«12. . .323324325326327328329. . .345346»
The imperial colonel saluted the man back, “I want to do more for you. But sansad will never approve further help. Our government is full of cowards. I’ll find a way to repay you one day, soldier. Even if my government wont let me do so officially. Moon’s guidance to you.” She saluted to Alannard before running to her transport ship, which headed back towards the battle group. Which had likely sustained damage from ground fire and aerial units. The shields were barely holding and the ships were on the verge of taking serious damage if they remained in atmosphere for long. Smaller batteries would fire on locations deemed safe to fire into. But after the transport ship docked, the group took off. Speeding into the ether and taking a safe and direct route to safe waves.
Weapons, money, and medicine was all that came in the days following the incident. Perhaps the colonel had managed to turn some ears towards the cause of aiding an ally. Regardless, a consulate would be reestablished in a safe location. And while most of the individuals originally present at the first building, a new staff and the original consul would return. And with the arrival of the consulate building and staff later on, Alannard would get his chance to exchange medals. As the Marine Captain and Colonel from the conflict had traveled to present Alannard and his second in command with Imperial Orders. Specifically a Ribbon of Imperial Service to all the members of Alannard’s squad who helped defend the embassy. Alannard himself received the Grand Cross of Imperial Valour, a highly coveted military decoration, and in addition Alannard received the salute of an Imperial Honour Guard, consisting of the members of the 24th Imperial Lancers Regiment.
-
Months after the civil war occurred, strange rumours would reach Jarlvein. Rumours of a strange group of elves wishing to meet with him to discuss business. They were described as wearing tight stockings, tall hoods, and animal masks. Most of them had dark hair and dark skin. Their uniforms were a deep shade of green, their masks carved with runes and wrought with streaks of animal blood. Their weapons heavily personalised. There were three, one who wore a mask resembling a skull and a tall metal helmet. One with a pointed hood and a stag mask. And the third, wearing the same as the stag, but with a wolf mask.
2 Months after the civil war.
The supplies sent to them such as the weapons, money and medicine we're greatly valued and after the civil war, they we're stored on a new section of the museum which is still off limits to the public until further notice. Surviving Bezi weaponry would be given proper respect by being shown along side with the weapons used during the civil war. Alannard would be personally be the one giving the medals to all the Bezi that supported them during the consulate's siege. The Marine Captain and her subordinates would be given the "Keroth Campaign Medal" all with the rank of member whilst the captain herself would have the rank of commander, donned in Black, Red and White stripes. The Twin Crimson Crescents 1st Class, the highest rank, was presented to the captain herself as well. Alandard would remark to her whilst pinning the medal that she is the very first recipient of the medal, as the medal is reserved for expeditionary forces from other nations... Of course the fallen wouldn't be forgotten as they we're the first to be awarded during the ceremony, a 9 gun salute accompanied with a blank salvo salute from the KS Indita just a kilometer above the consulate... Debriefing would ensue a day after the ceremony about the civil...
1 Month after the ceremony // Undisclosed Location
...On top of the hill watching his own troops train, shoot, absorb all that sweet sweet propaganda, the head of the rebellion Jarlvein Sigurgrimur would be mounting a quadropod beast of unknown origin, something outside of the nebula, i think they call it a 'horse' or a 'hoofbeast' or whatever its called... "Jarl! Jarl! You have guests..." One of his subordinates would report to him personally. Jarlvein would simply keep quiet while smoking a cigar before looking at the person and simply nodding, giving him and then them the signal to come on top of the hill to meet with the Jarl himself. The Jarl would be wearing a beret and a balaclava with a holstered shortaxe on his left waist, perhaps traditionalist...?
When Jazmin put it that way, it started to make Filia feel silly for saying what she did out loud. But in her head it made some sense since that AI was damn near in control of everything. “That doesn’t explain how a civilian AI has access to government or military satellites but we’ll just let this go for the time being.” She says as she looks to the missiles through the glass.
Looking at them and listening to Jazmin, again knowing she was right, just rubbed her chin while Harlock was blissfully asleep. Unaware of all the talk of nuclear missiles. “You’ve got me there… If I was still the Queen of Blades I would have the knowledge to do all this in a heartbeat seeing as this tech isn’t too dissimilar to most of the races the Zerg wiped out over the eons. Though I have no access to that now… Hmm… But if there were multiple governments, does that mean there are other AI like her rampaging on the surface? Maybe they’re trying to kill her off too… Wishful thinking on my part anyways.” She says before going over to the console to see what she can make of it, see if she can find anything useful.
-----
After the Creach and Ane had disappeared he did linger for a moment more to think to himself. [What the hell? Were… Were they throwing bodies into the castle? They looked bundled up… Could just be offerings… Heh. Guess the city life would have been safer but this is rather interesting.]
After that thought he looked back over to Liline, sleeping peacefully as he still felt sore from mirdif to his back and neck from hours before. Though despite that he definitely couldn’t stop himself from smiling like an idiot [Better get back to sleep before she wakes up. I can look into this another time.] He thinks to himself as he gets back into bed, cuddling up close to her to keep them both warm through until morning.
And as morning came, Seph definitely slept well. His wild bed head was very indicative of that as he kept smacking his lips together from how dry his mouth was. With one eye closed he still looked a million miles away as he sat up and saw her getting dressed, it did help get his tired mind focussed before she threw the towel at him, which did get him in the face as he smiled and started to get up out of bed. “I can make do with a small tub, I’ll just compress myself down to fit better.” He says settling the towel over his shoulders as he goes to the bathroom “I’ll be quick~ I want to go exploring too even if my body would rather be somewhere warm instead.” He says with a small wave over his shoulder. She could certainly see the handiwork of hers all up his back as he passed. True to his word he did take a quick shower before coming out of the shower, looking refreshed while he dried his hair and started grabbing his next change of clothes since he had been wearing the same set for afew days now. “Okay, I’m good. Free to go whenever.” He says looking back to her.
Jelica’s face turns red as he started bringing up the names she called him, but it was hard to tell if she was angry or embarrassed, maybe the safe option was to assume both and not say anything about it. Though she didn’t say much bar softly stroking his hair as he finally started to rest.
That was when she finally got to dig deeper into her memories, trying to remember why this felt so natural to her.
-----
Sitting high up in the air, looking down on the display of idiocy from afar as they just softly munch on an apple they found the morning before was a strange girl with red skin and horns ad still had her right eye as she wore a simple robe and a banged up skin tight suit underneath, a girl who mostly kept to herself after she crashed on the planet after she fell asleep at the helm. Piercing Golden eyes peer down upon the fight between the boy and the worms starting to surround him. She had started to lose interest in the boy for his stubborn foolishness, it would be a pain to save him anyways…
Watching him she thought he’d be dead the moment his body was sent crashing into a rock face but seeing him get back up and start to take out the worms one by one after kicking up that dust cloud. Old Oni instincts started to surface after so long in stasis, this kid was strong. How good of a fight would she get from them she wondered… How much father could he grow.
Her blood started to boil as she stood up, unable to keep herself from flashing a toothy grin as she leaped off her little floating rock to come crashing down like a rocket on top of the last worm that Yohann was going to defeat. Kicking up even more dirt and rocks before he could spot a pair of Golden eyes through the sand and dirt before it was all blown away by a gust of strong wind. He saw a girl only afew years older than him sat atop the giant worm, she had crimson red skin with two horns on her head, smiling ear to ear as she looked down at him. She certainly wasn’t from around here… But she did have horns. She sat forward with a gleeful look on her face “Hey you’re strong right? Wanna play?”
Getting kicked mid sentence was pretty rude, he was about to slam his fists down on the leaders back but he noticed that he was only doing him a favour by taking him closer to the bomb, so the AI endured to the point he was thrown against the metal wall. That did hurt a bit. Getting up from his knees he was about to start talking again as he heard the fighting going on outside. And then hearing Halfthur in his head. “Heh, should have known you weren’t going to sit still you fidgety pest.” He says lightheartedly as he looks to the wall she was talking about. A quick scan did confirm what she was telling him “I’m alright yeah, just have one more loud mouth rebel to deal with. I let their injured go but they aren’t making it easy.” He says through the comms as he keeps an eye on his internal clock.
Only 10 minutes left. He didn’t have time to play around with their leader. Taking his rifle out, he leads the acid rounds and quickly starts unloading shell after shell towards him “I can build a depth charge that should be able to rip open the hull. But with the amount of energy I have left I might not have enough energy to move after using it and turning off the bomb.” He says to Halfthur just in case. “I have a reserve battery but that will keep me moving after I use up all the energy on a big enough charge to blow the hull open. Even then, maybe a few minutes at most with how much energy I’ve been using just to get here and with how beat up I am...”
Sieg was all too happy to have Aloni be unhappy with the situation, but that quickly spun around on her as she glared down to Aloni as her face went red from what she said. It definitely struck a nerve and the desire to drop her was very visible on her face “Why are you like this.”
Xernus nodded to Mierl as he asked if there was an escape plan. “We have secured a hover tank for an immediate retreat. I will be outside the tank with Yajana who will be using that avatar of hers to protect the emitter below while I use that tesla coil move you witnessed earlier. It will be a quick extraction. But we cannot wait any longer to come up with a new one, it will give the defenders too much time to thwart us.”
In the garage, Zemia created cover at the breach they made with the wrecked cars, laying down suppressing fire with the gun she still had as the drones were all trying to rush in to stop them. Though Yajana was behind cover, charging a massive detonation in her hands before moving out of cover, aiming her hands out and aiming the blast solely through the breach, unloading the detonation through and out to the gathering forces to blow up their lines and discourage them from attacking again so quickly.
Piper just had a rather smug grin on her face as Rovin said that the Emperor was having her defend the vault “Who said he ordered me to stop people from stealing from the vault? Who said he even knew I was there to begin with~?How do you explain your boss you were inside the private vault only he and select treasurers had access to without being caught hmmm~?” She says with a smirk that told him that she and those thieves were there for similar reasons. While she served the empire, it didn’t mean she liked doing it out of loyalty and the few perks they gave her.
Once they were out of the sim, Piper kept following Rovin. She did remember they were still on this supercarrier to get away from the authorities, she promised the lady running this cargo vessel to get in good with her bosses thanks to exclusive mining rights in her brother's system which she already cleared and did. She watched as Rovin fiddled with some equipment before she smirked and started to head back their ship “Lovely. Now we can get the hell out of dodge and get back to Meysin for some R&R. I could use a nice massage or something after all this.”
Zether was rather happy that his niece was so eager to learn how to apply his father's teachings to her craft. He was pretty eager to teach it himself, something else to think about for the future. And now he was just glad that Azultiri was happy with the explanation he gave. Though it seemed like he would have to explain himself some more as to why he wanted to continue to use his human form now that he was with the family. That and he didn’t mind being complimented on his ‘good tongue’ as she put it. Ignoring the connotations that would pop up in less innocent situations as he smiled. “Why thank you my dear niece. I certainly don’t mind teaching you, thought you’re clever enough to make use of it already I would say. You just need a nudge in the right direction. As for the Anti-magic I’d be more than happy to teach you how to use that too.”
“I may not be a ruler anymore but I want to help the family anyway I can. I won’t be sitting back and letting you all do the work, so unless you need me to end a fight or play babysitter. I will do my best for the family, even if it means tricking some silly humans or aliens to giving us a better deal.” Zether said as he listened to what she had to say about the belt along with him standing out more as a Watrike. Which he did understand, their race loved dragons so having a dragon imitate them would likely have more than a few of them have their heads explode from seeing it. Though he was pretty happy that she would make something to protect his softskin form. “I thank you, though it isn’t that soft. I can still use a good sum of my power in that form. Just not as much as I can in my dragon form though. But I do appreciate this. AH! I still have to pick the gems for it don’t I… Hmm. I wouldn’t mind a shield gem and maybe that one that empowers your breath. Even if it wouldn't be much good in human form."
Iammelon and Necunda
Ishben would do just that, climbing into bed and getting himself comfortable.
"Hm... nice to be in a bed that isn't so small..."
As the corpses of mountain worms start piling up, one by one due to his attacks he would be surprised to be someone there watching him. He immediately stops what he’s doing and would look at the familiar looking silhouette. Out of nowhere the last of the mountain worms would suddenly pierce the ground beneath him but would not take his deadly gaze on the unknown figure. Punching his way through the mountain worm and would exit unscathed and would stand still for the mean time. He looks around for a moment to see if anyone else is watching them both, highly suspicious of his surroundings.
“Who the hell are you?” He asks interrogatively. The silhouette’s shadow wont go away as the figure stands perfectly still in the towering cliffs’ shade beside them both. The tension between them is becoming more and more intense the longer they stare at each other with the ground around them seemingly shaking. As he walks up to confront the figure, the figure would also move toward him to the point where he can se-
---
Yohann would suddenly wake up, wondering what just happened and how he managed to remember that moment so clearly, yet he still wonders who was that figure and why said figure sounds suspiciously familiar to Jelica, in a younger self apparently. Yohann would look up at Jelica to see what she’s doing, if she’s either sleeping or making fun of him for sleeping on her lap.
“Hold on tight Echo, ill do something.” Halfthur would hurriedly run into the weapon compartment of the ship, before returning again to the main hull to run into her laboratory room. “Jeez I hope this works.” She takes out one of the prototype energy sources he showed to him, the substellar energy source that is literally a white dwarf in a jar. She encapsulates the jar in a metal container and heads toward the weapon compartment. Overriding the command function of the ship in order to replace one of the shells of the cannon into the container.
“Echo don’t do anything stupid for about a minute, im sending in some support here.” She says to the comms. Time is ticking dumbass faster faster Halfthur! She is literally freaking out since there is literally a bomb in the center of a city and their ship is literally inside the blast zone. The shell would be aimed beside Echo and it would contain the substellar energy source. Echo use this as your power juice or something, it’s a slow charger but it will last longer unlike that reactor you have. " cheerfully conveyed with a tinge of hope and childish glee knowing that Echo can definitely do this job.
As she starts loading the shell into the cannon, enemy fire suddenly starts pouring onto the ship with missiles and rockets, the ship becomes shaky and accidentally fires the shell off-course outside of the building but not too far from the original trajectory, although lots of lots of enemies, they thought it was just a dud so they start advancing into the building. Rebel strikecraft are starting to attack Halfthur’s ship, although the only ship with energy shields it would be difficult to maintain the shield without that power source but hopefully the starship hull would take some of the damage. “Echo, apologies im being blasted up here, you’re on your own. The shell is just below you but you gotta mow down through your enemies, I have to deal with these bastards up here.” her voice was shaky and interrupted second by second.
Suddenly seeing Yohann wake up after he little session of recalling the past, she looks down to him wondering what the heck was going through his head. She wasn't really doing much, she was just absentmindedly stroking through his hair as she was remembering stuff from her past. But he did seem kinda spooked so she decided to tease him. "You okay? Had a bad dream ya cri baby?" She says with a toothy grin like he saw in that flash back.
Echo kept fighting off goons as he waited on Halfthur, he was pretty worried as the fighting only seemed to be getting heavier now that he was next to the bomb, he kept firing off round after round into the soldiers that kept pouring into the building after him before the shell lands outside the building. "Oh you are joking." He says as he starts to advance back through the building as fast as possible, taking no merciful methods as he cracks backs, breaks necks, and shoots people point black with his rail rifle to have the shots penetrate multiple people. "I see the pod, pull back and stay safe!" He says as the turrets on his ship start to activate in retaliation to the hostile fighters as they start to open up with heavy particle weapons fire.
Between Echo and that pod were lots of idiot goons, so he put his rifle away, pulled out his blades and used his teleporter to teleport in and slash groups of people up, wasting more power as his soul objective had him aiming for that shell to get that power up that Halfthur sent him. He wasn't big on putting more strange items inside his body right now but it was a necessary evil.
Aloni smirked as Sieg's happiness drained and was replaced with her red face, taking her clear irritation as a sign she struck the nail on the head and scored a victory. In a smug voice she replied, "Because somebody has to speak the truth, Sieg! Not my fault it's true, I am simply the messenger. But hey, do well enough and maybe the Dragon Minister will praise you! Give you a pat on the head! Would you like that? Or is it not enough?" She chuckled, but then quieted up as she heard sounds of fighting as they got closer, putting on a more serious face now. Mierl simply nodded to Xernus, understanding the plan and thinking it was quite fine. Unlike Aloni, he had no need for commentary, and so he simply got into his serious phase faster. He'd follow the plan.
The destroyed cars made good cover, being quite a nice size for hiding from gunfire. The drones thus couldn't get them, and combined with Yajana's own detonation attack they were forced to fall back for now, regrouping for another assault soon. This was however their chance to try and breakout for the escape.
Rovin got amused at Piper explaining that she wasn't acting on orders for guarding that vault, smirking back, "My oh my, seems the Emperor didn't realize he had let a fox into the chicken pen! Or in this case, into the chicken vault. Well can't say I disapprove, I am sure the Emperor would hardly notice a little bit of missing money. Tax revenue is never consistent after all, and government spending is always so difficult to track. What's a few missing bags of gold gonna do?" As a mercenary himself, Rovin entirely understood her unspoken fees for her service beyond just mere loyalty. Sure, he was generally a good guy, but he had bills to pay too, and it wasn't like the equipment he used on the job was cheap. Regardless, they could now be free of the supercarrier, and so he got back into Piper's ship, giving her a nod, "Rest would be a great idea right about now. As for a massage, I have some skills in that regard, so maybe I can help." With a smirk, he kept walking in, heading over to the cockpit. He stepped inside, looked around, and after a moment of realization from seeing the alien control consoles he called to Piper, "Yeah I got no idea how to fly this thing, so this is your part!"
Azultiri would certainly want to come back to that subject in the future, since of course she seemed very interested in seeing how she could apply it to her craft. She also of course beamed at being complimented, quite happy to be called clever. She was clearly rather receptive to praise, "I learn quickly! Gotta be a quick study in my line of work, very important to be good at adapting and learning new techniques! So I can do that too with my speech too I bet! People can't be that different than metals, just a different sort of crafting to make them into the shape I want! Still, I'll happily take those lessons later. First, the matter at hand! Time to help you pull your family weight." She paused, looking confuse at his claim he was not soft, "But uncle, humans are always soft! They got that squishy flesh, not strong scales! It's what makes them nonthreatening, you know. Even other races have fur or chitin or the like. Humans are so tiny and fragile and weird. Though I guess magic does help solve that. As for Gems, let's see what I got! I am sure I got more shields, but I am sure I got more than just that."
She moved over to her shelf full of magical gems again, looking them over. The young Dragoness grabbed one bright blue gem, the same sort as in her own tailguard, and placed it off to the side. She then searched a bit, "Hm... Ah, there we are! Another flame burst gem! This should improve the breath, but when you are in human form you can also use it just cast a large fireball, to be more subtle. Let's you hide the dragon side even more!" She grabbed a glowing red gem and placed it off to the side with the shield gem. She then looked back, thinking some more as she looked around again. Azultiri clearly felt that she could get another gem in there, and she was looking for something good, eventually settling on grabbing two other gems. Turning, she showed them to Zether. One was another blue gem, but its coloration was dull and it was cut in the shape of a square, "Uncle, this one is a Grasper Gem! It conjures up some phantasmal humanoid hands that you can psionically command! Useful for things like holding tools or weapons, or for surprise attacks! It always surprises a human to suddenly find their necks being strangled! Though you also have the nicer applications like just using it to spook somebody. And this one..." She showed the other prospective gem, a circular orange gem with a small hole in its center, "A Watcher Gem! With this you can conjure up an invisible eye, and with a little focus you can gaze through it! Very handy for looking around corners or watching somebody who thinks they got some privacy! Although gotta be careful, a good magic user can still sense its presence, and others get that weird sense that they are being watched too. But I guess in this case it's justified, since they are being watched! Do you like either of these, uncle?"
The interior of the temple was quite fascinating to the Anubites, particularly with how it seemed to apparently get newer the further one went inside. The archaeologist teams started taking their own readings and record their own findings, as well as decide to perhaps test to see if the inside really was newer or if it was simply better maintained. Lord Fendi's team however was not here for the archaeological findings, but instead searching for the source of the message, and thus they kept going deeper towards the center, letting the teams behind them slowly move up to record the actual findings and eventually the fauna when they got to the green ring. With Lord Fendi's singular intent however, following the information he had on the distress beacon's origin, his group was making remarkable time. Not to mention he was with an Aztecha team, an experienced one as well. This was not their first time in a labyrinth of many years past, nor their first rodeo with ancient temples. This one was certainly new, but they had tricks and tactics to get through. And so with his rather direct goal, Anubite experience with locations quite like this, and helpful information, he expected to be there in but a day. They could rest as they got closer, which they did at one point, but that would be the only time they slept in the advance of the Lord's team.
Getting closer to the center, Fendi's team noticed the recently lit cigarette, and more quickly the campfire as that was more obvious. Lord Fendi gestured for his team to show caution, and they observed from a distance. Lord Fendi held out his hand towards one of his team members, "Binoculars, let's see if anybody is home." Soon his hand was filled with his desired binoculars, and putting them to his eyes he scooped out the campfire, seeing what activity was going on around it right now, or if it had been left behind.
Aslin leaned in to comment, "So, anything there? I got my gun warmed up, as well as my little trade languages guide. You think they even speak these languages? Don't think Iammelonian merchants pass through this area, so I doubt they speak any of these. Maybe M'hass? They're kinda close." She waited a bit for her answer, as the Lord was checking to see if he recognized what he saw.
“Who knows if there even are more AI? Maybe she was the only one of her kind gone rogue with her original government’s assets. And maybe the other governments shut down their networks to prevent her from taking over, allowing them to stay hidden. Who knows for sure?” She sighed and sat down in an office chair with a huff and a sigh. Running her hands through her hair she sighed and just, groaned. “But... even if we do fire them... what about the other humans? What do we do about them... what do we even do? I don’t know. Why don’t I know? Why can’t I just get us out of this like I got us into this?!”
-
Liline had put on a large blue coat, grey pants, tall boots, and a hat. She pinned the sleeve of the jacket to her body, so it really showed that she was missing an arm. But it didn’t seem to bother her at all. She smiled and waited for him to get dressed. “Right! I was think perhaps we could take a train to Cadhainn today, just to experience it. But we come back here for the night until we can find where we want to go again. I’ve always wanted to see Cadhainn. It’s said to be a slice of Bezembay buried in a mountain!” With her excitement and enthusiasm for the destination, there was little Sephus could do to really dissuade her from going.
And from there Liline would stop at the counter at the inn to pay the keep the daily fee, plus the next day’s fee. Heading out into the streets and towards the more developed side of down town the road. Along the way, Sephus would see the same Âne man from the previous night, sitting in the same clothes and enjoying a tin of coffee. He was sitting with a creach woman with whom he seemed to be sweet on. Past the small porch where the Âne was enjoying his coffee, Liline and Sephus entered the town square. In the center of the town square was a large state of a Fatimazda in armour with a spear pointed skywards. The inscription at the base of the statue read “Jasper.” Past the statue were various buildings, a town hall, courthouse, a very small jail, and their destination the train station. A building with a slanted roof on either side of a clock face, and a facade of six pillars. Behind the pillars there were two large wooden doors. Liline entered this building and purchased two tickets for the Cadhainn line. After they bought their tickets, Liline found a bench to sit on. And eventually, as time passed, something interesting happened. A familiar creach sat opposite the two. Sephus felt he had seen this one before... but it was hard. Until the creach fiddled with their distinctive cane. It was the woman in the suit and tophat from the night before! She was wearing a grey suit now, and a much more conservative bowler hat. But that cane, the distinctive brown wood cane with the arcalite tip and arcalite bust instead of a handle. In fact, the way the creach carried her cane was interesting in its own right. She did not use it to aid in her walk, but carried it just under the bust and held it in front of her or to gesture. It was almost like a sign of status. The bust what appeared to be of another creach. She carried a briefcase with her, and was reading through a black leather dossier.
Chrysanthemum smiled and opened up her hand for Ishben, so she could hold his hand as he climbed into bed. “It’s... very nice to finally share my feelings with you... it has been... very exhilarating to finally express myself... and find someone who... just likes me back!” The fatimazda smiled and looked at her tiny companion.
The three individuals in masks approached. Though the one in the tall metal helmet and skull mask approached firstly and pulled his cape away from himself to give a sort of bow. “Avha to You. I am Oisin, of the planet Cepiuadh. I came to speak with you about seeking aid from you and your cause.”
Not a single one of these peoples that they are ‘hunting’ for is within the green ring right now, except for a few critters and animals the hide within the safety of distance. One of the critters, some weird white blob thing would take a liking on Aslin, crawling onto their foot and would look above at their face, “wau wau” and would nib on the foot before running away seemingly afraid of the other figures around them. A heard of docile creatures that seemingly resemble elks, except with 4 horns and 3 tails would pass by, deliberately avoiding them, they have a weird breathing sound, high-pitched and very human like although uncanny nothing to worry about.
“Im getting really bored here, Yosgel, I want some action right now w-” Yosgel would shut her partner up by slapping her playfully, “Cant you try not being very… well you know… you could have done whatever you we’re going to do before we did this mission… fine I think I have something you can use, just go to a corner…” He says sighing before rummaging through his back pack, gum, paper, pens, an old monochromatic handheld video game console seemingly not supposed to exist in this universe… I think they call it a “GamingMan” or something… “ Ah here you go. ” While giving the item to his partner, one of the emergency flare guns would fall on his backpack and fires one of the loaded flares on it causing a loud hissing sound that would echo out of the room they are in…
Within the green ring, the hissing sound can be heard very faintly, drown out due to how many iterations of echoing and bouncing on the walls, the creatures would panic and run away the opposite direction from the noise… “What the f*ck Yosgel?! You here tryna be quiet and sh’t and here you accidentally discharge a gun?!” She slaps him hard, leaving a handprint on his face.
Déjà vu. He shakes his head and gets up and would stretch, managing to pop very single join, releasing some stress and tension. “Morning will be in a few hours, we don’t want to be here when morning comes, this entire area will literally be purified in starfire. And by the way, you might be getting bored so we might as well continue this little adventure we have y’know?” He says with an enthusiastic smile, the same smile he gave to Jelica in that flashback…? The moment they enter the cave, yellow fireflies would suddenly brighten up, lighting their way and reveal bones, entire skeletons of people yet their ribs are always missing for some reason. Moving shadows behind stalactites. Albino white bats with red glowing eyes move and strivver in every direction, going from one place to another aimlessly. ”Man I never expected this cave to be that spooky, but eh its just bones and darkness, nothing that can scare me besides you.” He says as he leads the way with a clear remark on the end directed to Jelica.
Metallic echos emanate in the cave, a chasm of chaotic rock formations can be seen as they progress further, unsure on what they will see due to the unsure nature of the area. Outside of this chasm is a dark grassy area, a skyless and destitute place with creatures eyeless. ”Lets not wake them up… unless you wanna fight them…” A piece of rotten paper is seen sticking on one of the stalagmites near one of the eyeless beasts, Yohann didn’t caught sight of this rotten piece of paper due to how irrelevant it is to him, writing although, is visible on it.
”I can still provide cover fire! My shiel-“ A massive EMP explosion emanates from Halfthur’s ships which would disable the nearby ships that we’re attacking her, with these ships fall from the sky while Halfthur’s own ship manage to stay afloat, Echo would not be affected by the EMP blast as it is only short range, but would cut off communications with him. Halfthur would return multiple small arms fire with the cannons on the ship, shooting rickshaw tanks and other handmade apcs that literally looked like metal boxes. Men still pour from all sides but would be seemingly powerless against this man made out of steel…
As Echo manages to acquire the energy source inside the pod, the orb would glow in a purple-white glow a benevolent glow it seems and once he installs it into his systems, this power source would start charging on a constant pace, every other system he has that uses a different color would turn into the purple-white color that the energy source had. He would feel very energized, and the maximum capacity of his systems would increase moments later and he will be able to penetrate the metal room. Managing to reconnect with Echo she breaths a sigh of relief. ”Echo how is the Substellar Reactor going with you?”
“Our cause?” He snickers while looking into the wide view of the area again. “Our cause is against you foreigners, yet why do you seek our aid? Our cause is just and righteous and we will not compromise to any other reason or deal. Heed me foreigner, we do not hate you, nor we are racist against you, but we do not accept your existence within our borders for all foreigners outside corrupt the purity of our nebula.” He then turns around along side with his horse before dismounting it. “Speak foreigner on why do you require our aid, do not lie for the tongue of a liar is sweet and treacherous.”
Honour guard and Triporea
Aslin was rather surprised at the strange blob getting onto her foot, finding it strange that she had been snuck up on, but also not too worried about it. Finding it a little cute that it attempted to nibble on her boots, which were thankfully reinforced to protect against such. She smiled down at it, and then of course it was spooked by the rest of the group, turning her smile into a frown as she gave an annoyed look to the nearby soldier, "I think it liked me, but clearly doesn't like you. Should've kept your distance!"
Lord Fendi sighed as he gave the binoculars back, glaring at Aslin, "Please do not mess around with the wildlife, we have work to do first. That and we don't know the risk of each animal, so please do not let them touch you. We don't have any antidotes if they're poisonous. So keep cautious, and let's move on." The group got up to get moving, heading towards the old campsite just to give a closer look over in case anything was left behind. That was of course when they heard the echo of the flare, the Anubite ears popping up in alertness as to the sudden sound. Lord Fendi spoke up, "And I believe that is where our goal lies. Let's move!" With that, the Anubite team gathered their gear and advanced towards the source, curious to finally find who activated their beacon.
The elf bowed, “then we are of the same mind. Cepiuadh is our homeworld. And we have been fighting for centuries to liberate it from iron claws. Invaders have claimed our land as their own. Fatimazda blight our freedoms. And we know they also clashed with you recently. There is a large shipment of Kyridium that we planned to ambush. But we have decided perhaps you would like to take our place instead. In case you wish to strike back at the great beast. This would prove useful to us in many ways, as we thrive when they writhe in pain.”
"Why did you just drop the darn flare gun! we dont even know if we're the only ones here! Yosgel you dumb idiot! I swear by the gods im going to -punish- you one way or another!" She was clearly steaming in anger and rage on the clumsiness and ridiculousness on how calm and composed he is. "Hahahaha! My friend, you do realize how absurd that sounds? Ok sure I was a lil bit tinsy-winsy paranoid about that weird spacecraft flying above the temple. For sure it may be people but we dont even know if they're gonna go here. Besides its gonna take like what, days to get to the center? No way in the fourteen hells that someone is that fast enough to reach the center in a single d-" An piece of cloth was shoved to his mouth and then quickly tied up, muffled confusion with his partner actively trying to suppress any noise. "Shut up Yosgel! I think i heard something!" The extremely faint sound of footsteps can be heard as her ears pert up.
The foreigners are treading ever closer to their goal of discovering who sent that signal. The closer they get they hear the faint ramblings of an unknown language... "Hold kjeft! Jeg kan høre dem!" and then silence.
"Hahaha! I am very delighted by the sound of that! As a gesture of friendship, and this temporary alliance of ours, i will gladly accept your 'mission' of sort. If it means that both of us reach our goal on eliminating our enemies and restore the tranquility of our nations then I will be gladly in your service as long as you return the favor as well." A subordinate of Jarlvein would suddenly rush forward with a tablet with incomprehensible writing for anyone outside of the nebula yet a graphical presentation of what it seems to be Voyagepaths can be seen properly. The Voyagepaths are detailed, the class of the ship, the serial number and significant notes of it. Jarlvein would then walk toward them with his subordinate and the subordinate would flip the tablet facing towards them. "Is this the ship that you mean? If so..."
Jarlvein would face the bodyguard behind them. "Takt." A swift salute would follow and the movement on the valley would start seemingly in attack mode. Several smallcraft would start rising up and exiting the atmosphere. "Have faith on us foreigner friend. As they say, The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
Hearing the faint sounds of speaking in a language that was truly foreign, Lord Fendi gestured for his team to stop moving. After staying in place for a moment, completely silent, he gave a small nod to the rest of the Anubites, gesturing them forward. Carefully they advanced, keeping their footsteps quiet and preparing their weapons just in case. Lord Fendi went forward first, carrying his mystical channeling staff but keeping his pistol holstered. He intended to be the first one the intruders saw, and didn't want to instantly get aggressive. Shooting first was not Anubite policy, and of course it was more difficult to question the dead. Not impossible for Anubites, of course, but it was still preferable to speak to living, more willing individuals. Regardless, they had to preserve their own lives too, and so Lord Fendi had the Guardians in his group prepare their weapons just in case. Looking over his team, who each nodded when they were ready, he prepared for the next step.
Getting as close as he could to an entryway to where the aliens were, gesturing for the rest of his team to take a hiding spot, Fendi moved forward. He suddenly banged on a wall, making sure he would grab attention, and then spoke out, "Reveal yourselves, come out and speak if you understand me! And if you don't, I suppose what I say doesn't make a difference. Either way, I do not wish to fight." He was speaking of course in an Anubite trade language, which they used when speaking to the nearby M'hassari for of course trade purposes. He hoped they would understand that, given their location, but either way he moved forward to try and find them. His team followed him, though at a distance and keeping themselves hidden.
While still arguing as they approach closer the sound of a loud slap received by Yosgel would echo before they abruptly stop fighting due to the footsteps of the foreigners definitely getting louder and louder. The abrupt end of their squabbling would strike that "Oh Sh*t!" moment right to their core. She would look at Yosgel as he would to her as well, they would compose themselves before reaching to the conclusion that approaching these foreigners peacefully would be the best way possible as violence is completely unnecessary, besides two people against an entire team of possibly elite units? No one is that insane to take on them unless this is a movie or some form of a story with Deus Ex Machina cliche on it, which it isn’t.
Before things get too meta... The duo would slowly move into the line of sight with his partner pushing him hard to get him into the line of fire instead of her, what a selfish lady. To the foreigner’s surprise, these aren’t the people or species they expect to meet in this sector of space, these are humanoids yet still far different from the baseline humans… These humanoids had a peculiar red complexion, while some have a flesh-like color some have extreme crimson red for color. They had protrusions on their heads… horns… these horns are by far the most noticeable aspect of them. Their eyes had pink sclera and scarlet irises making them look permanently bloodshot. The female one has her horns sticking upright while the one clothed from top to bottom with a robe has his horns cut off, possibly to make the hood more usable it seems. The female one seems to be more well-built while the hooded one is slightly shorter than him, the red handmark on the robed one’s face is visible as well.
The female one would raise her hands on the air to signal the foreigners that she is unarmed before placing it back to her hips. The robed one… would look shocked. He seems to have seen a ghost or two with that expression in his face despite his eyes are the only thing that can be seen. Before she can even speak, Yosgel would exclaim, “Anubites?! Here? In this Starcloud?” The person spoke a similar language to them except with a heavy tone and particularly a different vocabulary it seems.
Sieg was starting to wonder if she could let Aloni get shot and still get amended for bringing her back alive at the very least. She doesn’t respond once the four of them make it into the garage as Yajana and Zemia were protecting the front of the garage.
Once Yajana looks back and see’s Mierl she instantly smiles and runs over to look up at him and hold his hand “I’m glad you’re okay. I’m sorry I couldn’t come and get you myself.” She says Xernus runs over to the hover tank to start it up, with Zemia starting to fall back to the tank and get into the drivers seat to pilot it. Xernus gets out to ride on top like she said she would “Okay everyone in, Yaj come over here and ride on top with me.”
“We drove them back but they’re regrouping. This is our best chance to get out of here.” Zemia said as Sieg starts to carry Aloni into the tank.
Piper just snickers as Rovin pretty much hits the nail on the head, the previous Emperor’s had no idea she was being such a sly fox. “Well a woman has her needs, and I needed enough money to retire to a nice safe place away from the Emperor once our service was no longer needed. I mean, you can only keep superhuman weapons around for so long before they start to get ideas of individualism and dream of something more.” She was glad that he understood what she was getting at when she went by pinching afew extra bags of gold now and then during her years of service.
“Oooo~ I’ll have to take you up on that offer for a massage.” Once they were back in the ship, Thatcher was already sitting in the cockpit since the two of them had forgotten about him being onboard, to which the kid just rolled his eyes and started to pilot them out of the carrier and away. Piper came walking into the cockpit with Thatch driving as she just softly laughs “I’m sorry sweetie, I forgot you were skulking around here somewhere.” She says patting his back with a smile on her face. Thatch couldn't stay mad with his mom, so the Athailian teen just grumbled as he continued flying the ship back to Meysin Prime.
Zether was certainly happy to learn that she was eager to learn how to apply anti-magic to her craft, it would certainly be useful. And her saying she was a quick study felt reassuring, if she could keep up then it would mean that he can explain it without worrying about trying to simplify it more than he already has.”I’m glad you’re so eager to learn, I’ll set aside some time when you’re free to teach you everything I know about my father's techniques.”
After that he settles down to watch and listen, learning about these additional gems that did certainly give him some… Ideas. This Grasper and Watcher Gem sounded pretty useful, though both could easily be used for more… Juvenile purposes. Still… Having them as options certainly wouldn’t hurt. “Both of those certainly sound useful, having an extra pair of hands in a fight would be most beneficial and being able to see through opponents trying to hide from me also sounds like a must have item. Ooooh It’s so hard to choose between them.”
Filia ran her hand through her hair as she listened to what Jazmin had to say, she brought up really good points. What the hell do they do with the survivors if they even win. Maybe… Maybe running was the best option. She thinks to herself as she looks down at Harlock, the Prince sleeps soundly as he leans up against the cold metal walls of the facility. “I… I don’t know… Running might be the best idea. We just run and hope someone else deals with this. We’re just three people… How can we hope to handle the problems of an entire planet?”
-----
Despte how cold it was, Sephus decided it was best to wear a black tank top under a dark blue long sleeved coat with a fluffy green hood, wearing black boots and a pair of jeans too. He had no issue with taking the train so he just smiled and nodded to her idea “Sure, sounds like a blast. Certainly beats climbing up there ourselves.”
Once they moved into town he did see the same man he saw last night with the deputies up near the old castle. So far he just kept his wits about him and tried not to stare as to draw suspicion. He just stayed beside Liline as they moved into the town square where he saw the statue of Jasper before they got to the train station.
Once they got on the train he sat beside Liline once they found a seat, though it would seem their day was about to get weirder as he saw the fancy creach woman he saw last night. [Why the heck is she here? Sh!t did they notice me watching them last night? No, no I was careful… I’ll just have to stay calm and keep on my toes.] He thinks to himself as he takes note that she was clearly someone up the hierarchical ladder. Something was clearly fishy but he hardly wanted to get sucked into a murder mystery. But he had to admit… These turn of events were rather interesting.
Jelica certainly got a similar sense of Déjà vu as he smiled like that at her, a moment of stupor passes before she huffs and stand up. "Well it is starting to get boring here. And I don't want to get baked in starlight, it doesn't sound healthy." She says as she walks with him into the cave, it was there that they started to find bones and old corpses. Which doesn't phase her much as she just raises an eyebrow. Though Yohann's comment of only she really scares him makes her pout "Dumbass, you don't need to be afraid of me."
She then sees the new monsters further in, truth be told she wasn't looking for a fight just now but she will fight if they do wake up. "Eeeeh not really looking to pick fights. Just looking to beat people up who threaten me or you." She says before noticing the piece of paper, raising an eyebrow sh picks it off the wall to read it.
-----
Echo was worried as comms suddenly ceased with Halfthur, but he knew that she was smart enough to have a backup plan in place. He keeps fighting through the soldiers until he has the mini reactor in hand, wasting no time to insert the orb into his chest as tangled wires and convulsing pipes shift and engulf the orb, shifting metal plates rearranging as his body adapts this new energy source.
After going through several checks as he quickly teleports back to the bomb, he easily breaks through the metal as he brings out the device Halthur gave him earlier, activating it as he gets close to the bomb. "Ah Halfthur you're okay, I was getting worried there with that EMP. The reactor is working fine, the power of it is rather surprising. I did have some trouble managing all this new power, this body was not meant for such a high end power source but I'm adapting well enough. I'm at the bomb and trying to use the device you gave me now, I should stop this nuke in no time."
Mierl smiled back to Yajana, happily taking her hand and nodding, "It is understandable, I am just glad you are well. You made the right tactical choice. And now, it is time to seal the win. Go now, I'll get in and we can get to safety." He gestured for her to go with Xernus on top, and he then moved to get into the tank himself. Aloni of course didn't get the choice since she was being carried, but she was smugly assured of her victory already with Sieg's lack of response. Still, even she knew it was probably best not to get cocky during the escape, so she was quiet now as she got into the tank.
As for the tank, it was completely under their control and its hover systems activated. Being a light hover tank, it was rather speedy when it wanted to be. Quite useful too, as outside the enemies were gathering for an assault again. A mass of armed drones were gathering outside the garage, arranged in a sort of wedge formation as they started moving forward to charge and try to cut off the Broodmothers from escaping. Though once they broke through this gathering, they wouldn't have many methods for pursuit. Just one more obstacle and then they would be on their way to victory in this training exercise.
Rovin was in the end a mercenary, so he of course understood the economics of a few missing bags of gold and silver. Thus Piper would not need to worry about him objecting to that, since he would've probably done the same. He chuckled at the end, "Such is what happens when your big weapons are people rather than machines or tools. People get weird ideas like self determination and their own little goals. A shame for those Emperors really, but good for you I'd say." He then also got embarrassed at forgetting Thatcher was there, rubbing the back of his head, "Ah, yes, woops. Sorry about that lad, seems we already have a quite capable pilot. I'll leave ya to handle this." He then turned to Piper, nodding, "A massage it is then! We can do that when we get there, which shouldn't be long. Finally will get to relax, and a massage should help you with that." He then waited with Piper, and Thatcher too now that he remembered who the pilot was. He was interested in seeing Meysin Prime, the distant planet they had been working to get to for a while now.
Azultiri was of course completely oblivious to the more mischievous purposes for her gems, only imagining their uses on the battlefield or in her own trade of being a smith. So the more immature applications did not come up for her at all, so Zether could at least be assured she was rather innocent for her age. She smiled as Zether considered the possibilities and mentioned that it was hard to choose, shaking her head, "Who said choose? I can put them both in! I can fit in those gems into the tailguard just fine. Probably not anymore, but five is quite within my realm of possibility! Watch as your finest niece creates another masterpiece!"
The confident Dragoness then took the five enchanted gems, setting them off to the side. She then moved towards her main forge, looking it over and gathering her tools. She then turned back to Zether, "So uncle, I think I'll make you a leather tailguard, like mine. This way it can become a belt in the human in form since you want that, and it'll still be comfy. Plus folks tend to forget it exists if it's leather instead of something more obvious, like metal." She then gestured to her supply area, wandering over to it, "Oh! Would you like it to have any decorations? Or would you prefer effectiveness over flashiness? I can do things to make it look nicer, fit your style better!"
Yosgel and his female companion would now get a good look at Lord Fendi, now that he was quite within easy view. He was a tall Anubite, with black fur and dark yellow eyes. While he was not wearing a helmet, the rest of his body was covered in shining armor, with a golden trim distinctive of Anubite Nobility. On his shoulderplates was the symbol of his noble house, symbolized by the image of a starship emerging from a book. He raised an eyebrow at what he saw to be another set of Humans, not too surprising given how common they were but he didn't expect to encounter some human-types here. They really did get around. It was good however that the male one seemed to recognize his species, as that made this easier. He gave him a nod, "Yes, Anubites. Good that you seem to know who we are, even if your speech is crude. We are here for a simple reason, somebody activated one of our old beacons. I would like to know who you are, and why you are here. And as for the transmission, was that you?"
He then waved for his group to show themselves. The two soldiers, Aslin, and the two technical workers. The guards were of course wearing their full armor, with helmets, and had their weapons. They did not point them at the foreigners however, as they were of course trying to be peaceful. Aslin wore the armor of an elite guardian, but she was not wearing her helmet currently, allowing them to get a good look at Fendi's bodyguard. She was a tall Anubite, not quite as well built as Lord Fendi but she was actually taller than the other two male guardians. Her eyes were green, with yellow eyeliner, and they were brighter than Fendi's. She rested her rifle on her shoulder, speaking up after Fendi was done, "Yeah, we're just checking up, but I do suggest you tell the truth. We came a long way for this, ya know?"
A shadow envelopes the cave that they are standing on, a chill of unwavering fear and despair suffocates those who tread longer and deeper into the cave, but this is something that both of them are used to, heh, they’ve experienced fear far more extreme than whatever the hell they’re dealing with here… The shadow moves and flickers on and off like a broken lightbulb in the background, laughter from nowhere and footsteps from no one can entrance the minds of those who are weak willed to stop their tracks and retreat into the basking light of the sun that will inevitably scorch them to death. Such a situation they are in, deadlocked in the midst of the blistering brimstone of the outside and the grasps of a Cimmerian Shade that knows no mercy nor remorse. The piece of paper that Jelica picked off, would have words that read “SURRENDER” what seem to be written in blood, yet behind it is an unknown symbol and maybe a sign of caution.
A torrent of black air rushes out of nowhere and attempts to overpower both of them, deafening both of them like a gush of strong wind. Yohann would shout out for Jelica attempting to find her. This tempest of shade would mock them, insult them, belittle them, yet their will is strong, but in order to defeat or subdue this tempest… Jelica would feel Yohann’s grasp on her hand and then everything grinds to a halt as if there was no wind to begin with… ‘The monsters inside the cave seem to have shifted positions… of embrace, hugging and holding on to each other… a peculiar cave…
“What the hell was that.” A silent question with only one person to hear. He attempts to distance his hand from hers but the cave suddenly rumbles again before locking his grip on her then stopping. He already knows what happening and he’s already red because of this realization… In the distance they see a mighty figure, presumably over 30 feet in height with the cave’s ceiling being threefold its height, it holds a sword sticking on the ground but it seems to be just a simple statue, come to think of it… it seems the cave has widened after the torrent of blackness stopped after they held hands.
---
Halfthur would beep him the robot message of “Im still okay, systems are operational and go get em you bloody gorgeous tin can!” It seems Halfthur is busy on her own things and dealing with other enemies and infiltrants…Halfthur would get the notification from Echo that he has activated the device… except he didn’t properly activate the device. “Echo, apologies I got winded up on here and I forgot to tell you that you have to place the device on the bomb directly. Once the device has detected the object it will release four tension hooks on its sides and you have to wrap it around the bomb like a gift.”
He’s almost there, just need to place it properly, but as he was talking to Halfthur, someone was already there on the bomb. A metallic figure, creaking and snapping its mechanical components. Six glowing red eyes on a flat metallic grey face, a body strikingly mechanized similar to that of Halfthur’s own physical appearance but more compact and flat. Red glowing lines outline its stature and it seems to have claws instead of hands… The figure is silent, the fact that Halfthur didn’t even noticed the figure says a lot. Halfthur right now is facing a “Maximum Force Responder Unit” by far the strongest unit that the rebels have, a huge jump from the measly militia and hodge-podge vehicles to a full blown mechanical unit, if it has a pilot or not, it doesn’t matter anymore.
"Deployment sequence." The Vok ship transmitted, as it went high above the station. Quickly, shot out of grav chutes came some black shapes that descended slowly in the vaccuum of space as the Vok ship vectored further upwards and off. With the 'HALO' drop in progress, the suits of the Vok units quickly adjusted, performing small thrusts to put them close to the station. Their suits magnetized as they gripped the side of the station, having aimed to drop straight by their sensors. They then began to move towards a hatch used for maintenance if one existed.
"Vok are on." Enas remarked. "Station shields are online. Weapons and defensive fighters likely spooling up. Proceed." The Confederate aid would help where they could, but for now it was Enas' turn. "Likely twenty seconds, judging by Cyboar's general effectiveness."
The elves in their camouflaged garb and mask awaited the fellow revolutionaries of another kin to fetch the device. They would cross check by looking at the name of the ship and the route the ship was taking. The IMS Dernby Albatross was a large cargo ship, though it had an escort. The HMS Woodrow, an Aelsmith Class Frigate. The frigate only had one heavy turret, but had three medium guns, and a plethora of smaller anti-air cannons. As well as missile capability and a catapult launcher capable of carrying two K/PM 221 jets for interception. The IMS Dernby Albatross was a Admiral Turning-Ichabod Class Transport Ship, and only had small anti-air guns. The ports for all the landing ships would be empty, in lieu of more lifeboats. The ship was relatively far from Imperial Shores, which was its destination. On route from New South Dernby to Santo Duraco for delivery of Kyridium sponge. Manifests were under lock and key, though the shipment would have light security for a portion of its journey, there would be increased security once it was back in operational range of planetary defense ships. As there was a significant gap between the security forces of the Laplandae Defensive Fleets and the Expanse Defensive Fleets, leaving an opening there.
"Of course, as long as the empire serves to be our common enemy we fight for one another when it benefits both of us. And we are willing to return the favour."
"Exactly. But... if we run how the hell do we get out of here? I know Harlock can breath in space but I for one can not. So it's not like we can strap ourselves to this rocket and just launch ourselves into space. But, maybe we should just explore the facility more? And get a sense of what we're in for? Because I certainly do not know what else to do with myself." Jazmin stood and headed for the sealed bulkhead door.
-
After an hour of waiting, the woman put her dossier back into a briefcase and tapped the floor in front of Liline and Sephus with her cane, "Sorry to bother, but are you two tourists?" Liline nodded and the woman smiled and put the bust to her temple as a greeting. A smile creeped across her face. "I see! Well, allow me to welcome you to our small and peaceful town! I know Ìosaldhonn Bhuirg isn't the prettiest little city in all the planet, but I hope you two have found enjoyment in Clan Donnchadh's lands. Oh, my name's Marjorie Duncan, nice to meet the both of you." She smiled again and did another touch of the cane to her temple. The large and sleek train pulling into view from around a bend near a hill. "Well, the train's here so I sincerely hope the two of you enjoy your time here on Tir Creachdair." She stood and bowed her head a little before walking down the platform. The train arrived at the station a few minutes later and passengers started disembarking and loading in. Liline approached carriage and opened a door on the side, climbing into a small room. The room was quaint. Two bench seats on either side with a shelf above the benches for luggage. Once Sephus was inside, Liline closed the door behind him. On the other side of the room from the door to the platform was a door into a small hallway. This door slid on a track rather than open on a hinge like the one they entered from. It also had a window on the upper third that peeked out into the hall. Liline sat on a bench and let out a sigh.
"I think our train is only scheduled to make the trip in under an hour?"
«12. . .323324325326327328329. . .345346»
Advertisement
