops it in his rifle. This job had required much in the way of prior preparation.

Nothing so simple. As I said before. Amateur.

The assassin raises his weapon and fires the round through the top window of the building, striking what he had paid to be left there. The entire building becomes illuminated by emerald light for two seconds before fading away.

And that takes care of that. Off to jobs that are at my skill level. Feel free to stick around.

[Cyber Punk]

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVTs]

Rai crosses her arms and watches, nodding in approval and awe when the building disappears, either being atomized or being teleported off to a world where they won't be a problem anymore.

Then he says his next words, and half of their face twists into a grimace while the Rai part rolls her eyes. "I'd stay, but this promises to be far too entertaining. Bye love!" And she's off, leaving an angry Luna staring at Evan, her teeth gritted.

"Youuuu smug bastard. You think you're hot ****, huh?" She looks like she'd very much like to punch a hole through his face. Instead, she folds her hands and stares at him disapprovingly. "I shouldn't be surprised, though. I mean, this is you we're talking about."

((Passive-Aggressive Kombaaaat! Rrround One! FIGHT! :smalltongue::smallbiggrin:))

[DoomITP]

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVTs]


Evan's smile fades away into an icy stare.

I don't think anything. I know I am.

I mean you're easily beaten aren't you? You've already lost your mind and control of your emotions. You wanna hit me?

The barest hint of a smirk returns.

Go on. Try it. Hit me. Judge me.

The Assassin's weapon rests on his shoulder, though that shouldn't indicate that Evan isn't ready.

You've got a lot of nerve saying I use people to Evangeline. I fail to see how I've done so. If anything, I've been used more between the two of us. My money, my time, my sanity, nearly my life more than once. Need I remind you that your solution to one such breakdown was to drug me without my permission?

[Ashen Lilies]

[Tempest Row - Dipsnig]

"<Dipsnig Razortooth,>" the leader of MERC says into his transmitter. Having seen who the call is from, he speaks in his native language. If it's Atilla or one of his people on the other side, they'll have a translator droid on hand. To Dena, Dipsnig's speech will sound like someone trying to chew on walnuts.

[Tempest Row - Dipsnig]

There's a brief pause, then an equally gravelly voice comes from the other end. <Aisa Vellia.>
Sounds like the Hutt's lieutenant did indeed have a translator droid on hand.
<I have a target.>


[Lucretia's Manse]

"So far as I'm concerned, and I'm only a little concerned.." As much wine as might be put in front of him, Metzhultultaran Stone is not a merry dwarf. A rich one, with jeweled rings on his stubby fingers, his nearly square physique swaddled in a midnight blue suit shot with threads that catch the turning of the light into racing streaks of starlight. But his voice is sour and the mood of the party grinds to a halt at his seat.
"They're new money. By best reports, the whole lot they've moved in with, that's hired muscle and tech, and the core of them is only a half-dozen strong at best. Just starve them. If nobody at this table offers them a scrap to eat, and I've got the slavers in my pocket, they will starve." One arm sits in a sling, the hand a lump of dull unmoving stone. His bald forehead gleams with insets of steel and granite, an elaborate mosaic, and a charm of bone binds the single braid of his beard. "But if the Lord Han wants the vermin out fast.. With his backing I can arrange for it to be done."


[Lucretia's Manse]

A few of the assorted nobles mutter angrily at the intrusion, though Ishkur Sulayman smiles instead. It's not a nice smile, though. It's a condescending, "I know something you don't" type of smile.

Han the Greater seems interested though. "What do you mean, dwarf?" He's got his customary lack of tact, however. As mentioned: could have been a great accountant.


[Tempest Row - Wherever]

An unknown party is attempting to raise one of the local Ferengi, Gripak, on a years-old subspace channel, in some hope that it's still there. That there are spaceports around helps, though, since that means it's entirely likely that the locals kept their ships at least partially intact.

If he's not present to receive the message, well, presumably this thing has space caller ID so he can catch that later.

Not to mention the message left after the beep, which consists of the text-only words 'Rule 285,' except in Klingon. How bizarre.

[Tempest Row - Gripak's Bar]

Well, that's one way to get attention. Once Gripak is back from his meeting with the other Ferengi and the Hutts, there's a call from a very angry and anxious Ferengi going to be coming through.

[Morty]

[Tempest Row - Dipsnig]

"<That was quick,>" Dipsnig says. "<Who or what is it? My lieutenant and I are on our way to Tempest Row, as it happens.>"

[Ashen Lilies]

[Tempest Row]

<What can we say? You certainly made a splash. Your target is the premises of a Hutt named Torlux. He runs a tibanna gas processing plant in Thunderhead. If the plant could be sabotaged in a way that makes it look like the Ferengi did it, it should definitely stir up the pot between the Ferengi and the Hutts and throw the alliance into chaos.>

[Shadowcaller]

[Tempest Row]

Dena taps her hip as she waits for Dipsnig to finish his call. He grabbed his public phone on a mission like this? Guess he needed to stay connected with the customers no matter what.

[Morty]

[Tempest Row]

For the record, it probably isn't his public phone. MERC's dealings with Atilla are kept rather hushed-up.

"<So they are willing to ally against us already. That's a stronger impression than I expected,>" Dipsnig says. "<Very well. Once we've secured a safehouse in the Row, we'll see what we can do about it.>"

[Ashen Lilies]

[Tempest Row]

<We'll arrange a cache full of Ferengi weapons and explosives to help with the operation.> Says the droid. <If you want, we can also send a guy over to your camp to act as an informant. We'll be able to communicate and feed you more targets through him.>

[Darkcomet]

[Tempest Row - Gripak's Bar]

The telltale sound of a channel opening rings out. Audio only, of course.

"Hello, Gripak. Glad to see you're alright." Perhaps fortunately for Gripak's nerves, this time it's not in Klingon, though the distorted voice's odd friendliness can't possibly be comforting. "After I found out about you, your disappearance after the war ended suddenly made a lot more sense. We had assumed one of your fellow businessmen found out about that charity of yours and decided to...correct the issue. We thought it was sad, but, as they say, no good deed..." The voice trailed off there, letting Gripak have a moment to process everything.

[Morty]

[Tempest Row]

"<I'll consider it. It might be a safer way to communicate. We'll get back to you as soon as we're set up,>" Dipsnig says.

[Cyber Punk]

Evan's smile fades away into an icy stare.

I don't think anything. I know I am.

I mean you're easily beaten aren't you? You've already lost your mind and control of your emotions. You wanna hit me?

The barest hint of a smirk returns.

Go on. Try it. Hit me. Judge me.

The Assassin's weapon rests on his shoulder, though that shouldn't indicate that Evan isn't ready.

You've got a lot of nerve saying I use people to Evangeline. I fail to see how I've done so. If anything, I've been used more between the two of us. My money, my time, my sanity, nearly my life more than once. Need I remind you that your solution to one such breakdown was to drug me without my permission?

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVTs]

Luna looks down and away when he mentions the loss of her mind and emotions. She agreed to work together with Raikiri, but she'd rather find a way to get them merged instead. That has turned out to be impossible, so she has to learn to like the situation of things. It's certainly made her rather grumpier.

She looks up and stares angrily at him at his next words, but is silent for a bit, seriously considering denting his perfect face. Then she takes a few deep breaths.

"Still on that? Ever heard the concept of 'forgive and forget'? Or were you just lying when you said you forgave me?" Why's she asking? The answer's probably yes.

"I loved you, Evan. I know I'm not the most mentally stable person there is, but I loved you. I quit my polyamorous lifestyle so we could be together. After you got me shot in the head - which didn't help my mental state any - we tried to patch things up, didn't we? Only for me to wake up one morning and you're gone without any explanation. How do you think I feel?" She folds her arms and sighs. "I was ready to have your babies, Evan."

Maybe she remembers things differently, but that's what she remembers.

[UncleWolf]

[Dining and Dashing]

There's a sound, a sudden give under his hand, and the manticore goes limp.

Across the way, Alexia catches the hound just in time, claws scything the air a bare fraction of an inch from her face as she throws it back. Something breaks in the impact against the sidewalk, the beast groaning as it scrambles onto its feet - one leg dragging limply. Its hackles rise, teeth bared in threat.

Dine and Dash

Alexia raises her right hand, the threat obvious. The Manticore might recognize what the threat is, but if it still moves at all towards her or Sam, she throws her hand to the right in an attempt to smash the creature against a wall with bone-crushing force. If it still stands afterwards, she'll throw it into another wall and do so again and again until it is dead.

[Deathkeeper]

Dine and Dash

Sam stands there, chest heaving for a few moments as he lets the blood drip from his hand. Then, he turns to Alexia, and finally gets a good look at her.
"Oh, gods."
He hurries over with her cloak and a handkerchief, waiting for her to finish dealing with the beast.


In addition, Alexia might notice at this point that Sam smells rather odd. An ozone-like smell, like rain. It wasn't obvious before, but he's been sweating now from the panic and adrenaline. Certainly not what you'd expect from a large blue pig-ogre. Though, it's probably a lot less unpleasant than what you'd expect from either of those creatures separately.

[ThirdEmperor]

[Dining and Dashing]

The hound holds its ground for a moment, hissing through its teeth. And then it turns, tail snapping out a covering flurry of spikes as it wheels around, dashing and bounding out for the mouth of the alleyway and into the sunlight beyond.

[UncleWolf]

Dine and Dash

Alexia's readied hand flicks back and forth a couple times, swatting a few of the spikes from the air before she catches the last with her hand to toss aside. She'll let the hound go however, and turn to look Sam over to make sure he's alright. "We need a healer." She says, wincing as she sets a hand on the barb that's in her side. "This is just going to dig deeper. I give it a couple hours before it gets something vital." She tells him.

[Deathkeeper]

Dine and Dash

Sam offers Alexia the handkerchief.
"Here. It might not be vital but your face is bleeding badly." he says, ignoring his other hand that is also bleeding rather badly from the bite, or the several stab wounds he has from the creatures' spines. Maybe he should rip up his vest?

[UncleWolf]

Dine and Dash

Alexia takes the cloth and pulls out her canteen from her hip to wet it down with water before placing it over her eye. "If there's a place for mercenaries, maybe we can bargain for medical attention. I have no money, but we need to hurry like...now. Otherwise this eye will be gone." She tells Sam.

[Deathkeeper]

Dine and Dash

"Right. There's one that just moved in like, last week. Big place, hard to miss, definitely guarded. Two, three blocks? Let's go. Would it be easier for your side if you didn't walk?" he says, offering his three uninjured arms in a very innocent manner.

[UncleWolf]

Dine and Dash

"Just lead on already. I don't know this area." She growls, one hand on her face and the other on her eye. It's quite apparent she's impatient and in pain and just wants to get a move on.

[Deathkeeper]

Dine and Dash

"Yeah, sure." he says, giving Alexia back her cloak and leading her down the block to where he remembers seeing the mercenary building. It shouldn't be that far of a walk, even if they are bleeding...

[ThirdEmperor]

[Dinner is Served]

Not far to go, but there's a horrid itching feel spreading up Sam's back from between his shoulderblades, this now-cold then-hot little army of needles dancing along his spine. Nothing that would stop him from going on though...

In fact, he might start walking faster than ever, swing a sudden right turn away from Alexia and towards the main streets.


[Lucretia's Manse]

Well, Stone has the only the most sincere smiles to return, full of beatific patience and understanding. Even at a table full of drunk and spoiled sharks. "They've been making an awful show up here, and I know the kind of expense that takes, so I can't help but imagine the two other offices, in two other cities, are both the poorer for that." He leans forward, happy to entertain the Lord Han's righteous fury. "They've tried to push us around on our own doorstep, eh? The details, we can have our people settle the details, but with your backing, we'll return that to them in spades."

[UncleWolf]

Dashing

Well, not quite dashing. More of stumbling.

Alexia follows behind Sam wherever he goes, stumbling every so often as she fights off dizziness. Despite the rather severe pain and dwindling coordination, she stays only a little behind Sam as she pushes herself to keep up.

[Deathkeeper]

Dashing

Dashing is something that doesn't really describe Sam in any sense. If his hair didn't hide it, he'd look quite pale as he suddenly finds himself not moving properly.
"Alex, I'm not moving my legs." he chokes out, and the best thing he can do is try to use the tails that are still wrapped around his legs in an attempt to trip himself, grabbing onto a nearby fire escape if that doesn't work.

[DoomITP]

[The Ninja, the Sniper and the HVTs]

Luna looks down and away when he mentions the loss of her mind and emotions. She agreed to work together with Raikiri, but she'd rather find a way to get them merged instead. That has turned out to be impossible, so she has to learn to like the situation of things. It's certainly made her rather grumpier.

She looks up and stares angrily at him at his next words, but is silent for a bit, seriously considering denting his perfect face. Then she takes a few deep breaths.

"Still on that? Ever heard the concept of 'forgive and forget'? Or were you just lying when you said you forgave me?" Why's she asking? The answer's probably yes.

"I loved you, Evan. I know I'm not the most mentally stable person there is, but I loved you. I quit my polyamorous lifestyle so we could be together. After you got me shot in the head - which didn't help my mental state any - we tried to patch things up, didn't we? Only for me to wake up one morning and you're gone without any explanation. How do you think I feel?" She folds her arms and sighs. "I was ready to have your babies, Evan."

Maybe she remembers things differently, but that's what she remembers.

Got me shot in the head? Got ME shot in the head! How dare she! Evan's previously icy expression melts, then promptly reheats into rage.

You're blaming me for that? If anything happened it's because you went on a psychotic episode and killed people because the looked like me! I didn't even know the contract was out until it was far too late.

The sniper's volume raises as his anger grows.

And you know what? To perfectly honest, if someone called up a contract and told me that you had gone about killing people simply for looking like me, Evan shouts, I'D HAVE TAKEN THE CONTRACT AND PULLED THE TRIGGER MYSELF!

Evan slowly reins himself in.

You need to get your life together before you presume to lecture or blame me for your karma coming back to bite you. I'd also remind you that I did everything imaginable to kill the person who did it. But that's neither here nor there. It's done with.

Silver mist gathers behind the assassin as he slowly turns to leave.

Harmony follow you. You certainly need it more than I do.

[Cyber Punk]

[Ninja and the Sniper]

Luna's eyes widen at the part where he yells. She doesn't move until he makes to leave. "So that's how it's gonna be, huh? Sorry you feel that WAY!" She yells the last word and throws a punch at him.

'This is fun! You guys are adorable.' Rai comments.‎

[ThirdEmperor]

[Dashing]

Sam falters to a lurching stop, nearly going over as his upper body tries to carry on past where his legs stick stock still - and his words end with a breathless little squeeze through the unseen hand across his mouth. The invisible hand, an invisible force grips him, and the burning in his shoulder flares up his spine as his face begins to shift beneath, skin crawling into new shape as bones bend and give way.

"Nothing. It's nothing, nevermind." And he lurches forward again, shoulders at a tilt and arms swinging dumbly.

[Deathkeeper]

Dashing

Yes, because sudden mutation is totally normal. Do you really think she'll fall for that? mentally screams Sam, as he manages to get one of his hands onto a nearby brick wall, whereupon it sticks.
Sure, he doesn't have even half control of his body right now. But neither do you, and good luck un-sticking that hand before another takes its place, since each can support half of his body weight.
Which is a lot.
...oh, man.

Either way, it probably looks really strange.

[UncleWolf]

Stumbling

Alexia looks at Sam in confusion as she leans against the nearest wall to try and figure out what's going on. Her mind is fuzzy and dull and there's static on the edges of her vision. Even so, something didn't seem right. He wasn't controlling his legs or something? But why say that it was nothing after sounding so scared for a moment? This wasn't right and there was obviously something going on, but what. Eh...screw it. She thinks before pulling out her rifle and shouldering it. One last shot. She thinks before concentrating, putting her remaining energy into the final shot. It's a weak one, but at this range, it didn't have to be a strong Scramble. Just in case something was going on like her intuition was telling her, maybe it'd help.

After the shot, Alexia collapses, landing on the side with the barb and shoving it in deeper as her rifle skitters on the ground.

[DoomITP]

[Ninja and the Sniper]

Luna's eyes widen at the part where he yells. She doesn't move until he makes to leave. "So that's how it's gonna be, huh? Sorry you feel that WAY!" She yells the last word and throws a punch at him.

'This is fun! You guys are adorable.' Rai comments.‎

Ninja And The Sniper

Trying to sucker punch the arguably most successful assassin in the Nexus? Setting yourself up for failure is a phrase Evan might use.

He evades the strike and keeps walking into the plume of mist, looking back at Luna over his shoulder.

Like I said. Amateur. You can't even lay a hand on me. I'm gonna go hang out with someone way less insane, way more fun and way hotter than you now. Have a fun day.

With that the assassin disappears in the smoke leaving only a disdainful chuckle in his wake.

[ThirdEmperor]

[Dashing]

Whump. The force closing it's grip around Sam throws him into the wall, cracking skull against bricks. Blood and steam trail from his mouth, sparks spilling out on his breath like from breaking machinery. "Oh nNnoO you dOon't boy." The voice comes out a miserable groan, and as the blast from Alexia's rifle sweeps over them and the girl falls, toppling out of frame from his frozen eyes, the voice crawling out his throat seems to change.

"I'll get yoouu, Bacon." The fire on his back is fading, the numb weight on his limbs receding. The hairy lump of arguing voices leans slumped headfirst to the walls. "Caaan't run forever, can't help but run outta friends, not when I get them all tooo.. Out of the frying pan, into the fires.."

But then it's gone. A twist of ugly green fire whispered away on his next breath, a foul taste of ash clinging to the back of his teeth. A headache like nobody's business.

[Deathkeeper]

Dashing ->MERC?

Sam coughs for a bit, trying to get that awful taste of blood and ash out of his mouth. He spits, but some of it dribbles onto his vest, since his mouth doesn't seem to be working right. With a curse, he wipes it all on his vest and gingerly goes to pick up Alexia and her rifle, as gently as he can, and sprints back the way they came.

Once they find the door to the base, he'll be opening the door and rushing in, contrary to any suggestions, signs, etc to suggest he do otherwise.

[Solidarity]

[Tempest Row - Tempest Spaceport]

A ragged sigh found its way out of a confused mage. Blue and black robes adorned with a variety of emblems and sigils billowed behind Marcus as he strode through the spaceport, doing what he could--poorly at best--to blend in. Clearly, he was out of his element, surrounded by all this technology. That scottish VIGILite explained briefly about such things, but all the sights up here in Skyside far exceeded any description the man could've dreamed to offer the Signomancer. Every once in a while he would spot some of the security making what appeared to be their routine patrols around the spaceport, while the young wizard walked amongst the lively commercial areas alongside the rest of the traffic. Mark glanced down at his notepad, nearly full of times and places, to verify if the patrol matched their previous run. They did, thank Neumannus. The weary, young prodigy wandered off to find a place to sit down and consolidate his notes a bit more.

A bench served to be one of the more welcoming sights of his day, as Marcus slumped into the seat and pulled out his bag. Giving it a quick tap with his middle and index finger, he simply stated "Maps." and wondered to himself, how in the planes it took him less time to scout out the perimetric Guard stationed and patrolling the Sky Palace Tower. This was supposed to be a single spaceport, or so it was described to him. How could it be so damned complicated? Mark guessed it was how it was run, likely. Guilds in general, from his own limited experience, allowed for a bit more freedom in regards to organization. Fewer things were ever bothered to be standardized. It made the Signomancer sick, if only just a bit. Soon following his words, a thick grey catalog-looking book levitated from out his bag, impossibly big for such a small container to be able to hold, so it would seem. Uncharacteristically for the young Runeheart, this book wasn't labelled at all. A quick precursory glance to his surroundings to make sure nobody was too terribly interested, he held the book between his thumb and fist, and within a moment, myriad tiny icons and markings seemed to grow from where Marcus held the book, glowing slightly before fading. Knowing now that any curious onlooker other than himself would see the pages contained therein as illusions, hiding the pages' true nature, he quickly flipped the book open and went to work.

Updating the patrol runs is easy enough, he thought to himself. It's the surveillance I'm sure they've got set up everywhere that bugs me. I won't know what half the stuff even looks like. At least this way it just looks like I'm shopping. Harmless enough.

As the mage virtually attacked the paper with a quill, his thoughts stopped short of another pressing thought.

...I guess this is just what they have showing too. All these organizations probably have all kinds of aces up their sleeves for any huge kind of threat. How am I going to get any info on things like that? Maybe mindreading?

The Signomancer sat there in silence for a bit, updating his maps, patrol schedules and the like, simply lost in thought. Seemingly too much so to likely notice anybody approach until they were right in from of him.

[Cyber Punk]

[Ninja sniper yada yada]

Luna huffs and disappears into a cloud of lightning, where she'll go and meet her teammates and what not.‎

[Morty]

[MERC Office]

The small MERC office, founded before the groups big entrance into Skyside, is rather unassuming. Nonetheless, Sam's barging in is met with a rather swift response. He'll find several guns pointed at him, as well as a large Asuran golem bearing down on him.

"Hold it right there and state your business," says a bald, tattooed dwarf almost as broad as she is tall, holding an impressive double-barrelled shotgun.

[Deathkeeper]

MERC office

Sam looks at the dwarf with more annoyance than anything else.
"My friend's bleeding out. I need to hire your medic. Or at least buy a potion." Sam says, after a small snorting sputter. Everything feels off, but maybe that's the concussion talking.

[Morty]

[MERC Office]

The guns are lowered and the golem steps back. Someone barging in, looking for medical attention, isn't uncommon in Skyside.

"Right. Someone help him carry her in the back. Let our team have a look," the dwarf says. They'll present Sam with the bill later.