The Mighty Pen
Kashira Lavellan - Homecoming
As the airship approached the clearing, Kashira, thankful there had been no pursuit worth noting, found the time to speak a quiet word to each of her comrades. Now wasn't the time for rebukes. When they were safe back in the Tower, then perhaps she could speak to those who needed sharp words. Namely Gaige. But for now, simple thanks would suffice.
She approached the flying machines with less apprehension than some. After all, the natives of this world seemed at ease with them, why should she not be? But as before, she waited, meaning to be among the last aboard, and when she did finally swing herself up into the craft, she kept her magical senses active. This world was dead to magic, but such as she could do, she would do.
A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving. -Lao Tzu
Heavy - Cue The Victory Theme
The giant had accompanied Gaige and Patches to the zeppelin and saw the land from above. These lands will be great again, he thought, especially with those like Kane and Stalin crushed. For now, it's a matter of time to get to home base. He looked towards the white-haired teenager carrying the slab of ice containing Kane and smiled grimly. He would look forward to bringing his skull to the lock face-first.
"I treasure every day with you, darling." "No need to be so sappy, love." "You know that's how she is, Nia." - AU!Pyra, Nia, Mythra
Some Time Later....
After the shopping trip wrapped up and the mission group returned the next afternoon, all of the Climbers had been returned back to Einstein's laboratory."Well, I suppose I cannot question your results," the professor said to the group, looking at the block of ice with a certain villain encased inside of it. "Though your procedure is rather interesting. Hmm... ice. Some sort of cryogenic process. But fast enough to be weaponized. Freon could work sufficiently for a prototype but then...."
He looked up, remembering he wasn't alone. "Oh of course, now that you've found your quarry, I suppose you will return back to your tower now, yes? You have my deepest thanks, I know some of you were rather... doubtful... but make no mistake, you've done this world a great favor. There is nothing that will ever truly be enough to repay you."
The rest past uneventfully, with naught worth putting to words. Suffice it to say, the remainder of the group emerged from the battle relatively unharmed, and the immortal man remained in his prison of ice. The white haired man spoke some empty words of praise, which I ignored. The task was done, and it was time to press onward. And so I stepped forward, entering the waiting portal to return us to the tower.
Meanwhile, Gaige hopped over to Einstein, clearly still full of adrenaline from the fighting.
"Oh, wait, wait, wait, I have a better idea! Why not come with us? I think we can bring people from the places we visit back to the tower with us if we want, and dude, I'd love to talk some real science with one of the actual pioneers of the field from way back 3000 years ago! And I think the guy in the tower said you can get returned to your world when you're done at the very second you left, so no one will ever know you were gone! It's a win-win! Why stay in this old factory when you could see the multiverse?"
Stop Killing My Titles
Claw & Baron, Back At Base
Regrettably, the cat pirate could not bring the airshark with him. Shame. During their short partnership, Claw found himself getting attached to this strange vessel. All good ships were like this: you just couldn't let them go.
In any case, their job here in this world of the future was done. He looked idly at the frozen statue of Kane, patting the acquired machine pistols and deciding to hang back for now, listening to Einstein's gratitude with only one ear.
As for the magnificent opulence that was The Blacker Baron, he was a little disappointed. Sure, he did get to do some important shit - crucial to the mission, even - but all in all there wasn't enough fighting left for him. "Yeah, wat Gai-Gee said." He grinned at Einstein. "Ya might have some mighty fun too."
"Anyway, Kane be Kane, but we kinda need his head. Anybody feel like unthawing dat muddafucka?"
grah
Did you know this section has a character limit?
Qrow - Back In The Lab
"If the keyhole's gonna kill him anyway, might as well not. Shoving him in like this'd be like letting him go in his sleep." Qrow said to Baron, hands on the back of his head.
"'Sides, according to them he put up a fight." He motioned at Weiss, Tanya, The Kid and Zazzy. "If we melted him down, he'd probably put up another one."
Black Forest -> Einstein's Laboratory
The remainder of their time in the local area had been uneventful. Sure, they'd gotten a lot of weird looks and sometimes Nebby couldn't help but be Nebby, but that appeared to have been the extent of things. Given what their task was, Lillie was rather thankful her end had been relatively peaceful.
After all that time, they were back in the lab, with the mission a success. Given the time that had passed, Lillie's outfit had long since reverted back to her usual white outfit, and Nebby had gone back to being a cloud of cosmic gas instead of some kind of Meowth.
There really wasn't much else for her to do except wait. In the meantime, her attention turned to the doomed man, who was currently locked inside a block of ice.
As much as she had objected to the stated goal at the beginning, she had to admit that this person looked a little unsettling. If not because of his physical features, then because he'd been frozen solid while apparently laughing maniacally. She hadn't thought he looked like a nice person when the Locksmith showed that image so long ago, and her opinion wasn't changing much now that she was seeing him in person.
Yet despite all that, she still didn't want to see what would happen to him when the time came to open the lock. Even looking upon his fate now was disturbing; from what the others were saying, it seemed he wasn't even dead.
She shivered a little, before turning her attention back to the others.
"Pew!" Nebby said happily in response to the professor's thanks, although it hadn't contributed to the mission at all.
Icon by Civvi the Civilian!
"The answer to that is quite simple, gentlemen. After we transport this Kane back into the Tower, we prop the ice block as close to the indentation as possible and then thaw the area around his head only while keeping the rest of it intact. And then we tip him over and let gravity do the rest." Speaking the best way possible to solve this dilemma, I tapped away at the frozen dictator. The man's visage continued to be vicious and fanatical even behind multiple layers of frozen crystal, his timeless evil on display for all to see. In a way, it would be wonderful seeing such a damnable figure fall...
Vampire Hunter
Sabrina, Einstein's Laboratory
Sabrina had her arms crossed and looked the most disturbed of any of them about the other group bringing back Kane in a block of ice.
"...Qrow's right," Sabrina said to the others, bluntly. "I can tell he's still alive in there and very mad."
"We however do now have supplies that will last us quite a while," She explained to the others. "We should be good for the next few of these missions."
Wizard Needs Food Badly
feeling blue
With their shopping done, everyone headed back to the lab and, conveniently enough, the rest of the group was back from going after their target. Said target was still alive, but frozen in place while having an unsettling look on his face. People began discussing what to do with him, whether they should thaw him out or just shove him like that into the keyhole, one of them even suggesting that this way it would be like he died in his sleep.
"I am not sure if he really is sleeping..." Asgore said to Qrow, sounding a little uncomfortable regarding the whole situation, then looking back at the frozen man with some hesitation. "If we really need to, I can melt the ice around his head. I do think we should bring him to the tower first, however."
The Tower
Sitting by the concrete walls of the second floor of the Tower, the Locksmith awaited the return of the Climbers. Boredom was a concept that for him had died a long time ago. Then, he felt a shift in the air as a group of persons appeared. Frowning, he rose from his seat to welcome the newcomers. More reinforcements...what was the Ruler up to?
The new arrivals would find themselves in the center of a large circular room, the walls made out of smooth grey concrete and unadorned steel plates, with steel beams and pillars for support at even intervals. There were two gates, heavy and military-looking steel portals, one of them decorated with stripes of forbidding black and yellow, the other bearing a indentation of a human skull. There were no windows to tell them what was outside the building, but there was a stairwell leading down to the floor below.
An old man in a plain cloak stepped forward.
"Greetings, new Climbers. I understand that you are confused about where you are now, but please have patience and I will explain everything. You have all been taken here to challenge this Tower between worlds. At the top of the Tower sits the Ruler, who has taken you all here, and those who manage to reach the top will be rewarded with great riches, fantastic treasures and magical and technological marvels beyond imagination. As for me, I am the Locksmith, blessed with immortality and cursed to spend it explaining to the Climbers how to proceed with the floors.."
"On every floor of the Tower, there exists a door such as that one,” he reached out to indicate the unadorned steel gate with the skull mark along one wall “and a portal such as that one.” He pointed to the gate marked with black and yellow. “Beyond the black and gold gates lie different worlds and unknown realms. In these strange worlds, you will need to recover the necessary keys to unlock the grey door. This will unlock the way forward, and allow you passage to the next floor. That is the only way to proceed within the Tower.”
“The keys necessary can be anything. An enchanted object, a single pebble, or an advanced construct. It might even not be an object at all, but a song or particular word or something similarly intangible. It is my job to interpret the lock and tell you what you will be looking for, before you depart into the world past the black and gold gates to recover it."
"The worlds you will be travelling to, they are worlds that do not touch one another originally, but the Tower exists in the world between worlds and thus bridges the Multiverse so that you can travel from one world to another. You will see fantastical realms of magic and sorcery, worlds of science stretched to the breaking point filled with technological wonders, prehistoric savage worlds inhabited by naught but monsters, dark infernal hellscapes of death and fire as well as organized civilizations built over any number of years by any intelligent creature you might imagine. You will see much, and much that you didn't think was possible."
"The Ruler will test you with these worlds. How difficult the worlds are to traverse will vary, and sometimes the keys you are to recover are hard to get to. There will be dangers; monsters, natural disasters, politics...it will not be easy. So look after yourselves and one another. But these are but challenges, not impossibilities. There is no risk of you stepping into a world that will kill you immediately."
"Also, do not worry about the time it takes. As long as you reach the top and can access the treasures of the Ruler, you can choose to travel back to where you were and arrive the exact moment after you departed. These are the same constructs that brought you all here, but I know too little to explain them."
"A group of Climbers is already out in the world past the black and gold gate, and I think they will return soon. Until then, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask."
Join us in our quest to play all RPG video games! Moving on to disc 2 of Grandia!
feeling blue
Dr.Alphys had found herself in a place that was far from familiar, being brought from the comfort of her home and lab to... Somewhere that looked very dull and with no windows to the outside, only some doors. She was about to ask what was going on until an elderly human began explaining things in a way that... Didn't really make any sense to her.
"O-Oh, I see, this must all be a dream, right? Phew... I was starting to get worried," she said with clear relief in her voice.
And yet she couldn't deny how things were looking pretty real right now. The way the man spoke made it sound like she was inside some sort of videogame, but she was pretty sure she never played a game like that before. At first she thought it was some kind of virtual reality, but she still had to get the equipment necessary for that, so it couldn't be it. She walked to one of the walls and tried to touch it and, as she feared, the texture and everything felt very real to her.
After a minute of silence from her as she glanced around and looked at other people that were there, the expression on her voice slowly became more nervous and fearful as she looked back at the elderly human.
"... I-It's not a dream, i-isn't it...?" She asked, her voice shaking as she was afraid of the answer that she would get.
Danny Phantom-The Tower
"Doesn't look like it," Danny replied to the...Doctor Dinosaur. Sure. Danny had seen weirder. Two years of fighting ghosts of all kinds had left Danny a bit desensitized to this kind of craziness. Magic? Technology? Prehistoric Monsters? He'd seen it all before. Didn't mean he was pleased to be here though.
"Yeah, I have a question," Danny said to the Locksmith, arms folded as he floated casually in midair. "Why us? Why'd this so-called "Ruler"," and here Danny was doing full on air quotes, "of yours pluck us from our worlds without any invitation or even asking us if we 'wanted'' to play this game? Because this? This is totally kidnapping."
edited 5th May '17 3:10:54 PM by Dezmo
Germany
"Hmmm, the same time you say?" Einstein said to Gaige, scratching his chin. "Your technologies are so varied, some even bordering upon the fantastical, if I could learn the theories behind them I have no doubt they would further help in the fight against the Soviet Union. Very well, I can't say no to a fan." He held out his right hand to Gaige for a handshake."Besides," he added with a grin. "I'm sure an old dog like me has a few tricks he can teach you."
Lusamine - Germany
Lusamine gazed at Kane's frozen form with a mix of curiosity and sadness. She was certainly not unfamiliar with the idea of preserving beauty in that manner, given her own proclivities. But the man in the ice was a far cry from what she'd call beautiful. Angry, upsetting, disturbing, she could think of dozens of ways to describe the whole thing, none of them positive.Yang - Tower
Yang furrowed her eyebrows as she glanced over the brim of her sunglasses at her new location. Her hands gripped Bumblebee's handles tighter in frustration.She may not have been the best at Geography, but she knew that she sure as hell hadn't wound up here just by taking a wrong turn on the way to Mistral. Fortunately, the old guy calling himself the Locksmith offered some very helpful explanations. Unfortunately, what he was saying wasn't making her happy. It didn't matter if all this bullshit wouldn't take up any time back in Remnant and she went back exactly where and when she came from, she still had to deal with time passing, and she wasn't happy about having to take orders and doing some stupid quest either.
All thoughts on the matter were temporarily put on hold, though, as she realized something.
That was no faunus.
"Holy crap, a talking lizard!"
edited 4th May '17 2:25:58 PM by nman
Stop Killing My Titles
Baron & Claw, How To Kane
"Ain't he dead from deep freeze or what not?" The Baron shrugged in response before nodding. "But whatever ya say, Lil' Major. Am ready to get dat head in da hole any day now."
Claw decided not to comment on the golden idiot's wording, instead focusing on Einstein. "I'll admit, having someone with that kind of brilliancy around sounds good to me. And, more selfishly, I wouldn't mind soaring the skies on a parachute again."
grah
The Mighty Pen
Kashira Lavellan - What It's Worth
Kashira didn't actually remember at what point during the Breach crisis it had happened, and on her darker days, wondered if there had never been any one point at all. How did someone get used to discussing a corpse like the weather? After every fight, there came the crows and carrion birds and the sickly stench of blood, rot, and entrails all smeared together. And so the questions. How many bodies? How heavy? Can we use their gear, sell it? Where do we put their keepsakes? Who's going to write the letters to their families, if we can even find out their names? If we can't burn them, then what? Burying? Leave them for the crows? Toss them into the nearest pit? So casual, the ways in which the disposing of the sad shells and trinkets that had once been people. The worst of it was yet to come, though, when it was done and she could feel outside of battle again. Then came the darkness. But now, she simply said.
"I can cast barrier magic. It should hold if the ice does not, unless he has greater power than you have described. It would be better if you could melt all the ice above his shoulders but that about his head for a thin layer, perhaps."
She then turned to the elder human inventor. Einstein, his name is Einstein. Sounds like an Ander. She managed a warm smile.
"We would be honored to benefit from your learning. Be welcome among us, and if you ever need to go, it isn't a problem. Your people must come first."
A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving. -Lao Tzu
Lucha Libre goddess
Weiss—Lab to Tower—Yang, the pun master has arrived.
"I don't think so," Weiss told the baron with her arms crossed. "He took all of our attacks like it was nothing. It was as if he had unlimited aura. But he didn't even feel pain."
She took her scroll to show him, to see if Aura was indeed Kane's secret. Instead, A flickering image appeared on her scroll. For a moment it seemed like there was a third aura signal from the tower and it was gone just as soon. But it wasn't just anyone's aura.
"No, it can't be," Weiss muttered. " My scroll says someone else with aura is at the tower," she told Qrow. She walked, crossing the portal without saying a word or even looking at anyone.
Weiss exited the portal. Her eyes opened wide open and her pupils shrinked as she saw something even more shocking than a not-faunus lizard talking or even the ghost boy floating casually. It was a blond woman standing outside the tower with a motorcycle.
The long blond hair, that self confidence enough to fill three people, those shiny sun glasses and the relaxed attitude. Many people had those traits, but only one person had all of them in one. It couldn't be anyone else in the whole multiverse.
"Yang!? Is that you?" Weiss told Yang from behind, as she walked in front of her.
She opened her eyes widely and her pupils shrunk even more.
Last time she had seen her, Yang was all depressed for losing her arm. Bed ridden and suffering PSTD. Now she was there taking the whole deal about being kidnapped by a cosmic being beyond their understanding as a mere annoyance.
Her eyes were lost for a second lost at the Yang's new metallic arm.
"You're... diffferent," she told her.
Ruby would have glomped her outright, but the ice queen was much more subdued with her feelings.
Weiss' face hid the warm that she felt inside. The un shattered moon made her feel far from home, but the sun that Yang represented 
◊ made her forget for an instant that they were in strange lands.
Her lips moved up ever so slightly at the sight of Yang. Her presence was unexpected and yet welcome. Joy filled her heart. Her heart beat twice as fast with excitement. But it was a feeling she didn't want to show... especially not to Yang.
"It's good too see you again," she told Yang.
edited 5th May '17 10:39:38 PM by FallenLegend
Make your hearth shine through the darkest night; let it transform hate into kindness, evil into justice, and loneliness into love.
Yang - Tower
Her thoughts on the concept of people-sized lizards that could talk were abruptly interrupted when Yang heard a familiar voice calling out at her. When she had first arrived here she knew she had taken a good look around, or at least as good of a look as she could considering she had just swiveled her head around while the Locksmith spoke. But seemingly out of nowhere, probably due to the portal thing, was Weiss.Small world. Universe. Infinite parallel universes. Whatever it was best described as, it was still small enough to bump into her favorite ultra-rich stoic human teammate all the way out here.
"Different!?" she exclaimed, jumping off of Bumblebee so that she could land in front of the white-haired girl. "Well don't just stand there, it's not like I haven't seen you in months or anything," she added with a grin and gave her a crushing bear hug. "Good to see you too, Ice Queen, but what are you doing all the way out here? Last I heard, you were stuck in Atlas with your boring dad. You get sucked into this dumb tower stuff too?"
Her eyes widened behind her aviators as another thought came to her. "Wait, does this mean Blake and Ruby are here?"
The Kid stood silently next to the frozen Kane, a new bag slung over his shoulder. He'd managed to acquire a bag large enough to conveniently carry all the newly acquired weapons in easily. It was heavy, but not anything the young soldier couldn't handle. Listening as the discussion took place, he was surprised to hear that the older man who reminded him greatly of Rucks was coming along. He didn't know how useful he would be in the tower, where none of his equipment would be, but he saw no reason to say otherwise.
When the discussion turned to how to best deal with the insane, impossible man frozen inside the ice, The Kid simply set about hefting the block back onto his shoulder. Taking a step towards the way back, the teen glanced back over his shoulder. "Why don't we ask the Locksmith? We need to take him into the tower anyway."
Then, he did just that. Passing through the large gate back into the familiar metal room, he paused briefly to take in the sight of the new arrivals. The lizard creature was different, but nothing too odd. He was also surprised to see that apparently someone the girl, Weiss, knew had arrived. He didn't doubt it was purposely done by the god of the tower. He continued his journey, dropping the ice block near the Locksmith and waiting.
Heavy - Vengeance Draws Near
The giant was pleased to see that Einstein would be joining them on their journey. His intelligence would certainly be a great boon to this team. He walked to the tower interior and made a statement, "As soon as he is free from ice, I will put his face on lock." He looked over to see some new people and oddities, one of which the girl in white had recognized.
Scaramouche - Will You Do The Fandango?
Today was a rather... eventful day for Scaramouche. One second, he planned on destroying the village to draw out the Samurai, the next, he was in some drab concrete room with some old man in rags explained the situation. Despite this, he wasn't going to let that bring down his mood as he introduced himself the Climbers new and old in the most subtle manner, "Hel-lo, party people! Please allow me to introduce myself, ba-da-be-ba-ba Scaramouche, baby! The Pied Piper of Ruination, the Crooner of Carnage, the Ambassador of Annihilation, the Eradicator of All!"
It would be quite clear that subtlety is not this machine's strong suit.
"I treasure every day with you, darling." "No need to be so sappy, love." "You know that's how she is, Nia." - AU!Pyra, Nia, Mythra
"..." Among the various newcomers was something that could only be described as a full-plated suit of armor, though the plating adorning the outer shell of the thing looked to be especially thick and heavy- to the point that it seemed impractical for a human being to be able to move in with their own power. At an even seven feet tall, the mechanical knight stood as impassively as an ornamental armor would, though the menacing air it emanated was far more respectable than those of the hollow plates.
It was however the magical music that was Scaramouche that caused the titanium titan to twitch ever so slightly, crystal eyes flashing to life and staring towards the robot's general direction with an almost fervent glare. "Fascinating! I was hesitating earlier but with such a prime specimen of robotics engineering such as yourself..." A young voice that was as musical as the legendary cherub's resounded from the metal casing, greatly at odds with the intimidating appearance of the power armor in question.
With a hissing sound of escaping steam, the core opened up to reveal... a rather feminine and slender looking young teenager with silvery blue hair.
◊ "This might be fun after all if there's robots around. The AI alone makes it amazing!~" Ernesti Echevarria said with a pleased smile, the kind that would send shivers up the spine of those most familiar with his eccentricities. "Yes... this is... manageable.~" Heat flashed in the boy's eyes as he looked Aku's third best robot assassin up and down like a hungry lion looking at its prey.
edited 6th May '17 11:19:02 AM by Makaioh
Stop Killing My Titles
Claw & Baron, That's That In Kaneuniverse
Both of the aforementioned returned to the tower shortly after Kid grabbed Kane and carried him in. The business with this world was finished by now.
Claw's attention was brought by who appeared to be a friend of Miss Schnee. "We're all stuck here until we can climb to the very top, lass. It seems to be the case for most of us, anyway."
The magnificent opulence that was The Blacker Baron, meanwhile, was slightly bummed that he didn't actually get to help with the ice block of Kane. Plus, that big Ivan probably deserved the catharsis much more than anyone else here. For now he decided it's best to simply focus on new arrivals.
And one was something else. "Muddafuckin' A for dat kinda entrance." He flashed a gold-plated grin at Scaramouche. "Brudda, ya lookin' at da Blacker Baron, Your Favorite Pimp's Favorite Pimp's Pimp, Da Phoenix of Altambra. With those kind of 'em nicknames, I guess ya ain't much of a good guy. Dem self-appointed or do ya got sum bad rep?"
grah
Medusa - Tower
She really wished she could say that this was a new experience. The witch suddenly found herself standing in this nondescript concrete room, with the only architecture of note being large ornate doors. Many varied people and creatures surrounded her, showing signs of their own confusion. It was not hard for her to guess what was going on. Almost immediately there was an old man, who almost seemed to be waiting for them, sitting right there to explain the situation this group found themselves in. His speech seemed almost practiced, they were far from the first to go through this. Her assumption was confirmed when he mentioned a group before them.
None of the others didn't seem to have anything important to add when the Locksmith opened himself up to questions. Just the usual surprise at the unexpected. Medusa decided to pull her hood down and take a step close to the Locksmith. His explanation of this Ruler was pretty vague, so it was possible it could relate to the last time she went through one of these games. "I have a question. Does the word 'Nomad' relate to this tower in any way?" she asked.
A dogged fellow, aren't we?
LOADING - BOOTING SYSTEM
Commencing System Check
Memory Unit: Green
Initialising Tactics Log
Loading Geographic Data
Vitals: Green
Remaining MP: 100%
Black Box Temperature: Normal
Black Box Internal Pressure: Normal
Activating IFF
Activating FCS
Initialising Pod Connection
Launching DBU Setup
Activating Inertial Control System
Activating Environmental Sensors
Equipment Authentication: Complete
Equipment Status: Green
All Systems Green
Combat Preparations Complete
2B - Tower
There was a moment of disorientation as 2B opened her eyes to see an unfamiliar room, full of unfamiliar people. She did not remember shutting down. With a cascade of yellow particles, she summoned her weapons to her back and drew her smaller sword, dropping into a ready stance, eyes darting too and fro looking for an ambush that never came.
Once it was clear that no attack was imminent, her attention focused on this strange wrinkled-looking man, and she stood silently listening as he explained the situation, slowly standing up straight once again, her frown deepening. If she took him on his word, his information reassured her in a few small ways - she would not have to leave 9S alone for too long if she reached the top of this tower - and troubled her in many more.
A quiet, angry sigh escaped from her lips. She'd only just discovered the possibility of a peaceful existence, and now she'd been snatched away from it so this Ruler could play with her like some human child's toy.
Wait... as that thought crossed her mind, she turned her attention to the others in the chamber.
“Pod, are those…”
“Affirmative." The small, boxy robot hovering over her shoulder spoke up, its voice male and interlaced with an electronic buzz. "Biological scans indicate that several of the units present are human. Hypothesis: the events that resulted in the depopulation of the human race did not occur in other universes.”
For a moment, 2B’s face softened beneath her blindfold. Humans. Actual living humans. The thought stirred something in her, something deep in her core programming. She firmly suppressed the irrational urge to touch one of the humans with her fingertips.
“Proposal: Unit 2B should query the unit designated as ‘the Locksmith’ to gather additional information.”
The pale woman shook herself out of her reverie and strode towards the Locksmith, settling her sword back in its place behind her shoulders. Right on the heels of the hooded woman's questions, the steely-faced android added her own.
"How many floors are there in this tower? What kind of support or interference can we expect from the Ruler?
edited 6th May '17 3:35:41 PM by LittleMako
"Thank you for your help in extraction, gentlemen." Giving a nod of thanks to those nice chaps driving the stealth vehicles along with a crisp salute, I floated on about the place while casting keeping my attention on the immediate surroundings. Having experienced situations that have overturned right at the very end of a mission, I wanted to be sure that things truly go well before letting down my guard else everything would be for naught. Rifle primed, I slowly swept the location while using magic reinforcement to bolster eyesight.