Return of the Emblem Chapter Seven: Reunion

[Snowy_One]

"We have stories, but they are always of dark avians doing evil things. Seducing men and women in sleep, eating children, corrupting youth, summoning undead, making loud noises late at night, things of pure evil. Siv was a monster and I do not know why Shadrak was interested in her. I think he may have been in love with her... I never expected one to show a degree of compassion."

[Psych]

Sirocco wondered about these mounted soldiers. They had not yet appeared to her in her dreams. Just the gentleman with the glasses, the tanned woman. There had been a rough talking woman that smelled of the sea. A girl with multi-colored hair. Some man in dark cloaks. A man with a ponytail on horse back.

But Sirocco didn't spot these people from here dreams. Maybe they were inside, or behind the wagon. "I am looking for the tanned woman. Or the gentleman with glasses. The ones that give off blue flames. It is my destiny to meet with them.

[Phoenix]

Destiny

The horseman raised an eyebrow ... and then tried to inquire, again. "Yeah, haven't seen any blue fire around here. Do you know the names of these people you're looking for?"

Gabbie

Gabbie's next quick stop on her way to pestering the party into consciousness was the wagon interior. "OI!!! Toime to get up! We've got a possible situation, here ... err ... Connor you can just go back to sleep for the moment if ya want, heheh ..." Forgot he was in here ... Gabbie laughed off the unintentional wake up call she'd given.

[Psych]

"The older man. The gentleman with spectacles. Or the girl with rainbow hair. She should be here. I must talk with the woman that is your leader anyway." Sirocco wandered around the man, clutching her hands. Where were the people of destiny anyway? Surely this was the right group. Her dreams had lead her here.

[Acacia Sgt]

<Let's see.> John was thinking. <We know somewhat what their forces consist of. And since we took care of most of the mages on our front during the defense, unless they had them also somewhere else we might not encounter much of them today.> He smirked. <Heh, at the very least that should make things slightly better this time around.>

-----

I guess there is no point in staying here. Sophia thought, before exiting the wagon. I didn't thought we'd be getting into battle again this soon. But I guess it is inevitable. I doubt those people would just release her as if nothing had happened.

Edited November 28, 2011 by Acacia Sgt

[Phoenix]

Fate

"We'll take you to see one of the officers, first. Better safe than sorry." the man said. "Here, climb up. It'll be faster if you ride with me." he explained offering a hand up onto his horse.

[roymbrog]

Someone was yelling. Synthia pulled her cloak farther over her head. Had they arrived already? This was ridiculous; she’d gotten barely three hours of sleep. Incoherent and half asleep as she was, all she really cared about at the moment was that she didn’t want to get up. Maybe if she stayed there they’d leave her alone.

-----

When the wagon stopped Phyllis followed suit. She shook her neck, an action that not only woke Valter, but caused him to almost fall off her back. He managed to catch himself, yawned, and groggily attempted to rub his eyes. There were glasses in the way. Huh. He was certainly not awake yet.

[Mercakete]

Gytha muttered to herself as she sat up and stretched before rubbing her eyes and blinking a few times. It was morning and there was something of a commotion going on. Also, they'd stopped and were again with the military people. It seemed like Gabbie was getting everyone up, but some of the mounted members of the group were swaying in their saddles, barely keeping their eyes open. She felt kind of bad for them since they didn't really have the opportunity for sleep she had. Still, she was well-rested enough and stood up where she'd been sleeping atop the wagon and stretched some more, getting herself awake and her blood pumping.

After warming up, the mariner swung into the wagon from its roof and located Maw to tend to her eye as she did every morning. Once that was completed, she headed back outside and drew her sword. Most ev'ryone's mostla asleep. Those of us who've had more sleep should be ready t' step in fer them since they obviously won't be at their best.

[Rothene]

Ranyin woke up to Bert's call and looked around groggily. "Wha? We fight now? But I haven't eaten yet..."

***

Hearing Gabbie's call to wake people in the wagon up, Mireille snap to attention immediately. She had slept in her armour for the night, something she hated in all her training years. She wondered if Connor had completed the improvement to her shield.

[Mercakete]

"No one's fighting yet, people're just getting ready for combat," Norbert replied then yawned widely. A moment later his yawn was finished and so he was able to continue talking, "As for me, I hope I'm not useless. I'm so tired I'm aching and no one's even taken a swing at me. Hopefully the adreniline can keep me up..." Even as he spoke, though, he was swaying as though he could fall out of Rizen's saddle and he could barely keep his eyes open.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"If you're hungry, scarf something down before we start fighting," Veronika advised to Ranyin, jumping to attention at Gabbie's report. She was a little tired, but her naps earlier had helped alleviate her fatigue.

Nadya

Nadya had gotten out of her saddle in an attempt to wake up, but made an error in resting her head against Luca. She began snoring against the horse's neck within a minute.

Connor

"I was just resting my eyes," Connor protested to Gabbie, a statement which was half true. He finished upgrading the barrier on Mireille's shield and left the wagon in search of her. Her white armor was a bit less distinctive than usual due to her sharing the color scheme with the nearby soldiers, but he eventually found her and proudly handed her the shield.

"Here you go, good as new. Er, better than new I mean," he corrected himself quickly.

Clara

"No I don't know anyone in the Neviskotian military either, though I don't see why their dragons would attack us. I mean we're not part of the Ursian military, so they'd just leave us alone right? Though I guess battlefields don't usually have random paaserbys," she added as an afterthought.

Edited November 28, 2011 by -Cynthia-

[Mercakete]

"We have food?" Norbert asked Veronika. If he was going to fight, he'd rather fight with some form of energy in him. "Where?"

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"Don't you stock up on food when we visit towns?" Veronika asked Bert. "If you're traveling you really should have food and water on hand if possible. I can share for now, I have enough to last for a few days," she said, pulling a hard dry biscuit out of her pack and offering it to Bert.

[Snike]

Once committed, the action quickly moved, or at least, it seemed to have moved quickly. First the military was given control over the chase, then Bert the brute began a brawl with that knight who Blake had sortied with in the estate defense. To say it was an unfair fight was an understatement. While the pegasus-riding thug deserved the beat down he received, the swordsman was irked by the victor's comment about a knight's duty. So it's their 'duty' to beat senseless the commoners who would be able to think on their own? That does not seem to be too honorable, but maybe that was just him.

Regardless, after the only vocal dissident was violently silenced, the group all began to head towards the wagon. While the driver remained outside the wagon for further instruction, every other infantry fighter, Blake included, clambered in, gradually. There was a rush, but that didn't mean everyone slammed into the armored carriage at the same time. Then, they were off.

The newcomer must have fell asleep, because some time later, someone yelling snapped him awake. Blake stood up and began to try and stretch within the wagon's confines. He was a little sore, but that would have to do for now. Now, where was the action to be held?

[Mercakete]

"I would stock up if I had money. I'm broke," Norbert bluntly replied to Veronika, gratefully taking the offered food, "Thanks. I'll pay you back once I get some money." With that, he began hungrily eating the biscuit. When food was as scarce as it had been for Bert, he didn't care much about what sort of food he got so long as his belly wasn't completely empty.

[Acacia Sgt]

<Well, leaving that aside, I guess we have time for a quick breakfast or something.> John thought before dismounting. Gil meanwhile had took this chance to sleep some more. <Heh, good thing he managed to not fall asleep while in the air. Well, he deserves it in any case.> He then started to search among his bags for something to eat.

[Phoenix]

Let Us Strategize

"Alright, Danton was an eastern strong fortress so it was designed primarily to house battalions and put up a strong defensive front toward threats from the east. It's western defenses were somewhat poor and defensive placements like ballistas and cannons were pretty minimal. Now the fort's been abandoned for some time and so the western defensive are probably even worse off than before, and I seriously doubt the guys holding up here will have much in the way of modern anti-siege weapons." a soldier holding up a map of the region explained.

"So you think we won't have to worry about ballistas or cannons at all ... or just not efficient ones?" asked Altena

"Well ... Danton's a small fortress, so you could theoretically keep the place somewhat well defended without getting much notice, but ... you'd have to be pretty well organized. I'd say at best, this place isn't even remotely well stocked and they'll be relying on small arms which we can easily overpower, and at worst, this is some stronghold of theirs that escaped our notice and we've got a serious fight on our hands." he explained.

"Serious fight or no, they won't be able to beat us if Weyland's forces took out a third of them on their own. The idea of just rushing in and mowing them down seems a bit reckless, though ..."

"Oh we should definitely surround them before we do anything. Then they won't have anywhere to run."

"Not ... what I had in mind, Corporal. If we surround them right at the beginning they'll just dig themselves in and then we'll have to fight for every inch of the place. We've got a hostage to rescue too, remember? We want these guys at least a little spread out, and if we leave them an escape route, we can set ambush units there to cut them off. Better chance of catching most or all of them without putting the hostage in as much danger." Altena explained.

Let Us Inquire

Raquel's eyes slowly opened to see a dark figure standing over her. She tried to shoot up but quickly realized that was tied down, and thoroughly. The figure spoke up before she could scream, as well. Raising his gauntleted hand back in preparation for a swift strike, he threatened "I swear to the makers, woman, if you scream one more time, I'll break your jaw and wrap your head up in medical cloth so tight, you won't even be able to blink your eyes." He then let his hand come down. "Not necessarily in that order ..." She seemed to get the point.

"W-who are you ...?"

"You're one of the worst guests I've ever had, girl. You assail me with your incessant screams and now demand my name without first introducing yourself?" the man shot back.

"Hey, I'm being kidnapped! Do you really expect me to be civil, right now?!" Raquel raised her voice, only to have the man raise his hand in response. As he did so, her voice came down quickly. "My name is Raquel ..."

"That's more like it. Now I should warn you, 'Raquel', any outsider who learns my name ... dies ... sooner or later .... Still curious?"

"I ..."

Raquel hadn't answered before a young woman stepped into the room dressed in all black. "Hey, Burke, I thought I should let you kn-" and she was cut off by a very loud gunshot. She wasn't hit, but the hole in the wall right behind her as well as her ruffled hair suggested that the shot had only missed her forehead by about six inches. The shooter was the man she spoke to, and he had apparently whipped out a pistol and fired without even looking ...

"I just wanted to tell you that the guys chasing Sardis and his friends might be in the area! What was that for?!" she protested with an almost teary eyed expression.

"... mmmmissed ..." he muttered, letting his gun arm slowly drop. "I'm a little busy at the moment. Could you kindly disappear?"

"But what about the people chasing after Sardis?"

"We knew this was coming, so it's nothing to panic about. I'll deal with it later, shoo." he shot back, shooing the girl with his shooting hand after putting away the firearm. She slowly backed out of the room and left him and Raquel alone.

"... so you're name is ... Burke?" Raquel asked, after the long silence began to get to her.

He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table Raquel was tied down to. "That's right. I suppose you knowing doesn't change anything, hahahah. Don't get your hopes up, girl. Anyone who comes for you has already signed his death warrant. I'll make certain of that."

Let Us Check First

"This is pretty dangerous. I've got a plan, though." Cecily began.

"Oh, a plan? Excellent. Let's hear it!"

"Clara and I will wait here. You go into Urcenter and see if any of your contacts are still there. It's a safe bet that we'll never find him in this place if none of your so called 'sources' are here to pin-point him for us. He's an assassin, after all; the military couldn't even find him until it was too late. Better to check first than to try to sneak in there and be mistaken for Ursian pegasus knights." she explained with a rare smile on her face. She liked the idea of paying the Darksider back by sending him into a warzone, and he could tell ...

"I ... do not like this plan." he replied simply.

[ReformBlade]

Sammy

Oddly enough, the kid had been awake for a while. Sleep couldn't seem to find him, and he didn't care. What he didn't understand was why he was anywhere near Synthia, but he figured if he didn't outright cause a problem, she wouldn't be a total bitch to him. Seeing her stir made him jump and yelp a little, but he tried to cover it up with a yawn and stretch of his own, mumbling, "Oh g'morning there..." No you dumbass, talking to her will result in misery and pain, and then probably anger! Dammit!

Aneda

Hannah stopped, making a rather alert and awake Aneda slump forward slightly, apparently unaware of her surroundings... wait... scratch the alert part, she was just incredibly awake, waiting to burst into a jumbled conversation with someone on anything that came to her mind. Patting her Pegasus, Aneda sat there and waited, not really wanting to move about when she was already as comfortable as she was.

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

"One biscuit isn't worth much money at all really, don't worry about it," Veronika said to Bert, looking around to try and keep track of all the group members. We're not really in the best fighting shape right now... she thought to herself.

Erica

The blue-haired cavalier surveyed the group when they stopped. She found the group a bit of an odd assortment, but she supposed that's what mercenary types were like. Eventually she came upon her target.

"Howdy Norbert," she said from atop her speckled steed. "Didn't expect to see you here, what brought you in with this group anyway?" she asked him candidly.

Selene

"I agree with Lieutenant Altena; we should draw them out if possible. We would win a siege, but that would involve a difficult hostage situation. Since they can't defeat us head on regardless, we can afford to split our forces. Let's send one unit in to rescue Miss Valcyn while the rest of us engage this group elsewhere," the Major General suggested after listening to the soldiers debate over it.

Clara

"That does sound like a good plan actually. If you get caught by the Neviskotian military it won't really be a problem since you're obviously not a threat anyway. Well, I guess you could be a mage, but it doesn't seem like good military practice to start killing people just because they might be enemy mages," Clara said thoughtfully.

[Mercakete]

"Huh?" half-mumbled, half-groaned Norbert as he looked up to see a woman on horseback he recognized. "Erica? Oh right, you joined the military like almost everyone else. Though... Your pegasus doesn't have wings." Norbert was the smartest man in the world when he was half-asleep and only said notable things, never stating the obvious, obviously. He also answered questions aimed at him the first time they're asked, as you can see.

[Psych]

"Yes, do lead the way." Sirocco followed the man, hoping to try and catch a peek of someone. Though, they likely wouldn't know who she was. Unless they were gifted with the sight, like she was. Could it be? They were the children of destiny, so it could be possible. Sirocco clasped her hands together, wondering what might happen.

[Phoenix]

Preparing and Whatnot

Altena was left wondering for a moment before finally speaking up. "Ma'am, are we going to use one of our own units to retrieve the hostage or ..." she paused to look over at the wagon and those around it. "... or are we going to try and let them handle that part?" There was some distrust in her voice, but she wouldn't object even if Selene planned on using Weyland's mercenaries as the infiltration unit. She merely didn't trust them to perform very well.

"Oi! Did you whites come up with a plan, yet?!" Gabbie called over. She was obviously getting bored, quickly.

Preparing and Whatnot

"I still think this idea puts me at a great deal of risk." Simon replied, shaking a bit.

"I find the risks acceptable." Cecily contradicted him without cracking a smile this time.

"That is quite cold, red hot tempered one ..."

"The sooner you get a hold of your sources, the sooner we can find out where this guy is."

Simon sighed. "Forsaken by my own escorts .... Very well ... I will make the dangerous journey into Urcenter on my own and return with news of the assassin's whereabouts! You will see that I, the Darksider am a force to be reckoned with!" He ended with that and rode off toward the city leaving the two pegasus knights behind.

Looking over to Clara, Cecily shrugged. "I just figure they won't think he's worth shooting and leave him be."

Arrival and Whatnot

Once the soldiers had ridden back with the strange woman, they approached one of the officers in the battalion. "Uh, sir, I've got a woman here who's looking for some people ... they might be those mercs we picked up at Weyland's estate ... maybe."

The officer merely stood there for a moment, trying to figure out what the deal was with her outfit. Giving up and shaking his head, he replied "Just who are you looking for and why?"

[Psych]

Sirocco nodded, silently smiling at the man. "Weyland? Would that happen to be the elderly man with the spectacles? I have news I must discuss with him and the lady with the purple veil. I must deliver my aid unto them. It has been foretold. Our destinies are intertwined. I must speak to them about the flames. It is of the utmost importance."

[Phoenix]

Soldiers

"Weyland's mercenaries ...?" the officer asked the soldier again. He nodded, and then the officer shrugged.

"Yyyyeah, Weyland's mercenaries ... they're over by the wagon. You can see them, but don't do anything crazy, would ya?" the soldier told Sirocco.

[Acacia Sgt]

After a bit of searching, John finally took out a piece of bread from a bag and began to eat, leaning against Gil. Looking around, it seems they had a visitor, some cavalier. <And who might that be?> He wondered. Whoever she was, she knew Bert apparently. He then turned to Gil. <Heh, I'll bet he won't have time to eat before we move on again.> He then resumed to eating his bread.

Edited November 29, 2011 by Acacia Sgt