A Deal with Greed (part 1)
A Deal with the Devil Greed (part 1)
Who: Clayface, C.C., Greed, Isa Reichert, Kalas, Kevin Graham, Shizuru Fujino, Viral
Where: The Liberl Kingdom - Grancel City
WhenAugust 23, 2008
What: In order to complete the deal with Daos, Kevin needs the Gospel. But he can't be seen by certain members of the Ouroboros... so why not get some hired help?
Watch For: THAT'S MORE THAN THREE GEARS!! >:o
C.C. needs a tag, I think?
[RADIO] To Greed, you radio: Greed? I believe now would be th' best time. It
seems that th' Bracer's Guild," a pause, then he adds, "...think o' 'em like...
good ol' mercenaries doin' the police work when there isn't police t' do th'
work- Nevertheless, they're attackin' th' Palace. They've already made it
through the gates, an' I'm sure Bishop Calant can help us get in t' where we
need t' go. Care t' meet me at the cathedral?
[RADIO] To Kevin Graham, Greed radios: Gotcha. Be there soon.
[RADIO] To Greed, you radio: Excellent.
The bells chime through the city, echoing through the silent evening
air. Kevin is standing on the steps of the cathedral, as a man in blue robes
stands next to him. Bishop Calant is adjusting the cap on his head, before he
leans towards the priest in red. "...are you sure about this, sir?" Kevin's
glance towards him and with an eyebrow raised- that's all the answer he needs
to give. He finally shrugs. "Th' Secretary General has already cleared it, as
has the Council. No need t' worry 'bout me. I've got things up my sleeves."
"...as you wish, sir." The younger clergyman quickly waves a hand to the
bishop. "An' don't call me that." "...very well."
There are times when the bishops should be reverent to the Dominion.
Now's not one of them. He'd rather that the Syndicate did not know his
political power in this plane. "They should be arrivin' any minute now,
'owever. If ya wanna let th' sisters know to take care o' the place- I'm gonna
need ya to do some smooth talkin' fer me t' get us in the castle."
Even if the gates are open, in such an attack... "Jus'... let 'em know
ya've got reinforcements or somethin', 'kay?" Kevin quickly offers a shoo'ing
sort of gesture. "In fact, I'll make sure th' sisters are good. Ya just go on."
Yes. Pulling rank. Bishop Calant quickly hurries down the steps with
little more than an alright.
It's very likely that everyone else will be arriving while the priest
is sticking his head into the doors of the cathedral, calling out to Sister
Ellen... or Sister Noa...? One of them. Whoever's on duty today.
Don't think Greed isn't wondering about the intentions in all of this.
Of course he wonders-- but only as far as he needs to. He has no intention of
getting caught up in matters that stretch beyond his immediate goals. Why
should he? This is about a job, and the people he's asked to join him in it.
It's also, like everything else, an opportunity to scope out what he
could possibly use in the future. He'll keep his eyes and ears open.
He approaches from a side street, hands shoved deep into the pockets of
his long black coat. He walks without hurry, but not without some purpose as he
approaches the steps of the cathedral. Crimson, slitted eyes sweep across the
area and spot the priest... not paying attention. A smirk pulling at the
corners of his lips, Greed quickens his pace, slipping up the stairs quickly,
soundlessly, and coming to stop mere feet from the door. "Nice day for
churchin'," he says casually.
There's an awful lot of people moving to and fro and a small team of
engineers is making their way to the castle. Shizuru Fujino has worked her way
into the team of engineers. The orange jumpsuit fits comfortably and like the
other engineers, the sleeves are rolled up, revealing the edges of a black
t-shirt underneath. Her usual long ash blonde hair has been tied up into a
tight bun and tucked under her cap while a pair of dark sunglasses cover her
dark red eyes.
In her right hand, she carries an orange toolbox, however beneath the top layer
of tools one would find things that definitely do NOT belong in a toolbox, like
hand guns. Not that Shizuru is ever -truly- unarmed. But she is only here to
observe and watch, not to participate. Not in the slightest.
A job's a job. Some of the Syndicate may ask questions, but not
everyone needs to know the hows or whys. There are four figures lingering near
the cathedral, at a comfortable distance but not too close. They speak in quiet
voices, but it may be a foreign tongue; inflections odd. It sounds like German
or Russian.
Belkan and Yuktobanian are such useful languages.
They look plain, dressed in dark colors -- trenchcoats of dark charcoal
gray, and black clothing under those. Their faces are slightly obscured by
short-billed caps, faces downcast as they speak quietly amongst themselves.
They might be playing some kind of card game; currency quietly changing hands
and the quiet rustle of cardstock.
One looks up -- a woman with an eyepatch, her red hair tied back in a
loose ponytail at the nape of her neck. She watches Greed walk by without
apparent reaction, merely staring at him for a moment, like some tired city
worker. She turns back to her fellows.
But she's watching the area. She casts a glance towards the cathedral
steps, noting the departure of the lesser bishop. A glance is cast towards
Greed again, surreptitious, watching where he goes.
Slowly, Isa detaches from the group. The rest disperse, taking up
positions scattered but near the cathedral, all in visual range of one another
and the front doors.
"Privyet," Isa states cheerfully, almost in a whisper once she reaches
Kevin and Greed. "Geist Squadron is here. My wingmen are in position to watch.
They will follow me at a distance, stay separated, and watch, da?"
Long distance to Greed: Kevin Graham looks at the post. Did my email cut off
part of what I had written?
A cathedral... It's odd, seeing an adornment of a human religion.
Viral's seen some from a distance, but has never really visited one personally.
As what would probably be in human terms an atheist--after all, he had his Lord
God exist at the top, commanding all beastmen, and then he fell to another
human after revealing just how big a cock he really was--it just feels strange
to come to a place of worship for the race that he once was trying to
annihilate.
Still, all that's in the past, now. Even if sometimes it comes to mind
unbidden. Viral's wearing his usual tattered brown scarf, which neatly hides
his fanged mouth, and his long blond hair flows free, covering one of his
slitted golden eyes. He has a buttoned dark blue vest over a gray shirt that
connects to a pair of bracers that are fashioned to look like his huge arms and
hands are *supposed* to be that way, like they're extra-armored weapons. It'll
probably make the scabbards at his belt, a half-belt above it, look kind of
odd, but damned if Viral's going anywhere without his swords. Navy blue pants
tuck into grey-black boots. All in all, he almost looks human. At least his
ears are rounded.
He catches sight of people gathering in front of the church, and
meanders that way as he glances around at the architecture. Viral's also
glancing around for any other of their teammates gathering. He knows that
Chopin's supposed to be here... At least, Greed told him that! If he doesn't
show up, Viral won't be happy with Greed for lying to him! (At least until
Chopin explains otherwise, but he'll still be grumpy. Because Viral's kinda
like that.)
Clayface likes to prepare for a role, however minor, so he got here
early. Sure one of the guards around the cathedral will be found tomorrow
morning tied up a few alleys away, and with a major headache no less, but it
gave the shapeshifter the time he needed to make sure he had enough time to
practice so he wouldn't stand out.
He's a professional, after all.
So tonight his role is... background cannon fodder. He hates not being
the star, but sometimes you're just contractually obligated to play bit roles,
and you just gotta suck it up. He patrols the same small area he observed his
'inspiration' as patrolling, keeping a wary eye out for tresspassers. Not that
he's going to alert anyone if he sees them, that's the point.
The orange and green outfit is awful gaudy, though.
A cathedral, huh? It's not the same as the ones back home at all. Thus,
Kalas pauses to gaze upwards, shielding his eyes with a hand as he takes in the
whole building. People back home talked about holy stars, celestial trees, and
divine oceans... so what sort of thing do people worship here? Maybe rocks?
It took a while to get something that looked less, well, exotic to
wear. But at least the swordsman now more or less looks like a wanderer. Of
particular note is the long dark brown cloak he's got on; it's got a high
collar, too. He's also wearing partial plate armor: uncomfortable (a perceptive
person might notice he's not used to wearing it from how he fidgets) but at
least helps him play the role better. Also helping is the sword slung at his
side. Underneath that are plain darkish greys, and mid-calf length black boots.
There's a few anomalous straps across his chest, too; normally, wouldn't
something like this attach to pauldrons? But he hasn't got any on...
For now, he's sort of hanging around outside the cathedral. Probably,
he looks like a sightseeing traveller, seeing as how he's checking out the
building. If he's noticed any of the others, other than a sidelong glance,
there's no sign of an obvious connection.
Kevin tightens his grip on the handles of the double doors of the
church. His own senses pick up others in the area- not through sound or such,
but that other voice in the back of his head almost seems to be aware of these
sorts of things... however, the priest doesn't move. Not until Greed speaks up.
The priest suddenly snaps back from the doors and twists around to see his
temporary ally, "Churchin', huh?" There's a quirky grin from him before he
shuts the doors, then nods. "Perhaps it is."
He glances towards Isa, then nods- a sly smile seems to show on his
face at this point. "Good. Very good. Whatcha'll want t' do is keep an eye
'round the castle grounds. We're headed in that direction. Bishop Calant is
gettin' us entry. We jus' need into th' basement." Sounds like an easy enough
day trip. He gestures towards Viral and then to Kalas with a slightly inviting
presense. Finally, clasping both hands together behind his back, the priest
starts his way down the steps. He's very light on his feet, and sets a pretty
easy pace for people to follow him.
Just at the church grounds, several of the engineers are stopped by
soldiers in uniform. They're turning some of the engineers away. Every now and
then, one or two get through. When it looks like they're about to get to check
on her- Bishop Calant shows up. "Sir!" "...Bishop? You should hurry back to the
church. It's not safe here." "I'm here to state that we're providing assistance
with the conflict underground." "...that... that would be good, actually."
"They're coming over shortly." -if you want a chance to sneak in....
The bells ring through the city again- this seems to be a call from a
number of soldiers. They're recalling the patrol to bring more men to the
Sealed District. The machines deep underneath have been providing them with
quite a challenge.
Shizuru is not the kind of woman who allows something as simple as a few
soldiers turning engineers away stop her, especially seeing how some of her
more clever 'co-workers' are managing to slip through. She wonders though, just
what's so important in there that the engineers are willing to risk a scuffle
with soldiers for. After all, they are engineers; geeks not fighters. Curiouser
and curiouser.
Just as it looked like she would have to use some creative 'persuasion', the
guards (and her dignity) are saved by the arrival of Bishop Calant. With the
guards thusly distracted, the young woman pulls her cap even further along her
brow and with the grace, silence and speed born from years of training coupled
with her own innate strength as a HiME, she slides quickly towards the opening
now left open to her.
Greed slides his gaze over to Isa as she joins him, smirking and
nodding slightly. Sounds like a good plan to him-- backup, that is. Too large a
group will be suspicious. As for the others?
That Kevin acknowledges their presence is enough for him. The priest
has his attention right now, being watched carefully beneath a casual exterior.
"Thanks for the consideration," he offers with a smirk. The easier it is to get
in... well, frankly doesn't mean much sometimes, but hey, better than having a
difficult entry /and/ a difficult exit. With a glance to Kalas, Viral, and Isa,
he turns and follows Kevin down the stairs. There are two people unaccounted
for, but then again, he told them both to keep low for the moment. He's
trusting you, Clayface, because at least he knows what C.C. is supposed to look
like. As for Kiyohime? She invited herself, she can take care of herself, so
far as he's concerned.
As they walk, he moves closer to Viral, glancing at him only once-- and
taking in what he can see of his face, smirks slightly. So this is the guy.
"Our musical friend didn't answer my calls," he murmurs, "If you're backing
out, do it now." Nothing else is said, only another fleeting glance before
Greed's attention returns to their surroundings.
The bells ringing and the soldiers hustling gives Clayface an
unsettling feeling. This is what happens when he doesn't have time to fully
prepare for a role. He'll just have to improvise, and try not to ham it up.
At least the others should be approaching by now, which gives him some
breathing room. No one should notice one errant soldier sticking around the
Cathedral.
He makes his way around to the entrance as cautiously as he can. He
catches a glimpse of Greed from a distance, though acts like he never saw him.
These hats make convenient excuses for missing things when you keep your head
down. For now his destination is to get and keep close to the entrance, remain
inconspicuous, and keep an eye and ear out for the signal. Whatever that signal
is. Chances are this is a 'know it when you see it' kind of situation.
"Into basement? Not so hard." Isa rolls her shoulder in a careless
shrug. She shifts her weight, casting a glance over towards Greed, finally
following after Kevin himself. The perceptive might notice her wingmen, out on
the streets, shifting to accomodate this; they surreptitiously trail after
their captain one by one.
"Da. My wingmen will be following at distance. Ancel and Liese, they
will watch our six. If there is trouble, Domino will help me." Isa flashes a
lopsided grin, tapping at her eyepatch. "My depth perception; is not what it
used to be."
Her hands tuck into her pockets; something jingles faintly in a pocket.
Ammunition shells? "Just tell us where you want us best to watch, gospoda."
Sir. But the title is probably not meant with a whole lot of respect; Isa
hardly seems one to stand on formalities.
She glances up at the sound of the bells, before tucking her chin and
speeding up a little to walk after Kevin. "We will not fight if there is
trouble." This, she seems to be saying towards Greed. "But the four of us, we
will cover you long enough to get away. Hopefully will not come to that, da?"
She falls silent, then, keeping an eye on the others as she follows,
listening to the rest.
Viral overhears the scuffle between the soldiers and the engineers, but
it's hard to see over that way--it's situated right in his blind spot. (Damn
hair curtain :|!) However, he can just barely see a woman who looks familiar...
"Hn," he mutters, then turns back towards the church. When Kevin
beckons him and Kalas forward, Viral accepts the invitation and joins the
group, nodding curtly to Isa in greeting and giving a more lingering look to
Greed. When the homunculus tells him sotto voce that Chopin won't be showing up
after all, he scowls, then folds his arms over his chest. "If you're going to
be sticking around, I'll need to watch you anyway," he mutters, failing to
mention that he has other friends here too.
"So Dominic and the others are following along? That's reassuring."
Viral refrains from trying to spot them--it'd be bad for their cover!--and
instead gives Kevin a steady look, before nodding to the others and waiting for
them to head in first. After all, if he's going to be watching everyone's
backs...
Kalas glances up suddenly when Kevin gestures towards him, and with a
momentary glance about himself, starts making his way towards the stairs to
head on down after the priest. "Stay sharp, Seele," he says quietly, although
anyone close by can certainly hear the comment. Although, maybe he's just
talking to someone? There's a brief look at the others, too, as they begin to
fall in with one another, but doesn't say anything. Just mentally ticks off the
names of the ones he knows, and the others? Well, it's probably Greed's
business, whatever the hell they decided to do.
"...Hmm," Kalas muses, glancing back once in the direction of the
tolling bells, and watching the incoming soldiers. "What do you think?" he
comments, to no one (visible) in particular. To his mind, his guardian spirit
speaks, //...I see a few more soldiers,// Seele comments. //A change of the
guards? Or maybe something is happening...// There's a brief nod, at that
assessment. Who can say, this early in?
Continuing on with leading the way as everyone begins to come together,
Kevin simply walks along the road within the city. He doesn't seem to comment
or give odd looks to the habits of the Syndicate members. This is for an
important piece of work... however, this 'work' goes out the window as he stops
abruptly. It's a start- he reacted to something he saw. Was it a feeling- a
creeping along the spine, or did he truly see something he recognized out of
the corner of his eye? The priest quickly looks off in that direction. He
continues to stare off that way- almost daring for whatever it is to come out
from hiding... until he quickly glances back towards the church. Hey, it's
Calant. "Bishop! Take 'em the rest o' the way!"
...that's when the priest bolts? "Ya don' need me at this point, Calant
will help ya. I wanna make sure things go fer th' best fer ya!" ...talk about
suspicious. How is running off 'making things go for the best?'
The Bishop only watches the priest for a moment, before he gestures.
"This way."
The trip into the castle is uneventful- and Calant leads the group to
the storage wing of the basement.
However, things are quite different down below. The castle grounds
themselves seem empty- people taking cover and soldiers in a hurry to this same
area. Some people, members of the church, are focused on helping tend to the
wounded soldiers. Why would this place be such a battleground?
Calant brings the group towards a woman in a blue military uniform.
"Captain- I've brought the reported foreign assistance." The officer looks over
them before she gestures. "I trust you, Bishop. If you want, they can be the
next wave down on the elevator. Be sure to bring any others back up." "Yes,
Julia." "Thank you for your assistance, sir."
The group is then offered to take the path down. There's just enough
room for them- and perhaps an errant engineer if she found her way and wishes
to hop on quickly.
Crimson eyes slide back over to Isa, an amused smirk playing at his
lips. "I'm flattered," he says quietly, "But cover for whoever needs it most."
Perhaps it's arrogance on his part, but he doesn't particularly consider
himself in terrible need of support in /this/ kind of situation. What he was
talking about the other night? More a.. beaurocratical matter.
His gaze passes over the crowd again, almost just for kicks to see if
he can spot their shapeshifting friend. He'll be a mixture of proud and
disappointed if he can find him, admittedly, unless the man... clay.. guy gives
his own signal to let him know that he's here.
A quick glance to Viral, and then the homunculus grins as he faces
forward again. Right, right, this is his evaluation run, isn't it? He wouldn't
lie to himself and say he doesn't enjoy the attention-- at least, from his new
comrades. He'll try not to show off /too/ much, but he simply won't be able to
help it if he looks just too damned cool.
"I think bein' fast on our feet'll be to our benefit on the way out,"
is his quiet reply to Kalas' question, not suspecting him to be, oh, talking
spirits in his brain and all. But it's for everyone else's benefit too. They
can't expect to not get caught and alarms to be raised about /their/ presence
as well, and with this many people milling about...
The rest of their pleasant little journey is spent in quiet
contemplation of their surroundings, though Greed narrows his eyes at the sight
of the castle 'battleground'. "What the hell...?" he half-mutters, glancing at
Kevin-- just as he leaves? "Hey, where the hell're you-- ah, geez." Even as he
turns, nodding for the group to follow Calant, his eyes linger on the back of
the departing priest, his expression neutral.
But as they're graciously invited to go on a free ride down the
elevator, Greed holds up his hand, stopping where he is. "Hold on just a sec
here," he says, glancing at their two helpful 'guides', "I ain't a coward, but
I ain't a big believer in relyin' on technology. Care to inform me where we
might find some stairs?" A narrow-eyed glance is given Calant. "In case
somethin' happens to break."
Clayface quickens his pace and tails Greed and the others as they're
being led into the castle. Maybe he should've told them what form he was
taking... then again, what kind of fun would that be? Besides, by not telling
them this meant that they couldn't accidentally tip anyone off that someone
else was in on this. So sorry Greed, no freebies, you'll have to guess on your
own.
The sight of the basement is a bit surprising, not at all what he
expected to find. What kind of fighting is going on nearby? He keeps moving
forward, trying not to appear surprised by the sights, but wondering more and
more what they're all really walking into. This /isn't/ a trap, right?
The only difficult part is getting ahead of the group when he hears the
word 'elevator'. He intends to be on the same ride as them, so he moves
quickly. He's just an eager soldier ready to go off and fight whatever the hell
it is they're fighting around here.
"They are there, Viral." Isa chuckles as she follows after them,
trenchcoat swirling about her ankles. "They will follow at distance, da? We are
all armed," she adds, then, nodding to Greed. "Da. If anything goes wrong, we
will jump in and cover, then. Domino and Liese, they are good shot, da?"
She jingles the shells in her pocket quietly for emphasis. "But if
things go south, we will not completely cover you." She grins, a little
nastily. "We Geist, we look out for our own."
The walk is taken mostly in silence after Kevin. Her wingmen follow at
a distance, keeping an eye on the Syndicate party surreptitiously, all three
split up and moving individually.
When he hands them off to Calant and bolts for higher ground, Isa
narrows her eye, jingling the shells sharply. A trap? She reaches up, sweeping
her long bangs from her eyes and letting them hang free. Her hand lingers at
the radio unit hidden at her ear.
Her good eye remains hooded, as though she were nonchalant about
strolling through the castle's storage wing. She halts when Greed calls it,
though, smirking when he airs his distrust over the elevator. And, for now, she
waits with the others.
The engineer that managed to slip down and into the castle basement took a
moment to look around. Her lips purse as she murmurs softly to herself, "Ara
ara. I wonder what happened here." But Shizuru sees the Syndicate team and
feigns a confused expression as she scratches the back of her neck. Even though
they are in the basement, she does not quite remove the dark glasses over her
eyes.
Then, in classic 'lost' fashion, she moves in a random direction (towards the
Elevator). Spying the wounded soldiers, Shizuru wonders if it would have been a
better idea to pretend to be a soldier. No matter. If anyone asks, she'll just
say that she got lost and got jostled onto the elevator. Yes.
To that end, she slides into Viral's shadow, close enough that if she has to,
she can bump into him and make it seem like she wasn't paying attention and
just walked straight into the Beastman. He is, after all, the only one of this
little crew that knows her true face and she trusts him.
There's a glance over at Greed. Kalas looks a little startled, oddly.
"Actually, uh--right, yeah," he starts in with and then quickly tries to cover
up with. Now is /so/ not the time to explain his little friend in his head.
There's a job to do first.
And then Kevin bolts. "Woah, /what/?" Kalas says, staring incredulously
at the priest as he takes off. There's a glance back towards the bishop, then
over at Greed and Viral (he recognizes those guys at least). There's a muttered
oath, and then directed at the Syndicate members he knows, he says quietly,
"Hope this isn't a trap..." Kevin /said/ he wasn't IPA anymore, but... damn,
who could tell for sure? Untrustworthy bastard, at the very least no matter
what. "Seele, watch for anything," he says (apparently to himself) softly.
She'll just have to keep a watch out for whatever else could be around to jump
out at them.
The presence of so many injured here causes the swordsman to raise a
blue eyebrow. Geez, what happened down here? But his gaze doesn't linger on the
wounded long. Join up with the soldiers to fend off whatever's down below? No
problem... for now. Slipping in with the rest on the lift, Kalas remains silent
for now, not wanting to risk saying /anything/ incriminating in public. Over
the radio, of course, though...
Viral glances at Kevin as he stares off at something, and turns his
gaze in that direction--but whatever it is, it's long gone by the time he
looks, and when he turns to the priest to ask what it was, he goes LOL BYE :D
and dashes. Viral is less than impressed, judging by the faint blue lines over
his head!!
Greed's caution regarding the elevator is smart, in his opinion.
Viral's hardly adverse to technology, considering he comes from a world full of
it, but that's a good thing to be worried about. He has a trump card in that
event, after the events at the train in Amestris and the fight with Innocent
Heart, but if they can avoid it by taking stairs...so much the better.
He senses the presence of someone behind him, and tilting his head
slightly to the left lets him spot who it is in his peripheral vision. "...."
Viral turns his head back to front, to pay attention to the others. If
Shizuru's without her mask, even if she's got shades on, he's certainly not
going to call attention to her.
If there's this many injured soldiers, perhaps... hmm. The church guys
said 'the next wave.' That lingo is easy enough for a soldier to recognize. So
whatever's down there caused all this... There might not be a stairs down, in
that case. Viral hopes there are; he doesn't want to end up being a sacrifice.
That priest must be expecting resistance, too, if he included a list of
high-profile potential enemies.
He nods to Isa, regarding Dominic and the others being in the back,
ready to provide cover fire. "Might not be very useful if we're separated," he
mutters. That can't really be helped, though.
Julia pauses as the question is made about the elevator. She glances to
Calant, who gestures towards her. "...you may rather appreciate the elevator,
to be honest. It's quite a distance down. Probably..." She thinks, trying to
guess. "Several hundred arje, at the very least- at least three to four
hundred. That will take you quite some time to cross by stairs. The elevator is
new and very sturdy. I wish I could tell you otherwise, but you're going to
have to trust me."
A pause. "If you'd like, I can come along with you-" Another pause.
Then he gestures to the engineer that has walked into Viral. "...or perhaps I
can send an engineer to assist?"
Perhaps there's a shudder- a black wave of energy suddenly washes
through the room and everything falls into darkness. -something akin to an emp,
perhaps? There are several shudders and hums... until lights begin to click
back on, and the elevator seems to begin to come back online.
Calant appears to have lost the color in his face, before he looks to
the others. "There's no time to waste, I'm afraid. The device has just been
used. If you want someone to trust, I will go with you, if necessary... but
Father Graham told me that he requested your assistance personally. I'm afraid
to admit that the clock is now ticking down." --if it was used and caused that
black out, then what on earth is the Black Orbment in the first place?
Greed doesn't like being rushed into things, and though his expression
remains fairly neutral, the set of his brow definitely indicates that he isn't
very impressed with this turn of events. Julia is fixed with an incredulous
look before the homunculus sighs and shakes his head. There aren't any
/stairs/? What the hell. And he's about to say something to that effect when...
the lights go out. Along with whatever shouts, clangs, pops and noise there
might be, there is the quiet, yet telltale sound of someone palming their face
heavily.
But as the lights flicker back on, Greed has lowered his left hand,
allowing only a fleeting glimpse of the ouroboros tattoo on the back of it. He
turns, to look at the others in their little group, catching their glances as
best he can.
Well then. "Calant, you said your name was?" Greed's looking at you
now, Bishop. "We could definitely use a guide." Not to mention a hostage if
necessary. With a smile that shows far too many sharp teeth, the homunculus
bows slightly, sweeping his hands towards the elevator. "After you. Time's a
wastin' away, after all."
Whoever wishes to follow will do so. Whoever doesn't? Can leave no
questions asked.
The pilot stands among the Syndicate group, casting a brief glance
towards the elevator. Part of her is suspicious as well, but unlike Greed, she
doesn't voice her concerns. Her wingmen are there to fish her out of trouble,
if anything should happen... but that doesn't mean she likes the situation any
more.
Give her the sky any day. She'll take on impossible odds and throw
herself into it heedlessly. But this?
Well, there's been a dearth of flight missions. The Geist Squadron has
to make their money somehow, and it's the sort of thing that the Syndicate
seems to do naturally. Swipe things.
"We will not need an engineer." Isa narrows her eye. That just screams
sending somebody to sabotage and silence the whole matter. "We--"
The lights sweep out, rushing out through the room like a wave,
systematically knocking out the lights. With a hiss of alarm, Isa reflexively
flings an arm out to reach for the wall and steady herself. Unfortunately, she
flings out an arm to her blind side, and didn't recall who was standing there.
...Let's hope Viral has quick reflexes.
But she'll follow those who enter the elevator, regardless. One hand is
in her pocket, wrapped around the pistol she has concealed there.
Kalas halts, pausing as the soldier and bishop confer with each other
behind him. Wait, safety of the elevator? The swordsman's pretty used to weird
machines and trusting them--even if he's never been to Alfard, country of
machina, his grandfather was a mechanical genius and /his/ machines were always
trustworthy--but he still stops, the thought suddenly coming that this might
not apply here at all.
That pause was a good one, as the lights suddenly die, and there's an
odd sort of sensation of loss to Kalas' left back, causing him to tense in the
darkness. "What the hell...?" But before there's much of a change to protest
further, things come back on with a hum. Kalas also noticably relaxes, but
that's just because the power's on again, right? "Damn, if you guys gotta short
fuse somewhere..." he mutters, shaking his head.
There's a hint of a smirk as Greed presses the Bishop into service.
Excellent, a decoy~ "Hey, let's go," he says next, walking along to follow
after Calant. Granted, getting out of the elevator if the worst happens might
be difficult, but Kalas has /nothing/ to fear from heights. To a point, anyway.
Hey hey, this situation is getting out of hand too fast. The talk
Clayface overhears, both at the scene and over the communication network,
doesn't do much to fill him with confidence. He remains relatively fearless,
though. At the very least this will prove to be an interesting experience in
other-worldly heists, and he still has faith in his own abilities to get the
hell out of there if it comes to it.
He never intended to enlist in any army, though, and hangs around near
Greed's party when they stall. Part of him wishes he could just drop the
disguise and go rampage his way to their target, but he tries to stifle his
impatience. Mostly it's just him starting to feel like he's losing his grip on
his current form, he'll need to find an isolated place to drop the disguise for
a few moments before too long. Unless he gets lucky and the signal drops to go
nuts before that happens.
Either way, a previously calm soldier has gotten just a /little/ bit
fidgity in the past couple of minutes. Surely just nerves, what with the
fighting and all.
The engineer gets gestured at by the Captain and Shizuru looks up a little bit.
Not enough for her eyes to be seen but she does tip her hat slightly towards
the soldier in a silent respectful salute. At least, that's what she had seen
some of the other Engineers do. If she is worried, it doesn't show. But for
Shizuru, most of her emotions can be seen in her eyes and her eyes are covered
at the moment.
The lights go out for a moment, but she does not panic. Not really. Instead the
woman stands stock still, only sound coming from her is the quiet rattling of
her toolbox. She promised she would stay out of the way and she intends on
keeping that promise. However, she cannot help but move her lips quietly in the
dark as she and Viral exchange a quiet conversation about her skills as a
mechanic.
She shakes her head once and then the lights come back and the Bishop appears.
She looks at the man, eyes narrowing slightly to study him. Greed seems so
ready to trust him but at the same time, she knows that smile he wears. She's
seen it many times on many others and a small smirk crosses her face. So this
is how he operates is it? Time to see how he performs under pressure then.
When the time comes for her turn, she steps onto the elevator, still hanging by
Viral's side.
If the Black Orbment was used, and caused a blackout that was very
obvious and caused lots of sputtering, then WHAT COULD IT BE INDEED!? Surely
this is a very important question that needs be asked before anything else!
Actually, Viral is more immediately interested in avoiding that arm that's
going WHOOSH at his head. He dodges it, but just barely; he can feel the wind
brushing against his hair. It's a good thing he *does* have excellent reflexes!
"Hey, calm down!" he tells Isa, taking a step backward. A glance back
at Shizuru behind him. "No harm in just bringing her along," he remarks,
glancing at the others. "Unless one of you happens to carry a wrench on you
wherever you go. I know I don't." This is only a tiny bit of a lie. Viral
really only knows how to fix his own Gunmen, anyway, and that's a matter of
necessity.
Either way, the beastman certainly won't mind having Calant take the
fore! He'll board the elevant with the others, glancing briefly at Greed. No
stairs, indeed. That fidgety soldier is glanced at, but he's really not that
much different from the others in that respect.
Calant is a little startled as he's pushed into operating the elevator.
"Bisho-" The Captain steps towards him, but he gestures. "It's okay, Julia.
Take care of your men here." "...yes, I'll do so. May Eidos shine her mercy
upon you all..."
Now that doesn't sound ominous, doesn't it?
Nevertheless, despite everyone's worries about the elevator, it's very
sturdy. It even has a pretty steady pace as it continues deeper and deeper to
the area below.
Now, consider the elevator the last point of sanity. As for the
interior of the first level of this... strange place is now echoing a klaxon- a
siren or warning of some sort. However long it's been going, that's not to be
known. There are people lying about the pathway around the area near it. The
sounds of machinegun fire can be heard echoing down through the hallways. But
they're hard to hear over the computerized voice speaking from seemingly
nothing.
-OSPEL USE DETECTED ON LOWER LEVEL.
ALERT. ALERT. ALL AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL PLEASE LEAVE THE DISTRICT IMMEDIATELY.
AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL LEAVE THE DISTRICT IMMEDIATELY.
STAGE ONE EXAMINATION COMMENCE.
RING GUARDIAN <> EXAMINATION OF LEVELS THREE AND FOUR.
INTRUSION MODE, ACTIVATED.
Bishop Calant takes a deep breath as he hears this. He quickly pulls
his pendant off his neck and holds it up in front of him. "There's little I can
do in this situation, I'm not field trained, like Father Graham, I can,
however, attempt basic defensive skills. Nevertheless, the Black Orbment is on
the fourth level. Father Graham mentioned that it is likely it will be stolen.
If that's the case- the thief /has/ to come to the elevator."
There's a pitch change in the klaxons suddenly. There's a flicker of
the golden lights surrounding the strange structure. The entire area is nothing
at all like what's been seen in Grancel or the castle itself. It's as if the
city were built by different hands entirely, on the remains of an old civiliza-
...wait. That *is* what happened, actually.
Elevator rides being what they are, Greed just shoves his hands in his
pockets, standing more or less completely still as they descend. Of course, he
glances over at the Bishop for some kind of exposition when it comes to just
what they're hearing. "... When you see Father Graham again," he says mildly,
but loud enough to be heard above the klaxon sirens, "Tell him he might wanna
be a little more descriptive when it comes to job expectations."
He pauses. "Actually..."
Red eyes narrows slightly, and hidden within those pockets, the
homunculus' fingers curl slightly, as if mimicking claws. ".. I'll tell 'em
myself." Won't that be a fun conversation.
He turns his attention back once the city's 'foundation' is revealed,
and his eyes widen. Now isn't /this/ interesting.
Hope they bolted down the furniture.
"Sorry." Isa manages a wan chuckle to Viral, gesturing vaguely towards
him. "I get disoriented in dark, da?" It's disorienting to not know where she
stands, spatially, and having no sight at all does things to her sense of
balance.
But she does board the elevator with the others, her other hand wrapped
around the pocket. She gestures vaguely behind them. "My wingmen will stay
outside, cover our retreat." Her voice is barely a murmur, to her Syndicate
allies. "Three pairs of eyes and ears... that should be enough, da? Just in
case we need a distraction getting out of here."
Viral motions the engineer to follow, though, and Isa narrows her eye,
getting a better look. Oh, hey. That's--
"Could not hurt to take one engineer with us." But she casts Shizuru a
brief look. Yeah, she sees you now. Not bad at all. "Fine."
As they descend into the proverbial belly of the beast, Isa smoothly
draws her handgun from her pocket, glancing around. She's here to be eyes and
ears, and nothing more. But, that doesn't mean she won't shoot. She's ready for
this kind of thing, and she does have adequate training. Her aim isn't quite as
bad as she may claim it to be. Maybe the better to take the opposition off
their guard -- they may not expect much, from a one-eyed woman.
"Da," she says simply, to Bishop Calant. "Then do what you have to do.
We will do what we have to do." But what she doesn't say is that she'll be
watching him just as intently as she's watching their surroundings. The bishop
may seem nervous, but that's not enough to convince the Geist Squadron's flight
lead.
She does take in the city's foundations with interest. "Hunh. Is like a
totally different city," she states, with some wonder. It's certainly
interesting, and catches her interest for a few seconds, drinking in the
details as quickly as possible. Half a glance is cast to Greed, though. Kevin's
going to be one sorry bastard when this is all through, isn't he? Her eyes turn
back to the path ahead of them.
...Enough sightseeing. "Well, off we go," she adds, cheerfully. "Shall
we? Less time we waste, less time for thief to find this thing before we do,
da?"
The trip down, considering the apparent electrical problems earlier, is
almost boring.
But when Kalas exits the elevator below, it's clear that things aren't
so calm here. Slightly wincing at the sound of the alarms going off, the young
man stands stock still a moment (someone might even bump into him, he's stopped
so suddenly) as he listens to the computerized voice. Then, "Dammit! Bastard
didn't say anything about--" he stops, though, as he gets a good look at the
structure of the city. "...../damn/," Kalas breathes, an almost reverant tone
to his voice. Screw ominous-sounding alarms, this could be /worthwhile/.
"Yeah," he says with a nod, "Let's go!"
"If there's no way in or out but the elevator..." Viral rumbles. He
keeps his arms folded over his chest, glancing around as the device lowers
slowly. He doesn't find himself very thrilled to hear the computerized voice
basically flipping out that this Black Orbment thing is getting stolen. He
doesn't tell Calant not to worry, they don't expect anything from him anyway.
Perhaps he'll end up being useful anyway.
As golden light washes over an ancient buried city, though, Viral
straightens a little, amber eyes widening. An underground city...? "What in the
world...?" It looks ancient... But then, underground villages tend to be, even
if this one is far beyond the scope of any mere village. "We should have
someone guard over the elevator while the others search," he notes. "It'll be
meaningless if the thief reaches it and leaves while we're out there searching."
When the elevator reaches the bottom floor, Shizuru pauses to wince at the
alarms. She frowns deeply. Is this what they were expecting. She sighs
mentally. Will she have to act after all? The familiar strength of Kiyohime
curls up in her mind as the multiheaded snake hisses it's displeasure. No
matter. This is Greed's show and she will not interfere unless it is to save
herself and those who work for her. At the moment, this includes Viral, Kalas
and Isa. A leader should go down with his ship right?
So she waits, setting the tool box down and sliding towards the back, her arms
folded carefully over her chest to give the impression of fear. She keeps her
eye on the clergyman for a moment to ensure that he does not run off with the
elevator and then back to the rest of the Syndicate Crew. Come. Show Kiyohime
what you are made of!
As everyone's rallying together on where to go, or fumbling in awe, the
way ahead becomes... well... blocked. There wasn't someone there before, but
now? A figure in black armor can be seen standing in their way- the air almost
shimmering around him, as he's letting the effects of the stealth fade out. The
young man isn't wearing his helmet, his silvery hair a bit of a mess. An ornate
red and gold blade is held in his right hand. He only watches the group, before
he adds, "...not quite what I was expecting to run into on my way out of here."
He chuckles, "your friend is in a bit of trouble himself. Figured we'd see
something like this." He sighs, then points the blade out towards the group.
"We can always do this the easy way, or the hard way. Let me through? That's
easy. If you wish to fight... now that may be a little hard for you all."
From Kevin's report, the silver hair, violet eyes, armor, and blade are
to easily mark this one as the Sword Emperor- or Lawrence Belgar, as he was
named in the report.
But now the question is- who alerted him to their arrival? Was it
Kevin? ...or was it someone else?
Who: Clayface, C.C., Greed, Isa Reichert, Kalas, Kevin Graham, Shizuru Fujino, Viral
Where: The Liberl Kingdom - Grancel City
WhenAugust 23, 2008
What: In order to complete the deal with Daos, Kevin needs the Gospel. But he can't be seen by certain members of the Ouroboros... so why not get some hired help?
Watch For: THAT'S MORE THAN THREE GEARS!! >:o
C.C. needs a tag, I think?
[RADIO] To Greed, you radio: Greed? I believe now would be th' best time. It
seems that th' Bracer's Guild," a pause, then he adds, "...think o' 'em like...
good ol' mercenaries doin' the police work when there isn't police t' do th'
work- Nevertheless, they're attackin' th' Palace. They've already made it
through the gates, an' I'm sure Bishop Calant can help us get in t' where we
need t' go. Care t' meet me at the cathedral?
[RADIO] To Kevin Graham, Greed radios: Gotcha. Be there soon.
[RADIO] To Greed, you radio: Excellent.
The bells chime through the city, echoing through the silent evening
air. Kevin is standing on the steps of the cathedral, as a man in blue robes
stands next to him. Bishop Calant is adjusting the cap on his head, before he
leans towards the priest in red. "...are you sure about this, sir?" Kevin's
glance towards him and with an eyebrow raised- that's all the answer he needs
to give. He finally shrugs. "Th' Secretary General has already cleared it, as
has the Council. No need t' worry 'bout me. I've got things up my sleeves."
"...as you wish, sir." The younger clergyman quickly waves a hand to the
bishop. "An' don't call me that." "...very well."
There are times when the bishops should be reverent to the Dominion.
Now's not one of them. He'd rather that the Syndicate did not know his
political power in this plane. "They should be arrivin' any minute now,
'owever. If ya wanna let th' sisters know to take care o' the place- I'm gonna
need ya to do some smooth talkin' fer me t' get us in the castle."
Even if the gates are open, in such an attack... "Jus'... let 'em know
ya've got reinforcements or somethin', 'kay?" Kevin quickly offers a shoo'ing
sort of gesture. "In fact, I'll make sure th' sisters are good. Ya just go on."
Yes. Pulling rank. Bishop Calant quickly hurries down the steps with
little more than an alright.
It's very likely that everyone else will be arriving while the priest
is sticking his head into the doors of the cathedral, calling out to Sister
Ellen... or Sister Noa...? One of them. Whoever's on duty today.
Don't think Greed isn't wondering about the intentions in all of this.
Of course he wonders-- but only as far as he needs to. He has no intention of
getting caught up in matters that stretch beyond his immediate goals. Why
should he? This is about a job, and the people he's asked to join him in it.
It's also, like everything else, an opportunity to scope out what he
could possibly use in the future. He'll keep his eyes and ears open.
He approaches from a side street, hands shoved deep into the pockets of
his long black coat. He walks without hurry, but not without some purpose as he
approaches the steps of the cathedral. Crimson, slitted eyes sweep across the
area and spot the priest... not paying attention. A smirk pulling at the
corners of his lips, Greed quickens his pace, slipping up the stairs quickly,
soundlessly, and coming to stop mere feet from the door. "Nice day for
churchin'," he says casually.
There's an awful lot of people moving to and fro and a small team of
engineers is making their way to the castle. Shizuru Fujino has worked her way
into the team of engineers. The orange jumpsuit fits comfortably and like the
other engineers, the sleeves are rolled up, revealing the edges of a black
t-shirt underneath. Her usual long ash blonde hair has been tied up into a
tight bun and tucked under her cap while a pair of dark sunglasses cover her
dark red eyes.
In her right hand, she carries an orange toolbox, however beneath the top layer
of tools one would find things that definitely do NOT belong in a toolbox, like
hand guns. Not that Shizuru is ever -truly- unarmed. But she is only here to
observe and watch, not to participate. Not in the slightest.
A job's a job. Some of the Syndicate may ask questions, but not
everyone needs to know the hows or whys. There are four figures lingering near
the cathedral, at a comfortable distance but not too close. They speak in quiet
voices, but it may be a foreign tongue; inflections odd. It sounds like German
or Russian.
Belkan and Yuktobanian are such useful languages.
They look plain, dressed in dark colors -- trenchcoats of dark charcoal
gray, and black clothing under those. Their faces are slightly obscured by
short-billed caps, faces downcast as they speak quietly amongst themselves.
They might be playing some kind of card game; currency quietly changing hands
and the quiet rustle of cardstock.
One looks up -- a woman with an eyepatch, her red hair tied back in a
loose ponytail at the nape of her neck. She watches Greed walk by without
apparent reaction, merely staring at him for a moment, like some tired city
worker. She turns back to her fellows.
But she's watching the area. She casts a glance towards the cathedral
steps, noting the departure of the lesser bishop. A glance is cast towards
Greed again, surreptitious, watching where he goes.
Slowly, Isa detaches from the group. The rest disperse, taking up
positions scattered but near the cathedral, all in visual range of one another
and the front doors.
"Privyet," Isa states cheerfully, almost in a whisper once she reaches
Kevin and Greed. "Geist Squadron is here. My wingmen are in position to watch.
They will follow me at a distance, stay separated, and watch, da?"
Long distance to Greed: Kevin Graham looks at the post. Did my email cut off
part of what I had written?
A cathedral... It's odd, seeing an adornment of a human religion.
Viral's seen some from a distance, but has never really visited one personally.
As what would probably be in human terms an atheist--after all, he had his Lord
God exist at the top, commanding all beastmen, and then he fell to another
human after revealing just how big a cock he really was--it just feels strange
to come to a place of worship for the race that he once was trying to
annihilate.
Still, all that's in the past, now. Even if sometimes it comes to mind
unbidden. Viral's wearing his usual tattered brown scarf, which neatly hides
his fanged mouth, and his long blond hair flows free, covering one of his
slitted golden eyes. He has a buttoned dark blue vest over a gray shirt that
connects to a pair of bracers that are fashioned to look like his huge arms and
hands are *supposed* to be that way, like they're extra-armored weapons. It'll
probably make the scabbards at his belt, a half-belt above it, look kind of
odd, but damned if Viral's going anywhere without his swords. Navy blue pants
tuck into grey-black boots. All in all, he almost looks human. At least his
ears are rounded.
He catches sight of people gathering in front of the church, and
meanders that way as he glances around at the architecture. Viral's also
glancing around for any other of their teammates gathering. He knows that
Chopin's supposed to be here... At least, Greed told him that! If he doesn't
show up, Viral won't be happy with Greed for lying to him! (At least until
Chopin explains otherwise, but he'll still be grumpy. Because Viral's kinda
like that.)
Clayface likes to prepare for a role, however minor, so he got here
early. Sure one of the guards around the cathedral will be found tomorrow
morning tied up a few alleys away, and with a major headache no less, but it
gave the shapeshifter the time he needed to make sure he had enough time to
practice so he wouldn't stand out.
He's a professional, after all.
So tonight his role is... background cannon fodder. He hates not being
the star, but sometimes you're just contractually obligated to play bit roles,
and you just gotta suck it up. He patrols the same small area he observed his
'inspiration' as patrolling, keeping a wary eye out for tresspassers. Not that
he's going to alert anyone if he sees them, that's the point.
The orange and green outfit is awful gaudy, though.
A cathedral, huh? It's not the same as the ones back home at all. Thus,
Kalas pauses to gaze upwards, shielding his eyes with a hand as he takes in the
whole building. People back home talked about holy stars, celestial trees, and
divine oceans... so what sort of thing do people worship here? Maybe rocks?
It took a while to get something that looked less, well, exotic to
wear. But at least the swordsman now more or less looks like a wanderer. Of
particular note is the long dark brown cloak he's got on; it's got a high
collar, too. He's also wearing partial plate armor: uncomfortable (a perceptive
person might notice he's not used to wearing it from how he fidgets) but at
least helps him play the role better. Also helping is the sword slung at his
side. Underneath that are plain darkish greys, and mid-calf length black boots.
There's a few anomalous straps across his chest, too; normally, wouldn't
something like this attach to pauldrons? But he hasn't got any on...
For now, he's sort of hanging around outside the cathedral. Probably,
he looks like a sightseeing traveller, seeing as how he's checking out the
building. If he's noticed any of the others, other than a sidelong glance,
there's no sign of an obvious connection.
Kevin tightens his grip on the handles of the double doors of the
church. His own senses pick up others in the area- not through sound or such,
but that other voice in the back of his head almost seems to be aware of these
sorts of things... however, the priest doesn't move. Not until Greed speaks up.
The priest suddenly snaps back from the doors and twists around to see his
temporary ally, "Churchin', huh?" There's a quirky grin from him before he
shuts the doors, then nods. "Perhaps it is."
He glances towards Isa, then nods- a sly smile seems to show on his
face at this point. "Good. Very good. Whatcha'll want t' do is keep an eye
'round the castle grounds. We're headed in that direction. Bishop Calant is
gettin' us entry. We jus' need into th' basement." Sounds like an easy enough
day trip. He gestures towards Viral and then to Kalas with a slightly inviting
presense. Finally, clasping both hands together behind his back, the priest
starts his way down the steps. He's very light on his feet, and sets a pretty
easy pace for people to follow him.
Just at the church grounds, several of the engineers are stopped by
soldiers in uniform. They're turning some of the engineers away. Every now and
then, one or two get through. When it looks like they're about to get to check
on her- Bishop Calant shows up. "Sir!" "...Bishop? You should hurry back to the
church. It's not safe here." "I'm here to state that we're providing assistance
with the conflict underground." "...that... that would be good, actually."
"They're coming over shortly." -if you want a chance to sneak in....
The bells ring through the city again- this seems to be a call from a
number of soldiers. They're recalling the patrol to bring more men to the
Sealed District. The machines deep underneath have been providing them with
quite a challenge.
Shizuru is not the kind of woman who allows something as simple as a few
soldiers turning engineers away stop her, especially seeing how some of her
more clever 'co-workers' are managing to slip through. She wonders though, just
what's so important in there that the engineers are willing to risk a scuffle
with soldiers for. After all, they are engineers; geeks not fighters. Curiouser
and curiouser.
Just as it looked like she would have to use some creative 'persuasion', the
guards (and her dignity) are saved by the arrival of Bishop Calant. With the
guards thusly distracted, the young woman pulls her cap even further along her
brow and with the grace, silence and speed born from years of training coupled
with her own innate strength as a HiME, she slides quickly towards the opening
now left open to her.
Greed slides his gaze over to Isa as she joins him, smirking and
nodding slightly. Sounds like a good plan to him-- backup, that is. Too large a
group will be suspicious. As for the others?
That Kevin acknowledges their presence is enough for him. The priest
has his attention right now, being watched carefully beneath a casual exterior.
"Thanks for the consideration," he offers with a smirk. The easier it is to get
in... well, frankly doesn't mean much sometimes, but hey, better than having a
difficult entry /and/ a difficult exit. With a glance to Kalas, Viral, and Isa,
he turns and follows Kevin down the stairs. There are two people unaccounted
for, but then again, he told them both to keep low for the moment. He's
trusting you, Clayface, because at least he knows what C.C. is supposed to look
like. As for Kiyohime? She invited herself, she can take care of herself, so
far as he's concerned.
As they walk, he moves closer to Viral, glancing at him only once-- and
taking in what he can see of his face, smirks slightly. So this is the guy.
"Our musical friend didn't answer my calls," he murmurs, "If you're backing
out, do it now." Nothing else is said, only another fleeting glance before
Greed's attention returns to their surroundings.
The bells ringing and the soldiers hustling gives Clayface an
unsettling feeling. This is what happens when he doesn't have time to fully
prepare for a role. He'll just have to improvise, and try not to ham it up.
At least the others should be approaching by now, which gives him some
breathing room. No one should notice one errant soldier sticking around the
Cathedral.
He makes his way around to the entrance as cautiously as he can. He
catches a glimpse of Greed from a distance, though acts like he never saw him.
These hats make convenient excuses for missing things when you keep your head
down. For now his destination is to get and keep close to the entrance, remain
inconspicuous, and keep an eye and ear out for the signal. Whatever that signal
is. Chances are this is a 'know it when you see it' kind of situation.
"Into basement? Not so hard." Isa rolls her shoulder in a careless
shrug. She shifts her weight, casting a glance over towards Greed, finally
following after Kevin himself. The perceptive might notice her wingmen, out on
the streets, shifting to accomodate this; they surreptitiously trail after
their captain one by one.
"Da. My wingmen will be following at distance. Ancel and Liese, they
will watch our six. If there is trouble, Domino will help me." Isa flashes a
lopsided grin, tapping at her eyepatch. "My depth perception; is not what it
used to be."
Her hands tuck into her pockets; something jingles faintly in a pocket.
Ammunition shells? "Just tell us where you want us best to watch, gospoda."
Sir. But the title is probably not meant with a whole lot of respect; Isa
hardly seems one to stand on formalities.
She glances up at the sound of the bells, before tucking her chin and
speeding up a little to walk after Kevin. "We will not fight if there is
trouble." This, she seems to be saying towards Greed. "But the four of us, we
will cover you long enough to get away. Hopefully will not come to that, da?"
She falls silent, then, keeping an eye on the others as she follows,
listening to the rest.
Viral overhears the scuffle between the soldiers and the engineers, but
it's hard to see over that way--it's situated right in his blind spot. (Damn
hair curtain :|!) However, he can just barely see a woman who looks familiar...
"Hn," he mutters, then turns back towards the church. When Kevin
beckons him and Kalas forward, Viral accepts the invitation and joins the
group, nodding curtly to Isa in greeting and giving a more lingering look to
Greed. When the homunculus tells him sotto voce that Chopin won't be showing up
after all, he scowls, then folds his arms over his chest. "If you're going to
be sticking around, I'll need to watch you anyway," he mutters, failing to
mention that he has other friends here too.
"So Dominic and the others are following along? That's reassuring."
Viral refrains from trying to spot them--it'd be bad for their cover!--and
instead gives Kevin a steady look, before nodding to the others and waiting for
them to head in first. After all, if he's going to be watching everyone's
backs...
Kalas glances up suddenly when Kevin gestures towards him, and with a
momentary glance about himself, starts making his way towards the stairs to
head on down after the priest. "Stay sharp, Seele," he says quietly, although
anyone close by can certainly hear the comment. Although, maybe he's just
talking to someone? There's a brief look at the others, too, as they begin to
fall in with one another, but doesn't say anything. Just mentally ticks off the
names of the ones he knows, and the others? Well, it's probably Greed's
business, whatever the hell they decided to do.
"...Hmm," Kalas muses, glancing back once in the direction of the
tolling bells, and watching the incoming soldiers. "What do you think?" he
comments, to no one (visible) in particular. To his mind, his guardian spirit
speaks, //...I see a few more soldiers,// Seele comments. //A change of the
guards? Or maybe something is happening...// There's a brief nod, at that
assessment. Who can say, this early in?
Continuing on with leading the way as everyone begins to come together,
Kevin simply walks along the road within the city. He doesn't seem to comment
or give odd looks to the habits of the Syndicate members. This is for an
important piece of work... however, this 'work' goes out the window as he stops
abruptly. It's a start- he reacted to something he saw. Was it a feeling- a
creeping along the spine, or did he truly see something he recognized out of
the corner of his eye? The priest quickly looks off in that direction. He
continues to stare off that way- almost daring for whatever it is to come out
from hiding... until he quickly glances back towards the church. Hey, it's
Calant. "Bishop! Take 'em the rest o' the way!"
...that's when the priest bolts? "Ya don' need me at this point, Calant
will help ya. I wanna make sure things go fer th' best fer ya!" ...talk about
suspicious. How is running off 'making things go for the best?'
The Bishop only watches the priest for a moment, before he gestures.
"This way."
The trip into the castle is uneventful- and Calant leads the group to
the storage wing of the basement.
However, things are quite different down below. The castle grounds
themselves seem empty- people taking cover and soldiers in a hurry to this same
area. Some people, members of the church, are focused on helping tend to the
wounded soldiers. Why would this place be such a battleground?
Calant brings the group towards a woman in a blue military uniform.
"Captain- I've brought the reported foreign assistance." The officer looks over
them before she gestures. "I trust you, Bishop. If you want, they can be the
next wave down on the elevator. Be sure to bring any others back up." "Yes,
Julia." "Thank you for your assistance, sir."
The group is then offered to take the path down. There's just enough
room for them- and perhaps an errant engineer if she found her way and wishes
to hop on quickly.
Crimson eyes slide back over to Isa, an amused smirk playing at his
lips. "I'm flattered," he says quietly, "But cover for whoever needs it most."
Perhaps it's arrogance on his part, but he doesn't particularly consider
himself in terrible need of support in /this/ kind of situation. What he was
talking about the other night? More a.. beaurocratical matter.
His gaze passes over the crowd again, almost just for kicks to see if
he can spot their shapeshifting friend. He'll be a mixture of proud and
disappointed if he can find him, admittedly, unless the man... clay.. guy gives
his own signal to let him know that he's here.
A quick glance to Viral, and then the homunculus grins as he faces
forward again. Right, right, this is his evaluation run, isn't it? He wouldn't
lie to himself and say he doesn't enjoy the attention-- at least, from his new
comrades. He'll try not to show off /too/ much, but he simply won't be able to
help it if he looks just too damned cool.
"I think bein' fast on our feet'll be to our benefit on the way out,"
is his quiet reply to Kalas' question, not suspecting him to be, oh, talking
spirits in his brain and all. But it's for everyone else's benefit too. They
can't expect to not get caught and alarms to be raised about /their/ presence
as well, and with this many people milling about...
The rest of their pleasant little journey is spent in quiet
contemplation of their surroundings, though Greed narrows his eyes at the sight
of the castle 'battleground'. "What the hell...?" he half-mutters, glancing at
Kevin-- just as he leaves? "Hey, where the hell're you-- ah, geez." Even as he
turns, nodding for the group to follow Calant, his eyes linger on the back of
the departing priest, his expression neutral.
But as they're graciously invited to go on a free ride down the
elevator, Greed holds up his hand, stopping where he is. "Hold on just a sec
here," he says, glancing at their two helpful 'guides', "I ain't a coward, but
I ain't a big believer in relyin' on technology. Care to inform me where we
might find some stairs?" A narrow-eyed glance is given Calant. "In case
somethin' happens to break."
Clayface quickens his pace and tails Greed and the others as they're
being led into the castle. Maybe he should've told them what form he was
taking... then again, what kind of fun would that be? Besides, by not telling
them this meant that they couldn't accidentally tip anyone off that someone
else was in on this. So sorry Greed, no freebies, you'll have to guess on your
own.
The sight of the basement is a bit surprising, not at all what he
expected to find. What kind of fighting is going on nearby? He keeps moving
forward, trying not to appear surprised by the sights, but wondering more and
more what they're all really walking into. This /isn't/ a trap, right?
The only difficult part is getting ahead of the group when he hears the
word 'elevator'. He intends to be on the same ride as them, so he moves
quickly. He's just an eager soldier ready to go off and fight whatever the hell
it is they're fighting around here.
"They are there, Viral." Isa chuckles as she follows after them,
trenchcoat swirling about her ankles. "They will follow at distance, da? We are
all armed," she adds, then, nodding to Greed. "Da. If anything goes wrong, we
will jump in and cover, then. Domino and Liese, they are good shot, da?"
She jingles the shells in her pocket quietly for emphasis. "But if
things go south, we will not completely cover you." She grins, a little
nastily. "We Geist, we look out for our own."
The walk is taken mostly in silence after Kevin. Her wingmen follow at
a distance, keeping an eye on the Syndicate party surreptitiously, all three
split up and moving individually.
When he hands them off to Calant and bolts for higher ground, Isa
narrows her eye, jingling the shells sharply. A trap? She reaches up, sweeping
her long bangs from her eyes and letting them hang free. Her hand lingers at
the radio unit hidden at her ear.
Her good eye remains hooded, as though she were nonchalant about
strolling through the castle's storage wing. She halts when Greed calls it,
though, smirking when he airs his distrust over the elevator. And, for now, she
waits with the others.
The engineer that managed to slip down and into the castle basement took a
moment to look around. Her lips purse as she murmurs softly to herself, "Ara
ara. I wonder what happened here." But Shizuru sees the Syndicate team and
feigns a confused expression as she scratches the back of her neck. Even though
they are in the basement, she does not quite remove the dark glasses over her
eyes.
Then, in classic 'lost' fashion, she moves in a random direction (towards the
Elevator). Spying the wounded soldiers, Shizuru wonders if it would have been a
better idea to pretend to be a soldier. No matter. If anyone asks, she'll just
say that she got lost and got jostled onto the elevator. Yes.
To that end, she slides into Viral's shadow, close enough that if she has to,
she can bump into him and make it seem like she wasn't paying attention and
just walked straight into the Beastman. He is, after all, the only one of this
little crew that knows her true face and she trusts him.
There's a glance over at Greed. Kalas looks a little startled, oddly.
"Actually, uh--right, yeah," he starts in with and then quickly tries to cover
up with. Now is /so/ not the time to explain his little friend in his head.
There's a job to do first.
And then Kevin bolts. "Woah, /what/?" Kalas says, staring incredulously
at the priest as he takes off. There's a glance back towards the bishop, then
over at Greed and Viral (he recognizes those guys at least). There's a muttered
oath, and then directed at the Syndicate members he knows, he says quietly,
"Hope this isn't a trap..." Kevin /said/ he wasn't IPA anymore, but... damn,
who could tell for sure? Untrustworthy bastard, at the very least no matter
what. "Seele, watch for anything," he says (apparently to himself) softly.
She'll just have to keep a watch out for whatever else could be around to jump
out at them.
The presence of so many injured here causes the swordsman to raise a
blue eyebrow. Geez, what happened down here? But his gaze doesn't linger on the
wounded long. Join up with the soldiers to fend off whatever's down below? No
problem... for now. Slipping in with the rest on the lift, Kalas remains silent
for now, not wanting to risk saying /anything/ incriminating in public. Over
the radio, of course, though...
Viral glances at Kevin as he stares off at something, and turns his
gaze in that direction--but whatever it is, it's long gone by the time he
looks, and when he turns to the priest to ask what it was, he goes LOL BYE :D
and dashes. Viral is less than impressed, judging by the faint blue lines over
his head!!
Greed's caution regarding the elevator is smart, in his opinion.
Viral's hardly adverse to technology, considering he comes from a world full of
it, but that's a good thing to be worried about. He has a trump card in that
event, after the events at the train in Amestris and the fight with Innocent
Heart, but if they can avoid it by taking stairs...so much the better.
He senses the presence of someone behind him, and tilting his head
slightly to the left lets him spot who it is in his peripheral vision. "...."
Viral turns his head back to front, to pay attention to the others. If
Shizuru's without her mask, even if she's got shades on, he's certainly not
going to call attention to her.
If there's this many injured soldiers, perhaps... hmm. The church guys
said 'the next wave.' That lingo is easy enough for a soldier to recognize. So
whatever's down there caused all this... There might not be a stairs down, in
that case. Viral hopes there are; he doesn't want to end up being a sacrifice.
That priest must be expecting resistance, too, if he included a list of
high-profile potential enemies.
He nods to Isa, regarding Dominic and the others being in the back,
ready to provide cover fire. "Might not be very useful if we're separated," he
mutters. That can't really be helped, though.
Julia pauses as the question is made about the elevator. She glances to
Calant, who gestures towards her. "...you may rather appreciate the elevator,
to be honest. It's quite a distance down. Probably..." She thinks, trying to
guess. "Several hundred arje, at the very least- at least three to four
hundred. That will take you quite some time to cross by stairs. The elevator is
new and very sturdy. I wish I could tell you otherwise, but you're going to
have to trust me."
A pause. "If you'd like, I can come along with you-" Another pause.
Then he gestures to the engineer that has walked into Viral. "...or perhaps I
can send an engineer to assist?"
Perhaps there's a shudder- a black wave of energy suddenly washes
through the room and everything falls into darkness. -something akin to an emp,
perhaps? There are several shudders and hums... until lights begin to click
back on, and the elevator seems to begin to come back online.
Calant appears to have lost the color in his face, before he looks to
the others. "There's no time to waste, I'm afraid. The device has just been
used. If you want someone to trust, I will go with you, if necessary... but
Father Graham told me that he requested your assistance personally. I'm afraid
to admit that the clock is now ticking down." --if it was used and caused that
black out, then what on earth is the Black Orbment in the first place?
Greed doesn't like being rushed into things, and though his expression
remains fairly neutral, the set of his brow definitely indicates that he isn't
very impressed with this turn of events. Julia is fixed with an incredulous
look before the homunculus sighs and shakes his head. There aren't any
/stairs/? What the hell. And he's about to say something to that effect when...
the lights go out. Along with whatever shouts, clangs, pops and noise there
might be, there is the quiet, yet telltale sound of someone palming their face
heavily.
But as the lights flicker back on, Greed has lowered his left hand,
allowing only a fleeting glimpse of the ouroboros tattoo on the back of it. He
turns, to look at the others in their little group, catching their glances as
best he can.
Well then. "Calant, you said your name was?" Greed's looking at you
now, Bishop. "We could definitely use a guide." Not to mention a hostage if
necessary. With a smile that shows far too many sharp teeth, the homunculus
bows slightly, sweeping his hands towards the elevator. "After you. Time's a
wastin' away, after all."
Whoever wishes to follow will do so. Whoever doesn't? Can leave no
questions asked.
The pilot stands among the Syndicate group, casting a brief glance
towards the elevator. Part of her is suspicious as well, but unlike Greed, she
doesn't voice her concerns. Her wingmen are there to fish her out of trouble,
if anything should happen... but that doesn't mean she likes the situation any
more.
Give her the sky any day. She'll take on impossible odds and throw
herself into it heedlessly. But this?
Well, there's been a dearth of flight missions. The Geist Squadron has
to make their money somehow, and it's the sort of thing that the Syndicate
seems to do naturally. Swipe things.
"We will not need an engineer." Isa narrows her eye. That just screams
sending somebody to sabotage and silence the whole matter. "We--"
The lights sweep out, rushing out through the room like a wave,
systematically knocking out the lights. With a hiss of alarm, Isa reflexively
flings an arm out to reach for the wall and steady herself. Unfortunately, she
flings out an arm to her blind side, and didn't recall who was standing there.
...Let's hope Viral has quick reflexes.
But she'll follow those who enter the elevator, regardless. One hand is
in her pocket, wrapped around the pistol she has concealed there.
Kalas halts, pausing as the soldier and bishop confer with each other
behind him. Wait, safety of the elevator? The swordsman's pretty used to weird
machines and trusting them--even if he's never been to Alfard, country of
machina, his grandfather was a mechanical genius and /his/ machines were always
trustworthy--but he still stops, the thought suddenly coming that this might
not apply here at all.
That pause was a good one, as the lights suddenly die, and there's an
odd sort of sensation of loss to Kalas' left back, causing him to tense in the
darkness. "What the hell...?" But before there's much of a change to protest
further, things come back on with a hum. Kalas also noticably relaxes, but
that's just because the power's on again, right? "Damn, if you guys gotta short
fuse somewhere..." he mutters, shaking his head.
There's a hint of a smirk as Greed presses the Bishop into service.
Excellent, a decoy~ "Hey, let's go," he says next, walking along to follow
after Calant. Granted, getting out of the elevator if the worst happens might
be difficult, but Kalas has /nothing/ to fear from heights. To a point, anyway.
Hey hey, this situation is getting out of hand too fast. The talk
Clayface overhears, both at the scene and over the communication network,
doesn't do much to fill him with confidence. He remains relatively fearless,
though. At the very least this will prove to be an interesting experience in
other-worldly heists, and he still has faith in his own abilities to get the
hell out of there if it comes to it.
He never intended to enlist in any army, though, and hangs around near
Greed's party when they stall. Part of him wishes he could just drop the
disguise and go rampage his way to their target, but he tries to stifle his
impatience. Mostly it's just him starting to feel like he's losing his grip on
his current form, he'll need to find an isolated place to drop the disguise for
a few moments before too long. Unless he gets lucky and the signal drops to go
nuts before that happens.
Either way, a previously calm soldier has gotten just a /little/ bit
fidgity in the past couple of minutes. Surely just nerves, what with the
fighting and all.
The engineer gets gestured at by the Captain and Shizuru looks up a little bit.
Not enough for her eyes to be seen but she does tip her hat slightly towards
the soldier in a silent respectful salute. At least, that's what she had seen
some of the other Engineers do. If she is worried, it doesn't show. But for
Shizuru, most of her emotions can be seen in her eyes and her eyes are covered
at the moment.
The lights go out for a moment, but she does not panic. Not really. Instead the
woman stands stock still, only sound coming from her is the quiet rattling of
her toolbox. She promised she would stay out of the way and she intends on
keeping that promise. However, she cannot help but move her lips quietly in the
dark as she and Viral exchange a quiet conversation about her skills as a
mechanic.
She shakes her head once and then the lights come back and the Bishop appears.
She looks at the man, eyes narrowing slightly to study him. Greed seems so
ready to trust him but at the same time, she knows that smile he wears. She's
seen it many times on many others and a small smirk crosses her face. So this
is how he operates is it? Time to see how he performs under pressure then.
When the time comes for her turn, she steps onto the elevator, still hanging by
Viral's side.
If the Black Orbment was used, and caused a blackout that was very
obvious and caused lots of sputtering, then WHAT COULD IT BE INDEED!? Surely
this is a very important question that needs be asked before anything else!
Actually, Viral is more immediately interested in avoiding that arm that's
going WHOOSH at his head. He dodges it, but just barely; he can feel the wind
brushing against his hair. It's a good thing he *does* have excellent reflexes!
"Hey, calm down!" he tells Isa, taking a step backward. A glance back
at Shizuru behind him. "No harm in just bringing her along," he remarks,
glancing at the others. "Unless one of you happens to carry a wrench on you
wherever you go. I know I don't." This is only a tiny bit of a lie. Viral
really only knows how to fix his own Gunmen, anyway, and that's a matter of
necessity.
Either way, the beastman certainly won't mind having Calant take the
fore! He'll board the elevant with the others, glancing briefly at Greed. No
stairs, indeed. That fidgety soldier is glanced at, but he's really not that
much different from the others in that respect.
Calant is a little startled as he's pushed into operating the elevator.
"Bisho-" The Captain steps towards him, but he gestures. "It's okay, Julia.
Take care of your men here." "...yes, I'll do so. May Eidos shine her mercy
upon you all..."
Now that doesn't sound ominous, doesn't it?
Nevertheless, despite everyone's worries about the elevator, it's very
sturdy. It even has a pretty steady pace as it continues deeper and deeper to
the area below.
Now, consider the elevator the last point of sanity. As for the
interior of the first level of this... strange place is now echoing a klaxon- a
siren or warning of some sort. However long it's been going, that's not to be
known. There are people lying about the pathway around the area near it. The
sounds of machinegun fire can be heard echoing down through the hallways. But
they're hard to hear over the computerized voice speaking from seemingly
nothing.
-OSPEL USE DETECTED ON LOWER LEVEL.
ALERT. ALERT. ALL AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL PLEASE LEAVE THE DISTRICT IMMEDIATELY.
AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL LEAVE THE DISTRICT IMMEDIATELY.
STAGE ONE EXAMINATION COMMENCE.
RING GUARDIAN <> EXAMINATION OF LEVELS THREE AND FOUR.
INTRUSION MODE, ACTIVATED.
Bishop Calant takes a deep breath as he hears this. He quickly pulls
his pendant off his neck and holds it up in front of him. "There's little I can
do in this situation, I'm not field trained, like Father Graham, I can,
however, attempt basic defensive skills. Nevertheless, the Black Orbment is on
the fourth level. Father Graham mentioned that it is likely it will be stolen.
If that's the case- the thief /has/ to come to the elevator."
There's a pitch change in the klaxons suddenly. There's a flicker of
the golden lights surrounding the strange structure. The entire area is nothing
at all like what's been seen in Grancel or the castle itself. It's as if the
city were built by different hands entirely, on the remains of an old civiliza-
...wait. That *is* what happened, actually.
Elevator rides being what they are, Greed just shoves his hands in his
pockets, standing more or less completely still as they descend. Of course, he
glances over at the Bishop for some kind of exposition when it comes to just
what they're hearing. "... When you see Father Graham again," he says mildly,
but loud enough to be heard above the klaxon sirens, "Tell him he might wanna
be a little more descriptive when it comes to job expectations."
He pauses. "Actually..."
Red eyes narrows slightly, and hidden within those pockets, the
homunculus' fingers curl slightly, as if mimicking claws. ".. I'll tell 'em
myself." Won't that be a fun conversation.
He turns his attention back once the city's 'foundation' is revealed,
and his eyes widen. Now isn't /this/ interesting.
Hope they bolted down the furniture.
"Sorry." Isa manages a wan chuckle to Viral, gesturing vaguely towards
him. "I get disoriented in dark, da?" It's disorienting to not know where she
stands, spatially, and having no sight at all does things to her sense of
balance.
But she does board the elevator with the others, her other hand wrapped
around the pocket. She gestures vaguely behind them. "My wingmen will stay
outside, cover our retreat." Her voice is barely a murmur, to her Syndicate
allies. "Three pairs of eyes and ears... that should be enough, da? Just in
case we need a distraction getting out of here."
Viral motions the engineer to follow, though, and Isa narrows her eye,
getting a better look. Oh, hey. That's--
"Could not hurt to take one engineer with us." But she casts Shizuru a
brief look. Yeah, she sees you now. Not bad at all. "Fine."
As they descend into the proverbial belly of the beast, Isa smoothly
draws her handgun from her pocket, glancing around. She's here to be eyes and
ears, and nothing more. But, that doesn't mean she won't shoot. She's ready for
this kind of thing, and she does have adequate training. Her aim isn't quite as
bad as she may claim it to be. Maybe the better to take the opposition off
their guard -- they may not expect much, from a one-eyed woman.
"Da," she says simply, to Bishop Calant. "Then do what you have to do.
We will do what we have to do." But what she doesn't say is that she'll be
watching him just as intently as she's watching their surroundings. The bishop
may seem nervous, but that's not enough to convince the Geist Squadron's flight
lead.
She does take in the city's foundations with interest. "Hunh. Is like a
totally different city," she states, with some wonder. It's certainly
interesting, and catches her interest for a few seconds, drinking in the
details as quickly as possible. Half a glance is cast to Greed, though. Kevin's
going to be one sorry bastard when this is all through, isn't he? Her eyes turn
back to the path ahead of them.
...Enough sightseeing. "Well, off we go," she adds, cheerfully. "Shall
we? Less time we waste, less time for thief to find this thing before we do,
da?"
The trip down, considering the apparent electrical problems earlier, is
almost boring.
But when Kalas exits the elevator below, it's clear that things aren't
so calm here. Slightly wincing at the sound of the alarms going off, the young
man stands stock still a moment (someone might even bump into him, he's stopped
so suddenly) as he listens to the computerized voice. Then, "Dammit! Bastard
didn't say anything about--" he stops, though, as he gets a good look at the
structure of the city. "...../damn/," Kalas breathes, an almost reverant tone
to his voice. Screw ominous-sounding alarms, this could be /worthwhile/.
"Yeah," he says with a nod, "Let's go!"
"If there's no way in or out but the elevator..." Viral rumbles. He
keeps his arms folded over his chest, glancing around as the device lowers
slowly. He doesn't find himself very thrilled to hear the computerized voice
basically flipping out that this Black Orbment thing is getting stolen. He
doesn't tell Calant not to worry, they don't expect anything from him anyway.
Perhaps he'll end up being useful anyway.
As golden light washes over an ancient buried city, though, Viral
straightens a little, amber eyes widening. An underground city...? "What in the
world...?" It looks ancient... But then, underground villages tend to be, even
if this one is far beyond the scope of any mere village. "We should have
someone guard over the elevator while the others search," he notes. "It'll be
meaningless if the thief reaches it and leaves while we're out there searching."
When the elevator reaches the bottom floor, Shizuru pauses to wince at the
alarms. She frowns deeply. Is this what they were expecting. She sighs
mentally. Will she have to act after all? The familiar strength of Kiyohime
curls up in her mind as the multiheaded snake hisses it's displeasure. No
matter. This is Greed's show and she will not interfere unless it is to save
herself and those who work for her. At the moment, this includes Viral, Kalas
and Isa. A leader should go down with his ship right?
So she waits, setting the tool box down and sliding towards the back, her arms
folded carefully over her chest to give the impression of fear. She keeps her
eye on the clergyman for a moment to ensure that he does not run off with the
elevator and then back to the rest of the Syndicate Crew. Come. Show Kiyohime
what you are made of!
As everyone's rallying together on where to go, or fumbling in awe, the
way ahead becomes... well... blocked. There wasn't someone there before, but
now? A figure in black armor can be seen standing in their way- the air almost
shimmering around him, as he's letting the effects of the stealth fade out. The
young man isn't wearing his helmet, his silvery hair a bit of a mess. An ornate
red and gold blade is held in his right hand. He only watches the group, before
he adds, "...not quite what I was expecting to run into on my way out of here."
He chuckles, "your friend is in a bit of trouble himself. Figured we'd see
something like this." He sighs, then points the blade out towards the group.
"We can always do this the easy way, or the hard way. Let me through? That's
easy. If you wish to fight... now that may be a little hard for you all."
From Kevin's report, the silver hair, violet eyes, armor, and blade are
to easily mark this one as the Sword Emperor- or Lawrence Belgar, as he was
named in the report.
But now the question is- who alerted him to their arrival? Was it
Kevin? ...or was it someone else?