Xinnidy

After finally leaving the brief questioning of Sylmaria behind them, Owen returned with the other three, to immediate questioning by Tasha. "Hmm, she was sent by Kazran, Captain. She made an attempt on my life, but faltered --not exactly the most stable person, with all that was drilled into her skull. Knowing that she's being used by Kazran under the threat of a friend that remains in his power, I took some pity." He forced an awkward smile, "I understand the risks, her magic seems a touch above what I understand, but her claims of that friend seem true enough, and having a card to play and make a foe put their arms down is worthwhile. For now, she stays, while we can afford to supervise her." Hopefully easier done than said, but Owen was hoping it was manageable enough by Tio and Elisa, he was getting a bit spread too thin... "Oh dear." And quickly enough, Sylmaria got in conflict with another Clouded, which quickly led into an argument and less than pleasant words thrown at each other, Owen tensed up, but thankfully it didn't devolve into a fight --rather, Sylmaria's pride was hurt and now Tio had come to her side. "Seems like the Evoker has more skin in this topic than I expected... if she ends up being too much trouble, do warn me." "Eh? Uh..." Üllr took a bit to answer Nyx, in part because it took to understand her accent, and in part because he was not at all expecting to answer the matter of himself and Iris there. "Mmm, I am happy to fight with Iris, and also help people here. Stuck alone for too long, it's not good. Here I can do more, change, and punch people that hate me without worrying." He smirked after that last bit, "It helps me. Also have more to talk and train, so I'm glad I joined." And now that she'd thrown the comment, Üllr was curious enough to throw it back. "Do you have a reason to fight, Nyx?"

"Hmmm... a long time, then, makes sense." Üllr was pretty satisfied with the answer. Nyx had been pretty natural with the bow, and with her, which was to be expected, but her quickness was still beyond what he expected from a trained soldier. "Joined a group before the Tigers?" It seemed to be what she meant, and was what Üllr took from it. She definitely belied the experience. "Uh... I learned to punch hard from grandpa. It's all I do. Even when I ate less, it all went there." He did a little flex, throwing a fist into the air. "'Punch again and again, until it's natural.' That was the start..." It's been a while, reminiscing on his old man's techniques. "Owe a lot to that."

"Tch." So that was no android, from the sounds of it... the thought of two heavily modified humans to give their android pause was alarm enough to cut some ideas --no point taking gambles when the house was that rigged. Our best option is to disengage and give chase in ways where we avoid confrontations on foot... what a situation, the brass thinks really highly of me if they thought I could guide so many fresh recruits through this one.

Bonner watched the group's feelings on the meeting mellow out as the elevator descended. He wondered whether he could part with additional words, but maybe it was best to let Sia acclimate to her role slowly. Bonner wasn't about to accidentaly undermine her authority like some others, no, these were growing pains he'd need to let her resolve. Guidance only when asked. It was best to keep his mind unoccupied, after all, which allowed him to grab his sidearm quickly once they met the 'chief of security' and were greeted with a gun trained on Sia's face. How great, just the kind of trouble to add onto their first meeting. "Hannah, explain the danger's nature." Bonner understood enough of the android's security measures, as well as took heed of the threatener's taunt, to figure something they couldn't outright see was putting them at risk. It was odd how certain they were about the situation, too, with numbers on their group's favor, including an android... What card did these terrorizers have up their sleeve to start with this threat? "Hm." Bonner couldn't add to the fire, it was time to leave the dialogue to Sia... his firearm for now trained on the mostly ignored element, the armored android of some sort, though Bonner could barely see a chink in that armor to aim at. Would that be the danger?

"I see, I'll keep it in mind. Thank you for giving us the time, Miss Avyndor." It figured that the attacks were coming from outside the moon, or an underdeveloped section, but Bonner figured it safer to confirm it from the head woman herself. With that and a couple other details cleared, the group bid their farewell for the following meeting, one floor down. "You did good, Captain." Bonner offered a bit of praise, figuring it important. It was Sia's first foray into these, after all. "We've already got some leads, but it can't hurt to get the chief of security's take." His thoughts were already on the CEN facility mentioned. Perhaps they'd hear more of the parts there.

Üllr had matched Nyx's spar request with chakrams of his own, deciding it best to match her at range, for the purposes of matching with her bow properly. "Ghh!" It was a good lesson at how different handling a bow wielder was. There were no swings to react to, and an arrow flew fast, a completely different trajectory to keep in mind with each one. Thankfully, it was nothing that could leave lasting damage, but it stung. Seeing Nyx distract herself halfway through the battle was a little insulting, however. With a growl, Üllr dropped his chakrams to charge with a finishing punch to her gut. "Don't take your eyes off!" She was a decent match, arrows hurt a lot, but he was still coming out on top by an okay margin. "Strong, hit hard. Can't dodge you well." His assessment was still mostly positive --he tried to not let that last bit get to him. "How long have you used a bow?" In the short span of time that Owen had recognized the odd woman, she approached with an ominous look and an audible crackle --residue of a spell or such?--, and before he could realize what was going on, she collapsed on her own tears. "What..." His blood ran cold as the others joined, surrounding that woman with questions and concern. It was clear now that it had been an attempt on his life, one that failed, with plausible reasoning given by the foxlady that tailed the Tigers. Owen didn't rightly know what to say, eyeing the woman as she rejected the Clouded and clinged to humans, something that seared a pit in his stomach as he thought on it. Owen had never expected, in his little life experience, to see a self-hating monster or Clouded. Of course they would exist, and of course... Kazran would try using one such as a tool. "Let's... let's take her inside." Owen's voice shook, doing his best to not stutter in the gravity of things, his heart still beating fast. He eyed Tio, Elisa, and the others. "I'll, I'll follow you. I am human, after all. And... I understand it's not the safest for my preservation, but I wish to understand this one." A big favor, but Owen was certain that, if she came for him, he owed something to the situation.

"Hah. Somehow, I could picture you chasing someone around the world rather than binding them here, sister." Owen smirked at Cassandra, "But right now we've got our hands well tied. Let's see to it that our land doesn't suffer more of Kazran any longer." He followed along after the two, glad to watch 'Leon' in action. "My thoughts exactly." It didn't take long to arrive, the noise of their commotion was distinct as they walked out the entrance, with more than just the one fight he expected. "My, it feels like a true group training session... I pictured it a bit differently, but it's nice to see your team's commitment, Commander." Quite a few faces he'd learned of recently... a couple Tigers he hadn't the chance to talk to at all, and a curious pale monster, the kind he'd never seen before. That was intriguing... "Is she one of yours?"

"Huh...?" Üllr wasn't expecting Nyx to call him for a sparring match at all, but it's not like he was against the idea --he'd never back down from a chance to spar, after all. "Yeah, sure... and good luck to you, Alriana." Seemed like she had a plan of her own, asking Versaris to spar. "I... don't think that is what it's about, Iris." Üllr couldn't let her little speculation go, as much as she was enthused about these texts, as he found out... "Okay, Nyx. Get ready, basic weapons." He wasn't about to bring the knuckles to a spar...

"Tch, we got company. We'll just have to mow through them." Seeing the bandits approach was annoying, since gaining ground from the soldiers was ideal, but then again, it was probably easiier to pick them off if they just put themselves within her line of fire. Raz holds, fires arrows at bandit 2.

And another night came, an advantage for mostly Raz, who'd made full use of her sight to scout ahead. Still, the density of torches meant it was a group problem, and so she waited for the rest to take the first move before following suit. "Agreed, the bridge is not a good option right now." Rivane's idea of taking point was just fine by Raz, who took the cover of trees for the moment. Her wings were capable enough to provide aid if something went awry, after all. I really dislike that they were just ready for us... it couldn't be... Raz to (14, 17), bow equipped.

"Hmm... I see. It's good that the Tigers are this capable. Lets me focus what resources I have on my own forces, but don't be afraid to change your mind during the trek. Surely Kazran won't be ready for this... but I can't be sure." One problem solved, continuing his list. Owen had a lot to handle still, but slowly the list was becoming less intimidating... and hopefully would keep that way until the fated day. It was still hard to think things were so in reach... but Owen couldn't let that spike his anxieties. He couldn't afford to fumble, either. "Hm... I am busy, but I could spare some time, provided rounds are quick. I admit I am most curious to how he performs." Considering the man's true nature, and how it related to Islexia as a whole. "One or two matches. I'll spectate this long." Couldn't completely shirk off duties regardless... "Huh? Oh, Iris... yes." Üllr was more there to wait for his chance rather than watch others, but it was about to start, and he'd rather not miss a chance to learn the big shot's fighting style. "I want to watch some--Hey," Iris had already moved off to spectate, and Üllr did his best to follow behind her, throwing Aly an awkward nod as he followed Iris.

Üllr had arrived a bit late, for a training day. The past couple days had been a lot busier in different ways, leaving the wolf boy to ruminate matters of the mind rather than the body. Between strengthening his bond with Iris, and retreading his grandfather's memories, Üllr was a decent bit more aware of the rest of the group as he finally arrived, casting a conscious glance at the others. "...I'm not late, am I?" Mumbling, he eyed Jeremiah as he stepped closer, very curious as to what nature the training would take. Üllr understood Jeremiah's strength enough to look forward to it. "Mmm... hey, Alriana." Seeing her a bit removed from the rest of the group, Üllr had little qualms approaching. "They didn't start yet, right? Do you know what it's going to be?"

It seemed like the CEO was intent in ceding as little ground as possible, looking at the crew with a few sharp remarks after niceties were abruptly broken. Not good for either of the two, best to keep an eye on them whenever we're in her facilities. For all the talks of autocracy, she kept the matters compartmentalized enough that they'd be dealing with another --the head of security--, to gain more information... and it'd be nice if she could part with more information about the missing assets. Louise and Sia were already pressuring her on that, so Bonner kept to himself, reflecting on their next move. "If I may, for as big as Callisto is, it's still in a stage of terraforming, and entirely in your jurisdiction. You, or your chief of security, would have good guesses about where these rebel elements keep their base of operations, yes? Or, are we to suspect they're not from this moon?"

"Corsairs." Now that was bold, enough for Owen to take a pause. It... certainly was not the kind of resistance Owen expected to be mounted against Kazran, but the man's absolute lack of diplomacy skills did make it more believable than not. Now, to mess with the hornet's nest so thoroughly that they were turning to Eslcas for help... "I knew he was casting his net wide, but to see all the people that dislike Kazran --even the big Belrose himself not bothering to move a finger in aid--, it's quite something." Tasha seemed to have some willingness to work with them, partisan sensibilities withstanding, but at least she had the sense to defer a final word to him. "Well, unlike your concern with Glacies, I can't expect corsairs living close enough to Kazran to have disputes to never have attacked Islexian vessels. They wouldn't be much holding to their name otherwise." His tone had flattened, knowing the situation afforded little misteps. "...I'm going to have repercussions one day, when it is known that I'd worked with such. Still, between your arrival and everything more, I'd also be a fool to let this momentum go. We'll be hitting Kazran with far more than he'd ever expected of me. I only hope your comrades can appreciate my willingness to work with moving forward, Roxanne." Internally, Owen struggled to suppress his moral concerns. The ends were just, and he certainly wouldn't be the first warlord to negotiate with corsairs. Perhaps it was a matter of maturity... Owen was surprised Graham was as amenable to the idea as he was. It was effectively praise coming from him. Perhaps Miredy and Jane had touched a soft spot for the man... but still, all was acknowledged, at this point, leaving just enough time to greet his sister and her guests. "Good to meet you, Ser Aegean, and yes, Cassandra. We've got another group willing to help us... I believe they'll be providing their own ships, or do I need to account for it?" Owen turned a quick glance at Roxanne, before facing his sister again. "A lot of work cut out for me regardless... heh, just a day ago, things seemed far more delicate..." "Mrr...?" Üllr blushed, not expecting such a forward question from the shopkeeper. Then again, with Iris there, he should've known... "No.. I am getting clothes for myself." Üllr awkwardly picked the couple changes of clothes he'd decided on when Iris went up to him and made quite a suggestive... well, everything. What was this girl learning. "Ah... uh, okay, uh..." This was different from what he was used from her, for sure. Confusing... and something else he didn't fully understand. "I will say. I also got some clothes." He hadn't fully grasped fashion, but his need for more clothes, with the wear and tear of their trade, was a decent motivator. It was good to have something he could avoid using on the field, so it wouldn't get torn easy. "W-well, you do strike a figure, and alchemy isn't an awfully populated field, so-- well." Chris replied fast, trying to deflect, poorly, as Bella did the unthinkable. She teased the poor nerd. Chris finally had lost his train of thought, tail shot up in some form of surprise. "Ah, w-well, I guess Cassandra will have to tell him later. I hope she does. I, don't want Nita pulling my ear today." Chris had regained a sense of composured as she leaned back to normal, throwing a furtive glance to Ren which spoke a thousand words as Bella examined the platform. Somehow Chris didn't expect her to keep laying it on thick afterwards --well, much like with her curves, thick was an understatement. "Ah? Ahahaha~" With the nervous laughter of someone who'd been played, Chris turned beet red. "I-I'm flattered. I don't know if I match up to your level of expertise, honestly. Well, runes and alchemy aren't so different but, ah, one field is notably younger. S-Still, I can try to help with whatever seems feasible, I--" Chris didn't know what to say at all to her last sentence... almost not parsing it out of disbelief. Nervously holding the hem of his skirt as he tried to answer. "P-Practice? W-well I'd hate to hurt you --I mean, I doubt I'm a stronger mage, by far! I just, uh... it'd depend on, uh." What did she mean by this?!

"Well, Lady Vallena, it is as the commander said. If you have a force twenty strong, we are willing to work together for this goal." It was an interesting turn of events, all happening at once, as well... "Your plan to attack Kazran... is fairly similar to an idea that was brought up. I'd like to know more about the forces you represent, if you may." Everything was lining up incredibly. Another faction that was attempting to deal with Kazran? But knowing the powers of the surrounding lands, this could not be an official army, which could only point to a few possibilities. This deal could be more complicated than it seemed in the surface, and Owen was certainly intent to dig out the details his own way --too much had to go right for their plan already. "We have passing understanding of the landscape where Kazran is currently staying, but you sound a bit more intimate with it." Üllr was a bit anxious watching Iris bring that piece of clothing to the storekeeper, still grasping with the fact she would wear so little willingly... then again, he was never a fan of wearing a lot himself, preferring the freedom of movement, so maybe it was like that. "Hmm..." Üllr really didn't know how to pick clothes yet. He'd barely had a change of clothes to his name so far. Maybe a couple more shirts? Pants were options as well, but it really made dashing towards enemies awkward... shorts were the definite way in his mind. "Eh?" He'd found a rack of lighter vests, it didn't seem to be feminine or child garment, but they were open --or at least could be worn open, maybe that'd be worth a try, too. Now what was Iris planning with that shopkeeper... "Mmm... I don't see why that would differ. If you're human and can use magic here. It makes sense your magic agrees with runes... unless they make tomes and staves differently in other continents~ I'd love to hear about your home, now that I think about it." Ren's faux pas led to a little train of though churning in the inquisitive kitty's mind, a little chuckle gracing them as Chris hopped off the platform. "Well, nothing else to it. I suppose. Mounting weapons on it is a bit of a hassle, so I'd maybe show you later if you were interested, but for now it'd be a bit too much time spent. So yeah, maybe we could--" Quickly, a visitor had graced them, one Chris was not too familiar with, but was not unfamiliar with. "A-Ah! Hello... Belladonna, Alchemist, right?" As far as he remembered, yeah, that was the woman with the outrageous figure right in front of them, "W-well, I ended up being late to the meeting, but I did talk to Lady Cassandra once I was here! She told me I was to help the Tigers in the attack... so I came here to figure out how much I need --they don't have free carts to haul my everything, you see." Speaking as quickly as usual, he twirled, a tiny flare of the skirt, and waved a hand towards the general direction of where a pile of detached gadgets and launchers were. "I'll only need my part, but still need to account for everything... I take it Lady Cassandra did not pass it on to Lord Owen..." He sighed.

Entering the office and being greeted by the CEO's speech was a bit familiar. Bonner figured these types wanted to endear and keep as curated an image of their dealings as possible, but a tactic as centuries old as this one was bound to be handwaved... Bonner decided hanging at the back of the group was more natural for a first attempt, better to keep his presence low --even with his name certainly far from lowest profile. The ambassador handled the situation as expected, and the captain... was unceremoniously cut off by Fujiwaru, Silvavolke, and later Lieutenant Park trying to rerail the conversation to one that better balanced the aggression of the matter. It was a little painful to watch how things had started off so strong, especially with the power balance not being to their favor. The CEO had every reason to cut things short, and with any tact, the ambassador would be playing overtime to stop that from happening. Thankfully, the Captain came off strong at the interruption, and she had every reason to. Superficial appearances were paramount to these meetings, and handling her subordinates was pivotal. For his part, Bonner kept his ears tuned and his eyes unfocused, a hand to his chin as his gaze seemed nowhere. He didn't want to make his presence more prominent after such a start, but maybe it was time for his maturity to help the tides against an abrupt end. "Captain Silverwind speaks true of our unit's organization, as well as our intent. The CEN was concerned enough to assemble us, but, to be upfront, our authority does not grant us untoward access to classified information. This makes the intent clear that we are to work with AHI, and a solution that serves both parties is heavily preferred." That'd be enough from his tongue for now. A bit too forward, but hopefully a gamble that'd reassert the CEO's feelings. With a soft, trained smile, Bonner kept to his position at the back, arms crossed.

"Hmm..." Still being in the comms while Vhane and Fujiwaru spoke was a neat insight, but nothing worth inferring further. To Bonner, it seemed like the two were learning to cope with the situation similarly, hopefully a constructive bond. Now, even with his interest in gossip, it was in poor taste to read into further. "Roger, Lieutenant." [im so ready to kick ur ass u dont even know bitch] Esther was, perhaps predictably, susceptible to the bait, her target as she walked out of the hangar shifting from the meeting room to the sims. [catch ur dumb ass in the sims] The scenery was as expected... truthfully, Bonner would be counting on his expertise to keep anyone safe. Compared to Han4 and Fujiwaru, his physical capabilities weren't to par... but he could hold his own with a gun just fine. He'd been in enough operations to know when a company was being fickle, even though, largely, the CEN was expected to kiss their boots. Let's hope it doesn't come to any conflict. The city was certainly depressingly industrious, not a place he could imagine living willingly. Form over function, to a fault. Likely not even that affordable a cost of living, he'd wager. Entering the building was about the change in scenery he expected. Institutions like AHI prided themselves in their own brand, they wouldn't settle for anything less in a main building. Seeing the back and forth between Park and the android was amusing, at least. He could tell there was an attempt at ulterior moves there... it would be fun to see how that'd develop, with Park definitely not being the only one to eye the captain. Juicy developments to learn down the road, maybe. Fun stories either way. "It's very unlikely we'll need stairs. Not on this building, you can count on it." Not if everything was going to plan...

"Ugh, sorry, mechs. Won't happen next time." With even the ground crew focused on getting her HEX's parts replaced quick, Esther put on the sweater she kept by her cockpit seat back on and kept walking, hoping to just was this bad taste off her mouth with some distraction. "I'll figure out a different loadout, if you want to pull those weapons out. Will try to go lighter. Keeping the crane arm, though, that helped." Esther's gameplan went from kills to efficiency, something she didn't think much of during simulations --she could just go full aggro in those... "Haah..." And of course, more messages buzzed her comm, opening up to... more viv shittalking, eliciting a good long sigh. [still not seeing you help us out here. i got my shots FAIR AND SQUARE] "Ughhh... video games." She was going to take the enrichment where she could. "Stupid viv..." "Ah, the first feeling of live fire... take your time, it's never easy." Offering some condolences, Bonner watched the two HEXes. "Some time away from your machine will help. We don't know when the next skirmish will be, so it makes for important time." Novices always had that struggle... thankfully, Bonner was no stranger. "Keep an eye on her when you go up, Lieutenant Vhane." Now all that remained was to locate those unknowns for a proper talk.

"Ah, on board then? That's good news... apologies for not being here in time. The conversation between the two of them was quite something." Even if late, Owen still spoke to corroborate what story Syndra might have said, at least thankful that things were being expedited. "Ah... about that... the bazaar might have something of worth for a mage. There's also a shop dedicated to magic catalysts and trinkets by the city as well, by the--" Hoo boy, today was sparing him no time. Not even to explain directions! "Ah, well, well met. You're with the Tigers, right? I suppose I can, so long as your commander with this brief interruption." Leaving so many people hanging, his predicament was starting to embarrass him a little. "Eh?" To Üllr, the garment Iris was fascinated by seemed more like underwear, leaving him a bit confused. "That's clothes? It doesn't cover much..." Maybe it was fine, since Iris didn't seem to mind, but Üllr imagined it was complicated to just wear that surrounded by people... Iris really could be bold sometimes. "Shorts make sense, we should buy you enough. I should buy some too." He still fared poorly on the backup garments, so that'd help. "What do you mean tighter? Isn't that bad to wear?" There was much yet to learn from Iris, it seemed... "Eheheh~ Worry pas, I can take responsibility. At worst we get shaken off and it rams some poor wall while I have to replace the control. Ah well~" Wiith an enthusiastic shuffle, he kept his hand on the steering, ready to force a brake or turn if needed, sat right behind Ren in case things went awry. "Mm! Well, seems like everything's fine indeed~ It's a similar principle to catalysts, so if you can channel it through those, you can definitely channel through this core!" Though mundane, the reaction from the platform was good enough to entertain Chris' attention, checking for further differences as he allowed the platform to turn. "Hmm... speed seems alright for the mana you're putting. For now, I wouldn't worry about your compatibility. Maybe something will be weird if you keep pushing the minimum and maximum you can channel, I do wonder how your 'unique mana' applies to the adjective~" He stopped himself short of more rambling. "Well, I'm glad the knowledge behind it is appreciated~ It was more a budding club while I studied in Glacies, but I'm really expecting runecrafting to take off~!"

"Hmph, how polite." Seemed clear that the knight wanted nothing to do with Raz, but for a blessing it was nothing big enough to damper her mood with the good news brought by Willow --fruit, specifically. "Oh, thank you..." Raz let her exasperation escape on her words as she took a bite from the fruit. "Mmm..." Bliss, something to sate her hunger for now. "It'll be fruit for the day, then. Can't afford this pace without proper sustenance." And another bite, listening to the princess' response. "Great to hear, then. That stamina will serve you well, still, eat up regardless. We can't afford to deliver you in poor shape." The smirk that followed was halfway honest, as she drifted her gaze to the knight once more. "Maybe freeing just your arms for eating will do, that could be discussed faster... but being fed by your own royal is an unique opportunity for a Lower Rung, hm? Try to savor it a little." It was a positive spin on the situation, but also some slightly mocking from Raz. "Better than being fed by one of us, I assume." And another bite...

"Lieutenant...?" Not even an acknowledgement Bonner's way, but it was fine. Seemed like Silvavolke and Park were chatting up instead, and... Vhane and the Ensign were preoccupied. Their movement halted, without any heads up to the others, curious, they had clearance to load their HEXes back on the ship. That was enough to cause some concern. "Lieutenant Vhane? Ensign Fujiwaru...? Are things okay?" "Uh, sorry." Esther wasn't expecting the chewing out, feeling a bit dumb. "Figured it wasn't doing more to integrity than what was already done." A bit sheepish, Esther opened the cockpit, preparing to leave, stopped only by a beep on her portable comm. "Hm?" And of course it was Vivien, who had been judging her performance on the field, to boot. "This bitch..." Of course, this demanded Esther's attention for a quick response. [sorry i didnt hear you out there trying to fight AI and real people all at once] [got 4 down while you were hiding btw] [LOSER POV] "Hmph!" It was fair to say, in gaming terms, Esther was tilted, making her way down from the cockpit. "Ughh... need to improve my reactions, so banged up." It just wasn't her day...

"Ehh?" Üllr wasn't expecting Iris' compliment, looking away with a light blush, it was a weird feeling. "Mmm, okay. Let's find a store, Iris..." He'd already gotten a change of clothes, but maybe it'd be a chance to get a new selection... not that he cared for it overmuch, but it'd be good to have clothes he could spare from combat. Walking into the city was... easy, not as hard to navigate as expected from their arrival, the streets and buildings were decently build with mind to the city walls, making the streets pretty discernable. It wasn't long too meet a store that seemed to fit the bill. "Clothing!" The storefront was indication enough, which was good enough for Üllr to lead Iris into the store proper. "Hmmm... what did you want to get...?" For a mercy, it seemed to have a decent selection, and a free storekeeper. "Hello..." "Mmm? Unique?" Chris' tail rose as he stared Ren with curiosity, "Well, now I want to know how it'd react too... let's try it!" Motivated, he hopped onto the platform, reaching for the runic core. "I'll help you steer, come up here." With the runes still on, he inched the platform closer to Ren. "It's not too different from using a tome or staff, as far as making it interact with your mana, don't worry about that~" "Hmm...?" Well, even as busy and preoccupied as he was, Owen could tell Bella's spirits seemed, low. "Sorry if I'm being too brief over your request. Stay safe, as best you can --you have my blessings, but I'm still counting on your return, once you're able." He felt he couldn't kept his guests waiting much longer, but a smile and words of confidence was the least courteous he could be. "I would love to know what you've gained on your way once you're back, for sure." His hand was at the door, "If we do overthrow Kazran... it'll be such a busy time. You'll be sorely missed." With those final words, he opened the door, ending their meeting. "If I missed anything... well, we still have four days. See you soon." Leaving Bella, it was time to go back to his original commitment, walking at a brisk pace until he met Syndra and the Tiger's captain --thankfully held up rather than on the chambers. "Well met, apologies for the delay!" He raised his hand to wave, slowing down as he approached. "Sorry about that. I meant to speak of Syndra's decision beside her, did she mention her decision?" A good question to situate himself in the conversation.

"Hmm..." With a final nod towards Jeremiah, hearing the man's parting words, Üllr held a paw to Iris' claw. "Let's go," Üllr turned to her, expression mellowing. "Let's look for a clothing store. I don't know them well." He took her claw closer to his chest, an awkward smile --something he barely did--, and started his steps towards the city, leading her. "Oh yeah~ Well then!" With a devious smirk at Ren's go-ahead, Christopher turned around to the assortment of siege weapons by the nearest corner. More specifically, a wheeled platform besides --where one would install the necessary weapons, likely. "So, usually, it'd take the manpower of several people to keep a mobile siege weapon moving in the middle of a skirmish, making a siege weapon a matter of manpower and expertise that was only encroached by well skilled mages and expensive spells --however!" Tinkering with the platform for a moment, obscured from view, Chris snapped his finger, stepping back from the device with a skip on his step. "Thanks to the academic synthesis of engineering and magic, a nascent kind of mage that can handle these platforms alone could flourish --without the need of exceptional magical aptitude for long range spells, or a crew working by their side!" With a whirr, the platform had come to move on its own, or perhaps more accurately, it had moved forwards, towards Chris, wheels turning on their own, stopping a few inches away from the imagineer cat. at its center was a contraption of stone, wood and several gems indented, runes carved intricately along it, emitting a faint shine. "With a proper core, a decently skilled mage can steer and move them on their own! Of course, the main issue becomes how efficient a core is. I can keep it moving for a good hour or so on my own mana, currently, but ideally you use some of the rocks and gems as storage --which means I got my work cut out for me these next days." Turning back to Ren after his explanation, Chris' smirk had turned into a sheepish smile. "Which is why having mages to help with would be really handy."

"Guuuh..." So, Esther got some shoot down, but as the curtain came down on the battlefield, her mech... was doing terrible, barely holding it together. "Damnit!" Hearing the orders, it was clear that she was going to need to come back for repairs-- way more than most, for sure. "Krile Three, coming back..." At least she got among the highest score, but for the rest... "Back to the sims." Live fire seemed to take... a lot more, she couldn't take the same risks. "Jumping." And back to the hangar, her HEX went. "Roger, remaining alert." A simple change of objectives. Bonner's HEX was still in pristine condition, and those that remained were about the same, save Markus. "We still have the insurgent civilians to worry about. Lieutenant Silvavolke, we should remain on point towards the direction they went, in case we pick up a signal." Having the most capable HEX of the bunch, Bonner felt most confident in that formation.

That took a turn for the heavy quickly --not that it already wasn't emotionally charged, of course--, and Jeremiah gave a very brief summary. "You...?" Üllr jumped on the spot, holding himself back while his brain processed things. Killing someone's father was a horrible aggression, he understood that. Still, neither Jeremiah or Iris were fighting, they were trying to come to terms with what happened. Iris finally corroborated his claim, speaking that her father wasn't a good person. "Ah..." Üllr finally felt like he understood enough to calm down, looking straight at Iris as she came closer to him... and then jumped him for a hug. "Hwa?" Üllr wasn't ready for the accompanying mood change, being slow to hug her back. She probably needed the support after all that... "Mmm, yeah, okay. We can take a break and go to town... bark?" He didn't get what she meant by that. "Could buy some stuff for fighting too... yeah, let's go." Üllr let her enjoy the hug, patting her back, as his gaze slowly moved back to Jeremiah. "She's not evil. She won't be. I'll stay with her." Whatever concern Jeremiah had... Üllr wanted him to know he had his own stakes in that. "Oh! Fine, if you insist~" An excuse to talk was all that Christopher needed, with a devious smirk to follow. "Now where do I begin? My interest goes further than siege weapons, to be fair. It all started with rune inscribing, you see. There are many ways to store mana and have it flow through non-living material, you see, but there's always been a need to find consistency --what makes a material good, how it can conduct, etc. This is the basis of how our standard catalysts are tomes wrought in special inks and magical gems for staves, see? But there's a way to alter a material's properties beyond its inherent attributes." He snapped his fingers, leading them just outside the castle at that point. "Over there!" Turning to head to the barracks with his tag-along, Chris skirted around the conglomerate near the entrance --seemed a bit busy enough as it were. "Part of the Lions, too? Anyways, to keep it simple, irregular shapes and indentations were noted to change a material's affinity, and with the current need for better, more efficient materials... it's a whole field that's still just being tapped! As for myself, I got into runic design from a book. You know... the first homebrew rune I did was a tome -well, a page. It was a flux spelltome, and my modification made it a blue hue instead of its usual current of mana. It also went out of power after two casts. Eheheh~" "Ah, here we are!" Having arrived, Chris unceremoniously pushed the entrance doors open, giving way to the rather empty space with wooden bolts, wheels, and platforms spread about near the corners of the spacious main room. "And how it relates to siege weapons... well. Stone and wood are fairly easy materials to carve. They are a bit on the mundane side for magical capacity --but that can be fixed with quantity... and good crafting quality." He spun around, an arm outstretched into the room, skirt flaring a little. "Now," Christopher smirked, "Do you want to see a siege platform move on its own~?" "Ahh, so it's about that. I see." Owen nodded in response, "You are more than free to aid them, though it will definitely be a shame to lose numbers if you intend to tag along with them. I've been expecting that of the sellswords, but we'll be missing your services. Still, if you deem it important for your growth as an alchemist... well, who am I to contest something like that?" He leaned on the table, smile bittersweet. "Eslcas' doors are always open, as your home. Come back alive and stronger --for our sake." There wasn't much time to sit and take the proceedings slow with how much he still had to handle. Owen stood upright promptly, lifting the weight of his diplomatic persona with a sigh. "Haah... The Tigers are getting a great deal out of this. I'm starting to envy them. Hah!" Moving around the table, towards the door, Owen paused. "Ah, that reminds me." He turned towards Bella once more, "Could you do me a favor, Bella? There was another person supposed to attend the meeting according to Nita, somebody also tagging with the Tigers, a cat clouded that works on our siege team. I still haven't seen or heard anything from them... so give them a tug on the ear for me, if you find them. If I had to guess... they just unceremoniously went to the barracks to tinker with their toys rather than meeting people." He chuckled, opening the door out. "Engineers... well, I'll see you later. Stay safe, Bella." It was time to go back to Syndra and Tasha, and pick up from there.