Skyside 7: The Big Pizza in the Sky

[Shadowcaller]

SPAAAAAACE!

The tech-priestess uses the opportunity whilst the mortals are reloading to crack open the servitor, revealing the ammo bay for one of its stormbolters. She'll take it out, and hand it to Minerva. It probably holds five hundred shells, and is very heavy. The priestess is only able to hold it because she's augmented her arms and shoulders, and replaced her legs with a magnetic repellor system. "ZX-Þ89 no longer needs this, and you may need it. I'd take the stormbolter as well, but it requires wiring to a cerebral system to fire and we do not have time to install it." And they lack the facilities to cut Minerva open so she can replace an arm or two with it.

The Patriarch is executed before it has a chance to jump out at Minerva and the others as they pass. Even if they don't burn it, their aim is to destroy the ship.

"It is not far, now. It won't take us long." Unless Minerva or Zee have anything to do before hand, it'll take them five minutes before the tech-priestess and her servoskull stop before what is, apparently, a blank wall and chant binharic opening codes at it. The wall slides open and reveals beyond a control room, filled with the scent of old incense and holy oils, a large, grimy window makes up the far wall, and the whole chamber is slightly but significantly irradiated. There's several control panels, but no actual buttons or levers; she hovers over to one of the control blocks and the wall on the opposite side of the corridor opens, too. Beyond isn't a train station, just the monorail line itself. There's a train there, but no platform.

[SPAAAAAAAAAAACE!]

Zee is probably not going to bother with burning any bodies. They are, after all, in a hurry.

Gotta get out of here before the ship explodes on them.

She really has no idea how big of an explosion we're talking here, but judging fro the size of the ship probably really REALLY big.

After all, this space ship is...

Well.

Comparable to how big she is at this point.

It was definitely bigger than she was when she first started on this little escapade but she has had AMPLE time to grow since then.

Is putting on that much weight so quickly healthy?

Zee's got no idea what is considered 'healthy' for an empyrean she has mostly just been flying by the seat of her pants. She knows that she has been accruing power at a pretty startling rate and that's probably why someone tapped her to head back to the Nexus. The price of a Bronze Host empyrean being able to wander around the mortal world *awake* is astronomical. She should probably try to figure out who footed the bill, and why...

Anyway!

Blowing stuff up.

"Get the countdown rolling and let's blow they popcicle stand," Zee declares in a suitably action hero-y way.

[SPAAAAAAAAAAACE!]

Minerva would be opposed to be cut open anyway, being something of a purist when it came to implants. Regardless, she isn't about to just accept a weapon held by a xeno without question, even if it appeared to be of an officially approved pattern. She had at least seen pictures of stormbolters even if she had yet to even be close to someone holding them. "I might use it's ammo." She declares once she has taken a moment to study it.

Then she's going to continue on while keeping the weapon a distance away from her.

Once they arrive at the station she looks around. "Anything I can do here?"

[Deathkeeper]

Approaching a Hotel

Krayger folds his arms thoughtfully.
”He is in fact a blue piggish fellow. He’s pig enough he doesn’t like cooking pork. I mean, I get it. I tend to avoid steaks.”
And dairy, but that’s also because being able to digest milk of livestock animals is kind of a human thing. He can handle cheese at least.
”He’s been single for as long as I’ve known him. You’re free to ask him out if you wanted to. He’d be flattered.” Sam did seem to get his confidence very suddenly a few years ago…

[Ironsmith]

[Approaching a Hotel]

"I'll add him to the list." Rose replies. "Might be able to slip him in next month, provided this all goes smoothly." She pulls put a notepad and writes "Sam (the chef)" near the bottom of the first page. If Krayger cares to look, he'll notice his own name is also there, along with a few of his coworkers; Olvisin, Dipsnig (with a large question mark next to it), Zaalmin, Astrana... it looks almost like she's written down everyone she's run into since joining MERC.

[Earl of Purple]

SPAAAAAAAAACE!

It's not a xenos gun? The stormbolter was mounted to a defence servitor that died as a result of the same thing that killed all the humans on the ship.

"Help the militarum onto the train, if we're taking them with us. If not, stand in the corner and try not to touch anything. Say a prayer to the Emperor, too." Her mechadendrite snakes out and plugs into one of the consoles, and the Gunners will climb onto the train. It's quite a step, since the train usually stops at a monorail platform but there isn't one here. The monorail is a metre off the ground, held up by steel posts, and the train's doors are a little higher still.

Klaus's Minibus

"No. Don't want anything from cowards like you. Didn't even have the guts to look Trapper in the eyes as you shot him." Probably the Gnome's name. The former driver doesn't smile back, though he's probably thirsty and in pain from his broken arm. He's trying not to show it, though. Whatever Klaus wants with him, the slaver knows it's not going to end well for him- so he's decided to try and make sure it costs Klaus as much as possible. In effort, in distress, everything he can cost Klaus, he'll try and cost that to Klaus. Except apparently food and medicine. It hasn't occurred to him to accept because then he's potentially depriving Klaus of such, but given the nature of the HotBox it's unlikely one prisoner will make an appreciable demand upon his supplies.

[Deathkeeper]

Approaching a Hotel

Krayger leans back in his seat, enjoying the cushion. Even if the chair is a little small for him.
"For the record, Dipsnig's married." he says quietly.
"And the receptionist Valerie is Astrana's wife." he adds.
He's not sure about Olvisin. They've never spoken so he isn't aware of any dates that might have occurred.

[Ironsmith]

Klaus's Minibus

"No. Don't want anything from cowards like you. Didn't even have the guts to look Trapper in the eyes as you shot him." Probably the Gnome's name. The former driver doesn't smile back, though he's probably thirsty and in pain from his broken arm. He's trying not to show it, though. Whatever Klaus wants with him, the slaver knows it's not going to end well for him- so he's decided to try and make sure it costs Klaus as much as possible. In effort, in distress, everything he can cost Klaus, he'll try and cost that to Klaus. Except apparently food and medicine. It hasn't occurred to him to accept because then he's potentially depriving Klaus of such, but given the nature of the HotBox it's unlikely one prisoner will make an appreciable demand upon his supplies.

[Klaus's Minibus]

"Oh, good. Then you're healthy already and we can begin immediately." Klaus smiles and moves over to the workbench, picking up a device that resembles a penlight. "You see this?" Klaus holds it up for the driver to examine. "This is a little device called a subcutaneous scalpel. It was invented by Doctor Naomi Goldstein, about forty-seven years ago. A tool for fighting skin cancer. It picks out the resonance frequency of skin tissue and amplifies it, separating it cleanly from the body. It has the benefit of leaving all those little nerves and capillaries in the patient's body untouched, allowing for the removal of wide swathes of malignant tissue with minimal risk of long-term damage to the patient. With proper anesthesia, it's a life-saving procedure. Doctor Goldstein earned an award for it."

He gives a small smile. "Of course, we have no anesthesia here. Well, we do, but you won't be receiving any. So." He clicks the device on and caresses it over the driver's uninjured hand. "Rules are simple. As long as you're not talking, this little beauty stays on. When you are, I turn it off. And when you tell me everything I want to know, I'll kill you." He wags his finger mischievously. "And not a moment sooner! So, best be cooperative, yes?"

Approaching a Hotel

Krayger leans back in his seat, enjoying the cushion. Even if the chair is a little small for him.
"For the record, Dipsnig's married." he says quietly.
"And the receptionist Valerie is Astrana's wife." he adds.
He's not sure about Olvisin. They've never spoken so he isn't aware of any dates that might have occurred.

[Approaching a Hotel]

Rose shrugs. "I know." She says, totally nonplussed by this information. "I'm just not sure how proper it would be to get too chummy with the boss. And that aside, Dipsnig doesn't seem to be the friendliest sort." She pauses a moment, before realizing he might have misunderstood the purpose of the list. "I know this probably looks like a little black book or something. You know, a bang list." She shakes her head a little. "It's... not quite that. More of a general social calendar. People I haven't spent a good night with yet."

[Deathkeeper]

Approaching a Hotel

Krayger nods as if he knew that already.
"Well, for the record then: Xun the cat likes beer. Sam will make fat and pig jokes about himself but doesn't like it nearly as much if anyone else does. If you see the satyr Jaahlyn she does odd jobs but do not take advantage of being able to make requests.

And you can pet the wolves but only on Thanksmas."

[Ironsmith]

[Approaching a Hotel]

"...only... on... Thanksmas" Rose mumbles, writing down what Krayger said. "...Ah, sorry. I'm sure this looks patently ridiculous." She says, flicking the notepad shut and tucking it under her shirt. "And it probably is. Well, you know, in a kind of mundane sense." Part of her wanted to tell him why she kept a such a list. And the rest of her thought it was a bit soon to be talking about something so personal. So she just sort of sits there, indecisively silent.

[Deathkeeper]

Approaching a Hotel

Krayger shakes his head.
”It’s normal to not remember everything you hear. I can’t see why writing things down would be ridiculous.”
Maybe writing down directions if you were a minotaur. They have very good senses of direction.

[Ironsmith]

[Approaching a Hotel]

Rose shrugs that off. If Kraygor didn't think her keeping a date list was peculiar at all, she wasn't about to force the issue.

Plus, they were getting pretty close to that hotel. She should be focused more on making sure they were going to be ready when they got there.

So, without further ado, she goes back to the parts she printed off, wrapping them up in a green canvas and hefting it over her shoulder, testing its weight.

Oof. That was heavier than she remembered. She should be able to manage, though.

[Recaiden]

[Tempest Row]

The vendor didn't expect Haia to be able to hit him very hard, based on a look at her. Seemed like someone who thought they could get by on audacity alone.
So he's knocked right over, sprawled on the sidewalk, and it takes a moment before he starts getting back to his feet.

Now that it's escalated to a fistfight (of sorts), passerby take notice. Some back away, others pause several paces off to watch.

[Rebonack]

[SPAAAAAAAAACE!]

"Honestly this has all gone pretty great so far. Really only one major injury on our side," Zee muses as she keeps watch, waiting for anymore foul xenos of which she definitely isn't one. "Could have been way worse. Whatever that toxin was, it was meant to kill anything human on the ship. Which meant the hybrids went down, too. And... everyone else."

She sounds disappointed that 'everyone else' is included in the list of casualties.

"If we had to fight through a whole cult of hybrids and the all the full blooded xenos that would have been rough."

Way more violence, for sure.

But more death?

She isn't sure.

How many people were on this ship? It's huge. How many died?

"I guess... they died to make sure the plague didn't spread. I can understand the sentiment."

She offers Minerva an apologetic look.

"This didn't work out quite as I had planned. We found a ship from your home, but... now we've got to blow it up. But don't worry! I'm sure with a little hunting something you can use will turn up."

[Ironsmith]

[Tempest Row]

The vendor didn't expect Haia to be able to hit him very hard, based on a look at her. Seemed like someone who thought they could get by on audacity alone.
So he's knocked right over, sprawled on the sidewalk, and it takes a moment before he starts getting back to his feet.

Now that it's escalated to a fistfight (of sorts), passerby take notice. Some back away, others pause several paces off to watch.

[Tempest Row]

By the time the rightly-furious vendor looks back at where she was, Haia is gone. She'd walked away, changing her cloak so she resembled one of the crowd instead. Her timing is such that the vendor is unlikely to be able to piece together what, exactly, just happened, but it'll be obvious enough to any outside observers, should they care to interfere.

If nobody does, Haia will make her way to a nearby alley before changing back, leaning up against a wall and looking around at her new surroundings.

[Earl of Purple]

Klaus' Minibus

The driver screams, and I think it's best to pull the red medical/torture curtain here. He won't hold out for long, not now he's been so effectively degloved.

The driver knows the basics of how the Guild is run. He's a driver, and an associate. He has a card that gives him a 10% discount in all their stores on the Street of Slavers. He reports to the head of convoys at Warehouse 2B, a hobgoblin named Urthwald the Red, who in turns reports to the Master of the Warehouse, a Thaylen man with long eyebrows and a name he can't pronounce, which is handy because he's only met him twice. He doesn't know who the Thaylen reports to. At the head of the Guild, there's the Council of Guildmasters. Nobody knows who they are, and anyone caught discussing who it might be is punished severely. Sparkles the Axe isn't in the Guild, and the driver doesn't know who she is. He really doesn't know who she is. If Klaus mentions the Dockside Danglers, they control a section of docks where they get supplies in and out from Groundtown; they don't have a spaceport, but nor have they tried to take the Guild's own docks. The Dockside Danglers have a habit of lynching people off the edge of the docks, hence the name. Big name slavers are Raodan the Reject, head of security on the Street, and Alecto Gildsdottir, whose father is the owner of a shop specialising in female slaves but who spends more time in acquisitions than the shop. Others he's heard of are Samanta Bilds, a human who runs the shop that sells male slaves, and rumours of a lion-girl of some kind in the shop for exotic individuals. This trip would have been his first time seeing if those rumours were true.

[Ironsmith]

[Klaus's Minibus]

When Klaus finally turns the scalpel off, it's long after he's stopped asking questions. He did appreciate the information, of course... he'll still be on the hunt for Sparkles the Axe, but now he has other slavers he can meet with.

But really, that was secondary. What he wanted, really wanted, was to make the driver suffer.

Not just physically, either. In fact, were someone else to look in on them right now, the readily-apparent physical damage would be minimal; the man would look like he had just recieved a really bad sunburn exclusively on his hand. It wouldn't be until he tried to use that hand that the true extent of the damage would become apparent.

No, Klaus was more interested in secondary psychological damage. Throughout the entire session, he keeps up his friendly, cheerful demeanor, offers the man small comforts in the form of food and drink, and even plays some relaxing music. The end result should be apparent to anyone who studied the works of Ivan Pavlov; Klaus was systematically taking away his ability to find comfort in anything. Any sweetness in his food, every gulp of drink, every soothing note or word, even the greetings of passersby would serve to remind him of his time here, helpless and in pain.

And if that didn't get to him, the next few months of infection and living with the disfigurement probably would. He'd have to handle any reminders that cropped up from that experience, as well.

Still, Klaus reasoned, it was no better than a slaver deserved.

When it's all over, Klaus cuts him free and leads him off the bus, releasing him back into the city. The man had, after all, not told him everything he wanted to know, so he wouldn't do him the mercy of killing him. Instead, he's going to let him live with the agony Klaus has set up for him.

"Until next time." Klaus smiles, waving the man away.

[5a Violista]

[-> Temple of Lead]

June goes towards the Temple of Lead, using the skirt's wheels to move around.

Of course, she hears the firefight before she can see it...but so far, in this town, hearing shooting doesn't seem to be that uncommon. It takes until she can actually see what's going on that she realizes it's actually nearby.

She backs up behind a nearby warehouse, to minimize her chance of getting shot.

"Hey, I think I'll be better off if I climb up," she informs those with her. "Then I could fly if I need to." Safer, more options, she'll probably be out of any likely line-of-fire from the firefight, and she could maybe even fly over it all and into the Temple of Lead.

She backs up a bit farther, looking for a way to climb up the warehouse nearest her. Unfortunately, she can't jump without legs, but she's still pretty great at climbing.
A pile of wood, a window frame, a damaged piece of wall, the roofing. She spots that out as a possible climbing path, so she goes towards it to start....
...The pile of trashed wood would have been easy to climb up with legs. With wheels and a mermaid tail, it's a bit harder. Still, after some exertion and using a chainlink fence to tip herself over, she manages to get up the wood, to the window, and up and up and up until she can get on top of the roof of this nearby warehouse.

Great!
Took more time than she had hoped, but she got up.
(Also it made her wish she had one of those magic grappling hook things that always show up in games and stories. That would be so convenient!)
Now she can see the firefight from above, to see if she can plot out a path into the Temple of Lead without going too close to the firefight, or getting spotted.

[Deathkeeper]

Approaching a Hotel

The hotel is a small, sturdy looking building off to the side of the road. It is plain and unassuming, with a HOTEL sign that doesn't even sport a catchy name.
Rose shouldn't have any trouble getting a room on short notice from the man behind the counter.
Even if she wants to get a single extra large bed for herself and her 'boyfriend.' The strict no questions asked policy should quickly clue her in as to why mercenaries like the place.

[Ironsmith]

[HOTEL]

Yeah, Rose knew the kind of place. She'll pay in advance for a room for two, for the next 72 hours. With their rates, that probably still translates to a lot of money, but thanks to her Hotbox, that's not really an issue.

As soon as they're in their room, Rose will find an empty space and dump out the parts she'd brought up; the necessary components for a sleeping pod. She'd find a regular bed to be horribly uncomfortable in comparison, and a cheap hotel's beds likely even more so.

[Deathkeeper]

HOTEL

If nothing else the room is shockingly clean despite being plain and with bare minimum decoration. The walls are unusually thick as well if Rose were to knock on one.
Krayger sits himself down on the bed and undoes the buttons on his shirt. He’ll keep it on for the sake of the disguise but he doesn’t feel the need to keep it up completely at this point.
”You know, if the bed bothered you that much we could have just gone to the nicer place.” he says, clearly incredulous at the lengths she’s going for this.

[Ironsmith]

[HOTEL]

"The bed would bother me either way." Rose replies with a shrug. "This is so much more comfortable. Like, seriously. You ever just get in a nice, warm bath and kinda just doze off?" She gives the pod a little tap for emphasis. "That's me every night. Something primal about it, I think."

She could be at this for a while. Rather than start up with small talk again, she decides to make more productive use of their time.

"So... what can you tell me about KABAL?" She asks suddenly. "I mean, if Dip wants me to find a connection, it'd be helpful to know what to look for." Almost a prerequisite, even. It's kind of embarrassing she didn't ask sooner.

[Deathkeeper]

HOTEL

Krayger crosses his arms as he tends to do when he’s thinking.
”They operate out of Seaside and are led by some goblin who seems to really detest Dipsnig for some reason. They have presence here too since our office got blown up.”
They’re still not sure what even happened with that one.
”KABAL is associated with some influential people. They’re rumored to be in with a warlock who lives around here. But they have no hiring standards so most of their goons are idiots.”

[Ironsmith]

[HOTEL]

"Well, consider that box checked." Rose smirks. "Hard to get more brain-dead than a literal zombie."

That's still a pretty tenuous connection, though.

"These 'influential people'... anyone I might have heard of?" She asks. "If they go hanging around that shop, that could be a hint. Maybe." She taps the side of her half-assembled pod, checking the fittings.

[Deathkeeper]

HOTEL

"The warlock's name is Tellysandra. But people love gossiping about her so don't believe everything they say about her. And if you see anything involving any of the cities and islands out in the ocean that's an indicator too, since their boss is from out there."
Krayger would probably not know how to feel if he knew how much of what Tellysandra gets up to isn't made up.

[Ironsmith]

[HOTEL]

"Cities and islands, Tellysandra, got it." Rose lets out a satisfied little "ah" as she finishes the pod, tilting it to its proper upright position and peeling off her shirt, tossing it into her Hotbox. "Anything else I should know?" She asks, fiddling with the box's display.

[Deathkeeper]

HOTEL

Krayger shakes his head.
”You’re the wrong person to ask. I’m muscle and engineering and magic on the side. You want to ask those kinds of questions of people like Dena.”
And he learned the magic because everyone seemed to be looking for Dena and Astrana and not the not-so-dumb muscle.
It’s not really true of course, but it’s what he thought.

[Recaiden]

[Tempest Row]

By the time the rightly-furious vendor looks back at where she was, Haia is gone. She'd walked away, changing her cloak so she resembled one of the crowd instead. Her timing is such that the vendor is unlikely to be able to piece together what, exactly, just happened, but it'll be obvious enough to any outside observers, should they care to interfere.

If nobody does, Haia will make her way to a nearby alley before changing back, leaning up against a wall and looking around at her new surroundings.

The street vendor steps back in, looking to actually hurt her this time-
And she's not here.
The bystanders disperse without bothering Haia, since it seems there won't be much excitement after all.
So he's got to go back to work.

The alleyway, it's got your ordinary alleyway stuff. Trash bins, miscellaneous barrels, air conditioners, undead vagrants hiding in cardboard boxes, little ramps where trucks of medium size can unload their cargo, one-way doors, rusted fire escapes, a puddle of water that's bubbling like a boiling pot, etc.

[Earl of Purple]

Klaus' Minibus

Torture happens, and the driver is broken. He just did a job, driving vehicles for the Guild. He didn't even interact much with the cargo. Still, off he goes, and Klaus really should now start consider moving from here. If he makes it back, then the Guild will probably be able to find him and their absent property.

In a few months, the driver's probably going to jump off Skyside. Everything will remind him of the trauma- unless, of course the Guild's mnemomancers are able to excise or block the memories from his brain.

Temple of Lead

Samantha and Fifi are also adept climbers, being a squirrel and a cat respectively. They'll help June if they can.

She might be able to reach the ruined warehouse that housed the Temple of Lead, yes. There's a three-wheeled Scarab lorry, an antique, with a long trailer. Some rubble's landed on it, but the trailer is still intact and gives cover right up to a metre from a door. There's no cover for that metre, but if she can get there then it's only a metre and it's unlikely the shooters will take notice. The gunfight seems to be over the boxes that are scattered around, some of which are full of bullets.

Alternately, June could fly over; there's enough aerial traffic that if her shadow is noticed it's unlikely either side will think it more than a shuttle passing overhead to or from the spaceport.

Alternately, there's another warehouse on the other side of the Temple of Lead that almost touches it. If the can get onto that one, they'll be able to see into the ruin- although it would require a longer journey, since it's on the far side of the firefight. They could probably detour through alleyways and such to get there, however. Hopefully that warehouse isn't too heavily guarded- most of them are.

[Ironsmith]

HOTEL

Krayger shakes his head.
”You’re the wrong person to ask. I’m muscle and engineering and magic on the side. You want to ask those kinds of questions of people like Dena.”
And he learned the magic because everyone seemed to be looking for Dena and Astrana and not the not-so-dumb muscle.
It’s not really true of course, but it’s what he thought.

[HOTEL]

"I'll have to shoot them a text, then." Rose replies, digging her phone out of her pants before discarding them. "Is there any more you can tell me? Anything else at all?" She taps out a message for Astrana on her phone, not looking up at Krayger, seemingly unperturbed by the fact that she was now standing there in her underwear in front of a man who was practically a stranger to her; not for the first time, and very unlikely to be the last.

The street vendor steps back in, looking to actually hurt her this time-
And she's not here.
The bystanders disperse without bothering Haia, since it seems there won't be much excitement after all.
So he's got to go back to work.

The alleyway, it's got your ordinary alleyway stuff. Trash bins, miscellaneous barrels, air conditioners, undead vagrants hiding in cardboard boxes, little ramps where trucks of medium size can unload their cargo, one-way doors, rusted fire escapes, a puddle of water that's bubbling like a boiling pot, etc.

[Tempest Row]

Haia lets out a confused hum, looking over the alley. How had she gotten here? She couldn't remember. And her surroundings were somewhat paradoxical in of themselves; boiling water on a mild day, zombie hobos, and so forth. This was a rather disturbing place to suddenly regain lucidity.

For that matter, where was Hunter? She'd lost track of her and her own location. How was she going to find her back?

Klaus' Minibus

Torture happens, and the driver is broken. He just did a job, driving vehicles for the Guild. He didn't even interact much with the cargo. Still, off he goes, and Klaus really should now start consider moving from here. If he makes it back, then the Guild will probably be able to find him and their absent property.

In a few months, the driver's probably going to jump off Skyside. Everything will remind him of the trauma- unless, of course the Guild's mnemomancers are able to excise or block the memories from his brain.

Klaus's Minibus

Maybe so. Fortunately, he had scouts picking move-in locations even now, and while the guild might be able to get a location from the broken man, his current state should also send a clear warning; do NOT cross Klaus Quire. It doesn't end well.

[Deathkeeper]

HOTEL

Krayger is currently nonchalantly looking up at the ceiling. His bovine head makes it clear where he's looking at least.
"Not my wheelhouse, I'm afraid. Anything I can tell you would be steeped in riverside politics which I know you don't know about either. You can just search their name yourself, though. They pretend to be a regular business like us." He definitely seems to be politely not looking at her. Though he does finish ditching his shirt if she is.

[Ironsmith]

[HOTEL]

"We can go over that in detail tomorrow, then." Rose says, pressing the disposal button on her Hotbox. Seeing Krayger's reaction, she decides to mess with him a little and takes a seat next to him, following his gaze up to the ceiling. "...See something interesting, beefcake?" She quips.