P The Dirges of Andraeste

[Universe]

imported post - darkfox

The blare of digital billboards were dulled out by the thrumming of thousands of cars as they passed through the streets, their inhabitants going about their daily lives. Some would have considered the noise soothing. Dylon certainly did; unfortunately, the sound was lost amidst the sound dampeners the police station had installed for efficiency, and what little came through was easily drowned out by the constant frantic chattering of specialists and the shrill ringing of many, many phones.


Leaning on a desk, Dylon could only just claim that he was being patient; frustration, while not explicitly on his face, was etched all about his demeanor. This was the seventh crime this week that could be linked to the mysterious group the irritating media had now taken to call “The Dirges of Andraeste.” Idiots, the lot of them. Trying to prey on the fear of the average civilian, making the police department look bad… This was the exact opposite of what Dylon needed. The police needed people to give them information, not think they were incompetent. All the more reason to be glad that Andrew, that buffoon, was finally removed from service.


“..Detective? Sir?” Dylon snapped back to reality, as he focused back onto the hapless, tired woman trying to regain his attention, as she was gesturing to a digital blackboard, with various tabs open displaying different video angles of this particular crime- which just so happened to resemble the classic heist normally seen in movies. Except, in this case, they had robbed a company of schematics of one of their top secret projects, and also had the courtesy to delete information regarding it as well.


The same hand signals, the same terminology… the same professionalism. While the clothing they wore was different, their faces were still masked. Last time, it was animal masks. This time, it was an all-identical Fawkes mask getup. Cliche, for a group of criminals undergoing what was effectively a hack’n’slash. Regardless, there was precious little else to glean that was unique, even after yet another half-hour of scrutinizing the videos, after cross-referencing the witnesses, after combing through the scene. Nothing noteworthy to add, except it was all done oh-so-cleanly, but that was now on-par with what this group did.


Fifteen minutes later, and Dylon was slumped in his chair in his office, taking a blessed moment of rest. Between this and Eius’ public denouncings of the police department, this week was terrible indeed. Oh, could Dylon not wait to see Elliath; Aodh and Asteri should be coming home this weekend as well. At least there was something to look forward to.


It wouldn’t be long before a brief knock was heard at the door to his office. A man in his mid-twenties, dressed in rather plain clothing stood at his doorway. “Excuse me sir, but would you happen to be Detective Renelon? I can read the nameplate, but it never hurts to be sure.”, came the man’s greeting as he gave a nod to the detective. He wasn’t alone out in the hallway, the hint of a feminine figure at his side with him, the peak of horns just visible from around the side of the doorframe.


Stepping in, the man was already sure he had found the person that reception had directed him too. “I am Heinrich, my companion here is Gale. I do hope we are not intruding, but I must speak with you on some important matters”. His smile was warm, yet intelligent, a bit more dignified than your average citizen at that.


Galestrix had to duck her head a moment to fit through the door, pulling her wings in close to help avoid impacting them, following Heinrich into the room. She gave a smile and a nod to the Detective, standing to the side. Herself and Heinrich had gotten plenty of looks by all sorts on their way in, though it was likely more directed towards her. She wasn't exactly 'plain' by most standards.


Dressed in a pair of black latex leggings, knee high boots, a not quite fully transparent latex sports top with a royal purple jacket helping to draw the gaze to the top. "Hello." She said, settling in next to Heinrich in the room.


Dylon’s eyes raked across the duo. While, admittedly, the draconian figure that dominated the room was the first attention-grabber- after all, Dylon had only heard about the so-called Vaigarin species that the core worlds were so well acquainted with- the more regal figure, the one that clearly was the one that called the shots between these two, pulled his inquisitive eyes away from the more exotic sight. He raised an eyebrow at the younger man’s words, folding his hands in front of him. No, you dolt, I’m Lord Dobrius of Dog- “Yes, I am Detective Renelon. You assumed correctly.”


...Thank the fates that his secretary warned him. Gave him enough time to prepare, if just barely. This young man didn’t like waiting, it seemed. And he had royal authority to back up his impatience. Whatever the matter be, it had better not be a trivial thing, like, Dylon didn’t know, order a manhunt for someone who probably would have been better caught if they just quietly pursued him. Dylon had enough on his hands at the moment.


..And after this young man- Heinrich- introduced himself and his companion- Gale- he then went on, talking about “important matters.” What these matters were, and why they were so important, well, Dylon just had to ask, didn’t he? “And these matters of great import are..?” At least he didn’t prattle on like some other royal delegates liked to do, Dylon gave him that. But best to get this matter resolved quickly. No rest for the wicked. Or rather, the wicked allowed for no rest.


Galestrix laughed. "I think he's got enough on his plate that dancing around the matter is not advised here Heinrich." She said, glancing at the young man next to her. "Not that I'm surprised, from what I've been hearing about these 'dirge' idiots. The people aren't giving the police enough credit for what they're dealing with." She continued. "But, I'm just tagging along."


A small chuckle escaped the young man’s lips with a smile at Gale’s comment. He met Dylon’s gaze with a suddenly serious look, “It has come to the attention of the royal family, as well as council of six, that Andraeste seems to be dealing with an increasingly difficult terrorist issue. To put it bluntly, Renelon, we are here to gauge that threat and gather information, on behalf of the core government of the NDC.” At the back of his mind, Heinrich was kinda worried that he was talking too much, and concerned they wouldn’t be taken seriously. “We were told that you may have the best sources for such information, and perhaps even data that may shed some light on a series of very strange cases. Particularly the robberies that have been committed by this group.”


Dylon leaned back in his chair, staring at the man intently. Terrorist group? ...Thinking about it, it made sense. An echo of what was nagging him before floated back to the detective’s consciousness. The same hand signals, the same terminology… the same professionalism. “Hel’s skeletal vagina, this changes the game.” At that curse, Dylon grimaced. He was glad Elliath wasn’t around. But regardless, this made the seemingly random acts of this group much more… insidious. Perhaps, even, their madness had a sense of order now. Thinking back on this week alone: Two bank robberies. Three store raids, one on a building supplies yard. One business scandal. And that hack and slash.


He finally spoke up. “This certainly helps enlighten things. Not by much, but enough to know that this just became much more serious and deadly.” At that, he stayed silent for a moment, before continuing on: “This group, what the media likes calling ‘the Dirges of Andraeste,’ has only been active this past month. In the last three weeks, they’ve committed 4 bank heists and multiple smaller scale robberies, have been implicated in 6 scandals involving businesses, a hack and slash, and have even performed two assassinations- one on a regional corporation manager, another on a planetary.” Dylon internally winced at mentioning that.


The planetary manager incident was enough to infuriate said corporation to pull out of Middenheim. And that was not good for the planet’s industry, not at all. Partially the reason why he was head detective now. ...For how long, he didn’t know. Maybe this man was the savior needed to finally uproot this insidious threat. Maybe this man would end up blundering and give these now-terrorists another card up their sleeve. Regardless, if what Heinrich said was true, then the nobility themselves were getting involved. ...And, well, Njord favored the bold. Better take the gamble, and involve the agent.


“And in this recent week, they have been more active than ever. They have performed two bank robberies, three raids on stores, a business losing thousands of credits to a now-defunct charity, and just recently, a hack and slash on KiCom.” At that, he raised his hand up. “Now, in normal circumstances, we would suspect that the raiders were attempting to steal and replicate one of KiCom’s prototypes. However, KiCom representatives have… assured… us that the materials that this group has been stealing was not relevant to what they were developing on this planet.” ...Nevermind that KiCom shouldn’t have had ANY knowledge of what was being stolen beforehand. ...But now Dylon began to suspect that KiCom was on full damage control, attempting to steer off blame before it could even happen.


“Bearing in mind that this group is now a terrorist cell, I have reason to suspect otherwise now. However, I do not know exactly what was stolen, as KiCom is very… protective.. of their blueprints.” ...That, and the representative was an insufferable bastard who had more grease laden in his words than a lawyer, who threatened legal action if the police department pushed matters further. It didn’t matter if KiCom won or lost, and KiCom knew it. They just had to give the public the idea that Middenheim’s police department didn’t care about their citizens’ privacy.


Gale gives a small nod, listening. "We, have reason to believe that the Dirges are attempting to disrupt a Royal Corps R&D project that had several major developments underway here on this world." Gale said, glancing at Heinrich. "KiCom is keeping quiet publicly because of contractual obligations with the Royal Corps Developmental Research Group." She stated. "And before you ask, we cannot divulge the information of what that project is, not even to you Detective."


"The fact it's being targeted at all, already is telling. Someone is leaking information in the Intel network. We want to know who if possible." Heinrich rubbed the bridge of his nose at all the information, almost wishing he was back at the University already. He sighed himself before continuing, "I suppose the next step is to make an inquiry to the board of KiCom. Among other leads to follow."


Dylon pinched the nose of his bridge. So that’s why KiCom was being so damned stubborn in their silence. ...Well, if they didn’t want to divulge exactly what was stolen, then there was nothing to be done there. However… “That’ll make it much harder for us to predict what exactly will be targeted next. I know it’s safe to assume it’s material related to crystalized mana gems, and other such methods of storing mana and energy, but..” Dylon wasn’t a trained materials scientist, he was a detective.


One of his trademark sighs. “Well, your best bet would be to head to Aldersonn Research Center. There’s a local fair in the department- a mix of tech-showcase, as well as a con for many different anime and comics. The focus is on ‘inspiring a zeal for developing the future,’ and KiCom is spearheading the showcasing. The Planetary Rep is going to be there, from what the various pamphlets and ads boast on about.”


...Aesir help him, he needed coffee. Where was Elliath and her wonderful brewing skills when he needed her? Headache aside, he threw the die, and Njord favor the results. And if the government refused to be cooperative and leave Middenheim’s local police in the dark on much of the evidence, then Dylon could not do anything about that. ...He honestly wished he could wish the pair good luck, but this entire meeting with the revelations dropped on him left a sour taste in his mouth.


Heinrich gave a nod, before offering thanks for the information, "Much appreciated detective. That will be our first move upon leaving here. I'll make sure to pass along any non-sensitive information to you and your precinct. We may need your assistance in the future if things become more risky."


The younger man offered his hand to shake, "Hopefully we get the chance to work together, under less shrouded circumstances in the future."


Gale smiled and nodded. "Thank you for your assistance Detective. I sincerely hope that we're able to stop this soon, with no further disruptions to daily life. I'd rather not have to involve the military any more than we absolutely have to." She said, "Suffice to say, I imagine we'll be as reliant upon you for success as you are on us."


Dylon just shook his head. “If Fates permit. Good luck dealing with.. well. Good luck.” At that, he grabbed a datapad, and briskly squeezed past the two, walking out to the main area, his calling clearly heard.


~-~-~-~-~


Asteri’s face remained emotionless, almost daring not to breathe. Did… did he seriously just do THAT? Of all the things he could have done, he chose to do that? Didn’t he know what she was capable of, how she could mess up that plan so badly, how she could use that to beat him?


...Apparently not.


Asteri flashed a triumphant smile at her opponent, playing a card off of her little card dueler. As soon as her chosen opponent saw it, his shoulders sagged. “What? How did you manage to squeeze that card into your deck?”


“I AM playing a Black/Blue build, y’know.”


“...Yeah, but it sure felt like you stuffed it on the blues!”


At that, Asteri lifted a hand to her mouth and giggled. That little shuffle of hers certainly put off his card counting. Granted, while he did card count, aside from that, he was a good opponent. But Asteri won, and her reward for winning this mini-tournament was…


A card booster set. Asteri was sincerely hoping that there would be a good card in there somewhere! As she swaggered off with her prize, Verity joined her.


“Huh. Looks like we were right. He WAS card counting.”


“Don’t hold it too much against him; it honestly felt like it was a habit of his. And besides~! I managed to distract him enough to throw off his counting! He couldn’t keep up with my lightning fast shuffle techniques!”


“...Asteri, your shirt neckline is sagging again.”


“WAIT, WHAT!?”


Verity smiled as she innocuously pointed out Asteri’s other great distraction, as Asteri frantically tried pulling the sleeves of her shirt back up to prevent them from sliding off.


“So, you ready to see the cool concepts and tech they’re showing off today?”


“Yeah!


…


...Uh, where exactly is it, again?”


Verity sighed, and grabbed Asteri’s elbow, leading her down the large corridor packed with various displays, before stopping at the entryway to where various companies and corporations had set up display booths, showcasing just exactly what they were proficient in.


“...It sucks that Aodh wasn’t able to make it.”


“...Yeah, well, his mana rot had a surge, and he had to stay in the hospital while they tried stabilizing him. It’s a shame, but I feel really bad for Dad. I know he was looking forward to seeing both of us.”


Verity looked around, a bit awkwardly, playing around with her glasses, before pointing out to a trio of others. “There! There’s Dawn, Cyrus, and Sig!”


As the pair made their way to the other three, Asteri could hear Sig loudly gushing in his rather high pitched voice: “So, where should we stop first? LAS’s optics booth? Maybe KiCom’s Mana battery? Sola’s model spacecraft look so cool!”


Asteri bumped into someone. “Oh, excuse me. Sorry, it’s hard to maneuver around here!” The man she bumped into did NOT look happy at all, scowling at her. But then, his face transformed into… recognition? Asteri couldn’t pinpoint it, before his expression reverted to neutral, and he rushed off, disappearing into the crowd.


“Ruude!” Verity cried, as she flipped the bird at where the man had gone.


“Don’t dwell too hard on it, Verity. C’mon, let’s meet up with the others!”


~-~-~-~-~


Galestrix pulled the car into an empty parking space. Sadly, the lots were packed nearer to the complex, and the crowds streaming around it hindered traffic further. So they were at least 20 minutes walking from the event. "Sorry. This is the closest I could get to us." She said, looking over at Heinrich. They'd swung by the hotel they were at for some additional items, specifically personal arms, and potentially things to help them blend in a little better. Gale had not once been to a convention, at least not one of this sort, so she'd not changed. Heinrich however, seemed to have gotten a grin on his face that had her worried only slightly.


Looking at those moving towards the center, she could see why he'd opted to dress as he had. It was something that didn't really stand out that much after all, despite looking like it absolutely should in normal. "Are you still sure about this?" She asked, giving him an askance look at his outfit.


The young prince was now dressed as a character he was very fond of, as a more casual watcher of the type of entertainment represented here. “Tis fine my dear darling, as no distance is too harrowing for Shemlock Belmes. We have a mystery to solve, and it should be quite elementary if we use our heads.”, he said with that wide grin, enjoying himself far too much. Heinrich was a constant participant at raves, but that wasn’t all his hobbies, and he quite liked the professor types of characters.


It was a tight decision between who he was dressed as now, and a character from a series called Binary Plasma. “Try not to judge me too harshly Gale, I am just enjoying myself while we’re on the clock. Besides, the waistcoat makes a great way for concealing our weapons and such. I make a good professor, don't ya’ think?”


Gale sighed and shook her head. "I was afraid you'd say that. As for being a good professor, I should hope so, owing you are a Professor at the Obsidian Royal University." She replied, checking that her own weapon was securely strapped onto the small of her back. Not that she needed one, but it was easier to work with than trying to transform in the middle of a building not designed for a fully changed Vaigarin.


"Let's get going then." She stated flatly, opening the door and stepping out of the car, flapping her wings and snapping her tail a couple times each to get feeling back into them after being in a vehicle not meant for her kind. "Next time though, we bring a Fucon designed car." She grumbled. Nonetheless, once that was handled, and the vehicle locked, they walked towards the convention.


“Sorry, it was the only kind available this far out. I guess I should invest in my own ship in the near future, or find someone who can give me access to there’s when needed. Then we won’t have to locally source cars in the colonies.” He was quick to catch up, placing an arm around her waist with a kiss on the cheek, “I’ll make it up to you, promise. And I hope you can find some enjoyment in this convention too, they do usually have pretty good food vendors and other merchandise.”


With a wink, he couldn’t help but to be chipper, having rare chances for outings like this much less as often with Gale as he would like. His gaze was as energetic in exploring the sights as they approached, and finally entered the convention center, with colorful costumes and displays alike. It was partly shameful, to say that he recognized just as many of the tech showcases so far, as he did those of popular animation shows. “Some days, I even question if I'm a bit too indulgent of these kinds of entertainment.”, he said idley to himself, as well as Gale.


Galestrix chuckled. "I wouldn't say that. I just haven't been able to grasp onto them as well as you have due to all the media forms the NDC having being so much more than I'm used to." She says, smiling at his kiss. "Besides," She started, pausing to look around, "I think I'm going to be the focus of a lot of attention here, despite dressing as myself." She pointed out, as more than a few people were literally stopping in their tracks and staring at the pair. "I get they might not know of Vaiagains, but could they at least act like they're not star struck?"


“Hon, you’re literally a dragon girl, which to be honest. Is actually a very popular character type, and the fact they exist, would have these people passing out in awe if they knew. So please don’t judge them too harshly, I can’t blame them for staring.” Heinrich gave a good chuckle, finding enough reason already to constantly stare at her himself. It in a way, made the decision he had been planning for years now, all the more important to him. That being said, there were more reasons then just being a bombshell dragon girl to him, as to why he loved her so dearly.


Looking around, he saw all the added signage for the event, noting the specific areas of interest for entering attendees. He gave her a nudge and pointed at one sign in particular, noting the main science expo area, “If we’re looking for the kiosk of a big company like KiCom, it will definitely be in the main area.”


Gale looked over, and saw. However, they had to do one thing first. "We still need to get passes into the convention, right?" She asked, pointing to a sign nearby that stated passes were required to go in. The expo area was past that point. "So, how are you gonna handle this? I don't think we can flash your royal credentials willy-nilly, and while we could budget the expense for this, as it is in the course of our investigation, I don't think we want to cause a scene either."


Her statement already a bit late, as they were starting to get a gathering crowd. One person walked, or rather, was shoved forward. "E-excuse me... Miss? Can, can we get a snap with you?"


Galestrix blinked, and looked at Heinrich, to see his reaction.


He only gave her a dumb grin, “Well too late for that. You have fun, enjoy your growing fandom, and I’ll buy the passes. I look forward to seeing the prints of your photogenic beauty on the blogs hahaha.” Heinrich couldn’t help but enjoy the comedy of the situation as he walked over to the tellers, before pulling out some script and passing it over to the teller. “Two adults for admission,” he said before they were laser printed and handed over, “and much appreciated!”


Stepping back over, he only leaned against a pillar with a grin, watching as a literal line formed to take pictures. Numerous species and genders, all very eager to see the woman, who most likely only saw as a very skilled cosplayer. Taking a quick optical capture with his eyes, he grinned as he saved it to the memorable moments folder on his Geist implant. “Please my dear, do call on me if you require aid. A gentleman never leaves his lady in times of distress.” he called over accent and all thrown in of being in character again, before giggling at it all again.


As person after person came over, and requested her image taken, Galestrix smiled slightly. Okay, she couldn't deny she wasn't having some fun with this, but she was still keeping her eyes out to try and catch sight of Heinrich for his return. Of course, one of the most commonly asked questions as she was posing with various folks, was who she was supposed to be cosplaying as.


It actually took someone from Sirris II, who was here for the convention, to walk up and grin. "So Madam Bahum, what brings you out here?" He asked, causing Gale to pause and blink, before he began to pose.


"Work mostly." She says, surprised the man recognized her Family so readily. Not that she knew anything about him. "I'm just waiting for my companion to return with our passes to enter the convention." She said, finishing the pose. Thankfully it seemed the excitement was finally dying down. Of course, she had requested that any images that people had taken were to be sent to her Geist, if only so she could see how they actually turned out compared to her being part of them.


Getting a moment's reprieve, she spotted Heinrich next to a pillar, she walked over. "Well? We going in?" She asked, sounding rather upset and miffed about the whole thing, but Heinrich could tell she'd enjoyed herself immensely, if only because the tip of her tail was wiggling a happy little dance.


He handed her a pass, “Sorry to keep you waiting, I didn’t want to interrupt. Something tells me you aren’t too cross with me about it though. Let’s get going though, I'm sure there is far more to do and see, between here and the KiCom kiosk.” Heinrich kept from chuckling more, his grin subdued for her benefit as she acted pouty in a way he adored. This place was so active, and full of stands and booths along the way. It was as he had said outside, everything from tech expositions, food, entertainment venues, meet and greets, as well as enough merchandise to make even dedicated merchants balk at.


Gale nodded, taking the pass and clipping it onto her jacket. As they stepped into the convention proper, she couldn't help but take in the sights and sounds as they walked. After all, it was her first convention, but she at least had enough sense of what she was here for to avoid being completely pulled off track.


~-~-~-~-~


As Asteri and Verity joined up the rest of their group and gotten the greetings and excited beginning chatter through, Dawn, who just so happened to be facing towards the windowed exterior of the science center, pointed out excitedly: “Oooh, look! Someone come as a dragonewt, and they did their costume really well!” The others turned around to observe what dawn was enthusiastic about, and spotted the cosplayer easily; it wasn’t that hard, considering she was standing a good head taller than most other people. A good moment of ogling later, before Sig said a bit ruefully: “Too bad we’ll never get to her. As soon as she steps in, you can bet a line will be forming to take pictures with her. Look how many people outside are already doing that?”


Cyrus just shook his head. “No use worrying about it, guys. Maybe we’ll get a chance later, when everyone gets used to the sight. Right now, let’s focus on the displays, eh?” The collective mumble of agreement from the rest quickly decided the plan, and they entered the tech display area.


Sig made an instant beeline for Sola’s aircraft display, calling out to the others, “C’mon, I want to show you guys what my brother has been working on! The engine design he came up with is really neat.”


“Wait, you came here before, without us?”


“Ah, er.. Only to visit this one! I wanted to see what exactly my brother had been working on.”


As the group came up to Sola’s table, Sig stopped short in surprise. “Hum… where are the other guys that were here before? They switch out or something?” The table was currently staffed by two people in the standard business suits, one male, one female. The woman’s attention was drawn to Sig on his comment, and she smiled a bit at him. “Well, we’re a different shift. You really don’t think that two people can keep up this work all day, do you?” Sig gave a sheepish nod at that.


Meanwhile, the man was staring rather intently at Asteri. It was starting to get creepy, if Asteri was being perfectly honest with herself. “Uh, is there something wrong, sir?” Upon that comment, the man jumped a bit, before shaking himself, and saying in a rushed manner: “M-my apologies! Your face just seemed familiar; have you ever applied to Sola before?”


“Uh, I don’t think I have? I’m not interested in aerospace design, soo….” Then again, Data analysis only partially interested her too. It was rather dull, just pouring over useless data; at least the exploration trips her college clubs sometimes took her on were fun.


The woman, who had leaned down, seemingly gathering something, popped back up rather quickly. “Oh, excuse us. Sorry, but we had another company share your resume with us! You seemed like a prospective employee, but, well, we weren’t exactly looking to hire anyone, even as tempting as you were with your credits.” Whereupon Asteri blinked a bit confusedly at that, but that sounded reasonable enough, if annoying, that companies were passing around her resume like some sort of card. “W-well, that’s nice and all, but I don’t think I would be interested in doing data analysis for a company like yours, that focuses on air flow… and.. Stuff like that.”


At that point, Sig interrupted their conversation, excitedly asking, “Oh, this just came to me! How does the display look for the engine GUI? I know the engine pulls from-” Sig was interrupted rather quickly by the two corporate reps, who had given each other a quick look. “I’m sorry, but some stuff we can’t disclose. Company secrets, and all that.”


“O-oh… Well, uh…”


A stifling moment of silence later, before Verity rather hurriedly pointed to their nearest escape route, a company showcasing how mana could be used to replicate anti gravity. “That looks cool! Let’s go check that one out!” As the group left, Asteri turned her head to take one last look at what could have been a potential employer, though she admitted her ears twitched a bit with confusion as she saw the man making a repeated movement with his fingers, his arms a fair distance from his head. It looked almost like a stress induced response, the way the four fingers kept on rotating touching the thumb. This pair wasn’t exactly the friendliest, come to think of it…


Dawn’s gasp of surprise quickly turned her attention away from the strange corporate pair, and onto the next booth.


The duo as they entered, almost didn’t seem like they were there as anything but attending the convention. Heinrich was taking a few seconds to look over the booths as they passed by, on top of the continuous attention that Gale seemed to gather from many. “You know dear, you’re pretty eye-catching, but I would almost say it's safe to say that you’ve stolen the show.”, the costumed man said to his companion with a grin that had lost no intensity. “I might have to use that to our advantage at this rate. Hard to see past all those being drawn over, so I might have to step away to spot our particular interest.”


Galestrix rolled her eyes. "Really? Maybe I should left you here and dealing with all this. I'm not exactly the one used to handling crowds pressing in just to see you." She said, shaking her head as they walked, and having to tell folks no, she wasn't available for photos more often than not, since every time she had, they'd had to stop in full and wait several minutes to get going again. And she may enjoy it, but she was still trying to stay on top of her job here, which was to get through these bloody crowds.


As Asteri and company pushed through the crowd, there was a quiet, yet frantic movement in a few of the stalls on the sides; eventually, however, this subsided as the group began to separate, with the standard agreeances to meet back up at the entrance of the sectional exhibit. Whereas Sig and Cyrus mulled about the carbon-fiber alloy demonstration, Verity’s interest was caught by Halitone’s theoretical gene-splicing of ape and man to produce a strange creature with fairly large feet. Dawn, on the other hand, was drawn to the bright and extravagant displays that the holographic showcase provided.


And Asteri? Asteri, well, the mana-batteries of KiCom caught her attention. Maybe it was time she tried upgrading her DEF caster; she needed something to commemorate her recent graduation from the academy, after all... As she approached the stall, a man hastily popped up from underneath the table, straightening his suit, giving a suave grin at the oncoming customer. “Greetings, and welcome to KiCom’s humble stall! What brings you here today?”


“Oh, nothing much. Just looking at the different batteries.”


“Ah, is that so?” After a moment’s silence, the man spoke up again. “Well, you just so happen to be in luck; KiCom is selling some crystals at the moment, right here at this stall.”


At that, Asteri started. “What, you’re not sold out? It looked like you were earlier!”


To which the man chuckled, seeming a bit sheepish. “Well, uh. You see, we have some extra stock, but KiCom doesn’t like selling out of everything in one go, see? So, this one I’m gonna show you, isn’t supposed to happen per say.. But you look like you may be in need of a crystal, and I’m sure you don’t want to spend any more than what you have to, right?”


Asteri nodded; he was right, that was for sure… She had a bit of trouble looking for a job… Well, let’s rephrase that. She’d been having trouble finding a job purely because of her resume. The past two interviews… well, their requests to ‘guarantee’ her joining were obscene, to put it in the least. She had NO interest in doing it with the last one, a fat slug if she ever saw one…


But regardless, she was tight on money. So, he was offering her… what? Crystals that KiCom liked to ration out throughout the day to keep consistent sales? Maybe to jack it up higher? And this one took pity on her? Lucky break for her.


“Well, then. Let’s see what you have!”


The man held up a hand. “Woah, woah, miss. Didn’t you hear me? I said I’m not supposed to actually sell this; what d’you think they’d think if I just openly handed you a crystal, right where others could see and complain?” He made a waving motion with his hands upon seeing Asteri’s now skeptical face. “Now, now. This isn’t anything too shady. I promise, I’m not trying to do anything. I really can’t, can I? Doing anything out in the open would be stupid.”


...Asteri had to give him that. “So, what now? Get behind the counter and grab a crystal?”


“Not quite, miss. Let me give it to you discreetly, quickly, then come back over the counter and give me the money, which you can see is listed here…”


Asteri scrunched up her face, but the promise of a glittering mana-crystal for cheap was too much to resist. She began to slide around the booth, moving to get behind the table. However, right as she got around the table, a voice called out above the din: “Who in the Nine Layers are you!? You’re not one of the people I brought with me!” Asteri turned her head, seeing yet another suit-clad businessman angrily pushing his way to KiCom table, hand halfway pulling out a phone.


And just like that, Asteri felt an arm wrap around her waist just below her chest, before she was roughly jammed up against the once-suave man. “Stay back, or this one won’t be breathing for much longer!” The hubbub of activity and noise stopped for a moment, as everyone turned to see what was causing the ruckus. Then it sank in, and the frantic flight began. But in that time of calm, two more suit-clad individuals appeared behind Asteri’s captor, both of them holding out what appeared to be heavy pistols. And neither one of them were aiming at the man who held her. Asteri struggled, but unfortunately, the man had an iron grip, and growled at her, “Stop moving, bitch, or else you will get a bullet in your lovely little head!”


...Wherupon the man on his right leaned in, and in a low tone only him, and Asteri, could hear: “Negative. You know the client’s deal.” Meanwhile, the other one was rummaging through his pocket with one hand, the other firmly on his pistol, his cybernetics clear as day to Asteri’s close-up inspection. Asteri only growled in frustration.


"Well it seems someone pointed it out for us. Let's go around behind them while they're distracted.", Came Heinrich's whisper as he spoke to Gale. Giving her a touch on the elbow as a signal to where they were going, he made sure his weapon was secure under his costume's coat. It wasn't much, just an ISD issued compact pistol with stun rounds, and a pair of small flashbangs.


Slipping out of the gawking crowd circled around the scene, the prince came around the edge of them, before slipping back in where he needed to. Sending an urgent message to the detective, he established a live feed from his eyes, even as his hand gently gripped his concealed weapon. {Gale, while they’re distracted, and we still have an opening. We should attack the other two in unison, pinching the final third between us and security.}, would be the plan he sent Gale as the drew closer.


Giving a quick nod, Gale reached to the small of her back, and tightened her grip on the pistol. After all, the plan was capture, not kill. Otherwise, she'd have stuck to claw, fang and tail. No, she had to make sure that they at least survived. So, she followed through with Heinrich's plan, moving carefully to avoid being immediately noticed as the people dispersed at the indication of violence. Once she'd gotten into a good spot, she drew her pistol, and checked the magazine.


Everything looked good on her part, and so she slid it home and racked the slide. At least she'd been given a complete training course as expected of the Royal Corps. She had to clear the Basic Training Course and Basic Officer's Course after all. {In position and awaiting your go.}


Heinrich gripped the gun as he pulled it from it’s holster, drawing the .40 and taking aim as he sent the signal, before taking his shot on the nearest assailant. The stun gel round would hit his target in the back, with a strong release of electrical charge that was spread through the gel as it impacted against the body. It was basically like getting smacked with a taser on a baseball bat, the bruise, and a stunning shock twice the discharge of a normal taser. He was happy in how effective the round proved to be for unlethal use.


The man holding Asteri jerked as the two men flanking him suddenly crumpled, and he looked around nervously, before attempting to focus on the assailants who had downed his... compatriots. He didn’t get that far, however, as Asteri savagely jabbed her card dueler into the man’s side, with enough force to break it off. As he gasped in pain and slackened his grip, Asteri tore herself away from him, turning around as she did so. Once she was turning to face him, her hand flicked up, a glowing card appearing in said hand. She thrust the now-occupied hand forward, clenching her loose hand into a fist, and the card disappeared in a flash, before not even a second later a bright light flashed in front of the man, blinding him. While the man threw up his arms in front of his eyes, Asteri took that moment to backpedal away from the man.


Just in time, too. As she was backing towards the duo who had caused the distraction, probably saving her, the sound of fire crackling reached her ears. Her ears turned before her head did, but as she craned her neck, she caught sight of the woman from the aerospace stall throwing a fireball at the stand as she ran for the nearest exit. What is she- She didn’t have time to finish that thought, as soon as the ball of fire hit the stand, it exploded.


Asteri was thrown off her feet, landing on her thankfully large and soft tails. ...Though, it still hurt, to be honest. But at least she didn’t break anything, as she was sent skidding back the rest of the way to the two… rescuers? She sat there blankly for a moment, still trying to comprehend what happened, before looking at her now-broken card dueler, her ears drooping. “...That was the one dad made for me…”


Gale turned at the sound of fire crackling, and dropped to a knee, raising the pistol and pulling the trigger to impact the woman. Or at least, attempt to. Alas, it seemed the woman was expecting opposition, and smirked at the Vaigarin as the round stopped dead in the air 5 centimeters from her body, before turning and running into the crowd. At least Gale managed to get a Geist image of her before she vanished. "You alright Heinrich?" Gale asked, looking around to try and spot any more hostiles attempting to attack them.


“Yeah I’m good, little dried from the heat, which I really hope doesn’t fuck the threading on this costume. I’m rather fond of keeping it for next time,” He answered with a small chuckle as he holstered the weapon, then offered a hand to the woman to land before them. “Here miss, let me help you up. I’ve already contacted the authorities, and am sending an alert to the fire department as well. We should get everyone back from the fire, and see if anyone is injured.”


Heinrich had one guess at who those people were working under, and it annoyed him. This was just going to be a casual investigation here, asking some questions, not a Jim Bond film. He made a save of the recording he had been rolling as things unfolded, hoping it could give clues he missed in the height of the moment. “I hope the detective isn’t too cross with us Gale, we kind just walked into this one by chance, and not even several hours of arriving on this world.”


Asteri blinked when the calm offering reached her ears, and she smiled tentatively at the man and the proffered hand. She gratefully accepted it, heaving herself off of her butt and cushion, before standing up fully. After standing up, the girl let go of the hand and began fastidiously examining her three tails, making sure nothing was burned or lost. ...Great. She’d have to brush out all the snags and burrs caused by this little incident…


She shook her head, before aiming her gaze at her rescuers, her head cocked slightly, ears waving back and forth. The one who helped her up had dark brown hair and blue eyes, and stood slightly taller than her. He was dressed in a rather extravagant recreation of the classic Shemlock Belmes, greatcoat, scarf, gloves and all. ...Which, Asteri didn’t mind at all. She enjoyed Shemlock. ...And she did admit it looked cute on him. She shook her head. Not now, Asteri. You almost got killed, for Hel’s sake! She wasn’t supposed to be distracted by cute guys in a cute getup!


Eventually, however, movement from behind him reminded her of the far more exotic-looking of the duo. She stood taller than even those people who liked cosplaying as those supersoldiers from StarMace. Which was saying something- those outfits were ridiculously large. But with her lightly tanned skin, almost white hair, and burning orange eyes complimenting a pair of horns sprouting from her head, scales covering part of her face, wings furled at her back, and tail lashing back and forth, she seemed almost as if she really was a dra- wait.


Wait. They really were a part of her, weren’t they? She blinked again, looking askance at the man for a moment, before quite literally shaking herself fully, causing vibrations everywhere, from her ears to her tail, and quite a few other places as well. “W-wait, did you just mention a detective? Detective who?”


In the distance, sirens could be faintly heard blaring, noise increasing in volume rapidly.


Gale was continuing to keep her focus on the area around them. {While you contact him, I'll sync up my Geist recording of the engagement to you.} She sent, already doing so. No point revealing just what they were capable of completely to most people. "So much for laying low on this assignment. So, what's the punishment for being part of an arson attempt again? Since you know most authorities are gonna peg us as accomplices until the security footage is worked out. And maybe not even then."


“I don’t think it will be that much of an issue, even if I have to use the cheap method,” Heinrich replied with a nervous grin before turning back to Asteri, “Yeah Detective Dylon Renelon. We spoke to him before coming here. That was less then an hour ago, and what a mess we walked into just after.” The prince rubbed the back of his neck at that one, although not too worried as he sent both sets of footage to the man in question. There was no plan to leave for the moment, just to avoid having to go through the annoyance of explaining why if they had. “So much for asking the questions we came to ask, guess when done here, we’ll have to go to their offices directly.”


Asteri started when the man said he met with her father. “Da- er, Detective Renelon? Uh, who are you?” At that she looked him up and down, she gave a small teasing smile. “Don’t tell me you’re Shemlock Belmes. Pretty sure he’s busy at 221 Laiker Drive solving crimes with his maid Dotson.” She didn’t speak much afterwards, however, as she was summarily tackled by four other people.


“THANKHEIMDALLYOU’RESAFEI’MSOSORRYFORLEAVINGYOU!”


“Ohmigod, are you alright? You’re not hurt too much, are you!?”


“HOW IN THE NINE HELLS DID YOU GET INTO A SITUATION WHERE A MAN HAD A GUN TO YOUR HEAD!?”


”I think that woman and man were also part of it, and that’s why that guy aimed for you specifically. I’m so sorry, I should’ve known something was off!”


Asteri pushed off the four of them and held a hand up, smiling nervously. “It’s alright guys, it’s alright! I’m sorry Cyrus, he was convincing, it’s not your fault, Sig, we can all thank…” At that, she looked at the duo a bit questioningly, as the other four also turned around to look at him.


Meanwhile, a commotion from the front foretold the appearance of Detective Renelon, as he quickly began shouting out orders to people around him. Yellow tape was quickly put up, people were ushered away and interviewed, and as Dylon approached Heinrich and Gale, he could be heard briskly telling an officer: “And find me that idiotic KiCom representative! I don’t care if he’s scared that his reputation’ll take a hit, Loki’s suffered worse and survived! C’mon, quickly! He’s a sleaze, that rep is.”


Galestix looked over as the detective in question arrived. "1st Lieutenant Galestrix Bahum. NDC Royal Corps." She said. Sure, if anyone paid attention, they'd have immediately caught the Vaigarin Family name, but she was sure it'd slip notice to most. Besides, there were enough Bahums around that few would ever connect her directly to the Bahum Family Elder. {No point keeping a perfectly low profile. If these people are as professional as we think they are, they have our faces, and will be able to find out who you are at least in a hurry. I should have a touch more wiggle room being the Vaigarin aren't yet a fully assimilated race into the NDC.}


The man groaned at having to blow their cover this early, “Guess it can’t be helped at this point.” He turned to the detective before tightening his standing posture in a more dignified one, and gave a royal salute, “Crown Prince, Heinrich Richter Oaklen, son of Archduke Mark Oaklen of the New Dusk Conclave. Please just call me Heinrich, I rather avoid formalities, especially out here on the job. Apologies for not being able to be open about our identities before, detective.”


Taking a breath, even this long into being a member of royalty, he still wasn’t quite used to such long winded formal introductions. Personally he wasn’t one for ceremony, or frivolous formalities such as that, but it was required of him when officially stating himself for the record. “Well at least now you see how much I meant, when I said the royalty had interest in the situation.”


The five just blinked at the man, mouths open in a distinct “O” manner. Well, seven, originally, until Dylon saw Asteri, and quietly demanded of his coworker: “Is that who was held at gunpoint!?” At the other man’s nod, Dylon stormed over to Asteri, pushed aside her four friends, before hugging her as tight as he could. “Thank Frigga you’re alright! They didn’t hurt you, did they!?”


“I’m fiiine dad. ...I, uh, may have broken that card dueler you made for me..” Dang it, why did she have to droop her ears?


Dylon looked taken aback a moment, before he gripped Asteri even tighter. “I don’t care about that! A Card Dueler is replaceable, you’re not, my Refr!” After giving her a quick kiss on the forehead, he pushed off of her, clearing his throat.


“Ah, I’m sorry about that, m’lord. ...And I suppose I must apologize for my.. earlier comments as well.” He looked away a bit, before returning to focus his gaze on Heinrich. “Just be aware, I can’t keep this quiet forever. There’s always going to be loose lips, and as soon as the media gets a hold of this, you can bet Hermod that they’ll take this and run with it. Speaking of…”


His head snapped back and looked at the group of five: “You lot, you don’t speak about the Archduke, alright?” The group just nodded their heads silently. Satisfied, he turned back to face Heinrich, continuing on: “And I honestly have no idea how these Dirges will react to your presence. On one hand, you’re a ripe target for blackmail or ransoming. On the other, you’re a clear sign that the royalty has their eyes on this place.” At that, he rubbed his eyes. “At the very least, your status, along with the video evidence you sent me, should most definitely keep you out of court. So, if you’re going to investigate this terrorist cell, I would advise doing so as quickly as you can.”


He gently turned around to face Asteri. “Now, my Refr, what do you remember about the men who held you hostage?” Asteri scrunched up her face, trying to remember. After a moment’s silence, she piped up again: “Well, there’s not really much to say about the one who held me at gunpoint-” To which Dylon snorted- “He had a nasally voice that was smooth, black hair with grey streaks in it, brown eyes with weird yellow specks in them-”


“Sir, that sounds like Henderson Dallach. He’s a recent serial killer, and has been arrested before on stunts like store robberies and drunken driving, as well as several scams.”


“Pull up his bio, now. And any contacts. He’s probably the best lead we got.”


“Yes sir.”


Dylon turned back to Asteri: “Anything else?”


“Uh, yeah. One of the guys told this Henderson person that there was a deal with a client, and I think that involved not killing me. Or.. maybe that there were to be no casualties in general? I don’t know, but he stopped Henderson from being… too… drastic. The other had cybernetics- they were a bit weird, very muscly looking, and they were black as well, though there was some fadeout of the paint on the edges.”


“Gencorp augmentations. Their focus on maintaining an organic look, along with their boasts about how their finishes are glossy black is what gives it away. Very lovely, my Refr. Very love-”


“What is the meaning of this, Detective!?” Dylon was interrupted as KiCom’s representative was finally dragged to him, the rep’s face red as an apple.


Galestrix looked over as the man yelled as he stepped up, or rather, was dragged over. Gale chuckled quietly and stepped forward. "Excuse us sir, but we need to talk." She said, letting her size be a valuable intimidation factor. "Detective, we need a quiet place. What's your security clearance?" She asked, since with everything going as crazy as it was, bringing in the detective at least on the basics was practically needed. The man knew the people here, knew the place. Things neither she or Heinrich did. And keeping the detective in the dark when the terrorists were getting this bold, or desperate, was only going to hurt them. {If he lacks the clearance, we might have to, expedite his getting it. We need his help, since he knows this place far better than we do, and the enemy is getting more active.} She warned Heinrich, using the Geist system.


{I can simply wave it really, no point in taking the procrastinating paperwork route. We’ll just say we deputized him as a temporary ISD member or something.}, came his textual reply before looking the KiCom rep over. “Hmm, maybe if we’re lucky, we won’t have to go to their offices afterall.”


Walking over, Heinrich already pulled up all files being accessed to the side for perusal later, finding his interest in this group only growing. “Mr. Garrison, the very representative I wanted to see. We have a series of questions for you, the detective here is acting as our local connection for our royal inquiry.” The prince then looked to the detective, a grin on his face as he added, “As of immediately by my authority, he has full authority as an ISD agent under the behalf of the royal government.”


He then turned back to the rep being held before him, a more… almost knowing smirk now, “KiCom is currently being attacked, with certain interests of the government in their possession, and we the inquiry team would very much like to know why.”


As the representative spluttered and wheezed at this sudden turning of tables, Dylon gave a wolfish smile of his own at the hapless representative. “I’ll be speaking with you later, Mr Garrison. And trust me, when I say I fully expect a full explanation of your activities.”


At that, he turned around, and started pacing. “But, let’s see here. Refr, you said that they were under some sort of deal not to attack… well, in the context, you?” At Asteri’s nod, he gave a frown. “Doesn’t fit their IO. In all other cases, even up to this most recent one, they haven’t been afraid to rough up people at the very least. So, what makes you, my Refr, so special in their eyes..?” As he paced around, his eyes fell on the growing crowd outside the building. Specifically, the van that had the words YEN emblazoned on the side of it. Eius owns YEN. ...That was it. Dylon let out a low mutter, “Oh, Eius, you sick bastard.”


Which was promptly addressed by his ever-present cohort: “Dylon, I know what you’re thinking. Think about other options. Not everything can be linked to that mogul.”


“...In either case, based on what people have been saying, they were specifically targeting Asteri. There was no need for the man to break cover to try and lure Asteri behind the table.”


“..Sir, Henderson is a known rapist.”


“He wouldn’t do that in the broad open. Furthermore, these terrorists probably would have kept him on a tight lid.”


“...You sure you’re not being overprotective?”


“Positive, Tillia. Henderson may be borderline insane, but he’s not stupid. There was obviously a reason for choosing specifically Asteri.” At that, he looked at Asteri, and opened his mouth.


“No.”


“Ast- Wait, what?”


“I know what you’re about to say. And I absolutely refuse.”


“Damn it, why is everyone trying to guess what I’m thinking!? And why on all the branches of Yggdrasil are you refusing to stay at our place!?”


“Because, dad. What’s to stop them from just storming our place and doing worse things than just taking me? Especially if it’s who you think it is.”


“...”


“Furthermore, being cooped up is just pointless for me. I don’t think that I wo-”


“Then get out of this system!”


“...Dad, you told me that space ports are some of the most closely watched and well known places on the planet that people go to in order to flee. If they’re coming for me, don’t you think they’ll anticipate that?”


“...Blast it, Eius!”


“I don't mean to intrude in a family disagreement, but I have an alternative that gets around the spaceport, and gets her out of the system. Your lord of this system is my cousin, and has her own ships. I can simply have her ferry us with one of them, hell even aboard her flagship the abyssal rose.” Normally he wouldn’t get involved in such matters, but these people had a very focused interest in the woman Asteri. By deduction, keeping her out of their hands, regardless of reason, was in the prince’s best interest. The name Eius also peaked his interest, and hinted the detective knew a lot more then initially shared. He offered a kind smile to the pair, “It is fully up to you both, but I am more then happy to help.”


Galestrix blinked slowly, and looked over at Heinrich. "Ahem. Before we jump to such things, maybe we should talk to KiCom's representative first, to find out why this particular group of terrorists are after this particular project they've been developing?" Gale asked Heinrich, trying to remind him very pointedly of the fact that the man in question was kind of right in their midst stammering as he tried to find out what was going to happen next, since it seemed the local police and royalty had reason to question him.


"Unless you wish to leave his questioning about top secret materials to the local police only?"


“Leave that to me. I am wondering just how and why KiCom decided to bring in highly flammable and explosive equipment to a science museum exhibit, right in the middle of a convention as well.”


The representative’s face made Dylon’s day. Better time to drop the second bomb he had up his sleeve.


“Also, Garrison, I should warn you that Aliask has been complaining recently about some blueprints of mana crystals effectively being stolen from them.”


“What does that have to do with KiCom!?”


“Well, you see, we managed to apprehend this hacker, who, when faced with proof of stealing money from an ATM, seemed more than willing to spill the beans about a supposed job with pay he’d been cheated out of, in return for his bail. I distinctly remember him mentioning KiCom multiple, multiple times.”


“And you believe that thief!?”


“I believe the copies of emails he showed us. I will be wanting to see copies of you and your underrep’s emails, planetary representative.”


“B-but-!”


“And I will be considering any evidence of mass deleted messages as grounds for a warrant, as you know that will seem as if you’re hiding something, right?”


“...”


“So, then! Shall we get a move along?”


Before Dylon left, he took one last look at Asteri. “...It’s your choice, my Refr. Please stay safe, alright?”


“I’ll try my best, dad.”


As Dylon was leaving, he took a look at Asteri’s four friends. “Say your farewells, you four. ...I’m sorry, but it’s time we started getting people out of this crime scene.”


~.~.~.~.~


After Sig, Dawn, Verity, and Cyrus left, Asteri turned around to face Gale and Heinrich, clapping and holding her hands together as she faced them. “So! It’s decided, then. I guess I will be coming with you~!” At that, she suddenly stopped and cocked her head, putting a hand under her chin. “..Though, I hope you don’t mind if we have to swing by my place? I need to get my stuff, and, well…” Her tails flicked around. She could feel the tangled fur being the annoying mess that it was. ...Not to mention she needed to get her Bouncer Shoes, Visor, and Admech gloves. Oh, and her Mithril suit. Unfortunately, a Mithril suit would have messed with her open top, so foregoing it was an unfortunate necessity.


Galestrix looked over at the crowds milling around them, as they had been escorted out of the building as well. At least people weren't rushing to her right now. "Well Heinrich? It's your call on that. Besides, it gives us more time for you to reach your cousin to convince her to give us a ship. Since I imagine that's going to be a hell of an argument." She states simply. "Let me know what you decide. I'm grabbing the car." She finished, walking off towards the parking lot where they'd parked the car before all this.


“I’d hate to leave so soon, so the detour would be appreciated, though if I know my cousin. Well, she’s a sweetheart, so I doubt it would ever be that hard.” All in all, it was a very eventful and worthwhile trip, with a lot learned as a result. Heinrich would make sure to give the lord his full debrief on the information gathered, gaining her support for larger action to be dealt. He looked back, watching as Gale left and tried to keep his smile to a minimum, before turning back to Asteri.

“You’ll have to give us directions, but I assure you, you’ll be safe with me and my partner. Do you know how long it will take to gather your things, and will there be anything you need to tie up before we go?”, came his polite response, as he forwarded a complete package of all the data.


Asteri smiled at Heinrich. Trying to be so serious, in that Shemlock suit! How did dad not burst out laughing? “No, while Mom’ll be a bit disappointed she won’t be able to see me, that’s really unavoidable.” It was a real shame, though. Mom was so looking forward to seeing both Aodh and her, and now… Well, nothing she could do. As the two exited the door leading out to the parking lot, Asteri piped up with a question: “That woman who, Gale… She’s a… uh.. Er.. not a dragonewt, but.. Oh! She’s a Vaigarin, right?” She remembered now! It was one of Dad’s cases where he suspected that a small mafia group was using a Vaigarin as muscle.


As the two were waiting for Gale to arrive, sat down on a bench, her tails sweeping aside fallen autumn leaves that littered the sidewalk. Asteri’s ears tilted this way and that, as she was slightly confused. While, admittedly, they exited out the back, Asteri was still a bit confused as to how there was no media back here. Maybe they were all occupied with the frightened people up in the front. But it wouldn’t take long for them to start trickling into the back area… Speaking of! “As for how long it’ll take for me to gather everything? Including changing into my Mithril suit, I’d say twenty, maybe twenty five minutes? I never carried that much with me.” Well, it was more accurate to say that she never had a chance to unpack much of her outfits, but… eh. She could make it work. Asteri wriggled around on the bench, wincing slightly. She was definitely going to have some bruises on her butt. But there was definitely something more interesting on her mind. “So, Belmes, what brings a royal master detective like you to the colony?”


She sure was a bundle of energy despite getting knocked on her rear by a blast less then ten minutes ago. Heinrich was thinking on how to answer that set of questions, hand on his chin with elbow resting in his other hand. “To answer your first question, yes she is. Secondly, I’m here on behalf of the royal government. Lot of sensitive things have been stolen, including projects contracted out by our R&D branch, so I volunteered to look into things. Guess you could say it was an opportunity to prove myself as a member of royalty, and I was more then glad to take it on.”


Seeing as they had a few moments, the prince removed his hat, before gently taking a seat on the bench beside her. “Though…. To be fair, it was also an excuse to visit my aforementioned cousin, the local noble lord.”, Heinrich added after, giving an eager smile knowing he would still have the opportunity to do so.


Asteri nodded excitedly after all of that. She began speaking: “Can she fly? Can she breathe fire? Is sh-” She blinked suddenly, and her mouth made an audible clomp as she suddenly shut her mouth. After a moment’s silence, whereupon her flush became more clear, she then sheepishly spoke out: “U-uh, er. I think these questions might be answered best by Gale, right?”


Another moment of silence, where Asteri spent that time twirling her foot among the fallen leaves, before she suddenly perked back up, and leaned forward towards Heinrich, supporting her head with both hands, elbows on the bench providing support. “Ssssooooo, you’re suspecting that this group, that the news is calling the ‘Dirges of Andraeste,’ is the one responsible for all this?”


...Damn it, that smile with that hat was too cute. He didn’t have Belmes classic pipe on hand, though.


“Probably best answered by here, but I could likely answer anything with how long we’ve known each other.”, came his reply with a chuckle that bordered on an outright giggle. Heinrich couldn’t help but enjoy her enthusiasm, especially with that deviously curious look on her face. “I do, and a lot of their actions so far, have been very specific targets. We just need to figure out who is leaking them the information, what their end goal is, and who their backers are.”


He didn’t have a pipe, sadly he didn’t keep one, even though he smoked on only necessary occasions. That being said, her behaviour was nice, and not so much like treating him as royalty. “You know, you are, admittedly, a fun person to be around Asteri. Not many people who know me, treat me this casually, which is how I prefer to be treated. You also seem to share some similar hobbies, which makes me feel like we’d get along very well.”, he offered with another smile, something warm and more behind it’s surface.


Asteri giggled at his words, replying very flippantly: “Oh, you think so? Well, I would dare you to a match in Arcana: the Calling; and if you even dare think about using green to spam chonky summons to shield yourself, well, then we’re gonna have problems!” At that, her face turned more serious. “And besides. There’s really no point in being all, ‘Oh, highness, lemme massage you. Oh, highness let me bend over while you use me as a chair.’ while I’m practically going to be stuffed right next to you for quite some time. Might as well drop the formalities.


And finally, these Dirges. First, they’ve been giving Dadd- er, Dad- a hard time, and it’s never a good thing, for any of us, when Dad’s overworked. Secondly, they have been causing lots of trouble; who knows, helping take down a terrorist group would definitely earn points on my resume!” At that, Asteri straightened and practically beamed. “No business would want to turn me down then!” But then she got serious again. “But the last thing is one of their most unforgivable. They dared mess and put burrs in my tails, and ruin the card dueller daddy got for me! They are NOT getting away with that.” The glint in her eyes was rather… menacing. She brightened back up, however. “So, yeah, as long as you’re not a stupid turtle, we should get along just fine, Belmes!”


Before Heinrich could respond to Asteri's points, a car pulled up to them, unmarked and with a clearly uncomfortable Vaigarin in the front. Opening the doors, Gale leans over. "Alright, let's get going. Miss, take the front seat so you can navigate me to your place. Heinrich, backseat." She instructed, while settled back into the drivers seat and letting them get in.


Asteri nearly squealed. But she held her excitement in. Mostly. ...She may have taken the opportunity to butt-slide across the front of the car to the other side, before opening the door, and hopping in the passenger seat. It was a tad bit uncomfortable: while two of her tails were able to poke out the sides of the seat, the third one was a tad bit squished, and it took a bit of finangling to put it in a position where it didn’t obscure the front window. But once that was done, and when Belmes had taken a seat in the back, Asteri quickly began her new role as the ship’s navigato- er, as the director. “So, when exiting the parking lot, you wanna turn right…”


~.~.~.~.~

 

[Universe]

Midway through the drive, Asteri took a leg off of the dashboard; while the first five minutes were entertaining enough looking around the car, it got old. They still had about seven minutes left to make it to her rented apartment, so Asteri decided to make as much use of the time as she could. “So, Gal- er, Miss Bahum. How’s it like here in our quaint little colony of Andraeste? I hope Middenheim hasn’t been too strange of a province?”

Gale smiled. "Reminds me of home honestly. After all, before the NDC arrived, well, we were in what your historians called 'Early Industrial Revolution'. Meaning that Heinrich here wearing a Tumnisian Topsider's outfit has been amusing since it's the kind of styles we were seeing begin to crop up." She said, glancing into the rearview mirror at Heinrich.

"Though, I imagine you've more questions about the Vaigarin than just how I've been appreciating the sights and sounds. Since, to my knowledge, you've never met any. And let's just say the, xenobiology materials are, amusing."

Another one of Asteri’s giggles. “Unless you count friends trying to cosplay as dragonewts,if not, then no, I haven’t met any Vaigarins! Sooo…. Oh, wait. Take a left at this intersection. You’ll wanna stay in the right turning lane, as very shortly you’re gonna have to turn right, and the right lane tends to be busy.” After looking around a bit to check and make sure they were still on the right path.

“Anyways… First question. And most important. Can Vaigarins breathe fire? D’you have legends about giant dragons like how we do? Can you actually fly? If not, can you glide? Are your scales actually good as armor? Can all Vaigarins do magic, like dragons? Do all of you…”

~.~.~.~.~

Seven minutes of intense questioning later, and they arrived at Asteri’s hotel. It wasn’t a particularly fancy place, but it wasn’t too shabby either. And as Asteri had told the other two on the trip, she only really intended to stay there for one night, before going to her parents’.

Heinrich had thanked Gale for the quick pick up on the way over, messaging her about the very specific things Asteri had mentioned before she came. With all that was kinda shuffled into the backseat from the two girls, it was a fresh kind of hell, as normally he’d be inclined to play with. The prince however, was trying to be on his best behaviour, especially around someone who knew who’d be in their company for a while. “By the way Asteri, when we get there, do you mind if I borrow the restroom to change out of this costume? As much as I love playing professor Belmes, it’s not quite the temperature outside, or nearly publicly appropriate to be wearing it anymore.”, he politely asked, thankful he brought a duffle of clothes for after the convention.

He longed to be back in hoodie and jeans, with his DJ t-shirt back on, and a pair of high quality headphones around his neck again. It was the look he was most comfortable in when not having to be formal, and yet to come across the time to find any other look. “You also mentioned having a mithril suit back at the convention building, are you military? Or did you attend the local military academy at the very least?”

“Sure! Uhm, I’m on the second floor, so it shouldn’t be too long of a wait. Unfortunately, the elevator is broken, so we have to use the stairs..” At that, Asteri pouted for a moment, before shaking her head, and motioning to the two to follow her. “And make sure not to hit your head, Gale!” While climbing the stairs, Asteri answered Heinrich’s own question. “Not quite! Andraeste works a biiit differently here, we’re much bigger into local militia, so much so that we have our own defense force, the CDL. Generally, though, not everyone can afford to go full-time milititary, especially in our colony, so the veterans had this idea to make a Reserve Officer’s Training Corp for people in college! Lady Nora sponsors the scholarships they give, as well!”

After that little exposition, Asteri fumbled around her pocket for her card, all the while continuing to explain: “So, yeah. I joined the ROTC, got the scholarship, and took part in the training, and got the gear!” With Asteri finally managing to get a hold of her card, they entered Asteri’s hotel room. Nothing too special, standard hotel room with small bathroom with sliding door, TV, a bed, wardrobe. Asteri, after opening the door, pointed to the bathroom, which was located right next to the entrance. “There we go, Belmes! Don’t mind the shampoo smell. I have to use a lot of the stuff.” With that statement, Asteri flicked her three tails, before marching over to her bed and pulling out her suitcase from underneath it, opening the drawers of her wardrobe, and stuffing her suitcase with her clothing.

She did stop for a moment to lay out her mithril suit, as well as a cute green camisole with a light grey cardigan and darker grey skirt. She debated on the rest of the stuff, particularly the bouncer shoes, but eventually decided on the boots, throwing off her sandals and stuffing them in the suitcase with the rest of the stuff. A few more packets of gear involving her backpack and binder… Yes, she still carried a binder with her, even after university. When she finished packing everything she could at the moment, she slid the suitcase over right outside the bathroom.

Galestrix settled against the wall next to the door inside the room. Heinrich had stepped into the bathroom to change. "So, you're an officer then?" She asked, the upper half of her tail swaying gently beside her. "And you seem to share a fair few interests as Heinrich. Stars, I can only imagine the two of you. Obsidian City would be shaking to it's foundations if they had to face you both. I know the 'rave' parties he takes me to would go insane with you around." She said, chuckling.

As Asteri was busy stuffing clothes in her suitcase, she answered Gale’s questions: “Uh, yeah. Second Lieutenant, I believe? All graduates of the ROTC start as that, and as I’ve never really dipped into the military after I graduated… which was, admittedly, like a month ago.”

As she threw her binder and backpack on the other side of the bed, where it wouldn’t mess up her chosen attire, Gale’s second question caused her to cock her head slightly to the side, ears wiggling about. “Hmmm. Actually, I dunno. The few parties I’ve been too have always been kinda… eh? Dad’s always warned us against doing recreational drugs, and explained how he had to prove how he was different from grandad… But aside from that, he was fine with us drinking, as long as at least one of us- the other one being my brother- didn’t drive drunk. Which was fine, because Aodh almost never drank.”

At that, Asteri grimaced. “So, yeah, the drinks were fun, but everyone seemed to get drunk really quickly. And then they insisted on trying to do stuff like grope me, when I was not interested in that.” After a small silence, she added: “The dancing is fun, though. And when the people aren’t trying to be stupid, it’s actually really fun!”

Gale nodded. "Fair enough. I'll admit, my first experience with a, convention, was certainly not what I expected. I won't say I didn't enjoy it, as I did enjoy it. I just, didn't expect people to be so, eager to take my photograph as they were. It was like they thought I was some kind of character." Galestrix said, shrugging as she did. "Still, I know my Grandfather would be awestruck at the sights of the colony. But then, he usually is when he visits the NDC's palace for meetings. Most Vaigarins are still struggling to come to terms with the sheer height the NDC builds to."

Asteri giggled at that. “That’s because no one really expects to see a Vaigarin, especially at a con like that! For all they knew, you were a character! But nope~! You’re the real deal! And as for our buildings, we’re actually surprisingly short. While most of the stuff you see here is relatively urbanized, there’s actually a couple of neighborhoods where some sort of environmental tech company worked with people to create giant trees, very much like Yggdrasil; there, houses are incorporated along the side of the tree and on the branches, and monorails zip from branch to branch!

Gale nodded. "And even so, having a building taller than 4 stories above the surface is strange to us. Admittedly, most of our buildings go down many more, almost on an equal scale, but it's just safer on Sirris II for us to build down." She says, smiling. "The NDC has been just as amazed at our tunnels and underground cities as we've been of their own reaching for the skies."

“As above, so below.”, came the casual comment of Heinrich as he left the bathroom, having changed into his preferred look. At least only partly casual until he tripped over the suitcase, “holy void?!” he gasped slightly as he tumbled. Thankfully it wasn’t a complete spill, as he caught himself on the wall, saving at least a shred of grace. “Uhhhh,.. Yeah, not my smoothest entry.”

Righting himself, the prince whistled as he stepped around the case, and entered the main part of the room. “On your comment about the academy, it might actually surprise you to know that I am actually a real professor. I teach at the university in the capital in fact. If you were ever thinking of attending a school again, there are many advanced programs there, and the best education courses in all the NDC to learn.”

Asteri's ears moved to face the unexpected noise, before her head followed completely. And as soon as she saw Belmes exit the bathroom, she picked up her clothing and started moving. That was, until she saw him trip over her suitcase.

“Oh! I’m so sorry! I’m trying to get things moving real fast, so I placed that there so..” At that, she just trailed off and blushed. Once it became clear that it wasn’t a complete disaster, she resumed her original path. It was a bit of a squeeze, having to shuffle sideways to fit both of them in the small hallway, but they made it through. Right as Asteri was entering the bathroom, Belmes chose that moment to comment. “You’re a professor? Well, aren’t we just trying to be the real deal, aren’t we, Professor Belmes?” At that, Asteri smiled widely from the doorframe of the bathroom, eyes closed, before she uttered an “‘Scuse me for a sec,” and headed into the bathroom, keeping the door open.

Moments later, pants were flung into the suitcase, followed by her jacket, and eventually shirt. Another minute later, and some muttering could be heard. “C’mon, suit. Work with me.” Aster had to work the suit to fit over her now very-messy tails, and it took her far longer than she would’ve liked to put it on. Eventually, however, make it work she did, and it was now a simple matter of putting on the rest of her clothes. Shortly afterwards, plastic bags of various bathroom ornaments were thrown on the ever-growing pile in the suitcase. Toothbrush and toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner, suction cup, body wash, some perfume, a little makeup, some hair pins- the usual stuff Asteri carried with her.

Finally, Asteri walked out of the bathroom in her new outfit, making sure to shove everything down in her suitcase, as that was the only way it could somewhat zip all the way up. Once that was done, she raised the handle, and rolled it back to the bed, throwing the backpack and binder around her shoulders. “Ready~!” Asteri cried out, as she basically did a mini-pose with her outfit.

Gale nodded. "So, what did Lady Nora say about us getting a ship?" Gale asked, pushing away from the wall and turning towards the door.

“We’re headed to the colony hub, there we’re taking a shuttle up to the Abyssal Rose hanging in orbit. Her nobleness will even be accompanying us personally to ferry us home. Just a matter of driving there.” Heinrich’s reply was proud and cheery, quite eager indeed for the trip, and the destination. He turned to Asteri, “Looking good Asteri, and I hope you don’t mind the trip. Gonna be long one to there, then several days in spacial transit to the capital. I hope this won’t be too overwhelming for you, and you're welcome to stay with us even.”

“I don’t mind at all! I’ve had to travel quite a bit from one end of the planet to another, and I’ve even gone to a core world! ...Though, granted, it wasn’t the capital.” At that, Asteri shook her head. “But yeah, that’s a really kind offer! I wish I could take it, though I’ve already been intruding so much on your hospitality.” She grinned at the pair of them. “Though, if I ever did manage to join you to, I do think a session of bingewatching Sakura: Archangel would be in order, though!"

Gale chuckled, listening to the pair behind her as she walked down the stairs once more, and to the car. "Just to check, where are we going to meet with Lady Nora? Since it sounds like we're joining her on the way to the spaceport. Also, if that's the case, we're gonna need a bigger car." She pointed out.

“The colony hub isn’t the spaceport hon, it’s the ferryman class colony ship that landed to start the colony. They’re massive ships designed to become a city tower once landed, and a permanent center of the colony.” Heinrich emphasized the statement by pointing to the massive metal tower that stood in the distance at the very center. He chuckled a little just looking at it, “Bright side is, you don't need a GPS to find that, it makes one hell of a landmark.”

Walking around to the back of the car, and opening the trunk, the prince offered to stow Asteri’s bags for her. “I don’t mind doing it, and you do have quite a bit to handle there.”

Gale shrugged. They'd arrived via the spaceport. But it wasn't like they had a lot to worry about otherwise. Moving to the drivers seat, she paused. "So, you want to drive this time Heinrich, or should I continue?" She asked.

He looked over the trunk lid at his vaigarin partner, “Yeah I can drive, you girls would have more space in the back anyways. You both deserve the comfort for how long of a drive it will be this time.”

Thanks to Heinrich, Asteri didn’t have to deal with her relatively heavy suitcase. She gave him another one of her grins, taking off her backpack to stuff it in the trunk while Heinrich dealt with the suitcase. But before she fully finished stuffing it in the trunk, she reached inside the backpack and pulled out a holster; Asteri felt like with recent events, she might need a pistol on her. ...Granted, she wasn’t the best shot with it, but she couldn’t rely on her magic all the time. After all, it lacked the punch that other magics had.

As she opened one of the doors to the back seat, she took a moment to lean on the door, examining the giant tower-slash-former-ship in the distance. “We’ve always been told the process of how they colonized Andraste in school, but honestly, I’ve never understood how the colonists could’ve withstood the impact landing surely must’ve had. ...Though, yeah, it is a large tower.” At that, she giggled. “It’s taller than the World-Trees, too! It would probably take a World-Tree and a half to match the shi- er, tower’s- size. Maybe two!”

She finally sighed at that, before finally getting into the car, closing the door behind her. As the other two entered the vehicle as well, she tilted her head at Heinrich. “So, yeah. Where exactly are we going to be meeting this cousin of yours? Honestly, I can’t imagine her working in a giant stuffy administration tower. Are we meeting her in the hangar near the top?”

After it all was stowed, Heinrich took his place behind the wheel, scooting his seat up to give the girls more room. Once they were in, he would start their journey, “She lives there kinda. Nora isn’t one for big fancy estates, but just nice quarters and such, which she has one for each station owned by the government here. Which makes sense, since the tower is essentially the seat of power in the colony as well. She’ll meet us there, and then come with us to the shuttle hangar.” He said it confidently and matter of fact, as if it was a simple trip there that would be easy.

The prince’s enthusiasm was laughable at times at first, but often was proved justified in the end, as if he were a walking good luck charm. One he hoped every morning that it hadn’t lost its shine, as every day felt like trial even just getting out of bed. “So Asteri, do you have any plans you want to do once you reach the capital? Perhaps Gale could give you a tour trip to her homeland at some point even?”

Gale chuckled, settling into the rear seat. "Won't exactly be hard." She pointed out, on the subject of her 'homeland'. "The NDC kind of settled in the same region if you recall correctly." She pointed out.

“Oooooh. So that means it’ll be easier to come and visit the place!” Asteri leaned over closer to gale, and while seatbelt strap did press against her chest and keep her from falling over, she still placed both elbows on the seat cushion, using it as a rest for her head- completely disregarding the fact that it probably did very little to support her, leaving all the work to the poor seatbelts. “I mean, it would definitely be fun to see an entirely other species and how they do things; Andraeste never really has many other species visiting it, unless you count the Dokkalfar, and that’s only because generations of humans have worked around the various Crystal Spires.”

After looking at Gale for a moment with her excited green eyes, Asteri nearly fell over due to Heinrich having to stop for a traffic light. Thankfully, the seatbelt did it’s job. She giggled slightly at her near-mishap, before transferring an arm to the car-side, this time taking to look outside. “Humm. There must be a farmer’s market happening on this block; that’s gotta be why there’s so much traffic here. See that collection of trucks?” Whereupon the fox-girl pointed to a trio of trucks with some farm or another’s logo painted on their sides. “I bet they're transporting wheat and potatoes and the like, though I wouldn’t be surprised if they were carrying some sort of mushroom from the cave-combines, or maybe even Sakura Cherries.”

Gale nodded. "Admittedly, there isn't nearly as much above ground to see as in NDC cities." Gale said with a shrug, "I think the Tumnisians would be easier to meet and talk to than Vaigarin as well. Of course, that's mostly due to the disparity in population. I believe the census that was given was only tens of thousand Vaigarins, while the Tumnisians were in the millions?" Gale mused, glancing at Heinrich to see if he'd correct her.

“Sounds about right, though I could argue about not much to see. When you’re there, there is plenty to see. But jokes aside, I do believe the underground kingdoms to be a sight worth making the trip for.” Heinrich wasn’t too enthralled in the conversation, more focused on driving, letting the flirt slip on habit as he did. He had enjoyed the slight show as belts were buckled, wondering why he hadn’t offered to drive sooner. “They contrast the city of towering buildings, and armored walls of the capital, as well as the other cities we’ve built. We protect ourselves behind a shell of armor and technology, while your people and the Tumisians, rely on the earth to protect you. It is an interesting set of extremes, nature contrasting to science.”, he added.

After the words had left his mouth, the prince felt a tingle at the back of his neck, one that gave a very brief sense of unease. Had he said something to get the ireful stares of his two female companions? Or was something else watching him, even looking at the other vehicles briefly on the road.

Gale shrugged, having grown up nearly all her life in those underground kingdoms being right there. "As said, not all of it's underground. Very few Tumnisian's are willing to settle the surface unless there are Vaigarin present for protection. Considering Pack Roaches are able to bring down Elder Vaigarin, I cannot blame them." She pointed out, watching the trucks driving past. At least some parts of the NDC and the Sirris II natives diets were compatible enough to allow them to share food with one another. Some of it though, wasn't quite as good. A few Vaigarin had tried a so-called 'vegan' diet, and nearly died. NDC xenobiologists later determined that it was because Vaigarin, while not purely meat eaters, still required meat in their diet to have a healthy lifestyle, not to mention being able to just survive.

Asteri did another one of her famous head-tilts, looking at Gale as she talked about these ‘Pack Roaches.’ If an Elder Vaigarin was what she thought they were, maybe pack roaches were scary indeed. Asteri felt herself being pushed back into the seat slightly as Belmes started driving forward, finally getting past the traffic of the farmer’s market, and on the way to the colony-towership.

Thankfully, the drive wasn’t too long, and soon the trio were at their designated location. ...Though, as Asteri looked up at the behemoth of a tower, she gave a small squeak, before asking in a small voice, ears flattened against her head: “I-is there an elevator in this?” She did not enjoy the idea of walking up many, many flights of stairs.

He looked at her with a blink, “Well yeah, the center column is an elevator junction that runs all the way up.” Heinrich waved both to follow as he carried the suitcase again for Asteri, and walked up the short set of steps into the now building. As they entered what was the lobby, the architecture and design still screamed ship, displays and smooth surfaces everywhere. This room used to likely be the boarding gateway back when it was still in dock.

As they stepped in and made their way into the lobby, a young woman with long raven hair would be standing near the hall into the central area. “Greetings, I hope your visit was pleasant, my dear cousin. I know it isn’t the capital, but I hope it was a refreshing visit away from the bastion city.”, she said with a warm and welcoming smile to the group, “Also pleased to meet you both as well, I am Lady Nora, Noble charged with governance of the system.”

Galestrix, upon seeing Lady Nora waiting for them, paused, and proceeded to give her the Bahum greeting. Once given, she'd straighten up and sync her geist up to the tower's system, checking to see which shuttle they were being prepared with. "A pleasure Lady Nora. Our deepest apologies for not seeing you sooner, but we had, other concerns on our mind at the time." She said, idly noting the crowds moving around them.

If she had the same capacity for hair standing on end as those with such did, she was sure it'd be doing just that. As it were, there was an itch between her wings that felt less of something to be scratched, and more of warning of danger nearby. An instinct that was still well honed with life on Sirris II and it's various predators. While some would consider the Vaigarin at the top of the food chain, the Vaigarin knew very well that they were merely the largest predator around, that just happened to learn enough to avoid being wiped out.

Asteri, upon first seeing Nora, paid almost no attention to etiquette, and promptly raised her hand and was in the middle of waving it, exclaiming out a cheerful: “Hel-” However, in the middle of her exuberant greeting, she realized who it was exactly she was talking to. “Uh, er, I mean..” At that, she gave a small dip of her head and leaning of her back, trying to maintain some decorum. “Hello, m’lady.”

Yeah, she didn’t like this kind of stuff. She liked calling Belmes… well, Belmes. And Gale Gale. And not having to go through stuff like bowing and titles and whatnot. ...At least Belmes and Gale didn’t demand she call them that- they were fun like that, Asteri could already tell.

As she straightened back up, she noticed Gale’s strange demeanor, and Asteri tilted her head at the Vaigarin. Looking the other way, she noticed Heinrich was much the same way- though, carrying her suitcase made that seem a bit harder to read. Asteri shouldered her backpack and binder- she admitted that the other two’s sudden shift made her own fur stand on end a bit. And she didn’t even get to brush her tails!

Trying to shake off the unease that was now perpetrating the air, Asteri shook herself slightly, before asking no one in particular, “So, what kind of shuttle are we taking?” ...Maybe she would know what it was? Aodh’s friend Ballam was a ship nerd, who absolutely gushed over various types of ships and their designs. Maybe she would remember one of his many lectures about differing ships? Probably not, if I were being honest with myself.

“You really don’t have to do that, I may be royal, but I wasn’t exactly raised that way. And to answer your question, we’re using an older dropship converted for civilian use. A Raven I believe it is called, though I think the engineers took to fondly calling it a crow now.” Nora tried to give the best bow in return, unfamiliar with the greeting that the Vaigarin and her cousin had given her. She also didn’t really mention where said ship came from, but that wasn’t really important to bring up her father for now, even though Heinrich likely already knew.

“Um, if you would be so kind as to follow me, we can walk and talk, as I understand the trip is rather important. Please, the elevator is this way, and there are many floors we’ll have to ride up.”, she added nervously, hoping to get them out of the open where things would be less awkward. “I can help carry the baggage even if you need me to?”

Asteri, upon hearing lad- er, Nora’s insistence, happily obliged. As she started towards the elevator, she heard Nora’s request. “Hummm. Maybe just Belm- er, Heinrich’s duffel bag? Heinrich is being such a gentleman with my suitcase!” At that, she smiled in Belmes’ direction. Yeah, she would need to get him something for doing this for her. But still, their overall guardedness had left her very.. spooked, somewhat.

Gale shook her head. "Heinrich was the only one who brought spare clothes. I remember he had mentioned wanting to go to the convention when we weren't chasing the leads we had been... Which is why I think he had that costume in the first place." She said, giving him a look that spoke volumes. "I left my Mithral on Sirris II since it is hard enough to get into, and we were told to avoid looking too official. Which a Mithral would have done." She said. Following Lady Nora to the Elevator, she let others board while she looked back, wondering why she felt such danger right now. Surely they were at least secure here of all places?

~.~.~.~.~

“What do you mean we can’t take off?” Senior Yeoman Miller was not having a good day-first they got called in to deal with some abomination of nature that one of the corporations had decided was a WONDERFUL idea to make some kind of super heifer that was supposed to be a good source of milk and meat. Only it somehow became sentient, and decided that rampaging along with several other creatures of similar, horribly mutated origin was a good idea.

And of course the security pukes and the part-timers couldn’t put the damned things down and the noble in question couldn’t be bothered to direct proper military forces at it, so instead they got called in. Then they had to clear the facility and rescue whatever eggheads decided that this was a wonderful idea along with exterminating the critters themselves. Oh but no, no it turns out that the super cow had in the time they were gone to not only mutate into some horrible gribbly thing, but somehow hit a rapid mating cycle and spawned these horrible parodies of man and cow and whatever-the-hell-else they had in that facility. So after nearly getting themselves killed and almost rescuing said eggheads(This involved one of the junior’s rifles and a sudden door malfunction) they were forced to call in for reinforcements.

And given the nature of the situation, they of course got a FUCKING DRUDGE SQUAD of all things called in, along with another squad for support, so after several months of a long, messy campaign in attempt to not only clear the facility, but ensure that the ones that got out of said facility didn’t live long enough to spawn anymore of the abominations. The result? The facility was gone, and pretty much uninhabitable for the next few hundred years, Andraeste got a few new craters and dead forests, and the corporation in question was threatening legal action in spite of the fact they were performing more likely than not highly illegal experiments. Though given the fact there was enough evidence of said fuckup, not to mention someone likely would’ve noticed their presence by now.

So they’d packed up, sent them the bill and a sternly worded message, emphasized by a well placed fist to the jaw the sleazy bastard who’d spent ten minutes waving said legal action in their faces and screaming at them. And now?

“Means what it means sir.” The pilot in question shot him a glare, “Having problems with the VTOL thrusters, can’t take off without em.” Wonderful, he pressed the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb. “How soon can we get it fixed.?” The pilot in question shrugged, and turned back to the console. “Couldn’t say, I’m no smith, an’ we ain’t got one on hand either,” He grabbed the radio from its mounting and glanced across the readout, “I’ll see bout’ gettin’ a few of the Duskers to take a look at it.” He went to toggle the switch when it suddenly crackled to life. “This Orion Station to Havoc 1-1, Havoc 1-1 Come in over.” That was odd; why was the Station contacting them directly? The two shared a look and Miller took the radio, and with a sigh realized more likely than not, something had gone wrong and it would be up to them to clean it up. “Orion Station, this is Havoc 1-1 reading you loud and clear, over.”

“Havoc 1-1, new orders have come in-have a new contract pushed forward-kidnapping, young woman in her early to mid twenties, looks like she’s had genetic work done if the tails and ears are anything to go by, orange hair, green vest, short skirt, knee high boots, last seen in the company of one male, mid twenties, dark hair, brown eyes, no facial hair, woman looks like she’s got dragon features, possibly Vaigarin. We’re sending you an image now.” Son of a bitch…

“They were last sighted heading towards the tower that your squad landed in, and as you are the only unit currently close enough for an intercept, you’ve got the job. Over.” Of course, now they’ve got a couple of perverts grabbing some chick off the street, either that or they were planning to possibly sell her off. The Vaiagain might be a problem, if she was a Vaigarin and not some genemodded freak. “Roger that Orion Station orders received, over and out.” He cut the transmission and slammed the radio back into it’s brace over the protests of the pilot.

Storming out of the transport, he grabbed the Scythe machine pistol and his boarding shield and looked to the rest of his squad. Most were sleeping or simply trying to squeeze as much downtime as they could with this short break. He pulled his warhammer out, after ensuring the pistol was securely in its holster, and rapped on his shield twice. They all jumped, with several reaching for weapons, and all saw their commander wielding full battle gear. “Vacation’s over, new orders are in.” This brought a chorus of groans as they all began shuffling about, readying weapons and ensuring armor was buckled on properly.

“Quit your bellyaching, we’ve got a kidnapping on our hands; I’ll send pictures of our hostage to each of your helmets.” As they formed up, he signaled and strapped on his own helmet. “We’re gonna do this quick and clean-drop the kidnappers at the elevator and then take the target into custody-Garm, make sure you have a tranquilizer on hand to dope her-we don’t need a repeat of Sirris II.” That hostage situation had been....messy to say the least.

“Each team will split up and take two CQB specialists each, once we’ve secured the target, hopefully we’ll be ready to take off and will be out of here before any friends they have can show up.” The fireteams began to take up position as the elevator slowly counted upwards, the CQB units firing up their energy fields on their boarding shields. Miller always hated this part-the damned waiting, particularly with a squad already beat to hell and ready to get this over with…

Somehow, he just knew this was going to be a mess.

- ---------

Up in the raised platform, two figures near the edge of the wall crouched, huddling themselves against the wall, staying in the darkness, keeping themselves hidden from the bustling hangar as the squad stormed off and maintenance and tech bustled about, on edge. As the squad of dozen stormed off to fulfill their objective, one of the figures remarked to the other one in a low, annoyed whisper: “The necrotic fool can’t seem to let go of his desires, can he?” To which the other one responded: “It matters not. He has made his pact with us. Even if his precious toy is killed in this outcome, to break his oath is to be entombed with the soulmetal.”

The first one shook his head. “And if this group survives?”

“We watch and examine. And the necrotic fool lives for another day.”

“You know the reports about this… barbarian… ‘company.’”

“...And?”

“If they go after the necrotic fool?”

“...”

“Well?”

“We bring out the Chosen. We supply it with information. We watch as they tear this group to shreds.”

“Are you certain? The Chosen have consumed only a litt-”

“The Chosen are, by far, far more superior than this miserable excuse for a company!”

“...”

“Have we made ourselves clear?”

“Like how the dormant spirits yearn to bring the machine back to life.”

“Good. Now, let us see how these interlopers deal with this; and how the barbarians react to the interlopers. This shall make for an interesting show…”

~.~.~.~.~

Being a Conclave Knight meant many things for Roland Ulric. Following the Chivalric Code, protecting and serving their liege noble, always be prepared for anything. But today it meant facing down a dreaded enemy. Waiting.

He’d received a message from Nora, saying to prep the Crow for launch. Apparently one of her cousins needed some help. So, now he waited in front of the dropship after making sure the ship was fueled, loaded and ready to go. Still… he had a gut feeling about this trip, so he’d also brought some long guns just in case. Loaded for roaches as it were.

With the prep all done, all that was left was waiting in the so far empty hangar. And waiting… and waiting…

And then the mercs showed up. They were professionals, from their tactics and their gear. Quickly, Roland dove in the Crow, knowing his Gambeson wouldn’t save him from that many shooters. Quickly, he grabbed his ABR and began frantically loading his pockets with mags.

Calling Nora on his Geist, he half-whispered, half-shouted, “Nora! We got hostile squads in the hangar! I count about a dozen pros with shields and rifles! I’m in the Crow, they haven’t seen me yet.”

~.~.~.~.~

The Lady was in full pout with the news as she slapped the emergency stop button, then clicked the floor just below the hangars as the new destination. “How rude, I detest party crashers.”, Nora grumbled, which got Heinrich’s attention.

“Is there something wrong my dear cousin?”, he asked her as she had done what she had.

The woman looked to the floor display, then to him, “We have unwanted company according to my knight it seems. So we’ll be stopping a floor short, and taking the maintenance access up to the hangar, closest to our ship.” As the elevator reached the new chosen floor with a digital toned ding, she waved the others to follow. It was one of the two floors below the hangars, meant for cargo storage, the upper catwalk area to be precise. Which she led them through, and around to the area near where their ship would be above. There was a ladder leading up to an airlock sealed set of hatches that would come out to the hangar deck’s side.

Nora messaged her knight back, her severely peeved tone bleeding into every word sent through the neural connection. “Roland, keep an eye on them, don’t engage though. I don’t want you to draw too much attention to our ship, or where we’re about to come up. Should be the hatch in the deck, 10 meters to the right of the ship if I’m correct.”

Asteri blinked as the elevator came sliding to a halt; there was a hostile party on the shuttle hangar? Eius couldn’t have gotten help that fast; maybe someone knew who Belmes was? Or maybe they were going after Nora? She gave a quick glance at the two nobility, before nodding to herself, following the other three as they made their way to the… maintenance? Sure, the maintenance shaft. Upon the four stopping at the ladder, Asteri quietly asked the others: “Surely, they must’ve arrived here legally, or else the CDL would’ve been on them from the start; they’ve arrived way too quietly, for how heavily they seemed to be armed.” She stopped for a moment, pondering. “That.. that means that there’s some sort of log about them, right? Maybe we can figure out what exactly they’re carrying on them, who they are?” At that, Asteri gave a quince glance up, ears flattening against her head. “...Or are we just gonna make a run for the Crow and hope for the best?”

When Nora informed them of the possible threat, Gale had drawn the pistol from the small of her back, but could be heard grumbling about how the only ammo she had was non-lethal. Soon though, she was passing it to Asteri. "Trust me, you'll want this more than I will." She stated, wishing quietly that she was a millennia old Quezto right now, instead of a sub-century Bahum. Having that level of control of her form would have allowed her to grow claws to fight with without having to completely change form.

As they reached the ladder, she looked at the Lady. "Ma'am, no offense, but you might be able to bluff them. At least if you hurry. If you can distract them for just a little bit, we might be able to slip onto the ship with them none the wiser. But the longer the elevator doesn't reach the hangar floor, the more likely they're gonna start looking for alternate paths into the hangar." She pointed out, referring to the tactical situation they were in.

“I guess I’ll go meet our guests then, and while I have their attention elsewhere, you board. I’ll join you onboard afterwards if possible.”, Nora offered with a smile at the idea, “You have a good one Heinie. Keep them close, and treasure them.” With that, the lady was quick to make tracks back to the elevator, legging it with impressive speed.

It would only take a minute or so to sprint it back to the elevator and hit the hangar bay option again. She kept a grin on her face, even as she was about to face possible danger.

Asteri’s tails drooped at the sight of Nora going back down the maintenance hallway; she barely knew the woman, but it felt wrong to just leave her to face the oncoming storm alone. She looked at the other two, before asking in a small voice: “Are you sure this is gonna work?”

~.~.~.~.~

“Understood, providing overwatch.” Roland replied, placing his rifle sights over the back of one of the shield bearers. As he waited, he began noticing the elevator working again. Keying up his Geist, he asked, “Uuuuh, Nora? Love of my life, light of the moon, why is the elevator still coming up?”

The knight began having the feeling that Nora was about to do something reckless as usual.

- ---

When the elevator stopped, the light on the floor just below them sent the squad into high alert, Morris himself watching the floor counter intently. Had they gotten wind, or was it some member of the staff just getting off? “External’s off, now!” He barked; a series of muffled clicks indicated the switching off of the squad’s helmet speakers. Toggling his radio, he made his inquiry. “Anyone know what’s below us?”

A number of muttered “No’s” and grunts answered in reply. “Alright...places like this usually have a map of the facility posted-might give us some information.” He glanced behind him, and realized for a moment that there was another vessel in the hangar with them. Mentally smacking himself, he toggled the pilot’s frequency. “Richard...how long’s that ship been there?”

“Uh..pro’lly a couple hours at least-saw a knight workin’ around it.” There was a brief crunch followed the pilot’s muffled-”Wh’y?” He sounded like he was chewing on something-a brief flash of frustration flashed in his mind and quashed it down. The Senior Yeoman thought carefully on this, and then pressed further.

“As in an NDC knight?” That alone set off alarm bells. Something wasn’t right...something definitely wasn’t right. “Alright, Richard, were they there when we got in?”

“Yea.”

Shit. Morris smelled a rat. “Alright, get on the horn with Orion Station, see if we can get more info on the contract.” He turned to the squad, “The rest of you, secure the hangar-in the event you see the targets orders are switched from kill to detain. You three,” He pointed to half of his squad including the CQB specialist. “Secure the elevator, detain anyone who comes out,” He signaled the two remaining members, “Let’s see if we can’t get in contact with that knight and figure out what in the hell is going on here.” He began checking radio frequencies as he approached the ship.

“NDC Knight, this is Senior Yeoman Morris of the Iron Company-do you read me, over?” He just hoped he answered before this popped off.

The elevator doors would ding as it resumed up to the hangar after a bit, what the CQB specialists would find was the young woman with raven colored hair. “I don’t mean to impose, but is there a reason three armed company members are blocking the elevator of my capital building?”, she said warmly in greeting, but also managing to have an edge hidden in there as well. She was not pleased one bit, and it was still bleeding in just a tad, “I would sure hope you boys aren’t trying to act in a hostile manner towards the NDC. As a member of the royal family, that is a concerning prospect to say the least.”

~.~.~.~.~

Roland could only internally sigh as Nora made herself a rather large target. He noted that these members of the so-called Iron Company were approaching the Crow. Calmly he withdrew the kukri blade of his left leg holster and held it at the ready in his hand. His rifle didn’t switch targets despite the approaching troops. His safety was negligible compared to Nora’s.

“Nora, I have my sights on the shield bearer to your right. Just say the word.” he sent.

“Uh...SY Morris?” The specialist was grateful for the fact his external was off-they had very nearly attacked her when the elevator opened, “We’ve got a problem.” Groaning internally, he toggled the troopers frequency. “What?”

“There’s uh...a Noble here, an’ she ain’t happy.” He glanced back and spotted-

“Ancestor’s balls, Stand Down!” He unfortunately recognized the woman in question-it was the same noble who after paying for cleaning up the Corporation's mess ordered them to sanitize the place. Which meant that this mission had officially gone sideways without a shot being fired. The three of them parted as Morris approached, his external speakers turning on with a click. “Begging your pardon ma’am,” Dear god he hated kissing noble ass but in this case he had to play nice-the last thing the Company needed was a diplomatic incident, “But we received orders from Orion Station in regards to a contract to intercept a group of kidnappers-it was on short notice and we didn’t have time to inform security.”

“Did the targets happen to be a human male, brown haired, and a reptilian woman with wings? Accompanying a fox like young woman by any chance?”, Nora said with a small constant tap of her foot. Wondering who had ordered a contract on her tower, without running it through her first. Whoever it was, was rather rude, and she was prepared to employ equally rude measures if need be.

“Yes ma’am.” Morris confirmed, adjusting his shield, “We received pictures of them along with the orders.” And of course these three were connected to an Ancestor’s-Damned noble. This job was getting messier and messier by the moment.

“The male is my cousin, the crown prince in fact, next in line for Archduke Oaklen’s throne. The reptilian woman is his bodyguard, and the kitsune is the daughter of a local detective who has asked that she be safely moved off world, and to the capital.” Nora explained very pointedly, hoping they would see the misunderstanding, and possibly reveal who has caused them both this agitation. Clearing her throat, she added, “A task which I have chosen to handle personally, as she is under my protection, and by extension the NDC royal government. Whoever has sent this contract to you, has fed you false information.”

“I see.” Morris turned his externals off again and relayed orders. “Alright, change in plans-fall in and regroup. Do not engage the targets, repeat, do not engage the targets-they are under the protection of the NDC royalty.” The squad fell back in short order, forming up at a parade rest, and many wisely kept their mouths shut.

Externals back on he let out a sigh. “My apologies ma’am-as I said, we got our orders on short notice-already got the pilot on the horn about the contract, though he hasn’t raidoed back in-”

“Hey Morris! Command’s on the line.” Came Richard's shout as he leaned out the squad compartment A brief twitch of the eye, followed by a sigh, “Patch me through.” A moment, followed by a brief burst of static. Annnd Richard had to open his big mouth. “Havoc 1-1 this Orion station, over.” Hoo-boy. This is gonna be interesting. “Orion Station this is Havoc 1-1, we have a situation here, over?”

“Copy that Havoc 1-1, what’s your situation, over?” The voice on the other line was neutral, but more like someone was wondering what they’d fucked up. “Our situation is that the kidnapping we were informed about? Turns out they were actually connected directly to the NDC royal government-someone fed us bad intel. Over.”

A brief pause, and followed by; “Are you certain, over?”

“I can put her on if you’d like, over?” Morris was rapidly losing what little patience he already had.

“Affirmative, over.”

He sighed and looked at the Noblewoman. “Ma’am, Orion station’s on the line, we’ll have to head over to our ship, but they want to speak with you, is that alright?”

“Yes, as long as it helps clear everything up. Once we have things straightened out, I may just be able to make your day in the process.”, Nora answered with a slight smile, before allowing herself to be led away to the gunship. “Roland, sit tight, clearing things up.”, was what she would send her knight as they did.

Morris led the noble woman to the blocky vessel. He personally hated the things-every time he got in one it felt like he was closing the lid on his own coffin-they were cramped, stuffy and had a tendency even with their armor and speed of almost getting shot down on a routine basis. But at least they made sure you came home in one piece. As they boarded, he helped her up and pointed to the cockpit.

“Right this way.” As they entered the cockpit-which had barely enough room for the pilot and Morris as it was, the addition of the noble made it even worse-not to mention the smell. Richard was eating some awful-smelling thing out of a can, looking like a cross between a bunch of worms and crushed up white something combined into a gelatinous mass that looked like it crawled out of places best unmentioned.

Richard greeted them by raising the can. “Here ya go.” He tossed the comm unit to Morris. Thumbing the switch, he spoke. “This is Havoc 1-1, got the NDC noble here, putting them on, over.” He passed her the radio.

“This is Lady Nora, Noble in charge of the Andraeste system. The targets you’ve been ordered to engage are not kidnapping. We have been asked to move her off planet by her own father, and have also asked for our help of her own consent. The two accompanying her are my cousin, the crown prince of the Oaklen throne, and his Vaigarin bodyguard.” Nora was firm as she laid it out for the person on the other end, hoping they would realize their error. Even though she wished for a lozenge, as she was not really used to speaking firmly so much, she continued. “Whoever has given this contract, is trying to get you to do the exact thing you were lied to about stopping. So… I offer a reimbursement for your troubles. Bring whoever it is to me, eliminate any resistance with extreme prejudice, and I will pay you three times the offered fee. I will also waive the costs of maintenance and repairs, for all your ships visiting, for the next month.”

- -----

As Nora was talking with the Iron Company personnel, Galestrix peeked her head up out of a maintenance hatch, and got a good view of the Crow, with another craft nearby. She saw a lot of heavily armed persons there, probably the mercenaries that got hired to try and stop them. They seemed focused on something inside, but she couldn't get a good view of it. She would have pushed further, but it looked like one of them was doing the smart thing and watching to their rear as the rest milled around someone who looked like they were in charge, and very pissed off.

Triggering her Geist, she sent a ping to the Crow, figuring the knight there would have his on, ready to receive. At the same time, she also pinged Heinrich and Asteri, relaying what she was seeing in rough numbers to them. But since they couldn't lift the hatch any further without revealing themselves and thusly getting shot, she lowered both herself and the hatch down back to be under the flight deck. Now was a matter of waiting for either the knight to respond, or Nora to ping them saying it was safe to come out.

- -----

There was a pause on the other end, and after a few moments the man on the other end spoke. “The contract was for thirty million Duskarian Script, issued by a Fusi Ereno-for the retrieval of a one Asteri, no last name given, and the elimination of her kidnappers. We trust you are dealing in good faith for the ninety then?” Morris’ discipline faltered as he sputtered and Richard nearly choked on whatever crap he was eating.

Ninety million? That was gonna mean one hell of a bonus for his squad, even if they were penalized. Still, the deal wasn’t done just yet, and judging by the looks of it, his guys were slacking off even after being called to assemble, save for one who was watching the rear. “Pardon me a moment ma’am, I have something to see to.”

“OI! YOU LOT!” He barked, making several jump and causing the one watching the rear to turn as he stood at the entrance of the squad compartment. “This isn’t a playground or a field trip-get the damned hanger secured and stop screwing around.” A part of him couldn’t blame them though, given that they’d been here for three months and were ready to go home. With a shake of his head, he turned back to the cockpit, leaning against the doorframe in between both areas.

Still, maybe this wasn’t going to be a major clusterfuck like he’d thought it’d be.

He almost snorted at the thought; a day in the Company without something going wrong?

Yeah...right.

- ---

“Well. That was… disappointing.”

“Mm. These brutes are quickly disarmed and defanged, it seems.”

“Perh- wait. They are agitated.”

“...Vents. Now.”

Moments later, and the two hooded figures were grunting as they made it to a maintenance room four floors down.

“Well. It seems like your caution was warranted.”

“I can only hope the Chosen are successful.”

“...Indeed. Perhaps we should bring in the Moroi Strigoi as well.”

“They will be cru-”

“I know that. They will never be intended to cause any damage.”

“...Ah.”

“Yes. Now. You saw how they followed that one man, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Let us move. The Chosen need to be prepared.”

 

[Universe]

~-~-~-~-~

Asteri paced back and forth, muttering to herself. As soon as Gale clambered back down, she assailed the Vagairin with questions. “So, why aren’t they shooting? Is Nora fine? Are they still gonna try to be… I dunno, a threat to us? D’we know why they’re going after us? Is…” Upon seeing Gale’s face, Asteri quieted down.

Gale had put a finger to her lips as soon as Asteri started talking, and tapped her head, indicating that she should use her Geist. After all, she'd already sent what she could be certain of. 12 possible hostiles that were heavily armed, loitering around a gunship, one of which was doing overwatch. The Crow was present, with the knight taking cover behind it. Beyond that, Gale didn't know and couldn't have gotten a good idea of more than that. {Speaking aloud right now is likely to get us found out. And until either Lady Nora or her Knight tell us to move, or that it's safe, we need to keep quiet and wait.}

{“Oh.. right…”}

Nora had a regular body, right? Standard healing could be done to her? Asteri quickly pulled up different holographic cards, each one having different bits of code on them. She was muttering to herself for quite some time, until she finally settled on one, and dismissed the rest, and ‘sheathed’ the one remaining card.

{Well chances are, they’re talking, hopefully… There were no grunts, or sounds of distress, much less any gunshots. Roland wouldn’t have taken that lying down. According to what Gale showed, they were rather relaxed too, like any troops lazing about while waiting for orders.} Heinrich was calm, looking at all the signs and clues to put an image of the situation together. He may not have been the real Belmes, but he definitely had the thought process at times. He gave Asteri a pat to reassure her, {Sure everything is fine and we’ll get the all clear soon.}

- --------------------------------------------------

“Ah so they’ve committed treason against the state then. In that case, I will gladly pay that much, and extend the waiver to a whole year as my thanks. Don’t bother bringing him back alive in that case either, just his head will do.” Nora offered pleased, a smile on her face as she found the terms very agreeable. She was angry, and she would make sure who ever just made this fuck up, was going to find what happens when you fuck around and find out with her. “I hope those terms are agreeable for you as well!”, she added cheerfully.

“I would say so.” The man on the other end kept his tone neutral, but no doubt he was likely squeeing like a little girl inside. Morris gave a slight chuckle as he stretched, cracking his neck. Ah-there went that annoying twitch. “We’ll send a representative to finalize the deal, we’ll have Havoc 1-1’s squad stick around for guard detail till they arrive, over and out.” The ship’s radio clicked and a brief chime indicated that their orders had come through. “Well shit,” Richard said to no one in particular, “Guess we dodged a bullet with that one, huh?” Morris sighed and turned.

“Shut the fuck up Richard, and get the guns up.” Walking out, he signaled the squad. “Alright ladies, we’re on security detail until further notice-got a rep from the company coming and we’re to sit tight and make sure nothing happens to our new friends until he gets here.” A few grumbles were heard, but the squad took up positions around the hanger-three men to point. Morris himself felt the sentiment, but orders were orders. Slinging the heavy boarding shield over his shoulder and strapping it to his back, he hefted his warhammer and stepped off to join them.

Yep...something was definitely going to fuck them sideways, but for the time being-milk assignment it was.

Nora, rather happy, practically skipped out of the gunship and passed the crow to the nearest maintenance hatch. “It’s safe to come up now, they’re now protecting us!”, she called down, before twirling around and pointing at Roland. “Get off your rear and get the ship spooled, it’s go time, before who ever the fuck decides to also be a dick today.”

Asteri popped her head out of the now-open maintenance shaft, ears twitching as she took in the scene. “W-well, Belmes. Looks like you were right.” At that, she promptly clambered out of the maintenance shaft, stopping after exiting to take a look at everything. She then looked at Nora, relief evident on her face, before it clouded over again in concern.

“So… who was this group after in the first place?”

“Understood M’Lady.” replied Roland, glad that there’d be no need for violence. He sheathed his blade and stowed his rifle in the locker. With his Geist he responded to the yeoman from before. “Sorry I didn’t respond, Yeoman Morris. I’m glad I’m not gonna have to kill all ya. Sir Ulric out.” His response was guileless and innocent.

As he settled in the pilot seat, he began running pre-flight checks as energy surged throughout the ship. “Engine good, Fuel good, shields good, hull good… we are all green and ready to go, M’Lady.”

“Pleasantly so, and it’s a great relief, as I am not a fighting type of person by nature. I have no doubt that if provoked, Nora would have thrown someone across the hangar.” Heinrich replied quite pleased indeed with the turn out. The prince casually waved toward those assembled in the hangar on the other side.

Nora pouted at her cousin as she waved the other girls to board the ship, “I would have said you were rude if not completely correct. I am my father’s daughter, whether he intended in that aspect or not. Remind me to introduce you to my sisters soon if I can though Heinie.” She gave a small smirk with the use of his nickname, before walking aboard the ship herself.

“Wha- wha- You’re still using that nickname?! Oh come on Nora, that’s a low blow.”, Heinrich protested with some exasperation, as she pulled out that old nickname for revenge.

Morris snorted. ‘As if you could take us.’ He thought, confident in his men’s ability, adjusting the shield on his back. Glancing back at the group as they walked towards the shuttle, ignoring the banter between the pair. “Welp, to answer your question-we were sent after you,” He looked her over, “So you wanna explain to me why the hell this Fusi Ereno was after you and was willing to risk treason-aside from the obvious?”

“Fusi Ereno? That’s not a name I’m familiar with… But, well, if they were after me, then..” At that, her ears and tails drooped a bit, before perking back up. “Really, the only one who could’ve sent a full blown military force to wrest me from Belmes would be Eius Foren. ...Though, I’m guessing from the name, he must’ve used a rep or have done something to obscure his involvement in the matter. Dadd- er, Dad’s always said that Eius was a sly slimeball.”

Asteri put a finger on her chin. “Now, as to why he wants me, the most basic and simplest answer would be that, quite simply, he considers me his property.” At that, Asteri furrowed her brows. “But that can’t be the only reason why Eius sent a full blown mercenary company to get me; Eius may be sleazy, but he isn’t dumb… At least, if we were to base it off of his…” At that, Asteri glanced at Nora. “...Cover-ups. Forgive me for the usage of that term, because I know that, legally, Eius is clean.” Asteri rubbed her cheek with her thumb. “In the end, TL;D..L? Anyways, it was probably Eius, though good luck trying to legally convict him. The Aesir know that Dad’s been trying for years.”

“That’s cute he thinks being legally clean would save him. He’s been connected to an act of treason, so his ass is grass now dear. Dad always taught me, “Let someone think they can live with harming your family, or act like they are god of the world. Then it is your place to teach them the bloody truth that they aren’t.” Whether he lives from said lesson, I care not, not after they almost got Heinrich and you girls killed.” Nora gave a pointed answer, legal only going as far as a courtroom, which didn’t technically exist out here in any form in the colonies. Not that she remembered any in the capital either. Bureaucracy let too many slippery pricks like this Eius character slip through the cracks, but that wasn’t possible here.

“I’m sure your dad won’t have to worry about him pretty soon, so come aboard and not worry about it too hard.” She added, only smiling at Asteri warmly, as she chuckled.

“I swear you get your dad’s intimidation without even trying Nora.”, came Heinrich’s voice from inside the shuttle.

Asteri smiled back at Nora at her consolation, before her smile turned into a concerned frown. “You’re not hurt are you? Nothing happened to cause any injury?” Asteri asked, her wristband glowing as she turned it on, and pulled out the chosen card from her deck and inserted it into the wristband.

“Aw that’s sweet of you dear, but two things. A, with him right there.. That wouldn’t work anyways.”, Nora replied sweetly as she gestured towards Morris before continuing. “Also I could take a nine mil to the forehead and be fine.” The blinking reaction that elicited from Asteri made her giggle.

Morris chuckled. He figured the NDC knew the Company didn’t use much in the way of small arms, so whatever she was wasn’t gonna hold up to their standard munitions. “Alright, the Representative should be arriving in the next few minutes, and as for that asshat, we’ll be sure to get him-he made a mistake when he decided to use us for his dirty work.” He looked to Nora, a questioning look on his face despite being hidden behind the opaque transsteel plate, “I know technically I should leave this up the rep, but is collateral gonna be an issue?” Better they know what the rules of engagement are beforehand than later.

“I can have the logistics department pull up all we have on him. As for ROE, anyone working as armed security is fair game, as well as the man himself. I prefer employee casualties be kept to a minimum. If possible, hit him after hours at his estate.” Came Nora’s reply to Morris, as she leaned against the wall of the ship’s cargo bay, waiting to meet this rep and talk to them. Once that was done, they were out of there and away to the Abyssal Rose waiting in orbit.

Gale kept quiet during the banter, walking into the cockpit and settling into the co-pilot's seat next to Roland, and settling back into the chair. Syncing her Geist to the shuttle, she closed her eyes and ran through a second check on the digital space to be sure it was indeed all green. Once that came back only 4 seconds later, she raised a hand and flashed the pilot a thumbs up that they were good to launch whenever.

Sure, an Operator could have done what she did faster, but for someone who literally was born and grew up in a society that just began to industrialize to support a blooming population of several million people, her ability to navigate, operate and process the material to an almost Operator-like level was impressive, and why she'd managed to earn a pilot's slot in the Royal Corps, despite some objections from some of the more stubborn 'old guard'.

Roland blinked as he saw the Vaigarin settle in the co-pilot chair next to him. He returned the thumbsup as he realized he had a fellow pilot with him. Even if it was a Geist Pilot. “Not too shabby, ma’am. Not too shabby.” he said in the Geist network, as the ship’s engines started humming.

Keying up his Geist to the ship’s speakers, Roland spoke, a grin evident from his tone. “Greetings, this is your pilot speaking, we are almost ready to go. Just waiting on the illustrious Iron Company. Please grab a seat, stow your gear and if you need to use the bathroom, well... that’s too bad.”

The second company gunship, a somewhat sleeker model than the standard variant glided in. “Rep’s here.” Morris announced cheerfully, “Stay frosty guys.” As it slowly leveled off, VTOL thrusters levelled off the craft, it’s landing gear coming out with a soft whine and a thunk. The door slid open, and the quartet of Squires, judging by the bronze trim on their armor, stepped out and formed a detail on each side. This sent alarm bells ringing in his head, even more so when he saw the second individual-a man in his late thirties, close cropped salt and pepper hair and sharp features learn with age and his eye faded brown eyes scanning the hangar, a few years Morris’s junior stepped out with his helmet tucked under his arm, the silver trim on his armor indicating him being a-

“Lady Nora,” His voice was sharp and harsh, slightly deeper than normal, “I am Knight Grant,” He stated, approaching her. “I have been sent from Orion Station in regards to the contract for the elimination of one Fusi Ereno.” The Yeoman had a bad feeling about this.

“Ah yes, the traitor. I suppose this is for official signing of the contract, you didn’t send this fancy of a representative party the previous jobs though? What’s the reason for such a higher up such as yourself being here for one guy?” She had to admit, Morris being tense, only made her tense. Nora didn’t like how he seemed worried about this, and that she may have only traded one altercation, for another possibly.

“Something tells me that things aren’t quite calm just yet.”, Heinrich whispered to the others over a Geist call in his head.

Gale shrugged slightly. {They're pulling in some serious muscle for this. Knight's equal to Captain. The guys with bronze trim are Squires, their version of a Lieutenant. At least it wasn't a Knight-Captain. That would have meant they saw this job as important enough to not leave it to chance.} She responded to Heinrich, having pulled up the relevant information from the local net records due to the amount of Iron Company jobs occuring on and around the colony.

Roland looked pensive. {They got Knights too? I wonder how they match up. Really wish they’d hurry the frak up though. Frakking paperwork.}

“Given both the severity of what this man has done, as well as the payout, Knight-Captain Pascal sent me in his stead in regards to the signing of the contract as well to oversee the operation.” Grant explained, producing a rolled up parchment, “Terms of the contract that you’ve stated are already filled out.” He held it out along with a small stick of wax and a handheld lighter. “We just need your seal and signature, and then we can get the operation rolling.”

That wasn’t good...granted he could understand them not wanting to leave the operation in the hands of a single squad, but still-a Knight? Really? Morris could feel his frustration coming back-first they almost shot a group of royals and now this?

The same feeling he’d gotten when they’d received those orders was coming back, as if though this job was going to kick something off that they were better off not getting involved in-he tried

to shake it off, thinking of the payout and bonuses the squad would be getting when all was said and done, but couldn’t quite shake it.

“Ah then I shall get this signed and sealed right away for you.”, Nora answered, cheering up quite a bit at that explanation. Taking the offered roll of filled out parchment, the Lady lowered a side panel to write against, before producing a stamp and pen from some pocket somewhere. Reading over the document thoroughly yet quickly, she signed the dotted line as everything seemed in order. Then after melting some wax and pressing it with her stamp, Nora took an optical picture with her eyes for her own records, then handed the scroll back once the wax rehardened.

Giving an appreciative nod to the knight, it was all seeming well and good, “I hope that takes care of everything you need from me for the time being. With this, the contract is confirmed and binding to reward as discussed on completion. Please contact me, or my Knight if additional topics on the matter need be discussed. I have already sent word to our intelligence bureau to send what information we have on record, as well as other sources. They can provide any intel on request. Now I don’t mean to be rude, but our departure to the Abyssal Rose has been severely delayed, and if all matters at the moment are sufficiently handled. I wish to politely request your permission for us to make our leave.”

Grant examined the parchment, making sure the wax was sufficiently cooled before rolling it back up, then nodded. “Of course, my apologies Ma’am.” As he left, he turned to Morris, “As soon as your vessel is able, you are to report to the Swordbreaker for briefing.” With that, the Knight and his squad packed back into their gunship, and left.

Morris sighed, and glanced back to Nora. “Welp, guess that’s our cue to leave. Best of luck to you all.” Toggling his radio as he walked back to their own ship as he turned off his externals, “Squad fall in, we’ve got a few hours before we’re out of this glorified spaceport, so get some rest while you can.” As the squad fell in, some sitting in the squad compartment while a few laid on their packs, the Yeoman leaned against the hull of the ship. ‘At least we get to relax for a bit.’ He thought, letting out a yawn before finally clambering into the compartment into one of the chairs.

That feeling still hadn’t left, but he ignored it in favor of trying to get a little bit of sleep.

As Asteri watched the ship begin taking off from the hangar, she felt a huge wave of relief wash over her. That was… close. Far too close for her liking; Who knew that Eius was that desperate to get her? ...But that couldn’t be just it, could it? There had to be more than that.

Asteri shook off that doubt, and turned around to face Belmes and Nora, Gale having decided to take the copilot’s seat in their own shuttle. “Well, I suppose that’s that? ..At least, for us?” She shook her head. She couldn’t help but have a feeling of.. Unanswered questions? Something was off, and she couldn’t pin her finger on it. She sighed, and shook her head again, swishing her tails this way and that as she walked over to the elevator to get her stuff, as well as Belmes’ duffel bag. Two clicks later, and Asteri was gripping the handle to her rolling suitcase in the left hand, binder-bag over her right shoulder, backpack fitted over both of them, and Belmes’ duffel bag hanging off her left shoulder. Yes, she was lazy, but she wanted to get off this planet all of a sudden. She might need to give a text to daddy to make sure that she was fine…

As she was rummaging through her binder-bag a bit awkwardly, she noticed something. Her Arcana: The Calling card holder. She brightened up instantly as she remembered something. “Hey, Belmes, you owe me an Arcana match!” She sang as she skipped along as best she could towards the shuttle.

Heinrich was just answering as she left the shuttle, “Hopefully, and a much quieter trip then our departure has been he-”, which became sputtering as she walked out. “Wait, I know it was cleared, but don’t go alone!”, he called out as he scrambled to follow after, soon taking his duffle and the suitcase for her. He was frantic for someone usually calm, not wanting anything to happen to her now of all times after just narrowingly dodging an incident.

Nora just hung from the side of the ramp opening, giggling as she watched him rush after, then come back while helping. “Such a gentleman, uncle raised you well Heinie.”, came her teasing jest before quickly running over and scooping up the bag laden kitsune. “You can pester him about that on the flight over, for now we protect you.”, she said as she skipped back to the shuttle with no problems despite the woman in her arms.

The prince dropped jaw briefly at the sight, before running to keep up yet again. “Hold on a minute! Cousin, that’s not fair! Since when are you supergal all of the sudden?!”, he said as they all reboarded the shuttle, and the signal was given for take off.

Asteri giggled as she was soundly picked up, belying her half-hearted protest of, “I probably could have been-” The door to the shuttle hissed as they secured themselves in their closed positions, and soon the ship was also in the process of leaving the hangar. Something told Asteri she was going to have a fun time with Heinrich and Gale.

~-~-~-~-~

As the shuttle flew through the air, rising higher and higher through the atmosphere, the two figures in dark clothing watched as the ship left the planet- and their cell’s grasp.

“...I believe we may need to watch these three.”

“..And what has warranted that caution?”

“If they can cause brutes such as those to stand down, and if they have the ear of the noble of this planet…”

“...You are correct. We shall keep an eye on them. They are heading to the capital, correct?”

“From what was reported, yes.”

“We need to alert our more… subtle...brethren.”

“As the soulsteel wills.”

~-~-~-~-~

The white marble pillars of the mansion had their crevices inlaid with golden patterns, gold mined from the neighboring asteroid fields. The shrubbery was immaculately trimmed, the bushes bordering the main pathway shaped into fashions of mythical animals, from dragons to manticores to gryphons. The fence surrounding the landscape was a firm concrete wall, covered up by bricks that were painted in a variety of shades of white, with half-pillars made of the same marble, if less gaudy, outlining the exterior and interior of the wall; the entrance itself was a double gate, reminiscent of a medieval castle’s: The porticillus, or in this case, the iron bar gate, was the exterior, while just behind that stood the main, wooden, gate, treated to be resistant to most elements.

The landscape itself was, moving away from the main path, the picture perfect scene of a rich man’s quest to obtain Hellenistic beauty, broken here and there by the cherrywood trees that Andraeste was known for, as well as the occasional golden-leafed ash trees, obviously genetically engineered to look that way. A pond here, statues there, and in the middle of the landscape stood a large mansion, pillars, towers, and statues all, detailing to everyone who saw it that whoever lived here must have been fabulously wealthy.

...Eius was a hedonistic man, after all. And proud of it, so it seemed.

“Alright, listen up!” The Knight’s voice came over the command channel as Havoc 1 prepped their equipment to the hum of the gunship’s engines as they flew over the city at low altitude with setting sun “Job’s as simple as it gets-find and kill Eius Foren, also known as Fusi Ereno-we’re to bring his head back to the Noble if possible, or at least enough remains that we can get a positive ID on a DNA match-transmitting a picture now-”A chime indicated the delivery of said data- “When we hit the ground-Havoc 2 enters from the front, Havoc 1 will enter from the rear of the while Havoc 3 will provide overwatch and comms. We’ll have Havoc 4 on standby with the Swordbreaker in low orbit ready to deliver them via drop pod in the event you run into hard targets. All squads will be provided jumpacks as once you get over the target the gunships will not be landing and will remain on standby to provide close air support. Given that we’re hitting just as everyone went home means that we don’t have to worry about non-combatants, but stay sharp just incase.”

As they neared the target, Morris got his first glimpse of the bastard’s manor, and heard one of his men whistle. “Ell’va nice place.” He asked, racking the slide on his rifle, “How much you think e’s spent on that?” Morris shrugged as he inserted a magazine into his Scythe and checked the powerpack on his shield-it was full, so at least the energy shield wouldn’t fail. Making sure his warhammer was secured, he answered.

“Hard to say, but I don’t think the insurance is gonna cover the place after we get done here-not that he’ll need it.” A few chuckles echoed throughout the compartment, but quickly died down and was replaced by an anxious energy.

“Gunships commence strafing of landing zones” Here we go-he heard Richard’s whoop as he felt and heard the vibrations of the 40mm chaingun and the scream of the rockets streaking from their launch pods. He could see the explosions as they smashed into his house, the mix of HEAP and Incendiary shells generating brief puffs of smoke and debris from the impact. He could also see the smoke and flashes from the rocket impacts. The craft hardly slowed as both slide doors came open, the door gunners’ weapons spinning up as they laid down suppressing fire.

“OUT! OUT! OUT!” The Yeoman roared as he and his men lept out into the chaos, their jump units coming to life as they arrested their momentum just enough to keep them from breaking their legs as they hit the ground running. “Lars, take your fire team right, we’ll take left, CQB up front and provide mobile cover.” The squad began to advance as a similar scene played out up front, Havoc 2 being a dedicated CQB unit and forming a shield wall as they advanced with Havoc 3 ensuring they had support as they advanced…

~-~-~-~-~

“Sire, there is a trio of craft approaching the manor. Our 'friends' in the local air tower say they're gunships.”

“WHAT!?” Eius spluttered over his wine as his tailored maid calmly informed him that there was a literal assault on his camp. “Who are they!? Well? Out with it! Danielle, get the turret system prepped! Oriana, alert the guards. Tell them they have permission to use the rockets.” Eius paced back and forth in his personal study. “Well? MOVE IT. And you. Diona. Stay with me. Your integrated weaponry will be useful if they break through.”

"Of course, sire." She replied, bowing slightly, as the entire manor began to rock. "However, due to your request to not be distrubed, as you can see, they are already here." Diona replied, even as the other girls in the room hurried out to perform the duties ordered of them.

- ----

"The bloody 'uck?!" Came the yell of one of the PMC troopers paid to guard some rich asshole in the barracks as the noise started.

"ASS AND ELBOWS PEOPLE! SOME ASSHOLES SHOOTING UP THE MANOR!" Came the team leader in the doorway as he passed.

"Mother'ucker!" The man growled, rolling off the bunk and only missing his buddy beneath him by long practice in drills for this kind of thing. Of course, usually the place getting attacked came with a bit more warning than them literally already shooting the place!

## Post 4 - darkfox

As the 18 man team scrambled out of the bunk, they weren't the only ones. There were 125 members of the PMC 'Blood Hawks' on this job. And right now, other than the evening duty rooster, most had been relaxing. So now 80 men were trying to get to the armory to draw weapons and gear while the manor and its surroundings was being attacked by someone.

"All teams, you know your places. Get your asses in gear and move it!" Came the barked order of the Post Commander over the intercom.

Sadly, due to the various factors involved in this attack's order of events, between the delay in the report of the oncoming gunships by 20 minutes, and the gunships flying low and fast, none of the defenses were really prepared. And the Evening Rooster were just in suits and sidearms to present a 'peaceful' air as they made their rounds.

Contrast this to the OD uniforms, combat body armor, and full length battle rifles the men under the 'Servant Quarters' were scrambling to put on.

Suffice to say, the start of the defense was going very poorly.

- ----

Morris slammed into the man, his shield sending man reeling as him and his team blitzed the rear entrance. A quick, short stroke of his warhammer to the guard's skull finished the job-creating a bloody wound and ensuring the fucker wouldn’t be getting back up. “This is Havoc 1-1-rear entrance secure, checking the door over.” He checked the door-aside from the door knob jiggling a bit, it was locked but good-and it was solid steel despite its pretty looks if he were to guess.

“Door locked, preparing to breach, status Havoc 2?”

“Havoc 2 advancing up the front path, encountering light resistance-they are falling back inside, repeat they are falling back inside. We are preparing charges and flamethowers to breach, over”

“This is Havoc 3, movement heading towards the garage, marking with IR laser and smoke for targeting-gunships are weapons free on target.”

The sound of the gunships overhead followed by the brrrt of miniguns and whump of explosions from the otherside of the complex signaled that the likely threat of any armored support had just been neutralized. “Havoc 2 in position-ready to breach, over.”

Slapping one of their grenade/charges against the door, the adhesive doing it’s job-for once-and he set the timer and booked it back to his squad, activating the shield’s built in energy barrier in case the damned thing went off in his face.. “Havoc 1, ready to breach.”

“Roger that Havoc 1, breaching in “3.”

“2.”

“1.”

A sudden explosion blanketed them with dust and debris, with Morris charge going off a second early just as Havoc 1 tossed a pair of their own charges, the sudden overpressure making a mess out of the security team bringing subguns and shotguns to bear, their meager cover being turned into shrapnel as the garage was turned into semi-slagged mix of concrete and metal as the plasma core melted down, a brief flash and puff indicating an ammunition explosion as it’s munitions cooked off. A massive hole had been blasted inwards on the side of the house they were in.

“Havoc 1, entering now, over.” The team entered in one by one, checking the corners of what seemed to be what was left of a kitchen, a few sparks and and spewing water, one of his men leaned down to the left. “Left hall clear.” He called his flashlight despite the dust clearly illuminating it. “Door’s secure.” Someone called, indicating a debris blocked door that likely led to another part of the house, “Though it looks like we’ve got a way upwards into the second floor.” He indicated the debris had formed a makeshift ramp, with part of the ceiling having collapsed and the rubble making it somewhat secure. Morris considered his options-he really didn’t want to split the squad, as it would decrease the overall firepower of the team, though they’d be able to cover more ground if they did....unfortunately, judging by the looks of it the bastard had hired proper security, so more like than not they were going to have to clear it room by room, floor by floor.

“Alright, we’ll secure the first floor first, then link up with Havoc 2 and go from there.” He toggled his comms as the squad moved out, moving in a two by two formation with CQB’s on point and rear. “Havoc 2, what’s your status, over?”

Havoc 2’s Senior Yeoman put a round from his shotgun at point blank range into an unfortunate guard who happened to have opened the wrong door at the wrong time, followed by a burst of flame from one of the squad’s flamethrower gunners into the room, blue white fire splattering the inside as screams could be heard over the merry cackling of the flames. “Currently clearing rooms on the first floor front, meeting moderate resistance, no casualties as of yet, Status over?”

“Met a few friends outside, breach point secure and no resistance as of yet, moving to link up, over.” Morris responded.

“Roger that, over and out.” The comms cut and he heard the gunships make another pass outside. Guess a few more mooks got caught in the open…

- ----

“...” Eius pinched his nose. “Fuck. Oriana. Get Danielle and Eris. We’ll head down into the saferoom, prepare the Teslas, and escape via the-”

“-I’m sorry sir, but the hangar is blocked off, remember? That most recent landslide, that ruined your ‘Hanging Gardens?’”

“Fuck fuck FUCK. Did I not hire- Nevermind. You four, come with me down. Now!”

One cliche hidden bookshelf elevator later, and soon enough Eius and his four personal maid/bodyguards were rushing down the columned hall, every second pillar or so ribbed with coils. While yes, it was very… niche, Eius found that pure electricity could overload anything. Sure, radiation might be a more effective way, but no way in the nine hells was Eius risking his safety to nuclear meltdown.

Not after those life-extension treatments.

Eius’ carefully arranged, plastic tight face broke into a feral smile as entered the saferoom after the 22 pillar hallway. He nodded to Danielle, and as she pulled a lever. Resounding booms echoed throughout the hallway as steel door after steel door closed in rapid succession, before an unsettling buzz was heard after all the doors closed.

Again. Gaudy. Expensive. Overkill? Perhaps. But Eius did not want to die.

“Can you two at least be useful!? Can the rubble be cleared out in any way?”

“Opening the door is liable to cause the debris to fill the room. At the very least, it would alert them where we are.”

“...”

“...”

“Mas-?”

“Shut up. I’m thinking. ...Diona. Prep the headset.”

~-~-~-~-~

One of the Evening Rooster troopers had seen, or rather, heard what was coming as the gunships arrived. Not wasting any time, he bolted for the garage. They had a uparmored surplus military patrol vehicle stored in there for when they needed slightly heavier metal to dissuade locals from bothering the guy they'd been hired to protect.

Of course, he'd only just gotten the engine turned over when multiple HEAT and AP rockets slammed into the garage, turning it and all the other extremely expensive and fancy cars inside of it as well were all turned into oh so very bright flashes of detonation of their fusion bottles, and thus making one spectacular contained detonation.

What did this mean? Well, with the interior turned into a pressure cooker from the overpressure and heat, the garage doors were blown out and thrown about 3 meters (they were much too heavy to go further), and the roof ruptured in several places as the weaker points for temperature and air flow went next. And then the structure collapsed inward as there was no longer anything helping to hold it up.

As for the troopers rushing into action, several had managed to reach the exit of the stairwell that hid their barracks below, but the sudden appearance of the Iron Company troopers as the men tried to get to their positions quickly caused a half-hearted fighting retreat. That was almost instantly turned into a rout as the gout of flame from the flamethrower was opened up.

"THIS IS SO MUCH BULLSHIT!" yelled Trooper First Class Brian as he slammed the door closed behind him and dove out of the doorway itself just to be safe. "Who the fuck uses a motherfucking flamethrower in a raid?!"

"Just shut the fuck up and help me with this barricade! Unless you want to get fragged when they blast the door and we start shooting!" Replied Trooper Sergeant Edwards. "Jorge, Ivan! Get the fucking LMG into place! I want that door to be a fucking coffin!"

Sadly, even as the two soldiers were trying to get their weapon set up and loaded, the wall next to the door erupted in an explosion, throwing the defenses completely into chaos as the expected entryway was bypassed entirely. Especially since the opening in question... Came from the servants kitchen, not the dining hall where the flamer had been.

"Oh you have got to be shitting me!" One screamed, quickly turning their rifle to the new entryway, and pouring fire into the opening.

Only to stop and wonder why there'd be no grunts of their rounds impacting. "The hell?" The trooper asked, trying to see through the cloud of smoke. At which point the wall behind their barricade blew in, and the Iron Company troopers could only wonder if this was some kind of training exercise with how poorly these PMC goons were reacting.

Havoc 2’s squad advanced in-these men were clearly amateurs, either that or fairly small time and lacked any real experience. He sighed as they advanced, shields up and energy fields on as the igniters on both flamers were charged and ready to fire. One of them threw down their rifle, and several others quickly followed suit. “W-we surrender!” One of them, a man barely older than twenty stammered, a dark spot forming in the middle of his trousers. “J-just keep those damned things away from us.”

“Havoc 2 to Knight Grant, are we accepting surrender, over?”

A pause. “Yes-no point in inflicting more casualties than necessary, We are sending down additional units to assist. Over.” Havoc 2 cut the line, and looked at the man. “I’d advise you to contact your superiors and inform them that this is their one and only chance to surrender, unless they want to be charged with treason as well-we have orders from Lady Nora herself to bring Euis to justice as he tried to have two nobles assassinated during a-so-called kidnapping.”

Not to mention he tried to dupe the Iron Company into doing his dirty work, but he omitted that part.

"Sure sure!" One of them said, reaching for the radio on his vest and keying it. "Hey uhhh, Chessmaster? This is Echo Squad. Reporting that the enemy raiding the compound is accepting surrenders. I highly recommend us doing so, as I'm pretty sure fighting them is suicide." He said, listening to the response on the other end and wincing. "Because they look like fucking tanks in their armor, have flamethrowers, and have my team surrounded and oh yeah, are looking very ready to roast anyone coming up the stairs."

He winced more. "Sir, according to them, they were sent by Lady Nora. Last I checked, she was the noble who runs this whole damned world." There was a long pause, before the man finally sighed in relief. "The Blood Hawks accept your terms. We aren't paid enough to piss off the planetary governor. Or deal with guys like you."

“On behalf of the Iron Company, we accept your surrender, please lay down your arms as you leave and proceed out front, we will have people arriving shortly to process you out and once this is over we’ll see about getting you home.” Havoc 2 and his men parted so they could leave. “Do not attempt to run as we have men covering the entrance and they WILL shoot you if you do so, surrender or not.”

~-~-~-~-~

As soon as Eius heard the report from the idiotic ‘Chessmaster,’ he went silent. The company HE had hired to take HIS toy back had decided to betray him. AND on the grounds of that stupid, idiotic, damned noble too. How many times had he had to clean up his work perfectly JUST to make sure that no word would reach Nora? How many lower-end officials did he have to bribe, blackmail, or worse, outright kill and replace, to ensure that no reports of what he did ever came higher than mere inconveniences? Eius knew that woman had no respect for subtlety or intrigue, as showcased by this.

But the more important thing was that his toy had escaped his grasp. Eius felt bitterness welling up in him; this damned ‘Company’ was supposed to do his orders, no questions asked! Dylon. It was that bastard’s fault. That man had always been a thorn in his side. Stealing his property, ruining his livelihood in whatever small ways he could, inconveniencing him in all that he did.

He should’ve made sure that he and his entire…

“Sir?” One of his maid’s voices, he didn’t care which, broke him out of his brooding. “I have the headset.”

Eius sat down on the chair. “Put it on. Afterwards, you, you, and you-” He pointed to Oriona, Eris, and Diona- “Go and hamper these idiots. I don’t care if you kill those traitors I call security, either.” Upon seeing Eris’ look of concern, he forestalled her by saying, “And I don’t care, bitch, about what the consequences are. You were made for me, I can remake you. Is that clear?” A subdued nod satisfied him. “Good. Danielle, open and close the security system again. Be quick about it.”

As the three went on their suicide mission, Eius settled in his chair, looking at his last, loyal maid. But before he could give her his orders… “Sir? Are you sure Eris won’t tell them what you did?”

“...No. For all she knows, this is an automated mech system.”

“And what will make them think that it is?”

“You’re the one that controls it, obviously.”

“Ah. Yes sir.”

Eius finally sank into his chair, before commanding Danielle, “Begin the process, set the timer, and pull out the controller.”

“Yes sir.” Was the emotionless reply he got. Which he preferred. Eris was a mistake; an experimental one, sure, designed to mimic real emotions. But a mistake regardless.

~-~-~-~-~

“Alright, come on! Single file!” The PMC’s were slowly filing out one by one with a few of the Logistics guys pointing them out of the compound and aboard a waiting transport. They’d be sorted out and returned, minus their equipment once this was done. If these Blood Hawks wanted to protest-they’d likely be told ‘Be glad you are still around to do so.’

Morris sighed as he made his way up the central stairway-Havoc 3 had been relieved by a quartet of squads and the logistics units sent to process the prisoners and any salvage they got from it and was ordered to assist Havoc 1 and 2 in sweeping the mansion. “Has anyone gotten a hold of the local government to see if we can get a layout of this place, over?” The Yeoman really wasn’t in the mood for this bullshit-he’d figured the bastard would’ve shown himself by now-trying to rabbit when they hit the manor. “We’re still working on that, unfortunately we haven’t gotten any as of the moment, so you’re gonna have to do this the old fashioned way-room by room, over.”

Damnit. “Alright, let’s get to work.” The team readied it’s weapons as they began their sweep in case there were any surprises waiting for them-what he’d give to have a couple of fieldsmiths with him right about now.

“Detecting hostiles on the second floor, in the stairway hall; they are just exiting the stair balcony.” Oriona’s voice was in her typical cold tone.

“Understood. Are the explosives prepared?” This one was Diona, in her eerily cheery voice.

“Uh, y-yes.” Eris.

“Detonate them.”

“B-but won’t master be an-”

“His safety is more important. Do it.”

The floor collapsed on the squad with a dull boom and a rumbling slide. Two seconds later than when it should have been.

As Diona and Eris fell back amidst the smoke and noise, Oriona crouched and made herself as small as possible, a plasmic red glow emanating from the palm of her hand as a dull thrum filled the air.

~-~-~-~-~

Morris was not happy-he’d nearly been crushed when the damned ceiling had dropped on them when the explosion had gone off, which had left his ears ringing. Most of his squad had been half-buried and were currently cursing in Valhallan as they tried to unbury themselves. With a grunt and heave, they managed to free themselves of the wreckage, checking equipment and racking rifles. Their dark blue and grey armor was practically white being covered in plaster dust-giving them a little bit of cover. “Okay...externals off, now.”

“Alright, Revjak-get that launcher up, savo of cluster and incendiary, followed up by our own grenades.” A grunt followed by the squad turning their heads away with the CQB’s bringing their shields up as they found what cover they could, with the big man bringing the launcher itself up. The 62mm grenade launcher nicknamed “Stovepipe” by NDC troops was standard to most company urban assault teams, firing a round slightly bigger than most of the common light mortars with a six round side loading magazine. These were often loaded in a ‘clown’ fashion-multiple types of ammo loaded within. In this case, the grenades used were a combination of the hellish incendiary mixture they favored for their flamer units, and a vicious submunition round-unleashing small bomblets and saturating an area.

Both rounds used airburst to maximize effect. The result? A series of loud bangs followed by the roar of the flames suddenly coming to life-bathing the area in flames and lethal shrapnel. Followed up by the grenades the company used-about the size of a liter soda bottle. A series of loud booms collapsed more of the floors, sending some of it below. “Alright, keep your eyes peeled.” He said, his voice faint in his ears after the detonations-we may not have got em.” The squad began a careful sweep, watching for any sign of movement or anything unusual…

~-~-~-~-~

Oriona was designed to be a professional. The problem?

So was the enemy.

As she dropped down from the ruined floor onto the rubble below, grenades were thrown in every direction. The enemy may be professional, but they didn’t care about the damage they did to the area. Which was unfortunate, but better to let them take ten minutes to crawl an inch than rush through the entire area in five. But the explosions did hinder Oriona’s planned landing, as she effectively was blasted farther than where she intended, and after flopping into a rubble pile, she shook herself off.

Her new position was not optimal. Not at all. As her built in weaponry began to glow hot, Oriona sent a silent transmission to Diona. She was down.

The robotic figure dressed in a maid outfit quickly crawled as close to the company as she could, before coming to the point where they were bound to notice her, no matter how stealthy she tried to be. At that point, she leapt, using that burst of speed to effectively put a body between her and other gunfire, and began blasting away with her integrated plasma weaponry.

~-~-~-~-~

“Move.”

“W-where to?”

“To the study. Where we will make our defense.”

“B-but..”

“Master will support us with armor.”

“...Alright.”

~-~-~-~-~

“Is the transfer finally beginning?”

“Yes, master.”

“Good. Now set the timer, and man the mecha controller! Move!”

~-~-~-~-~

Unfortunately, while he had to give their assailant credit for her tactic, she missed one key factor-all Iron Company troops had some form of close combat weaponry and training-in this case it was a swift shield bash from one of the Yeoman even as the plasma bolts were disappitated against the energy field around the shield followed up by a burst from Morris’s Scythe turning her head into so much synthetic flesh and metal. He examined the body-some kind of robot in a maid outfit-looked pretty damned real initially, he’d almost mistaken her for a cyborg.

‘Well that was anti-climatic.’ He thought as they picked their way through the rubble as quickly as they could. “This is Havoc 1-1 to command-looks like them PMC’s weren’t the only ones Guarding the target-looks like he’s got some kind of attack robot on top of that.” He changed out the magazine, swapping it for a fresh one and placing it in his belt-might need it later. “Requesting sensor sweep of the building, over.”

“Request denied Havoc 1-1, there’s too much debris in the air and we’ve got a lot of electrical interference.” Electrical interference?

“Roger that command, Over.” Morris considered his options...and then chuckled. “Havoc 2-we got any EMP Munitions, over?”

“Yeah, why over?” He chuckled, “They just portables or gunships carrying bombs?”

“Portables, mostly charges and grenades-why?”

He let out a chuckle. “We’re gonna put em’ to use.”

- ---

A few moments later, and some grumbling on his squad’s part, a large number of hand and launched EMP rounds were passed around.

“Alright, here’s the plan-we shower the area in EMP’s and hopefully that’ll knock out any other killbot’s the bastard’s got hanging around-use the gunships to shower the area and then we’ll see about sweeping again. He’s not gonna hide for long.”

The troopers nodded their affirmatives, and the grenadiers began their sweep in the gunships-firing into windows, with them making passes every so often that the large handheld units could do their work as well-being dropped like iron bombs and causing a little interference when one of the craft got too close. When the explosions suddenly went off-spitting dust into the air along with a bit of miscellaneous debris, Morris chuckled-looks like they’d likely set more bombs in an attempt to try and possibly hinder them. He hoped they’d gone off in their faces-and pictured the stuipid look on them.

“Alright that should do it-we’ll begin a sweep once we set down.” He was still smiling when they’d landed. “Wonder how that plan of theirs worked out?” He heard Garm say as he checked his rifle. “Probably badly.” Morris readied his own machine pistol. “Make sure your jumpacks are charged and fresh mags in-could be a few more kill bots in there we missed and half the building’s likely down so we’ll need em’.” The troopers started advancing back towards the now partially collapsed manor, ready for anything.

~-~-~-~-~

Diona and Eris felt the boom as it shuddered through the building, and seeing the EMP grenades cause the explosives they set up was a definite disheartening sight. ...Well, it would have been, if Diona had any emotions. Eris, on the other hand, was quietly hyperventilating as much as a synthetic could. They were nearing the end-game, and Eris was not looking forward to it.

Suddenly, around them came the shattering glass as EMP grenades burst through the glass, only to clang uselessly against the iron bars Eius had installed a long time ago, in his paranoia to prevent people from climbing into his study. Now, their use was proven again as they prevented the EMPs from entering the study, and possibly ruining Eius’ most grand defense mechanism.

The slow moaning and screeching of steel echoed behind them as the knight statue that dominated the center wall of the room began to move. Twice as tall as a normal person, this statue- actually a mecha- lumbered out of it’s pedestal position, before breaking through the empty wall on the opposite side, causing the two maids to stagger from the impact. But to say the mecha wasn’t effective was to lie, as it lifted up it’s arm holding the sculpted spear, and out came a hailstorm. From the shoulders came a cluster missile, from the spear tip, chaingun fire.

~-~-~-~-~

“What the hell?” Morris held up an arm, signaling his squad to stop as the others did-that was another explosion, followed by a smaller series of them. A short while later a burst of gunfire sounded, muffled as it was but the sound was unmistakable-a vulcan cannon.

“Alright, sounds like we didn’t get 'em all, stay frosty.” He queued command, “Uh sir this is Havoc 1-1, we’ve got a problem-we’ve got what sounds like a possible heavy contact-multiple explosions and vulcan-likely mechanized-requesting power armor support over.”

“Roger that Havoc 1-1, please confirm contact, over.” He growled in frustration. “Sir we-”

“YO! Just saw some kind of explosion on one side of the building!” It was Richard-ignoring radio protocol again…

“You sure it wasn’t some kind of charge the EMP’s missed, over?” A sigh on the other end, “Nah, doesn’t look like it, got what looks like tracer fire too...uh over?”

He sighed again. “Command, we’ve got a partial confirmation-gunships saw something detonating on the outside of the building followed by tracer fire. Do we have support, over?” A short pause. “Negative, we need positive confirmation per Iron Curtain Protocol, over.” Son of a bitch. Cutting the link, he checked his scythe and remaining grenades. Four mags, two grenades-wonderful-just enough to hold off a mob of angry villagers. “Alright, load up on armor piercing rounds and prepare for possible mechanized contact.” The squads began spreading out, finding what cover they could while flamer crews prepared ambushes to overheat the hostile-or incinerate them if they weren’t armored. While magazines were changed out for INCSLAP ammo, rounds that could tear through a half foot of solid metal. “Richard, inform your friends to remain on standby-we’re gonna need them before long, over.” An affirmative came over the radio as Revjack prepped his grenade launcher, loading HEAP and incendiary. This was gonna get ugly...fast

- ---

The mecha’s original attention had been focused on the gunships; however, that was soon distracted as the camera detected figures taking cover. Height advantage was always good to have. What wasn’t going well for the mecha was that it’s arms were well below the camera in the head. Hence, it couldn’t get a good shot with the gaudy autocannon spear. Sure, bullets ricocheted here and there off of statues and pillars, tore through hedges, and made dents in the marble walls. But shooting through solid marble was something that couldn’t be done immediately.

So, Danielle switched tactics. The left shoulder also opened up, this one also shooting another cluster of rockets- this time, instead of aiming these at the airships, it was aimed at the hapless targets that would surely be destroyed along with their pitiful cover. If not, well, Danielle had an autocannon and a heavy shield to work with.

~-~-~-~-~

“What’s taking so long!?”

“Sir, you’ve never attempted this before. It has to map your synaptic nerves and neurons first before it undergoes the process.”

“Damn it, I’ve already done this!”

“Two years ago, sir. It has to update all the changes that have happened.”

~-~-~-~-~

Eris finally couldn’t take it. While Diona was busy pulling out a rather large rifle from a secret compartment in the study, Eris finally managed to conjure enough sense in her head to realize she didn’t want to be here. So, she waited. She waited until Diona walked out of the study, and into the ruined third floor, with broken walls and all. Until Diona lay down and set up the anti-material rifle. Then, she began to run. She fell down a shattered floor onto the second floor, before heading to the only direction where there WASN’T chaos, fire, and noise.

Eris didn’t choose this life. But she could choose to escape it, fates be willing. At least, she thought that to herself. When she reached the perimeter, she found that she physically couldn’t take another step forward. After trying twice more, on the third time, a shock went through her, forcing her to stop. Eius, it seemed, had prepared for an escape attempt. And Eris had no way of knowing where Eius had placed the restraining chip. It could be in her processors for all she knew. Tears forming in her eyes, she sat down, crawling to a place where she dearly hoped no one would spot her.

~-~-~-~-~

The timer on the clock ticked down, the digital numbers slowly inching closer to zero. Moving closer to whatever destruction it was intended to do.

~-~-~-~-~

When the barrage of rockets swarmed around them-the troops immediately went prone-or tried to any ways. Morris and his squad had been on the ragged edge of the impact zone-shrapnel bounced off his armor as he brought his shield up and over in a vain attempt to protect the man beside him-he pitched forward suddenly, EKG unit flatlining on his hud as blood sprayed from a gash in his neck. A similar situation played out behind them-with several more units flatlining even as the two flamethower gunners from Havoc 2 hit the ignition levers on their weapons-sending hellish blue flame out with a roar in an attempt to try and either overheat the machine or roast the pilot-if it had one-with any luck they’d likely cook off whatever ammo was in it.

The burning fuel splashed against the machine, trailing down in thick, viscous globs-seeping into joints and hopefully doing bad things to the components inside.

Heat and electronics didn’t mix overly well.

“Havoc 2 is down, repeat-Havoc 2 is down, reporting 6 fatalities, 3 wounded-we need medical support ASAP.” Shit, there went the majority of their close-combat capabilities-and more likely than not the squads outside the compound would likely be tied up trying to make sure the logistics guys got off the ground safely. “Damn it-GARM! Go help them! NOW!” Morris roared as he attempted to rally his squad, “Havoc 3, provide suppressing fire.” No response-he glanced down at the hud-no lifesigns-they’d likely caught the full brunt of the attack when it hit. “Command! We’ve got heavy casualties, 3 wounded, 19 KIA’s, positive ID on that mech unit, requesting support-over!”

A pause. “Roger that Havoc 1-1, ETA 30 seconda-you’ll need to hold on until then over!”

A lot could happen in 30 seconds. Gritting his teeth, he sent his orders, strapping his shield to his back. “Reinforcements inbound-gunships-hit the bastard-we’ll swarm 'em afterwords over!” What was left of the initial assault team grabbed the wounded men and hit their jumpacks in an attempt to scatter, firing off a number of snapshots while Revjack laid down fire with the grenades-the smoke from the explosions temporarily obscured the target’s vison.

An affirmative followed by a barrage of 40mm rounds and rockets from the gunships streamed towards the target…

- -----

They heard the weapons fire and turned, the four squads from Havoc Cohort brought their weapons up, assuming a defensive pattern around the Logistics team’s transport. “This Havoc 5-1, what the hell’s going on in there, over!?” He kept his tone even, but he was worried-they were still getting prisoners sorted out when whatever it was happened. “Havocs 1 through 3 ran into a mech unit and are currently engaged-power armor units are inbound, over.”

“Do we assist, over?”

A short pause....”Negative-wait till it leaves the estate grounds before engaging in the event Havocs 1-4 fail to destroy it, over.”

He didn’t like that, and a part of him wanted to go in, but out here in the open they’d have a better chance of swarming the thing if the heavier equipment they had didn’t do the job. A signal went out and the squads spread out, readying weapons.

This was getting to be a long day.

~~~~~~~~

However heavily armed the mecha might have been, one autocannon wasn’t enough to take out twenty five armored soldiers, about half of them in power armor. Throw in the wasp-like gunships, and the mecha fell within minutes of the power-armor units arriving. But fall it did, taking out eight of the regular troopers, and surprisingly enough, six of the power armored soldiers, which was admirable. But perhaps that was because the pilot was a rather advanced AI. As it was, Danielle had to periodically leave the Mecha to its own devices from time to time to ensure that Eius’ process was going smoothly. And during those underperforming times, the Company took their toll on the mecha. But there was yet one more threat to face before entering the lion’s den. Diona, who had already loaded the chamber, aimed through the scope. After taking aim at one of the power armor’s heads, she fired.

~-~-~-~-~

“Why aren’t you controlling the mecha anymore?”

“It’s destroyed, sir.”

“How much longer is this process going to tak- urgh!”

“It has just started, sir. I suggest making minimal movement with your muscles, as that could potentially influence the neurons and corrupt the copies.”

~-~-~-~-~

The response to the sniper hammering into a Juggernaut's armored chestplate was a hail of gunfire and incendiaries. Even with the losses they’d sustained against the mech, the torrent of fire was more than enough to end the wise-ass.

Gritting his teeth, Morris grabbed a few extra mags from one of the bodies of his squad mates. Damnit. “Alright-mech unit down, commencing sweep, over.” The squad began their sweep of the place. This job had been far too easy from the start, only for them to meet stiff resistance in the form of some last ditch defensive measures that very nearly did them in. Morris himself was currently moving around back with what was left of his and Havoc 2’s squad. Shield powered up and scythe at the ready, he nodded as the squad began their breeching procedure…

- ------

Eius seriously needed to work out the spy movie cliches.

The company traced the path of destruction led by the mecha to the study, where they also discovered how well fortified it was. By logical deduction, Eius must have been hole up there somehow. Everywhere else was practically torched. Yet, there was no sign of Eius anywhere.

~-~-~-~-~

“Alright, I’m getting sick of this shit .”One of the troopers had very nearly fallen through the floor when it gave out beneath them as they entered what seemed to be a study, sending several bookcases down, though when one of the bookcase after some prodding didn’t seem to move, a charge later showed revealed what seemed to be an elevator shaft. “Get jumpacks ready-throw a couple charges down and then we’ll descend.”

Several detonations later, the squad descended into what seemed to be a long hall, with a series of...blast doors? Morris growled when he got the report, when he got his hands on that son of a bitch... “Alright, we’ve got the bastard-armor troops see if you can’t get through that damned thing-I don’t we have enough grenades left for this.” The armored units began to blast away, boring through the doors with some difficulty.

- -----

As soon as the second door was blasted away, Eius’ next trick came into play. The Tesla coils roared into action, zipping through the four now-exposed coils. But the electricity could only do so much. And was only so accurate. After dismantling these nuisances, the process repeated itself. Again, and again. But the sixth door was when they ran out of time.

~-~-~-~-~

“Is...it..”

“97%, sir. Please stop talking. We cannot risk corruption to your neuro-”

Boom.

The explosion ripped through the safe room, cascading through the hallway, ripping the heavy steel doors off of their hinges and overloading the tesla coils, adding plasma to the already deadly blast. The soldiers in the hallway were met with a wall of semi-molten steel being pushed by a massive amount of force.

At least their deaths were quick.

The hallway contained and directed the blast through the hallway and up the elevator, only dispersing when it reached the exit of the elevator, culminating in a massive shockwave that shook the already damaged walls to pieces. The building finally had enough, as it finally began to collapse from the abuse rendered to it, rubble and debris flying everywhere, flinging anything within the walled landscape that was once Eius’ paradise away from the center.

From security forces, Eris, and any lingering soldier to shattered benches, burnt trees, and pieces of statues, the wave spared no one, only stopping due to the exterior wall absorbing the last of the waning power of force.

~-~-~-~-~

Between the explosion and sudden loss of contact, Morris reflexively gave the order of “BACK!” as he hit the pack and lept back as training kicked in, bringing his shield up to bear-attempting to deflect any shrapnel away.

The squad triggered their packs half a second later-unfortunately, the blast caught them just as they took off-the blastwave and shrapnel catching them. The Senior Yeoman barely had half a second to acknowledge it before the forcewave sent him careening out of control. The pack arrested his momentum just enough that he ended up plowing into the dirt. Ears ringing, he laid there-comms were faint in his ears-but someone was trying to reach them.

- ----

The blast had caught the troopers outside manor grounds by surprise as some debris rained down on them-thankfully no one was seriously injured outside of one of the men getting a piece of stone the size of a quarter lodged in his ankle.

“Sir, we just-!”

“I’m aware-dispatching medical and logistics units now, get in there and check for survivors-NOW!” Protocol be damned, they needed to know if any of their guys made it out of that mess-too much interference was blocking any reception stronger than radio….

~~~~~~

As the dust of fallen debris swirled around the ruined landscape, horrific figures began appearing in the mist. They scoured through the ruins like some mutated scavengers looking for souls to steal. When they got close enough for the eye to actually distinguish details, their appearance would have caused said eye to shed tears in horror, as these figures could actually be called mutated scavengers. Rotten bodies of flesh, bloodily fused with what appeared to be a mix of rotten and pristine metal; what wasn’t covered in decaying rust was actually beautiful shining metal carved in delicate, intricate patterns. But the shapes these hunks of metal formed were what caused the eye to revolt.

While the cyborgs differed in shape, they were all horrendous. There was one cyborg whose only human parts was a set of bloodied legs, supported by a pair of oversized robotic limbs. These four mismatched limbs, in turn, supported a large, bulky weapons platform, where what could only be labelled a tank’s gun barrel was mounted atop of it. Another was more human in appearance, but the legs were occasionally replaced with wires and steel surrounding bone, with arms replaced with turrets, and a head sporting an oversized set of cameras.

Following behind these sorts of abominations were other monstrosities, if looking less mechanized than usual. Between melted skin and fused metal bits, they looked like the living dead; these came in droves more than the five or so larger things that desecrated the ruined compound; perhaps looking to compensate size for numbers.

And finally, behind it all, came eight figures. Each one of them shouting orders, one of them clearly in command.

“Nosferatu. Get the Strigoi Mortii scanning the area. Form a perimeter line, make them watch for any intruders. Do not overextend.”

“Vetala. Use your pack to find out where the hedon holed himself in. He is probably dead. Regardless, you know what to do.”

“Shamans. Use the Chosen to provide support. Shaman-4, scour the area for any survivors, if any. Kill them.”

The figures began to disperse in their said groups, the Chosen lumbering off with their handlers, while the pack of Strigoi Mortii split into two, the smaller one heading toward the study, while the larger one began to fan out to form a small perimeter, expanding it slowly, almost as if they were performing a search line.

~-~-~-~-~

Morris blinked twice, and tried to slowly get up, fighting against the pain of his unpleasant landing-he’d heard voices, and figured it may be the guys from outside, or some of the bastard’s security. When he saw the...things in the distance, he rolled his eyes and checked his Scythe, making himself as small as possible. ‘Of fucking course.’ He thought as he examined the weapon, covered in dirt, but still functional. Quietly, he opened a comm. “This is Havoc 1-1, squad’s down, got unknowns coming it-looks like some kind of tech-thralls.” Moving as slowly as possible, he took cover behind a fallen tree. “They’ve got some serious hardware, and looks like they’ve got a bunch of conventionals giving orders. Need support over.”

No response save for static. Comms must be fucked. ‘Right-need to establish contact with friendly forces.’ Jumpack was non-functional with the massive dent in the thruster, so now it was just dead weight-he might be able to scrounge one from the bodies out front, but no telling if it’d even be functional. His shield was in decent shape at least, so there was tha-and the shield had a decent charge. Shouldering it off as best he could, he prepared an ambush.

Inhaling slowly, he grabbed his last grenade and got ready to prime it-his goal was to trying and keep them off balance long enough to escape.

- ---

“Havoc 5, we’ve got confirmation-sole survivor-Havoc 1-1, doesn’t seem like his radio’s receiver is working right though. Be advised that he’s spotted unknowns with what look like tech thralls-proceed with caution, over.” Great-just what they needed. “Copy that command.” He turned to the rest of the squad. “Alright, you heard him,” He said, bringing his thunderer up, “We’ve got more hostiles-almost willing to bet they're responsible for the mess at the manor-gunships remain on standby-we’re going in…”

They doubletimed it to the manor ground entrance, each squad taking up positions on either side…

~~~~~~

“MULTIPLE HEAT SIGNATURES.”

“The Chosen’s Thermal Imaging is useless in this environment, so soon after the blast.”

“I see. What about the motion activated detectors?”

One of the handlers looked up to the sky, examining the debris that was finally settling down. “This could work. We will have to examine the alerts ourselves, however.”

“Understood.”

Shortly after activation.

“MOTION DETECTED. MOTION DETECTED. MOTION DETECTED…”

As each handler brought their Chosen with them as they examined each instance, they slowly spread apart. Until finally…

“MOTION DETECTED.”

“That log? Very well. Show me where it was triggered.”

The two lumbered on towards where Morris was hiding.

~-~-~-~-~

“Overseer. This is Vetala. The hedon is well and truly dead; I can see his charred corpse in front of us.”

“Do you think it will suffice as an offering?”

“I doubt it. The slightest touch would cause significant damage to the burnt tissue.”

“Shame. Well, then. You know what to do. Search for any surviving networks, and remove all correspondence of us from them.”

Vetala confirmed, and got to work.

~-~-~-~-~

The moment he saw the thrall and his handler coming towards him, Morris hit the activation handle and threw, bringing his shield over his head as the grenade detonated-the massive blast tearing the pair apart in the blast. Wordlessly, he lept up, bringing his shield about as he snapped off a burst from the machine pistol at another one of the pairs-he didn’t bother to see if it hit anything. Sprinting forward, he activated the energy field around the shield as he charged through the unknown’s perimeter…

- ----

“Alright, sounds like Havoc 1-1’s already made contact, let’s get in there and help him.” As the four squads moved in, they began to spread out, checking angles and corners, sticking to cover as best they could.

“Gunships, move in and see if we can’t get visual, over.”

“Copy that, gunships moving in, over.” He could hear the comforting rumble of the engines as they moved forward…

- ----

The Dirges could also hear the thrum of the gunships as well.

“Vetala, status?”

“I found a functioning computer. Linked into his network, and deleting it.”

“Are you finished?”

“Just about..”

“Move it! We have hostiles incoming. Nosferatu, get your Moroi Strigoi chasing after that wretch. They’ll overwhelm him.”

“Should we care about-?”

“No. They hold no information of import pertaining to us. Fall back.”

~-~-~-~-~

As the Chosen’s handler fell to the ground silently, the Chosen itself staggered for a bit, before quickly recovering and firing back at the calculated position where the bomb landed, it’s 4 rather slow, heavy machine gun-esque arms booming away at the position. Meanwhile, the rather tortured sounds of steel screeching against steel and steam expelling soon became apparent as the seventy or so strigoi mortii started to gallop towards Morris. Meanwhile, another of the Chosen’s handlers picked up the dead body, commanding his tankish Chosen to watch the skies. And take down gunships, if necessary. Then they began to fall back, Vetala and their pack emerging from the dust to convene with the others as they began to retreat away from the scene.

“Is the deed done, Vetala?”

“Yes, Overseer.”

“Good.”

“That wretch?”

“Dead. Or called delusional. I do not care. The Strigoi will be his only evidence; they could not possibly fathom the Chosens’ greatness. Now move.”

~-~-~-~-~

Morris slammed his shield into one of the creatures as leapt at him. He lifted his shield up and over his head-sending the creature sprawling as he-downing however many of them. But more took their place. His weapon clicked as he ejected the magazine. With no time to reload, he holsterd the now-empty weapon and unlimbering his warhammer. Realizing he was coming up on a dead end, he turned and made to face them-shield up and providing a barrier between him and the thralls. Between that and the limited space would keep them from completely swarming him.

If he was gonna die, he’d damn well do it on his terms, not these things. A short swing to his left cave in a creature skull-rotten flesh and matter splattering the ground. One attempted to latch on to his back only to be viciously slammed into the ground as he flipped the creature, pausing long enough to deliver a swift kick to its head as he brought his warhammer around, pulverizing the creature’s ribcage. More attempted to pile in as the barrier around his shield sent electrical equipment sparking as they attempted to hammer at his shield as they failed, collapsing to the ground as they convulsed. They’d seemed to really, really not like that.

Good.

Just as the situation seemed grim, he heard the gunships overhead and smiled.

More static, but a burst of chaingun fire sent shredded a good portion of the horde, followed up with a volley of rockets splattering the creatures. WIth a roar, Morris pushed forward, falling upon the remaining tech thralls as the ship hovered low as it raked the monsters. He smiled as the last one fell, freeing the spike end of his hammer with a sickening squelch. He kept his shield and weapon at the ready in the event they missed any.

- ---

Richard approached from the north of the complex, and picked up Morris’s unit as he saw him running from the tech thralls, toggling his comms.

“Got visual on Havoc 1-1, got some ugly bastards chasing him, bout got him boxed in-permission provide support, over?”

“Granted.”

With a whoop, Richard brought his ship low. “Light em boys!” He and the door opened up as he spent the last of his remaining rockets against the the monsters chasing him-turing the creatures into a mix of cybernetics and rotted flesh. With a smile, he waved and began his ascent.

The other gunships were slowly approaching the complex as well.

- ----

The troopers advanced, pausing for a moment as they heard Havoc 1’s gunship firing on the other side of the complex. “Hostiles down, watch yer butts for the others, over.”

“Good to hear, advancing.” They continued their advance, and halted, using the debris as concealment as they spotted the 15 figures in the open. “This is Havoc 4-1, we have confirmed visuals on the tech thralls and handlers-they look like they're falling back-gunship do you have visual, over?”

A pause, followed by “Affirmative, do we engage?”

Havoc 4-1 paused a moment, and sighed. “Command, did you read that, over?”

“We did, break off and do not engage unless fired upon, over.”

Havoc 4-1 bit off a growl of frustration, but stuck to his cover and stayed low as the orders were relayed as the ships broke off. Hopefully their target was still around and hadn’t given them the slip.

- ---

Morris was scanning his surroundings, when he spotted, half buried under several uprooted bushes the outline of a dress. Keeping his hammer at the ready, shield up. As he approached, he moved the bushes aside with his hammer. A maid- poor girl had likely been caught as she was leaving and tried to hide. Strapping his shield to his back, and his hammer to his side, he picked her up in a fireman’s carry. Damn she was heavy, still-he needed to find a medic-get them back to the ship.

This job went from zero to clusterfuck. He just hoped the money was worth it.

~-~-~-~

As the gunship turned around and flew away, a handler asked, “Should we…?”

“No. We drew enough attention to ourselves. Doing so will anger the hornet’s nest.”

“But..”

“Not in our current state. We are not armed well enough to take down what they brought along.”

“..Very well.”

The group eventually made their way to their designated location, whereupon they packed up, and drove away in their hidden vehicles. What was done was done. Any mention of their name had been erased. No one would find out the extent of what had happened between the Dirges and Eius.

~-~-~-~-~

Eius coughed as he regained consciousness.

“Welcome back, master!”

Eius, as was typical of him, was greeted by a maid. This one had a much more cheery look on her, and he had designed this one to be much more curvaceous and seductive than others. Normally, he would enjoy the mere sight of her.

Normally.

All Eius felt right now was a sense of nothingness and anger. “Damn it. DAMN IT.” He stood up, but promptly stumbled. As his maid reached down to catch him, he looked at her with disdain, promptly backhanding her away. “I can stand up myself, bitch!”

The robot’s pained response, although programmed, left Eius feeling pleased with himself. He stood up shakily, satiated for now, looking around. The shithole of an excuse for a warehouse greeted him.

“Status on everything. Now.”

“...Sir, planetary administration has already moved in and confiscated everything while you were digitized.”

“WHAT!?”

“Many of your under the table assets have also pulled out, fearing the wors-”

Thud. “Shut up.” Thud. “SHUT UP.” Yes. He rather enjoyed this feeling of power over the thing cowering over him.

“What assets DO we have, slut?”

“H-here, master…”

Eius looked at the proffered screen, grimacing. Well, no more high life for him. His name was probably scum all over the planet, and anything involving him was likely to arouse suspicion. But he had enough. Enough to rebuild. Enough to restart. But all his hard work, gone. By…

“Dylon.”

Hate. Rage. Anger. All of these coursed through Eius. The man had ruined his life. But Eius was still kicking. There was no way in the abyss that Eius was going to let that bastard get away with ruining everything he established.

---

...But not yet. First. Rebuild. Then, revenge. As he looked over the maid, he re-evaluated his plans, a nasty smile growing over his face. Rebuilding was actually secondary. He looked around, and saw a crowbar. He beckoned his maid over, saying in a sultry voice, “Come here, Vivienne.”

The maid came forward, fear turning back to giggling. Very soon, it turned to screams that echoed off the walls of the warehouse. Yes, Eius quite enjoyed this feeling. He would get rid of all obstacles before returning to his former glory. That was a promise he would keep.

- ----

Morris sighed. They’d turned the woman over to the local authorities after recovering Eius’s body-he’d suicided the moment they’d breached the elevator shaft-and currently NDC and Company personnel were sweeping the rubble for any unexploded ordinance or computers. They were also in the process of recovering any equipment and their dead.

He himself was aboard the Swordbreaker being looked over by one of the medical officers. “Welp, your muscles are strained, joint damage shouldn’t be permanent, and you’ve got some nasty bruising where you took that impact, nothing’s broke though. Your hearing is fine, though let me know if you have any persistent ringing.”

So a relatively clean bill of health. “You’ll still need to recover, so I’ve put in a recommendation for light duty work for next month or so.” He nodded, and made to get up, putting on his uniform. “Right, thanks doc.”

As he left the medical wing, he reflected on what had happened at the manor-his guys were gone-three other squads got wiped out. All that just to get at one guy. At least Eius was dead and gone and he’d be getting paid-just wished he’d have someone to celebrate it with. ‘Better get back to Orion to collect my Marks, I need a drink.’ He thought as he walked down the deserted corridor.

- ---

“We’ve sent in the video footage from the killcams,” Knight Grant said to his superior, an elderly man in his early 50’s, yet still bearing some of the vigor of his youth, his face was weather and pockmarked from years of hard campaigning both with and before the Company, “We should have some information on who that group was.”

Pascal’s hard green eyes narrowed. “I hope so-the presence of tech-thralls changes things, and more likely than not the Grandmaster’s going to want to know about this-and if it’s serious enough may decide to intervene personally-while I wouldn’t mind the extra support, I would rather it not get to that point.” His voice made him sound like a grizzled bear, and he adjusted his seat, folding his hands across his desk, “The Iron Curtain Protocol is still in effect, though doubtless the NDC will have noted the presence of power armor units we were forced to deploy with the appearance of the mechanized unit. The Grandmaster himself stated that we are to stay out of their affairs as much as possible, agreement of non-neutrality be damned.”

Grant nodded, understandable. “So do we remain on alert?”

A pause. “Yes-Havoc Cohort will be placed on limited deployment until they can be reconstituted, the remaining cohorts will continue operating as normal-power armors are still restricted to emergency use only, tell the nobles whatever they need to hear as to why we aren’t supplying them with such soldiers, but they are not to be deployed unless absolutely necessary, understand?”

“Yes Knight captain, I’ll relay the orders at once.” He saluted and turned. Pascal sighed-if this turned out to be more serious than initially anticipated, it could possibly entangle them in the NDC’s affairs more than they already were as more likely than not they’d be asked to provide further assistance-particularly if it escalated.

And if that happened….as the man himself had stated it could very well mean the end of the Company.

Sitting back down in the desk’s chair, he let out a sigh-he was getting far too old for this. He went back to filling out his report on the situation.

This was a mess…..