Return of the Emblem Chapter Nine: Consolidating Forces

[Phoenix]

Galley

"As long as the deadliest son of a bitch in this group is going with to protect her, I guess that's ... possible. But if we don't let them know well in advance that we want that sort of meeting, they might not go for it. It's already suspicious enough that she'll have around twelve or more escorts. Assuming we get their and they want Raquel completely alone, I think we should just cut our losses and attack; hope the assault team is quick." Reign commented on the plan. Bert's comment got Reign to raise an eyebrow. "Soooo he's the deadliest son of a bitch in this group, I take it?"

"Are you serious? Raquel, you're AT LEAST going to hide Chip in your bag, right? Right?! It only makes sense, after all." Shadrak somewhat pleaded. Bert didn't have much range with those maces, and Zachery needed uninterrupted casting time which no one could guarantee, so he didn't have much confidence in either. He figured the monkey had slightly better odds of taking out one of the two adversaries in one shot.

"I hadn't really thought of that, actually ..." Raquel admitted sheepishly.

"I swear to the gods, if a monkey saves the day here, I will be laughing my ass off until this time tomorrow." Reign commented, already on the verge.

"There's nothing funny about that monkey." Gabbie growled out.

[Mercakete]

"I just don't trust this guy. If someone's tougher than me, then of course they should go instead," Norbert replied to Reign, irritated at the reminder, "Veronika's a good choice to go with Raquel, too, if it comes to it."

[ReformBlade]

Aneda sat back and watched the discussion unfold before her. Wowzers, I suggested something and they went with it super duper quick-like! I. Am. AWESOME!

The fighter, however, was being talked to... kind of. "What do I think? I think... they're making a mountain out of an anthill in some regards to it. I just really think if we stuck with one central plan and picked at it long enough this group could manage it somehow. The shit we've been through just baffles me to be honest..." And there was more discussion, wondering who would be a guard for Raquel, and Reign wanted a BAD ENOUGH DUDE to do the job. Nanahm stepped up, clearing his throat "If you want, I can go with her. Though perhaps I assume too much in thinking I'm the toughest... But I'm hazarding a guess I'm the most intimidating at least, and if worse comes to worst I could easily protect her long enough to get the hell out, which is what I'd be there for in the first place, right?"

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"If the monkey saves the day it just lends credence to my idea of having monkey butlers/sharpshooters," Gar commented before taking his mind to thoughts of naked maids. "What do you think that lone guard is likely to be equipped with?" Gar asked before going back to his usual thoughts without clothes.

[Acacia Sgt]

<So it's settled huh,> John thought. <Raquel's going and there is no decoy. Well, I guess that settles it, I'm going with that group. They're certainly going to need all the help they can get.>

It is certain that the decoy group would be in most danger, Sophia thought. But even so, infiltrating doesn't sound like an easy task either. At the least with the former the fight wouldn't be spread out much, maybe I can be more useful there. Maybe I should go with that group despite the danger.

[roymbrog]

“Alright, Fred. I'm Synthia, this is Torin, we'll meet you here tomorrow.” The mage started walking quickly to the stable exit... where she found Valter, of all people. “Hey, what are you doing here? ...Are you feeling better?” she asked, noticing he was still a little pale.

He had thought it would take forever to find her. What a stroke of luck. “I'm fine. Listen, you need to come back to the ship. Are there others here with you?”

“I am!” Torin said.

Valter looked confused. Synthia elected to ignore it. “Ranyin and the knight girl, Mireille I think. Why? Did something happen?”

“Uh, yeah. It'd be best if everyone was there to hear it at once. Do you know where they are?”

Torin pointed over his shoulder, back the way they'd come. “We kind of left them behind somewhere. I can go tell them.”

“Yeah, you go do that,” the mage replied, and the kid ran off. “Come on,” she said to Valter. “I'll explain this later, there are apparently more important things to worry about. Tell me what's going on on the way back.”

OoC: Well, not the worst thing I've written....

[Eail]

Taking note of Nanahm's rather ...... imposing figure, Zach had to agree with him when he volunteered to go. "He's probably a good idea, I certainly wouldn't want to mess with a guy his size. Doubt anybody else will either if they can avoid it. We can probably bring her along as well, but more than two of you might be pushing it" He added while pointing towards Veronika

[Rothene]

Ranyin and Mireille stood in silence as time passed by, neither knowing how best to spend it. Unable to stand the awkward silence, Ranyin took out his tome and began reading to kill time while Synthia did all the talking for the three of them. He was not the least bit interested in getting too involved with the arena and those in debt to it.

No sooner had he taken out his tome, Ranyin felt the air around him stir slightly telling him that he had aroused the attention of his fellow companion.

***

Standing perfectly still was natural to the Ursian knight. Most of her childhood was spent on marching, and standing in neat orderly formations like soldiers do. It amused her to see the short Kigenese mage fidget every now and then, stretch his body and then paced the room a bit. Then the mage took out his tome. Finally, thought Mireille pouring her attention on the fat object in Ranyin's hand. Subconciously, she felt herself shifting closer to him, every fibre in her body wanting to gaze at the words in the tome, to read it and perhaps try to understand it.

Noticing his companion closing in on him, Ranyin snapped the tome shut and asked grinning, "What interest does a knight have with a mage's tool?"

Before Mireille could answer, both of them could hear the approaching footsteps of the lot they were with earlier.

[roymbrog]

Torin spotted Ranyin and Miri as he turned a corner. "Hey, there you two are," he said as he ran towards them. "Someone came looking for you guys. Said you needed to go back to a ship for something important. The healer girl sent me back to tell you."

[-Cynthia-]

More Plans

I hope Bert's recommendation is a compliment to my fighting skills, not him calling me a son a bitch. Veronika thought briefly before speaking up once again. "I suggest we fight as a larger group as much as possible, but I don't plan on leaving Raquel's side in any case," she said assertively.

"How are we gonna get through the basement door again? We're generally good at killin' people, but I'm not sure we're good at killin' people quietly- Amon probably coulda done it, but he's not here," Nadya asked the group.

[Mercakete]

Gytha frowned at Nadya's reminder of Amon's absence. Right reliable jack he was. she found herself thinking. Wonder how he's doin'.

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"I suppose if it's necessary I can take over silent eliminations," Gar offered. Things were getting a bit too long though, and his thoughts about the naked were starting to get obnoxious.

[Eail]

"Killing someone quietly? That's easy, all you have to do is sneak up on them and give them a quick stab right here" Zach said while tapping the lower back of his skull "None of that across the neck crap that's in so many books, it's really messy and the guy can still make a lot of noise if you do it. Betting you know exactly what I'm talking about don't you Mr. Gar?"

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"More curious to know why you know that, really," Gar smirked before turning that arrogant smirk into a smirk at the thought of naked ladies.

[Eail]

"It's much simpler than you might think actually, I just read a medical journal that explained how various wound's affect different area's of the spinal cord, puncture wounds just happened to be discussed in there." Zach explained

[Phoenix]

Battle Preparations

Reign looked over at Nanahm thinking He so much as falls on someone and it's instant hospitalization. Sure that works. Next he looked at Veronika thinking Doesn't look as strong, but you can always make up for that with speed and precision. If she's a quick draw and no one's heavily armored, that should be enough. Nadya then brought up another issue they had to deal with if they were going to get inside before they started sending reinforcements, and Amon came up once again. I'm guessing he was one of those swift silent types?

"Gar here could probably fill in there ... maybe. He's going on the assault team, anyway, right?" Shadrak suggested.

So Veronika and Nanahm would be watching her back while Zachery dealt with Cervantes. Raquel felt it might actually work as long as they were quick when the time came. The last thing she wanted was for whoever was with Cervantes to see Zachery's attack coming and act first. Shadrak's suggestion of bringing Chip would not leave her mind, and she quickly decided that she would bring him just in case. More for offense than defense. He was the only one she figured could hit someone across a room in an instant, though she was worried that he might favor a closer target in the heat of the moment. The conversation quickly began to steer toward the proper method of quietly killing people, which was a little unsettling for Raquel, so she tuned that all out.

Borderland Chaos

On the fringes of 'fallen territory', the wastelands bordering both Kigen and Rex-Avaz, several hundred of the winged people were gathering around a convoy that was preparing to journey to the northwest, to Tartarus. At the center of the convoy was a demonic creature with disproportionately large wings. It had a large carriage strapped to its back and appeared to be readying itself to take off ahead of its escorts. The fallen commoners and scavengers had exhausted the patriarch's patience with their gawking and gossiping, and so it was time to leave.

Inside the carriage, the patriarch himself sat with his arms crossed and wings tucked in unusually close, as if trying to shut out the curious voices outside. Sitting across from him was his wife and two very young noble children. Despite his mood, the his family seemed somewhat excited about the recent turn of events. <"We're going home, now, so everything should be fine. With this find we will become the most prestigious clan in the entire country."> said the wife. <"And there are so many ways we can use this.">

<"I'm not certain our current escort will be enough to get us back safely, but that aside, you're right. I don't know what this creature is, but it has the power to completely alter the face of the clans ... and if it becomes a member of the Ragnus clan, our clan, we will give even the Devlinos clan pause. Perhaps we could take things even further beyond that. If this child is as powerful as I think it might become ... then perhaps Ragnus and Devlinos will merge into one in the near future ... with this one at the forefront.">

<"Father, what kind of child is it?"> his oldest child, a son, asked.

<"One of us, my son. One of us."> the patriarch replied with a smile. He quickly turned to his wife at a realization. <"Perhaps we should begin thinking of names?">

<"Milord! Milord Ragnus!"> came a frightened voice from outside the carriage. The patriarch peeked outside to see his guards scurrying around, some on the ground trying to shoo the commoners away, and others flying erratically around the carriage.

<"What's going on?"> he asked impatiently.

<"Two avians! They're incredibly powerful! We c-can't stop them, sir! You have to get out of here, immediately while we hold them off!">

<"Impossible, no two avians could stop an entire battalion, more importantly, we won't make it back without escorts. When the other clans sense this power they won't believe any lie I could ever come up with to explain it. These ... two avians must be here for it, as well. Running isn't an option at this point. Perhaps they can be reasoned with. Surely they wouldn't want to face the full blown might of the entire Ragnus clan.">

And with a firmly outstretched hand, an entire group of the patriarch's escorts were sent flying away from Lilith. Griffin was tailing closely behind her, and had already assumed his other, larger form. <"STOP!!! ... please ..."> one of the guards began pleading. Fighting those two seemed hopeless since nothing and no one could get within five feet of them without being swiftly and violently cast aside.

Griffin shook his head at Lilith for how she was handling this, wondering if there was some reason she was 'being gentle' with them. "Lilith, you know there's nothing wrong with destroying these creatures, right?"

"That's not what I'm here for." she replied simply. As they closed in on the carriage and its passengers, the guards regrouped and surrounded it in order to fend them off. Not a one of them believed they could do much more than stall the two of them, but they had to try.

The patriarch opened the door to the carriage and stepped out onto the giant flying demon's back and saw the two attackers with his own eyes. <"A woman and a ... avian? No that's no avian-what in Obelisk's holy name is that thing?!"> His wife and children were still inside and wondering what was going on now, themselves.">

"Get out of the way. I have got no quarrel with you." Lilith announced as she reached the perimeter the fallen had established.

<"Back off!"> one of the fallen guards yelled as he jabbed at her threateningly with a spear. Lilith sighed realizing she had another language barrier standing between her and her goal. Or so it seemed ...

"He said to leave. They insist on keeping him, it looks like." Griffin explained to her.

"Tell them that they have no idea what they currently have in their possession and that it's too powerful for them to control."

"... well that's an outright lie, but alright. <The being in your possession is unknowable. You cannot even begin to understand the nature of its existence. Return it to us immediately, and you will be spared.">

The patriarch finally had to step in. He flew down to meet the two intruders. <"What did you say ...?"> he inquired furiously.

<"You have taken possession of a god, fool. You cannot hope to control it, let alone understand it. Return it to us, immediately, or I will destroy you all."> Griffin threatened him in his own language. It felt silly calling a former ally a god, but the fallen didn't have a word for their kind in their language.

<"I can't do that! That child could change the course of our future! You claim that he belongs to you, but you are both avian; that child is Kestrelii.">

Despite his head having the same shape as an eagle's, he made an expression so disturbed that it got Lilith's attention. "What? What did he say?" she asked once she realized she wasn't going to learn anything without prompting him.

"He's ... turned into one of them. I didn't realize this could happen but ... some things are beginning to make sense, here." he finally answered after a long pause. He quickly turned back to the patriarch saying <"Give us the egg, or be destroyed. I won't warn you, again.">

The patriarch took a step backward, unsure of how to respond at first. <"I can't. There is so much good this one can do for the empire. I can't allow you to rob us of this blessing! I found this egg, alone and abandoned, yet you claim it belongs to you?! Nonsense! We can care for this child. You'll simply dump it back in the mountains or perhaps worse ... who knows ... who would wish to find out? This child could have a real future with us!">

"What's he ranting about, now?"

"He thinks we're bad parents or something." Griffin answered. "He also thinks the fallen can provide him a better future than we can."

Lilith gave a sad smile for a moment. "He's right. They could, but I need the two of you for what's coming."

"If you need us, then let's get this over with ..." Griffin's reply was about the only warning the fallen got before he unleashed a storm of wind blades that cut half of the battalion to ribbons in the space of a few seconds. Even those that weren't killed fell to the ground in shock as they saw their comrades fall to pieces all around them. The patriarch was still unscathed, but seeing so many of his men, his assets, killed sent him into a frenzy, and he drew his blade to fight them, despite the danger. "Go grab him. I'll keep them off your back!" he yelled as the fallen attacked him.

The flying demon carriage took off immediately, the driver being too scared to return for his own master or risk the rest of the man's family to do so. Lilith caught up and landed on the creatures back. The patriarch's wife stepped out of the carriage and brandished a blade of her own. <"How dare you attack our family."> She was just as furious as the patriarch. She charged Lilith only to be run through by her own sword after Lilith turned it back on her. The children peeked outside just in time to see it and called out to her. It was horrible timing, but Lilith couldn't deal with it just then and rushed to the back of the carriage, and opened up the storage compartment. The children rushed out to stop her, beating on her thighs and tugging at her legs.

<"That's our sibling! Stop it! They didn't do anything to you so leave them alone!"> the oldest yelled. He was immediately killed by a wind blade and fell away from the sky carriage trailing blood. The other child fearing for her life let go of Lilith and began to back away in a panic, but was still killed in a similar fashion. Lilith opened the compartment containing the egg and took a moment to gaze at it. It was exactly who they thought it was. The egg carried a deep red glow, but it was fallen egg, as well which was unsettling.

As she took the egg out, the wife, having removed the sword from her abdomen charged her again, and this time Griffin appeared to take her down with a swift punch to her side. The punch broke her left arm along with most of her ribs and shattered her spinal column. The force of it sent her hurdling toward the tail of the flying demon, which she slammed into and fell away from. Even if she had survived that somehow, the fall threatened to finish the job.

With the egg in hand, Lilith looked down at the ground to see that Griffin hadn't spared a single fallen in the area. Even the commoners were all dead. The only fallen left alive for miles was the driver of the flying carriage, and as soon as she realized that, she saw Griffin ascending above the carriage, aiming to destroy it as well. She quickly flew away as he summoned more wind blades. This time he used dozens of massive ones and sliced the demonic creature to bits. The driver was killed as well, and the bloody wreck fell back to the earth.

"That was a little extreme, don't you think?!" Lilith scolded him after the battle.

"That's insulting coming from you, Lilith." he shot back. "We got what we came for, so get over it."

"Did you honestly think we had to kill everyone to get that accomplished?"

"Honestly? I don't care, and you didn't care, either. I killed them because I despise them, and if you really cared about these people, you could have stopped me. You would have stopped me. So don't whine at me now to soothe your guilty conscience." A part of her had to admit that he was right. It was more about principle than anything else. Arguing with him seemed pointless after the deed was already done, so she turned her attention toward the egg they had recovered. That didn't escape Griffin's notice and he turned to his avian form while smirking at her. "The Birds of Paradise. So close to going back to the way things were, and now we come to find that nothing's ever that simple."

Edited January 11, 2013 by Phoenix

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

"Well, no point in being rude and pointlessly inquiring further," Gar shrugged with thoughts no his mind of naked. "We should probably make official names for these teams, I think."

[Eail]

"Keep the team names simple, Team A and Team 1. Team A being Raquel, myself, and whoever we bring. Team 1 being whoever sneaks into the manse. Is that fair enough for you all?" Zach questioned

[Phoenix]

Galley of Names

"That's a little too easy to mix up." Reign replied. "Not to push for my own ideas here, but I think 'assault team' for the basement stormers works just fine. We could call Raquel's team the 'infiltration team' or just 'team ruse' if the word 'infiltration' is too long or something. Honestly I've already mixed up Team A and Team One in my head."

[Mercakete]

"What?" Norbert asked, "That's so stupid... It'd be hard to remember, too. How about 'the defending group' and 'the attacking group'? It's easier to remember since that's basically what we'll be doing depending on what group we're in."

Reign spoke up with his own ideas and the pegasus rider had to agree they were better suggestions. "Yeah, those are a lot easier to work with."

[Eail]

"That's fine with me, any objections to those names?" Zach questioned

[-Cynthia-]

Nadya

"I know how to stab people to death, I'm just not that good at doin' it quietly. Convenient we picked up someone who knows how to do it though," Nadya said, looking at Gar more closely. Lotta people we picked up in a short timeframe...wonder if Raquel has thought one of 'em might be a spy. Ah well, if things go sour I'll just split. she reassured herself.

Veronika

"So I'm going with Raquel, Zachary, Bert, and Nanahm on the defense team. Nadya, Gytha, and Gar are going on the assault team...I might have missed a few people but we need to decide who goes where."

Connor

"I'll guard the Dauntless," Connor offered, seeing that his skillset would be unlikely to be of use either defending Raquel or going through the basement. He would have offered to throw a grenade at the one guy guarding the basement, but he figured that probably would not be the stealthiest plan of attack.

Edited June 21, 2012 by -Cynthia-

[Phoenix]

Meeting

"Eh, I'll go with the kill team since I won't have to guard anyone, what with Connor staying here." Gabbie announced. "Call the teams whatever you want. I picked my own names for'em~"

"I assume kill team is the assault team?" Reign inquired.

"Yes the kill team, as opposed to the being killed team." Gabbie teased.

Heh, well that's not appropriate, though I'll admit it's a big risk sending them in there like this, especially with what looks like almost no healers. Reign thought to himself.

"Hmm, I'm still not sure. The assault team could use some more stopping power, but our infiltration team's still low on healers." Shadrak spoke up.

[Eail]

"How about the people that aren't here yet? Could they even things out pretty well for the teams?" Zach questioned the group

[Acacia Sgt]

''I volunteer to go with Raquel and the others.'' John spoke up. ''I can do my job better on much closer quarters. Besides, it's probably a lesser need for the infiltration team most likely.''

''Me too,'' Sophia said. ''He is right, that team needs to have more healers.''