'Dune' and his guards stayed in the elevator, all frowning severely.
One of the suited men reached up and yanked the cord on the elevator's security camera.
'Mister Dune' picked up a radio from his chest pocket as the elevator doors closed.
"This is Dune Fortress One One Two to Sand Castle Zero Zero One. We've been found out."
"One One Two, you are to continue acting as a businessman. I'm sending a Tactical team after the crate; it's importance hasn't been lost on you, has it?"
"Negative, Zero Zero One. I've received a report of activity in one of the rooms near here, what are my orders?"
"Take care of it. The less psychic potential there is on board the less likely we are to be had. Soviet Storm Five Nine Three-"
"Ramier, Sierra Team's resident mad scientist?"
"The same. I've made contact with him and he's sending some men on a microsub to our previously discussed docking point. They will have the Resonance Generator. Has your mercenary started his work yet? I'm not sure I trust that one."
"He will soon. And you don't have anything to worry about; The Horsemen are among the best in the world. And of course, his friend is on board, in case things get out of hand."
"And The Spider is still on-board with the op? Where's his man?"
"Brushstalker? He's on-board and ready for activation."
"So other than our unexpected friend being here, we're still on schedule?"
"Perfectly so."
"Alright. Don't [censored] this up, One One Two. This is important."
"I won't fail."
----
A suited guard steps into the bar outside of the arena, walking deliberately to Famine. The Mercenary makes a quick break in his anger to accept Prodigy's note.
---
'Dune' and his two guards slowly approached the entrance to the room where Masquerade was trying to kill everyone. They didn't peek into the entrance, merely waiting outside and listening carefully.
---
As Hotaka and Acid made their way down the stairs, Acid would notice that their footsteps vibrated ever so slightly louder than normal...
((Aye, Acid has somewhat of a 'condition' - I suppose one could call it a most severe case of inverse multiple personality disorder. 
Oh, and Sovs, do you mind if we synch up the timelines by saying it took you-know-who about the amount of time of the fight so far to get to the room? As in that they arrive just a few seconds after David and Odette escape?))
--------------------
"Oh, what're ya gonna do?" grumblingly passed through Acid's toothy smirk to David, "Bleed on me? And in case you haven't noticed, neither am I."
A grunt escaped him as the surface of the detention field warped and twisted under excessive strain, the few remaining lamps in the room flickering ominously, giving just about anyone watching a good idea just where the reptilian had gotten the energy for the barrier.
Five seconds ago, he'd given the two five seconds to scram. Strangely enough, the field yet stood. Indeed, he'd done as usual and given them the very worst-case scenario, assuming all cards against him. The local area contained a good bit more energy than just what resided in the power lines, which of course was a card for him that he hadn't mentioned earlier because said energy was a decent bit more difficult to tap.
"Look, I'll be right behind you." David heard the Khelari speak as a strong, whiplike tail curled about him to dump the man in Odette's arms, "Now git."
Three seconds later, the detention field gave way under the strain. Hopefully, the two were long gone by then thanks to the promised speed boost. Not that Acid had nothing up his proverbial sleeve, but keeping that field up had definitely prevented him from going anywhere...
--------------------
As the two reached the lower deck that had been their destination, Hotaka and the Khelari stopped at the door that led from the stairwell, becoming as silent as they possibly could.
They'd noticed the acoustic discrepancy at roughly the same time, the towering Oriental having tapped Acid's shoulder to get his attention to it during their descent.
Once the reptilian had gotten wind of the sound, his mind had of course gone twitchy. Both now suspected the nearest logical deduction of his characteristic paranoia: that someone else was on the stairwell somewhere close, and that this person had used their footfalls to mask his or her own.
Well, somewhat. Truth be told, Hotaka believed that someone was probably on the stairwell, but he wasn't immediately convinced that said someone actually followed them, and even if that said someone was good enough to time footsteps like this.
So they listened...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Acid and Hotaka heard nothing. If someone had been following them down the stairs, they had stopped the very second the reptile and the martial artist had.
---
The microsub pulled up alongside the ship at the far aft, near the very rearmost passenger compartments. The hatch opened at the exact same time a nearby porthole did. Two men peeked their heads out of their respective hatches:
One was Sand Castle Zero Zero One, Reikoff's immediate superior and leader of the Wasteland Collective, the cell that employed both men. His thick black balaclava rustled as he spoke to the other man in a learner's Arabic.
The other man responded in a fluent tongue, his eyes shifting nervously across the massive ship in front of him as he spoke.
As the man climbed out, another set of arms reached up with a large circular device, covered in controls and wiring. The man from the minisub nervously handed it off to Zero Zero One, speaking rapidly as he did so.
Sand Castle nodded his thanks and ducked back in with his prize in hand, and the man jumped back into his sub.
And just like that they were gone, never even registering on the ship's sonar...
---
Sierra Wolverine Four Two Zero nervously shifted his weight, trying carefully to avoid the exposed wiring he had pulled clear of their tube. The maintenance area he was carefully situated in seemed all the smaller now that he was dealing with high voltage. Delicately, almost religiously, the Tactical Engineer pulled the Resoance Device from below him, placing it rather securely in a dock he had fashioned for it in the wall. Gingerly he rerouted power feeds and wiring into the device, until it resembled a rather ill-kept computer tower.
Albeit one that was circular, and rather dangerous.
"This is Four Two Zero." He barely whispered into his headset microphone. "I've planted the Resonance device. You fools ready?"
"We're good out here."
"Alright, I'm activating it and clearing out. It's your problem now."
Sierra Wolverine flipped the switch before carefully making his way back to the access shaft, slipping out like a shadow.
But not before welding the entrance shut.
---
Several men dressed as ship employees casually approach the access hatch, opening a nearby panel and pretending to perform routine maintenance.
Of course, they were really there to make sure no-one had any ideas for their device...
---
EVERYONE on the ship who wasn't a God among mere Mortals would feel a strange feeling.
One of those deep feelings, that left you with a bit of a headache. The feeling was slight enough that most people didn't even mention it.
Except for the psychically inclined.
---
One of the suited men casually looked over the dining hall. "Is it up?" He asked his collar mic nonchalantly.
"Just brought it online."
One of the women in the hall suddenly began screaming in panic and pain, veins bulging from her head. Wailing, she grabbed her temples and began spasming violently before suddenly and unceremoniously fainting on the floor. As various patrons went over to check on her, the suited man spoke into his mic again.
"Working as intended. Give the green light."
"Brushstalker's already on it."
[ QUOTE ]
EVERYONE on the ship who wasn't a God among mere Mortals would feel a strange feeling.
One of those deep feelings, that left you with a bit of a headache. The feeling was slight enough that most people didn't even mention it.
[/ QUOTE ]
The device's effects on their own wouldn't have done anything except give her a headache, but Alyssa's mind was already so addled by the large amounts of alcohol she'd consumed that the extra little bit from the device was enough to finally push her over the edge and into unconsciousness. Since she was still flying along a corridor at about head height and going at a fairly decent speed, this was a more serious problem than one might think. Her already unstable flightpath suddenly became nonexistent as she fell to the ground, bouncing twice before impacting hard on the wall at the end of the hall.
Shocked back awake from the sudden stop she struggled back to her feet and stalked off in the direction of her room, muttering angrily under her breath.
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: STOP!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WAIT ONE SECOND!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WHAT IS A SEAGULL DOING ON MY THRONE!?!?
[ QUOTE ]
"Look, I'll be right behind you." David heard the Khelari speak as a strong, whiplike tail curled about him to dump the man in Odette's arms, "Now git."
Three seconds later, the detention field gave way under the strain. Hopefully, the two were long gone by then thanks to the promised speed boost. Not that Acid had nothing up his proverbial sleeve, but keeping that field up had definitely prevented him from going anywhere...
[/ QUOTE ]
David we have to go NOW! He will make it too Odette concentrated and engulfed David in a blue energy, granting him a speed increase. Please, just go, hell be fine! Odette looks up back at Acid and the says softly to him, thank you
"Whoa..." Hotaka wobbled for a moment before shaking his head to try and clear the sudden feeling of odd that had befallen him, whipping his skull about once in a surprisingly animalistic manner.
"You okay?" Acid wanted to know, but the very next moment had his question answered as he pointed at the ripples on the towering man's bare lower arm, "Um, dude - your skin's melting."
"I can see that." the robed man replied somewhat nervously, rotating his hands as he seemed to study them closely, the almost literally crawling skin perturbing him greatly, "Not good. Definitely not good. Uhhh...can you still teleport?"
"Yeah, why?" the reptilian cocked his head to the side, not even noticing the mental resonance in the air, "What's going on?"
"Explain later. Right now, I need you to jump us to my cabin. I need my amulet."
"Right." Acid nodded, not hesitating to grab the man's hand, and the two vanished in the characteristic pop of a vacuum's collapse...
--------------------
Several men dressed as ship employees would probably feel the hair in the back of their necks standing on end right about now. The feeling of being watched, of another presence in the room, was simply beyond denial. Humans may have been at war with their instincts for the past few millennia, but this time said instincts came through and overpowered the standard senses.
Indeed, they were quite right. They were not alone. If their skills of observation had been honed thoroughly enough, they'd no doubt notice that one of the larger shadows in the area had grown just a little bit darker.
There it lurked...
--------------------
"Eh?" was the only thing Henteko uttered as he developed what felt like a sudden itch in his ear, a moment later wiggling a finger around the lobe in an attempt to make whatever had caused it go away.
Fat chance.
"Weird." he shrugged, not thinking much more of it. Most likely, that drink had gotten to him...somehow. A short time spent meditating should clear that up, he figured, and began heading back to his cabin...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
[ QUOTE ]
David we have to go NOW! He will make it too Odette concentrated and engulfed David in a blue energy, granting him a speed increase. Please, just go, hell be fine! Odette looks up back at Acid and the says softly to him, thank you
[/ QUOTE ]
David picked Odette up and took her with him speeding through the halls back to his room. "We should be safe here for a little while. I just need to get this healed up then we can figure out what to do."
The note Famine now had was addressed not only to him, but to three other people as well: War, Pestilence, and Death. Whoever those people were. There was no return address, and it contained a plain white fold-up card with some neat type inside it.
Thanks for playing!
-Cynic
***
Meanwhile, Prodigy the S.U. Drone was reporting back to a very smug superior who was imagining the look on Famines face and laughing hysterically. No longer aboard the cruise liner and far enough away to be safe even by the horsemens standards.
Commander Cynic had even briefly contemplated having a micro-camera on the card, but decided Famine would have probably found it and have been able to retort. He had also decided that, contrary to popular belief, seeing was not quite believing. He found it very satisfying-probably even more so-to IMAGINE the whole thing rather than viewing it actually take place. Probably for the best, as Famine would have likely only raised an eyebrow and no more in reality.
Prodigy broke him out of his revelry with a gentle mind-tap. Commander, I have a full report on the goings of the ship, it has been reviewed and given a security level of a hundred million.
That stopped the commanders laughter and resulted in a confused question and a questioning look from Cynics faceplate. Hundred million? Doesnt it only go up to fifty?
Normally sir, but this is kinda like six star hotels. Its extremely bizarre and only exists in dictatorships in the middle of nowhere. Prodigy responded, taking that as his queue to project a holo-screen with pictures of several passengers currently on board. Cynic leaned in to get a closer look from his command chair, muttering to himself.
K, the horsemen are there, thats to be expected. Twilight men
Now Im worried. Acid Zero
Meh, if hes there everything should in THEORY turn out ok. I am no longer worried, now Im just determined to stay the hell away from that ship even more than I was before. Few miscs, buncha people being mentally dominated by some tart with serious fashion fetishes
I already knew most of this, Prod. Show me something thatll surprise. None of this rates above security level twenty million.
Ah, then you will agree with me that the next three people combined are worth the additional eighty million levels. Prodigy said knowingly, projecting a second holo-screen. Only two faces upon this one. A certain hooded figure with an ivory mask decorated with two bloody tears, and a Twilight Man. A tac-ops man, actually.
Couldnt get the Twilight Mans name. Understandable, really. Its not really him thats important so much what he DID. More on that later, in correlation with
Prodigy gestured at the simple yet sinister mask of Masquerade.
Prodigy. Im off-duty in the S.A.D.A.S.S.E.S. right now. I dont want ANYTHING to do with him. Not my responsibility. Forget it. I dont care. Just screw the whole thing, send a drone in to incinerate Famines mail so there are no links back to me so we can forget the whole thing while enjoying our well-earned spoils of that never-ending fight to end all fights.
Spoils? I thought we lost that fight? Prodigy quipped.
You keeled early, you dont know all the details. Cynic said defensively. I mean, YES. If you want to get picky, we didnt win. Whole unification thing didnt QUITE work out as planned. But hey, Ill tell you this: We didnt lose either. We actually came out of that thing with a few pearls.
These pearls have anything to do with that thing youve been building behind everyones backs? Prodigy asked, readying a few files for presentation and indicating that the current conversation would be over as soon as Cynic was finished responding.
Maybe. Cynic said. Now show me those important lookin doo-dads of tech stuff since they are oh-so important and are going to convince me to save the world for the [censored] greater good.
Right you are, Commander. Prodigy responded, bring the files up. Id review these later in your own time, Ill go ahead and summarize. Masquerade is going to be pulling that mirror trick of his, as there was a very unusual shipment of no less than ten thousand custom-tooled decorative mirrors brought on board the ship in cargo containers, all brought on board for shipment by Mr. Erik, Masquerades current disguise.
So really, just another reason not to get involved. Cynic said.
And thats not all! Prodigy continued. There have been at least a dozen reported incidents of various employees and crew members going missing mysteriously. A few paiges, stewards, cooks. Were not POSITIVE but evidence leads us to believe hes going to be using teddy bears as leverage.
So really, just another reason not to get involved. Cynic repeated.
Doesnt stop there! Prodigy went on. See the Twilight man? Hes important because he bought a Psionic Resonator device on board and flipped it on. The big-bad tart you mentioned earlier wont be able to even board the ship without becoming comatose, Masquerade will just laugh it off since his mask, and not himself, is what gives him his albeit limited psionic powers. Which means he will effectively be the last psychic on board, regardless of how limited his extent of mental power is. Thats one of his major weaknesses tossed overboard.
So really, just another reason not to get involved. Cynic said a third time. LOOK, Before you go on and say I have a [censored] moral obligation, I will remind you that Masquerade is not exactly in the best conditions to decide and possess one of the metas on board. The comatose psychics are out cause hed be shooting himself in the foot. He cant start any real fights without pissing everyone off and bringing out countermeasures. And hed have to be incredibly stupid to possess a mundane person. Were in the clear.
Errr
not quite
Prodigy said nervously. See, theres a third factor
Some cargo
Cynic inquired into the issue further, only mildly interested. Prodigy spilled the beans and rather darkened the mood. The Commander got pissed off. He was actually going to have to THINK about a concern that had nothing to do with his pet project.
..And that combined with no psychics to try anything funny, Acid Zero digging into the whole thing and throwing rocks at the Bullet Ant hive, the Twilight Men bringing in the heavy weapons, the tart throwing all her non-psychics around
Commander. Its EXACTLY what he wants. He came into the field holding the perfect hand and knowingly EXACTLY what cards everyone else had. And hes using the mirror trick. And teddy bears. Dont you see whats happening? Dont you see what his goal is? Prodigy asked the Commander.
Chaos. Cynic said. He swiveled his chair around and brooded while staring at the wall.
Commander. Prodigy said. Cynic said nothing.
COMMANDER. Prodigy repeated, slightly louder this time.
No. Cynic said finally.
Commander. Theyll call you in if he possesses someone. Theyll call everyone in.
And for once, theyll be cleaning up this mess WITHOUT me. Im done with them. Im done with Masquerade. Let him watch the world burn while he laughs and dances on the bones of those who tried to stop him. I really dont care. They cant pressure me anymore. Not now that Im almost done with that thing as you put it. The commander swiveled back around.
If Acid Zero, the Twilight Men, and the tarty queen cant handle little old Masquerade, they probably deserve to go down with that damned ship.
***
Masquerade blasted through the detention field just as Odette and David sped away. He paused for a moment mid-swing. Having just broken through the field, he was now being exposed to the Resonance generator.
Thankfully, it was his mask that had the psychic powers. It was an artifact that channeled mental power, various magics, and willpower, the last of which was what Masquerade used. The mask itself had some juice of its own, some Psionic Mastery that Masquerade could use from time to time. The extent of these powers were limited enough as it was, so Masquerade lost almost nothing NOT using the various psychic functions of his mask. As long as he refrained from psychic battles or mind-rapes, he would be left entirely alone by the Resonator.
Then, completely ignoring Acid, he turned back to the Vanity which had somehow stayed intact throughout is slash-fest. Perhaps he had deliberately avoided it?
Would you happen to have been near the center of this universe anytime recently? He threw casually at Acid, almost as if he hadnt just been trying to kill everyone in the room a moment before. He appeared to be examining the Vanity mirror. Inspecting it.
Masquerade didn't get an answer from Acid - that guy had bolted. Seriously, he wasn't going to stick around if he had another choice, and the door was a pretty decent one.
He took off down the hallway like a freaking bullet, shooting a quick, "Hi. Teleporter. Bye." to 'Mr. Dune' with a motion to the open door, and then attempted to make good on what he'd told David...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
"... Oh, right..."
Jake almost comedically stopped before slamming into the wall, inspecting for all of one second before swiveling around and shooting past the phantasm yet again, this time making sure to fly into a corridor he assumed not to be a dead end.
-----
Gunner only smirked, touching one of his TMPs to his forehead in a mock salute, only to be rudely interrupted by his peripheal vision, which stated something along the lines of 'Large gray suited object flying toward you'. He turned to the man, grinning and unleashing a hellstorm of incindiary rounds on the illusion, fully expecting them to tear him apart, if not outright send him to a mediporter then and there.
Harry started to get up when it looked like Silk was leaving the cage, but then sat back down when she seemed to change her mind.
"Oh, I like most kinds of movies," Harry said in answer to Shioh's question. "Though I kinda prefer comedies and action stuff. Cartoons too. Not a big fan of horror. Not modern horror movies anyway. Too dependant on cheap gore and shocks. I DO like the older movies though. They always seemed to have a little more imagination when it came to creepy stuff."
========================================
Deep in the bowels of the ship, among the grease and oil, a huddled figure slowly crawled out of her hiding place. She wore dirty, rather threadbare clothing and one of her sneakers had a largish hole in the end, revealing that she wore no socks either.
Her head was completely bald and she ran a hand over it nervously as she looked about with wide brown eyes. Seeing nobody, she fully exited her hiding place and began searching about her surroundings. Stowing away on the ship had been a split second decision and now she was questioning the wisdom of it. Hopefully she could remain hidden.
A few seconds after Acid had teleported him and his rapidly liquefying friend out of the stairwell, there was a shimmer and a slow droning noise as Operative Brushstalker's cloaking field dropped.
"Well bust up me power mace 'n call me a candy cane." The ex-poacher drawled in a central-western Australian accent. "This is way too easy."
The Bane Spider picked up a strangely non-arachnos radio and spoke. "Oy, Spooks. I'm near th' boxy, what's it look like?"
"You'll have to find it yourself, Brushstalker." Came the garbled reply. "Intel was sketchy at best, it was expected we'd learn more on-site."
"Well tha's not a very good plan at all, now is it?"
"We don't tell you how to do your job."
"Wha'ev, I'm movin t' intercept th' package, Brushstalker out."
The Arachnos operative made his way through the door grinning. "If th' whole spider thing don' work out I may consider gracin' those gents wi' my presence."
As he entered the cargo room, he sighed. "Guess this is it." He groaned to himself, prying open the first of many crates.
---
Famine grinned, suddenly forgetting his bloodrage. "Ahaha oh wow." He pocketed the note, most likely to show to his fellows at some point in the future.
---
"Wha?" 'Dune' asked of Acid as he quickly made his way out of the room, alongside a blue blur.
"You, look inside."
One of the suited guards slowly leaned into the opening in the door, an eyebrow raised.
"Hello?"
---
The dirty woman suddenly heard a gasp from nearby.
Turning to the source of the sound would reveal a Malta Group Tactical Operative, weapon drawn, in full Field gear, his midnight blue getup hard to distinguish from its surroundings.
"You're not supposed to be down here! Who are you?"
((As Danny is locked, hovering in place, in a cage where TIME HAS NO MEANING!!!!! Seriously, I've been able to move something like twice in the last ten pages.
*grumble*))
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
OOC:
Grey Masque already moved, leaving Danny perfectly free to move.
((Didn't everyone else that was in said cage leave already?
E: Nevermind.))
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: STOP!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WAIT ONE SECOND!
[Admin] Emperor Marcus Cole: WHAT IS A SEAGULL DOING ON MY THRONE!?!?
OOC:
No, Famine left which leaves Grey Masque and...
Woa. I think it's time he left as well. >.>
((Wait, so all I get is one line and him leaving? No reaction to the attack, no interaction, just a complaint and exit, stage right already?
...
Bleah.))
Danny stared as the other fighter bailed out, wincing a little at the revelation that he could have exploded (although, given the gleeful abandon with which he had been slinging bullets, the little archer didn't have a whole lot of sympathy for his whining).
Then the opponent he had picked up on Silk's abortive exit started whining as well, and left. Danny stared for a moment, then shrugged. "Weel, na, that was anti-climactic..." he muttered, swooping out the open cage door.
In the main room, he paused, orienting himself briefly. Spotting Famine still standing next to the fire extinguisher, he glided noiselessly over to hover silently behind the orange-armoured man, a short distance out of arm's reach. After a moment, he cleared his throat. "Right, y'stupid sod. Ye've got nae security goons t'hide behind this time, so answer me true; are ye here t'kill, t'rob, t'guard..." the little archer went silent for a moment as a thought struck him. "Or t'deliver?"
Danny offered Famine a disturbing little wolverine smile, more a brief baring of the teeth than anything humourous- an odd, disquieting sight on such a small face- and concluded "An' if I dinna like th'answer... we'll be seein' how well ye burn." He produced an arrow and rolled it between his fingers, back and forth... an arrow that burst into white-hot flame after a few seconds, hypnotic trails of fire weaving strange patterns as he rolled it about in his hand.
Then the psychic... wave... rolled over them, and Danny blinked as his precognition... twitched. The scene in the casino was briefly overlaid by an odd-looking canister-computer-thing, something his sixth sense was telling him was the cause of the odd sensation. The little archer shook it off; he had more immediate problems, what with the crazed terrorist he was (probably futilely) trying to intimidate standing right in front of him. Trying to cover his brief disorientation, he flashed another humourless little smile.
"Oh, aye, an' I'm totally mad, before y'ask. Y'd have t'be to get into this daft game o' tights an' flyin' about wearin' dishtowels around y're neck. An unplanned detonation someplace tha' c'n take it is likely t'do less damage than you goin' boom where'er ye've got a mind to." Danny added, apparently as an afterthought, to Famine.
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
[ QUOTE ]
The dirty woman suddenly heard a gasp from nearby.
Turning to the source of the sound would reveal a Malta Group Tactical Operative, weapon drawn, in full Field gear, his midnight blue getup hard to distinguish from its surroundings.
"You're not supposed to be down here! Who are you?"
[/ QUOTE ]
"What? I... I snuck onboard," she stammered while cursing at herself. So much for staying hidden. And it wasn't like she could lie and say she was part of the ship's work crew. Not with how she was dressed.
"Look buddy," she added, keeping her hands up in a show of submission. "I'm not lookin' for any trouble. I just stowed away to get a free ride somewhere new. Lookin' for a fresh start, ya know?"
She felt a churning in her stomach, but determindly pushed it down, willing herself to calm down.
Brushstalker found the pried-open crates to contain...well, whatever they contained. Just not what he was looking for. After all, it was somewhat illogical for something like that to be just sitting around, accessible to the general public, even if said public didn't generally come down here - other than picking up and dropping off their property, of course.
The large, armored cargo door at the other end of the bay, however, certainly looked promising.
And tough. The thing had to be at least half a meter thick, and manufactured of the best steels money could buy. Combined with a sophisticated electronic locking mechanism that demanded both a magnetic card as well as a numeric access code, utilizing about the same system as a bank's ATM...
--------------------
"Ah, much better." Hotaka let out a relieved breath as he placed the amulet about his neck. Acid mustered the thing curiously in response. It certainly didn't seem very special.
"So..." he pointed at the small circle of various ornately interwoven metals, causing a smirk to appear on the towering man's face as he began to explain.
"Simple, really. Remember how you told me about doing magic without doing magic?"
The reptilian nodded.
"Well, I took your advice to heart. It wasn't easy, mind you - you make it look deceptively effortless, believe you me. There was precious little reference material, so I had to go through quite a bit of trial and error, not to mention a ton of practice, but eventually I got the hang of it. True, I still can't go for anything very large, but a simple seeming is definitely within my power."
"So you switched..." Acid smiled as the realization dawned on him, "And you're using yourself as the power source."
"Correct." Hotaka's smirk grew even broader for a moment, but just as quickly returned to a fairly serious expression, "Sadly, that means I have to focus on it constantly. Oh, it's not much of a strain, but..."
He patted the flat of his hand against his head's side several times, "...whatever decided to go and poke me back there is making it very difficult to concentrate on anything, even that small."
"Hence the amulet. Alternate power source. Or does it actually contain the spell?"
Hotaka shook his head, "Whole thing. I haven't figured out how to integrate yet. So - you're not noticing anything odd at all, are you?"
"Not a thing." the Khelari shrugged, "I guess I'm just around the brothers so much that I automatically block stuff like this out already."
"Hm." Hotaka tipped his head to the side for a moment, considering this, then remarked, "Oh, that reminds me: you were right. We were being followed. I guess being paranoid can come in handy at times."
"How...?"
"The shadows know their master." the robed man merely chuckled, "And they tell me anything I want to know..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
"Look you little [censored]." Famine snarled, lazily turning his pale eyes on the boy. "You don't have anything to worry about by me being here, and neither does your precious little family, unless you keep bugging me."
"And uh, by the way, hotshot?"
"If my [censored] goes live, I have an emergency recall to literally teleport me and my underarmor right on out of wherever the hell I am. I don't care if you decide to activate every explosive from here to the West Bank, you won't be doing yourself a bit of good. I was just trying to keep everything under control back there, and if you're wise, you'll make that easier for me by [censored] off...
...Now."
---
The operatives dressed in ship employee's clothing looked nervously from one to another.
One of them spoke up.
"Excuse me sir, we're going to have to ask you to clear out of here, this is delicate work."
---
Brushstalker facepalmed, his glove hitting his Arachnos helmet with a light clank. "D'oh."
The operative made his way up to the huge container.
Brushstalker produced what looked like a small USB jumpdrive with a Horse's head etched into it. Removing the faceplate of the keypad, he connected it directly to a diagnostic plugin slot underneath them and activated it. It began entering random digit codes at a rapid pace, running through hundreds of combinations a second.
Brushstalker then pulled what could only be described as an ATM card with a gigantic metal box covering everything but the magnetic strip. Inserting this into the slider, the 'card' immediately began trying different magnetic codes. Unfortunately, even if both stopped once they'd gotten a green, it could take upwards of ten minutes for them to do so, and by then the men might be back.
Brushstalker reactivated his active camouflage and stepped behind one of the other crates, mace ready.
"I'm crackin' it, lads. Send a coupla spooks down 'ere will yas? They may be comin' back..."
---
The Tactical Operative talking to the woman frowned. "Go back to sleep, lady."
He stepped away from her and she could make out the sound of him talking into a radio headset, but what he was saying was unintelligible.
Danny snorted indelicately, still weaving hypnotic patterns of flame with the tip of the arrow. "Just tryin' t'keep things under control, neh?" he echoed, a mocking edge to his voice that went undispelled even by his voice cracking partway through the sentence. "Aye, an' 'tis a fine actor y'are, then... 'twas th'finest imitation o' blind, pants wettin' panic 've e'er had th'pleasure o' seein'." The little archer chuckled. "Y'sounded like m'auntie when she sees a mouse."
Danny shook his head, waving the flaming arrow in time with it. "Y're fine magic boom-escaper... what sort o' range does it ha'? Last I checked, we were a'ready more'n six hundred miles from th'coast- weel outta range o' anythin' but satellite an' stuff bouncin' off th'ionosphere." Then he shrugged. "Ah, 'tis none o'my affair, I suppose." He turned to go.
Midway through the turn, he glanced back. "A word o' advice... if ye go anywhere near m'family, I'll fry ye like a bug in a zapper, an' I'll be the least o' your worries." With that, he flipped the arrow over his shoulder at Famine- a lazy tumble totally absent of any threat, but at an angle that the orange-armoured man would have to twist awkwardly to catch, or risk it falling and setting fire to his foot- and flew out.
The little archer sailed aimlessly up and down the corridors, seeking, trying to home in on the weird pulses that were making his precognition twitch and stretch beyond the norm, overlaying his vision with the future.
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
[ QUOTE ]
The Tactical Operative talking to the woman frowned. "Go back to sleep, lady."
[/ QUOTE ]
She didn't need to be told twice, hurrying off by another route as the man began talking into his headset. Of course that didn't change the fact that her decision to stow away on the ship, which she was already viewing as a mistake, now seemed to be an even worse idea than ever before.
She felt her insides churn a bit as if in response to her thoughts of danger, causing her to increase her pace away from the man with the gun. This cruise was looking to have the potential for complete disaster.
((whew a lot to catch up on please pm me or state it in your post if I got anything wrong ))
Back in the dark security room, the woman who had performed the green veined display earlier was going over security data being compiled by the second. She stops and looks at one specific line on the paper and drops the cup of coffee she was sipping, HOLY MOTHER OF-The woman throws the papers aside and begins furiously typing at the keyboard trying to get the camera feeds for the room with the crate all of the cameras in the area have been completely disabled and she ends up looking at a wall of nothing but static, no, no , NO NO NO!!! The woman stands from her chair and runs through the lower decks towards the luxury suites. At this point, she doesnt care whether she attracts attention because she knows exactly who must be informed.
[ QUOTE ]
One of the suited men casually looked over the dining hall. "Is it up?" He asked his collar mic nonchalantly.
"Just brought it online."
One of the women in the hall suddenly began screaming in panic and pain, veins bulging from her head. Wailing, she grabbed her temples and began spasming violently before suddenly and unceremoniously fainting on the floor. As various patrons went over to check on her, the suited man spoke into his mic again.
"Working as intended. Give the green light."
"Brushstalker's already on it."
[/ QUOTE ]
On the other side of the boat, a woman lounges in a glorious marble tub near the other side of the boat. Her flawless auburn hair pinned into a delicate up-do inches away from the water. At the moment the resonator was activated, the woman instantly got up out of the bath and grabbed her towel, stumbling as she gets out of the tub, No! It cant be! She wraps a towel around herself and has to hold the wall to stand up. She is hit with a wave of dizziness and she falls back to the bathroom floor. She closes her eyes and concentrates.
Just then the Green-veined lady ((just call her Valeria)) stops in the middle of the hall as a voice calls out to her in her head, Valeria, get down to the crate...i think someone has activated a resonator the voice comes from the woman still wrapped in her towel cringing on her bathroom floor.
WHAT?! I was just coming to tell you about the crate but I had no idea about any resonator!?
You must find it! Ill try to get to the others to find the crate, JUST GO!
Valeria immediately turns around and moves towards the lower decks again, this time taking a door to one of the larger hull cavities, It must be near the center of the ship. While running, the woman throws three small capsule shaped objects towards the ground. They pop open into spider probes that race on ahead of her. She turns on a small readout near her ear and a little holographic screen pops in front of her eye. Scan for all disturbances in alpha and beta wave activity of passengers and track the source of the disturbance The woman hurries away at a quick pace.
[ QUOTE ]
David picked Odette up and took her with him speeding through the halls back to his room. "We should be safe here for a little while. I just need to get this healed up then we can figure out what to do."
[/ QUOTE ]
David, you need medical attention! Are you up for a medicine spell? Odette holds David close as she looks at his wound.
[ QUOTE ]
Harry started to get up when it looked like Silk was leaving the cage, but then sat back down when she seemed to change her mind.
"Oh, I like most kinds of movies," Harry said in answer to Shioh's question. "Though I kinda prefer comedies and action stuff. Cartoons too. Not a big fan of horror. Not modern horror movies anyway. Too dependant on cheap gore and shocks. I DO like the older movies though. They always seemed to have a little more imagination when it came to creepy stuff."
[/ QUOTE ]
Silk was tired of her games of cat and mouse so she walks out of the arena for good this time moving back to harry, Damn that was annoying! Sorry it was so dull. Looking over at Shioh, Oh hi Im Xian shi Ying But you can call me Silk She extends her hand with a friendly smile.
The man who peeked inside Odette's room was greeted by Masquerade rushing forward and swiping at him with the long-range slash through matter power he seemed to like using.
***
Grey Masque had already jetted by that time, vanishing down one random corridor or another of the ship.
***
The spectral terror watched Jake leave and lazily drifted after him, turning in the opposite direction he had chosen at the next fork. From there, it just drifted into the depths of the cargo area.
The actual ransacked cargo room was now empty, standing as a momument to its very own oddity with the door having been blasted off the slightly melted frame, the missing cameras the shattered glass and no signs of anything remotely interesting around.
OOC:
Ol' Ace has a few clones, actually. If I'm getting what he said in the elevator earlier, we have around three Acids runing around.
And David! Ace just talked ta ya!
BIC:
Acid was correct. Masquerade had already tried a failed teleport out of the field, followed continuing his attack in hopes of breaking through after a while. In five seconds, *now considerably less* he would be out. And he would probably attack the first one of the three he saw, which happened to be Acid since he was the only one not cloaked in dark matter.
***
"I'm sick of arrows." The grey-suited decoy snarled up at Danny. "Bye."
Grey Masque ran away from the ladder and the archer atop it, making a beeline for Gunner and his impervium shell...