Return of the Emblem Chapter Four: The Human Condition

[Phoenix]

Joanna

"I generally don't get to do enough healing to actually grow tired of it. The source of the power is my own body, yes, but I rarely ever deplete myself." Joanna explained. "Why do you ask? I'm not tired or anything, I'm still ready and able."

[Mercakete]

"You should save your energy, then," Bert advised, "There are lots of military people around, so whoever we're fighting isn't going to be easy to defeat. Either that or they don't know what they're up against." With that, the pegasus rider turned his attention back to Valter, "Seems like she's all for coming with us. What about you? Our group divides into combat teams and there's room on the one I'm in. You're pretty good with that bow, too, so if you'd like to join our combat team, I wouldn't be complaining."

[Rothene]

"Joanna right?" asked Ranyin upon hearing Bert mention the avian's name and her healing capabilities, "is healing an inherent abbility among avians?"

As he asked the avian his question, he spared a glance at the nomad Bert was conversing with. Hmm...glasses, interesting, an archer who has some sight issues, thought Ranyin, well if Bert says he's good with a bow, I suppose he is, Bert seems like a guy who mentions things as they are.

[Mercakete]

The pegasus rider jumped backwards -- nearly tripping over the short mage -- in surprise at hearing his teammate speak. He didn't know he'd been followed, and certainly not that closely. After an off-balanced, twisting manuver, Bert wound up solidly on both feet, now facing all three of them rather than just the two. That changed as he directed his attention to the mage that had startled him. "WHAT THE HECK, RANYIN?! I TOLD YOU TO LOOK FOR A TRUSTWORTHY HEALER, NOT SNEAK UP ON ME! Grrr... I guess I'm not really the team captain, though, so whatever. Don't suprise me like that, though! I could've squashed you or twisted an ankle!" Bert chastized, his shouting dying down to a grumble as he spoke. Shifting his attention to Valter and Joanna, he motioned to Ranyin and introduced, "This is Ranyin. He's my teammate." To Ranyin, he motioned to each of the two in turn, "This is Valter and his girlfriend's Joanna."

[Phoenix]

Joanna

Joanna nodded in response to Bert. She wasn't planning on wearing herself out. There were other clerics around who could help. Another question came from the mage that had followed Bert as well. "We are born with a natural ability to learn magic, and we can use it without tomes because the power comes from within our own bodies. We still have to learn to use our power just like we learn everything else, like reading and writing. Since magic has so many applicable uses, many of us learn our own unique abilities and techniques."

When Bert freaked out again, Joanna stepped back a little defensively. Bert wasn't swinging his axe or anything so she was able to calm down quickly. She waved politely when mentioned by name and then stood there. The girlfriend remark hadn't really registered at all.

Edited June 10, 2011 by Phoenix

[Rothene]

"From your bodies...like magic hosts!" exclaimed Ranyin excitedly. He knew about magic hosts as his uncle kept repeating over and over again how the tome he now has was crafted from one of the rarer magic hosts where the potency of the magic released was more sustainable, hence its longer range. Then Bert's reaction startled him. Ranyin was too distracted by the new piece of knowledge he received to evade Bert. Luckily the big man caught himself in time.

The shouting from Bert did not scare Ranyin, he had heard much worse from some ex-military battle mages when they train the mages for the early morning training. When Bert calmed down and formaly introduced Ranyin, he disregarded the comment about the avian being the girlfriend of the nomad and said bowing respectfully, "Valter, Joanna, as Bert mentioned, I am Ranyin, wind mage from Kigen at your service."

"So does this mean you can release the magic from within you into say, a staff that healers use, creating a healing staff in that way? " continued Ranyin, his curiosity piqued, "I've heard that tomes and staves draw magical energy from magic hosts in their making. That's what gives the things their magic. So can an avian act as a magic host?"

Edited June 10, 2011 by Rothene

[Phoenix]

Joanna

"I suppose it is similar, though a host is usually safe to pull energy from. We could be used as hosts ourselves, but our energy is mixed so thoroughly into us, that drawing it out external means is dangerous, and for some reason, it yields very little by comparison. So little that it probably isn't worth the effort. We can safely use our own energy because we know which areas to draw from, and which to leave alone. It's ... difficult to explain really." she explained. "I could probably supplement a healing, but that's harder to do than just healing someone myself. You generally only find the techniques you taught yourself easy, everything else is ... a challenge."

[Rothene]

"I see. I guess if it were possible, scarier things would have happened to avians at large," said Ranyin suddenly realising the possible abuse of avians by human hands if such techniques yielded results.

[Phoenix]

Joanna

"Well, I am glad I could be of some help, but I believe we should probably be getting ready to do our respective parts in the operation. I believe I overheard the officers saying that this group should get moving." she replied sounding a bit worried.

[Rothene]

"Ah right, we should get going...Bert?" asked Ranyin looking at the land-ridden pegasus rider. Ranyin wondered why did Bert even decide to start a conversation with random strangers. He had not followed Bert closely enough, hence missed out on some of his earlier conversation with the duo.

[Mercakete]

"I'm waiting for Valter's answer, Ranyin," Bert replied to his teammate, "Even though it's pretty likely he'll be coming along since Jo decided to come with us and he's supposed to be watching out for her." I still think he wishes he was eloping with her.

[Ether]

The volunteer militia man moved briskly towards the group that had rather recently joined with them. The orders had been pretty simple. He was to advance into the fray with this group, in place of the militia.

Xavier wasn't sure why that was, and the captain that had been leading his group had not really bothered to give him a reason. It didn't phase him all that much, after all, this militia was not very old, and none of his fellow volunteers had made much of a connection with him. It might have just been a space issue, the militia had been divided into smaller mobile units, and he had not been included in one. Looking at this group, they seemed to be rather well divided themselves already. Perhaps it was a decision made without much thought at all, he had no way of knowing for sure until he spoke to this Raquel person.

'Not that it matters all that much. Either way, we are going to stop that ungodly experiment. That's what matters.' Xavier told himself steeling his resolve. Looking himself over again, everything seemed to be in order. His trusty Steel Axe hung from it's rightful place on his belt, the brace on his arm was secured, and the thick leather vest that served as light armour was without holes or abrasions.

Feeling ready, Xavier walked up to this Raquel with a friendly smile.

"G'day, Miss Raquel. Name's Xavier. I'm a member of the volunteer militia, y'see? I was asked to fight with you guys for this thing. My guess is a numbers thing, but maybe I'm wrong. Nice t'meet ya."

In a situation like this, the commanders had made it clear that a salute was what they should be doing, but it had never stuck well with Xavier. It seemed too stiff, too rigid. In the stead of a salute, he offered his hand for a firm shake.

Edited June 11, 2011 by Ether

[GoD]

Chelsea turned towards Shadrak and spoke "U- Shadrak, I understand your desire to follow Truth's will, but even so they are still people, artificial or not. I think we shouldn't kill too many, or avoid killing entirely. That's my opinion on the matter." Chelsea believed that if she could avoid as much bloodshed as possible, less casualties could appear in this battle. "I know I'll have to kill someone if the time comes, but......I just don't think killing is the correct option."

[Zsword]

Shadrak looked at Chelsea with the most astonished 'are you serious?' expression one could muster. "The reason I WANT them dead is the fact that they AREN'T People, their a mockery of us, calling them people is like calling one of Weyland's machines people." He stated with a shake of his head and a large sigh. "Besides, it looks like it's time to get in position. Let's go." Shadrak then began walking towards the party's designated assault location, assuming the oters would follow him in time.

[Acacia Sgt]

Looks like it was time. 'Finally.' John though, beginning to head into position. 'It's time...' His gear in position, even if they hadn't entered the building yet.

[roymbrog]

Ah, so this must have been where that group was hurrying to, Valter thought. Bert’s reason for sticking around seemed kind of strange, but that could be overlooked since he was offering them a place on his team. He took a moment to think about it, considering the pros and cons of accepting. Joanna thought it was alright, so that was one problem out of the way.

“Combat teams, eh? I’ve heard of those, never been in one though,” Valter said. His pride was bolstered by Bert’s praise, even if was only about his marksmanship. “ I would-“ And before he could finish his sentence Ranyin spoke, Bert jumped, and both Valter and his horse backed a few feet away in surprise at the pegasus rider’s reaction.

When Ranyin was introduced, Valter, about to introduce himself and his charge, balked as Bert said something completely untrue. “S-She’s not… I-I’m not… Bert, please don’t spout falsehoods like that,” he said, the last part grumbled after he’d realized that no one noticed. As the mage was introduced again, this time by himself, Valter noticed something odd about him. Maybe it was because he was Kigenese with their emphasis on appearance and grace, but his demeanor and the way he carried himself seemed rather… feminine. Of course Valter wasn’t one to talk, with his long well-kept hair and slender figure he’d been mistake for female more than once as a child, so he kept all comments to himself.

“Oh, sorry Bert, I forgot. Yeah, I’ll come with you guys,” said Valter as he realized Bert was waiting on him. He took Phyll’s reins and began following them back.

-----

"We're leaving already? Bleh," Synthia said, pulling up her hood and walking over to her teamates. "I'm... counting on you two to keep me safe, alright? It's going to be dark in there, so.. p-please don't leave me behind..."

[Snowy_One]

Robin looked about the growing milita, confused as to how it had started to swell in number. She had been under the impression that it had been largely a slave-army, to be filled with vagabonds, criminals, and poor people looking for some direction in life while disinterested military commanders looked on. It seemed that that was not the case and the militia was more of a civilian army... with 'civilians' having been expanded to mean anyone who 'volunteered' with a lance at their back. A look of disgust crossed her face.

"Is Ursium truly willing to throw untrained civilians in with criminals like myself?" asked Robin of Tanner.

OOC: Yes, I'm sure there is a problem with this post... I'm lonely...

[Nanami Touko]

"Seems that way. 'N'what's wrong with that? Anyone who wants to serve their country should be able t'try." He responded quickly, not really wanting to chat as they were sure to be rushing in soon, and he wanted to keep his mind ready for battle.

[Mercakete]

"Alright, looks like people are gathering up," Bert mentioned, as he saw people in clusters of three near the wagon, "Come on; you don't have much time to get your horse ready." With that, Bert led the others back over to the wagon. It looked like someone was talking to Raquel. "Get ready. Looks like we'll be heading in soon," the axe-user mentioned, heading over to where the other teams were gathered and waiting for his to be done with their preparations.

Gytha was waiting with Amon when Synthia arrived. "A'course," she replied, somewhat cheerfully before growing sudenly more serious, "This seems like it'll be a tough one. We'll all have t' work together."

[roymbrog]

Valter started leading Phyllis over to Riz when she suddenly stopped, looking at the pegasus. “Aw, come on Phyll, it’s not going to bite you,” he said, pushing on her side trying to get her to move. Eventually he gave up and pulled her over to the opposite side of the wagon where she was left near Sandrock and Luca. He already had his bow and quiver, all he would really need he thought, and walked with Joanna over to where Bert was waiting.

-----

“Mmm. This may seem like an odd request, but please don’t use my name if at all possible for the duration of this assignment,” Synthia said, eyes darting off towards Valter. She moved to the opposite side of Gytha, trying to hide behind her without drawing attention.

[Mercakete]

"Hm? Why? It'll be dark and Amon and I'll be busy tryin' t' fight, so if we need ye, we'll have t' let ye know somehow," Gytha asked, confused at Synthia's request.

[Phoenix]

Pink Party

Still looking over the documents and trying to figure out the best way to relay the information to the colonel still nearby, Raquel didn't see Xavier coming. "Huh?! Oh, hello. It's nice to meet you, Xavier." she said, accepting a handshake rather easily. "So if you're going to be helping us, you'll probably need to get in one of the teams ..." she said looking around. She noticed several groups of three within the party and was surprised it had happened so quickly. They had never gotten organized to this level before to boot, but add to that that she could only find Saken still playing things solo, and Raquel couldn't help but smile inside. That didn't help the present situation with Xavier, but maybe there was some kind of alternative to just forcibly pairing up Xavier and Saken and sending them in with the others.

"Okay give me a minute, I need to see if there are any-" "You don't have a minute, Miss Valcyn. Teams Alpha and Bravo are heading inside in ten seconds." The colonel interrupted.

The Central Staircase ...

Patricia and Lyra had helped secure the area thus far, and their handful of men in addition to the regular military units that had gone in originally to secure the place room by room were doing just fine. No other casualties had taken place after Patricia and Lyra lured out the hidden enemies. The first floor looked secure, but there was one problem. While they had the central staircase under control, there was no immediate way into the basement. If there was a hidden door leading to it, they likely weren't going to find it anytime soon.

"Team Alpha and Team Bravo will be here anytime now, Ma'am." Lyra said, having been keeping track of time in her head.

"Good, when they get here, we'll have enough people present to defend this entire floor from a pincer maneuver if they try to pull one. In the meantime try to find the entrance to the basement so we can defend it. Once this floor is truly ours, we'll send the volunteer teams up to the second floor and start making our way up from there." Patricia explained keeping an eye on the staircase. With no doors or anything of that nature, the enemy could come pouring through in droves if they were quick enough.

... Falls

"... attack. Kill every last one of them." came a voice from the darkness.

Patricia barely had enough time to call out to Lyra as dozens upon dozens of lit grenades fell from the second floor down the staircase. "EVERYONE GET DOWN!!!" she cried as they all began going off together. As Lyra curled up, Patricia dove, grabbed her, and hauled the dark avian out of the way as even more grenades fell. Debris flew everywhere like projectiles cutting down those not blown apart or sent flying by the explosions, and no one but Patricia, Lyra, and a handful of others in the room survived the assault.

Drawing her sword, Patricia hauled the startled Lyra to her feet. "Get ready. That wasn't their main attack, they were just saying hello." she explained as she looked around at the two dozen wounded or dead strewn across the area. When the smoke began to clear, they all realized that the staircase was destroyed by the attack and they had no way of getting up to the upper levels. "Great ... now we need to send people up onto the roof ..." she muttered. Then, the enemies revealed themselves. As the smoke cleared even more, three men stood atop the wreckage, on with no search and a large tattoo on his chest, Nathaniel. Azrael, the on who had executed the Ursian scout tailing Sabina. And Uziel, a swordsman. All carried a similar looking face ... all had white hair, and violet colored eyes ... all were ready to fight.

"Who the hell are you guys?" she asked nonchalantly.

"We're human potential, love." Azrael answered as he revealed an axe from his back. "Why don't we get to know each other a little better?"

"Take'em down." she ordered, standing up and switching over to her blunderbuss. Lyra stood up as well and unsheathed her sword. Lyra struck first and unleashed a barrage of wind magic in the form of numerous blades. The three men scattered to the far sides of the room as the blades passed. Lyra broke away to chase down Azreal, and Patricia went after the shirtless one.

"This last grenade is for you, pretty! Catch." Azrael said as he gently tossed Lyra a grenade. On reflex, she caught it ...

"GUAAAAAGH!!!" She chucked it skyward and dove for cover before it went off. Finding her huddled up on the ground, Azrael kicked her sword away, hauled her to her feet, and kept his axe right up to her neck. Meanwhile Patricia found herself facing not only the Nathaniel, but Uziel as well.

"Do not let her get the first move!" Nathaniel shouted as he prepared a spell. Uziel rushed in and sliced Patricia's blunderbuss right out of her hands, and then shoved her back as Nathaniel unleashed his spell. The attack blasted and slammed her against the opposing wall. She pulled herself up somewhat, but was knocked back down when Azrael tossed Lyra at her. Before either of them could get up, Nathaniel hit both of them with several follow up attacks and eventually crashed them through the wall into the next room. As the rest of the wall collapsed, the two tried to crawl out of the rubble.

"Well, they're no fun anymore." Azrael commented.

"Just wait, the reinforcements will be here shortly." said Nathaniel. "And I mean their reinforcements ..."

With the staircase now secured, the remaining artificial humans and security forces began hopping down to the first floor from the second and fanning out to keep the place under their control.

Misdirection

On the top floor, just below the roof, Sabina was skulking around in near darkness with her rifle. Somehow she knew her target was already inside the building, and she was hot on his trail. Spending minute after minute moving from room to room, she eventually cornered him in a room. Standing facing the other way, was a man with a five foot sword over his back, and white hair. "Don't think you'll get out of the way before I put a hole in your head, you amateur.

"Heh, are you calling me an amateur? I could have kill you five different times by now, Sabina. You leave yourself too open, and you're over confident. People like you aren't even worth killi-" he was cut off as Sabina shot him in the back and sent him to the ground. "U-urgh ... damn ... Gabriel said I might get shot for a line like that ... ooow."

"Gabriel ... what?"

The man on the ground rolled over, and Sabina came closer to find him pulling off a wig. His eyes weren't violet either. They were blue. It was the thief from the market that had robbed Gabriel. "Who the hell are you?!"

"A decoy. What's it look like? Gabriel didn't want to have to deal with you AND all of those other artificial bastards at the same time, so he offered me a job, and in exchange I get the gold I wanted, some self defense lessons, and his vest. Pretty sweet deal, huh?"

"F- ... f-f-f-fuuuu ..." she struggled to let out. "WHERE IS HE?!!! ANSWER ME, YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!" she said yanking him around by his collar.

"In your base, killing your dudes, snrkkkkkk."

"DAMN!!!" she shouted letting him go and rushing out the room as fast as she could!

The Assassin

As Team Alpha and Bravo began moving inside, the artificials and bodyguards began trying to set up a parameter they could defend, but someone else had gotten into the room somehow that Nathaniel had only just noticed. "Hm?" he said looking at the man standing on the rubble of the staircase.

"Holy crap, what's he doin' here?! We thought he was gonna wait!" Azrael blurted out sounding startled.

"What happened to Sabina? Did you defeat her? Uziel asked.

"No, she's on a date, that should be ending riiiight about now." the man replied with a grin. "Okay, everyone! I've got an announcement to make, so look this way please." Turning to face the room, the man was revealed to be Gabriel. "Given our current circumstances, allegiances ... and our irreconcilable differences ... ... ... we gotta fight."

"I couldn't agree with you more, prototype." Nathaniel replied.

"It's Gabriel."

"It's irrelevant what one calls a corpse. Kill him, and anyone else that tries to get in here. We end this right here, and right now!" Nathaniel ordered.

OOC:

I hope you guys are ready. This is starting soon, and it could be a little rough.

[roymbrog]

“It’ll take too long to explain, just call me something else for the time being,” Synthia said quickly. “If you really desperately need me for some reason I understand, but if we’re just talking don’t call me by name, alright?”

[Mercakete]

Gytha nodded, though she couldn't help but wonder why Synthia was suddenly being so secretive.

[Ether]

"Well, just put me where ya think y'll need me." Xavier replied with a smile, noting that the woman had a firm handshake. He did not have time to continue as a military man announced that two teams were moving in soon. Who those teams were Xavier didn't know, but he assumed it was related to this unit in some way.