Riding The End (L3 | Archived | Fantasy/Sci-Fi)

[SirBayer]

"Okay, let's examine the situation," Trajan murmured to himself. "We've got several guards running rounds, others manning watch stations, and... well, there are the people inside." Trajan pointed it out. "We can either try to break in, which is risky, or we can sit and wait for them to come back out, which will take time. If we try to break in, we can either slip in or go guns blazing. Zero percent chance guns blazing. Sneaking in isn't much better. Unless there's some back way."  

[Isa-sama]

The two soldiers decided to try and sneak their way in. They weren't Trow, but the city was big enough that they could possibly get through without being caught. They managed to knock out a couple of guards to steal their cloaks. However, they were still caught.

Rather than fight to the death, the two surrendered peacefully. It was also noted that the Fae didn't immediately attack the humans. All elves hated humans, didn't they? Wouldn't they automatically kill any that they saw?

They never got to question the guards. They were immediately taken to the prison and had their weapons taken away. They saw a Trow in a cell right across from their own. Time passed with no words exchanged by the different races.

The three men heard a door open. "Let's go humans." The humans were taken to a separate room. Inside was a very confident elf. Good God. They had seen pictures of all the top elven leaders. And now, one of said leaders was right in front of them! Archmage Azrial motioned to a couple of chairs. "Please sit," he ordered.

Regardless of whether the men took their seats, he continued to speak. "It's unusual to have humans hide so close to the city. And even then, you surrendered with out a fight. What was your mission?"

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

Osiris and Zuberi continued to stay in the hospital and heal. It was quiet, which suited Zuberi just fine. Eventually, Zuberi walked over to Osiris and started tugging at the man's hand. It seemed Zuberi wanted to go outside and see the city. There was a crutch by the side of the bed for Osiris to use - he was well enough to use it to get around (Morea's medicine was amazingly powerful).

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

She couldn't follow Theridan up to the roof.

However, this wasn't the reason for her copious amount of rage. It was the fact that she wasn't able to stop Azrial from taking Phallo. She wasn't able to keep her promise. I'm not fit to be a Warrior. She continued to train hard. Theridan better come back. And Azrial better keep his promise. She let out a low growl.  

[Jokerman-EXE]

Osiris smiled at the younger boy. "Sure, kid. Let's go." Maybe being outside would give him something else to think about than his own lack of useful ability.

He struggled up and managed to stand with the crutch. He reviled the thing underneath his arm; he was a proud leader, and he didn't need anything to help him if it could be avoided. He was smart enough not to worsen his condition by not using the crutch, but that didn't mean he had to like it. He led Zuberi out into the city and they began to walk around.

The young boy looked around in rapt fascination, absorbing all the city life around him. Osiris, who was much more traveled, could tell the child had never been in a huge city before. He bought the kid some sweets and showed him things all over town. After a couple of hours, Osiris was fatigued, so he decided to go back and wait for the others to maybe return. He took Zuberi back to the hospital and told him to get ready for bed.

The young one complied, slipping into bed and falling asleep with the speed that only children can accomplish. Osiris lay awake for another hour, trying sourly to reflect on his failures, but his day with Zuberi kept making him smile, which ruined the effect. He wound up falling asleep significantly happier.  

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

The Dane wasn't normally one to surrender, but he knew when he was outmatched, and he knew Trajan felt the same. Better to live on in the hopes of fighting another day. And if you spent time in the enemy camp, you started to learn things.

To be brought for Archmage Azrial, though, and so soon... it was strange. Donnie didn't take the proffered chair, but instead folded his arms over his chest. A half-lie would have to do for now. Best if they didn't know they were here to kill a Fae. "Scouting. Information. The name Aeon was of prime concern." That oughta get things going, keep Azrial on the wrong track and intrigued.

Sure, it might also lead to torture, but that was a price he was willing to bet.
 

[SirBayer]

Trajan remained silent. He was unobligated to speak a word to this Fae; the ordinary, Geneva Convention rules of interrogation no longer applied, which meant he had the right to say absolutely nothing. Or rather, no one guaranteed him that right, so why give anything at all? No information was requested on name or rank, so none would be provided. Only information on their quest. And so Trajan allowed DuPont to provide it. Feed them little bits, keep them happy.  

[KaosHavok]

Azrial nodded slightly at the mention of Aeon's name. "I see...a great deal of mystery surrounds the character in question. Has Asmodius finally made his move, or...?" He trailed off, and shook his head. "It hardly matters, I suppose. Scouting...Information...critical assets to any war." Azrial motioned vaguely at "The Dane".
"I dislike war. I dislike fighting. I dislike senseless death. Life should be able to freely run its course. No doubt, even in this situation, you could probably kill one or two...maybe more of my men before we succeeded in killing you. But every life is precious, including your own, and to harbor the thought of a single unnecessary death is tragic.
So, of course, I offer an exchange, so that we may depart peacefully from one another. Information is a critical asset, indeed..."
He sat and looked pointedly and "The Dane". "Tell me what you know of Aeon...and an equivalent amount of information you were 'scouting' for will be given to you."

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

Asmodius sighed and looked at his watch. It was almost time. "Adrian."
The Vice-Commander immediately responded to the page, stepping into the Commander's office. He was young for someone his rank, probably in his mid-to-late 40s, dark skin much like Asmodius's, also of African descent. He saluted seriously. "Sir."
"The meeting's about to start. I want you to attend it with me."
If Adrian was confused, it certainly didn't show. He simply nodded. "Yes, sir."
"Walk with me."
Adrian fell in step behind Asmodius as they navigated The Annabel Lee's corridors. There was a silence between them, until Adrian spoke. "What's the topic?"
Asmodius stated simply "Svoboda."
Adrian stopped mid-step, but quickly caught up. His voice lowered to a hushed whisper. "Are we finally...going to destroy it? Eject it into space?"
Asmodius made no facial expression. "We'll see. But I doubt that's what they have in mind..."
Adrian reached out and grabbed Asmodius's arm. The gesture would typically be followed with a handful of pistols trained on the man, however Asmodius had specifically requested no guards for the day...specifically for this meeting.
"Sir...you can't use it."
"We'll see, Adrian."
"No, we won't. Freedom is too-"
Asmodius spun and his fist connected with Adrian's face. Adrian jerked back, but only briefly before being grabbed by the collar and slammed against the hull of the ship.
Everyone but the top military chiefs had retired to the surface for the day, so nobody was around to stop him. Asmodius's voice came out heated.
"I will do what I must to preserve Humanity. To hell with Aeon. He abandoned his right of approval when he abandoned us. If there is any way...ANY way I think we can win this war without Svoboda, I would see it destroyed with every Phaser Turret on this vessel."
Asmodius let Adrian go, who simply glared a moment before nodding and saluting in response. "I apologize, sir."
Asmodius nodded. "Walk with me. Let's at least get through the meeting..."  

[SiberDrac]

Whatever questions they were that Saturnine may have prepared for Ashling, they were swept aside as, on his way back to the prison, the Fae had the great fortune of seeing two human beings being towed inside. Interesting... different from the ones that had attacked him, but still heavily armed. They were not pleased, but nor were they in any way afraid. Perhaps it had not occurred to them that people like Azrial could implode their lungs with the flicker of a hand.

From a discreet alleyway, he watched them get led into a building. When a guard impetuously biffed his listening "charm" away, Nine scowled and briefly thought about setting the man's hair on fire. Unwilling to fall out of the good graces he appeared to have been favored so far, he did not act on these desires. Instead, he remembered a different "in" he had, nonchalantly made his way to the hospital, and slipped inside after announcing he was there on a visit.

Making his way through the building past rightfully concerned nurses, Nine soon found himself facing none other than Osiris Darke. Well... his empty chamber, anyway. Surely the man would return for sleep, though, and Nine had productive methods of whiling away the time.

A few hours of "negotiating" with Trow contacts outside the city later, Nine found himself again before the hospital. He was allowed entry with only a snide comment or two, and therefore allowed entry with only sending warm water from the floor up the thighs of a guard or two and leaving them totally unable to tell whether a rancid stench was imminent or not.

Again, he found Darke's chamber, and this time, using an extra pillow he found as a replacement for the pressure, gently extracted Zuberi from the bed and laid him on the ground, putting an impish finger to his lips when the child briefly awoke and slipping in the bed next to Osiris. A sudden shock at the nape of Osiris' neck meant that the commander very suddenly found himself awake and staring at the all-too-close face of Saturnine Rhapsody.

Grinning broadly, Nine propped his head on his shoulder, placidly ignoring any physical threat to his person Osiris might have offered. "Hey, sexy. I want to break the humans out. Buuuuut I need someone who does close-up work. You in?"  

[Jokerman-EXE]

Upon waking, Osiris' body's natural reaction was to jerk forward, knife point leading. Of course, he caught himself before he could puncture Nine in any way, though only through the strongest of wills could he resist doing it anyway. He slid the knife into his sleeve with a yawn.

"Nine, what the s**t are you doing?" Osiris rubbed his eyes, then froze as he realized something. He looked frantically about for Zuberi and sighed with obvious relief when he saw the boy. He waved a hand to calm the boy down.

"The humans, huh." Osiris had heard two of the Fae nurses gossiping about the captured humans earlier in the day. He also knew the rough idea of why they were in the city (or so he thought he did, based on the matter-of-fact tones the nurses had been using; luckily, they had been correct). It was an interesting prospect, but there was a very large obstacle stopping Osiris from following Nine.

"Why should I, a Commander in good standing, break into a guarded prison to speak with disgusting human prisoners with you, a certified psychopath, and risk the anger of the Archmage, who I really need on my side if I want to become Shepherd?"  

[QuietBlue]

"Well, I suppose you meant to say, 'My, Morea, what a pleasant surprise, to see you in such a place,' but 'Mmm' will have to do for now." Morea smirked a little at the frowning Trow as she approached him with caution. The view from the top of the hospital was quite nice, even if the Trow wasn't looking. She couldn't see everything, as it was not the tallest building in the city, but nonetheless she could see... that she was getting distracted from her original purpose again. She pulled her eyes away from the action below to look towards the Trow.

"I saw a little of what happened," she said in a low voice, "although I do not really understand the details. Perhaps you could... fill me in?" Morea slowly sank to a squatting position, her long arms wrapping around her knees for support as she leaned closer to the Trow. It was obvious he was troubled & while she was curious, she didn't want to anger him further by being too pushy. "Besides, what good will sitting up here do anyone, if you're not even going to take advantage of the gorgeous view?" She smiled as she pointed over the edge where, in the distance, one could just make out an angry Trent on the training grounds. She watched for a bit, then turned back to the Trow.

"She looks just about as pissed as you must be," she continued, her expression serious. She examined the Trow for a few moments, but he continued to be silent. "Why did the Archmage take that Trow away? I know the Fae & Trow are not exactly friends, but you are not exactly enemies, either..." Morea trailed off as her gaze was once again pulled towards the action down below. There was some sort of commotion in the direction of the prison. Morea had been there on a few occasions to help heal sick or injured prisoners & knew it's location well. It looked as if 2 new prisoners where being admitted, so to speak, but it was the insane amount of guards around them that caught Morea's attention. Now this is interesting, she thought, as she realized those 2 new inmates were not elves of any kind. Humans? Here?

"Say, just how good are you at climbing rooftops?" she asked the reclining Trow while gesturing towards the prison. "Because I have a feeling something really interesting is about to happen..."  

[SirBayer]

Trajan remained silent. Personal knowledge of Aeon... Trajan had essentially none. He lead his squad and he fought front-line battles, he didn't muck around with the scientists behind the lines. This was... out of his league. If they could fudge something, though...

Trajan looked to DuPont, trying (almost certainly futilely) to determine if he was thinking the same thing.  

[Venom3001]

"They're all crazy, you know," Theridan replied. Before Morea could reply or point out that he wasn't being helpful in his intentional vagueness, he continued: "Phalanx and Azrael both. I can't say why, military secrets an' s**t, but i feel totally confidently declaring them both out of their damned minds."

He ignored the humans. Whatever they got they deserved. He soaked the sunlight a few more seconds before answering, "Pretty damn good. I had a few friends when I was a kid who could climb trees before they could walk. It just comes naturally to us." He would have narrowed his eyes, if they were open. "Why?"  

[Isa-sama]

((I've noticed that there's a time gap between Nine/Osiris/Zuberi and Theridan/Morea/Ashling. So I'm going to fix it so that we're all in the same time frame. Hope this still works out with your plans. sweatdrop ))

Ashling had efficiently scared away any of the Fae in the nearby training grounds. The ground around her slightly shook at the intensity of her self-training. I really ought to stop. It won't help with my healing process. She plopped down on the ground and started to meditate. Relax. Just try and relax and forget about the stupid good-for-nothing Azrial... With enough meditation, she could speed up healing her burns and wounds. It would probably heal her barkmenough to get through a battle, but not much more.

A few hours passed by, and by now it was night. Morea and Theridan spent said time talking about trivial things until Morea had asked her final question (regarding climbing rooftops).

At the same time, Ashling opened her eyes and stood up. <...that's it. I'm going to keep my promise.> Now that she was relatively calm, she started to walk towards jail. Phallo has not returned. And I cannot let my promise be broken. Apparently the meditation did not help her come up with any good ideas. And maybe Morea; they might need a healer for Phallo if he was in bad condition.  

[SiberDrac]

Nine giggled. "You," he said, poking Osiris' nose with a finger, "are a silly man. Becoming Shepherd is the least of your worries, if you know anything at all about the situation at hand. Unless you think you're better than that piece of Trent spit you call a leader?"

He throw a portion of the blanket over Darke's face and hopped out of the bed, accidentally hitting his knee against the bed frame to avoid stepping on Zuberi and then hopping around holding the damaged joint for a moment and wincing. Eventually calming down, he stood tall and clasped his hands in front of him with a twisted grin. "We - that is, you and I, in addition to the rest of our races - are facing extermination, or slavery at worst. If you want to content yourself with being king of the ants, be my guest." He bowed with a flourish of the skins he wore as a cloak. Then, he met Osiris' eyes with a dangerous glint. "However, I have greater aspirations, and those start with finding this man Aeon, of whom these humans may have knowledge. He is clearly important." The man's voice became petulant and he gathered his cloak about him like an old woman. "Come oooon, Commander, won't you help out a little old psychopath?" His smile inverted. "I want to have some fun," Nine growled furiously, before breaking into a smile again. "And you, my adorably misguided little man, can help me get it."  

[KaosHavok]

Azrial glanced sidelong at Trajan. The look he was giving "The Dane" was mostly unreadable. He'd been silent...he wasn't going to offer anything up.
Before "The Dane" could reply with anything, the door flew open and a Fae strode in. "Archmage. There's a disturbance-"
Azrial glared at him. "And your disturbance is pardoned. Take your leave."
"Archmage, there's-" he glanced uneasily at the humans and strode around them to whisper in Azrial's ear. Azrial's face twisted into displeasure.
"I see...gentlemen." Azrial stood and walked over to a bag laying in a chair. "I'm afraid we're cutting this discussion short. Seems as though someone has come for you, and I'd rather this end in a peaceful manner. Or at least less bloody." He waved at the guard and signaled him out. Once the guard had left, Azrial withdrew a simple notebook from the bag.
"I doubt seriously Asmodius has left anyone with any concrete information regarding Aeon's whereabouts...or the part he is to play in all of this."
He flipped through the notebook for a few pages, looking over them, then closed it.
"Unfortunately, with the state of the world, there is no hope for a peaceful diplomacy. This document is a proposal of ceasefire, along with a treaty in arms. Because of how closely I am being watched by Rendi and the Druid Council, I'm afraid I cannot send a messenger to your leaders, and I'll not have a better chance than now."
He withdrew a manila envelope from within the notebook, and handed both off to Trajan. "I will let you leave peacefully in hopes that you will deliver the proposal safely into the hands of your leaders. And, as a small token gift," he tapped the manila envelope "are letters confiscated from the Trow who met with Aeon. It tells little...the only useful bit of information is that the last place they met Aeon was in a tavern in the town of Usher. It is a port city on the lake that separates our land from the Trow forests. I sent a few men there to scout it out...I never heard back from them."
I look forward to hearing from Asmodius on my proposal. Farewell, aliens."
A loud *CRACK* was heard and a wall of stone erupted from the floor, separating the humans from Azrial.

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

*SWISH*
*THUMP*
*SWISH*
*THUMP*
The axe swung and struck, over and over, on the base of the tree.
Battlemaster Cougar walked back and forth on the wooden stage, surveying the battalion before him.
*SWISH*
*THUMP*
Despite the staggering number of people before him, not a sound was heard other than the chopping of the tree and the swaying of leaves. Trents towered to eye level with the stage. Rancor stood at attention below them, armed and armored. Grand Oak Behemo stood in the center of the stage as Cougar paced back and forth in front of him.
Tension filled the air.
"SOLDIERS!"
"HU!"
"WARRIORS!"
"HU!"
"BROTHERS! SISTERS! Glorified fighters of the land! Mt. Hukatus is almost ours!"
A roar of approval arose from the crowd.
"But do not falter! Do not become arrogant! The aliens are formidable! They are powerful! Before the Mountain falls, they will fight back with everything they have! And we WILL destroy them!"
Another roar resounded.
"From this Mountain, we will be poised to reclaim our land! The land of our home! The land of our world that has been tainted by these outsiders! And we will drive the humans OUT!"
*CRAAAAACK*
The tree in the background fell with an earsplitting crash.
"TO VICTORY!"
"HU!"
"TO VICTORY!"
"HU!"
"I give my Trust, my Pride, to Behemo, who will lead us to the end!"
As the roars of approval swelled, Cougar left the stage. Behemo stepped forward and the crowd went silent once more. After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Behemo silently held up two fingers in a universal sign.
"V" for victory.
The night was drowned in the cries for blood.
The true war was about to begin.  

[Jokerman-EXE]

Osiris and Nine bandied words for a few minutes longer, and eventually Osiris gave in. Nine did had a point, psychosis and all. And it would be part of Osiris' current mission to interrogate these humans.

The two left the hospital, Osiris leaning almost angrily on a crutch after telling Zuberi to stay behind. He didn't want anything to go sour and leave the kid hurt. He made sure that Nine stayed in front of him, so there would be no sneak attacks, and followed to the prison.

Of course, the Dane and Trajan were just leaving. That was odd, but it seemed to be intentional because they just walked out the front door. Maybe the Fae had let them go. Either way, Osiris had questions.

"Humans," he hailed from a distance away. They halted and he hobbled up with Nine. "I need to talk to you. You're probably getting tired of hearing this, but I need to know...about Aeon." He waited expectantly before realizing...so were they. And then Osiris remembered that Humans spoke a different language, and Osiris didn't really know it yet. Maybe Nine could help, and either way, the humans must have heard "Aeon" in his speech.