Skyside 6: Return of the Cheddar

[Hattish Thing]

[Olympian Extractions - Investigation]

A few seconds later, the shuttle arrives.

A small and painfully nondescript man in a ratty gray suit operates its controls. With a beleaguered smile upon his unremarkable face, the man reaches over to pop open the shuttle door nearest to the pair. "Golly, I must say, I am so sorry for the wait." He makes a point of checking a large watch worn around his wrist. "Would you look at that! Already behind schedule!" He chuckles nervously before patting the cushioned seat beside him, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead. "Not a problem, not a problem! Just get on in, and we'll be right on our way, won't we!" The man wipes away the sweat of his brow before rubbing his hands together. "We can talk on the way!"

Assuming that Reed settles into the front seat, the man in the suit offers a sweaty hand to shake before glancing towards Carlie. "Oh, um - there's room in the back, plenty comfy!" At that, the shuttle-operator will tap hard at the pedal, causing the shuttle to rocket forward towards the factory. "Again, on behalf of Olympian Extractions, I must apologize profusely."

"The high-hats are mortified, understandably so. This sort of thing never happens. I hope you don't think differently of the company."

---

[Drug Bust]

Oh no. This looked like it was going to get violent again.

Was this just how these people operated? Larza spends several moments staring blankly before Zee addresses her, breaking her out of her stupor. "Oh, uhh - yeah."

"Just... well, yeah."

[Lord Magtok]

[Olympian Extractions - Foreman's Office]

The burly woman behind the desk offers a sideways smile towards the cyborg before reaching into her desk and retrieving a small, bronze device. "Yeah. Sure do, tough guy." She sets it down upon her desk before pushing it forward. It shines in the light, an exquisite half-disc whose blades are lined with greek letters. "I know where you're going with this, honey." She leans back in her chair, licking her bloated lips as she does so.

"Go on and finish, though. Take it as a gesture of good will, yeah?"

"I know you know where I'm going with this. You have something of a reputation, Ms. Megs," he points out, before sliding one of his fingers into the waiting cigar guillotine. One of the fingers on his right hand, which would be flesh and blood if this were not merely an extremely convincing and well-constructed drone being operated from afar.

"First," he starts off, pointing a finger skyward before unceremoniously lopping it right off. It's a right bloody mess, exactly what you would expect from a stunt like that if this were the real Magtok, and not merely a very convincing simulacrum. I guess he went all out synthesizing authentic blood and guts for this body. "If you're really aiming for all of Skyside under one banner, I'm going to want, pardon the pun, my cut. I want Slave Street. All of it, or whatever's left of it after it gets bought out and/or beaten to a bloody pulp. No rules, no strings attached, just me and the most degenerate row of buildings in the Nexus, to take down or take over as I see fit."

"Second," he announces, placing the first finger against his gums as he readies the cigar cutter's blade for the next one. "My family, home, and the other clones, they're all off-limits. I'll leave a phone number and a handful of other ways to be contacted; I don't want to see anyone from here near my home again."

"Third, fourth, fifth," he calls out all at once, snipping each finger one after the other and wrapping them up in a handkerchief. "I changed my mind; I do want a suit. I'm going to need to know what M.H. stands for at some point, and I didn't really have anything in mind for the fifth demand, maybe a nice office?" He shrugs, and reaches a hand out to adjust his cigar, before realizing he doesn't have any more phalanges left on that hand to hold it with. Whoops.

[Shadowcaller]

[Drug Bust]

Minerva scans the building, fully expecting them to be able to spot her and the group from quite far away.

Even in Skyside they kinda stood out. Sisters of battle weren't exactly too common (unless they were heretics and in that case they could no longer be called sisters).

She then turns to what she assumes to be the two locals of the group. "Can these 'joy' people be reasoned with if we tell them the same thing we just told you?" She inquires. "Or do we need to fight our way through?" Minerva doubted it but even heretics and heathens could be made sensible if threatened with their own demise, at least for a little while.

While she wouldn't mind offing some more heretics she had to consider the wider scale here. This planet was full of them so she couldn't draw too much attention to herself before she had established a proper base to work from. Besides, she'd run out of ammunition eventually.

Slave Street- Meeting the Guildmasters

The eyes shift focus from guildmaster to guildmaster as they speak though Jaahlyn is keeping an eye on those who don't speak. Their reactions were usually more interesting.

"Peace is indeed good and I believe he would be quite interested in your wares as beyond their usefulness it would also grant him peace. I think you all would rather want to see the exchange of goods and favors rather than bullets and bombs, yes? Indeed, I can think of other things I could arrange with Arkant." The grin of the face grows wider.

"See, I happen to know the reason he needs your wares is since he needs test subjects and those subjects could actually increase in value once he's done with them. So what I'm thinking is that he buys your wares and then gives you back those that he considers successful. Your split the profits made from selling them and everyone benefits even more as you would be able to sell a new kind of product. Normally, powerful wares are difficult both to obtain and control as I'm sure you're aware. Not only will you have to pay an increased maintenance cost but so will any interested customer which can turn people away. But the wares Arkant will produce for you will be made to be controlled. So no increased cost of obtaining them, no increased maintenance aside from perhaps food and water, and little to no chance of them escaping. Sounds interesting, no?"

The eyes seem to look between the guild leaders. "So I will speak to Arkant about this arrangement and then I can tell him to come here, or wherever you want the meeting to be, so you all can meet him. Thus there won't be any need to argue about these details and you will be on your own turf. Sounds fair?"

Manor Lab

Telly smiles at Nora and shakes her head. "Please, as with everyone here Ahri had had to go through the standard background checks too. I know there's nothing that dangerous in her past so you can relax. Once she's released from this curse it should all work out perfectly." She does seem rather unconcerned, taking yet another sip of coffee. "So with that said, is there anything else you require me for or can you two work things out yourself from here?" The archwarlock looks between the two.

[Hattish Thing]

[Olympian Extractions - Foreman's Office]

The foreman leans back in her chair as Magtok begins, a sideways smile plastered upon her face. "Do I, now? Well that's jake, honey." Ms. Meggie chuckles, spittle spraying onto her stained desk. As she wipes her mouth, blood spills upon the rusted panels beneath the pair. This, she did not expect - mortals were usually so protective of their mortality, after all. Her brows raise as she sits back in her chair, noting the small puddle of blood forming below, courtesy of the seeping severed digit. Just another stain-to-be among a sea of similar stains. If the stains could speak, what would they say?

Ms. Meggie takes in the cyborg's requests with a satisfied expression on her face. A new suit? Some crumbling roadway?

His demands were... almost disappointingly mundane. "That's your price? Your reward for aiding us in bringing about our bright, new future?"

"A future I know you've seen. Imagine, honey, if you would - a boot."

"Stamping on a human face."

"Forever."

[5a Violista]

[Olympian Extractions - Investigation]

Carlie gets in and quickly sits down.

She holds her hand out to shake the sweaty hand. It feels...sweaty. "We take equal blame," Carlie says. "To be honest, we should have called yesterday to confirm. That would have prevented this whole debacle."

She gestures down at her pregnant belly. "But...I was a little distracted. I apologize."

[Morty]

[Olympian Extractions - Investigation]

"It is best to put this unfortunate mix-up behind us and get on with our examination," Calm Reed says in an assured, soothing tone. If they put this man at ease, he may tell them something useful. "And we would rather not make hasty judgements in any event. All in due time."

[Hattish Thing]

[Olympian Extractions - Investigation]

The shuttle-operator chuckles nervously as Carlie mentions sharing the blame. "Well, that's real nice of you, ma'am. Afraid it'd do me no good, though!" There's a pained smile there as he continues to drive the shuttle forward. "Ms. Meggie don't like excuses, mix-ups, nor delays. It's my fault, you see. I must have - must have really bungled things up, second time this month." He sniffs loudly before reaching a hand up to loosen his tie slightly. "Not that it'll matter much to you! From what I've heard, this is just a routine examination, right? Well that's just swell." The man sighs before pulling his fraying, double-breasted suitcoat tighter around him. "I really, genuinely hope everything's up to your standards. I... really do." It'd be on him if they weren't.

He breathes in shakily before properly introducing himself. "I'm Schmidt, by the by. Foreman's assistant, so you won't need to remember that or anything. Just didn't want to be rude." After several moments, the slow-moving shuttle winds around the back of the enormous, multi-structured factory before coming to a sudden stop before what appears to be a loading dock. The air is thick with black dust, and all around the dock, coal-smeared workers load truckloads of coal into dented carts. There's not a smile to be seen. As the shuttle engine winds down, Mr. Schmidt glances back towards the pair, focusing on Carlie. "You need some help out, ma'am? I'd offer a respirator, but masks aren't allowed on refinery grounds."

Mr. Schmidt exits the shuttle before gesturing towards the pair to follow him up a rickety flight of stairs.

"Right this way, ladies."

[Earl of Purple]

Drug Bust

"Followers of Joy are scum, even by Skyside's low standards. They could be reasoned with, but I'd not trust them. They make drugs that encourage docility, but the side effects include brain damage. Eventually, those who take it- and that's most of the workers in sweatshops and brothels the Followers run- die because they forget how to breathe, or swallow. Anyone wearing that F, they're a full ganger. The rest probably won't pose much threat." Because of the docility drug. The guards supervising them are to ensure nobody steals the goods, not to stop them from running away. "I'd not bet on this solving our problem for us. He's here to buy stuff, right? That argument could be over value of goods." The gunslinger reaches into her coat and pulls out a hand-crossbow.

The argument continues, but neither the Cultist nor the Followers are reaching for their weapons. Everyone present is, however, armed; the Cultist has a pistol and an axe, whilst the Follower he's arguing with has a sword. The Follower is shaking his head and has crossed his arms.

Slave Street Meeting the Guildmasters

"I say we- wheeeze- meet him at the least. Peace- gasp- is profitable." The other Guildmasters nod in agreement, although the feline Guildmaster has something to add.
"Perhaps we should nominate one of our own to meet this Arkant, rather than invite him to us. A show of goodwill and trust, that we're putting somebody important in his trust. I nominate for this task the operator of MALE." The short Guildmaster and the bulky one that hasn't yet spoken nod, before the wheezy one shakes his head and disagrees.
"We send- gasp- Alecto. She is promising, and all here- cough, cough know her. Give her this chance, see if she is more coughing ready to take over GIRLS in full." This gets more acceptance, amongst the group. As I'm finding it a little tricky keeping track of all the Guildmasters, and am not looking forward to doing this again.

[5a Violista]

[Olympian Extractions - Investigation]

Some things Mr Schmidt says catches Carlie's attention.
There's the way he sounds so invested in the outcome of the inspection.
But, more importantly, the way he seems so personally worried.
The guy's worried he'll be the one disappeared if things don't go well? Or something like that.

"I'm Carlie," the bunnygirl says, introducing herself. Getting out of the shuttle herself, she says, "Thank you for the offer; I don't need any help yet but if I do, I'll make sure to ask you."

She follows him to the stairs, but then decides to ask him something that might lead them closer to their goals. "You said second time this month," she says. Second time that he messed up. "If I may - what happened the first?" If there are previous mess-ups, then it'll be good for inspectors to know just so they'll be confident it was already taken care of.

[Morty]

[Olympian Extractions - Investigation]

Calm Reed's thoughts run along similar lines as Carlie's. This man is obviously very concerned about the results of an inspection. Losing his job is likely threatening enough for him. In this cesspool of a city, he would wind up on the streets with no support. But maybe there is more to it? She focuses her attention on him, reading his reactions and non-verbal cues. What is he truly afraid of here? Is he being honest with them? Her perception is strengthened by her supernatural Essence, flowing over him like water sweeping the sand away to uncover hidden stones, holes and things buried.

[Hattish Thing]

[Olympian Extractions - Investigation (Factory Floor)]

Mr. Schmidt glances towards Carlie and offers a pained smile, his hands wringing together as he murmurs a quiet response. "Oh, just a - um. Well, a schedule mix-up. A security contractor from the city below, I reckon. He was kind, he was." There's an awkward exhalation of air before the man steps forward, leading the pair up two levels of wrought iron staircase and onto a metal balcony. "You'll want to mind your step, handrails give way fairly easily. Lovely view of the loading dock from up here, though." He produces a small iron key before pressing it into the balcony door, brushing rust off of his hands as he pulls at a battered handle.

As the iron door creaks open, Mr. Schmidt steps on inside, his dress shoes clattering against the iron walkway beyond. He'll turn back and gesture for the others to follow, wiping sweat off of his brow as he does so. "Alright, ladies. Right this way." The inside of the factory itself is sweltering; the handrails themselves are slick with condensation. Below, scores of coal-smeared workers clad all in battered vests and sweatstained cotton topshirts haul carts of coal across the factory floor while other, slightly better dressed men (and women) operate huge steel refinery-mechanisms.

Enormous iron walls separate this factory floor from other, identical areas - four in total.

"If you've trouble breathing, say so now. It only gets worse."

--

Spoiler: Calm Reed - Perception

Show

1. There's sweat on his brow, and his hands. He's nervous, but he's honest.
2. His left hand is bandaged, a finger appears to be missing. It's a recent wound.
3. He's trying not to panic, something is definitely troubling him.
4. This 'Ms. Meggie' entity seems to utterly terrify him.
5. Perhaps she has something to do with his missing finger.
6. A punishment, perhaps?

---

[Drug Bust]

Larza blinks a few times, her cat-like pupils narrowing as she glances towards the goods.

"Wow, I bet that's..." Dollar signs, for sure. But could she get away with a handful or so while the others are busy?

[Lord Magtok]

Olympian Extractions - Foreman's Office

Spoiler

Show

[Olympian Extractions - Foreman's Office]

The foreman leans back in her chair as Magtok begins, a sideways smile plastered upon her face. "Do I, now? Well that's jake, honey." Ms. Meggie chuckles, spittle spraying onto her stained desk. As she wipes her mouth, blood spills upon the rusted panels beneath the pair. This, she did not expect - mortals were usually so protective of their mortality, after all. Her brows raise as she sits back in her chair, noting the small puddle of blood forming below, courtesy of the seeping severed digit. Just another stain-to-be among a sea of similar stains. If the stains could speak, what would they say?

Ms. Meggie takes in the cyborg's requests with a satisfied expression on her face. A new suit? Some crumbling roadway?

His demands were... almost disappointingly mundane. "That's your price? Your reward for aiding us in bringing about our bright, new future?"

"A future I know you've seen. Imagine, honey, if you would - a boot."

"Stamping on a human face."

"Forever."

Magtok scowls, trying his best not to look too taken aback by the foul woman's bold proclamation. Is she...no, she couldn't be. Ms. Meggie is not the sort of person who'd read Nineteen Eighty-Four. Hell, I would be genuinely surprised if she reads much of anything at all. Maybe a small stack of filthy harlequin romance novels hidden away in her desk, but classic dystopian literature? No way, she ripped that quotation right out of his head. She read his goddamn mind somehow, which is especially impressive because this drone body doesn't even have a mind to read. It's just acting on signals broadcast from the live Magtok hundreds of miles away. Clearly, this entire game was rigged from the start.

"So you want me to ask for a softer boot, then? You think I'm stupid? Should I demand your terrified assistant's freedom, or permission to design a set of fingers for him that you can't make him eat? Please," the cyborg scoffs, pointing what used to be a finger at the foreman. "I've been around for a long time, Meggie. If I start making those kinds of demands, you're going to twist them around so all my bleeding heart projects do more harm to your huddled masses than you were already doing on your own. If I want to put on a cape and play superhero, I'll do it on my own time." Preferably, while Meggie's entire world is burning all around her, begging for help as VIGIL or Zee or whoever the new hero people are hold her down and repeatedly gut-punch Ms. Meggie until there's nothing left to punch.

[Rebonack]

[Drug Bust]

"Always sunshine and rainbows in Skyside," Zee sighs.

Geeze.

This place is really lousy.

She's still kind of wishing that her initial plan for the day hadn't been completely waylaid by Minerva, but at the end of the day thwarting potential doom events takes pretty high priority.

"Okay, it would be pretty dumb to go diving into the middle of this," Zee reasons. "We can lay low and bounce on our cultist friend once he's out of the gangers' territory. Otherwise we're risking a pretty significant firefight. Minny could probably handle it with that armor but I doubt the rest of us would fair that well."

That's a dangerous prospect, Zee.

Using nicknames for sisters of battle?

Madness!

"Unless someone else has a better plan?"

[Hattish Thing]

[Olympian Extractions - Foreman's Office]

Ms. Meggie is quick. Her eyes narrow and flicker in the dim light as embers would - no, coals. "Cat got your tongue, honey?" She licks her lips as she crosses her tattooed arms over her chest. The chair beneath her creaks under her weight. "Oh, I ain't telling you what to do, big shot." The foreman leans forward at this, belching forth a cloud of cigar smoke. "Ain't my job, after all." She glances towards the puddle of blood. "I'm just making sure you acknowledge what little value you assign to the lives of your fellow man."

"It don't bother me none. But you? Guess we'll see, honey."

--

At that, she'll clear her throat.

"Back to the business at hand. We've been chattin' an earful, and I've backs to break."

"Schematics, give me the run-down. How long you need, doll?"

[Earl of Purple]

Shopping Trip Miri, Benedict, Arron

Benedict's skeletal horses gallop through the air to reach the flying city, pulling his ornate coach behind them. After they arrive, they stop in a rather large bazaar, not far from the Street of Slavers, and Benedict opens the door and disembarks. He's wearing a black suit, like he usually does, elegant and well-tailored, with a red silk cravat and a domed bowler hat on his head. At his waist is a curved sabre with a bone hilt, hanging opposite a polished chrome revolver with runes etched into the grip. His coachman, a hulking figure wearing a less elegant suit and with a bronze mask bolted to his face, stays on the coach.

Arron is a pale-skinned young man, about nineteen or twenty, with large watery blue eyes and short blond hair. He's wearing a moth-eaten burgundy robe over an old, stained white shirt and a battered pair of jeans. Resting on his shoulder is a skeletal drake, with no flesh on its bones and soot-stained fangs. He looks around rather nervously, and has an old pistol and a chipped kitchen knife tucked into his trousers. "This bazaar is very interesting, with a lot of different things of very interesting provenance and ability. It's also very safe; the merchants here bribe the gangs to keep violence out- except that violence inflicted upon those caught stealing. Go, spend the money I gave you in the coach." A heavy purse of gold coins was handed over, one to Arron and one to Miri, during the flight. "I'm going that way, for goods not available in the bazaar. I'll meet you back here at lunch time."

[Recaiden]

Miri didn't know the horses could do that - run along the air. It's an unusual feeling.
She does her best to watch the route they're taking, landmarks to recall mnemomantically. It helps her remember; she's been to Skyside before, in another life. And off that way is the Syde, and the old Town is back in that direction.

Miri is wearing her jacket, you know, the one that's so much too big for her? The sleeves have to be rolled way up. The pockets have been filled with things she owns (or has pilfered from Benedict's house, anyway): a book containing Mildred Beaulieu, a couple potions, a leaden wand that slows things and makes them heavy, a collection of notes about her past in case she dies without losing the jacket or something, a jar full of poisonous herbs, etc. Miri herself still looks like a rather small woman with short golden hair, a small set of antlers on her head, and skin that hasn't seen much light.

There's a couple somethings wrong here. But amidst all the sensations of the bazaar, she doesn't notice it yet.
There's things like metal money. How quaint. But fun! Clink-clink-clink!
Look at all these people! She had forgotten the variety of the world, seeing only humans in the manse.
Look at all these things! Time to explore the bazaar.

[Shadowcaller]

[Drug Bust]

'Minny'? Zee earns a pointed glare from the sister. Not that she might be able to tell as she's still using her helmet.
But judging by what the gunslinger said it sounded like they were dealing the usual criminal scum. Turned out they were largely the same even outside the imperium.
"Minerva. She starts by correcting Zee before turning to the others. "But we should spread out a bit in case our target chooses to leave through some other exit. Scouting this building out while we wait and then split ourselves between each exit is should work as long as we keep up communications. Since I stand out the most I'm going to hide here and keep an eye on the front. The rest either stay here with me or circle the building to find if there are any alternative exits and then report back. Then we just sit back until they come to us."

Slave Street Meeting the Guildmasters

((Scenes with more than one character get quite tricky after a while, yeah. The ideal number of NPC/PC's controlled by a player remains to be one.))

"Excellent, so what should I tell Arkant now that you've agreed to meet up with him?" Helios inquires in a soft tone while his eyes from each guild masters perspective seem to be looking right at them somehow.

Jaahlyn is still standing silently at the side, waiting for the meeting to conclude.

[Earl of Purple]

Drug Bust

"He'll come out this way. That's got to be his vehicle they're unloading there. I can't see anyone else who could be the driver." The workers have slack expressions suggesting they're on the docility drug, and the guards are too obvious guards, not drivers. "They're still unloading, so I guess they've bought his cargo, or they're stealing it. But he's here to buy, as well. Right? They've got a ship from space, they want to fill the holds they're emptying." It might be a while, then. Though there's only a few sacks left to take off the cargo vehicle.

Slave Street Meeting the Guildmasters

So long as none of the Guildmasters get the sense he's able to see them under their mask and robes, it doesn't matter who he's looking at. Raodan rather gave away his position in the beginning, and most of the people here have been on-screen before- if not as often as Raodan the Reject has.

"Yes. Send word to the security office about the meeting, Raodan shall pass word to this august body." The yellow-robed speaker has forgotten to change the pitch of his voice, so Jaahlyn at least can probably tell it's Raodan- if she hadn't guessed at the beginning.

Shopping Trip

There's a lot of things here. Nearly everything, in fact. From the clothes and technology that wouldn't be out of place in a street market, to magical items, weaponry, drugs and more. Arron is very interested in a stall nearby selling shoes, with a wide variety of trainers and boots on offer. There's food stalls, drink sellers, a street bar selling glasses of alcohol, and many other things. The one thing that isn't sold at this open-air bazaar, however, are slaves. There's several blacksmiths selling branding irons and torture gear, a man selling collars, leads and cages, with three 'models' advertising the styles available with collars and shackles binding every part of their body, and a man selling bits of corpse- dentures made from real teeth, books bound in human skin, flutes made from bone- but no actual slaves are sold here. Benedict is going to where slaves are sold.

Some things that Miri might find of interest- a stall selling coats and jackets, different sizes and styles; some might fit her better than her current one. A witch wearing black robes selling a variety of minor curses, mostly in the form of trinkets and fetishes- apples, perfume bottles, and so on. A man wearing a ballistic vest selling a variety of guns. A woman offering ID of various sorts- Riverside Driving Licences, MERC licenses, Inside ID documents and the rest, all fake and of varying standards. A lanky blue-skinned vedalken selling magi-tech devices and trinkets, and a large frog that has a pawn stall, buying as well as selling.

[Hattish Thing]

[Warehouse of Payne]

A shooting star falls over Skyside.

Wait a moment, that's not a shooting star at all! It's descending too erratically, too strangely!

It's true, this is no shooting star. In fact, it is a shuttle - a battered, broken hunk of metal strapped to several rockets.

--

The inside of the shuttle is barren, consisting of several uncomfortable chairs assembled beneath railings fitted with straps. Dozens of green canisters are connected to some kind of rig built into the walls of the vehicle. There's a cockpit, but most of the controls have been stripped and sold for parts. A lawn chair bolted into panels beneath serves as a pilot's seat. Within that seat, Dr. Valiance taps absentmindedly at the controls, hardly concerned with the fact that the vehicle appeared to be actively falling apart mid-flight. Its engine had been overclocked, soaring through the sky at speeds that this particular model of shuttle was never meant for.

In short, this was highly dangerous.

As Dr. Valiance pilots the vehicle, he glances back over his shoulder towards its other occupants: his new friend Anika, his assistant Felicity, and one of his drones. "You guys okay back there?!" It's hard to hear him over the sound of screaming metal, so he's forced to shout.

"Here, you'll wanna have some of this! Making contact in like, uhhh... Five minutes, maybe?!""

He tosses back a flask of strong alcohol.

Spoiler: The Shuttle

Show

[Recaiden]

Miri could really do with a pair of shoes also. It's worse not to have shoes that don't fit than shirts, so she's just been doing without shoes this whole time. I think she's going to follow Arron over there, and get a pair of light boots, and socks to go with them.

A coat that actually fits might be nice. Although she does have a sort of sentimental attachment to this one. There's no reason she can't have more than one...

She actually did have a Eastside drivers' license at one point. There's just the moderate difficulty of getting it reissued.
She doesn't remember ever being good at using a gun. Would probably just hurt herself somehow or other.

Sooner or later, though, Miri is going to end up at the vedalken's magi-tech stall, pointing out various things and asking what they are.

[Earl of Purple]

Warehouse of Payne

Felicity can't hear Val as he speaks, but she's fine. Probably fine. Her skin is blackish-grey, like scorched wood, and her eyes are dark. She's shaved her head completely bald, even her eyebrows, and she's wearing a metal chainmail shirt hanging to her knees over a black jumpsuit. She carries with her a few technological gadgets Val gave her- a respirator, which she's not wearing yet, a kinetic-to-electric force converter that can explode, and a shock baton.

The shuttle smashes into the front of Payne's warehouse, collapsing the front wall and part of the roof. The shuttle's rear is resting on a bed of gravel and cracked tarmac that was the road outside, whilst the front is partly buried in concrete and corrugated tin from the roof. The good news is they've managed to break in, and as the front half of the warehouse is used to give the serums to people, they've not caused any damage to the things Val wants- the lab area in the back is beyond the reach of the destruction. Inside the shuttle, Felicity groans and unbuckles herself, checking herself over. She's bruised and battered, and it feels like she may have broken a rib where she was thrown against the straps holding her in place, but she's not bleeding anywhere, which is good.

The bad news is they've been spotted. On the roof, a man wearing a plastic pig mask and a pair of trousers, with a rather scrawny chest open to the chilly air, flashes as his flesh turns transparent and his bones glow with blue lightning crackling around the outside, before he gestures at the shuttle and sends a bolt of lightning at the crashed vessel. Outside, a man is running forward, taking off his own shirt. As he runs, he grows in bulk and he twists his head, turning it both directions at once and duplicating his face so it overlays itself, disguising his features. He moves his arms out, too, and they spit into two more arms, even as he grows until he stands nearly three metres tall with four arms and covered in slabs of muscle. Inside, an aluminium statue of... possibly a cat-headed woman, possibly a woman wearing a cat-mask, hard to tell, is pushing her way out of the rubble, holding a baseball bat of the same material as her body. Deeper inside, a morbidly obese man with a paunch sat in an office swivel chair is pushing his way toward the lab space at the back as fast as he can; he wears a too-tight white lab coat, but no mask.

There should be another guard, too, but they are nowhere to be seen. Felicity said they could create a force-field that made them invisible, and that they- unlike the others- used guns.

[Rebonack]

[Drug Bust]

Boy.

Minny sure sounds scowly.

"I can probably scope out the general area without being noticed if I need to," says the woman who is basically too loud and exuberant about everything. "Do you think you might be able to sneak in there a bit closer, Larza, find out what they're arguing about?"

Possibly steal some of their stuff?

She likes steal stuff, right?

And she hasn't gotten a chance to steal ANYTHING yet!

Which is tragic.

[Shadowcaller]

Warehouse of Payne

"WOOOHOOOOO!!!" Anika shouts excitedly while waving her arms as if she had been on a theme park ride as the shuttle descends.

The fact it was falling apart was probably intentional so she wasn't nearly as concerned about that as she should be.
"Yeah!" She then shouts back, clearly having the time of her life. She could have flown here herself with her falcon form and already had done so in the past but then she'd miss out on this cool shuttle ride. A one-in-a-life-time experience!

Somehow she has also come out of the whole experience unscathed too out of what must be sheer dumb luck and her greatest concern appear to be to figure out how the seat belt unbuckled. "Man, that was so cool." She exclaims as she finally gets it to work and looks around the scene they've found themselves in. "So... what are we doing now, guys? Just going in?"

Slave Street Meeting the Guildmasters

"Very well then. I will inform him of the arrangements then." He pauses, not able to look through any disguises technological, magical, or otherwise but anyone under his gaze might still feel as if he knows more about them than they're comfortable with.
"But before I go, I will offer my services to you as well. Is there any information you're especially interested in obtaining? I figure an organization such as yours would have use for the kind of intel I'm specialized in providing."

[Hattish Thing]

[Warehouse of Payne]

Dr. Valiance is similarly enjoying himself, clearly in his element. "Alright, here we go! Ground friggin' zero, baby!" As the shuttle starts to angle downwards, he forces the propulsion system into overdrive, causing it to rocket towards the warehouse at an astounding speed.

There's a cacophonous crash as it smashes into the warehouse, creating a small crater! Windows shatter down the street, and alarms go off.

It's sheer, bloody chaos.

"HELL YEAH!"

--

The shuttle is silent. Then, music starts to blast from speakers built into its outer walls. Its loud enough to shake the walls.

Inside, Dr. Valiance unbuckles himself. "Alright, ladies. Respirators on." He makes sure that his own mask is fully active before pulling a nearby lever. "Alright, we got the sound, now let's get some LIGHTS up in here!" The instant the lever is pulled, arrays of high-intensity lighting panels built into the shuttle activate. The lights pulse for several seconds, likely blinding anyone unfortunate enough to be looking towards the shuttle at that moment.

"Now for the best part. Bee, make us an entrance!" Dr. Valiance's drone starts to disassemble a nearby wall with a built-in laser tool. Meanwhile, Val slams his fist down upon another button. This will trigger a chain-release of the dozens of canisters stored within the shuttle. Sure enough, foul paralytic gas starts to seep out from the shuttle. Its a potent formula, and there's more than enough to completely encompass the warehouse after some time has passed.

Once an entrance has been lasered out of a nearby wall, Dr. Valiance will point forward.

"Now, Ani! Lead the charge!"

---

[Drug Bust]

Larza practically salivates as she focuses in on the product ahead. Once Zee mentions her name, she snaps out of it.

She blinks once or twice before nodding enthusiastically. "Sneak up? On those guys, psh. Easy." She snickers, a somewhat sinister expression forming upon her impish face. Was this permission? Permission to cause problems? Goooood. Goooooood.

--

At that, Larza reaches for her belt and retrieves her grappling hook.

She casually aims it at a radio tower rising up and out of the ruins of a nearby building about thirty feet upwards. The hook connects, and she's off, soaring through the sky like a bat out of hell. Once she grapples onto the radio tower with the aid of her magnetic gloves, she'll perch there for a few seconds.

A single large, pierced goblin ear perks up. What were they saying down there?

[Earl of Purple]

Warehouse of Payne

Felicity can't hear the instruction to put her mask on, but since nothing yet seemed to be on fire, she puts it on. Hopefully it provides some way of dampening the sound of Val's choice in music.

The four-armed hulk of a man is blinded by the lights! But not for long, as he closes his eyes, twists his head back into a single face, then twists it back so he's got two overlapping faces again. Two of his eyes are blind, but he's got two duplicated eyes that are not. The paralysing gas, however, quickly takes affect and he slumps to the ground. Might be an idea to keep an eye on him; Felicity noted he can regenerate, so he might recover quickly. The chap on the roof stays out of the cloud longest, and directs several blasts of lightning at the shuttle. He doesn't get too close to the edge of the roof, however, so his ability to actually hit the attackers is limited. The aluminium woman has finished pulling her way out of the rubble, and stands ready with her baseball bat, waiting for someone to appear she can try beating.

Inside the warehouse, the obese man on his office chair has fallen off it and rolled onto his back. He's shut his eyes and opened his mouth, dislocating his jaw and stretching his cheeks so it opens unnaturally wide. His belly ripples as he forces something out of his throat- a squat, toadlike monster with purple skin covered in creamy warts and boils. It moves towards the shuttle by jumping, propelled by powerful rear legs. It doesn't appear affected by Val's chemical, and worse- Felicity didn't know Professor Payne could do that. His ability to vomit up monsters like this isn't something she could warn her compatriots about. And another is forcing its way out of the paralysed Professor's throat, too.

Slave Street Meeting the Guildmasters

"Most of us have some... Individual interests we might appreciate knowledge on, but I think the most important things we as a group want to know are if and when any of the other organisations of the Nexus will be acting against us, and possibly where we might find areas with a great need for slaves and limited current supplies." The yellow-clad Raodan is head of security, and that is primarily a security issue.

"Tell me- gasp how to summon you. I... wheezing cough know someone who would be interested." The obese man hooked up to the medical machinery starts to have a wracking coughing fit after speaking.

Shopping Trip

Arron's distracted by the witch selling curses, and he's trying not to let her convince him to buy one. It's possibly not working very well, judging by how interested he is looking at a silver hand-mirror bearing the curse of vanity- it subtly alters the reflection of those looking in, so they see themselves as more attractive, whilst magnifying personality flaws like cruelty, jealousy and so on.

The vedalken has a great many things, from a small glass vial filled with magical power ('Guaranteed not to blow up! Probably') that can be used to power the other gadgets on the table to single-use golems and constructs powered by such a battery, typically small things. There's a wand that activates machinery for three minutes, even without another source of power or a key or other thing usually needed to activate the machinery. There's a brass and jade brooch that absorbs magical attacks, though the stone is destroyed if it absorbs too much too quickly. An elegant copper rod ending in a shard of amethyst, with three brass buttons; one shoots a beam of telekinetic energy from the rod whilst it is pressed; anything in its grip doesn't get closer or further, but is moved; one shoots a beam of telekinetic push; one generates a beam of telekinetic pull- the telekinetic potency depends on the amount of magic fed into the rod as it is used, and it is very expensive. There's a magic-powered cybernetic hand of brass pistons and polished unicorn ivory. A pair of glasses with diamond lenses, allowing the wearer to see lines of connection. Finally a magical copper serpent that sticks to wireless communications technology, improving its signal, range and battery life.

[Lord Magtok]

Olympian Extractions - Foreman's Office

"Back to the business at hand. We've been chattin' an earful, and I've backs to break."

"Schematics, give me the run-down. How long you need, doll?"

"Two months, if we're doing this cheap and dirty. Three months minimum if you want to splurge and let me build something I can be proud of," Magtok answers, before going into some additional detail about resources required, the kinds of lethal and non-lethal weapons he'd be putting on the giant spider robots, potential storage issues that might come up if some of the security forces are meant to be kept locked up when not in use, and describes a number of aesthetic options for what he's deemed 'the infantry,' with choices ranging from mechanical Roman centurions with laser spears and riot shields to steel-plated Pinkerton strikebreakers with automatic taser rifles. With the way he pulls out hologram after hologram of his designs, you'd think he came prepared and set all of this stuff up in advance, but he's actually just making it all up as he goes along. The hologram tech is simply at a point where Mag can conceive of something in his head and have a relatively believable 3D image of it available a few moments later.

"-and I can show someone how to work the holograms, but that'll take a brain implant and maybe a week of training. It can't generate anything bigger than six feet high, and the moment someone sticks their finger in it, the illusion is ruined, but fires, light shows, a charging pack of hungry street dogs...anything you want people to think they're seeing, they'll see," he explains, bringing up a flashy example of just about everything but the dogs. Whatever his humanitarian concerns might've been a few minutes ago, they've all but vanished now that he's had the chance to talk shop.

[Shadowcaller]

Warehouse of Payne

There was a complication here.
While Anika had practiced putting on the weird mask on the way here, and she did put it on when asked, the mask was still made for a humanoid. Thus it would be useless for her as a bear or in any of her other forms.
She realized all this the moment Val told her to charge in so she would need to avoid getting gassed herself unless she wanted to just charge in as a humanoid.
As usual the solution came pretty quickly to her.

Once she turned into a bear in a cloud of green energy she employs some of the limited spellcasting she could use while in this form by invoking Ursol, the ancient bear spirit itself, to cause a typhoon wind to blow in the direction she was facing. As it was powerful enough to knock anyone standing in front of her back several feet it would also push the gas away from her and further into the warehouse while she charges.

She's heading straight towards the obese guy as she assumed everyone else was under his command. Thus they would be forced to focus on stopping her than anyone else.

Slave Street Meeting the Guildmasters

"Summoning me couldn't be more easy compared to most rituals I've heard of. Simply make a circle, draw it, or make it of whatever material you have available like sticks or even a hula-hopp if you're feeling frisky and call out my name while having some idea of who you're calling on when you use it. Though an important factor is the drive and desire you have. Simply thinking of me won't do anything, you need to want something from me. Still, remarkably easy wouldn't you say? You all saw what Jaahlyn here did, and it's just that simple." Helios smile widens.

"But the information you need is something I can easily get for you. Why don't you summon me in say two days at this time and I shall have something ready for you. In exchange I simply want information from you and [a moderately large sum of money]. The price might change depending on unexpected difficulties but it should still be within that range. Does that sound like a deal to you?"

[Drug Bust]

"He'll come out this way assuming someone haven't already spotted us and warned them. My order are well known among xenos of his kind so they would figure out what it means." She looks to Zee and Larza. "But even if that's not the case, as we've shown no signs of it, scouting this hive is still a good idea just so we know what we're dealing with. Thus, you should go ahead. I will remain here out of sight."

So she will essentially find something nearby that she can hide behind and wait there.

[Recaiden]

"That sounds really useful." Miri says of the magic absorbing brooch, picking it up. And it'll need a vial of magic to go with it?
And the copper telekinetic device could do all sorts of things...but probably that's too much gold to spend on it? Who knows when she might need the money?
Better just get the brooch.

Then Miri will be off looking at other stalls again.
Maybe something better to write on than spare paper from the library?
And probably she should catch up with Arron. Eventually.
They have till lunchtime? That's kind of a long while ,given how early they set out, isn't it?

[Earl of Purple]

Drug Bust

The gunslinger and the girls will stay with Minerva, with their mismatched weaponry of guns taken from the cultists and pistols taken from inside the gunslinger's coat.

Larza can hear them, though she's a bit far away. The bald man has already sold his original cargo, now he's trying to negotiate how much he's buying from the Followers of Joy. He's asking for an equal weight in drugs to the stuff he sold, primarily explosives, and they're saying no because they could get explosives elsewhere and he can't get their drugs anywhere else. They are backing down, however, and an agreement seems likely- and soon.

Slave Street Meeting the Guildmasters

"Deal." The word is repeated by each Guildmaster, once around the room. Unless Helios has other business, they're likely to dismiss him and Jaahlyn next.

Shopping Trip

The brooch doesn't need a magical charge to work. In fact, adding one would make it work less effectively, since it would have absorbed the battery already. They do have quite a while, yes. Though travel time has to be subtracted, so it's maybe an hour or two till lunch. Depending on how close to midday Miri wants lunch, really.

There's other stuff Miri might be interested in! A gnorc selling gemstones of different colours, with a glowing blue butterfly in a jar on his table. A hagraven selling potted plants, most of the poisonous and some considerably more dangerous than merely 'poisonous'- immature mandrakes and snapdragons, yet to develop their full power, as well as a glowing nirnroot. A man selling paper, books and scrolls, filled with magical knowledge- though the way his eyes catch the light and the fact his mind is very well protected might suggest to Miri that it's a disguise.

[Recaiden]

That's even better, then!

Miri finds herself drawn to the gemstones.
Not sure why.
"What's this one?" she asks, pointing to the butterfly.

A snapdragon might also be interesting, but Miri doesn't even know how much she doesn't know about plants