Mystara Hallow ~ Sorrow Lake, Forest of Memories

Mystara was caught by surprise. She had not expected him to be so strong. And she couldn’t help but notice he was not afraid of the sword. Those shape-shifting creatures had feared it, but he did not. Why didn't it work this time?

With her free hand, her claws came out, as she attempted to prise away the hand on her throat. She showed no signs of calming down. “Let go of me!” Frustrated, she tried to twist out of Jace’s hold. She stared up at him fiercely. “You can’t be here. Whatever you are. Jace Hallow is dead. I saw him die!” She tried to move her legs to kick Jace off of her.

The sword, meanwhile, seemed to be aiding her too. The light from it immediately shone very bright, scorchingly bright in fact, the light from the sword focusing itself onto the Parnex’s face in an attempt to blind him.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Lady Ivy “Xantara” Swift ~ Gia Panta // On the streets.

Ivy smiled a little Kaito’s offer of dinner, her eyebrows raised. “I think you’re a little too young for me, darling,” she joked. “But thank you for the offer.”

She was going to protest about him taking on the officers – since they were regular police officers, she could have got Kaito and herself out of there with little or no trouble. However the boy had already made his move before Ivy could intervene. She had to admit though, she was impressed. If he wasn’t recruited already, he would be a great help to the Indolentia cause.

Meanwhile, Ivy’s scouts had been doing what they did best. Under most circumstances it would be hard to pick up radio chatter…but not in Ivy’s case. The useful thing about insects and micro-organisms, is that they can get into almost anywhere undetected. Some of the creatures with a birds-eye view of the city, also noted the airships headed in the undercover Demi-god’s direction.

“Shit,” Tallis muttered under her breath. Still speaking so that only Ivy could hear her. “I knew we should’ve just ditched this guy. Now look what’s happened! Why do you have to be so…so helpful? Gaiana should’ve chosen someone selfish, at least then we’d be safer.”

But safe is boring, Tallis, Spoke Xantara through the cat’s head. Come on, where’s your sense of adventure? I do like a challenge.

The cat grumbled, muttering something about ‘stupid girl’, and ‘trying to get us all killed’.

“If your cover gets blown in this, I’m going to have no sympathy for you, you do know that?” Said Tallis to the Demi-god, popping her head back into Ivy’s bag and sulking.

They hardly know anything about the Demi-gods, if they’re even aware they exist. They don’t know who they are, what they look like, what they are capable of, or anything. Unless I’m extremely unlucky, they won’t find out. It’s not like they can even pin any real hard evidence I’m with the Indolentia! My record is clean, unless you count the odd misdemeanour from my teenage years. The boy, on the other hand…I don’t know how good his record is, and what with the little stunt he’s just pulled, that has certainly made this a lot more difficult.

Meanwhile, Ivy had turned to Kaito, who seemed to have taken out all of the police by this point. “Not a problem,” she smiled. She paused, lowering her voice. “Although, don’t thank me yet. It seems introductions may have to wait. We’ve got company.”

The aristocratic traveller held up her hands without protest. Judging by the numbers, and given her clean record, acting like she had nothing to hide was probably the better option at this stage.

“I apologise, but this is a little bit of an overreaction, don’t you think?” Ivy “Evvette” Swift asked them innocently. “Clearly there’s been some kind of mistake.”

From an innocent person’s perspective, it was a valid thing to say. Ivy had only just bumped into the guy, and suddenly she had found herself surrounded, without any warning.

Honestly, these Grims certainly are jumpy, she mused.
______________________________________________________________________________


Chance ~ Gia Panta // Indolentia HQ

“Ah, well, that’s what comes of being a rat,” Chance said, seeming to shrug it off. “People take you for granted and underestimate you…which isn’t always a bad thing,” he said with a rat’s grin. “Now, if you want to see respect, should see how they react to some of Lady Xantara’s big boys…honestly, the look on their faces when one of them show up is priceless. I suppose you are more likely to be respectful when there’s a lion inches away from your face.” The rat chuckled.

At that point, if Chance could frown, he would have. Not from what Julius was saying, but from some other news he had just received, via the psychic link he and all of Ivy’s animals shared.

Oh Ivy…what have you got yourself into? Trust you to get yourself into trouble without lifting a finger...It’s like you need constant supervision. And Tallis, you have no excuse. Why in Gaiana’s name didn’t you get her out of there?...

Hey. Rat-face, next time, YOU can babysit, alright? Let’s see you trying to control an uncontrollable, do-gooding Demi-God. floated the tortoiseshell cat’s voice into his head. Now excuse us, we’ve got some shit to get ourselves out of.

Chance turned back to Julius, distracted. “Oh yes, not at all, not at all.” Chance’s nose twitched in approval. “And certainly we’d love to have you. We need all the help we can get. What do you have to offer?” he asked in a friendly manner.

_________________

Hiryu: Doc's bag is a portal. She's actually from another dimension and when she jumped into it, she ended up at a desk with a browser open on this site. That's how she found it.
We have a Doctor Who thread now. Doctor Who threads are cool.

Ishimaru Kaito - Location: Gia Panta, Main Street

“Although, don’t thank me yet. It seems introductions may have to wait. We’ve got company.”

Before Kaito had realized it, he was once again surrounded, from all angles this time. With little choice, he put his hands on top of his head. This certainly was a faster reaction from the military than before. Normally, he had enough time to deal with the police in the alleys and then hide in the sewers to avoid the soldiers. But that was normally in the alleyways, with less cops.

"I guess making a scene wasn't such a good idea. Tch." Kaito muttered to himself. "It would be today of all days. I get chased around town, then I get lucky and finally meet an elf, only to run into more trouble trouble. Fukou da..."

This certainly was a bad day for Kaito. After running out of money for food, he ended up being caught while stealing something, and to top it all off, the military moved faster than usual, keeping Kaito from escaping again. After the mysterious lady said her piece, Kaito turned to her and sighed.

"Sumimasen... I didn't mean to get you caught up in this too. Reckon you had more important things to do," Kaito stated apologetically, "than get involved with me. Especially since you're not a simple commoner as I am."

Kaito wondered what he could do to get out of this mess. Though he did not wish to stick around to find out, with all exits cut off, he had little choice but to wait for everything to unfold before making his move.

~+Gia Panta Grim+~



The air-ship did not budge. They also seemed not to have heard the elf speak. Anyone seen with terrorists were usually brought in with said terrorist. Even in instances like this, the Empire thought it better to bring in the suspicious persons and interrogate them.


She was an unidentified elf in the city of Gia Panta. The Empire would take her in just to see if she knew anything. Elve's were known to be extremely slippery and rebellious creatures. If anything, she'd simply be kicked out off the city due to not having any papers, only if she didn't have any papers or identification. If she had a reason and cause to be in the city, she would have no reason to worry. But other then that, it would simply be a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Her friend, however, would not be so lucky.


"I repeat, lay facing down on the ground. Our operatives will be arriving shortly, do not move or we can and will use hostile force." The air-ship said down to the two. Take no chances, everyone is an enemy. Was the motto of the regular Gia Panta military, they've had to many supposed insurrections and rebellions to not take it safe.


Loud footsteps could be heard running down the adjacent alleyway's. They were comming, the Gia Panta Military.




~Jace~

"WHAT WAS THAT!?!?!". Jace jumped off of her to escape the light from the blade before it blinded him anymore, but the movement was more out of shock then defense.


He landed a few feet away in a crouching position. Getting up Jace could not contain his surprise. She knew his name? Or was there another Jace Hallow?


"There is only one Jace Hallow. . ."


Came a voice from behind Jace.


Jace spun around looking for the source of said voice.


"HA HA HA HA HA. . ."


The being from his dreams. . .here? Jace stared down in fear at himself. Something that was him but not him.



The back of it's head was missing. No, not missing, it was still there, except it was hanging off in chunks. Bits and pieces of brain matter feel onto the ground behind it. This was no hallucination. Jace didn't even remember to think of what the girl had said about "shadow creatures" he didn't even remember the stories about strange beings that took on people's looks in this horrid forest. But was this one of those creatures? Or was it the forest making a physical manifestation of one's past demons?

"Jace, she's right. . .we died a long time ago. . ."
"N-n-no! I'm still here I'm alive right now!" Jace said, falling down on his butt, and backing up as the creature walked closer and closer to him.
"No Jace, you are a walking corpse. A body infused with void energy, a TOY invented by the empire. You think when the empire went inside that little head of yours they got rid of me? HA HA HA, I've been burning in the heat of revenge for an eternity. Ever since that boy saw the fires of his own house burning, HIS OWN CITY. I've been apart of him. A bullet to the head won't quell these fires of hate. He died, I did not. Revenge and hate do not die! And I will stop at nothing to get my REVENGE!!!"


"I was only ever tamed by the existence of HER"


The being said, pointing in the direction of Mystara.


"SHE was the reason why I never did join the Indolentia. SHE was the reason why I sat in my cell of burning hate. SHE was the reason my thirst has lasted this long. AND YOU were the one responsible for keeping me on a leash. BUT NOW, now that you're memories have been wiped away by single bullet. NOW I CAN FINALLY GET RID OF THE CHAINS THAT BIND ME.


"NOW STRANGLER HER, KILL HER. VIOLATE HER!!!!"
"AH HA HA HA HA HA HA"


Jace's head wilted downward his bangs covering his face, a shadow falling over it.


"NOW GET UP AND DO I-"
"No. . ."

The being's face showed surprise at first, but then it quickly turned into anger.

"YOU ARE MY SLAVE I AM THE REASON YOU EXIST I AM THE REASON THAT BOY DID NOT KILL HIMSELF"

"I said NO!" Jace screamed at the thing. He slowly got up. Now it was Jace's turn to be angry.

"I've barely been alive for years, and ALL I've been hearing about is how I'm someone else. I DON'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT WHO JACE HALLOW WAS"

Jace's fist clenched and unclenched himself, his own anger quite expressive on his face. "Now I remember. . ."

"Jace Hallow was a dumbass kid who lived on the streets thinking that one day ONE DAY he could have revenge on the empire.


He had it all planned out. But he also had one thing that kept him back. His little-sister. So he worked her into his plan. He knew that if he got her to see the Empire as more of an enemy she'd eventually agree with him. Do you know, DO YOU KNOW HOW SELFISH THIS BOY WAS? Someone willing to throw their relatives lives into the pot all for the sake of his own dream. And he payed the price for his mis-guided games. Overhearing a rumor that a fight was about to breakout between the Indolentia and the Empire he purposefully made his way to the source. Not alone, not by himself, but with his sister. He faked being surprised as she was. But he was hoping it would show her. He tried to get shot.



He succeeded in that aspect, he did so well that girl. . .he ruined that girl's life. . ." As Jace screamed out his memories, tears began rolling down his face.


"He tried to bury someone else in his dreams. Even when he failed, the damage had been done. He changed someone's live for the worst in his death, all because of his STUPID DREAM.

And for that. . .FOR THAT I WILL NEVER FORGIVE HIM."


Until now the being had been staring at Jace in shock, but as he spoke those words it's face faltered further into that of fear.

The tears had long since stopped. Now on his face was a crazed mad look.


"Do you know what true hate is?"

"Hate is the feeling one get's when something they hold dear to themselves had been harmed."

"These fires that burn me tell me to do one thing. Your life is forfeit. I will get rid of my hate, my furry, and all of my sorrow with you."

Jace lept off the ground straight down on the creature. In an attempt to protect itself it put up a hand. As Jace landed on it, he twisted the entire arm off in one sweeping motion, blood spewed of of it.


But Jace was not done yet. Grabbing the other arm Jace bit down into the things neck. Blood covered Jace's face, but Jace only twisted and shook. He ripped the thing esophagus out, after which he grabbed hold of it's head and began twisting. There was a loud snap as Jace broke the things neck. but Jace kept twisting. It's head popped off with no effort, the sinew's and flesh ripping as he broke it off of it's owner. Done with this Jace turned to it's unharmed body. Using his claws Jace opened its stomach, its intestines falling out onto the dirt. Jace fell with the body onto the ground. Jace was not Jace at this point. An animal is what was doing this now. The one thing all gato's had in-common was that unlike humans, elves, or other beings Gato's still had beasts within themselves. Jace's was only boosted as he was a Parnex.


Jace bit into the things body, eating it much like a large cat of prey would. His eyes were not seeing, his ears were not hearing. Jace was gone to the world at that point. The body, if you could call it that, was nothing more but a lump of mutilated flesh by that point.



~~~MIR~~~


MIR followed Faus as he was indicated. He arrived to see Jace ripping something limb from limb.


"Jesus Christ," The robot said, using a popular phrase to further voice his surprise. Not only this, it seemed MIR could not get into contact with Jace. It was if Jace was a completely different person now.

"What the hell happened?" the bewildered robot asked Faus.

_________________

*WHAT I THOUGHT I'D DO WAS PRETEND I WAS ONE OF THOSE DEAF-MUTES*

Lady Ivy “Xantara” Swift ~ Gia Panta // On the streets.


Ivy turned to Kaito kindly. “Oh no, I can’t think of anything better to do with my time than to have several guns pointed at my head,” she smiled. “Makes a change from the usual routine. And status does not come into it. If I didn’t want to mingle with the ‘commoners’, I wouldn’t be here, would I?”

The young elf sighed, as it seemed they weren’t going to get rid of the Grims that easily.

“What did I tell you?” came a muffled voice from her bag, speaking to Ivy. “Stupid. Stupid, stupid, STU-”

-Oh just shut up! Xantara uttered to Tallis irritably. Hmm…looks like we might have to do this the hard way…

What? And risk blowing your cover? Are you insane?

And what do you suggest? Do you honestly think I’ll just hand myself in and hope they don’t find anything?

Well you certainly changed your tune. You seemed ok with the idea before. “Unless I’m extremely unlucky, blah blah blah…”

So? I changed my mind. Besides, we might be fine. HE won’t be, Ivy said telepathically, referring to Kaito. I can’t just let him get into trouble.

So you’re going to risk everything just to try and save the neck of someone you’ve just met?

It might be risky, but there still won’t be anything concrete for them to know who I truly am. As long as I don’t go too far with my powers, there’s nothing to suggest I’m anything more than a very gifted Elf. Besides, I can’t just let him cop it, not when I know I might be able to get us out of this mess…

Get us deeper into it, more like. XANTARA, NO, I SEE WHAT YOU ARE DOING, DON’T YOU FRIGGIN’ DARE.

Too late, sweetheart. Ivy smiled. The whole psychic conversation had lasted no more than a second (thought being a lot faster than the spoken word). It only took a second for Ivy to make up her mind.

“If they think I’m going to come quietly when they’re being so unreasonable and impolite, they’ve got another thing coming,” Ivy muttered under her breath...

Breath. The breath of a Goddess…Gaiana’s Breath.

Quite suddenly, a thick, impenetrable fog descended on that area of the city. It spread out everywhere, from right down on the ground, up to the highest buildings. Ivy grabbed her bottle of advanced invisibility potion, taking a good swing before rapidly grabbing Kaito, and putting a finger to his lips to silence him, forced some of the potion into his mouth, hoping that he would swallow. She would have let him do it himself, but there was no time to mess around.

Now, with both of them completely invisible and undetectable by heat (including belongings, and Tallis), and surrounded by a thick fog, Ivy took Kaito by the hand. Quickly and silently (One of the advantages of being an Elf and a Demi-God was that you were exceedingly light footed – she only hoped Kaito was as well), she lead him into one of the little alcoves along the alleyway, hiding behind two dustbins on either side of them. Being especially careful not to make a sound.

Have I ever told you how much I hate you? the cat spoke to Ivy silently.



____________________________________________________________________


Mystara Hallow ~ Sorrow Lake, Forest of Memories


As soon as Jace jumped back, Mystara scrambled back up to her feet. But before she could do anything else, there stood not one Jace, but two.

Mystara stared from one to the other, confused. She didn’t understand. She thought the Jace that had pinned her down was one of those shadow creatures, but now she wasn’t sure. A deep feeling of unease settled over her, as she watched the conversation between the two. She was horrified, but she was just too shocked to respond. The words that were said simply washed over her. She just stood there numbly, watching as if in a petrified daze. She heard the words, but she just couldn’t process it. Even when she heard them speaking about her, it felt like it wasn’t happening. None of this was happening. It was like being in a nightmare and realising you couldn’t move. And then you had to listen to or watch whatever happened in front of you, because you couldn’t do anything else. It was this kind of numbness that had taken hold of her. She didn’t understand any of it. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to understand any of it. But even through the shock, some of what was said must have sunk in, because she suddenly found herself crying. Silent tears cascaded down her face, and yet she didn’t know why. None of what she was hearing could be true. It just couldn’t. Her mind rejected it. This was just the forest, it had to be…none of it was real.
But if it wasn’t real, then why was she crying? It wasn’t even the same as she had cried before. This was different, something she could explain or express into words. It frightened her.

Even when Jace set in to the other ‘Jace’ like an animal, she could do little more than stare in horror and shock. All she saw in that moment was two monsters, one tearing into the other. It was only after a while that she suddenly she found the strength to move again, the spell she was under broken. She didn’t know what the person was in front of her, but she couldn’t just stand there any longer. She didn’t know what was happening, or what had just happened…all she knew was that she couldn’t take it any more.

With one hand gripping the sword, she ran up to Jace, and with the other hand tried to drag him away from the mangled body.
“Stop it!” she cried, tugging him roughly away, completely distraught. “Stop it now, just stop it!”

_________________

Hiryu: Doc's bag is a portal. She's actually from another dimension and when she jumped into it, she ended up at a desk with a browser open on this site. That's how she found it.
We have a Doctor Who thread now. Doctor Who threads are cool.

~+ Gia Panta Grims+~


"Woah where'd that mist come from?"
"The Info on that one guy doesn't say anything about him being a magic user, must be that bitch who's doing it. . .
"SHIT, they just disappeared off the thermal. . ."
"Christ, they have that magic elixir shit?"
"The boy's in the lab are still researching that stuff."
"Someone get sonar down on that fucking alley before we loose them. All units proceed as planned."
"Sir none of the units in our area are equipped with sonar"
"What?! You fucking kidding me? THEN GET SOMEONE WHO FUCKING DOES!"

*ALL UNITS: AREA 5544 GRIM DIVISION 35 REQUEST UNIT WITH ACTIVE/PASSIVE SONAR EMPLACEMENT, CLOSEST UNIT PLEASE RESPOND*


"This is the ground canine unit of the 66th responding in sir, we'll try and sniff them out"
"roger that, proceed with the 35th to the target sight over"


Two lines of soldiers filed into the alley, ones from the north end and ones from the south. They meet at the middle looking at each other for the signs of the target.


"Did you guys feel anything going down the alley?"
"No did you?"
"No"
"Well search the area the could not have gotten too far."

"Roger that."


the 20 or so soldiers then began searching the alley for any signs of people. Each soldier was looking through the eyes of their own thermal scanners, inorder to penetrate the thick fog. One soldier in particular walked up to a set of two unimposing trash-bins.

He stared at the bins for a few seconds before walking up to them. He peered over the trashcan's edge. There was nothing thermal view or normal. The solider then kicked the cans for good measure, looking to see if they had hidden inside.



What caught his eyes was not what was in the can, but what the cans did when they fell. Some of the pieces of trash seemed to fall and stick in mid-air, as if they had fallen on something invisible.



"THEY'RE OVER HERE!" Screamed the soldier as he brought up his weapon and pressed down on the trigger.





~~Jace~~

"Jace" quickly turn to the new source of interference. He snarled and made as if to hit her, but his hand froze before he could make the motions. And slowly his will to fight vanished along with it.



He let himself be dragged away from the body, as he slowly regained his senses. He slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes and yawning as if awaking from a knap.


"Whaaaaaa. . .what's going on?" He said, unaware of the blood he'd just rubbed onto his already soiled face. Before he got up, Jace stretched in the same manner as a cat, with another loud yawn. He gave a glance at the remains of the stranger, his ear twitched but he did nothing more but ignore it then.


He looked down at the crying girl before him. A crooked smile on his face. With slight hesitation he patted her head with his hand, but stopped in mid-air. He saw the blood on his gloved hand. So he instead took off the glove, and patted her with his now ungloved hand.

"Sorry Sis (That is what you are right?), but it looks like it was my nightmare you walked into, not yours. . ." He said off-handidly to her, for it was the truth. What had started as scuffle in fear had turned into a small battle with one's inner-demons, although Jace would have preferred to not call it as such. It had all happened to quickly he'd rather just forget it ever happened. That and ever since the accident Jace had developed a sort of callous to the sight of blood and gore. He'd sen enough for it to do nothing to him. What was one body to a many who's job it was to kill?

_________________

*WHAT I THOUGHT I'D DO WAS PRETEND I WAS ONE OF THOSE DEAF-MUTES*

501st Command Center.

The Lieutenant sighed as she saw the images on the screen. "Are you sending this to the Commander?"

"Yeah. He's been watching for a while now."

"My Lord, what would you like us to do?"


Commander Vaco.

Dropship in Pasarela.

Vaco frowned at the recordings being sent to him. He was hoping that he might have been able to take the afternoon and test his new armor in the city. Perhaps even stroll around for a bit, but the recent events looked like he may have to return to Command earlier than planned...

"Do... nothing for right now. Retract the ship with wounded on it, and have the other hold its position. I don't think we'll be able to nail them, but we might be able to do something else. It does look like the Grim Corps have the situation under control, but notify them that the 501st are in the area if needed."

"Sir? Echo Base is online," announced the pilot. "They wish to speak to you."

"Report."

"Err, Sir." reported a male voice in his ear. "Echo base has been operational for a few weeks sir. Its been a bitch getting all the tech here without raising too much of an alarm."

"Is the Mark three there?"

"Yes sir."

"And the recovery teams?"

"Arrived two days ago. They've been carefully searching the Library, Museum, Treasury, and a few other targets of interest."

"Good. I'll be there shortly."


501st Command Center.

"Yes sir," replied the Lieutenant.

"Grim Control, this is the 501st Command. We've noticed you're having a bit of fun, and we have a few units in the area if you need them."

_________________
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Ishimaru Kaito - Location: Gia Panta, Alley

Hiding in the middle of an alley with Ivy, Kaito scrambled his mind for a backup plan, in case the soldiers were smart enough to search thoroughly.

After a few minutes of silence, Kaito whispered as quietly as he could, "You're an elf, right? I hope you can perform some acrobatics, because we're trapped like rats this way. We're invisible to them, from what I can tell. They can't see us very well. If we get caught, I need you to use that nimble elven agility of yours and get to the rooftops with me. This narrow little alley makes tic-tacking a bit easier. First, run up a wall vertically, as far as you can, then as soon as you reach the apex of your wall-run, kick off and turn your body to face the opposite wall. Kick off the opposite wall and push yourself upwards diagonally back to the first wall, and quickly twisting your body to face the second wall again. That's a tic-tac. Jump off each wall. Try not to slip while kicking off. I don't want to have to resort to shooting these guys. If we manage to get up there, let's head out of Gia Panta. I want to lose these guys.

As soon as he finished giving his instructions, he heard a loud clamor. A soldier had just kicked a trash can over. Its contents spilled out and landed onto the two invisible fugitives.

"THEY'RE OVER HERE!" the soldier yelled.

Kaito quickly stood up while grabbing Ivy's hand and pulling her up and off the floor. The two quickly moved to the opposite side of the alley just as the soldier pulled the trigger, just barely missing the two. They jumped up almost simultaneously, as if they were synchronized, and managed to shake off the trash. The two ran a few steps up the wall before kicking off to the other one. They kicked off the walls of the alley, quickly ascending to the rooftop in seconds.

As soon as they reached the top, Kaito sighed in relief. He thought to himself, "That was close... Just barely made it out alive. Today is definitely an unlucky day. but it's not time to relax just yet. We should get out of here before this invisibility wears off."

Without taking a break, the two began to move through the rooftops as swiftly and quietly as possible, heading towards the exits leading out of Gia Panta, in hopes of avoiding another meeting with the GRIMs.

~+ Gia Panta Grimm's+~



The co-gunner of the air-ship scanned the area across the rooftops for any signs of movement. While invisibility potions had always been a hassle for the Empire (they were strictly illegal, and anyone caught with them was thrown into prison or worse)



The computer saw the movement before the pilot. A stray shingle buckled under it's invisible wait in plain view of the gunner.


"THE TILE, THE TILE, SHOOT AT THE FUCKING TILE"



The airship's main armament, a large 50 caliber rotating machine-gun swerved and began raining hell down onto the tiles as the two escaped. The air-ship swung downward, in the direction the pilot guessed the two were heading. All he was using were his eyes, but at the first sign of a tile or the acoustics picking up sound he'd fire. He already was.


"DAMMIT, WE NEED THAT SONAR OVER HERE. 501'st you guy's should have already heard the request on the com-sat you, guy's deaf or something? We needed you yesterday!" The angry radio-man shouted as the air-ship's pursued.


"Get down and shoot in a straight line forward, if enough of us shoot we may hit something. we have to keep these guys from running, at least until the sonar units get through!"
"Roger that, firing at will
"Be sure to shoot at any movement you see, no exceptions"

_________________

*WHAT I THOUGHT I'D DO WAS PRETEND I WAS ONE OF THOSE DEAF-MUTES*

Mystara Hallow ~ Sorrow Lake, Forest of Memories

Mystara stared, still having not recovered from the shock. And he was just standing there like what happened was nothing…

The young gato slowly backed away from him, back towards her bag by the bank of the lake. Her anger had vanished by now, her thoughts and emotions too messed up for even her to decipher. If she hadn’t been confused enough already, she certainly was now. And she still wasn’t sure who this person was. Was he Jace? Wasn’t he? Suddenly she didn’t know what to think anymore. Bewildered was too mild a word for how she was feeling now. She felt completely lost.

“…W-who are you?” she said, finally finding her voice. “Who are you and why are you here?” She stared at Jace like he was a stranger. And to her, he was. He looked like her brother, he sounded like her brother, and for a moment she had thought…
But he was different. Like a completely different person. She felt like she did not know him. And the way he had attacked that...she didn’t even know what it was…

She couldn’t understand. None of it made any sense to her anymore.



Lady Ivy “Xantara” Swift ~ Gia Panta // Alley - Rooftops

Ivy invisibly smiled. She was a Demi-God, and one which represented life at that. She was practically the unnamed God of parkour and agility. However, Kaito wasn’t to know this, so she just listened silently.

Of course you will remember to tone it down and not be too bouncy, won’t you, Xantara? spoke a little demon at the back of her head, otherwise known as Tallis.

Ok…I guess I can force myself to slow down…just so as not to draw suspicion… Ivy grumbled telepathically. But I don’t really want to. It’s such a pain. But anyway, I suppose I need to if I want to keep pace with this guy. He’s a slow runner, after all (at least by my standards, haha~).

And no more stunts using Gaiana’s powers either. This fog is risky enough on its own, without adding to it.

Whatever Tallis.

Ivy then winced as the trash can fell. Oh well, at least we get to run now, she thought with glee.

She moved quickly with Kaito and did as instructed/guided, privately making sure she wasn’t too springy, but springy enough to make it up to the roof at Kaito’s pace. It was frustrating for Ivy, who could see how close they were to being shot, but couldn’t speed the two of themselves up without drawing more unwanted attention.

Ivy made sure to maintain the fog as they quickly and quietly made their way across the rooftops, just to make things a bit more difficult for the Grims. The fog spread far and wide across the rooftops now, as well as above it to cover the airships, the area below it still swamped with fog as well. Ivy tugged slightly on Kaito, indicating that they should change direction. Still both of them being as silent as they could, but…Ivy cursed silently. What with the fog she had created, she had summoned a few bats to keep a lookout on things…and what with their excellent hearing and echolocation, what they were telling Ivy wasn’t good news.

Are you sure I can’t use any more of my power, Tallis?
Positive.
Not even a little tiny bit?
No, Ivy!
Hmph.

But Ivy wasn’t giving up. There was enough fog about, and she knew exactly where the airships were, courteously of her own ‘natural’ sonar (haha, no waiting around for equipment when you had bats already to hand!) She led Kaito and herself in the direction away from the line of fire, as quietly as possible.

I don’t care what you say, a tiny little power won’t hurt…

Meanwhile, as a distraction from their change in direction, Ivy used a tiny amount of ‘Nature’s puppet’ to tinker with the roof tiles (roof tiles being made out of slate and clay, although they were man-made to a certain extent, there was still just enough rock-like nature in them for Ivy to use lightly). Very subtly, whilst she and Kaito changed their direction, she continued a ‘pretend’ path in the direction the pilots would have thought they had gone. At irregular intervals (and the ‘mistakes’ done to look as ‘human’ as possible), she animated a tile to move ever so slightly, like a foot had moved on top of it, and making it look as if they had gone in a different direction to the route they were going.

And if worst came to the worst, the great thing about these old roofs, was that there were plenty of spaces to hide and take cover, should the Grims refind them…

_________________

Hiryu: Doc's bag is a portal. She's actually from another dimension and when she jumped into it, she ended up at a desk with a browser open on this site. That's how she found it.
We have a Doctor Who thread now. Doctor Who threads are cool.

Rusty, Gia Panta

Rusty watched the whole scene unfold from a safe distance, that woman, the odd man, the Grim and the Gia Panta military. Normally he'd try to get in on the action but there were too many for a single dog, he may be brave but he ain't stupid. Then Rusty remembered what Dan had told him.
"Report back to me if you find anything.".
Rusty knew he was talking about the informent but this was to odd to let it pass. With that he set off in search of his master.


Dan Slate, Gia Panta

Dan stopped dead once he heard the sound of gun fire. "What with the sudden gun fire?" Dan was used to the sound of guns but this was unexpectid. "If there's a fight going on then i'm sure it's something to do with the empire. Not to mention Rusty may be there." Dan reached for the gun holstered around his belt and ran in the dirction of the fight only to suddenly stop once he saw the airship off in the distance. "This must be big to call in such an attack."
Not knowing what to expect Dan cautiously approached the scene, gun at the ready. as he got closer to the ship he couldn't help but wounder why he didn't have any big guns on him.

_________________

After mounths of rigorous trials and conducted research I have finally come to the conclusion that Modern Warfare 2 can go SUCK IT.

~~Jace~~




Jace frowned, she still wasn't trusting him was she? Well with that body behind him it didn't help much. And neither was the fact that he was covered in that things blood. Although Jace was quite new at this himself (this was his first time he'd heard of a "sister")


"Who am I? Good question, a question that I can answer," Jace said to her, then sat down cross-legged facing away from her towards the crystal-tree out in the distance, holding the front of his legs for support.




Jace said, a nostalgic look on his face, even if he had said he wouldn't be nostalgic.

"I'm your dead brother (No I'm not literally dead, but I was at one point) and there's a whole story to explain it but this doesn't exactly look like the time to anyway. But except for now I'm called Jace, with no surname, instead my "code-name" is Hallow.

The reason I'm here. You heard that thump earlier? That was us, we accidentally flew into a void-storm and crashed. Heh, to think that if the ship had never crashed I wouldn't have met you."


Jace was silent for a moment, as if choosing his next words carefully.

"Look, for my sake, please forget everything you knew about the boy called Jace Hallow. You don't understand how much hate and revenge controlled that boy's life. He was a wolf in sheep's clothing. You weren't him, I was. But I can't do anything about the past, so just. . .please don't compare me to him."



"And that body?" Jace said pointing towards the lump of flesh still lying there. Although now I appeared to be fading. "A concentration of void condensing into physical form to reflect one's emotions of past events and/or "demons" a true reflection of one's sub-conscience. . .at least that's what the books tell me. . ."

_________________

*WHAT I THOUGHT I'D DO WAS PRETEND I WAS ONE OF THOSE DEAF-MUTES*

Julius Justin Ashton~~Gia Panta//Indolentia HQ

"That's amusing to think about it in that way, you must get plenty of chuckles watching the interaction." He smiled lightly at the thought, chuckling as he continued.

"But I would certainly be more wary of you than the lion. An animal that looms over me in greater height or possess higher strength can be easily taken down a couple of notches with nothing but my mouth. You on the hand aren't so easily deceived. A rat may be small in size but cunning in mind is all it needs to survive." Julius noticed the troubled and distracted look appear on the rat's face.

Something must have happened...It seems as if there is a telepathic link being shared with him. I heard of such things but was never taught how exactly they worked....I wonder if it was Lady Xantara.

"Well Bijaksana is not only nibble but she uses Tonfa for close range. She still needs much more practice with the bow if she wishes to be deemed only par with Elves though. Damien uses a scythe, sacrificing armor for better speed....I'm not quite one to boast or to be in the act of haughtiness...I can use a long sword but more so skilled with long range combat via chain and sickle. My better use is in stealth...I have a natural ability to manipulate shadows and the light."

_________________
Perhaps you are asking the wrong questions?

Chance ~ Gia Panta // Indolentia HQ

The rat chuckled himself. “That I do,” he nodded. “I watch and laugh. Especially when it’s me who sends for them. Whenever Xantara isn’t around, it’s me who gives the orders – I suppose in a way I’m her second-in-command, although we tend to be very flexible in terms of ranks. In theory any of us can carry out the job – Lady Xantara could be on the other side of the world, and we’d still keep things running for her. It’s quite funny to see their reactions when they see a rat is in charge of a whole host of dangerous creatures.” Chance laughed.

“And why thank you. I do my best.” The rodent bobbed his head, as if to bow. “Although, we’re all as cunning as foxes really – and the foxes even more so. Lady Xantara makes it that way. We have intelligence, strength and capability far beyond that of our average animal cousins. How an animal usually performs at its strongest or most fierce, or the attack an animal gives when it’s left clinging on for its last fight to live…that’s us on an average day. None of us are to be taken lightly, in equal measures,” the rat nodded. Then he smiled. “But as long as you stay in our good books, you won’t have to worry about that,” he grinned. “It’s our enemies who need to worry, ha ha!”

Chance listened as Julius described his and the gatos’ abilities, nodding. “Hmm…good…good…interesting weapon choices too. Stealth, you say? We like stealth,” the rat grinned. “And manipulating shadows and light, that’s an interesting ability. Don’t see much of that around.” He nodded, satisfied.

“Well, welcome to the Indolentia, Julius, Bijaksana and Damien. I would give you a tour around the base, but I’m afraid I don’t visit often and don’t know my way around myself,” he chuckled. “Tours of the city, however, I’m adept in. I’m sure you’ll be able to find someone to show you around here. Oh, and before I forget, any questions you’d like to ask me, I’ll be more than happy to oblige.” The rat finished, his nose twitching.

He sighed. “Ah, well it looks like Xantara’s not going to be arriving anytime soon, sadly. Certain circumstances mean she is now heading out of the city (or at least trying to). But, ah well, you’ve got me here instead,” the rat said, not seeming too troubled. Although the news he had received of the latest developments with Ivy wasn’t good, a small part of Ivy’s line of thinking was instilled in him, being so closely linked with her. His rat mind could worry all it wanted, but Ivy was actually enjoying herself. Chance just hoped her ‘fun’ wouldn’t turn sour.






Mystara Hallow ~ Sorrow Lake, Forest of Memories

“So…you’re really here?...You’re really my brother?”

Mystara stood there for a long while in silence, trying to take it all in. It was easier for Jace. As strange though it was to say, he hadn’t known himself the way she did…the way she had. He hadn’t been the one looking up the their brother all these years…he hadn’t been the one who had watched their brother die, the person who had looked after them, cared for them, protected them…and he hadn’t been the one who’d had to suffer for it ever since, the one who had been alone all this time, the one who had missed and loved their brother so much, they were willing to fight in his name.

She had even been planning to join the Indolentia for him. In his memory. No, not in the memory of who Jace saw himself as, not full of hate and revenge. But in the memory of him, how she remembered him.

Slowly she walked over to Jace and sat beside him, facing the same way he was. She put the sword the other side of her, on the ground.

“I won’t pretend I understand. I don’t. I don’t really get any of this. But please understand I can’t forget him. I never want to forget him. I don’t care what you saw yourself as, I know what I saw. You cared for me. That wasn’t a lie. All the rest, I don’t know, but that I know that was true. And that’s the Jace I’ll always remember. That’s the Jace I always have remembered…not that...not what you remember.” She wiped the tears from her face again. She felt like a wreck. “And I don’t care what you say, you weren’t always like that. You can’t tell me that was all you were. You were so much more. You’ll always still be that person to me. I can’t not compare you to how I remember you. You can’t ask me to do that. Because I can’t.”

The tears rolled down the young girl’s face. Slowly she leant towards Jace, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. Not caring about the armor, or about the blood. She just hugged him, burying her face in his shoulder. Hugging him tightly and closing her eyes up against the tears. It was as if all the emotions she’d been holding back all this time, all of it came spilling out in the one moment. All the weight she’d been carrying since Jace’s death, she couldn’t carry it any longer. All the hate, all the anger, all the regret, all the hurt and the pain, all of it washed out in uncontrollable sobs. She couldn’t stop herself. For every time she had bottled up her feelings, for every time she had put on a brave face and carried on, she cried. As if she hadn’t been an emotional wreck before, now she was dealing with past emotions as well. She didn’t mean to dump it all on Jace, who was probably not expecting the sudden breakdown, more so at that particular point. But with such an upheaval in her life, and finding her brother (in some ways) alive again, it was little wonder she hadn’t fallen apart earlier. She had been in such a state of shock, that it had taken a while for it to get through to her. And now that it had, she couldn’t hold it back. She couldn’t hold any of it back.

“I’m s-sorry,” she said quietly through her sobs. She wasn’t just saying sorry for comparing him to what he used to be, or for suddenly putting everything on Jace at this moment, or for not trusting him (although all of that was part of it too). She was saying sorry for everything.

_________________

Hiryu: Doc's bag is a portal. She's actually from another dimension and when she jumped into it, she ended up at a desk with a browser open on this site. That's how she found it.
We have a Doctor Who thread now. Doctor Who threads are cool.

Commander Vaco.

Pasarela. Echo Base.

Vaco walked down the ramp of the dropship, his Black Hand a few meters behind him. finally, he had reached the Mobile Base currently known as Echo. During their engagements, the 501st would usually use quick portable bases. These mobile bases were little more the large elaborate dropships. These dropships were often large and bulky; almost like transport ships. They used a VTOL litf system with one engine in each corner, and two on the rear tail. There was a large dome like structure surounded by a few smaller ones on top, and the sides angled in slightly. Essentially, they could unfold and be broken up into smaller pieces, and cover a larger area. In the case of uneven terrain, even smaller sections, or just the equipment themselves could be maneuvered into the field. The bases themselves could be arranged to suit a variety of needs as well, with everything from forward defensive bases, to airport and supply bases.

Turrents, ammo, repair shops, barracks, tents, COM stations, outposts, food, camo blankets, armed UAVs, senors, vehicles, fuel, bunkers, and much more was just a few basics that were stored on these ships. More equipment is added when it specializes.

Echo Base still contained its massive dropship look to it, but a few sections were removed. From where he was at, it looked as if the ship had managed to land itself inside of the Grand Park of the Gato's former city. There, about half of it was removed and spread to reinforce the area. The large dome on the top was currently moving upwards; turning itself into an air control tower. Within the main structure, nearly all of the critical systems and central control lay hidden and safe under a meter of armor. Around the main structure a few of the new gunships, attackships, and a single dropship were neatly lined on the right side. To the left, a series of garages, and the bases troop barracks lay in perfect order. Around the camp was the 501st defensive line. A few turrets and towering outpost towers were in the camp, but most of the bulk was spread out around the area. Some troopers set up their bunkers inside, and on top of buildings, while others used the wreckage around them to blend in.

He smiled underneath his helmet as his men continued to work efficiently to keep the base safe, running, and as secret as possible. However, that smile soon disappeared as he turned his attention to the video feed in his helmet. The situation wasn't going to well, and the 501st element was already moving towards to help them out with it. He noted that the attackship was already on its way back.

Vaco sighed slightly as he waved his Black Hand to go and help with the base. He opened a COM line with one of the few Undead Lords that he felt like he could trust, Lord Zackariah Frostheim, and continued to walk towards the base's command center.

It was time that a Undead Lord be notified of what was going on. Although he wasn't quite sure yet on how to explain why he wasn't in Gia Panta...


501st Gunship: KR-9

The gunship swung around and pursued towards the other airships. The great thing about battle-class dropships, the true classification of the gunship, was that you could never pack too many weapons; with a missile rack on top and smaller ones on the wing tips, two ball turrets on the side, 40 mm cannons on the front, and the co-pilot operated 25mm mini-gun in the nose.

Being EMP resistant, very maneuverable, and well armored, it is quickly becoming the 501st choice ethical over the other air-ship classes.

It swung around the side of a towering building and soared ahead of the rest of the Grim Airships, using the interpreted coordinates that Command was sending them.

_________________
Stufflikehearts - He is a Sith Lord. I love Blood Lord :3
Jeffffey - Blood, you look at the information someone says, look over what really happened, and reply in a way that makes them realize what they were really thinking.
Mythrrinthael - Blood Lord, our local expert in interpretation of The Grim Tales from Down Below!
Fievel - Numerous campaigns and conquests, countless bodies decaying after the abandonment of victorious battlefields. Such is the life of Blood Lord.
Dusk_Imp - Blood Lord is like a celebrity here. Everything he does is pure awesome. ALL HAIL BLOOD LORD
Doctress Who - Why couldn't there be a Blood Lord in every forum? It would make life so much easier.
Snafu's Mercypostle.

{Forest of Memories}

Faus stood nearby MIR and watched, his eyes never missing a single movement of the two. He had tried to get close, but then the sword that Mystara carried had flashed out a bright light that had stunned him for a moment. After that, he had simply kept himself standing some mild distance back to carefully observe everything. But then he finally registered MIR's question.

Faus stepped by a couple of inches, getting better into the robot's audio range and whispering so as not to disturb the situation. "The girl is Jace's sister. She thought he was dead. Then the forest seemed to create a second Jace to play off his old memories. He got angry with it. And now they're up to this..." Faus gestured a hand out toward the two siblings before moving back into place to watch the mildly amusing scene.

But it was quickly interrupted as Gabriel turned his eyes upward, noticing something small in the far distance of the endless sky. Guess the reunion's done for today... Now, then. Gabriel began walking forward while the two sat with one another on the ground. His heavy armor only even made any sound once he was two feet from the balling pile of dramatic siblings. Even though Faus found soap operas funny to watch at times, he was always interrupted by work. And this time was no different.

At least he decided to join in the fun just a little...

"We're leaving soon... And if she keeps this," Faus slowly ran his fingers across the pommel of Mystara's sword, "the guards aboard our new ride will shoot her without question... Gato already have natural weaponry, so a sword would only serve as a threat to them." The Lord coldly stated with his deep voice. Sure enough, a glance above would give Jace proper sight of what was coming.

High above the clouds, nestled delicately within the sky like a gem. The ship was alone, but by no means was it unguarded. Most who had ties to the Undead and the Tarot knew of the personal ships belonging to Faus directly. And they were always adequately manned by a force of trained soldiers picked out by Faus personally. It seemed that when Faus had put out the distress call, they must have relayed the message to his men.

The giant behemoth became ever larger as it drew closer toward the forest. The ship would soon eclipse the sky and swallow them within shadow once it had finally arrived.

"She will be taken captive and held as a prisoner. And since she mentioned the rebellion..." Faus let his words trail off, knowing that Jace would figure out the process the Empire took along that line of thought. "That is the best we can do for her, in case you wanted something done... But these are my men, so they would not follow any directions from you. And the little mess here..." His eyes glanced over to the bloody pile Jace had made and the streams of red that marred his visage. "They will first see blood. You covered in blood.... And then they will see a stranger." He turned his head to gaze down to Mystara. "... I will keep them from crippling her on sight, and make sure she lives on... But nothing further."

Faus slowly began to step away from the two, tilting his head up. "After this, you will owe me a personal favor... And one day, I will be coming for it..." He stopped talking completely as the large ship began to draw over their heads. The light of the sky's natural glow was blacked out under the sheer size of the monstrous craft, wind picking up as it hovered directly above. Gabriel's cape billowed behind him as he stood steady, several small glimmers of light shimmering upon the hull of the ship. In that same instant, a circle of heavily armored and much more heavily armed men was surrounding everyone. The common practice among Gabriel's men was to suppress all force and destroy all threats to their Lord. So even MIR had some few odd red dots lining his body at critical joints and locations.

Faus raised a hand, balling his fist in the air. The men all at once reacted without thought, pulling back their guns and thrusting a fist into the air. They announced one single cheer in splendid unison. "HAIL LORD FAUS!!!" They then lowered their rifles and the explosive attachments they carried, keeping the guns pressed to their abdomens. Faus then lowered his fist, extending a finger to point at the sword. Without a word, a man ran out in a full sprint and hefted the sword straight from the dirt floor, holding the hilt and blade within each hand. Faus then moved his finger to Mystara, who was suddenly and immediately enclosed upon by several of the men, all keeping their weapons up and directed toward her head. One walked up behind her and yanked her to her feet, pulling her arms behind her back to restrain her hands. He then pressed a switch on the mechanical restraints, sending out an aura that circled her ankles with thin streams of light, keeping her from moving them too far apart without causing sharp pain.

Gabriel swung Shekoga up and crossed it over his right shoulder as the soldiers all stepped forward to group around Faus and Mystara as their central focus. He then spoke three words before the hull of his ship shined once more with the same bright lights as before. The words were miffled by the sounds of the kicking winds all around them and the clunking armor of the guards. And after the sudden pull that transported the men, Faus, Jace, Mystara, and MIR into the ship, they finally sank in.

"We are leaving..."

_________________

Mystara Hallow ~ Sorrow Lake, Forest of Memories//Leaving

Mystara turned at the sound of someone else approaching the scene. She had been so focused on her brother, she hadn’t noticed the giant robot, or the Undead Lord. Staring up at the imposing figure, she instinctively drew closer to Jace. That was one of the Tarot Lords…Mystara had only ever heard stories about them, and none of them pleasant. The daunting arrival sobered up her emotional state of mind considerably. It took her a moment to register what was being said.

“No…” she uttered, staring, as the words finally sunk in. “No, you can’t do that!” Suddenly she was scared.

“Jace?” she turned to him for support. But she knew there was nothing he could do. She stared upwards as the ship rolled in, leaving everything below it in shadow. She wanted to run, but even if she’d had the opportunity (which she didn’t), she was too stunned to move. The gato girl glanced wildly around as they were surrounded. She watched as her sword was taken away. “Leave it alone, it’s not yours! Give it back!” However her sudden defiance abandoned her as she found herself surrounded and restrained. She glanced back at Jace…the fear would have been clear in her eyes.

This can’t be happening… were her last numbing thoughts before they were transported onto the ship.

_________________

Hiryu: Doc's bag is a portal. She's actually from another dimension and when she jumped into it, she ended up at a desk with a browser open on this site. That's how she found it.
We have a Doctor Who thread now. Doctor Who threads are cool.

Jace hugged Mystara back, he was also glad he'd met her, although he didn't really know her, know her (due to his memory loss)

As Faus appeared, however, it would soon become apparent that all emotion would soon disappear in the moment.

Jace had just been about to tell her something but they were rudely interrupted.
"Mystara, calm down, there's no reason to worry, you haven't done anything wrong. And being a relative to me you aren't really a "complete stranger" you'll be let go, but I don't know about that sword, it is a weapon. What matters is you'll be safe, I promise you that." Jace called out to her as they took her away.


Jace assumed everything would go smoothly from then on. But the way Faus acted made Jace's opinion of him drop considerably.


"Sir, I understand the measures you took, what with her weapon and all, but did you need to make up the part about the rebellion? And If you truly want us to follow one of your personal "favors" I'm under protocol to tell you to ask Lord Frostheim first" Jace said to Faus as the group went into the ship. He knew why he didn't like Faus, the undead seemed to think he did everything and knew more then anyone. MIR and Jace simply obliged the undead out of duty, to "protect" him. The undead had yet to do anything either Jace or MIR saw as worthy of a favor. Not only this, Jace and MIR while Jace and MIR did have to follow general orders under Faus anything more they could both simply shrug off as Neither were under specific order from Faus. Lord Frostheim was the one they truly aligned themselves with. It would be akin to a air force commander giving a specific mission to ground troops.


~MIR~

MIR had inwardly nodded as Faus explained the situation. It seemed far to complicated now for him to get involved in. MIR did not really understand the concept of family.


As the air-ship appeared multiple arning apeared on MIR's screen inlayinge the targeting he'd come upon. The flashy lights and lasers did nothing to the robot's ego.

"Ha ha ha, I'd like to see them fire at me on this range, only one of us would end up killing themselves. . ." MIR said scoffing at the ship's armament and soldiers there-in. Humans were puzzling creatures. Protocol was also funny. MIR was an instrument of the empire. If the ship had been on range MIR would have kept his tounge. But dude to the small range they were at, the robot knew they could do nothing more but aim, or risk harming lord Faus in the process (if they shot) something they were almost impossible to do.


~+Gia Panta+~


"This is the Haxil Ak Reconnaissance ship reporting in. We'll be taking up you guy's deal for sonar scnas, heh heh heh. . ." The ship said as it came in from north-east, opposite of the direction the group of ships were heading.



using sonar the ship got a read on the roofs of the buildings. They quickly determined what and where the pair was escaping two.


"They're heading out of the city, we'll be tracking them from here on out, it shouldn't be to heard for you guys to shoot at them now. . ."
"Roger that, I'm inputting the coordinates. . .and firing . . ."
"Firing. . .
"Roger that, firing. . ."
"Fire, fire fire!"


The airship's said, firing off a salvo of homing missiles. They couldn't see the target per-se, but they had tracking targets and coordinates on the two as they moved. They were no more invisible to the air-ship's now even with the fog, tracking systems always trumped plain eyesight.

_________________

*WHAT I THOUGHT I'D DO WAS PRETEND I WAS ONE OF THOSE DEAF-MUTES*

Commander Vaco.

Echo Base Command.

Vaco calmly walked to the center of the base as he waited for th up link to work. Usually he didn't have a problem connecting COM systems to others, but when you're dealing with an encoded transmission, things need a little bit of help and time. In the center of the base was his prize for the day; his Assault Armor Mark Three. The amount of money that went into the new battle armor wasn't funny. Roughly a billion credits so far into the program. It had yielded three failed suits so far, and officially it was dead. But Vaco commandeered the remains of the program, and constructed the fourth battle armor. He saw the case it was in on the top of a rising platform, and felt... joy?

Below the platform was a station and a computer networks hub to control the process from moving from the Mark Two to the Three. About five techs manned the hub, while a few more gahtered around to help if something goes wrong.

But work called before play...

"Damn Grims... he said as he watched the unfolding pursuit. "Attention Grim Airships. This is the Lord Commander, stop firing all over the damn place. You're looking like a bunch of fools. Spread out into aerial pattern D-3990, do not shoot to kill, just wound or capture."

"This way my Lord," said one of the techs from behind the monitors, pointing to a position on the pad.
Vaco switched the channel to Command. giving them temporary control as he reached the station suited to remove the Mark Two. He slide his armored boots into two small squares on the station. the magnetic locks quickly engaged, locking him into firm position to make the removal easier.

"Try and save the helmet for last, okay?" he asked them back, and got several confirming nods back.

"Alright Command, link me up with Zack," order the Commander, as he brought his arms up to about shoulder level. Two claws reached out and grabbed them by the wrist, and pulled them back slightly. A device that kind of resembled a scorpions tail rose from behind him, but instead of a clip, it had what looked like a collar. It moved forward and grip the commander by the neck, and he could feel the "tail" access his neural interface.

"Think he's going to like what he hears?" asked the Lieutenant as she motioned one of the tech officers to link the connection. Work continued around Vaco as more devices sprang up and begun the unbolt and remove sections of his armor. Several nearby troopers stopped what they were doing to watch, and pretty soon a small crowd silently formed to watch the fabled commander emerge from the armor.

"Probably not," he said. His voice slightly strained by the process going on around him. "But Zack isn't like the other ones. He's completely focused, but really just one of the few Undead that I trust and see eye-to-eye on things."

"On three... two... one..."

Vaco waited for just a moment before starting. "My Lord Frostheim, its Commander Vaco. I'm sorry to interrupt you, but there is an interesting development in the city involving a few police, grim airships, and soon to be 501st gunships. You might want to take a look at it."


Echo Base Command.

"Holy shit. What the hell is that right there."

"That is a computer monitor."

"Ha ha, very funny. I mean that big thing over the crystal forest."

"I think that's Lord Faus' flagship. But I don't know what its doing clear the hell out here."

"Have we been compromised?"

"I... don't think so. We aren't putting off too much of an energy output, and we do have the city to help us block a few sensors. Plus the location chips have been turned down... but once the Mark three goes online, its going to send a big ass flare of energy that you could pick up from orbit.Until the core stabilizes. "

"Five credits says he'll float on by."

"Ten says he will or already does know, but doesn't care."

_________________
Stufflikehearts - He is a Sith Lord. I love Blood Lord :3
Jeffffey - Blood, you look at the information someone says, look over what really happened, and reply in a way that makes them realize what they were really thinking.
Mythrrinthael - Blood Lord, our local expert in interpretation of The Grim Tales from Down Below!
Fievel - Numerous campaigns and conquests, countless bodies decaying after the abandonment of victorious battlefields. Such is the life of Blood Lord.
Dusk_Imp - Blood Lord is like a celebrity here. Everything he does is pure awesome. ALL HAIL BLOOD LORD
Doctress Who - Why couldn't there be a Blood Lord in every forum? It would make life so much easier.
Snafu's Mercypostle.

Helios Felis -FLASHBACK, ONE YEAR AGO- On The Way To Stallum Street

Helios' large black boots made little sound as he walked along the concrete floor in the alleyway. His jacket and hoodie hid his face from anyone outside and made him a shadow that went unnoticed by others. As he reached a dead end, he sighed and dropped his rucksack onto the floor.

"Now, where did that old man say the entry was...", he said as he took out the piece of paper that he had found gotten earlier. He had heard many rumors of Stallum Street and the things that could be found in that place. When he had been resting at a bench earlier after a search for information for the black market but to no avail, an old beggar walked up to him and stared at the Gato with a pitiful expression on his face.

"Have pity on an old man, sir", the old man begged with a raspy voice and gave a cough after he finished. Helios simply gave a wave and replied, "Go away, I don't have anything you want and you don't have any for me".

The old beggar frowned.

"Don't give me that face, I already had a bad enough day finding something", Helios replied and tried the best he could to not look like he pitied him. The old beggar quickly reached into the rags that covered his body, took out a folded piece of paper and gave it to him. "That's what you're suppose to think, boy", for a moment, the beggar's voice had seemed to changed into a more sophisticated tone but quickly reverted back to its more pitied version.

Staring at the old man in disbelief, Helios unfolded the piece of paper and was surprised by its contents. On the piece of paper was a crudely drawn map that directed it's reader to an alleyway nearby. The initials of Stallum Street, ST, were written and had an arrow pointing to a circle at a dead end. Quickly putting the piece of paper into his pocket as if it was a prized antique, Helios was going to thank the old beggar but he had somehow disappeared.

As Helios continued searching for anything that resembled the circle on the map, he kept on thinking back of how the man even knew he was finding for the Street itself. A loud metallic bang was suddenly heard and it seemed to echo through the metallic interior of a nearby dumpster. Helios stood up and approached the dumpster. There were black plastic bags inside but seemed to be surprisingly clean. No stains at the side or anything as if someone had recently cleaned it.

Suddenly, everything seemed to make sense, why hadn't he thought about it earlier? Helios quickly started piling the bags to one side of the dumpster and just as he had expected, a circular hatch was located at the very bottom. Hoisting himself into the dumpster, Helios started rearranging the plastic bags to surround the entry and put one next to it so that it would fall and cover the secret entry. It took quite some time to get the hatch to open and as he did, the faint smell of chemicals and sounds of people were heard. Carefully, Helios slowly climbed down the metal bars that served as a ladder and closed the hatch above him.

TIMESKIP, BACK TO CURRENT TIME - Stallum Street

As Helios got close enough to the ground, he let go off the bars and landed in a roll. Standing up and dusting his clothes clean, he looked around to see many stalls neatly laid out like the ones in a local market. In front of him and in between two stalls was a small wooden plaque which had the letters ST chiseled into it. Loud voices were heard all around, either bargaining or telling its customers that they were having a sale. The usual stuff was on sale, guns, explosives, stolen goods and even some ammunition.

Helios was lucky to find the Street here this time. Many times he had tried after the first trip here but the hatch had been locked those few times. The place was well-lit with torches placed on both sides of the walls and the smell of the sewers was not present due to the cleverness of these 'honest and humble' merchants. Where a river of sludge should have flowed by, concrete covered it and turned it into a floor. The holes of pipes had been turned into tunnels and were covered with a metal gate, obviously used for quick escapes from official authorities. Even a row of tents were neatly set up nearby and the sounds of working prostitutes could be heard.

Without wasting anytime, Helios walked into Stallum Street and began searching for what he wanted.

_________________

Captain of Innuendo Strike Forces & Founder of Innuendo Striking Technique

Julius~~Gia Panta//Indolentia HQ

"I say you seem to have all the lime light as her second in command. It's amazing that you all share such high capabilities, must be most helpful in a fight. I'll keep in mind not to get any of you angry. I've already have a handful of my own if you know what I mean." He shifted his gaze to the two gatos, too absorbed in their own thing to have actually heard him but Julius wasn't kidding when it came to them. They were less of a hassle when they were 9 and 10 years old. Their children forms seemed easier to please. But what with the hormones that came with growing up, he was just glad he wasn't stuck with self centered children. Then he'd be at a complete loss for once on what to do. He returned his gaze to the rat as it praised him for his natural ability. Julius frowned slightly.

"Ah...I seem to have forgotten that I am a spellcaster. My clan had specialized in it but I guess many things such as that slip my mind...." He dropped his gaze to the floor before steeling his expression again and nodded.

"I'd imagine stealth would be a big thing with the Indolentia. Took me some digging around to find this place as is. Thank for the welcome, I'm glad we are here." He snapped his fingers and both gatos jumped before bowing and thanking the creature as well. With a small smile Julius waved down the offer of a tour.

"A map is all I require, I wouldn't want to waste any one's time courting me around unless it was there job, and even then I'd have to decline.....I have to admit, I am curious as to who else is in charge of the Indolentia. Would you happen to know anything of the others if there are any?" He inquired honestly curious before nodding his head again. "It's perfectly understandable if she's been held up. I'm not so important or impatient as to demand to be in her presence. I am simply joining and would like it if she were informed of another assist willing to work with her. That is all I require...and...I quite like your company."

_________________
Perhaps you are asking the wrong questions?

{Gabriel's Flagship, Abel}

Gabriel slowly turned his head around to glance at Jace. The men surrounding them nearly laughed at the man's words to their Lord. They were picked for loyalty to Faus only. They were picked because they shared his interests to do whatever it takes, whenever they can. They knew that officially, Faus was one of the highest ranking Undead around. But they also knew, whether they were right or wrong, that one rule was always dominant in your mind when you had been with the Lord long enough to figure it out...

Faus was always in the right.

"Oh, I'm sorry... Did I give the impression that your opinion mattered?" There was a hint of a smile behind his words. "As I stated, she has ties to the rebels... Am I right, men?" He slowly looked out over his personal troops as they all started to laugh and chuckle at the scene.

"Yes, sir... She mentioned the leaders in a state of panic, even." One chimed in, swinging his rifle over his shoulder in a boastful stance.

"Heck, she nearly jumped at Ralph to get her sword back! Poor guy would have had to run her through with it if she hadn't been restrained..." A series of small laughs ran among the gathered soldiers.

Faus turned his gaze back to Jace, shaking his head a bit. "... Jace, your sister is now a prisoner of the Empire. And considering how emotional you became, your opinion of this matter is greatly biased. You and your machine friend are to have no contact with the girl, whatsoever. And upon arrival in Gia Panta, you two will be transported as per our previous objective, and you will then be removed from my ship... I will have to proceed to a safe distance from the city and initiate...interrogation upon the captive to discern what she truly knows of the 'rebel scum' we have been receiving reports about..."

Without a chance to argue or say a word, Mystara was grabbed and tossed over one man's shoulder, being carried away while two others provided escort. One had removed a rather large knife as well, and was shifting it around in his hand in her direct line of vision. A warning of what came if she tried to run. They walked away across the large cargo hold the group had been transported to, moving through a sliding door and proceeding down the halls.

Gabriel and the remaining soldiers began to walk away, not in the slightest worried about Jace nor MIR. The tall, black-armored Lord then stated without glancing back. "Feel free to makes yourselves comfortable as guests aboard my vessel until we arrive at HQ in, oh...twenty minutes." He started to laugh aloud as he walked into a hallway, his booming voice echoing out to send a shiver down the spine of every soldier and common worker in the vicinity. But despite their unnerved shakes from the laugh, there wasn't a face that didn't leer at Jace and offer a menacing grin before returning to their duties.

_________________

~~~Jace & MIR~~~




Jace wrinkled his face in disgust at Faus's high-jinks. it was not the matter that he was taking his sister for "interrogation", it was not the matter that Faus was down talking Jace and MIR.


It was the fact that Faus seemed to be trying very hard to represent every child's view on a "bad-guy" . His stupidity whether deliberate or not, was to be marveled at as one would at a monkey on the other side of the glass.



This man represented everything that was wrong with the empire. When it could be used for such great (although not good) things here were people like him who sat on it like a tumor.

"Repulsive, idiotic, power-mongers, that's all the wrest of them are" Jace remembered Lord Frostheim's word's distinctly.



It disgusted Jace. "You're recording this right?"


"Yep yep, sure am. Frostheim is always interested in other undead's work. it's being televised to Frostheim's private terminal as we speak. He'll be extremely interested in that sword, and considering he has seniority in all matters scientific and research wise over the empire, he'll be getting the sword, but I don't know about your sister. . ."


The two partner's communicated via electronic speaking. A sort of telepathy but more electronic then organic. Jace turned to the soldiers once Faus had gone. "The fuck are you shits looking at? You think Im just some normal soldier come to take a hitch on your ride? I'm a fucking Parnex, and if you so much as THINK about giving me the evil eye I'll fucking pluck it out of your goddamn sockets, I don't give a shit who your boss is. You're not scaring anyone."


Jace ducked into the main hold where MIR was. "Now I took that bag Mystara left without Faus or her noticing it. Let's see what's inside. . ."


Jace opened the bag and proceed to look inside. A bunch of potions. MIR scanned each through Jace's eye's telling him what each was. The one labeled "unidentified explosive" caught Jace's eye.

"Seems to be some bigger form of Nitroglycerin, although this stuff ain't bigger the C4 (nothing is bigger then C4, except for nukes, but then again nukes aren't very practical) it does pack a good punch. . ."
"Well we don't need it now, I guess I'll just leave this stuff with you. We'll give it back to her when we get her out"
"Roger that"


Jace closed the bag and put it into one of MIR's storage hatches. He then went and sat back down in the passenger area, waiting for the thump that would signal that they had arrived.

_________________

*WHAT I THOUGHT I'D DO WAS PRETEND I WAS ONE OF THOSE DEAF-MUTES*

Jazz and Jessica ~Harbor~

Jessica moved her head to Sylvanas who had just coughed. It didn't seem to be anything serious though. It just seemed to be a cough. Jessy stood up with her hands held together on her lap, and trodded over to a rail in front of her. As she had thought, Jazz was soaking his arm. In the harbor the two were in, it seemed a little gross. The water was somewhat murky.

That water doesn't look to good. It looks all grody. She stood there a minute, expecting a smart ass reply or joke. It didn't take long for her to see that he wasn't paying attention to anything, he didn't even know she was talking to him. In response, she dropped a large pebble at his head.

Jazz had been nodding his head back and forth, playing a song in head. He was in his own little world for the moment. He was completely oblivious to everything around him and smiling, absorbed in his song.

"Ow..." Jazz looked at his side. A large pebble had hit him in the head startling him. He shook his head violently looking straight up to see his sister who was standing straight up.

What song?

"Finder."

You do realize that this water looks kind of gross.

"It's a harbor. They all look like this." Jazz took his hand out of the water, shaking his arm to get the water off. He twisted around slipping on his arm glove and jacket sleeve as he strolled up the stairs, just finishing as he saw Sylvanas.

"Where is this boat Chris talked about? It should be in sight right now...." Somewhere in the background, he could hear a mixture of sounds. He thought he heard pops of gunfire far away.

Look, there it is Jazz. Jessica pointed out away from the harbor behind Sylvanas who was still sitting down.

"I seem to have good luck don't I?

What do you mean?

"I ask where the boat is, and it magicly appears."

Maybe when you say, where's the rebel army, they'll all appear in a cafe' in Gia Panta.

"I could try, couldn't I?

Jessica shrugged. She was getting tired from all the traveling and shooting. She just stood by her brother as they three waited for the boat to stop near the harbor.

_________________
I GOT 'DEM HUMPS.
Doctress Who:You can be my Brony bitch ;D
Droctress Who:Jas, would you like me to make you a sandwich?
JesusChrist: Well if you insist Jasthn I'll use it with you. Spread them cheeks
Tragedy_and_Comedy: Jas is about as dangerous as a kitten.
Blood Lord:I hit your dog with mah truck. :3
Lenore Celestalis:*jumps on your back* weee~
Come check out my story in the Literature Thread. Update? It is true!
I also doodle quite a lot. Check out my art thread here!

Mystara Hallow ~ Gabriel's Flagship

Mystara stared around at the laughing men. A sharp pang of anger and humiliation burned her throat. I never said that! was her immediate thought. …I don’t know anything about the Indolentia apart from their name, and I didn’t even mention that! She opened her mouth in protest, but she couldn’t get a word in edgeways. Her distress only grew as she heard what Faus said.

No contact whatsoever, the words repeated in her head. She looked over to where Jace was. She…she had only just found him… Please don’t say they’re going to make me leave him. Not again.

Then her cat ears picked up at something else. Something which made her anxiety far worse.

In-Interrogation…? The word chilled her. Not because she had something to hide, but for the fact that she didn’t. There was nothing to interrogate her over. She hadn’t done anything, and she didn’t know anything. And from what she’d witnessed from these people so far, she had a very bad feeling about what this ‘interrogation’ would entail…

And then suddenly she found herself flung over a shoulder and carried away. She tried not to panic, but she couldn’t shake the fear that now gripped her. She didn’t know when she’d see Jace again, or even whether she’d ever see him again. And she didn’t know what was going to happen to her. She didn’t even know where they were taking her.

“Jace…” her voice barely came out as a whisper as she was carried off. She stared uncomfortably at the large knife being brandished before her. If they were trying to scare her, it was working pretty well. Keep calm…don’t let them see how scared you are. I’m not going to be intimidated by them, she thought determinedly, trying to calm her breathing. Jace said I’d be safe. He promised I’d be safe.

However, with her brother out of sight, a knife staring her in the face, and all means of defending herself taken away, Mystara didn’t exactly feel safe right now…she didn’t feel safe at all.

_________________

Hiryu: Doc's bag is a portal. She's actually from another dimension and when she jumped into it, she ended up at a desk with a browser open on this site. That's how she found it.
We have a Doctor Who thread now. Doctor Who threads are cool.

Commander Vaco.

Pasarela.

The commander waited for a response, but knew that he had to move on with the rest of the armor process if he wanted to return back to Gia Panta in time. Before he took his helmet off, he made sure of one thing. He wanted an ace up his sleeve…

Captain Sylvanas.

Harbor.

The assassin looked up into the sky, hoping to see a sign of their arriving transport. Her mission objectives on her HUD have been modified; the assassination was put on hold and replaced with a different target.


BLACK HAND.

Nearby the Harbor.

Black One looked up at the top of his HUD as he noticed a small blinking symbol had popped up. It was a notification that his mission perimeters had changed. He paused for a moment and opened up the symbol.

MISSION UPDATE.
AUTHORIZATION CODE: 00-23-09

STATUS: MISSION TERMINATED.

ENACTING PRESERVER PROTOCOL.
RECOVER UNITS: Captain Midna Sylvanas, Jazz, Jessica.
TARGETS: Two individuals marked on the HUD.

SUPPORT: 501st Gunships KR-9, KR-7. 501st Attackship M6-D.

DETAILS>

Black One finished reading the details. He was a little saddened that the death of the leader of the Sons of Kings would have to wait, but this new mission could be something enjoyable.


Captain Sylvanas, and BLACK HAND (Black One and Black Two).

Harbor.

“There they are,” she said, pointing to the sky. And airship drooped down from above and gently landed on the beach. It wasn’t much too look at. The ship was a pretty plain, and looked like a junker. It loked to be some sort of hauler; the back was large and rectangular, while the cab was square with the front top corner cut off. Its once bright yellow color was faded to a near white, and the green strip on the bottom was severely cracked. There might have been some logo on the side for a local grocery store, but it was so badly faded that it was hard to see what was on the side.

The side door opened to reveal a large, black-armored individual. He was unarmed except for the service pistol at his side, and the tac knife on his chest. “Ever hear of something called “the Magic School Bus?“ He asked the trio. “This is kinda like it… but it isn’t. And we get to kill people.”

“Oh shut up. I’ve had enough smart ass comments from that guy today,” said Sylvanas as she stepped pass the armored figure and into the ship. The inside of the ship was far different from the outside. Most of the colors inside were black, chrome, and silver. However, it did have the looks of being used, and everything looked clean and tidy. The ship was the perfect undercover operations platform that an elite unit would need in the field. It was stocked with a large variety of equipment, allowing them to spend month out behind enemy lines, fulfilling any operation that was needed. Explosives, weapons, food, a medical bay, a sensory and weapons platform, small UAV drones and their land counter parts, a repair station for the units Mark Two armor systems, and a three man attack speeder were just a few of the various pieces of equipment in the hold. A door to the left was open, revealing the cockpit and another black armored figure in the driver’s seat. There was another chair next to him, and two more behind him.

Sylvanas walked to a few combat chairs that were wielded to the wall.

“No ma’am,” he said to her. “You. Med bay. Now. I'll look to see if I can't find an extra chest piece for you.”

The captain growled slightly and stood up again. She walked past the sensory station and into the med bay, the door closing behind her.

“You two must be Jazz and Jessica,” he said, extending an arm out to help them on board. “Come on. We gotta move.”

_________________
Stufflikehearts - He is a Sith Lord. I love Blood Lord :3
Jeffffey - Blood, you look at the information someone says, look over what really happened, and reply in a way that makes them realize what they were really thinking.
Mythrrinthael - Blood Lord, our local expert in interpretation of The Grim Tales from Down Below!
Fievel - Numerous campaigns and conquests, countless bodies decaying after the abandonment of victorious battlefields. Such is the life of Blood Lord.
Dusk_Imp - Blood Lord is like a celebrity here. Everything he does is pure awesome. ALL HAIL BLOOD LORD
Doctress Who - Why couldn't there be a Blood Lord in every forum? It would make life so much easier.
Snafu's Mercypostle.