Return of the Emblem Chapter Four: The Human Condition

[Zsword]

Shadrak took a deep sigh and flipped up his hood. "Yeah... no problem... I didn't miss anything did I?" he asked, turning towards her with a concerned eye as he slowly replaced his belonging to their usual places.

[Phoenix]

Joanna

Clearly Bert was justifying his actions through the actions of his sisters. Knowing that, trying to get through to him was a lost cause, she figured. After all, to get into her basic principles about non-violence would have her condemning her own escort for doing his job. At the very least she could say "Well, you should at least avoid physical confrontation whenever possible, Bert. I would say the same to your sisters but they aren't here."

She stepped out of his way with her head down.

Raquel

"No, just arguing mostly." she replied sounding exhausted. "I still may need to wait to fix the tunic. Does anyone else even know how to drive a wagon?"

[Acacia Sgt]

'Well, looks like he finally calmed down.' John noted, watching him leave followed by the ones that arrived with him. 'I wonder then what was the point of this...?' He wondered. 'Well, at least I can't say it was... all that bad I guess...? Barring his shouting...'

[Nanami Touko]

Great, she is one of those types. He could see the determination in her eyes, and it was kind of unnerving. "Listen, lady, I'm not really much fer different languages an' all that. If we could stick to somethin' we can all understand, that'd be perfect." Of course, she continued to ramble about her stature as a fighter, and Tanner just sighed. I'm gonna have to put up with all of this, aren't I? Her hand extended, Tanner did nothing. He wasn't about to give a little slave girl the feeling of equality. "Listen, lady, yer name's written down as Robin, don't start with me and some silly nickname, alright? I'm just here to make sure you don't get yourself into trouble. Let's hope that's all I have to do."

Edited June 9, 2011 by seph1212

[Zsword]

"That's good..." Shadrak said, gently patting her back. "Hang in there, disputes happen." He said giving Raquel a gentle, caring smile before turning to Chelsea and signalling her over. "We're ready to go as soon as you have this driver situation figured out, sorry that I can't help in that aspect."

[Mercakete]

"Heh. Impossible," Bert muttered at Joanna's naivity as he began leading Riz and the others to the guardhouse again. Once they reached there, Bert stopped and looked to Valter. "You want to go in with the guys now or should I? I'll stick around until you've got them both in there. And don't try unloading Riz. She bites," he warned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'll do it," Gytha offered, stretching from where she was seated, "I don't have any shots left, though, so no idea how I'll get yer horses runnin'."

[Rothene]

All the yelling caused Ranyin to stir in his sleep. He was more exhausted than he thought as sleep enveloped him as soon as he took the short nap. In that short span of time, he had the brief dream of being chased by some raging vaguely feminine Oni of old that was keeping captive a mage who had decided to be his disciple. In that dream, he envisioned himself finally powerful enough to pass his final test, able to unleash vast typhons to batter away at the Oni. Unfortunately, his magic did not seem to have much effect and the being was able to reach out and tore an archer who had been hired by him to hunt down the Oni with him. With a speed that was faster than anything Ranyin had ever known, the Oni closed on him prepared to deal a lethal strike to the newly promoted sage. Up close, Ranyin could see the face of the Oni in full...

...just before the Oni struck Ranyin woke up. Rubbing his eyes gently, Ranyin warily chuckled at his dream, "Heh, what a dream, no way could I be a sage hunting monsters. Whew, glad that was over." He then turned around to encounter face to face with the Oni in his dreams...Gytha...

[Snowy_One]

A glower from Robin was the only response to Tanner's request for her to speak in common. "You show a man a degree of respect and he asks you treat him like a stranger. Figures." she thought to herself, hoping Lyra would not pick up on the thought. "I am not some Ursium thug, Tanner. You have my word I will not get into trouble like a common vagabond." she said as she noted that he did not return her offer of a handshake. Inwardly, a small smile started to seep through her chest, her hunt for the type of Ursium she had been searching for from earlier having been rewarded... after being caught at a murder, captured, and being turned into a slave... Yea. Nothing to be truly proud about at all.

It was then that Lyra approached Liza, her voice raised about vacation. Robin turned her head to the pair, her mind suddenly trying to flow into as loud a thought pattern as she could muster. Though her relationship with the backstab-Liza was rocky at best, she was still Neviskotian. "Back. Off!" she thought as strongly as she could, shifting from hoping that the strange winged woman wasn't reading her thoughts at all to trying to make them as strong as possible on the off chance she would passively sense them.

[-Cynthia-]

"You're really going to mend his tunic after all of that? If you give in to him now, he's going to bully you around every time he wants something done. Make him patch up his own damned clothes if they mean so much to him," Veronika asked Raquel rather incredulously.

[Phoenix]

Raquel

"Uh, Gytha, do you actually know how to drive a wagon?" she asked. Then Veronika gave a bit of protest about the tunic mending. "I'm honestly only doing this because it's both good practice, and all I can really do for the group as a whole. Bert's really gotten under my skin, but I'm hoping that we can either reach some kind of understanding, or he can come up with enough to pay me for those maces and then scram. I don't want to spite him because he's obviously the kind of guy that just pays everyone back in kind and never solves anything for good until someone dies." she explained keeping her aggression directed at Bert in her mind and not on anyone else.

Joanna

She wasn't going to be making any points today, so she stood quietly by Valter and waited around.

Lyra

Lyra glanced over in Robin's direction. Normally she wouldn't be noticing any thoughts she wasn't actively tuned into, but Liza had already been exploiting a weakness of hers. Always investigating, always looking for the truth behind people's lies had left her the type of dark avian that couldn't help but automatically tune into the strongest thoughts coming her way, and so Liza's repetitive prodding had easily gotten to her. Robin's mental remark came through easily after Liza had been silenced, but just the same, she only gave the archer a glance, and an unamused one at that.

[Nanami Touko]

Scowling. Perfect. This's gonna be a great relationship. Hopefully it'll end soon. "Yeah'm sure, miss. Make sure you don't, otherwise we'll have trouble to deal with." He wasn't looking at her as he responded, now, since something seemed to be happening over in the group of soldiers. "Wow, now that's quite the woman" he said aloud, impressed by how she'd reigned in the other girl. Wish this one was as easy to deal with. "Well, miss, we'd best be gettin' ready to fight. I have to keep my eye on you, but I'm not gonna sit around whilst all these other soldiers protect the country." The woman from earlier shot the two a glance, making Tanner think she's heard him, but then noticed she was looking at Robin. You musta pissed her off somethin' fierce.

[Zsword]

Shadrak nodded. "Aggression only breeds aggresion, besides, Raquel already promised to fix it, breaking a promise would only make it worse." he said, addressing both Raquel and Veronika as he pulled off his hood and shook out his hair a little.

[Snowy_One]

Robin shot Lyra and Liza one more glance, hoping that her action would cause the two to back down, if only for a moment. Then, her attention returned to Tanner. "I am a hunter, a markswoman as it were. I use handcrafted bow, arrow, and knife. You are a knight, I can see, and I will be at my best behind you at all times. I hope that will not be a problem? Otherwise you will be making me fight before you with a stone blade meant for skinning and utility work."

This was obvious stuff, she was sure, but she felt it still needed to be said. Not for the obvious deduction that she would be at her best not fighting on the front line, but rather that her weapons were made of stone with the iron arrowheads only being used when a reusable head was needed. A few weeks ago, she would not have cared one bit, but after traveling with Bron and the group... Better for him to berate her now then for him to be mad when she might be wounded after a fight.

OOC: In case you didn't know, Robin uses stone arrowheads instead of iron ones. She's commenting on her arsenal not because she thinks he doesn't know she's an archer, but because she would rather get the 'you use stone, lol' out of the way right now. Basically 'I use stone arrows. Is that going to be a problem?' in a less-direct way.

[Nanami Touko]

"O'course, miss. I would've assumed that from the way you cut yer hair. So the bowstring doesn't get in the way, right?" He may have been a country bumpkin, but he wasn't stupid. As for her using stone weaponry, he assumed it worked better for her. He'd always preferred iron, but as long as it worked for her, he wasn't about to complain. "Listen, I've got to find out where I'm stayin', you do whatever you were doin' before." He was obviously not very interested with her, as he'd walked over to the woman from before, needing to ask about the sleeping quarters. "'Scuse me again, ma'am, but I don't know my way around this place, mind tellin' me where my quarters are? Need to get myself ready for what's happenin' tonight, after all."

[Snowy_One]

At the mention of her haircut, Robin's right hand rose up to her head, feeling the short-cropped hair on her right side. He had figured out she was an archer simply by her haircut. Ever since she had left her hometown, people had seemed to ignore the physical signs she was what she was. The animal hide, tufts on her bow, and haircut alike, all signs of her being a archer. She didn't know if it was out of simple ignorance or politeness that they had ignored it, but...

As she sat back down, she felt a odd sense of pride starting to flow through her. Different from the Neviskonian pride she boasted so strongly or the pride of her own skill, but... proud that someone had been able to tell. It didn't make her happy, she was still a slave after all, but it made her less mad at her new-found position.

[Phoenix]

Inn

I know how to drive a wagon, but I'm sure as hell not volunteering for that. I've got two modes of travel and wagons are not one of them. Gabbie thought to herself. "Okay well, I'll leave you guys to figure that out. I'll be close by if ya need me. Here ya go, Amon. Thanks for sharin'." she said handing the file back to Amon and then whistling rather loudly for Ringo. The wyvern peeked out from an alley and just looked. "Well? Get over here!" she called out, but the wyvern was reluctant for some reason and just squawked back at her. "Wise guy, ey?" she muttered before stomping over toward him.

"I really hope we don't have anymore problems with him. We got less aggression from the enemies who's names I can remember and they were out to kill us or what have you." Raquel said in response to Shadrak.

Fortress

"The higher ups didn't really care where you were staying and you were called in at the last second so to speak. I suppose you'll be staying in the barracks around the fortress for the time being. Not luxurious but it'll have to do I suppose." Lyra replied, stepping away from the subjugated thief and facing the Tanner.

"We've been over the roster and have decided how we're dividing the forces based on your applicable skills and overall experience." one of the captains announced to the group of close to fifty. He quickly ran down a list of name that contained the people who he would be taking command of, and then the other captain listed the other names not on the first list that would be under his command. Not surprisingly, the Neviskotians had been split apart. Olga and Bron were in the first captain's unit; Robin, Liza, and Liliya were in the second.

"That is all, please ready yourselves. We move out on the Major General's order."

[-Cynthia-]

"Couldn't you just give him his damn maces, buy him a new tunic and send him on his way? He seems like more of a threat to us than our supposed enemies at this point," Veronika said to Raquel.

[Nanami Touko]

"Barrack, o'course. Thanks, again, ma'am. I think that'll be fine." He gave her a smile, and went back to the woman he'd have to deal with. About to speak, he heard the captain's overbearing voice, and paid attention to the lists. Second squad, then, if I'm to stick with her. "You heard the man, miss. Now, I'm gonna be in the barracks fer the time bein'. I don't know what you're gonna do, but I assume you should as well, since I'm s'pposed to be makin' sure you don't get into trouble. Your choice." He walked off to one of the seemingly empty rooms down the hall, setting his axe down on the table inside. "Gonna be headin' out soon, eh? Could use a good battle..."

[CT075]

Tyrsal - No idea where he's supposed to be

Tyrs was truly confused now. He'd followed that man, but had gotten nowhere besides the meeting place for the "second squadron". Looking at the letter again, it did seem like he was in the right place, though how anyone was supposed to read that writing was beyond him. He held his lance to comfort himself, finding a room with seemingly no one in it but a man with an axe.

"Oh, halloa. I thought this room was deserted."

[Snowy_One]

An odd look crossed Robin's face. Her choice? She was a slave! The whole point of her entire position was her lack of a choice! No choice in where she stayed or slept, no choice in whom she served, and no choice in what she did! This man was too leave her alone? "You are not very good at your job, are you?" she asked. If his whole job was to ensure she did not get into trouble, didn't letting her off to do her own thing seem the exact opposite of his task? A lazy bum instead of a cruel taskmaster?

She did not question the fortune, instead making her way as best she could to the barracks. She didn't know if they would be gender-segregated or not, but she suspected it didn't matter. She was a slave whom was supposed to be kept an eye on after all. Even if they were segregated, it was almost certain that she would be forced to sleep somewhere near Tanner.

[Nanami Touko]

"Not anymore it's not. You're welcome to sit down, if yer lost, kid." The new knight didn't seem overly impressive to Tanner, and he seemed more lost than a puppy in the middle of the woods. "You could just ask that lady out in the front if yer really lost, kid. She seems nice enough." She seemed more than nice enough, to him, but he tried to remain focused on the task at hand.

Of course, the girl followed him, complaining about his ability as a knight. "Well, yer still followin' me, so I don't think I'm screwin' up. If I was, you'd probably be runnin' away." What a silly girl. Oh well, at least it's someone to talk to. He laid down on the bed in the room, staring at the ceiling. "Not much to do until we get called off to fight... Might as well relax."

[Phoenix]

Passive Aggressive Observer

Across from the research building the scientists and Doctor Dolan were using, Craig was perched at the edge of a building's thirtieth-five floor, just keeping his eye on the place.

"Twenty stories. In slight disrepair. Easily defensible from ground based assault. Incredibly vulnerable to infiltration via the windows. That's all I can tell from this vantage point. The assassin has no fewer than one hundred ways into that building. Holding up in there from the military is almost sound for the moment. It's not going to be any use against the assassin however." he said to himself. "The military is going to get here before Weyland's mercenaries do. This could be a problem. Just because they're unreliable doesn't mean we should just sit back and watch them die before trying to fix this ourselves."

He looked into his coat and took out a small deep blue gemstone. The moment he picked it up it had begun to give off a feint glow. "HQ, respond ... ... ... HQ, respond." he said firmly into the gemstone, and with each saying, its light intensified. Suddenly a slightly echoed and distorted response came.

"02, did you have something to report?" said the voice.

"Pink Party is behind schedule, and the military is due to arrive first."

"Yes, we know, we just received a report that they're getting ready to head out as we speak, 02. They'll be there in about half an hour. What's the current state of the building."

"Lifeless, but they're obviously prepared for this kind of operation. No sign of the assassin just yet. Requesting permission to run interference if necessary. Also requesting that you forward an official request to the military to let Pink Party assist in the operation. It's about their only chance to get in on this without having to wait."

"We can do that, but it's a negative on the interference. The military and Pink Party can handle this, 02. You just need to keep us informed and stay out of sight. However, you may deal with any hostile that get near Connor Weyland at your own discretion."

"Connor is already taken care of for the moment, and in all honesty, I'm not certain they can handle this all by themselves even with the military's help. What happens if the assassin goes after them as well?"

"02, we don't have enough information to authorize anything reckless just yet. If you can gather more intel for us before this storm gets underway, we may have a change of heart. You're free to investigate as far as your skills will allow and report back to us what you find. One last thing, 02 ... you know what to do if you get caught with this device on you, correct?"

"I will never be taken alive. I won't even be seen. Count on it." Craig said before pocketing the gemstone.

Fortress Nature

"Alright, get your butts in gear, it's time to move out!" Major General Belo called out. Immediately soldiers were scrambling, gathering their equipment, making adjustments to their armor, everything they needed to do to prepare themselves. Outside the fortress' main building were very large wagons, built for such heavy cargo that they had to be pulled by multiple bulls. The soldiers began funneling into the wagons quickly once they were ready. Patricia was aiming to catch their enemy, and perhaps enemies off guard.

"Come on, people! Move it! It's time to go!" Lyra shouted at the members of the volunteer divisions. She moved from barracks to barracks until she had seen for herself that everyone was getting ready. She then returned to Patricia and saluted her. "At ease ... so what's up? Holding up alright there, Peggie? I'm gonna need you with me when we go into that building. Not just as an extra sword, but also to figure out what's really going on."

"I know, Ma'am, and I'm ready. I won't let you down." she said trying to at least smile a bit. She found that she couldn't.

Raiding Party

Although Gytha had volunteered to drive, Raquel couldn't bring herself to allow it, and just kept the clothes that needed mending at the inn. She asked the innkeeper to have them washed for her and explained that she would pick them up and fix them on the way back. Little did she know that the innkeeper's wife was quiet the seamstress herself and wouldn't take no for an answer. She was going to wash and fix the clothes and went to it before the party even left.

With everything set and ready to go, the wagon started up, and they made their way down the suburban road toward the towering metropolis off in the distance. Having been gone back the way they came, the fliers immediately spotted Nadya once she came into view. Luca was rather surprised. He thought they were all wyvern food by now, but clearly the beasts were tame. He supposed being with them again would be fine so long as that didn't change. Still, wyverns in a herd ... that was kind of stupid even if they were tame. If they needed members that could fly, they should just use the winged ones.

The Arrival

Muscling their way down the streets of Ursentius, the military bulls hauled the wagons carrying the platoons all the way to their drop off points at the research building. It was completely surrounded within minutes. From the upper floors, a few figures looked outside from the darkness. Keeping the lights off kept their true numbers hidden. "Oh dear, there's qoite a few of them, isn't there?" said a voice that sounded like Azrael.

"No matter. Their numbers won't do them any good in here anyway. I dare them to funnel all of those pathetic soldiers into this building. I would love to see a dumb move like that just once." another voice said.

"Do you think, he'll show?" came another voice.

"He has to. If putting an end to our kind is really so damned important, he'll show, even if it means exposing what he really is. I'm actually looking forward to it. I do hope the military won't get in our way. I want to fight him alone."

"No fair! What about us?!" Azrael complained.

"Azrael, Azrael. We're all the same. Brothers. I'm not merely speaking of myself here. I want us to face him as one. We'll all have the pleasure of killing that lousy excuse for a prototype."

"Awesome! I know just how I want to do him in too!" Azrael shot back.

Meanwhile outside the building, the forces were gathering, and a scout flew down to report to the Major General. "Ma'am! We've cut off all escape routes."

"What about any tunnels. Did they check the building for any kind of tunnels the scientists might use to try and escape?" she asked.

"We didn't find any in the plans, but I guess it wouldn't matter. It's just the difference between an escape route that was always available, or one that was put in later." he replied.

"Right, we should definitely assume they've got another way out of this place. That means we need to hurry though. ALL FORCES, MOVE TO THE ENTRANCES AND HOLD UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE! CAPTAINS! IF YOU SPOT THE KILLER, SEND A REPORT BEFORE YOU ENGAGE, OR YOU WON'T BE GETTING ANY TIMELY BACK UP! Alright, Lyra, Merissa, you two are with me. Come on." she instructed before heading out. Approaching the entrance to the building, she moved off to the side and took out her blunderbuss which caused Lyra to moan with concern.

"Grin and bare it, we're on a mission." she shot over to the dark avian.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"You, knock on the door." Patricia ordered. A soldier heavily armored and carrying some type of crossbow and a short sword hustled over and knocked. They waited exactly sixty seconds and then Patricia gave the okay signal. Six similar looking soldiers immediately broke down the large doors and rushed inside to secure as much of the immediate area as they could.

"This is it, Lyra. The difference between one enemy, and around sixty or so. If they act hostile, show no mercy. It's Wrath's turn today if these guys want to play dirty."

"Ma'am."

A couple more squads headed inside after them and started taking over as much of the first floor as they could. It was odd that they hadn't seen anyone yet. The checks for traps had gone rather smoothly, so there were no issues there ... yet.

That was when the group arrived. An army colonel managing most of the forces stepped forward with a lot of guards to greet them. "This area is off limits for the duration of the current operation. I'll say this once, and only once. Turn back immediately."

"... oh man." Raquel said lowering her head.

"What'd I tell ya? What'd I fuckin' tell ya, huh, Pinky? We needed to hurry. Ugh, man I seriously hope Craig had the decency to take care of this for us." Gabbie ranted.

"Um, Colonel?" a random officer said coming up from behind the bodyguards.

"What is it?"

"I think these people are volunteers recommended by Weyland Enterprises." he explained. "Miss, are you Raquel Valcyn?" he asked the wagon driver.

"Yes." she said simply.

"It's them, Sir."

"Huh. Do you really think the situation is that bad that we need this many more units?" he asked, and right as he said this ...

The soldiers already inside were advancing slowly checking rooms and doing things by the books. They made it to one of the central stair cases before they finally saw signs of life. The soldier only noticed the black clad figure hiding up near the ceiling by chance, and the figure immediately leaped down onto him and began viciously stabbing him! The other two soldiers nearby shot the figure with a crossbow bolt each taking him out, but the soldier he pounced on was barely responsive and bleeding all over the place.

"We've got a man down!" one of them shouted as he reloaded his crossbow and then yanked out his short sword. The other tried to haul the injured one to safety while the one calling out continued to yell. "Send a medic! Now! And more back up! Damn ninjas ... FUCK!"

"Wow, so they really are up to no good." Lyra muttered.

Particia sighed. "Idiots. Alright, looks like you'll be my extra blade rather than a mind reader tonight, Lyra. Let's move up." she ordered. "Someone tell the colonel that the building has hostiles and we're preceding with strategy B." she instructed a soldier who quickly took off running toward the entrance. He came bolting out right around the time the colonel had decided to just let the party assist.

"Hostiles! Assume all hostiles! Proceed to plan B! Belo's orders!" he yelled.

"Ah what the hell ..." the colonel said. "Alright, get your people set up. Strategy B is a full four sided building breach. We can't wait them out if they have an underground escape passage so we need to muscle in and kill or capture all of them right now." he explained. "Your mounts aren't going to have much mobility in there, so you're probably better just going on foot."

Assault

As Patricia, her bodyguards Lyra and Merissa, and a few soldiers moved forward, they found themselves in the same area the first units had pulled back from. "We need to secure this room ourselves. The grunts can't handle this and I don't want anymore stupid casualties like this, understand? Move in. Lyra, hit them before they hit us." she ordered, to which Lyra nodded. As soon as she knew here units were ready ... "GO!"

They all rushed forward and spread out, and as she expected, several figures appeared from the shadows. Lyra immediately closed in on and sliced one an astounding seven times before he could attack her and he fell into a bloody mess on the floor. Merissa used her sword to quickly impale one of the others, and Patricia shot the last one in the head with her blunderbuss which left Lyra curled up with her ears covered on the ground after a short scream!

"Ugh, you really need to get over that phobia, Lyra."

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Suddenly another shot was fired that put Lyra right back into a curled up ball of feathers! Merissa was hit and went down immediately. The shot came from the shadows so no one saw who it was. "Merissa, no!" one of the soldiers hollered.

"It's no good, that was a headshot!" the other confirmed.

"... damn ..." was all Patricia could muster.

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya

Nadya had traveled for almost an hour following Satarma, when at last she came upon the wagon with the merchant and her companions. Satarma for guidance...works like a charm she thought to herself. "Hey there I w-" she began explaining before some soldier guy showed up and cut her off, saying something about no mounts indoors.

"Wait, we're going in there? With all these soldier folks? Doesn't really look like the safest place in Ursium. This group get into this sort of thing often?" she asked the surrouding people while she dismounted, a bit worried.

[Zsword]

"Nope" Shadrak said as he hopped off the cart and flipped up his hood, a few waves of black energy pulsing off of him as he prepared his various barriers and protections, fading into invisability as they rested themselves as second nature in the back of his mind "In fact, this is the first time I've seen something of this scale in my life... hehe, this is gonna be fuuuun." he said with a pleased giggle, pulling out his Worm Tome and analyzing his surroundings.

Soldiers: check, order: present, kinda, loud yelling: In excess, yeah, this is quite the operation. People in the higher stories? Uknown...

[Rothene]

Ranyin spent the trip cowering in one corner of the wagon top, thankful of its space and Gytha's non-aggressive behavior. Knowing Gytha was sharing the roof with him caused him to be unable to take his nap, hence he decided to study his tome for less demanding techniques to shape the wind in combat. His last battle had proven that fighting was in no way an art. Shaping attacks into flocks of colourful birds was not very distracting.

The large scale military operation that greeted the group was disturbing to him. This is bad, to think that facing those mercenaries was bad enough, anything that needs so many well trained soldiers is going to be very dangerous, thought Ranyin despairingly. He was seriously wondering what he was getting himself into.

From atop the wagon, Ranyin heard Nadya's question and responded, leaning on the edge of the wagon top, "From what I heard, trouble usually seeks the group rather than the other way round. This is probably new. I'm Ranyin by the way."