Quantum Inn (Alliance Suite)

Garkin smiled in the usual Cravyn way. "That all sounds pretty alright to me," he said before finishing the sandwich.

[Shut Inn]

"We're meeting Echo there," said Roderick. "Nero should be there already. He didn't want to miss Francisca escaping, even if Echo's already watching, and left early."

He chewed his lip for a second, then added, "I'd rather have someone a little late but fully awake than on time but half-asleep. I can get coffee with Kevin if you go and back up Nero and Echo. Three people isn't ideal, but it should be enough, and we shouldn't be long."

[Whitehall Motel]

"They're coming," said Nero. "The stupid alarms weren't working, so when I realized the alarm hadn't gone off, I woke Roderick up and told him to get the others, then came here as fast as I could. Figured you could use some sort of backup, just in case, a-"

At that moment, a door on the top floor opened up, and Lydia stepped out. West Side wasn't treating her that well; there was a lot of grime across her body, her hair looked like it hadn't been washed in weeks, and she'd gained a few small cuts that hadn't been in her original picture. She wore a jacket that was presumably hiding a weapon of some kind.

Nero surreptitiously turned away from the motel. "Yep," he whispered. "That's her."

[PENTHOUSE]

Joshua took the paper from Kyana's hand and studied the symbol. It looked like three capital M's laid on top of each other, with a vertical line running through each of them by the middle point.

Somehow, it struck a certain something in Joshua. "I can't tell. I've never seen this one before. I've seen one other symbol like this. A very different symbol."

Joshua folded the paper into quarters as he continued pacing. Suddenly thinking of something, he halted. "Are you sure you haven't seen this symbol somewhere before? Maybe before you moved to the capital?"

[MOREENA'S LAIR]

Lara nodded curtly, placing her hand around Moreena's wrist. "Let's get going."

[Shut Inn]

Kommissar buttoned up his coat. "Just one less of the original plan. Can make do easily," he agreed.

"I just hope it won't too much trouble," Kevin scratched the back of his head. After giving some thought (mostly considering his sleepiness and its effect on work ethic), he shrugged. "Hopefully the coffee place isn't too busy."

The scarred bounty hunter nodded and took off. Kommissar knew where he was going, as he checked his map the night before. As much as he wanted to scoff at Kevin's need for coffee, he could withstand having food for a while due to his choice of work.

Kevin turned to Roderick. "Well, after you."

...Showing up late to the mission with Starbucks/coffee. My next post, probably after KC's, Kommissar will show up. Assuming the Whitehall Motel isn't too far.

Old City - Moreena's Lair -> Visitor's District (?) - Clarke Hospital

Without much further delay, Moreena reached out with the tendrils of her true self, yanking both her physical body and those of her companions away from their current position. After a few moments in total darkness, they all arrived at the edge of a large parking lot outside the main entrance of the hospital, Lara's belongings from the arena laying in front of her.

Moreena looked up at the sky. It had become a bit too bright for her taste. "Well, here we are," she said.

Dog and Goat Hotel —> Dining Hall

Varnas turned around to see Koyel leave the room, and he shrugged to himself, heading down to the dining hall to join him.

He helped himself to bread, ham, bacon, crepes and strawberries, hashbrowns and a poached egg, and filled his glass with orange juice, then sat down with Koyel and began to eat.

Visitor's District - Capital Spaceport (The Captain)

Not for the first time tonight, you count your lucky stars.

The airlocks were thrown open, letting in fresh air that still smelled like rain waft into the ship, mixing in with the acrid smell of burnt plastics and hot metal that permeated the ship.

The slave liberation mission went off without a hitch—you were able to locate Captain Max's crew, insert your strike team and extract the VI Ps and the other slaves found. It was practically a textbook resolution, which meant that something else had to go wrong to make a sweet victory go sour and ruin your day.

Lightning struck your ship several times during the mission; the consequence of flying giant tin can during a storm. Minor damage to the hull, nothing to get too worked up about, but it had fried the delicate sensors, making you blind to everything except the live feeds from your crew, and worse of all, damaged the FTL nagivation and set a fire in the engine room.

The thought of what might have happened if you, Asha and Jurazei hadn't controlled the fire before the engines were destroyed was like a cold hand wrapped around your heart. You would certainly would have all been killed, not to mention all of the casualties from the ship crashing into the city. Normally such a fire would not have been too much of a problem. You would have removed Asha from the fire danger and ventilated the room of its oxygen via the airlocks. However, because you were planetside, there was no vacuum to vent from, forcing you to manually send crew in to deal with the fire. If you hadn't put it out fast enough...

No. You push the idea from your head. Rubbing your neck over what-ifs wasn't going to help your mental health anytime soon. It was over. You got through it alive, and that is what matters most. You turn your attentions to the greatest pressing issue: the FTL navigation.

There weren't that many lucky stars to count.

"Until we get it fixed, we won't be able to plot a course to anywhere." A tired-looking woman reports. "It just needs some retuning and recalibration for the most part, with some of the fried circuitry replaced, but none of us are qualified to do that."

You nod. "Find me a shipwright that specializes in FTL drives and navigation, and get a estimation on when they'll be done and how much they want for the job."

"Yes, sir." She turns around and heads towards a terminal listing advertisements for repair shops. She then starts issuing orders to your crew. Satisfied that your orders are being carried out, you turn to other matters. The shipwrights for both the hull and the navigation will need to be paid, which should not be a problem. Captain Max will pay for it, as agreed.

You sigh and remove your gloves to rub the tired out of your face.

edited 26th May '15 11:45:15 PM by Tehpillowstar

Hotel Fantastique - Penthouse

Kyana listened to Joshua's comments on the drawing and shook her head at his question. "I haven't seen that symbol before my nightmare. And I think I saw it flash in my mind during our interrogation with Genocide. But other than that, I don't think I've ever noticed it." she replied, looking down at her boots in thought. Even before they came to Capital, she hadn't been around anyone strange and didn't have many friends due to her being worried about her powers. There wasn't a time she possibly could have encountered that symbol.

Bus to Hotel Fantastique

Kiyumi looked out the window at the scenery while she thought about Samantha's idea. "You know, I think this bus actually goes by that Arena as well. If you want, we can just stay on the bus and meet you there instead like you would like. I'm sure the others don't mind." she replied and looked to Midori and Naoko. "That's fine." Midori said with a small smile. "Affirmative." Naoko simply said.

edited 24th May '15 3:59:01 PM by Sphinxyness

[PENTHOUSE]

Joshua listened closely to Kyana's answer. After she was finished, he tapped the folded paper to his hand a few times. Kyana had never seen any symbol like this until now. That meant something, and he had an idea what, but he still needed to be sure.

He faced Kyana entirely, making his voice slow and gentle to convey understanding. "Are you capable of describing what you saw?"

[CLARKE HOSPITAL-PARKING LOT]

Lara bent down and picked up her backpack. Checking inside, she could still see her street-clothes and her mouthpiece inside.

She glanced curiously at Moreena. She was capable of teleportation, and could even grab items in the middle of it. She'd have to ask her later.

"Do we go straight in, or maybe something more subtle?" She asked, turning to where she assumed Eliza would be.

Visitor's District - Hotel Fantastique (Dining Area)

"Hrm," said Samantha with a frown, "If the bus is going to be passing by the hotel anyway, then I really don't see the point in not getting off. Actually, we could try getting on it when it gets here, though depending on where it is now and how fast it is I'm not entirely sure if I'll be done eating by then."

She briefly glanced over at Sophie, who in the short span of time since Samantha first called the ninjas had already finished her meal and was wiping her face off. "Though Sophie's already done with her breakfast. Then again, she eats like a pig."

Sophie's indignant reply of "Hey!" was loud enough to be heard over the phone.

Samantha cracked a smile and chuckled a little before continuing. "So what I'm thinking is that we're going to try and be out there before the bus gets here. If you get here and we're not outside waiting for it, then just get off and come and find us. Chances are we'll be in the hotel's dining room, if not already on our way out of the building. Sound fair?"

Inside her mech, Eliza braced herself for when the darkness of Moreena's preferred mode of transportation appeared. Thankfully, this took all of a few moments before they found themselves outside of the hospital in question.

"I'm never going to get used to that...." she muttered before looking the building and the immediate surrounding area over. So far, she couldn't see the drone she ordered anywhere, though a check through her mech's interface indicated that it was close by and well on its way.

"I don't think we'll attract any real suspicion just walking in the front door," she replied to Lara, "Though at the same time all we have to go on is an energy signature, so I don't know what exactly we'll tell the receptionist regarding why we're here."

[Hotel Fantastique] (4th Floor)

Miyuki didn't mind getting up early. She slept very efficiently, getting a great deal of rest from a very small amount of sleep. Akira, however, was not fortunate - or perhaps unfortunate - enough to have the modifications that made Miyuki so efficient. As a result, and as a result of all of yesterday's events, he was still quite exhausted when the two of them were awoken very suddenly, and rudely, by a bizarre and horrific howl. Their room wasn't too far from the fourth floor, after all. Although she was hesitant to leave him alone in such a strange place, he was clearly distressed by the strange noise, and that motivated her to go investigate. Eventually, he managed to persuade her that the hotel was safe enough for him to be alone in the room, if only for a few minutes.

Since yesterday, and since all her clothes had been ruined and left at Rani and Foster's house, she had since given up on attempt to appear "normal." She wore her close-fitting bodyglove - her Strike Suit, as she called it - just the same as yesterday. Today, however, she had a proper sheath for her sword, instead of a large metal case. It was black, plain and fit the blade snugly. It was secured around her waist with a belt that was the same colour and texture as her Suit; it nearly blended in perfectly.

She took the stairs down, in a manner of speaking. She leaped over the banister, free-fell for a few moments, then activated her thrusters, bringing her to a neat and prompt mid-air stop. From there it was a simple matter to land, open the stairwell door and follow the noise - and the staff- to the problem...

[Hotel Fantastique - Fourth Floor (Outside Room 413)]

The howling noise had stopped by the time Miyuki arrived on the fourth floor. Several members of the hotel staff could be seen gathered around the door to room 413, with one of them holding a number of metallic devices in a bag. Rah-Klev Seon, wearing a baggy purple tunic and trousers not unlike the clothes he had worn yesterday, was slumped against the hallway wall, muttering "I'm really, really sorry" over and over again.

"In all my years working here, I've never - what were you thinking?" an older human woman was saying to Seon. "Are you crazy?"

"It's - it's not," Seon said, then sighed. This was about the worst possible way for this day to have begun.

Well, all right, I suppose it isn't the worst...

I'll leave it here for Miyuki to further investigate.

[West Side - Sidewalk Near Whitehall Motel]

Gev continued to make her way down the sidewalk, moving effortlessly in her armor (whose rundown appearance belied its capabilities), but also growing more and more depressed as she did so. It really was hard to just ignore it. After all, she'd been in bad areas like this a few times before, but never one so visibly close to a center of power and influence.

And that is exactly why the Free League is important. I should try to remember that, instead of just feeling angry all the time.

She paused at the sound of a human vendor, elongated head turning to fix him with one eye. A couple of what she recognized as most likely dubious characters were loitering nearby, but they weren't any immediate concern of hers - at least not without evidence that they'd seen her quarry. The vendor, though, was more interesting. She'd never tried or indeed even heard of 'hotdogs', but she hadn't had much of a breakfast at all. And she wanted there to be at least some good coming out of all this.

She made her way over to the hot dog vendor and nodded at him. "How much are those?"

[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite]

Qrlil came awake not at all at once, but gradually. She'd been dreaming - unusual for a qrtxian, but she'd never really lost the habit after the events of the last few years - of attending a negotiating session with a group of strangely faceless cthwui. The negotiations themselves had been tense, but the environment in the room had been set to a pleasantly humid atmosphere that had enveloped her and left her relaxed and comfortable. Slowly, that sensation shifted into a similar type of enveloping warmth - that of the blankets wrapped around her curled-up form.

Blinking open her outer eyelids, she sleepily had her backup show her an overlay of the time. Not yet nine local. That is too early by far.

Closing her eyes again, she nestled back into the blankets. After a moment, however, a new sensation distracted her from their comfort and the prospect of a return to sleep: she was thirsty. Very thirsty.

Sighing, she stood up and moved blearily to the door. She brushed off a handful of the scales that had flaked loose during the night, but not all of them; she was still half-asleep and wasn't that concerned about her appearance (her robes were still set to a featureless white). Or anything else - though she was conscious of the strange events of yesterday, at the moment she wasn't particularly considering them.

Blinking again, she opened the door and made her way out into the common area of the suite, headed directly for the kitchen.

edited 25th May '15 12:12:54 AM by nrjxll

Hotel Fantastique - Penthouse

Kyana shuddered a little and started rubbing her fingers on her scarf. As much as she didn't want to recall the nightmare, the way Joshua talked it sounded like it was important to know what happened. Perhaps it would provide him with a good clue.

"I...was in my house. There was blood splattered in different places and my parents...they were dead and torn up on the floor of the kitchen. Then I heard Genocide laugh and I freaked out and burst into fire, a lot of it. But that wasn't the end of it. A strange voice started speaking to me, the one we heard back at The Spire. I..can't remember exactly what he said, something about how Genocide's role was to break and protect his followers. Then there were words. One of them was one I never heard of. Golgotha. He also mentioned a shaman. As for what he looked like, it was horrific." she explained, clutching her scarf tighter as she remembered the demonic creature.

Bus to Hotel Fantastique

"Actually, that works even better. And don't worry, if we don't see you at the bus stop by the time we arrive, we'll just get off and meet you. It's not big deal." Kiyumi replied with a grin. They were getting pretty close as the three didn't live too far from Visitor's District. I can have them arrive next post unless you wanted to do something before then.

edited 25th May '15 12:34:02 AM by Sphinxyness

Embassy Row - Quantum Inn (Alliance Suite)

"Good morning," Garkin said as he noticed a very tired-looking Qrlil enter the room.

Visitor's District - Clarke Hospital (Parking Lot -> Entrance)

"I suggest that we get some breakfast first," Moreena said. "I wouldn't usually bother, but it would give this body something to do while I search the place." She looked at Eliza before starting to walk towards the entrance of the hospital. "You could run some more scans, and we'll see who finds something first."

[CLARKE HOSPITAL-PARKING LOT]

"Right." Lara nodded briefly. "A plan is useless without being prepared. As for hospital food, eh, I've dealt with worse things... Besides, I think there's something I think we can try once we actually get to asking around."

Without waiting for reply, Lara hopped her backpack onto herself and walked forward to the hospital.

[PENTHOUSE]

A name called Golgotha, and a shaman. Joshua was now certain of a supernatural element to whatever he was dealing with.

Frankly, this was unexpected. Of the rumors of whatever had happened, he had been leaning towards the more scientific ones.

"Thank you." He nodded, "This information could lend itself to a breakthrough."

Joshua left the room, drawing in hand, and found himself in the living room. Something caught his eye, near the door that lead to the rest of the hotel. Getting closer, the armored man picked up the folded note that had been slid under the door.

Unfolded, it read,

"Western undercity entrance. I know it's suspicious, but please come."

edited 25th May '15 8:35:47 AM by TroPartner

Visitor's District - Hotel Fantastique (Dining Room)

"All righty then. One way or another we'll see you in a few," Samantha replied. With no more to discuss for now, she then hung up barring any last words from Kiyumi.

Afterwards she turned towards Sophie. "I hope you were listening to what we were talking about."

Sophie nodded. "Of course."

"Well, don't order anything else. We're on something of a strict schedule right about now. Either as soon as I'm done or as soon as they get here we're leaving as soon as possible."

At that, Samantha finally turned her attention to her breakfast and started to eat.

You can have the Ninjas arrive whenever.

Eliza made the best imitation of a shrug her mech could muster. "Works for me, I suppose." She glanced at the hospital again. "Unfortunately, I'm not entirely sure if I can even get a more comprehensive look at the place. I can certainly have the drones scour the outside perimeter, but getting them inside the hospital's a different matter. One should be easy enough, but having a whole bunch suddenly enter and start looking around is going to raise suspicion and possibly cost me the whole lot."

She sighed. "The worst part is that we actually do have drones that are suited to scouting the inside of buildings, but in my infinite wisdom I didn't think to bring any of those kind with me."

At that point, the drone she summoned earlier finally made its appearance. It looked more or less identical to the first drone Lara and Moreena had met; only a close examination of its wear and tear would reveal that it wasn't the same machine. While it arrived later than they did, the speed at which it was moving indicated it was certainly trying to get here fast.

It recognized Eliza as soon as it noticed the group and flew up to her. Upon reaching them it stopped and made a bunch of clicking noises that probably meant something along the lines of "At your service."

Eliza nodded before her mech made a round of clicking, to which the drone responded with its own. Afterwards, her mech slouched over again. For better or worse, it hadn't changed from its kneeling position ever since they left Moreena's Lair. There was a slight pause as Eliza considered parking her mech elsewhere, but she eventually decided that this was a parking lot and that the city had probably seen stranger things.

Afterwards, the cockpit opened once more and Eliza made her way out of the mech. She pulled her headphones down around her neck again, before approaching the drone and giving it a firm whack to the underside, where its gun was located. The drone made a warbling noise that sounded a lot like irritation before its weapon retracted and disappeared.

As soon as all that was completed, Eliza and the drone followed Moreena and Lara into the hospital.

Visitor's District - Clarke Hospital (Lobby/Cafeteria)

Once inside the doors of the hospital, Moreena found herself in a spacious lobby area. In front of her was a wide corridor that led further into the building, with several large signs hanging from the roof to guide any visitors to the right place. On the right side was an information kiosk and a place to pick up prescription meds, and on the left was a small cafeteria.

This part of the building didn't seem very busy, but there were still a few doctors, nurses and other employees wandering about. An elderly man in a white lab coat briefly looked up from his PDA when he noticed Moreena, but he didn't say anything. He had seen - and treated - much stranger people than some woman with horns.

"Over there," the goddess said as her companions entered, pointing at a table outside the cafeteria.

[CLARKE HOSPITAL-PARKING LOT>CAFETERIA]

Lara almost smirked at Eliza prompting the drone to conceal its weapon. Who knows what might've happened if Kyana was with them. Chances are she'd throw a fit over the "robot abuse", Lara assumed.

Walking inside, she stopped just for a moment as a doctor handling a PDA stared at Moreena for just a moment before going back to whatever he was doing. Lara exhaled a bit before continuing walking.

"I guess he isn't used to this place anymore than I am." She assumed, sitting at the table that the horned lady indicated.

edited 25th May '15 10:03:23 AM by TroPartner

[Quantum Hotel - Alliance Suite]

The door to Qrlil's room opened and she walked out, still bleary-eyed and disheveled from sleep. Angua turned around, noticing the alien was awake, and bounded over. "Hey there, sleepy head! How're you feeling?"

She was grinning from ear to ear, and the fatigue in her bearing seemed to melt away before Qrlil's eyes.

[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite]

For a moment, Qrlil considered making a sarcastic response, something similar to "how does it look like I'm feeling?" But just as quickly she decided against it. While she now felt certain she could let down her guard around Angua and Zerrimus (as it were), it would still likely come across as ruder than she intended. And really, it wouldn't be that accurate a depiction of her feelings anyway - she hadn't gotten what she considered to be enough sleep, but what she'd had had been very restful.

Besides, I endured worse than this physically during the war. And while this situation we find ourselves in may not be a war, it is a little more important than my personal comforts.

So instead, she returned Angua's smile - albeit much more feebly - and said "A good morning to you as well. I am... tired, still. Also thirsty. But well."

Moving into the kitchen, she blinked a few more times, both out of tiredness and in thought as more and more of the last day's events impressed themselves more firmly upon her consciousness. I wonder just how strange things will be today, then. She opened the freezer unit and took out a bottle of flavored water, then sat down on one of the taller cushions.

Glancing back between Zerrimus and Angua, she took a sip, then asked "And how did you two sleep, then?"

Hotel Fantastique - Penthouse

Kyana watched as Joshua left the room and continued getting ready for the day. Her stomach grumbled and she began to search the kitchen for food in case the Penthouse came with any. Not having any luck she went to where Joshua was. "Hey, want to get some breakfast?" she asked, not noticing the paper Joshua was holding.

Hotel Fantastique

The three girls finally arrived at the Hotel and not seeing Sophie and Samantha decided to get off and look inside. They wandered around keeping their eyes peeled and remembered how they said they were eating breakfast and headed towards the dining area. Midori blushed as she saw some of the guests give them strange looks at their ninja attire though she had a feeling they had seen stranger. Kiyumi spotted them and gave a shout of hello and a wave, her face holding its usual grin.

edited 25th May '15 11:39:55 AM by Sphinxyness

Embassy Row - Quantum Inn (Alliance Suite)

"Just fine, actually," Garkin said. "It's been a while since I slept anywhere but my quarters though." He sat down on another one of the cushions, flapping his wings a bit to keep his balance. "I'm glad I got some rest, considering... um, what we're in for today."

[Quantum Hotel - Alliance Suite]

Angua bobbed her head up and down. "I slept pretty good. Got up early, but that's just a personal habit."

She sidled up to the fridge, grabbing a bottle of flavored water for herself and downing it in one long go, audibly gluging as she drank. Once she finished, she spoke without turning around, instead beginning to rifle through some of the cabinets hanging over the countertop. "Garkin's right. We need to come up with a plan. But first, imma get some food in me. The rest of you probably should too."

Visitor's District - Hotel Fantastique (Dining Area)

Upon hearing a familiar voice, Sophie looked in its direction. Sure enough, it didn't take her long to spot the ninjas entering. "It looks like they're here."

"Already? That was quick," Samantha commented after swallowing the bit of food she had in her mouth before following Sophie's gaze. "That's them all right. It'd be a little difficult to mistake them for anyone else." She shook her head sadly upon seeing their outfits. "I do question the value of trying to make themselves look cutesy. I hope it doesn't impair their fighting ability."

Then she turned to them, and both girls waved the ninjas over.

As she followed the other two, Eliza noticed a lot of people were giving the drone strange looks. Considering its appearance and the fact that it was constantly emitting the clicking language of Bleaksteel drones, she couldn't say she was surprised. She was fully prepared to explain it as some kind of guide robot or something if need be, but as it thankfully turned out no one bothered to ask.

She soon sat down at the table Moreena picked out, with the drone hovering by her side. To start with she remained silent, though she was giving the area a thorough lookover at the same time. It wasn't just looking for ways to accomplish their goal; she actually couldn't remember if she had ever been in a proper hospital. This was a far cry from the medical bays she was used to.

edited 25th May '15 3:05:30 PM by Yomegami

[Dog and Goat Hotel]

"Ah," Koyel said, "Varnas, my friend. You seem to have survived." He still maintained his jovial aura — it wasn't quite fake, but it was a lot more forced and low-key. "One great advantage of the buffet," he then said, apropos of nothing, "is that if anyone sought to poison us, they would need to be astoundingly clever." He didn't sound like he was joking of the possibility. (To the contrary, as an Uelane politician, he knew to take it seriously.) "Now... I understand you are a fellow magic-user, but we didn't really get a chance to speak of it much before that unpleasantness. How did you come to earn the position?"

Post for Echo will come, but wanted to get this out first.

edited 25th May '15 1:30:23 PM by KillerClowns

Visitor's District - Clarke Hospital (Cafeteria)

Moreena casually walked up to the counter and gave the cafeteria's young intern a smile that was meant to be friendly but due to the nature of her teeth became rather horrifying instead, before ordering up a slice of blueberry pie. She turned her head to look at Eliza and Lara.

"Do you two want something as well?"