Post by EmperorMyric on Jan 23, 2024 11:44:06 GMT
Lost Star: Fidun District
It had been years.
The damage had more or less been repaired of course, the hole had been filled in, new apartments built on top of it, all to the same run-down cheap standard as the rest of the district. Now, those who lived atop what had once been a Panopticon base of operations were completely oblivious to the sacrifice and nightmares which had occurred just a few tens of meters below them.
That night had been a hard one. A victory, and yet a bitter defeat.
There had been no trace of Daina, no leads, nothing. Just emptiness of fulfilling the job but failing in the grand scheme of things. Everyone had gone their own way, caught up in their own distress and despair, the group which had been so united and accomplished so much scattered to the winds around the galaxy.
The Panopticon had been dealt a powerful blow, but so had they, enough to end the groups mission to stop them.
Until now.
The bar was still there, still the old grimy shithole which Daina had recruited some of them in. Run by the same guy too. It was where they had been told to gather, there was a lead. Not on Daina, she was still very much missing, but on their hated culprit for this mess. Mernis. The call was simple, they had a lead, and now it was time for them to come back, to try to find Daina again and, with any luck, continue their promise to destroy the Army of the Panopticon.
Deralan closed his armoured hand around the handle of the door and opened it, accompanied by the sounds of the street and the doorbell he stood in the open door for a couple of moments.
What the others saw was a relatively tall person, in a sleek, grey power armour with occasional red lights or lines.
He had been observing the street and the bar from the opposite side for the last couple hours, watched the others arrive. How would things develop this time? It had taken time to get the clues, though he had yet to reveal who he actually was. It had been a... precaution, in case things went wrong.
The figure stepped into the bar, moving to the rest of the group, Zeno and Raok were already familiar to the armoured man, although even they did not know who was beneath it. watching the group members for a couple of moments he nodded, his arms went up to the somewhat angular helmet and with a hiss the locks released.
The helmet came off.
"I see everybody has arrived."
Beneath it was a face that was... eerily familiar, yet not quite the same as back then. It had the same pale skin, the same facial structure, the same black hair as Deralith, yet there were minute differences, the figure had also a short cut beard and grey eyes instead of Deraliths brown ones, though for all intents and purposes he could've been his twin.
"I suppose it may be time to start.", he noted, looking into the round of people.
Zeno was waiting there, still dressed more like he had a Street Festival to attend, rather than a case to follow up on. The Garden of Vows had sent him on his way as soon as he explained his contact; InterSECT had earmarked him for such investigations after his initial contact. Nexus 3101, the closest thing the Philopsyche had to a dedicated security arm, had been raising concerns about loose psychic weapons for a long time, most estimated years, before this moment. Zeno's contact with the Panopticon and the signal going up once again only served to confirm their fears, and send all prior experienced law enforcement officers who served an investigation abroad and made contact with such things back into the fray. Chase them down until it's done, that was the order, and at the very least a Knight-Errant of the Vow of Thunder could see that done.
If there was any indication Zeno had changed at all in the intervening time, he hid it well. The only clue he'd gotten more serious about the situation lay in the full-sized war wand he carried with him, at least as tall as he was. He expected to be jumped and planned accordingly. Nobody, on any side, could afford to play around this time.
"Yeah, if anybody's falling behind we'll have to give them the short version. I mean, you gave me the short version, that's what cleared me to work this case; what else happened out there?"
The Artificia were far from the most forgiving people, but even by their standards Meyhna could be a vindictive one. Everything Mernis and those accomplices of his had said those years ago had almost immediately been thrown out the window.
Dont consider revenge, its just business
My only business is revenge
We're gnats, not threats, to these people
Speak for yourself, i'm as much of a threat as I want to be
And she had had years to stew on it. Thinking of what she would want to do to any of those three given the chance. She had done her best to dig up leads, but she was no investigator. It had made her all the more frustrated.
She had evidently spent those years preparing, given what she was wearing. Meyhna's old spacesuit, as tattered as it had been when last they saw her, had been replaced by a full suit of armour, a revolver on her hip and a pair of boxes mounted on her suit's back. Her hair was different now, the bun replaced by a pair of long bangs that framed her face and hung almost halfway down her torso. Otherwise...she looked like Meyhna. Her grouchy demeanor, very slight furrowing of the brow, the cracks in her hardlight having long since disappeared.
Her eyes drifted up as Deralith's replacement removed his helmet and spoke, her own head resting on a fist.
"This best not have been a waste of my time." she stated firmly but simply. Good attitudes evidently weren't her strong suit.
It had been a few years since Edward had been to Lost Star, after the end of his last time here at the Panopticon base and its destruction he had left and gone home, giving in reports to his commanders and given the task of gathering intel on anything they were involved in. And now this had led him to get a message to return to where it all started for him that dingy, grimy bar in Lost Star.
He had changed little since there last encounter, he had bulked up some and now wore more modern and heavier Cricaen power armour that still mounted his HMG equipment just this had now been made bigger, but that was about it for his new look, still the same reddish hair and beard. Beside him walked a small woman wearing what seemed to be an old school nurses' uniform that seemed to shimmer at times.
He saw the familiar lot and headed over to them “I hope that we are back in this place for a good reason” He spoke as he pulled out a stool and sat down.
When Paskin heard the call to return, he wasted no time in doing so. The Echo had taken the loss particularly hard, having forgone his weapons in place of his life.
He had returned, in his absence, back to the Empire to report his activities, and to resume his training until the day he would be summoned once again. He no longer donned the armour typical of Empire assassins, instead wearing a sturdier combat plating and warhelm. Paskin had learned much from his past experiences, and his new armour bore the marks of trial. A new sword hung at his hip, giving the Echo an almost knightly appearance.
Paskin nodded as Edward joined them at the table, his respect for the man having not faded since last they met.
"I doubt they would make us come all this way just to reminisce, Kad'Tor."
Raok had, once again, returned to this place. Only a year before he and others managed to deal a serious blow to AOTP, but they had sadly lost Daina and Delaith in the process…
Which made it all the weirder than someone who basically looked like his twin brother was now standing next to him. He had met Deralan just recently, after an untimely raid on a research facility Raok constructed to study what was left of Delaith. Nobody died, so there were no irreparably hard feelings, but it was still unfortunate.
Really showed Raok how unready they were, in some aspects.
He took a moment to observe others in the room. There were some new faces, and some old ones. It was good to have Edward, Meyhna and Paskin back; they proved quite effective and reliable, even if Meyhana went on his nerves from time to time.
So naturally, he was glad to meet them again.
“How nice to see you again Meyhna! And with a fancy new armor as well. All of you got an upgrade since last time. I see you are still your old, ever optimistic self.”
He said jokingly as he eyed them all up. He himself changed very little, his injuries and scars dealt with very efficiently- Daina healed most of the light threatening stuff right away, and state of the art regenerative medicine dealt with any scars that were left behind.
He still had his trusty trench coat, but it looked slightly bulkier this time, suggesting that he wore armor underneath it. He started off with more than a couple of pistols this time too- he had a bulky plasma weapon slinged over his shoulder.
He turned to face Zeno, the one he had not met previously.
“Forgive me, but I would like a bit of a reminder on how you are involved in all of this…”
Zeno took a breath, then leaned on his war wand. He looked around conspiratorially, was satisfied that he wasn't being listened to, and beckoned everyone to lean in as he softly spoke. "Alright. The truth, since I think we've been through enough nonsense that you deserve it.
Ever hear of the Garden of Vows? I'm one of their knights - an Okekolu fed. It says Knight-Errant Zeno Cupric on my official mail. Vow of Thunder. Crime crosses in and out of Okekolu Accord space borders, and I know about it, I'm in pursuit.
I had a case that crossed over with your search for Daina: get to End of the Line, drop off a drive, get out. That was until I landed right in the middle of this whole Panopticon conspiracy. Cost me a car I'm still having trouble sourcing a replacement for, and put a folder on my desk I couldn't pry off with a forklift, until now.
The rest of the law enforcement agencies that opted into InterSECT now know there's loose psychic weapons in the wrong hands, and I'm all they could spare to put a stop to this. Nasty stuff going on back home, so they gave me a new wand, I grabbed a new car, and here I am.
Plus, knowing that kid is still out there and in a bad way means I'm plenty motivated to see this through until the end. I'm yours until it's all over but the paperwork."
Deralan nodded silently as Zeno finished.
"Regrettably, we were unable to locate Mernis or Daina on our own, hence we needed someone who was familiar with the matter. Conveniently, Zeno here was already involved before, as he just stated. Furthermore fortunately he did have the correct connections to track down at least clues to where Mernis may be located. Which brought us together here once more."
He paused.
"It may be in order to clarify, that this is not a form of revenge mission, we need to locate Daina as well as the Army of the Panopticon and for that we may, unfortunately, still need Mernis at a later point after our initial encounter."
Deralan stopped and waited, to see how the group would react.
Paskin's helm twitched at the mention of Mernis; a boiling wrath he had been suppressing in the years between rearing its head like a hungry Raptorian. At the mention of Daina however, that temper was suddenly swamped by the pang in his chest. The Echo clicked to himself for a moment, as he weighed his options.
Paskin's eyes looked to the others, studying their familiar faces from behind his warhelm.
"Daina's freedom is paramount. If Mernis is the key to locating Daina, we owe it to her to do whatever it takes to get her back, even if that does mean holding off on disemboweling the traitor."
Meyhna grumbled at the mention of not flaying the blue skinned bastard alive.
"Well, there go my evening plans." she grunted, fiddling idly with a salt shaker, before her gaze drifted upwards to the others.
"Can I at least shoot him in at least one of his kneecaps?"
"We'll nail him to the wall, but I won't kill him," Zeno said. "I want to see him try explaining himself on the stand first."
Ed got himself a drink and just sat there listening for now as his compatriot listened and took mental notes.
He chuckled at the what people were saying as he sipped his drink “Look we get the information from him to find Daina then we can just hang, draw and quarter him and then everyone gets a piece of him and his head can be put on a pike and hung above good Ol’ London Bridge as a warning to others not to fuck with us” He spoke with a laugh, getting a look from the woman.
Zeno snickered and rapped his knuckles on the table - he could only pray this would be that straightforward. "Cover ground, go fast, that sort of thing?" His eyes lit up like he was just looking for an excuse to go burn rubber.
"Raok listened to everyone, a bit unsure about how to feel regarding Mernis. From his viewpoint, he did what he thought best while trying to spare them all- he could have easily killed all of them when he had the chance.
"Thank you for explaining Zeno. And regarding that Mernis bloke... How did he get involved in the first place?"
"Took all sorts, basically," Zeno said. "Our original client, for lack of a better term, wasn't particularly picky about what kind of people took the job of locating Daina, just as long as they were willing to go on the little adventure. Curry could sure pick 'em; you can bet I didn't exactly hand his next of kin a five-star review for that one. HT Corp is definitely adding some filters to their search engines after that whole fiasco."
Zeno started laughing. "You should've seen it! I managed to get partnered up with a big wolf-headed bastard that looked like a Kraterion on top of a human bodybuilder's shoulders. Full armor that he wore everywhere, loaded like an IFV with feet. I hear commuters around Lost Star are still edgy about using the metros that go out into hard vac! All that and it was a sniper round that turned that thing off. People are still convinced I made the whole story up."
Zeno calmed down, wiping his eye and sighing. "Talked like something out of a pre-spaceflight play. Would've been funnier if he wasn't such a naked liability. Anyway...this wasn't the kind of thing you'd send normal agencies of the required caliber out to do. So I suppose it was only natural that with all the weirdos and shady characters that contracts like this could attract, a real dangerous character got in the mix.
As for how he managed to get into the mission, this might just be my cop instincts talking, but it feels like it was criminal hard graft, plain and simple. Powerful friends of his must have helped him know where to go and what to hit, but everything else was him casing us, then zeroing in and making the move. Of course I didn't catch it because why would the one fed out of us all actually be any good at his job...but of course, that was probably the point. There were enough life-or-death scenarios that his moves were totally lost in the shuffle while we were all keeping pirates off our asses and I was getting my wing membranes turned into sparkly flyswatters." He slapped his little piece of the table. "Got played like an amateur because I was too busy trying not to die. Never gonna live that down.
Point is, assume we're up against pros from here on in. The guys behind this have been waiting to make their moves for a while, and assuming Mernis is still close to this outside of being in the know for his part is a leap. The guys upstairs on these kinds of deals go through the same kinds of shuffles of contractors and plausible deniability that got us on our end of the job.
They wanna go high, we go low and refuse to play their game until we have the edge. Detective work. Want my advice, there it is. Don't hyperfocus on Mernis; he might be the ace of spades, but don't forget the rest of the deck. Takes more than one to play a full hand, so we need to make sure to keep angling for a straight flush. We need to start covering ground."
Paskin nodded along to Zeno's recap, remembering the brief moments when Rhakar had been alive, as well as their first encounter with the Panopticon. Events that felt like a lifetime ago slowly stirred their way into Paskin's mind once again, reminding him of how far they had made it before their ultimate betrayal and the losses they had incurred. Paskin absent-mindedly touched his left arm, where a new prosthesis now took the place of the one he lost.
They all seemed to have grown as individuals, now Paskin would look forward to how they would grow as a team once again.
"Well put, Zeno."
Deralan sighed internally.
He knew beforehand it would be difficult to work with emotionally invested individuals and so far they had only proven his assumption. From what he learned from his predecessors memories he knew they were by all means at least sufficiently trustworthy and competent so far, still, he would have to prevent that they rendered Mernis... inoperational, though that would likely be a matter he'd have to deal with once they were actually there.
For now they would have to actually find him first.
He decided to interrupt them before more plans and animosity were prepared.
"Does anyone have any other questions so far or should we move on to the main reason of this gathering?"
"I kind of assumed we were going to get to that as soon as possible," Zeno said. "It's why I said my piece right there, before we got down to business. So, if somebody's got the briefing, after you. I mean, I assume we all know the gist of it; we have a lead on Mernis, which should get us to Daina. At least that's what I was told, and what my superiors confirmed when they checked the story. What's past that?"
Deralan looked into the round of people, though seeing as no other immediate questions came, he nodded.
"Fortunately for us, Mernis is currently here on Lost star, as we speak he should be in the Arvo pleasure district, pursuing a target of his own in a club called 'High Rise'."
He paused for a moment.
"Logically, it will be our task to intercept him. Preferably without causing too much of a commotion. However, we should get moving now, our target won't wait and the details can be discussed on the way."
Deralan took his helmet off the table and put it back on, with another hiss the seals closed and he was ready to go.
He would have to keep an eye on the more problematic elements of the group, so things wouldn't get out of hand.
As the group quickly moved out it didn’t take long to get to one of the vacuum trains which provided extremely fast travel to other regions of Lost Star. Boarding and on their way some of the group had the uncomfortable feeling of remembering the first attempt to rescue Daina, though thankfully there was no deranged lunatic with a plasma cannon this time.
Arvo was a few hours away, and quite well known on Ring 3. Made up of hundreds of clubs, hotels, spas, gaming halls, racetracks and every entertainment venue you could think of it was the place to go when someone had finally saved up enough money to try their hand at the casinos or more. A place for anyone to blow off steam including the ultra-rich. Even from the train the lights and neon holograms of Arvo were visible as the artificial night cycle kicked in, illuminating the darkness with the artificial light of hedonism.
High Rise as it was known was one of the premier clubs, located at the top of a tall elaborate building designed in such a way as to look like an ever-moving fountain thanks to holographic and shimmering ever moving panels on the outside. At the top looked like a glittering crown, that was the club proper, they just had to try get in there. It even looked like somewhere Mernis or someone from Natar would be. This entire district was practically home for them.
Stepping off the train the group already looked somewhat out of place. Crowds of bustling party goers, workers and men in suits moved around them like water. Only a few armed and armoured individuals could be seen, all appeared to be either drunk with friends on the way out or boisterous and making their way in to spend some coin. The station was beautiful, art deco, reminiscent of the designs on Alluminaria with illuminated dancing fountains out in front and leading onto an ever-shifting rainbow boulevard flanked by holographics and more.
The entire place was packed with people, all kinds of races and individuals were here, and the normal background noise was conversation and soft jazz music played across the streets. It was loud and bright, and almost immediately a well dressed Mus’Vanas seemed to spot them and make his way over to them.
“Welcome to Arvo, you seem quite out of place although we do get some like you here, is there anything I can help you with?”
Meyhna's eyes drifted about as the train went its course, leaning against the side of the train car.
Places like this reminded her of some of the cities in the Ambyric Federation, fetid pits of senseless hedonism and hollow glamorous facades.
It disgusted her. She looked arguably even moodier by the time they got off the train.
The lizardman, initially, netted only the orange Artificia's eyes locking onto him as he spoke.
Her mind flashed back to the last time she had been on a train, and the...scuffle that had occurred there.
Why is it always lizards bothering us?
"Maybe." she finally answered, crossing her arms. "Who's asking?"
Zeno looked surprised, even fluttering back a few inches at the host's...bluntness. Yes, that was the word he'd go with. He didn't exactly frequent this spot, especially when he could get the same quality of expensive thrills for way less trip time at the Starshine Coast or downtown Moira City, but he was familiar with Ring 3 and the locations surrounding Arvo.
It wasn't one of the legendary Three Rings, well, Five Rings for one season, but the Motor Club Commission did hold rounds in the place, using Arvo's generous streets and main strips as a fast, dangerous street circuit full of sudden 90-degree turns and hairpins breaking up long, wide straights. You drove with your balls and your brakes there, not by steering. These separated the real fliers from the dabblers, and Zeno had made himself famous for winning this neon-soaked brawl once, half a car length ahead of his rival, the immortal Kraterion icon Easy Ratter. He was actually surprised he wasn't immediately outed as a Club racer who was part of the great Little Light racing circus. It would have been a better cover without the weapon, so a version of the truth had to suffice.
"...oh, right, my mistake. I've never been here on duty before," Zeno casually said. "So, there you have it; I'm on duty." On the outside he was grinning, on the inside he was sighing and preparing to hand out yet another non-five-star review to a spot on Lost Star.
Paskin scanned the area as they were approached, moving to the rear of the group as Zeno and Meyhna took the lead. He wasn’t concerned about being seen just yet, though he agreed with the Mus’Vanas; he was dressed like a soldier, not a socialite.
The Echo withdrew a cloak from a pouch on his waist, unwrapping the black, silk-like fabric from its compacted state and donning it around his neck. Iridescent colour flowed down from Paskin's shoulders as the cloak unfurled, returning to its blackened state once at rest. Sure, it wouldn't mask his movements like his last cloak, but he stood more of a chance to pass as a tourist this way.
Integrating himself with the group once again, Paskin listened carefully to what the Mus’Vanas had to say.
Deralan observed the other interacting with the Reptilian, noting that it may have been beneficial to head here without the power armour.
However as things were there was not much to change about it. Although the others seemed to be not quite sure what to make of their unexpected potential guide, he decided not to say anything for the moment, if he looked like a bodyguard he may as well hold up this impression.
If anything, if he started talking now it would only make them more suspicious and Mernis attention would be the last thing they needed if he had any contacts here.
Now there was hoping he would not have to intervene if they started acting suspicious or give out too much information, though with Zeno and Raok in their group that should not be of too much concern.
Maybe he would able to park the armour for a while later.
Edward didn’t understand why some of them didn’t like being on the rails but just shrugged before looking out at the passing scenery. It was completely different than what he had seen when he first came to Lost Start those years ago, he was just used to the slums and shit holes of this place and now this took him slightly aback
Once they arrived at their destination he got off with the group and stretched and yawned, he felt out of place just a wee bit, but then again I thin their hole group was out of place and that is when he was once again taken aback by the lizard person
“Bloody Hell” he said to himself as he looked at the Lizard person, after that small outburst he remained silent, probably not good to say anything else or it could be seen as derogatory or racist
Raok was quiet for the rest of the briefing and the trip to Avro, mostly ruminating on the situation at hand, planning their possible next moves and eyeing up Zeno. More out of habit than actual distrust, but if he had learned anything it was that paranoia wasn’t a problem… If they are really out to get you.
He had heard of places like Avro even before, while still residing in G-S16. The pleasure districts on The Embassy, the financial might such endeavors had brought to the legendary Independent Merchants Guild that he had previously considered joining…
But that all felt like a lifetime ago, and was literally galaxies away.
Despite there being several such districts on Malaak, and even on the new colony worlds, he had rarely visited them, especially since joining The Malaakian Navy. But a lifetime of intrigue and time spent learning from the experience of others made him appreciate all the opportunities a place like this could bring, even if it seemed overwhelming.
Although Raok looked slightly odd, he seemed less out of place than power armored individuals and mercenaries that were along with him, as he preferred to keep his armor hidden when not in combat. He decided to speak to the Mus’Vanus before Meyhna’s aggression attracted much attention.
However Zeno spoke out first, and ambiguously so. What could his ‘duty’ be? surely he wasn't that renowned as what seemed to be a cop, did he have a side job of some kind that would be recognized here? Best to play it safe.
-
-
He grinned at the lizardman, and started talking;
“Ah indeed friend, my pals here have been through a lot recently and have just finished with their jobs, at least for the most part-” he put his hand on Zeno's shoulder as he said that last bit
“…so I was taking them out for a night out to loosen them up a bit. I know she could definitely use some R&R.”
He smiled once more as he was saying that and discreetly gestured to Meyhna.
“Anyways, could you help us out a bit? We are looking for a colleague so that we could join him, you see, but it's supposed to be a surprise meet-up. And as it would happen we are a bit lost and can’t find him without ruining the surprise.”
He waited to see his response before giving him any descriptions or hints as to who they may be looking for.
“Who’s Asking? My My, I am Conductor Arch Von Calsis! Once I was the scourge of these casinos, able to win any game I came across, but alas those were years ago, and my fortunes swiftly changed. Now I assist new blood who wish to try their hand at toppling the families and their dynasties that are built up here, shaking up the establishment is what I specialise in” He grinned and bowed melodramatically.
“Some R&R and a good time out does wonders to the soul I very much think you have come to the right place my friends. I would be quite happy to help, who or where were you planning to meet? And when?” The man’s eyes were avid with interest.
“In fact, come, tell me as we walk, I can help give you the tour!”
Von Calsis spun his cane and gestured forward using it. The main street was an impressive affair, well lit and yet the lights were not blinding, everything here was used to soften and add to the mood. Many groups moved around, businessmen, formal groups, gangs of friends on a night out and other individuals all on their own missions to relax. The sound of pianos and low jazz could be heard from nearly every open door, the bright innards of many hotels, casinos and pleasure houses revealing revelry and excitement.
“Many of these used to be my old stomping grounds, Collected Visions, Apocrypha, Awakening, my my the memories.”
Deralan sighed internally as Raok revealed they were looking for someone but remained silent, not to blow their cover. Though he did mentally prepare for the possibility that they may be ambushed later down the line.
Fortunately, the 'Conductor' seemed to be a rather convenient find, someone who could guide them through this... he looked around himself.
...establishment, without running into too many scams. Well, as long as he wasn't one himself that was. These places had a tendency to hide a lot of useful information and connections, that much was true but also a lot of dead ends. He cared little about the entertainment factors, his... recreative interests, lied elsewhere.
He bumped Paskin with his elbow in the side and then nodded and pointed towards the conductor, in a played gesture of camaraderie, as if saying 'Yeah, just the guy we were looking for.'
Paskin turned to Deralan, his face still covered by his warhelm, but returning with a knowing nod that said 'Just our luck'.
The motion didnt last long though as the Echo pulled the hood of his cloak up over his head, assuming a decidedly less serious demeanor. He tried to look relaxed, even stretching his claws as if he had been looking forward to being here for a long time.
His warhelm even seemed to modify itself, sliding into a sleeker version as it angled its armoured plating to sit more along the top of his skull. It almost looked fashionable.
"A tour sounds wonderful, Conductor.", the Echo's voice spoke up, though it also had taken on a far more relaxed tone.
"Ahh, well, at least it seems like you've still got a place here," Zeno said. "I was here for the Arvo Sprint, if you watch motorsports," he said, beginning to build his cover. It came naturally, as it was a version of the truth, after all, and carrying his Nymphet & Nymphet Descender Mk 4 war wand less like a rifle and more like a walking stick or cane hopefully helped carry that along. The fact it looked less like a common stick and more like a very pretty dress sword in its scabbard had to at least help a bit further.
"I stayed at the Collected Visions during the race weekend, so did the other four Jousters. There were girls all over the place; folks said after that that it was the most Okekolu they'd ever seen in one place on the ring! When the MCC authorizes races outside the Little Light again and the calendar comes back here, I swear I'm gonna defend my win," he said, giving a satisfied nod and a thumbs-up. Then he continued building up the image for his companions, letting the memories stack on top of one another. "This street transformed for that event; it was practically a mini Festival!" He pointed excitedly up at some of the somehow even more posh restaurants and clubs raised up a floor or two, so patrons could appreciate more of the street from the windows. "They did what I see back home a lot! Boom, instant VIP boxes! Had to pay a princess' ransom half a year in advance to reserve a spot for it, but hey, you get what you pay for, am I right?"
It seemed he'd elected himself the Conductor's co-guide, letting all his emotions out as a racer who couldn't race because of circumstances far, far beyond his control. This was the next best thing to driving in an MCC racing season: getting to discuss an MCC season. "The main drag's got to be somewhere up there with the prettiest start-finish straights you could ask for. I'm biased, but only the Starshine Coast or the Dam Xanh superloop looks sweeter. You have to know the bar and brasserie signs if you want to find your braking point; too many drivers lose track and go flying right into the runoff area they make out of that intersection down there. Back that way it's all tire walls and foam on race weekend.
...oh, right. Duty. Uh, can I have your ear for a sec?" He intended to slip in his suspect, rolling in from normal conversation so it seemed less pointed. Relaxed people were always easier to interview...or interrogate. "You wouldn't have happened to see another guy who would look a little out of place amongst all this flash, would you? Teliran fella who looks more like something from a Hlaer gunslinger flick? Hat and all?"
“The Avro? Marvelous! I used to watch that race quite avidly from the balconies with a nice glass of Konyak, I didn’t bet on it of course it was the one event I just took in and drank with my eyes not my wallet. That was some years ago, I do hope they bring it back” Calsis beamed with a grin.
“Collected Visions was indeed one of my favourites, and such events really change the character of this place. It forces the establishments to really up their game and things change quite quickly, very, very exciting I have to say! You absolute get what you pay for here, at least they don’t swindle you. In fact, that bar up there, the one you say is the good main drag, that’s the Ambise Its one of the best around, real low mood and good music, does some fine drink for races that are not your typical human like me” They kept walking, the discussion going on and on as finally Zeno slipped in who they were looking for.
Calsis seemed to stop walking for a second, looking at Zeno his melodramatic figure and expression had almost instantaneously turned into one of seriousness and dourness.
“Yes. I know him. Mernis Onoro. Only one guy who looks like that who comes in here with swagger and purpose. He took down a big gambling buddy I had two years ago. You say your friends with him, or that you want to find him?” His eyes narrowed In anticipation of the answer.
Meyhna watched with crossed arms, listening to the exchange. She unfortunately wasn't familiar with what Zeno spoke of, at most having heard of the motorsports he seemed so close to in passing. Still, she smirked. The man had found an opportunity to spout about his hobbies and she wasn't going to deny him the moment.
If nothing else, it seemed to endear them slightly to the stranger.
That didn't change his shift in demeanour as their target came up. Meyhna took one step forward, shifting her weight to the opposite leg.
"That we are. We need his help in something, return some favours. Y'know how it is."
There were no favours, of course.
More...scores to settle.
Those weren't details this Calsis needed to know.
Deralan paused at the rather obvious trap in the question of the Gambler. Was it a question in their favour or in that of Mernis?
The Gambler really did seem to have a certain experience.
On one hand, he could just be an informant of Mernis, trying to probe their intentions. Though on the other hand, would he have even told them about them about him? If he actually was an informant, would Mernis not already know they are here anyways?
Though he had indeed been placed rather... conveniently at the entrance, did Mernis know they were coming or was it mere chance?
As Deralan was extrapolating thoughts and possibilities he failed to remind himself others would answer before him if he didn't and so Meyhna did. For a brief moment he tensed up internally, though she likely thought she maintained their cover she may have just put off a potential ally.
Though if he burst out now with additional information it would not be any good either, if anything would just make them look more suspicious.
Moments later a message reached Zeno, noting: 'Have been friends, we will see if it is still the case when we met him.'
"Nobody's in trouble, you see, I just need to follow up on a case I'm working," Zeno said, pressing his explanation and hoping the others followed his lead. Yes, nobody was in trouble just yet; for all he knew that would actually be correct and Mernis was playing his own con to keep people that weren't this current angry band off his back. But that was just a guess, and he was fully prepared for the worst.
The situation seemed to be getting out of hand somewhat, much to Raok’s displeasure.
They had a good thing going on, but some were uncoordinated; saying much more now would do more harm than good.
He gave the lizardman a curious look but otherwise kept quiet, waiting for a reaction out of him before doing anything.
Edward could feel tensions rising as he just followed silently, if this guys friend was taken down by Mernis then maybe he would be willing to help them find him for revenge but then again anything was possible now he thought to himself as he looked behind them, eyes shifting around.
“Your friends but yet you’re following up a case hm?” Calsis kept a Stoney and cold attitude.
“That scum is so self-centred he makes the gambling quarter look selfless. Look Mernis is far from what I would call friendly to me. So, you’re going to want to clear up exactly what you mean by following up a case or being friends with him.” The Musvanas was clearly not happy, and the sudden change was evidence of that.
They needed a guide, getting into High Rise or knowing someone who could get them in was top priority. This wasn’t the kind of place where someone casually wandered in and was ok, this was a land of top dogs, class and connections.
Zeno nodded. "Worst-kept secret in law enforcement: your contacts and info sources are never going to just be other cops." He seemed to chew on Calsis' words, like swirling wine in one's mouth for tanins and changes in flavor. He decided to take a gamble, prodding if his feelings were in fact genuine. "And sometimes, the shadiest sources go bad entirely. That's when you have no choice but to bring them in."
Deralan sighed internally, it had taken the others a moment to take the hint but at least Zeno was on the right track now.
Though admittedly, he could've made the same mistake, it had been more of a guess than a certainty. Maybe... it was time to interfere, even if just a little. They could really use someone more familiar with this establishment.
The comms system of the armour went on and a somewhat distorted mechanical voice came out. Regrettably, it was time to play the dimwit.
"Hey, boss, didn't you say the guy 'was' our friend, y'know, until the thing recently? Would be nice if the guy wouldn't just run away again."
Raok suppressed a chuckle internally. That voice and tone really didn't suit Deralan well.
Well it was really time to clear up this mess and get on with our lives.
He spoke to the lizardman, slightly annoyed that he was still here rather than closer to tracking Mernois down. “He used to be a friend of my friends here, but then he betrayed them, and me alongside them. So no, not a friend anymore- If you have some issues with the guy you are welcome to come with us and we can help each other deal with him, but we would prefer to talk to him before we do anything, although we don't mind what happens to him afterwards, capiche?”
"So your here to bring him in?"
There was a tense few moments before Calsis nodded and adjusted his hat.
"Alright then. So long as I am not helping that bastard but actively aiding you in taking him down I think I can do everything I can to help. I am surprised you are a cop however but its not the first time ive worked with the establishment to bring itself down" He smirked thinking to himself of older times.
In a split second his demeanour changed back to what it was, his melodramatic style and tone coming to the fore.
"Well in that case friends lets get going! Where is your dastardly fellow hiding hmm? If I had to guess given his history he would be right near the top, but you are aware you all wont be able to just waltz into the top casinos and hotels looking like that right?" He laughed.
Zeno grinned. Okay, this was easier - it wasn't like this was the first time in this whole chain of cases that he'd had to go in under some form of disguise. Though the way this sounded...he might as well ask. "Sorry, I didn't come here with the right digs. I had a suit all picked out for when I accept my Driver of the Year award from the Motor Club Commission. Still being starched," he said with a snicker and a flourish of his Descender. "But I suppose that's the problem, isn't it? Not high class enough?" He then looked down at his jacket, keeping up this impromptu comedy routine. "Low-class, my foot! If White Coconut all of a sudden isn't a top designer back in the Accord then I'm overpaying. Limited edition drops, seasonal colors, everything - see these?" He rose a foot and showed off the designer race boots he had on. It seemed obvious that a species that flew as many places as they walked could afford to adorn their feet with more ostentatious, temperamental footwear. "Check the tags. Lil Squirt Bleh collab. Had to somehow get the order in before a sea of Mais just to get a drop and order one in my size. Ah, whatever...so, they went all black tie on me since the Sprint?"
Deralan nodded slowly as if to acknowledge what their now-guide had said, whilst sighing internally another time.
They had been lucky they were able to salvage the situation, this could've gone down in a number of bad ways, even if it did take part of his dignity. That aside, the man was right, he was aware of some of the etiquette and other things necessary to enter these establishments, though he initially did not expect to need them. Even his powerarmour aside he was still wearing his nondescript combat suit under it, not even any actual uniform.
Once more the comms system of the armour sprung to live, once Zeno was finished displaying his apparel.
"Dressin up all fancy an' all that, yeah? So where do ya suggest we're going then? An' where we gonna park our armour?"
He still found the behaviour he had to display disgraceful, though for the time being it was necessary, he'd be able to play other roles later. For now he followed.
Meyhna sighed as tensions eased. As much as she regretted to admit it, he was, annoyingly, right.
For whatever reason.
"Yeah, I'm sure they'd be wetting themselves if a whole host of guys in power armour came stomping through. Not that I'd be particularly sympathetic. So then, mister Calsis, where do you suppose we go to...rectify...that?" she asked, hands on her hips.
"And what he said. I'd rather not my shit get nicked."
Paskin felt a grin creep across his face, thankful to have avoided conflict this early in their mission. The Mus'Vanus, while just as untrustworthy as before, was starting to grow on him. He could admire someone willing to help out of spite.
"I'll have you know the 'Armed-to-the-Teeth' style is very trendy in the Empire these days, though you are probably correct."
"I'm pretty sure more than a few of the top drivers would turn tail if I tried that style for an MCC gala and they caught sight of me," Zeno said with a grin and a laugh. "But I've dressed up like that before. Point me to somewhere that sells White Coconut Shoreline, and I could be in an end-of-season celebrations getup in no time." He gave a thumbs-up. It'd be simple, he'd get to live it up while putting yet another case as a notch on his belt.
"I am afraid that yes they will want you in the most boring, non outlandish suit you can find. But not any old get up, they prefer specifics" Calcsis swirled his cane around as he led them forward.
"They wouldn't be wettin themselves now las' you don't think they got security of their own up here? They get some mighty top dogs come here, and a lot of people get the idea that this laid back open place is the right location to assassinate em" The Mus'Vanas sniggered "Never ends well for em. You don't realise it, but your being watched right now. State of the art surveillance systems, powerful cloaked hunter killer drones, all courtesy of the Civil Dictatorship in Alluminaria. Was some kind of system co-developed with Iqzina I believe. You step out of line out here and you drop dead, at least they don't kill you based on looks here though" He laughed.
"I know a place that can sort you all out, we are heading there now"
They kept walking, making their way down some side streets off the main large avenue, finally they reached what appeared to be a tailors. Stepping inside Calsis took his hat off and walked in back straight. It wasn't a big place and a well suited man stood behind a nicely furnished wooden counter. Suits and dresses of all kinds ringed the small shop floor, types and makes from all over the galaxy and for almost every species you could imagine.
"Welcome to Sharif Mirzad bespoke. The perfect place for anyone to get some good clothes" He bowed to the man behind the counter.
"And what mischief have you brought here today Calsis. Judging by the look of them assasins perchance? Anything to get back at the past eh?" The older man of clear Neo Almaz descent seemed to grunt.
"I suppose fancy clothes for each and storage of gear then?" Calsis grinned.
"Yes, the usual please Sharif"
Deralan nodded and the comm system sprang to live.
"Aye, that'd be pretty nifty.", he noted in the usual role-bound tone and manner.
He slowly moved around the room as he waited for his turn, careful not to disturb or step on anything, looking at the displayed suits. Judging by their conversation this was not the first time Calsis did this and likely wouldn't be the last either, he, too, was a dangerous man. The selection of this place seemed to be quite decent and if it was true that they also had the facilities to hide their equipment...
Perhaps he should note down this establishment for later occasions, in case he or others of his kind would come back here for other operations.
Paskin was hesitant at first to abandon his gear, harkening back to his time on Sano where it had caused him to be captured. If Mernis was up there, in the most protected part of the Casino, it would be unwise to go in empty-handed. The Echo drew his sword from his sheathe, resting the weapon tenderly across his palms as his second set of arms removed the tactical belt from his waist. He had hoped to have it with him when he saw Mernis once again, but understood that sacrifices had to be made if they were to succeed in their mission.
"Tsi'ai Vra'Drennis", whispered Paskin, sheathing the weapon once again as he bundled his gear together. He would have to keep his Warhelm, as it still helped him to breath, as well as the iridescent cloak he had donned earlier. Both had their potential uses inside the Casino, and Paskin opted to integrate them into his outfit rather than leave them behind.
"Alright, gentlemen, let me see what you've got for a Little Lighter," Zeno said, before zeroing in on a suit cut very much his style. Something he'd worn to one of the Driver of the Year galas at the end of a Street Festival just like he'd said, he found himself looking at a weave-pattern graphite black shirt robed in an ice-white jacket and pants, hit with a touch of blue to give it an almost palpable coldness. Black driver's gloves and matching driver's boots with an attractive saddle in the same frosty blue-white completed the look. "Yeah, I think I'll take this one." he said, gesturing to the ensemble. "Slim cut, consort-style, so, ah, that'll be with the symmetrical tie. Yes, that white one with the blue 'dipped tips;' that's actually a pattern the Accord Navy made popular with guys. And, uh, get me a bag for the ensemble while you fit me up, please."
It was the details where it was demonstrated what caliber of establishment they were in. He looked on at the treatment he was receiving in response as if he was being treated to an illusion show. While he waited to be measured for his new tailored suit, the request made staffers appear as if by magic, to relieve him of his gear and place it within what looked like an ordinary tuxedo bag, meant to keep a pressed suit protected from weather. Instead, his Descender and other equipment simply disappeared inside, and with a flurry of zipping and rustling, it was as if his weapons and other equipment simply never made it to Lost Star with him.
Zeno whistled. "Now, that's service," he said. These guys would definitely be getting a call from the Garden of Vows if they ever had any more cases go this way.
Meyhna sighed under her breath as she watched Zeno pick out a fit for himself, blinking lazily.
"I...yeah, sure. Whatever that means." she grunted in response to the Little Lighter.
She meant no insult to the tailor, the Artificia just didn't like any of this. Having lived on starships for over sixty, approaching seventy years, she was the sort of person that preferred to wear clothes deemed space practical. Sure, Lost Star might be a gargantuan triple ringworld so huge entire wars could be fought somewhere and she wouldn't even know, but that didn't mean there might be an atmosphere breach or radiation leak or--
It didn't matter. Spacer logic apparently wasn't the norm here, much to the orange spacer's chagrin. Hooking her thumbs in some straps of the armour, Meyhna moved off to disembark from the suit.
As much as she'd have loved to somehow wear it under or over, she doubted this place did tuxedos for hardsuits.
Obviously Calcsis was right. Hopefully he would continue to prove himself valuable to the team, and was not leading them straight into a trap- but they didn’t have too much of a reason to distrust him at the moment.
But that didn’t stop Raok from worrying about the surveillance systems he had just found out about. And what even was Aluminaria? He would need to find out later if he remembered.
He followed along with the rest of the group, taking in the scenery of the luxurious district around them as he went along until they were inside the tailors.
He may not have been sure before but he took the instant liking of the trailer as a man who went straight to the point. Here it was discreet enough, and if they could even have been to hide their gear… Well, he may just have to write this down for any future endeavors into this district.
He took out his concealed pistols and put them away, putting his faith in the tailor to make him something suitable for the occasion- he didn’t have much experience in fashion and would mostly let others prep him for important public events in the past.
Security always watching them great just what they needed, he was so glad now that they didn’t offend anyone when they arrived and he himself had kept his mouth shut.
Edward looked around as they entered, his home had quite a few of these places as it was just a common type of clothe to wear. He slowly took all his gear off showing the smart red and blue uniform he was wearing underneath which could have been enough for any other place. He then went to browse all the goods as he thought.
“Can we get stuff tailored for us or because this is a rush job we just have to pick and be happy?” He asked as he looked and couldn’t find anything to his liking.
"Entirely up to you my friend" Calsis smiled to Edward gesturing. Sharif was more than willing to size them up, an odd choice given a tailor could only work so fast. As some of the group chose suits from among those on display others were measured by Sharif and his small tape measure, old school style. He had brought out some trunks, to place weapons into, and a small room concealed by a curtain would be the best place to hang armour on various stands, judging by the amount of storage he had for these things Sharif seemed like a man who did this as his primary job.
As he measured each individual he placed the numbers into his PDA, asking each member to step into a dressing room. Waiting in there for a few moments would result in panels disappearing to be replaced with manipulator arms. Each one moving lightning fast to weave and construct a perfect suit for them, a method of 3D printing and he gestured to each to hold up their arms and widen their legs as the machine did its work. Each took a few minutes, leaving them in drab but well ornamented professional attire.
"Don't worry about pay, its on the house" Calsis gestured to the group as he flicked across the moment to Sharif "Consider it a gift to help take down someone I hate"
"Leave any weapons you have here, silenced and concealed gear too unless you trust that it can get past security. These guys deal with a lot of concealed gear given its status and how important individuals end up there, dont let them catch you with weapons. It wont end well" Calsis smiled "Just have to do the job with your own wit and capabilities"
"Are you all ready?"
Zeno shrugged as he looked himself over, testing his new suit and finding the fit and style to his liking. Driver of the Year...there would be plenty of time to score that when all the chaos he was surrounded by these days fell quiet. "Yeah, I'd say I'm prepared," he said, stretching and cracking his knuckles. "Tight quarters are where my equipment would matter the least, and if we do this right...well, the only thing I'll be bothered with shooting is dice."
Paskin admired himself in the mirror for a moment, twisting his torso, testing the flexibility of the material. He was pleased to see that, while it was his first outfit not crafted by his own kind, the overall design wouldn't be out of place even at an Ashexian Crux Expo.
An onyx, three-piece suit, styled to accentuate Paskin's athletic form. An iridescent shoulder cape and pauldron added a certain exotic flair to the simple outfit, and a cobra-like frill rose from the material around the neck, joining warhelm and seamlessly blending the attire. A matching pair of shoes felt incredibly well fitting, selling the look to the Echotian. He reminded himself of on of the Raskil models from back home; an unexpected glimpse into what could have been, had he not taken the Oath of Shadows. His warhelm seemed to flex, folding down into a far less daunting appearance and smoothing over the axe-shaped form.
The whole ensemble seemed to come together, and Paskin was content with his disguise. Turning to Sharif, the Echo gave a curt bow.
"You do impressive work here, Vos'mesk'ra. Should I ever be in need again, you will surely hear from me."
The next one to step out of the printer was Deralan, now an entirely different man than he had pretended to be on the way here. Whilst ha was less imposing without his power armour his suit was simple but elegant. He had went with a black jacket and white shirt underneath, together with a red tie, one could never go wrong with the classics. He filled out the suit quite well and with his cold and somewhat emotionless look he could've been a part of some Mafia or some other underground organisation.
Though the looks aside, the most interesting part was likely that he carried none of his equipment, besides another tight black suit made of tiny hexagons he had been wearing under the powerarmour.
He looked in the mirror and nodded affirmingly. "I agree, we may make more use of your services at later points."
At last, he no longer had to play the dimwit and the fact he wasn't with them when they encountered Mernis the first time, could only be to their benefit.
He turned around and waited for the others to leave their chambers.
Just after Deralan left, Raok went in, eager to join the growing well-dressed company that made even Paskin something which fit him quite well.
Raok stepped in, pleasantly surprised by how efficient and quick everything was- certainly one among many, many, many, many, MANY things better here than back home.
But eventually, life there was going to be better.
He would see to it.
When he left the dressing room he was dressed in an exquisite three piece navy blue-grey suit. With a neck collar, a blood red tie and a pocket square of the same colour, he could have easily blended in as a corpo, or perhaps just a noble from an obscure family or even a mafioso. It was quite a versatile option, good for meetings, weddings or funerals.
‘Perfect fit.’ he thought to himself as he looked in the mirror.
“I second his opinion, this is a fine operation you are running here.” He told the tailor as he nodded to Calsis. He took note of the warning about security, and left all of his gear and old clothes in the secure room. Perhaps if he had some poison on him and actually planned to assassinate someone inside he could smuggle it somehow? A daring and to him fun thought, but a useless one. He would take no weapons of any kind inside.
Edward waited as he was still looking at stuff around and once the printer was not occupied her headed over, removing and few more bits and pieces of equipment so he was just left in his uniform. He decided to go with something that would confuse the people of this planet, something he felt comfortable in, something that reminded him from his home that was so far away
He stepped out once the process was completed in a black suit waist suit jacket that had studs on the side and on the cuffs underneath was a black waist and black shirt finished with an emerald green tie. Instead of trousers like any sane person he was wearing a kilt, which was coloured with greens, blues and blacks in tartan. Around it hung a sporran for carrying items. Finally he was just in some black socks and some smart shoes.
“Something comfortable, I commend your services they are fantastic” He spoke to the tailor in a more happy tone than his usual tone. He then double checked his gear and considered the security and quickly got his arm free and integrated his knife into his cybernetic arm and hoped it would get past the security before sorting himself once more and giving a smile to his compatriots.
Paskin eyed the knife as Edward concealed it within his arm, adjusting the collar of his suit to better conform to his neckline. A curious switch of his attention brought his gaze up to meet Edwards, clear that there was some hesitation.
"Best to keep that hidden, even if shit goes sideways. This place is likely to be crawling with guns, and a blade will only escalate tension. Best to keep up appearances for as long as possible."
Pleased with his appearance, the Echo looked back to Edward.
"You are already attracting attention as it stands. Best not to soil these gifts with our own blood."
Raok sighed and looked at Edward. While he admittedly looked good despite his alien clothing, you could never be too cautious.
"Interesting choice Edward. But I don't think weapons will be neccessary, espially if its just a normal dagger- you could make a weapon to the same effect as it by smashing a bottle and it only risks us being found out. I won't stop you, but if you are caught..."
Seeing as two people had now voiced their concerns Edward decided to follow their concerns and returned the knife to the chest with the rest of his equipment.
“No you are right the risk would be to great, heck they might just even take my arm” He said giving a slight chuckle.
Zeno made some final checks of his suit, thinking to himself that now all he was missing was the ride. That would come soon enough, that and a whole host of things as long as he took this case one step at a time.
"Think like a racer for this one - smooth is fast," he said, admiring the finer details and the way the light struck the shiny elements like the cufflinks and accents on his gloves. "Stay out of the hazards and only go full send when you see the right opening. It all makes sense when you're doing it at speed, a driver's briefing only says so much."
Deralan observed the rest of the group and merely nodded in response.
"I agree that starting a fight in the casino will hardly be a sustainable approach. Unless we all intend to die this night."
He frowned for a moment as the thought that he had been 'reborn' himself only recently crossed his mind though he made no further notes towards the topic, instead he turned to Calsis as they waited for Meyhna.
"Say, is there anything else we should know or be prepared for beforehand?"
Meyhna indeed, having deposited her armour where it would be safe, stepped out of the...printer, next. A sharp suit with a bluish hue, a white shirt and red tie underneath. Simple, but straight to the point. Meyhna wasn't the most extravagant person as-is; a suit like this was already out of her norm.
"That was...strange." she muttered, inspecting one of the sleeves. After making sure it was more intact than its rapidly assembled nature would suggest, nodding with approval, the orange Artificia retrieved her pistol from her things, looking it over.
"I wonder if I could hide this in me. Depends how good their sensors are at seeing through an assload of energy, I guess." she muttered.
"Thank you sirs, I do custom orders for all over the galaxy" Sharif nonchalantly replied to Paskin as he was measuring others.
"Yes I am afraid their detection systems are formidable." Calsis retorted at Edwards knife ploy, eyeing the mans kilt with a raised eyebrow "When in doubt stick to the safe side. I cant count all the attempts I saw of people trying to either fight their way in and out when I worked there" Sharif seemed to cough slightly, Calsis who was staring dull eyed into a corner immediately twitched.
"Oh uh, sorry about that. You all look rather dashing I must say, all look the part" He grinned "Now then, shall we get going?"
He gestured to the door.
"Thank you for your stunning work as always Sharif, we shall see you within a few hours" The tailor bowed slightly as they exited the shop. Calsis melodramatically gesturing to one of the largest and brighly lit casinos.
"Let us go my friends to High Rise. I will show you the life of luxury, what the establishment has, a slice of another life. Just follow what I do" Adjusting his hat he began to stroll, back straight, demeanour now upright and holding himself high like he ruled the streets and was looking down on all the rest who walked around them. It wasn't far to the entrance of the huge building, the casinos and establishments they passed all becoming brighter and attended by what looked like richer and richer patrons.
Outside of High Rise's entrance was a spectacular fountain, making what appeared to be wine, dance, jump and do loops in the air. A beautifully clean red carpet was laid out before the pure gold doors, each engraved with stylised arc deco scenes of the building of Lost Star. Glittering Dawngold inlaid glass surrounded the doors revealing some of the ground floor where exotic plants were growing. Only two guards stood either side of the door, both dressed in simple black suits with sunglasses and earpieces. Alongside them, two greeters, dressed immaculately welcomed the line of patrons into the establishment. Those in line wore much the same as the party, suits and gorgeous dresses but not too up front.
"Would you like to introduce us or shall I?" Calsis smiled to the group.
"Anjou Veldt," Zeno said, jumping ahead in line and cracking off the name with practiced ease. A Knight-Errant always had a pseudonym or two in their back pocket, and he was no exception, mashing together a couple of unisex names from his part of the Accord. "Specialty vehicles trade." He scanned his surroundings to see if he could catch sight of anything interesting parked nearby to push his narrative.
"I suppose that answers that question." Paskin chuckled; a strange, throaty chortle. Straightening his posture, the Echo followed "Anjou's" lead, introducing himself as,
"Kivaro Kell, freelance weapons contractor."
A smile decorated the Echotian's face, giving his voice a formally sweeter tone.
Raok was quick to catch on and nodded to the others.
"Sam Neil, stock trader."
It had a nice ring to it in his opinion, and it was a job that anyone could do really, on behalf of another company or for themselves, so there was little to no way he could be tied to some other entity by pure bad luck which would give him away.
His clothes and standing among others in the group should speak of his 'success in the profession' even during the tumultuous market conditions that marked much of this and the last year to say the least
"Ran Darvan, private military contractor."
Deralan noted, with same cold observant look as usual, his hands clasped behind his back, radiating a faint aura of dignity and aloofness.
Technically seen, it wasn't even wrong, the APS was a part of the network as such he was technically part of a paramilitary organisation. Still, personally he would have preferred it if Calcis had made their entrance, letting everyone do their own job, though now that the other started, he couldn't quite just stand out by saying nothing.
Edward listened to his companions come up with names and occupations and he had a quick think and chuckled to himself in his head
“Douglas Martin, Weapons Manufacturer and Distributor” He spoke, letting his accent run thick “And my Companion Alana Palmer” He said about his AI that was now beside him in smart crimson dress.
Meyhna ran a hand through her hair as the party introduced themselves.
Apparently they were a group of arms dealers now. Well, she couldn't exactly hide what she was, and with how insular the Artificia were, that limited her options.
Oh well.
"Hyahna. UMAC sales and logistics." she introduced with a curt smile.
The greeters listened to each in due course as they came forward, passing each of them in and greeting them.
“Oh welcome! Welcome to the establishment!” Each one shook each individual’s hand as they made their way one by one through the gilded doors and into a Lucious exotic jungle that dominated the ground lobby. Plants of all sorts of colours, interrupted by flitting birds of paradise as they nested and eat in the trees. The air was heavy with humidity tinged with lovely perfumes, the floor tiled with inlaid precious stones and crystals. Ahead was another checkpoint, large full body scanners manned by more of the same guards stood in front of several doors each a lift up to the proper High Rise club floor.
“Calsis. We never thought we would see you again here” the greeters commented as the Mus’Vanas went last.
“I have business to attend to and as far as I am aware I am not barred from entry here” He smirked.
“No. You are welcome entry, but watch yourself” The greeted kept a big smile, but practically hissed the last part as Calsis nodded his hat and walked on in.
“That went better than expected” He laughed to himself as they strode towards security. Calsis went first, walking through the scanners without any bleeps, he gestured for the others to follow.
“Come now, luxury awaits”
Deralan took note of the fact there had apparently been an incident surrounding Calcis in the past though now was likely not the time to ask him about it, something better reserved for later. Fortunately they had made it past the first layer of security, though the second one already awaited.
Though he was not fond of the exceedingly pompous environment what actually concerned him were the full body scanners, he was built to fool these sort of scans and appear as a perfectly normal, if augmented, human, though no disguise or stealth was actually ever perfect. On the other hand, if anything, he would expect that enough of the people spending money here were augmented humans themselves.
With confidence he stepped through the full body scanner and...
Nothing happened.
He stepped out the other side waiting on the rest of the group, seemingly unbothered though he was more relieved it worked out than he would like to admit.
Zeno, having nothing incriminating on his body and entirely relying on his magic to get him through this one, fluttered on through. This kind of scanner was something he'd seen at many police stations that had the budget, and any belonging to the Garden of Vows. Of course, as an officer he passed through them for different reasons: nobody wanted to come back bugged or otherwise compromised by criminals sneaking things onto them, so they went through the scanners like everyone else. The many tricks pulled by EVS-Kleinlicht during Yog-Narr's invasion had made everyone just a little paranoid, and for good reason.
When it was him on the job, he'd use to get into trouble for unregistered key fobs in his pocket, accidentally setting them off as foreign bodies. No such threat tonight, not when he needed to be on point and only brought the essentials. He buzzed through the scanner - all clear here.
Paskin did not hesitate or show concern upon seeing the body scanner, striding through without weapons and even giving a fun little flourish of his cloak as he exited. He punctuated his passage with another laugh, this one far more human-like. To any onlookers, Paskin would appear to just be in a good mood.
He tried to keep his confidence high and his mind at ease, but the feeling of nakedness pervaded his thoughts. Weaponless Echos were a vulnerable minority anywhere in the Empire, and now the sense of impending doom seemed to creep into his mind.
Swallowing to force the thoughts from his mind, Paskin tried to distract himself, turning to Deralan once passed the threshold.
"No wonder our client wants to meet us here. Place is like border security on Estanix."
Meyhna sighed, thumbs hooked into the mostly decorative pockets of her suit as she glanced up at the scanner.
"I remember old ones of these back in the Federation used to go on the fritz whenever an Artificia went though. Weren't programmed to recognise an energy being. Took em a hot bit to figure out how to fix that." she muttered, more musing to herself than anything.
Fortunately, she had left the gun back at the store. Unfortunately that meant she had nothing to rely on but herself if something went south.
Shaking her head softly, Meyhna strode on through. No point to making any fanfare about it. She was a supposed UMAC representative, not Lady Aihara.
Edward let people file past and go through as his female companion disappeared once again and he then took a step forward ready to go next through the scanners. He pondered a few things that would probably set it off on him but that was a problem for future him.
He went through once it was available and waited for it to probably go off thanks to his cybernetics and other non human parts that was installed on him.
It was clear that Calsis had some… interesting history with this particular establishment to say the least. What did he do to deserve that was unclear but perhaps they would find out soon enough. The place itself seemed to be what he expected it to be thus far- place for the elites to have some fun at a secure location. Didn’t seem to secure outwardly but combining internal security, checkpoints, the surveillance systems previously mentioned…
Raok was glad he wasn’t here to kill anyone.
Having no weapons on himself he went through the scanner confidently, and sure enough there were no incidents- yet he was glad he was stuck by his decision to go unarmed.
But now came the moment they have all silently been dreading as Raok looked on to see Edward passing through the scanner-
The group made their way through the scanners with no commotion. They didn’t go off once and the security stood, unmoving and uncaring as they all came out the other side and likely quite relieved. Calsis tightened and straightened his suit as they stepped into the gilded and large elevator, a red inlaid carpet, beautiful blue mirror wall and golden handrails surrounded them as the doors closed and soothing choral music began to play.
“Well done, you got past security without fanfare, that makes this a great deal easier they won’t suspect you. Don’t worry about them watching you as much, they will be focused on me. Find Mernis and do whatever must be done to that bastard” Calsis nodded as the elevator came to a halt and the doors opened.
They opened into a central pillar and a huge expansive multi-tiered circular hall. Four fountains, each sizable and spraying different kinds of wines dotted the surroundings alongside exotic plants, lavish dining and drinking tables and huge bar areas seemed to stock all sorts of shiny and multi-coloured drinks and beverages. Another elevator seemed to open next to them, several waiters wheeling out trolleys of succulent and beautifully prepared meat platters, surrounded by all sorts of top of the range food dishes to serve to the patrons here.
It was fairly packed too, people from all over the galaxy sat and eat, or drank, or laughed or made their way to the upper tiered arrangements where the casino areas were, looking down onto those below. Bright lighting came from a chandelier carved out of pure Kelarite, itself costing probably as much as this entire venue. Even more interesting was the menus, easily picked up as they walked in.
This place served Qanis drinks and dishes, for multiple SIGEC each, not milicents, whole SIGEC.
The group was being shown just a glimpse into the lives of the galaxy’s elite, while the wars raged and the threats piled up, these people with the wealth indulged their whims without a care in the world.
“Welcome to High Rise” Calsis gestured with a grin.
Although he still found the pomp distasteful, it fazed Deralan little, there was a certain impression he would have to keep up and so he would do.
The first thing he took note of was the higher floors, it was more than likely there was a certain hierarchy here with increasingly more notably and wealthy individuals being present the higher one went. The question remained where Mernis was in this Hierarchy and how far his connections reached.
His actual position aside they would have to take good care of not acting too suspicous when looking around for him, lest people would take notice. His best approach for the time being would likely be sticking to and keeping an eye on his companions, to avoid them causing any troubles, whilst trying to filter mentions of Mernis or his voice out of the surroundings. If he would find Mernis first it would likely be best to approach him alone or perhaps with Zeno, as he himself was likely unknown to Mernis and Zeno hasn't been with the group when they raided the Panopticon base.
He had also considered separating himself from the group though first he would have to see what the others would do.
Once they had moved away a bit from the entrance he looked into the round and asked the likely most simple and obvious question.
"Where do we start?"
He did, of course, already have a couple of plans, though it would be best to hear what everyone had to say first.
Zeno studied the venue with big eyes, memories of getting to enter one of these places once before flooding back. A one-SIGEC cocktail of something a lot like the Jade Ribbon bottle he'd won and now sent off with the late Tazi made him a bit melancholy, and the feeling carried over into the revelry he could see all around him. Here were people that were used to living every day like it was their last, except with war now hanging over everyone's heads, it very well could be, and ignorant as everyone was outwardly, he could just taste it. People couldn't hide it when they speedran their bucket lists.
Desperation hung over the place like a cloud, high enough to seem far away, but it was overhead and he could feel it. The lifelong civil servant wanted to drop the act for a moment, be a beacon of comfort to someone who needed it, but he was on the job. The mission mattered here, and the mission was Mernis.
He looked around, outwardly interested in the kind of wonderland that only the greatest World Champions got to really participate in, but he was looking for the few mugs amongst the crowds of merrymakers who weren't partying to forget their own mortality for a while. He had to find the sharks swimming with these whales, and looked for anything similarly out of place, exuding similar feelings to he himself. Someone watching their back, over more than wanting first crack at expensive food or drink.
Paskin rolled his shoulders, working out the tension in his muscles caused by his own excitement. He felt alive, and vicariously fed off the ambience of the Casino.
The Echo turned to Delaran, as he began to explore further into High Rise.
"Why don't we take a good look around, make sure this place is all its talked up to be?"
Of course, Paskin was more interested in finding Mernis and wringing his neck, but they would have to work their way up to that step. For now, Paskin would take a look around, keeping an eye out for security, and try to blend in with the crowd.
Edward stretched and cracked his knuckles, at the moment he felt extremely uncomfortable, he was not good in social situations, especially with those from the upper classes.
“Go around mingle a bit, drink, eat, drink, gamble, drink” Ed suggested, damn he needed a strong drink right now to calm his nerves.
"If you feel like bankrupting yourself, go for it." Meyhna grumbled in reply to Edward.
This place, it stung. The high rising vistas, the decor, the excessive spending in every avenue, showpieces costing enough to fund a small brush war just to serve as subconscious vain displays and occasional conversation pieces.
The ignorant gluttony, the unempathetic hedonism, the blind vanity. It reminded her of the Ambyric Federation. An economy that turned solely on the excessive spending of overtly wealthy hedons kept in pocket by drones and slaves. That same want for pleasure that led to the creation of the Artificia themselves. This place rung all too much like the parties and clubs of the Ambyrics, from the abhorrently expensive food to the layout and the atmosphere of the bustle.
It disgusted her. Meyhna wanted nothing more than to find some portly bejewelled bastard and rip his throat out.
Unfortunately, she had bigger fish to fry, so her desire to burn down the entire monument to vanity would have to wait.
"That depends. Where do we all think Mernis would be crawling?"
Deralan nodded in response to Meyhnas note.
"Whilst I appreciate that you're trying to fit in I have to agree with Hyahna here, I won't be the one paying your bill Douglas."
He paused for a moment, looking around as if looking for a fitting place to sit down, he addressed everyone in the group with what he said next.
"Whilst I am aware you have had not the best experiences with out mutual 'friend' I would suggest to avoid any sort of... reprehensible behaviour when you find him. For that purpose it may be beneficial to call me or Anjou to talk to him."
He turned towards Calsis and continued, lifting an eyebrow.
"Speaking of our mutual 'friend', you do not perhaps know roughly about where he is usually situated in this esteemed establishment?"
“He could be anywhere, depends on if he is actively meeting a client or just here for leisure, why don’t you take a look around? Perhaps enjoy yourself, its rare you will ever experience this kind of luxury”
As the group disseminated outwards Calsis merely smiled and did the same, striding over towards the centre. Already several pairs of eyes were upon him, frowns, glares and barely contained anger in some cases. He merely kept his suave appearance and strode over to one of the bars, ordering a Tissmarian Cocktail with Qanis dust. The menu of drinks and food here was substantial, delicacies from all across the galaxy could be found here, Qanis dishes, long thought lost Orbeole cuisine, Mirdiff plates and more besides. Each one cost insane amounts of money more than most galactic individuals would ever seen in their lifetime.
Yet patrons here were laughing it off, celebrating and partying as much as they wished. No doubt many here were regular customers in fact. And yet others were more rarer comers.
One of which eyed the party with a familiar look and rolled his eyes. Even with disguises there was now changing the appearance of a Little Lighter, Artificia and Echo.
There at one of the bars, Mernis had turned to easily make out the group, another man sitting next to him drinking, he wasn’t making any attempt to hide or conceal himself.
The unmistakeable wide-brimmed hat of the mercenary from the Teliran frontiers presented itself like a brown, saintly halo around his head. Once one had surpassed the crowds preceding him, it was impossible not to notice the man. In fact, his costume was so unbefitting for the scene that he fitted into the venue less than his hunters.
The moment the members of his hunting party drew close, the Teliran twirled on his heels to survey his surroundings with a girl in each arms, one a Human and another a Teliran. Chattering to the pair as they clung to his arms and played with his hat, Mernis’ suave womanizing demeanour halted once he locked onto the approaching visage of the party. Gazing upon Meynha in particular, his eyes opened wide.
“...Huh?”
The open mouth of the mercenary would’ve given the impression that the Teliran was terrified if it weren’t immediately followed by possibly the loudest, “GLOOOWSTIIIIIICK!”
“YEEEEEEAAAAAAH!” The Teliran cheered in genuine joy; smashing a glass of alcohol to the crowd and causing every high-brow socialite in the room to turn a judging head to the man, “Talk about a small galaxy!”
Squeezing one of his women in an arm and pointing with the other, Mernis explained to the gentleman accompanying him,
“People, may I be introducin’ to you: The weirdest gaggle of contractors I ever had the displeasure of runnin’ with.” He chuckled, “...These guys took a contract to capture a person, travelled to the secret galactic kingdom of the pirates on the other edge of the galaxy, captured the person, then decided they hadn’t killed fifty people t’capture the person, and instead ran off to blow up some secret bunker full of people on the orders of a mentally unstable girl they’d just met!”
Still gleaming at the sight of the reunion, the freelancer gestured to each of the party,
“May I introduce to you: The Glowstick.” He nodded to Meynha.
“Giant fucking newt guy, how’s that arm by the way?” He pointed to Paskin.
“The Demoman, from Team Defence 2. Who literally appeared out of thin air, if I recall correctly.” He looked at Edward.
“The Fairy Godmother, who is probably more of a glowie than she is.” Mernis pointed to Zeno, and then over to Meynha.
“...And… You guys…!” He winced as if he ought to remember the other two.
Letting go of his giggling partners, Mernis strolled over and whispered behind of a shielding hand,
“Look, you guys, it’s good to see y’all people again, but i’m kinda on a mission right now and… You’re kinda goin’ and crampin’ my style. Is this a work call or this all purely coincidental?”
"Funny, I was hoping you would answer that same question," Zeno said, with a little adjustment of his jacket and his tone sweet and smooth as honey. "I mean, it's only professional courtesy; if we're having a party, it's only fair to RSVP, right?"
He was crunching the calculus for this in his head. Smart, he thought, start trouble, give out nicknames to out everyone just enough, not enough to get security which could easily backfire on him, too. On the other hand, Mernis made a mistake of his own: encourage the cop to start doing the time-honored police trick of stalling a suspect dead in place by talking. Hostage negotiation worked this way, so did trapping a perp while the actual punch got into position. He started the conversation and Zeno would lengthen it - hopefully his companions followed his lead, but these were just the opening laps. Nobody had pulled ahead just yet.
Something seemed to click within Paskin as years of training suddenly threw him headlong into the role that Zeno was putting up for them. His warhelm adjusted, allowing him to momentarily flash a fanged smile as he moved in step with the group, circling around as if to check out Mernis's companions. He gave them both a nod as his helm closed up again, turning back to Mernis.
The venom Paskin felt for the Teliran was absent from his voice, though he could feel it at the back of his throat as he spoke.
"Giant Newt? Really?"
Deralan pondered for moment. Mernis had gotten them into a difficult situation, though mostly as a defensive mechanism, which likely meant he didn't expect them here. Furthermore he hadn't made any attempts to escape yet either and was receptive to conversation, which meant this could actually be to their benefit and did save them searching for him.
If his companions behaved.
Fortunately, Zeno had taken the word first, so he himself opted to remain silent for the moment. He did what he usually did best, he nodded a polite greeting to each of the three new individuals and then continued observing looking aloof, cold and slightly menacing. If there was the need to intervene he could still do it, for now it was best to let the ones who were actually familiar with Mernis talk first and then draw conclusions from the results.
Raok himself was keeping on the sides, not really following along with the others.
The place they were in was a bit distasteful to him, considering nobody in here seemed to care about a galaxy-wide war going on at the moment. While a part of him longed to be the centre of attention and indulge himself in debauchery, years of experience and barely scraping by for the better part of his childhood while his 'betters' lived the high life taught him that going after your every whim was not a smart thing to do.
So, perhaps another time.
It didn't take long for them to locate Mernis, who seemed to be enjoying the party.
But unlike the others, Mernis only got a brief look at him over a year ago for a few minutes- the chances of him remembering Raok were quite small.
He nodded towards him and smiled as a way of greeting him, but he decided to let Zeno do the talking. It looked like they were buying time, and in such case Raok could always interject and introduce himself to Mernis to draw away attention.
The list of things that ran through Meyhna's mind of what she wanted to do to the blue skinned man was rapid and extensive.
Everything from the mundane but painful to the strangely complex and excruciating, all sounding incredibly cathartic right now.
It was exacerbated by the hatred she felt for the venue, but there wasn't a huge amount it could exacerbate it.
Then Zeno spoke.
Ah. So that was the approach they were taking.
A lopsided smile crossed Meyhna's face, hooking her thumbs in the pockets of her trousers as she rolled back on her heels, leaning forward to compensate.
"Oh please, Mernis, you don't have a style for us to crimp." she joked.
Edward had met this man once at the end of his last outing with this group and he already hated him after that for making them feel powerless, so he could only guess what the others were feeling after being fucked over by him twice. He wished he could just wring his neck and just end it all now but that would be idiotic as he would be gunned down and they needed him for information.
He wanted to then say something but elected to stay quiet and let people more confident than him do the speaking.
Even as Mernis made a scene with the group, the perfect tactic to prevent any sort of intimidation of coercion, Calsis narrowed his eyes and distanced himself from the group. He didn’t want to have Mernis recognise him so easily, they had beef, then again so did this lot. The Mus’Vanas ducked out, going to the bar and ordering a drink despite the prices. The Teliran had worked with Calsis back in the old days, they had swindled many of these establishments, made an absolute fortune too. All through pointing out legitimate breaches of security or problems with clients which were ‘technically’ banned from premises. They had extorted much, but then Mernis had dropped him in it. The big clubs had not known who was playing with them, all until they had offered Mernis some kind of deal.
Pay him large amounts of money, and he would tell them everything, likely something to that affect.
Calsis had almost been killed that night as the hit squads hunted him down. He had gone by a different name then, Heena, and acted very differently. The big clubs still knew him, still knew what he did. But after so many years they had simply stopped caring, making more money now with the ring worlds boom than Calsis had ever hoped to rob them of.
But he had never forgiven Mernis for the betrayal.
‘Just good business’ was all his partner had told him via text.
As the group awkwardly reacted to the call out a large burly man with a thick Restevian accent made his way over from the bar. He grinned, somewhat inebriated.
“Hey, Mernis, who are these guys?” He laughed, taking another swig of some bottle “Pleasure to meet you, names Yuri Godwinson, doing some business with this here crazy bastard how can I help?”
An outsider. Intoxicated, probably. Loose lips.
That was a hazard.
"Ah, we're just some old acquaintances, past business is all, saw him here and we decided to say hello. I was a freelance runner back then but these days I sell materiel for UMAC. Name's Hyahna." she shrugged as she hooked a thumb in a trouser pocket.
The orange Artificia cocked her head to the side inquisitively.
"That accent. What brings a Restevian so far from home, Mr Godwinson? The vodka not quite enough?" she smirked humorously.
Zeno could sense that things were tense. Meyhna's style was useful when there was a fight about to kick off, but that wasn't so smart when that fight could potentially happen in a very public spot. He didn't care that his crowd apparently saw large wallets qualify sapient beings as big game, he served everyone and was trying to be careful. This needed to stay cool as long as it could or things would spiral quickly out of control. Insults would only get everyone reaching for a coat pocket, and it certainly wasn't going to be for their phones to snap a wefie.
"Now, now, let's be courteous, we're all here for a good time, even if some of us more industrious types are doing work on vacation. Of course, the saying goes that you never have to work a day in your life if you do what you love - Anjou Veldt, special vehicles trade, exotics and Presters a specialty. So, how about you, Mr. Godwinson, what's your business?" The sugar still poured out freely from Zeno's lips, but he was starting to worry. Honey did not make for good glue.
Deralan turned his head at the newcomer for a moment and looked him over, searching for anything out of the ordinary.
Was this the same 'business' Mernis had mentioned, or just a bystander? He certainly seemed to know Mernis, perhaps an accomplice? Could this 'business' or the man perhaps be used as leverage against Mernis?
He pondered on it for a moment but then returned his attention to Mernis, remaining silent. Despite direct confrontation nobody got violent so far, nobody threw any insults and nobody died, yet. It seems the group had itself better under control than he expected.
It was a bit odd, the way the security looked at Calsis, how he got himself lost as soon as they reached Mernis, the apparent beef they had.... He could sense that there was more to the story but it didn't concern him.
It was good that Zeno was doing most of the talking, as letting someone like Meyhna have a go at it after being insulted, even when for a purpose... It wouldn't have ended well.
Although surely even Zeno would have his limits, Raok intended to let him shape up the story for them without interjection messing it up.
So he simply smiled politely and looked onwards to Yuri.
“What the fuck you talkin’ about?” The Teliran chuckled at the fairy, “I’m here for a good time and you guys’ve just brought it to me!” He turned to Paskin.
“You’re a big guy, you can take a joke.” Mernis quipped back to the Echotian mercenary before cocking a brow, “Hey wait a second, were you guy that helped the Warlord of Sano escape law enforcement?” The intrigued Teliran pointed a finger to Paskin with an interrogative look.
“...I think I've seen that armour on bounty notices before… You naughty dog, you.” He gave a knowing smirk before turning to face the rest of the group. He was about to give a cheeky response of his own to Meynha’s retort before Yuri interrupted. Giving a pat upon his compatriots shoulder, Mernis announced,
“These guys were freelancers, and I use that term very lightly, alongside me on a mission a while back- Long story. You don’t mind if I talk to them for a sec in private do you?” He peered to his friend before nodding for the group to follow him.
The Teliran mercenary, without even waiting for Yuri to confirm his acceptance, waltzed past his old enemies with a smile and began escorting them through the crowds. Approaching an entranceway to the side of the room, Mernis gestured for the group to follow before heading in.
On the other side resided a large sideroom. Filled with dining room tables, chairs, a faux-fireplace, waterworks, bookshelves, several other doorways, and a magnificent chandelier, the location was evidently reserved for special occasions. At this moment, it was uninhabited. The moment Mernis entered the chamber, he twisted on his heels and, still smiling, welcomed the group in.
Despite now being unwatched, Mernis’ disposition didn’t change one bit; putting to bed the theory that he had been orchestrating a fake friendliness. The Teliran was genuinely happy to see his old enemies.
“I knew I'd see you bozos again!” He grinned as he took a decanter and poured himself some water, “...Of course, I had thought you would’ve tracked me back down within months not… What has it been now? Three years? More? How the hell were you guys ever private contractors?” He looked over to the others before strutting over to a varnished counter, sitting himself down at a seat and placing his dirty leather boots upon the fancy surface.
“But seriously now, it can’t’ve taken you this long to find me, there’s gotta be a reason you’ve come here this late and at this time. Call me egotistical but I'm guessin’ you need something from me and that somethin’ has only come up now… Right?”
"The vodka at home is never enough Hyahna. Haha I am here on some business, current business myself. With this here Teliran fellow, and my business? Well I trade in information you see oh and good alcohol of course" Yuri winked to them all with a huge grin. He nodded as Mernis patted him on the back, doing so in return and laughing.
"Of course not, its always good to catch up with old friends, I did so myself just earlier today!" He waved a hand and walked back over to the bar to leave the group alone.
Zeno adjusted his clothing a little. Okay, it seemed like it was just business, though Mernis didn't have to know that. He was a child of the Little Light; his idea of mercenaries came from the legends of OSA and the Imisil Fellowship, and even if he was a cop who knew what the rest of the galaxy was like just in case criminals from there ever came out to play, it was hard to shift between the image of them as the best, and outfits like ANALOG as the worst, with zero in-betweens.
He snapped his fingers and drew in the air as he spoke. "Our last encounter together. I'd like a little refresher straight from the source, seeing I wasn't there for the whole party."
He fluttered onto the table, the closest an Okekolu could get to leaning in on someone in human-scaled quarters.
"Do you have any idea what's been happening in the wake of your little do-si-do out there?" Zeno hissed.
Paskin narrowed his eyes at Mernis behind his helm, though he could feel the grin form on his face. There was something about the Teliran that he still found oddly likeable, though it would take more than a little light-hearted banter to sway the Echotian back to his good graces.
"Took me almost eight months to recover after returning from that hell, but my conscience is still clean."
Deralan stood up and followed after nodding respectfully towards Yuri. Mernis was an odd individual, first noting how he was here for business and then moving with them to a private space and even as they arrived in the other room, his demeanour didn't change, though he assumed in an establishment like this he would be perfectly safe with them even here.
He was pondering for a moment whether he should interfere yet, though Zeno seemed to be rather content with talking to him and proficient at it as well, so there was no need to, yet. As of currently he was also uncertain how to proceed with Mernis after this meeting. Whether it would be more beneficial for him and the Network to contract, try to eliminate or leave him be would require more information, though none of the options was off the table, he would have to continue listening, see what he said and how he acted.
"Pleasant fellow, that Yuri." Raok said after Zeno unloaded some frustration.
"I had more important business to attend to than to track you down, I didn't have much reason for it until we all came together. But, Anjou will explain it best."
He didn't really have any particular opinion of Mernis one way or another, and was content to let Zeno handle it.
Mernis squinted at the Okekolu as he glided in close to the Teliran’s face. Putting his glance down and withdrawing a lighter to ignite a cigarette, the mercenary chuckled,
“...Oh I remember our last encounter all right. The way I remember it, we were all contracted to retrieve a girl and bring her to the contractor, y’all got too touchy-feely and abandoned your word. I honoured the agreement and brought the girl in after bringing up enough force to ensure you all had sense enough to not get yourselves killed. I kept my promise and fulfilled the contract, you’ll get no apology from me for doing my job.” His cheery demeanour contorted into a steely glare directed to the detective. He let a tension-building silence prevail within the room before abruptly breaking it once more with another moodswing,
“At any rate that’s all history! The contract is complete and I am no longer bound by it… Which is good because you're in luck… My new contractor can take you right to the same people that now have your girl, and all we have to do is kill an agent of the army. That agent is why I'm here… They’re in this very club” The Teliran proceeded to cackle,
With a fiendish grin he waved Zeno back, “...And you thought I was just here for the drinks…”
Zeno seemed to roll with the remarks, tipping back and giving Mernis a wry smile. He didn't give the guy enough credit before; he was a merc so slick he could probably just slide places.
"As long as you know the stakes. Going from check to check's given us quite the headache, and it's a damn good thing you're going up against a mark my people and your people both want knocked out. Shit, here I was thinking you were all in on psychic big sticks proliferating in hands that have anybody with a mandala certain the end's here."
He crossed his arms and looked Mernis up and down. "So if all this is square, that means you, luckily enough, might've just graduated from flat tire to full-size spare. Let's get to that part, shall we?"
Paskin clenched his teeth, biting his tongue. Of course, he had fallen in with these mercenaries just before shit seemed to hit the fan. Of course, he had never made any deal, other than his oath to keep Daina safe from those who wished to exploit her.
But that was all in the bitter past, and bringing it up to Mernis now would only cement his own dislike of the Teliran. They were all mercenaries after all, Paskin reminded himself, guided by money or morality, it made no difference. At any rate, he would have to put his faith in Mernis once again if he was going to keep his oath. He had no other options.
The Echo let out a low series of judgmental clicks, before shaking his head to clear the thoughts from his mind.
To Raok, Mernis's perspective was as valid as anyone else's- he had a job to do, and he got it done without killing them. He owed Daina war saving them all multiple times, and he was going to repay that debt by saving her in turn... But that doesn't man he will stay annoyed at the guy for doing his job.
He eyed up the others to make sure they had no uncontrollable... urges, so to say, but otherwise remained quiet.
Deralan, who had been silent since they entered the club pondered on what Mernis had said, it seemed to be a bit too... convenient and the parties trust perhaps too easily gained, he did not like it. Though he had not travelled with him before.
For the first time since they arrived, Deralan spoke up, his tone neutral and factual.
"Personally, I find your lack of integrity... concerning. Especially considering the outcome of the last mission. Though I suppose that is to be expected in your line of work. That aside..."
He paused for a moment.
"Do you not think this all seems a bit too convenient?"
The question was directed at the group rather than Mernis himself.
"Who tells us, you are not just trying to hand us over to the very same people we are looking for? What evidence do you have that this is not just a trap? After all, in your own words, mister Onoro, it is all just jobs and contracts to you."
Deralan fell silent again, waiting for an answer.
"Begs the question of who's cutting you a check, then," Zeno said, gesturing to Mernis. "Because if it's who I thought you were working for, I can tell you, we'll all be too dead for you to spend any of that money if you're really on that side of this mix-up. The people who got you to play this crew the first time are not interested in this business, nor its businessmen. The only way we all make it out of this is if you're straight with us."
Zeno leaned in again. "So...are you?"
Meyhna's eyes narrowed.
"I was about to say it was strange to find you in the most uncharacteristic place I could think of, not even trying to blend in..." the Artificia muttered. "But he has a point." she added, nodding in Deralan's direction.
"You don't have a fantastic track record in being trustworthy. What--or rather who's--job has you looking for the same people we are?"
Mernis grinned to Deralan,
“There’s no nicer compliment for a bounty hunter, goth-man.” His attention drifted to the rest of the group.
“Hm? What’s that? You guys want me to break my client confidentiality right after I told you how I live and abide by contracts? Oh sure, her name is Madam Yrillx and she’s a Subsistence Mushroom Farmer on the Fifth Moon of Yer Mudda.” Mernis scoffed.
“Get real. If you wanna find out who’s hiring me, go ask the Army of the Panopticon when yer meet ‘em, I bet they already know- They know everythin’. They know everyone, and how to get to them… But you probably know that already. That’s why I gotta complete this contract quick, see?”
He cut a glance to Zeno,
“The Army of the Panopticon tried to kill me too, Tooth Fairy, don’t forget that… I can assure you that I haven’t. If it weren’t for my word to them to retrieve that girl, I wouldn’t have been gunning for them.”
Exchanging his glare to look over at Deralan.
“Besides. If the Panopticon sent me here to capture you, that implies they know where you’d be… So why would they risk sending some random schmuck to capture you solo when they have an entire army and network at their disposal?” He shook his head.
“Let’s cut with the bullshit. Do you want my help and advice or not? Yes or no.”
Zeno narrowed his gaze and sighed. He'd tugged on trickier strings before, and it had earned him his sterling reputation. Nothing was ever easy for him - the right thing was always the hard thing to do, indeed - but that was part of the mystique of the job, he supposed. Leave it to independent contractors to keep their cards close to their chest.
Internally he was cursing that trade secret bullshit had even gotten into this profession, at this hour, but outside he was professional, cool and even a little sweet. "I'll bite," he said, forming and extending a soul hand like he wanted to shake.
Deralan nodded in response to Mernis points, he had been well aware asking for his employer would be unlikely yield any results.
"Indeed, why would they send one person if they knew where we are? I suppose in the same turn one could also ask why they would send a group of people to pursue Daina if who they had hired to hire them already knew where and how to find her.
The Panopticon does not like acting in the open, even if the recent events may suggest otherwise. You also said, you worked for them because they would've killed you otherwise, it could've been the same this time."
He paused for a moment shook his head.
"However, I will admit that there is little for us to do but to find out ourselves. That much is true. We will be taking your advice and help unless anyone else wishes to voice any concerns."
Raok finally spoke, backing up Deralan:
"At present it's best that we stick with you. If you cross us again, we will simply have to deal with you- I don't believe in third chances. Why don't you tell us a bit about this agent you are after. Would it not be better to get him somewhere..."
He gestures around the room. "Not in this place?"
“They didn’t know where to find her, genius. We were contracted to work out where she was before retrieving her.” Mernis shot back with the reflex of an adder. Raok’s comment made the Teliran smile; shaking his head, “Don’t threaten someone who holds the cards.”
Grunting as he removed his boots from the table, he continued, “...At any rate, you lot are right, you can’t trust me, and I don’t want your trust. But seeing as you’ve got no other option but to follow my lead, and i’ve got few options but to utilize your assistance, I say we get this job over with.” He took hold of Zeno’s wispy magical hand to conclude with a shake.
With that, the freelancer began to stride towards the doorway, peaking out to the socialites beyond, the Teliran proceeded to point over to Yuri with a prying glare.
“My pal Mr. Godwinson over there is a Restevian mole and has abandoned his government. I’m here to discreetly ensure he succumbs to an untimely accident. He wasn’t lying when he told you he was an information dealer… The type of information that leads fleets into ambushes and armies to the slaughter.”
He turned to face the team,
“If I were to ask him to accompany me out of a place like this, alarm bells would begin ringing: He knows me and what I do too well. But you guys… You’re unknowns, and you’re of value to him. Convince him to meet you outside, out in the alleyways, I’ll handle the dirty work. You’re welcome to any Panopticon intel we find on him, I'll direct you with what I know, and you’ll have a solid scent to begin your pursuit.” He gave a steely, untrusting squint over to the others,
“...Question is, do you have the guts to do what needs to be done, or are you all gonna get squeamish again?”
Mernis found the soul hand firm and the shake resolute. Zeno gave him a sharp expression, a wry smile that faded to a sort of melancholy acceptance of what sort of thing he was talking about. "Lucky for you, I'm aware we're not dealing with the kind of perps you can just cuff and book anymore. It's dirty business, but you know what else was dirty business? Biosats on Admiralty Square and having to mop up a freeway of Mirdif shit with teeth using nothing but cop cars. Having to switch off Code 7's who had no more seeds up in their melons because Creepy Uncle Yoggy sucked 'em all dry. I think it's clear that as much as I wanna do this my way, I have to do my duty." It sounded like a switch had been flipped in him, and something old was stirring, the kind of thing that only someone who had to do and see some very bad things was awake again. He sounded a little afraid of it, himself. Existential threats did that to a person.
Zeno let go of the shake and was looking off at something he wouldn't be able to place if he named it, off at a horizon that only he could place. Then he shook it off. Then he quietly asked, "I'd grill you, but I'll see about getting any other info your mark has straight from the source before we have to pop him. Think the Golden Goose has any last eggs to lay before we roast him?"
Meyhna shrugged softly in response to Mernis bluntly brushing off their inquisitive questions. It made sense, after all.
"Can't blame a girl for trying." she grunted lowly.
Her eyes drifted to Zeno as he talked about...
Something. More stuff that likely required more context than she cared for. More stuff she would likely forget he even mentioned in an hours time.
Her eyes turned, looking past Mernis at Yuri, albeit only for a moment, before returning to the Teliran. It was rude to stare at who you were talking about, after all. And suspicious.
She shrugged, eyes closing for a moment as she spoke.
"Human lives in this galaxy are a dime a dozen, and I've no love for Restevians. It's not like you're asking me to burn down a kitten orphanage."
'...and yet when you arrived at your target the panopticon had already been there.' ,Deralan added in his mind. He had heard the story from Zeno when they had been bringing the group back together and searched for Mernis these past months. In a way, he was right, in a way that was a matter of perspective and interpretation derived from their different purposes, though there was no use in trying to argue, it wouldn't change anything in the end.
He maintained both posture and expression upon Mernis request, he had no love for the mortals and getting rid of unwanted individuals came with the nature of his tasks, the question was more how many of the group would agree with this method and if what the Mercenary said was true.
Deralan shook his head.
"I have no objections. Though I agree we should question him before his disposal."
Paskin had no more questions; the Echotian understood what needed to be done and how they were to go about it. He understood the ins and outs of human anatomy, intimate knowledge of just where to break them, how to kill them as efficiently as possible.
"Never again." Paskin growled in response to Mernis. Behind his back, his claws has tightened into fists.
His helmed head turned to look at Yuri, giving the human another modest evaluation. Unless the man had some serious augmentations, he wouldn't be a problem in dealing with.
Hell, Paskin thought to himself, Might even get a kick out of it.
Edward had been silent for all this time, feeling uncomfortable in a place as classy as this and feeling out of place, his one interaction this whole time had to bet a stiff drink and now he was sipping that, it was only when Alana brought his attention back to the group that he paid attention and listened to what Mernis was going on about.
He listened to the Teliran for a bit and then followed Mernis with a gaze as he moved and pointed out Yuri, he gave him a brief look before looking back to the group and Mernis. He downed the rest of his drink “No objections to taking out a Restevian, and I know I wont get squeamish over it, if it gives us the information or a start to it” He shrugged.
Mernis swivelled back to the group and fired a point towards them so quickly he could’ve been quick-drawing his gun. His trigger finger waggled to the group,
“You’re already makin’ the first rookie mistake: You don’t talk with a target when you’re ‘bout to pull the trigger. Nothin’ good ever comes of it, and it always makes the job harder in the end.” He cocked the brim of his hat as it returned to his head.
“But it’s your mistake to make, just remember that he is a master in manipulatin’ his way into the upper-hand. That’s how he’s gotten this far. The more you talk, the more likely he’ll find some chink in your armour to break down our plan.”
With that, the Teliran strolled right back out of the room and into the crowds of minglers and party-goers who whooped and chattered amongst themselves. Mernis waded through them like a swimmer in water until returning to Yuri.
“Sorry to’ve been keepin’ you’s waitin’, friend.” Mernis gave a cheeky smirk to the Restevian, “Business to attend to ‘n’ all that… Speakin’ of which, I’ve got a deal to be at… You don’t mind if I leave you to acquaint yourself with my friends do yer? They’s an interestin’ bunch.”
Zeno chided himself silently. Always defaulting to the cop playbook worked at the start of all this - keep 'em talking and gather info, stretch things out whenever and wherever possible - really wouldn't work and Mernis was proving it. But fine, a lawman wouldn't do, but Anjou just might. He put the persona back on like a favorite pair of pants, more suave, more like a regular at such expensive spots as this when the racing seasons weren't on...and just like that, it was like his conversation with Mernis never happened. By the time he'd caught up to Yuri, he was cool and relaxed again, more like he was sizing him up for a hand of blackjack than any decidedly extrajudicial action.
Since it seemed that everyone in the group was mostly ready, Raok just wanted to get on with this. And Mernis was right- there would be no point in talking to the target.
Raok knew firsthand that it only brought on trouble.
When Mernis left them, he decided to wait for someone else to take the initiative. Countless scenarios were playing out in his mind and wheels were turning... One of the best shots was probably to lure him out to another bar in the vicinity, and get him on the way there.
He greeted Yuri and pulled out his phone, trying to find a suitable establishment to which they could take Yuri.
"Oh its fine good man, sad you have to go though! That was some good story telling, ya know I got another for you when you get back about these two funny girls and how I almost got laid before guns were drawn, hell of an evening which ended in a police chase, anyway haha don't let me keep ya!" Yuri patted Mernis on the back and gave him a poor salute before turning to the group.
"So interesting bunch, hows your drinking skills? What can I get you its on the house given your such good friend with that crazy Teliran. Good at his job you know, very good with secrets. Anyway! Tell me more about yourselves come sit!" He was loud and boisterous as he gestured for them to sit in one of the sofa depressions and he brought up a holographic drinks menu.
"Its my treat" He beamed. At least Raok had an absolute plethora of places to possibly take Yuri, from restaurants, clubs, brothels and casinos, whichever they wanted to pick.
Deralan took his hand and shook firmly, though without changing his expression or demeanour from before.
"Ran Darvan, I'm working for the APS, small specialist military contractor."
He turned to pick up one of the menus on the table and started looking through it, he was not one to drink, not that alcohol had any effect on him anyways, but turning down the mans offer would likely be suspicious.
After a couple of moments he handed it to Yuri and sighed.
"See here... I'm looking for something... exotic, though without being pompous, any suggestions? I rarely have the opportunity to visit places like this in my line of work and time off is scarce so I'd like to try something new."
Technically seen, nothing of what he said was wrong.
He picked up another menu and handed it to the others, before returning his attention to Yuri.
"What about you? All we have is a name, Mernis is understandably not exactly generous with information, though I guess that tends to have its reasons."
For his part, Raok actually found something, a place he heard about while laying low after their previous adventures- and it was within walking distance. Few hundred meters from club High Rise, where they were currently located, was another club, slightly less known about on the account of it being invite only.
Grand Neboo.
A semi-private retreat for Grindstone's most corrupt and devious stock brokers, frauds that got away with their schemes and retired financial analysts on Lost Star, Grand Neboo was above all regarded as a place you went to if you had someone on the inside- a powerful, and rich friend.
The kind of friend who could recommend a mercenary they were impressed by to their filthy-rich colleagues.
And for those that didn't have an invite for the private areas where extremely extravagant apartments were located alongside conference calls for high-stakes meetings, they could still partake in the casinos and a night club found on the lower levels where security was less tight.
And for a pretty penny you could find a 'willing partner' there no problem.
Adopting his new role as one Sam Neil, a stock broker, he was poised to lead Yuri there, and hopefully off him in an alleyway on their way there.
But going there immediately might be a bit unwise, so instead Raok went to Zeno and showed him the place, and the route they would take to get there. Hopefully he understood.
In the meantime, Sam Neil had a bit of socializing to do.
"Catch you later dude." He said to Mernis as he went away.
"Much appreaciated- Any friend of Mernis is a pal of mine too. I'll get something cold. Waiter,-" He snapped his fingers as one was pasing by- "...bring me a long shot of Qanis Alexander, with less cream."
Raok might have had a distaste for being condescending towards waiters, but Sam Neil? Sam Neil was a douchebag.
"Im Neil, Sam Neil." He told Yuri as he sat down next to him, arms wide and resting on the couch, a wide, slightly devilish smile beaming at Yuri.
"I'm a broker, on a lil' vacation from Grindstone for now. Thought I would meet up with Mernis and other old friends, and perhaps make some new ones- badasses like yourself. Oh and don't worry about the sheepish Darvanone there," He gestured at Deralan and looked at him with an expression of pure amusement one would get from such banter with 'friends' in front of newcomers.
"He is all work no pleasure, truly dedicated guy. He just needs some time and distractions to loosen up, ain't I right?" Raok finished as he slapped Deralan on the back lightly.
Finally he turned to Yuri once again; "...And you are Yuri, right?"
Paskin thought about suggesting they relocate to a more low-key sort of establishment, if not to get the watchful eyes off their back, but so he could escape his current attire. The nakedness of being unarmed was throwing him off his game, and setting up doubts where none should be.
At the offer of drinks from Yuri, and upon seeing his companions accept, he figured it would only hurt his own reputation if he relented now. He had to fly low, but remain with the group.
Paskin approached Yuri's table, lightly dragging his claws across the surface as if he was examining its quality and texture. Seemingly satisfied, he sat with the group, sweeping his shoulder cape out to one side to prevent it from becoming wrinkled .
"The name's Kivaro Kell, Torel'ra. I represent a subsidiary of RIOT Corp here in the more... affluent districts of Lost Star."
The Echo suddenly presented a business card, manifesting it seemingly out of thin air. Jet black as the starless void, with the single word 'RIOT' stark across one side in white lettering. He gave the card a small slide across the table to Yuri, before taking a look at the drink menu projected before him. Paskin had to admit, he was awfully parched.
"A Gold Medal for me, if you please," Zeno added, chasing Raok playing against type with his behavior by playing against type with his drink. He thought it was a pretentious thing people ordered to be seen drinking rather than to actually enjoy it, but he'd try to enjoy the golden, sparkly concoction - it had to at least be elevated a little if it was made of good enough spirits and a high quality-enough champagne, right?
He studied the directions Raok had given, smirking when he realized that squared out to about a quarter mile, at just around 400 meters. Doable in a sprint, maybe seven seconds flat if he just had a set of wheels...
Meyhna--Hyahna, shrugged in response to Yuri asking about the group's tastes in alcohol.
"Doesn't really affect me, no organs n all that. Most Artifician drinks are all about fizz and flavour." she explained, listening to the banter of the others.
"I'm a liaison for UMAC, myself. Poking about looking for people who need guns and robots. Or people who know people that need guns and robots, makes no difference to me." she explained, landing on a sofa with a soft twirl.
"Always something going on Lost Star or someone here on behalf of someone in need, so here I am."
A beat.
"Plus, y'know, good food and drink." she added with a smirk.
"I think I mentioned it before, but cars are my stock and trade," Zeno said. "You want an exotic, or need a builder to commission, I know who to call. Customers across the galaxy know my connections make the best rides in the business - go on, tell me what gets you out on the road."
“I can recommend the Annolidian Caskin it got a nice smooth flavour that’s pretty fancy but isn’t a very known or liked drink. Still good if you ask me, and oh myself?” Yuri smiled.
“I deal in weapons shipments, information and handyman work, I live the good life on top of that” He gestured around to Deralan.
“Qanis aye? Good choice! Nice to meet you Sam, you brokers sure do have a lot of good coin to throw around and don’t worry about loosening up we all get a bit tense when working too hard. Can’t fault those who really get into the job ya know? I am indeed Yuri, quite well known in some parts of Lost Star and the RSC, famous you could say, or infamous depending on who you meet and where” He chuckled.
“RIOT aye? Yea I heard of them, thanks for the card maybe that can come in quite handy for some more orders when I need them soon. I appreciate it!” Yuri raised his drink to the Echoe just after the waiter had delivered the round of drinks. Yuri sighed in pleasure as he felt the Qanis start affecting him, the drink giving a warm sensation all over.
“Another arms dealer and a car salesman, man you really are quite the divergent group. I must say I am impressed no wonder so many of you know Mernis, guy gets around quicker than a Art-“ Yuri paused before realising Meyhna was present “-Orillian ambassador haha”
“So how do you all know Mernis anyway? Previous contracts, some good drinks at a suave club or maybe some backroom dealings, eh?” Yuri leant back into his chair, he was a big man, hairy but with a welcoming demeanour he was clearly enjoying having a good time.
A certain something glimmered in Zeno's eye as he smiled and replied, "He owes me a car. Long story, but it was a prior engagement, very special model, very special client. One of one, while it was still intact."
Paskin smiled at Yuri's comment about the Orillian, his eyes silently flicking up to Meyhna behind his enclosed helm. The Echo didn't have much to say in the ways of knowing Mernis. In all honesty, he had hardly known the Teliran before they went their separate ways.
Zeno's mention of his beloved vehicle sent a string of amused clicks from Paskin's throat, and the Echo turned and raised his drink.
"Here's to settling old debts. That was quite the ride you had. Was sad to see it go."
"Right, right, nothing else for it," Zeno said as he raised his own glass, letting the Gold Medal play off the light like a shot of distilled luck. "There will be others, I suppose - when you're in the circles I am, nobody stays out of the game for long."
Deralan raised his hand to gain the attention of one of the service personnel and then ordered what he'd suggested.
"One Annolidian Caskin."
As he listened to the ongoing conversation he began looking for info over Yuri on the Ancnet in with some his sub-routines. His eyes lifted for a moment towards Yuri and then Meyhna as he almost made a mistake though corrected himself just in time.
Deralan leaned back staring at the ceiling as if reminiscing for a moment.
"Well, you know how he is, I'm working for a large variety of... clientele, this way you are bound to run into him sooner or later. Me personally? We had a recent job of sorts, we didn't end up killing each other and here we are."
He paused, nothing of what he said was a lie.
"Well, though I'd say he's more familiar with the others than me."
Edward was still sipping his whiskey, having kept quiet for the most part as he still felt extremely uncomfortable, had to do some thinking and probably looked out of place in this place as his partner ran information checks on Yuri, just doing surface skimming for information at the moment.
He then had a thought as the Restavian asked the question of how they knew Mernis. “Know him from Previous contracts for items and then perhaps some under the table deals” He said as he finally finished his drink.
"The way it happened..." Zeno took a long sip of his drink and then contemplated a glass half full. "To be honest it wasn't even his fault, but that client really did love that car." His eyes were half-lidded, like he was willing the world to become more intimate and cozy, just picturing talking to a few friends around a fireplace. He was commiserating his old Kalhayan like an old friend, and really, it was: he credited the old car with his current life. The rivalry with Easy Ratter, the romance with Sera Soleil, a cabinet full of cases closed and arrests made and a clubhouse of trophies. It really was the end of an era, to him. Getting another Kalhayan after that case felt wrong. Some back at HQ took him for a brat, or someone aiming to butter up friends and superiors in the Jousters Motor Club when he set about ordering a Paradossus to replace it, in many ways the new hotness, everything his heavily-modified Kalhayan was and more box stock, but if it was purely about raw numbers or having the best out there, he would have changed rides a long time ago. He, like his mentor during the days of the Boreal Jihad, was sentimental to a fault, using his emotions as a guide to the truth, and ultimately, to justice or the podium.
He took another sip, and then a deep breath, ignoring the Gold Medal's cloying taste trying to ruin the moment. That was why he hated it so much: even the upper-class gentleman racers he rolled with, who could tolerate a waste of money if it made for a good night as just a little bug bite, thought a qanis-boosted champagne cocktail which tasted more like drinking an overpriced cake pop could never elevate a night. Paying for one was always an obvious flex.
"Do you know the noise a V10 makes when it comes on cam, enters its power band? It's unique. Alien, melodic, whatever you choose to say about it, it's impossible to mistake. Perhaps an inline 5 sounds similar, but if you ever tried to do that with I4's and V8's where I'm from, you'd be laughed out of company even richer than this. Or even more humble - make no mistake, DIY is the second most popular religion in the Little Light. Detonol piston engines are the first.
My client lived for that. Loved it. He'd trust his life to anything with a Prester Motors badge on it. Bet on an underground gig where he met Mernis and, well...things happened," Zeno said with a shrug. "Front-engine Presters of the type I specialize in sourcing got one model rarer that race. I shouldn't blame myself, really, but unlike some men in my business, I truly do stand beside - and under - every car I sell. And that client really misses the thing. As far as I'm concerned, he wouldn't consider it even unless Mernis at least pitched in for whatever the replacement looks like. But I know what it'll sound like."
Zeno's sob story, told through the voice of Anjou Veldt, had another purpose: he was taking the temperature of the room as he searched it with big, soulful eyes. Was anyone onto him, betraying any involvement in his prior cases, connecting dots of their own? The faces around him would tell the story.
Meyhna's brow rose at the quickly corrected joke, though she chose not to pursue it.
No good ruining the mood.
She shrugged at Yuri's question, idly rolling her neck as her gaze drifted off to nowhere in particular.
"Past contract we both signed up for, before I joined UMAC. Little bit of an adventure we both wound up on, little too much happened to talk about here. Both got pretty banged up."
Her eyes briefly flashed to Edward.
"But everyone came out of it alright, I guess, so there's no point dwelling on that."
“Old debts aye? Yea that sounds like Mernis alright, he doesn’t do a lot of killing at least as long as I have known him” Yuri took another swig as Zeno told his story.
“Damn, I ain’t much of a car guy myself but I did grow up watching the old Bronze and Silverline races on the Ancstream. Some of those races were pretty close, always used to cheer the most colourful ride that looked the coolest. Sorry to hear about you and your client’s loss, who knows maybe Mernis will pitch in soon. I know he is in the middle of a big job right now, supposedly pays quite well.”
“Either way you all have quite the stories, as for me we have had run ins and dealings for years, both on the same and opposite sides of the desk if you know my meaning. You name it we have probably either worked together doing it or against each other. Led to quite the tense situation but we always worked it out in the end. Mernis may be a good man but once he has a contract he wont waver, not for a moment, man doesn’t have it in him. A man of his word to the very end no matter what stands in his way”
Thankfully nothing stood out of the ordinary with the surrounding club, their presence didn’t attract any attention as they blended in with Yuri drinking. But of Calsis there was no sign. He wasn’t anywhere in sight at all. Yuri finished his drink with an exclamation.
“Always hits the spot that. Got any plans after this?”
Deralan nodded affirmingly.
"Yeah, I think we all found that out at one point or another."
He accepted his drink from the service personnel and looked at it as if remembering something rather unpleasant.
"Yeah..."
He shook his head, it seems they had been playing their roles well so far and they seemed to be going the right direction, now the only thing left was finishing it all off.
He carefully took his first sip of the drink trying to discern what it may contain, then answered Yuris latter question.
"Well, don't know about the others but I'd be up to continue this gathering, though perhaps in a place that is..."
He frowned for a moment looking around at all the glitter and pomp, pretending to show hints of being somewhat uncomfortable.
"...maybe a bit less pompous. Not used these sort of places, as much I wanted to try something new, guess old habits die hard."
"Ah, I'm glad you mentioned it Darvan. I do actually have a place in mind when you are all ready."
Raok finished the qanis drink he ordered and set the glass down, looking around the table.
Everyone was doing a marvelous job thus far, so he started getting ready to slowly wrap it up.
Zeno was clearly quite good at it, and nobody else was far behind.
"We are all currently chilling at the moment, but sooner or later we will have to get back to work. And while it doesn't have to be today, I do have a meeting with someone special over at Grand Neboo."
A smug smile adorned his face as he said that last part.
"Being a broker isn't quite enough to me, so sometimes I help out others in your line of work, such as Hyahna, Ran and Mernis. I sometimes help out as a middleman between you guys that do all the necessary work and those willing to pay for it. And since I assume all of you heard stories about Grand Neboo, let me assure you- its as good as it sounds. And I can get you in, as Mernis has been kind enough to vouch for you before we came here. And you lot too-" He spoke to others around the table, "You are all invited to come along. This will be an opportunity you don't want to miss. So, what do you all say? First rounds there will be on me."
"Who knows? I might see a familiar face," Zeno said, a wicked smile running across his face. He made it sound like car dealers were the same in the Little Light as the stereotypes across the galaxy - fast-talking con men in nice suits. In reality, he was pretty certain he'd get a free peek at a lounge full of suspects in cases in progress at the Grand Neboo, and how many times did that ever happen, even to a Knight-Errant? He was sure the rest of the Jousters would be calling bullshit on it for the rest of his career.
Paskin raised his glass in a mock toast to Roak's proposal.
"Well met, Mr. Neil! I can't turn down a change of scenery, if its on your tab."
Paskin let out a chuckle, flashing a grin to Roak through the opening in his helm.
The Echo swirled the liquid in the bottom of the glass, before downing what remained. He spun the empty glass in his hand, before placing it on the table with Roak's. He turned his attention to Zeno, who he could tell was enjoying their charade as much as he was. He knew they shouldn't linger here any longer than they had to, and it actually seemed like a good out.
Meyhna, having not acquired a drink, simply made a soft shrug and a thumbs up.
"I've nothing else on my plate at the moment. And it feels rude to turn down and invitation like that. Count me in." she smirked.
"Else someone would call me antisocial or something, and people say that about us plenty as is."
“Grand Neboo is a nice place, a lot more my style than this place I would be happy to join you. Nice drinks here but a bit posh for me. And I have done a bit of middleman ops myself, but I need a few more drinks to go down that route of story telling haha” He stood up, almost not gaining balance for a second before straightening himself and patting down his fancy clothes.
“Qanis always takes a little bit to get used to, should last a few hours though why we don’t get moving then! A proper party awaits”
Yuri seemed keen on heading to the Grand Neboo, he had many contacts and memories there as he casually strolled out of the place and into the elevator beckoning the rest to follow. Once more Calsis did not show himself as they went back down to the extravagant entrance and got a nod from security.
“Thank you, boys!” Yuri waved to the security guards as they made their way back out onto the streets. The bright lights and groups of people moving about. Yuri actually led the group, down the main thoroughfare and into a small back street which he knew as a short cut. The sight of Mernis up ahead smoking a cigar made Yuri smiled.
“Hey my mans returned, glad you could join us, fancy a game of Rounds at the Neboo?”
The alleyway that the group found themselves in was thin and so devoid of light that the walls and floor seemed to be almost entirely black. Only the puddles of undrained rainwater reflected some light into the place from the streets beyond. Mernis’ silhouette was, however, unmistakeable, especially with the cigarette glowing beneath his hat.
Stubbing his light out, Mernis strolled directly towards the team with a wide smile.
“Yuri!” The mercenary called out cheerfully with an arm outstretched to pat his compatriot on the arm, “I was just on my way back to the club, you guys tryna escape me or somet-”
The instant Mernis got into range he pulled Yuri against him. What followed was a blind torrent of merciless, brutal stabbings into the man’s stomach matched by the desperate and beserk grunts of the two men struggling. No matter how much the Restevian tried to push away, the mercenary’s clutch kept pulling him for yet more rapid punctures to the man’s gut until finally his victim’s thrashing became weaker and weaker. Finally, Yuri collapsed to the floor.
Looming over the body of his target, Mernis stood there; panting and wiping what blood he could find off his coat. It wasn’t long before the Teliran had recomposed himself and, looking up to the group, threw the dagger aside.
“Y’Did good. Let’s walk.” He nodded for them to follow, “...Let’s find some underpass to talk under.”
Raok looked at the situation calmly, with almost no empathy for the man he had just met; not only because he got used to it on the job, but also since Yuri helped out the Army Of The panopticon. One could say it was karmic justice.
He merely looked around, making sure nobody saw them before he ran his hand over his forehead to clear his mind- he wasn't much used to Qanis drinks.
"Are you always this sloppy? Or was it just personal so you didn't go for the neck? Well, either way I thought you wanted to talk to him for a bit while he was still alive, but oh well..."
Raok crouched down, pulling gloves out of his pocket and and quickly searched the man for anything useful such as calling cards, phone or keys- it would be easier for the authorities to dismiss it as just a simple mugging, and it could lead to them getting some clues about other stuff. After he was done he wiped what blood off of them he could and went along with others.
Zeno just about jumped when Mernis struck, then looked on a little bewildered at the assassination and how it proceeded. Once it was done, he fluttered over Yuri's body, then looked at Mernis, and then over to where he'd thrown the knife.
"Well, at least you wouldn't think this was a job done by pros," he admitted, looking around. "Okay, guess another round's off the table. Let's go," he said, adjusting his suit and pulling everything on him in, like he was concerned he'd be jumped next.
Paskin recognized a slight twinge of Mernis' movements the moment before the knife emerged, though he had been expecting the attack. Paskin was intrigued once more by the Teliran, and likewise unfazed at the loss of the man. Yuri's death would have been considered a dishonorable one in the Empire, and Paskin would not allow any empathy to linger within him.
His head turned to Roak as he stripped the corpse of its belongings.
"You can leave the RIOT card, their mercenaries are all over Lost Star. That'll give them thousands of suspects, all with documented alibis to sort through. We'll be long gone by then."
The Echo's eyes drifted to the dagger, his macrys making another note of their kills, before giving Mernis a respectful nod. He gave the corpse another look, before heading out of the alley.
"Talking elsewhere sounds wonderful."
Edward had not really been focusing, as he just went with the flow of the group and went along with their plan at the moment as he had nothing smart or worthwhile to contribute as he sipped a drink from a hip flask and followed the group to the alleyway.
He saw Mernis commit this act of violence and murder against Yuri and it sort of reminded him of home with how brutal it was. He had no problem with how it was done as he didn’t know Yuri or really cared for him.
Once the deed had been done he took another swig “We are going to probably be the first suspects?, we were just seen leaving with him” He said in comment to Paskin as he put the now empty flask away and sighed pinching the bridge of his nose
"If you need a countermeasure or two, I suppose it'd be as easy as throwing you around," Zeno said. "Soul limbs don't leave fingerprints, so they'd have to look for an asshole in gloves; you'd need a scryer to sniff for a magic sig, and how often do you get Okekolu forensics running a beat out here?" He manifested some and flexed their fingers to demonstrate. "We make it look like a fight broke out, run the mugging angle - we saw the stabbing, tried to intervene, took some knocks when the perp fled and broke through us. If you do enough shuffling around, there'd be enough shoeprints scrambled that it's a dead end, too - at least at first glance. What do you say?"
Raok responds: "I say we don't stick around and wait for them to find the body, this is all getting too overcomplicated. Come on, move along now."
"Fair, but if anyone asks, in that case I shoved you all back and had us all run like total cowards as soon as we saw a blade," he replied without missing a beat. "Soul limbs, alibi, easy."
Meyhna made no effort to warn Yuri. To stop Mernis. She didn't even react with horror, faked or authentic, as the stocky Restevian was knifed at least a couple dozen times. She had no reason to.
All she really did was raise her eyebrows and watch.
"...Huh. That was...abrupt. And violent. Not sure what I expected, but I don't think it was that." she grunted, shrugging her shoulders, thumbs hooked in her trouser pockets.
"But, like the fairy said, doesn't look like some pro hitman did it. If we get out quick, the cops'll think he got attacked by a mugger and told the guy to fuck off. Whatever, uh, counts for cops here." Meyhna added, beginning to move with no real hesitation.
"Yeah, we left with the guy," she replied to Edward, "but that doesn't mean we stuck with him. People get stabbed all the time on these rings."
Paskin turned sharply towards Edward, stopping for a moment to leer at the man.
"We used fake aliases and disguises without a paper trail. It matters little to me if they're out here looking for Kivaro Kell."
The Echo softened his posture before continuing, directing his words to thr group as a whole.
"We should find a way to check on Calsis. As of right now, he's our only loose end."
Deralan had been silent throughout the 'procedure' and the following conversation, looking on with his usual dull expression without making a comment.
Edward had made a good point, in that whatever police force there was would likely connect the dots when hearing that Yuri had left with them and he would not put it beyond Mernis that this was exactly his plan, though there was not much to do about that at the current time and it would likely take time till they found the body.
He had followed Raok to the corpse and leaned over it, as if inspecting it, though without actually touching it, as the others had their discussion, he pondered. Perhaps the man did still contain some useful information and he was human, so it shouldn't too much of a...
Hm...
When the others had already turned to leave the back alley or left it altogether, his hand came down in a quick unseen movement, finger stretched out, poking into one of the already open wounds, injecting a dose of Nanites and micrites through his skin.
He stood up and hurried after the others.
"Ah, apologies, I must've been lost in thought. Some underpass you say?"
As he walked away he waited for the data transmission of the micrites, trying to make a flashscan of the recently deceased brain and then leaving the body.
Admittedly, the metal residues from the fried nanites and radiation traces from the scan would likely lead away from the assumption of a simple muggery, if they cared to investigate that much, though in the end it would more likely lead them to an organisation like Anjou than a group of random nightbirds. He didn't have any dna either so he wouldn't leave any traces in that regard.
Yuri hadn't even gotten time to cry out or shout before he died, Mernis actions being so thorough that the Restevian merely grunted and struggled as he collapsed onto the floor, his own attempts at defence useless, his body moving slightly as he simply bled out and died. His face one of shock and total surprise.
He hadn't carried much on him, a PDA, some spare cash and a set of keys to some apartment he was staying at nearby.
Even as the group moved off the scan that Deralan had managed to take revealed the brain had indeed been fried due to a respawn uplink that Yuri had been equipped with. But no indicated yet remained on whether it had saved the mans mind existed, surely an individual like Mernis would have taken that into account. Still despite the damage it provided a basic layout and overview which could be studied later.
It did not take long for them to reach a dark and dreary place under a large walkway which was deserted and away from most of the popular club spots, Mernis had questions to awnser.
Mernis’ gaze seemed to dance from person to person among the party, he seemed to be in disbelief at the Agatha Christie Novel unfolding in front of him.
“We’ve already discussed who this guy was in league with, and your worst concern is some overextended municipal police agency investigating some gang-stabbing of a nobody?”
He pointed at the knife,
“That’s my knife, not yours, mine. Whatever comes of this, the scent is on me and not you, and those fatcat cunts in their ivory tower are gonna be boozed up back at home before the police dare to start corralling hundreds of self-absorbed legally-paranoid kleptocrats into the interrogation room. I killed him, I've killed before, let me do my job maybe, hm?” The passive-aggression radiated from the Teliran as he casually strolled out of the alley and led the group to a nearby pedestrian bridge. The underside was coated in graffiti and drenched in silty puddles of scum and dust. Noone was here.
“Right. Questions?”
"Just so we're clear, to get you on board last time we tangoed, nobody on the Daina job told you you were going to get in a spot of..." Zeno punctuated his question with a sniff, "...psychic WMD-shuffling and possible connections to what my departments modestly refer to as 'spittle-spraying psion murdercults' around the office?"
“When I signed my contract I was told two things: Find a girl; bring her back to the PI company for our contractor. That was it, and that’s exactly what I did. You were there, weren’t you?” The mercenary coldly confirmed, he didn’t seem at all moved at all by the description of just how much Daina meant.
By the time they arrived under the bridge Deralan had been thinking for a while about how to prevent an outcome similar to the last though had so far come to no definite conclusion.
Perhaps he was thinking too complicated?
"Out of curiosity, how much does it cost to hire you and how does one usually contact you? ...or do your pick your job offers only yourself?", he asked for a number of reasons. He could be a future asset, though only if he was reliable.
"Of course I was," Zeno said, huffing before he collected himself and thought like a detective again. "Smart of our boogeymen, you're no deeper in the know than we are. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were taken for the same ride we were, but we're sitting in different seats." He thought for a moment and then added something else. "Okay, then let me tug on this thread: did HT shop off the rack to get you on the same case as us, or was it a job you sought out?"
Mernis glanced over to Deralan,
“Every job’s cost varies. Too many variables to give you a standard price tag. Liquidation, package retrieval, security detail, coercion, subversion. Everything needs to be covered, including how big a job we’re talkin’, before a price tag can be given pal. Removing a nobody can probably be done for a couple thousand Kalethian Sati, dealing with a Rangvald Exec is a dozen SIGEC minimum.”
He looked over to Zeno,
“I saw the contract posting just as you did. I was gettin’ cooped up managing the boys and wanted to return to some field work. If I had known it was gonna end up like this I'd have stuck to coercing union leaders. Although it’s strange that such a low-flyin’ contract being held a galactic-sector away was bein’ peddled to me.” He shook his head, “Anyway- The people I handed her over to weren’t HT.Co. They gathered us, sure, since they were handlin’ the contract by proxy, but as you require they got minced in that attack. After I bumped off the wacko pirate I had brought in league with me, that three-legged info-dealer and I got to the station and handed them over to some folks; pretty sure they were Panopticon people, or at least in cahoots with ‘em.”
Deralan nodded in response.
"I see, I see. As expected.", he noted partly in response to his answer and partly to the explanation he gave about the job.
He hadn't answered all his questions but it was still useful information. His prices were notably astoundingly reasonable. That he handpicked his jobs would make it harder to find him in case of another incident though on the other hand that he was part of a larger organisation should make it easier.
He observed the others for a brief moment as they had been relatively silent since they arrived and then took a look over their surroundings whilst scouring the anc net for more information on Mernis and his organisation, as he waited to see if Zeno had any other questions before they moved on to the proverbial 'main event'.
"Hm. Of course, we all dressed for the job we wanted. Best fits, bad timing..." Zeno gave Mernis a wry smile as he added, "Score one for a competitive job market, huh? Alright, I'm starting to see what happened." Zeno fluttered back and forth as he counted on his hands and gestured about, the occasional soul hand being summoned like a prop as he spoke.
"We all got played because we were high-risk individuals. Solo contractors, or folks acting as solo contractors, so whatever they could do could be pawned off as merc shit in the wider galaxy, or Knights-Errant chasing leads across the stars in my case. They wouldn't have to do anything untoward to us as loose ends since unless you're Panopticon they'll likely throw hands with you anyway. Daina unfortunately tied up our loose ends by coincidence when we barely escaped with our lives from a pyrokinesis-induced explosion and were dumped back on Lost Star. Bingo, bango, bongo." He closed his eyes as if reading a mental checklist, then nodded. "At least that's what they think. We might still be behind, but I'm starting to think we can tuck into the Panopticon's slipstream from here."
He clapped two soul hands together before bidding them to vanish. "So! Time to plan out how to get from here to there."
Deralan waited for Zeno to finish, having another look at the others in the party, concluding that, as of currently, they seemed to have nothing to say or ask.
"So, what do you know about the current status of Daina, if anything, and about the Panopticons current plan of action?"
He paused for a moment, recalling what he said formerly and so far. So far, his story matched up with what the others had told him, though that much was obvious, considering they were standing right in front of him and his action fit his modus operandi. He slightly tilted his head and lifted an eyebrow skeptically.
"You mentioned you would be able to get us into contact with someone who may know more?"
He was still wary of where this would them.
Deralan’s efforts to background search Mernis were quickly met by article after article characterizing the man less like a mercenary and more like an elusive mob boss. The media that described him were curiously never big name platforms; always the type of low-traffic news brands that you wouldn’t use as a reputable source. Nonetheless, there were dozens of tabloid pieces tying the criminal to a variety of names: Tetlisun and Arcamavir of the ASN, Yrillx of Orillia, Raxis of Capitol, Kateht of the High Imperium, among other smaller names. If such Onoro was dealing with such figures, it was know wonder the man seemed beyond charge.
“I think the AOTP wanted to use disposables but also wanted to get people from a wide spectrum: Best chances of someone stickin’ to the task that way and not all turncoatin’.” He replied to Zeno before looking back to Deralan, nodding to his question,
“I haven’t seen the girl since I dropped her off in Freeport 81, in the Uriel Cluster with the grey tripod sock puppet guy. You don’t tend to stay in contact with the types you deal with in this business; it’s a need-to-know matter.” The Teliran cocked a brow when Deralan recalled his contact.
“Yes. The guy who hired me to expunge Yuri is a handler for Anti-Panopticon operatives here. He was the one that contracted me to put Yuri out of business. He’s probably your best bet for getting close to the Army of the Panopticon. You’ll find him at floor 189 of a high rise block named 'Strobe'... It’s not far from here. The name he gave me is Yavan Laece, but they usually give themselves fake ones. I’d recommend you get a move on incase he plans to vacate with Yuri now gone.” He pointed them in the direction of a looming skyscraper creeping over its neighbors.
“As for me, my job is done. Yuri’s and with his life-signs snuffed, I’ve got my pay. Savin’ Daina is your vigilante mission… Not mine. The contract is up, it’s time for me to get away from this dump.”
The Teliran gave the team a tip off his hat before going in the opposing direction to them. Having departed some distance the mercenary gave one last turn around,
“Oh…” He called out with an echo through the underpass, “...And I’m sorry that we wound up on the opposing teams… But contract’s are law. For what it counts, I wish you all good luck in gettin’ to the girl in one piece.”
With that he turned and strolled off into the mist of the city until all that remained off him was the echo of footsteps through puddles.
Zeno's expression was a little unreadable as he saw Mernis off, like he was chewing some things over in his head. When he finished, he muttered, "Well, at least that was a clean way to clip off that thread. That tracks with everything I'd been aware of so far." Internally the Knight-Errant chided himself. His temper was running hot at the start of this, acting like being a professional was the purview of the Garden of Vows and nobody else's - and as such, that he could be cavalier with when and where he enforced his own standards. He needed to be better, make better decisions with a cooler head. At least here was his chance.
He nodded to himself. "Strobe, level 189. If he's already thinking about a way out, then we're gonna have to figure out some things here and there: transit routes, spaceports, just to make sure we know where he'll be headed if he's scooting. I mean, think about it - we'd better head off anybody else AOTP tries to dispose of themselves too. No repeats of HT Co, right?"
He turned around. "Damn it, I need a set of wheels."
Paskin watched Mernis disappear out of sight.
He wasn't sure how to feel about the departure of the teliran, after all, it had been his pursuit of vengeance against Mernis that had motivated him to return. So many nights had been spent thinking of these fleeting moments, where he might take his revenge.
Paskin felt an emptiness in his chest; his passion for hunting Mernis snuffed, perhaps replaced with a bit of understanding. Mernis got paid, but was willing to give up more.
Perhaps the Teliran was stronger than Paskin could ever be.
“Until we meet again, Ghel’Tasis.”
Paskin turned to the others.
“We should consider stopping for our gear on the way. If this guy tries to make a break for it, or the AOTP show up to silence him, we will be at a severe disadvantage."
Deralan watch Mernis leave without any notable emotion in his expression.
He still didn't 'trust' him, courtesy of both their jobs and connections, however nothing had happened so far, which was indeed a point in his favour. Perhaps he would recommend hiring him and see what would come of it, he certainly could be useful if he wanted to, if he survived the fallout of Yuri potentially still being alive.
By time Mernis was out of sight he had already turned back to the party.
"He has a good point, however, I would suggest sending someone to get the gear whilst the rest of the group heads to meeting our target, whether we will run into opposition or not, our gear will be of no use if we come too late."
He paused, looking at Zeno.
"Perhaps your 'set of wheels' would come in conveniently there?"
There was a certain nagging uncertainty in the back of his mind about his earlier note, it may be true missing the individual would be giving up crucial information and waste the effort they had gone through, though he was aware these people here had only one life to spend for themselves. On the other hand, they could be saving countless others with their success.
Raok didn't really have much to add to this situation. Was Mernis somewhat untrustworthy? Sure.
Did he seem professional? Yes. And no apparent reason to betray their group again, so it was time to move on in life as far as he was concerned.
"Im sure Zeno will pick something excellent. In the meantime, what do we know about this supposed 'Yavan Laece'?"
"At the moment, absolutely jack and shit." Meyhna retorted, finally speaking up.
"It's probably an alias, which means all we'd probably find out about him is sketchy details, vague reports and nothing concrete. Still, if someone wants to run a check while we find our way over there, feel free." she shrugged, turning to the group with thumbs hooked in pockets.
"None of which will help us standing here. Shall we get a move on?"
Edward watched Mernis leave with his arms crossed, not sure what to make of his character, he was right in a jobs a job and it can put you on opposite sides to someone but that doesnt mean you hated the people you face. Eventually he let out a sigh and cracked his knuckles
"Meyhna has put it bluntly, but she is correct, we know nothing on this guy, nothing about the skyscraper her is in, could be trapped if he is Anti-Panopticon in case they come for him, this all seems like a situation that should be approached with a bit of care" He said speaking his mind after being silent for a large part of the interactions with Mernis
Meyhna was sadly right, nothing came up about the name 'Yavan Laece', clearly an alias but that was practically the norm for any undercover operation like this especially in the dark cat and mouse game against the Army of the Panopticon.
Still Zeno did have some luck, given the expensive neighbourhood they found themselves in cars for hire were plenty and they were also the fast and expensive kind. It did not take long to get some good quality wheels, allowing for quick and fast retrieval of the groups equipment, the skyscraper was nearby, 25 mins walking distance, perfect time for Zeno to grab their kit and return. Good thing too they had gone with who they did, every piece of kit the party had stored was there the man had given his word and come out fulfilling.
The building they were heading to though while housing was not just normal apartments, it was luxury suites. A huge stairway led up to an art deco entrance and large open plan lobby area complete with artistic murals, designed carpets and plenty of exotic potted plants. For those with an avid eye the design was reminiscent of Alluminaria, many who worked on its current restoration projects did work elsewhere for the more elite areas of the galaxy, this was no exception.
Their man was on the 189th floor, and it was further likely the suite would be a beautiful open plan work of modern design.
They had the kit, they had the destination, they just had to get ready and head on up.
It was a very unlikely sight to see Zeno roll up to catch up to them in something sized for normal humans, but he had clearly learned from his previous experiences and was on his A game. He had the resources and moved to spend them, thanks to his Motor Club being a Vow of Thunder team, and came in with a large SUV pulling an enclosed trailer.
Most people were surprised when they learned that the Folgorante GT had a bigger brother, but the Luminoso was certainly that creature. Essentially, the monster the others saw coming towards them was a rally raid truck that could seat seven in luxury, made to fight the environment and win, far from the streets of the district. Here it was an opal green flex with a curvy, aerodynamic art deco body riding on chunky run-flat tires enrobing gleaming wheels that were clearly made of some luxe titanium alloy, but their shape and multipiece construction made it clear this thing could come down from a long fall and keep on racing. It lived in the city, but dreamt of the desert.
When it stopped and was close enough for everyone else to look inside, they could see seven multipoint harnesses for the occupants in that same ultra-luxe opalescent green. There was Zeno in the driver's seat, using his soul limbs to control the Luminoso. He gave the group a genteel smile and popped the door open. He'd clearly fallen in love with some of the parts of his ensemble, continuing to wear the shirt, waistcoat, pants and tie while returning to his bright red puffy jacket and fancy driving boots.
"Ladies' Day's come early, friends," he said, putting one of his tiny physical hands on the door as he shut it, petting it like a faithful beast of burden. "I thought I'd do something to make sure you didn't have to brave public transport again." He nodded, then punched the windshield with a large soul hand. It responded with a loud thump, but didn't betray even a single scratch - a normal person would say it was crashproof, but this crew knew right away: this was made for VIP transport and could face all the dangers that came with the territory. "Pop the tailgate open; everything's in there. As for me, I put all of my gear in the trailer, along with a little something special in case I need it - and I'm sure I'll need it."
The side door on the trailer said more than words could, as did the huge, almond-shaped Prester emblem painted on the side.
Deralan looked over the new vehicle for a couple moments then nodded, as in acknowledgement. It looked sturdy enough, certainly a good pick for their purposes, even if a bit... flashy. Though that was likely something he should've expected from a racer.
Should he be using the armour or not? It certainly would not be very subtle and they weren't sure yet how the man would react.
Nor which was actually his room, for that matter.
He moved into the back and couple moments later the power armour came walking out, only for him to climb out of it again another moment later.
He looked at the building with an appraising look then turned towards the others.
"I would suggest someone waits on the outside to keep an eye on the situation and try to intercept the man should he make an attempt to flee through a backdoor, question is, who?"
"I want to head inside; I'm no stranger to close quarters," Zeno said. "Tackler had better either be fast on their feet or a good shot."
Raok got in, admiring the interior. "You sure do know your vehicles Zeno, I thought your interests lay only in race cars and the likes. And I gotta say, I appreacciate that and the 'proofness' of this thing."
When they arrived, Raok was quick to turn down the proposed job of a tackler. "I'm not expecting any resistance, we appear to share the same goals as these people, being anti-AOTP and all. But it would be wise to post someone outside just in case, but that someone should probably not be me."
"Like I said," Zeno said with a wry look as if the very thought of a repeat of his last trip to Lost Star caused him discomfort like his clothes were tightening around him, "No repeats of HT Co. No more contacts getting blown out from under us."
He processed Raok's compliment and added, "We're not amateurs and boy racers in the Vow of Thunder. I was playing sloppy last time because I didn't know what I was in for, not really - that's not happening twice."
Paskin boarded the Luminoso, sharing a nod and a chuckle with Zeno.
It felt like a lifetime ago that Paskin had first heard of the group's previous antics involving high-speed rail and plasma, and he was relieved that they would not be re-living the experience.
The Echo suited up into his second skin of armour and cloak, feeling the comfort and security of its custom fit embrace him like an old friend. As the vertebrae armour synced with his warhelm, he heard the raw chime that indicated he was ready to face real danger again.
Paskin hopped out of the vehicle, joining the others as they retrieved their own gear.
"I can take watch this time, make sure nobody follows you in or escapes. Just keep me posted on the situation as it develops, and good hunting."
Meyhna turned, almost seeming relieved at the appearance of the car.
"Oh man, aren't you a sight for sore fucken eyes." she grinned, approaching the vehicle.
"This suit's nice and all, but you can't spend your life in spacesuits on spaceships and feel comfortable in something that isn't vacuum sealable." she shrugged as she climbed in, almost seeming to be happy with the suit gone and the armour in its place.
"I'll hang onto it though, I think."
Edward looked at the vehicle, it did look nice he thought but it was also a bit flashy was his other thought as he got into the limo.
He got sorted into his old uniform and armour and now felt a lot more at ease as he had a swig from a hip flask that was kept on the outer thigh armour.
“Makes sense to hang onto these clothes, they were nice and they might come in handy again” He said in reply to Meyhna
Mernis departed from his hired ride at the landing deck. His vessel was already waiting for him: An unsuspecting haulier ship due to leave in moments. The only people left outside now were a handful of its men, his men. His lackeys gave nods and mutters of acknowledgement as their boss passed by and up the ramp. The Teliran looked back to the city sprawl around him as a crewman passed by,
“Hopefully this is the last time I have t’waste my time on this dump…” He grunted before looking to his peer,
“Get on outta here. I’ll be up in a sec, we’re leavin’ as soon as i’m in.”
As the last of his men embarked upon their ship, Onoro withdrew a mobile from his greatcoat and peered up to the sky above. With a few inputs, he waited for the tone to break and his call to be picked up. It took a moment, but the recipient answered.
“Laece, Dusk callin’. The job is done. I happened t’meet some old pals chasing onto your people on the way over. They think you’re anti-Panopticon… Yeah, they think the target was one of you boys, I told ‘em you’re the ‘handler’ of anti-Panopticon operatives. They’re comin’ over to you now… Consider your people’s debt repaid.” Mernis scowled to himself as the ship engines back to rumble.
“Don’t underestimate ‘em… They’re the ones that blew up your wacko base years back and nearly took the girl you’re all obsessed with… Yeah, that girl.”
Grabbing onto the top of his hat as it started to flutter in the disturbed winds, Onoro finished by calling into the device; now having to shout over the roaring thrusters, “I’ve done everything your people asked of me, now I suggest we leave each other the fuck alone. Yeah, yeah… Praise be the Octagon or whatever…” He hung up.
“Fuckin’ wackjobs…” He muttered with the shake of a head. Smashing the mobile upon the floor, he disappeared into his ship, ready for it to take leave.
Deralan nodded.
"Very well. Then we are all set."
He looked at the armour which was standing besides him now. Pulling one of the side arms off its belt and putting it on his own, behind the jacket.
"I will be leaving this here, at least some of us should look presentable and along with Paskin it may help deter whoever wants to go for the car in our absence."
He stepped into the building and headed to the reception, doing a formal nod as a greeting.
"A good day. I have been scheduled a meeting with a Mister Yavan Laece, I know he's living on floor 189 however, he has failed to inform me which room he resides in, could you assist me in this matter?"
A young woman greeting the group in the lobby with a big beaming smile.
"Oh Mister Laece? His apartment is the whole of floor 189, its quite a set up I must say. I think he did mention he was expecting visitors, here" She gestured to a quite roomy elevator which was set to head up "Normally it bypasses the private floors unless with express permission but you have it so feel free to head on up. Have a good day!" Her bubbly personality watched them as they entered the mahogany trimmed elevator, the brass furnishings fitting in with the fancy art deco aesthetic.
The ride up was remarkably fast, thanks to the mag-lev nature of the elevator itself, some muffled jingly music playing to the group as they finally made it to floor 189.
The doors opened revealing a large open plan space, with sofas, tables and plants. A large central 'fireplace' hung from the ceiling backlit by the massive glass windows which looked out onto the city below. It was a beautiful apartment.
The two shimmers in front of the lobby however opening fire, was not so beautiful.
Full optical cloak, fully automatic guns, they aimed to mow down the group as they exited the elevator but started moving after emptying their magazines to try and conceal themselves once more.
Mernis had played them. It had all been a ruse.
"Thank you for killing Yuri Godwinson, his efforts in undermining our efforts in the Korpu district were most annoying" The voice came from a speaker system in the now shot up elevator.
Zeno whirled through crisscrossing lines of gunfire, skimming the ground and barely touching it with his tiny feet as he fluttered to concealment, aiming for couches and tables. A wicked smile flashed across his face as he drew his Descender and let the war wand sing to life. "Well, I did say it: score one for a competitive job market!" Now it was a Zeno Cupric case all over again, and he could let instinct take over. With a whoop and a wave of the Descender he started trying to sense for anything else in the room, unwilling to picture two sentries with one magazine of ammo each was all their host had to greet them with.
Deralan dove out and to the side of the elevator as soon as he saw the blink of weapons, though he 'd been able to avoid the brunt of the force, his legs still got caught, now riddled with several bullet holes, a situation that felt strangely familiar to the last time they've been shot at.
He cursed in an unknown language, though his first thought was actually not in the room itself but rather that the Teliran was useless for his purposes after all. There was a hint of sadism welling up at the thought of meeting him again the future.
Still on the ground, Deralan drew the weapon he had pulled off his suit earlier, raised it in the general direction of 'front left from the elevator' and fired.
The lack of aim became understandable a moment later as the weapon released a tight gravitic wave, whilst it was technically designed to keep enemies at a distance and break some bones at worst, one could not help but notice, they were still in the 189th floor and being thrown out of the window might not end in the most pleasant experience.
In the meanwhile, on the outside, the power armour silently came to life without movement, starting to scan the surroundings for any individuals that may look like they were attempting to flee.
Raok was thankful he did not enter the elevator last, and was even more grateful that some of his companions appeared to be absorbing bullets- partly because some of them weren't exactly easily killable from what he noticed last time, and partly because of the suits and armour both from the tailor and the ones they brought along. He wasn't quite certain of his survival enough to jump out of the elevator, so he went into its corner, trying to take cover as he tried to pull out his main pistol, only to see that it was missing from his hip and that pieces of it lay shattered all over the floor.
Looking down, he saw a small stream of blood flow down from a flesh wound where the pistol had once been holstered and cursed aloud as he reached instead for the smaller, emergency-use only concealed pistol he had in his boot.
By the time he dared to peek back out the sentries were moving away and everyone else pulled out their guns, leaving him with a comically small one in comparison. Some were fielding grav weapons, he had a pea shooter.
But he would try to make most out of it.
Meyhna's arms instinctively moved to shield her face, alarms in her suit going off as she felt several rounds slam into the armour, ablative ceramic cracking and chunks breaking off, the Artifician woman stumbling back and to the side.
"Mother fucker! When I find him I'm going to skin that slimy fucking rat!" she snarled.
"And then that damn Teliran so he can stop screwing me over!"
One of the boxes on the back of her armour moved on a robotic arm, popping open into her hand as her glove closed around a pistol grip, hefting the mass of a twin-barrel fat-bored gun into her hands proper as she stepped back into view.
"Fool me once, shame on you! Fool me twice, shame I brought a fucking bigger gun this time!"
She pulled the trigger, the heavy thudding of an automatic shotgun ringing out as the marched, slowly, forth.
Edward took some hits and staggered as he watched the armours integrity slowly dwindle down with each strike, he felt the stabalizers built into the legs of his armour kick in and he raised the Machine gun, its hardlight shield flaring into life whilst there was now a faint green glow whirling around him as repair protocols were enabled on the armour.
He got his bearings and scanned the area, Alana giving him areas where the shots had come from and he gave off a burst raking across that area whilst shouting something in an incomprehensible language, mostly out of anger that Mernis had once again played them for fools and the fact he had been shot after a relatively peaceful day, not counting the accessories to murder they were involved with and also to see it a round sparked of anything that wasn’t there.
Paskin had taken their ride down a nearby alley, parking the Luminoso out of sight in case he had to catch their target escaping out the back. His helmet had folded back into his collar armour as the Echotian took a moment to run a mechanical hand through the mess of braids that hung loosely about his face.
His eyes focused as muzzle flare flashed from within the building, unmistakable to the Echotian mercenary. Rage built for a moment in his chest as the notion they had been duped once again, burned another slight into Paskin's memory.
His solace broken, Paskin hurriedly pinged the others within.
-/-I'm seeing gunfire, any eyes on the target?-/-
The burst of fire from Edward & Meyhna filled the small atrium outside of the elevator with fire just as their unknown assailants had, tearing up beautiful wooden scenery, potted plants and the furniture beyond. One round seemed to clip something in thin air, causing the optical cloak of the foe to de-activate and blow out from the impact.
He was clearly wearing Triarch power armour, the shifting plates trying to realign the cloaking emitters. His dark armour emblazoned with a symbol that looked suspiciously similar to Triarchs but was not the same. Bringing up his SMG the man went to unleash another burst before the grav weapon hit him full bore. While not enough to punch through him his armour caved and was flung across the room, smashing into the reinforced plexiglass window and breaking it.
Paskin would easily be able to see the man fall from the 189th floor along with a host of glass following him. Still the man seemed to activate a brief gravity stabiliser, slowing his descent to the point of shattering the concrete tiling down near the towers entrance, he was taking a moment to recollect himself as his armour tried to repair itself. It was then that another two armoured men and a rather straight faced businessmen seemed to approach from one of the roads to link up with the injured fighter.
But if this was their target...?
The building was a trap.
The other still invisible assailant had taken cover and now fired at Zeno as he had darted into the room. Tearing up even more furniture.
"Killing you will be extremely beneficial to my employer"
Zeno sensed the presence of the other gunman well before he saw him. Rather, before he saw his handiwork, smashing furniture in his wake as gunfire snapped at his heels. He was keeping pace but running out of concealment and needed to go on the attack.
He had to take guesses as to where the other cloaked gunslinger was, and his first thought was to attack anything that didn't look shot yet - why shoot your own cover or concealment, after all?
During one of the pauses to switch mags, Zeno took his chance, raising his Descender and letting it split open as mana coursed through the new gap in the middle. Magic energy formed in the barrel as he poured soul limbs into it to feed it power, and snaking shots started drunkenly curving around the least-shot parts of the environment like little missiles. If he couldn't land a hit this way then he could at least flush out or suppress his attacker, wherever - or whatever, he supposed - the hell he was.
Paskin knew he had to work quickly; this man would not stick around for long if the trap had already been sprung. He couldn't do anything for his comrades on the 189th, but he could secure their target while they dealt with those sent to kill them.
The Echotian used the fallen soldier as a distraction, hopping over to the vehicle's far side before quietly disembarking out of sight of the target. His helm quickly returned to his face, reacting to his sudden increase of adrenaline as Paskin pinged the group upstairs once again.
-/-Possible target identified, ground level. Preparing to engage.-/-
Paskin took cover over the hood of the Luminoso as his chameleonic armour obscured him from view, drawing his rifle and taking aim at one of the target's armoured protectors.
One down, one left.
Deralan nodded as he saw one of the enemies fly out of the window in response to being hit by his weapon, then grumbled as the sensor data from the power armour at the bottom came in, showed the guy did not actually die.
Curses.
Now where was?
He pulled himself over to anything that may give some cover in the room and his weapon responded with a hum after a quick movement from his hand.
There was a knock, another and Deralan listened, trying to discern where his enemy was via echolocation.
-
In the meanwhile at the bottom, the armour which had been 'parked' besides their vehicle, remained still, observing the gathering of people, where they went and what they would do, possibly even more importantly what Paskin would do. Silently the reactor booted up to full capacity.
Edward scanned the area, his eyes darting around as he looked around for anything that gave away the other assailant as he moved into something a bit more sturdy for cover. He took a quick look out from his cover as more shots rang out aimed at Zeno, this gave him some sort of point of reference for a way to rake with his fire.
He took a step out and pulled the trigger, sweeping the area from left to right and then back on itself trying to catch the assailant even if they were moving, “I am getting sick of being betrayed and shot at” He grumbled as he stepped back in to let the weapon cool, the cooling pipes having been hit and knicked in the first round of this engagement
6
"That makes the two of us!" Meyhna shot back, a grimace on her face.
One invisible assailant against all of them felt like uneven odds, but it wouldn't take much fire for about half of them to drop like a sack of bricks, and as said, he was invisible.
That said, it hadn't taken much for the cloaking to fail on the other one, wherever he had gone.
Finding him was paramount.
"Your employer's benefit is the least of my concern buddy, along with your fucking paycheck! So drop the gun if you don't wanna show up to your kid's next birthday in a fuckin body bag!" she snarled in retort to the mercenary, sweeping left to right and back with her shotgun, peppering the room with buckshot.
"Fucking-"
Raok seized the chance while the rest sprayed and prayed to rush into the room and out of the elevator, tossing himself behind any cover still left near his teammates.
"-Every single time- shit."
He took note of the powerful grav weapon in Deralan's hands and started thinking about their situation. The elevator was most likely a deathtrap by itself, but they may not have a choice but to use it, seeing as the target is according to Paskin, already downstairs and getting away. They would have to prioritize getting out of here, so he looked around for any other ways of getting down to the ground floor.
"We have to get out of here, look for a way out! Killing everyone is secondary."
Zeno heard Raok call out that their target was probably getting away. He hissed through clenched teeth. All that work sourcing cars for nothing? Not on his watch.
"Leave the guy to me! Just cover your getaway!" he shouted back, firing his Descender with another spray of dancing shots, trying to keep heads down as he spread his wings and fluttered on a straight sprint for the opened window. Sure, a safe descent from that high up was going to take a little while, but it was faster than putting it in the hands of the elevator. And if anyone tried to hit him on the way down, he'd show them that Okekolu weren't easy targets.
The cloaked soldier was indeed flushed out by Zenos fire, while the blur moved across the floor the floorboards creaked where he had obviously combat rolled giving his position away entirely.
The strafing fire from Edward as a result clipped the man twice, blowing out optical cloak on his leg and his back, the impact throwing him to the floor as he tried to get back up again. He did not respond to Meyhnas taunt, but he fired at burst at Zeno as the Little Lighter dashed out of the window and dived towards the ground below to back up Paskin.
The burst however along with the cloak signalled his located, and a single shotgun burst from Meyhna blew the mans back out and coated the surrounded flooring in blood. With that shot, the battle in the apartment was over, the only way out for the gang now seemed to be the elevator, they had to be quick to catch the enemy.
The Businessman stared upwards towards the 189th floor and smiled as he saw Zeno now dashing downwards, two of the guards opened fire, spraying a hail of rounds up towards the small man in an attempt to him him. The third who had fallen in the first placed walked over to the boss and seemed to nod.
"Targets in place sir"
"Very good."
The man brought up his PDA and seemed to press a few buttons, it didn't take a moment before Paskin realised he was about to detonate a bomb.
Zeno juked and swerved through the air as he had to fake out enemy fire and shots whizzed far too close for his liking, rolling and tumbling as he fell out of the air and had to get his bearings back as he descended. He could see rounds rip into the air right above him before they became a fading line of glitter, and then became somebody else's problem as he turned back down towards the ground.
He drew an erratic path down from the window, struggling to even find his landing target from that high up. He began a power dive, changing his trajectory each time he realized the glint of gloss and glass he was zeroing in on wasn't the Luminoso. As he dove, he found out which one was his destination when bullets sang up at him and he swerved hard, his trajectory now crossing the street and bouncing between buildings as he desperately tried to land on the right curb. Then he decided to start fighting back, pointing the Descender and spraying to try to suppress the shooters.
The sight of the roaring Descender and the sound of Zeno howling "Danger close! DANGER CLOSE!" could have only seemed like something was going very wrong. Even more so when the storm of bullets kept driving him across the street, to the corner, to another corner, and back again.
Paskin’s eyes widened as he caught sight of the PDA, his heart-rate quickening and causing his muscles to feel as though they were vibrating within him. His lower hands braced against the car’s hood as he switched targets, snapping into his firing position in nearly an instant. His vision crystalized as his pupils narrowed, suppressing within himself a predatory roar.
Paskin couldn't risk a shot to center mass, though killing the man would be the safer bet.
No; they would still need him alive in order to get closer to Daina. The Echo slowly let out a breath as he took the necessary risk, placing the man’s wrist in line with his crosshair.
The mercenary caught himself praying under his breath, even as his clawed hand squeezed the trigger. The satisfying whip-crack of the rail rifle flashed for an instant across the alleyway, alerting the armed guards on the ground to the Echo’s position.
Deralan was about the fire his weapon again, based on where the cloaked mercenary had just stood though promptly saw him mowed down by the automatic fire.
He looked around the apartment now empty and was about to suggest searching for anything that may have been left behind as the footage from his power armour at the bottom showed him what was happening at the ground.
"I think they're trying to blow up the building, we need to get out of here now!"
He yelled, turning around to the rest of the group, seeing Zeno promptly fly out of the window, followed by more automatic fire from below.
He shakily stumbled towards the corpse of the dead mercenary and dragged him over to the window.
"I will meet you at the bottom.", he noted, throwing himself out of the window, with the dead mercenary to cover up his own departure from the room, getting ready to stop his fall much in the same manner as the mercenary did before him.
Meyhna was about to snap off some witty one-liner, something about the just fate of hired fools or some quickly cooked up nonsense that only sounded poetic for as long as you didn't think on how it was just an overglorified, loquacious way of saying 'suck it, loser'. A snide remark as well, perhaps.
That was, of course, interrupted by Deralan's warning, the wind leaving the Artificia's sails entirely.
"Wha?--Oh, shit." she grunted.
"Oh shit oh fuck oh god dammit." she muttered, running back to the lift.
"Let's haul ass outta here team!" she called out to nowhere in particular, whipping about as she all but slid in, slapping a hand on the ground floor button.
"What a waste of our damn time this was, huh?"
“Well fuck” Edward grunted as he weighed up his options of either going the more direct route of just jumping and letting the armour take the brunt of the fall or being sensible and taking the lift, though if the bomb went off that would come crashing down as well most likely so either way he would be jumping today he thought.
He let these thoughts play in his mind for a split second longer before making another grunt and booking it back into the elevator.
“Complete waste of time” He agreed with Meyhna as she got in and slapped the button “Got here just to be shot out and about to damn well be blown up to kingdom come”
The sudden burst of bullets from Zeno caused the soldiers to tighten their protection of the suited man as he fell, but it was not enough prevent what came next. Paskin however, was. He had the mans wrist in sight for a split second before one of the guards stepped in the way by the time the finger was pressed. The shot ripping through the air and into the guard, causing the man to cry out as it went through him and into the original target who had not moved. The suited man also roared in pain as his wrist was ruined. But a moment later Paskin could see that the thumb was firmly placed on the button.
He had been just a moment too late, that or luck had failed him. Still the man dropped to his knees as the other guards seemed to ignore Zeno and switch to shooting the Echoe, even as Deralan jumped out the window behind Zeno.
Thankfully for Meyhna, Edward and Raok they managed to get into the elevator and head down when the blast came. They were two floors below as the elevator and the entire building rocked hard, the lights flickering as the explosive blew out the entire 189th floor of its contents, the blast and smoke following Deralan closely behind. But they were still alive.
Three guards were left now engaging Paskin, one of them switching back to Zeno and Deralan as the heavily wounded guard ignored his own wounds and tended to the buissnessman, spraying his wrist with sealant and trying to pick him up to carry him out of the area even as his own armour administered nanoshots into his blood.
There was a ripple in Paskin’s active camouflage as a bullet caught the Echo in the chest, punching through the lightweight armour plating before burying itself in the underlying kevlar weave. The Echo let out a frustrated growl as he was knocked to the ground, before rolling into cover behind the Luminoso.
Paskin could feel the bullet biting into his flesh, though he would not have time to tend to it now. The Echo regained his footing, before turning his attention back to the task at hand.
His body still sang with the high of adrenaline, nullifying the pain in his shoulder as he darted around the far end of the vehicle, taking two quick shots at the injured guard attempting to flee before taking cover once again.
Zeno stayed on target, deciding that if he was going to be forced to the other side of the wide street, he'd make the most of it. He flitted in and out of cover provided by cars that dotted his side of the street, parked here and there and all substantial enough to be the realm of other VIPs. Descender shots streaked towards the guard that continued to engage him, return fire singing just past him when it wasn't flushing him out from behind one car to the side of another in showers of metal chunks and splinters of glass.
There was a weak gravitic burst as Deralan fell, directing him and the falling corpse to land behind their vehicle, which was then followed by by another, slowing the fall as the dead mercenary crashed into the ground beneath him.
He cursed.
His legs still collapsed under him due to the earlier damage, but now he was at the ground, comparatively alive and well.
In the meanwhile, the power armour jumped into action as soon as Paskin had fired his shot, entirely without Deralan being actually inside the armor, raising an arm and firing a gravitic wave from it towards the group of enemies, similar to that of Deralans weapon, strong enough tho throw them off and perhaps even throw them but dialed down enough it wouldn't kill their target, then boosting into a strafe to make it harder for return fire to hit as Deralan pulled himself up behind the car.
Edward let out a slight sigh of relief that the Elevator didn’t just plummet to the bottom with the three of them inside. He did some preparations as the nanintes fixed the cooling and his armour. Once they got to the bottom he activated the shield and headed outside towards the gunfire, finding some cover outside and surveying the situation, “How many of them are there and do we have eyes on the guy we are now hopefully going to interrogate and then bloody gut” He asked.
Meyhna, once it became evident that the elevator did in fact still function, pulled back the bolts on her shotgun, loading an armour-piercing slug into each.
"What a wonderful day this has turned out to be." she grunted.
"If nothing comes of this, who wants to see how much skin you can peel before a Teliran dies?" she asked into the air, unclear if she was waiting for an answer or if she was simply airing a thought.
As they reached the bottom, it became apparent she didn't care if they had one, the Artificia running out towards the fight.
Two guards, fighting Deralan and Paskin. Or, Deralan's armour.
That was neat.
A third, with their presumed target.
"Hey, shitass!" she yelled, levelling the gun at the wounded guard.
"Too slow!"
She fired.
The injured guard went down to Paskins shots and Meyhnas round, his torso blown out as the power armour sprang into action.
One of the guards dodged the gravitic burst, suspecting incoming fire, but another was not so lucky as he was thrown across the road with a hard impact which he seemed struggling to recover. While lucky to dodge the blast a burst of fire from Edward impacted him and made him stagger for a brief moment. The guard got one final burst off towards Meyhna and Edward before being shredded by both.
With one final guard suffering likely from concussion and trying to get up on the other side of the road that simply left the man they were here to see in the firstplace.
He sat screaming in the middle of the pavement, blood pouring from his ruined wrist stump, the hand and PDA a few feet away from him where it had been blown off. A small gathering of locals had also come to see what the commotion was about, and emergency services were already on route to the location given the bomb detonation and gunfire.
They needed to get away and quickly.
Meyhna stumbled back, raising an arm to protect herself from the burst of fire, one round slamming into her pauldron and another glancing off the hip plate before return fire put the man down, a damage alert flashing red.
Well.
Just as quickly as she'd joined in, it ended. A tad anticlimactic, she supposed.
Her armour was getting awfully battered. She'd likely have to get it fixed soon, if she didn't want it getting actually broken at the worst moment.
The orange Artificia grumbled as she checked their surroundings, spotting the remaining guard. Without much hesitation or consideration she drew her sidearm, a large revolver-like weapon, and snapped off a shot at the guard's head, the signature crack and momentary red flash of laser light disturbing the settling scene before the gun was stuffed back in its holster.
That left their main man.
"Someone grab his pad." she called to nobody in particular as she circled around, a powered glove clamping down on the man's intact arm.
"You done fucked up, big man." she grunted, beginning to drag him to the Luminoso.
Paskin let out a pained grunt as his body regained normalcy, the dull throbbing in his chest reminded him of the bullet lodged in his breastplate. The inner weave of the armour would heal itself on its own, but Paskin would have to remove the bullet himself. He would have to wait to retrieve it for now.
Moments later, his suit administered painkillers and Paskin found himself again impressed by his House Wraith sponsor.
Where were you when I had four arms?, thought the mercenary.
The Echo drew himself back up as the rest of the squad rallied at ground level.
Paskin’s rail-rifle hummed softly in his hands before going dormant and returning to its holster on the Echo’s back.
He turned to see Mehyna hauling their target towards their getaway ride, and nodded.
“We have to get him out of here. There are too many eyes on us already, best we dissappear before more arrive."
Zeno buzzed over when he saw the fighting die down. The others saw him slap himself down as he cleared away dust and debris he was showered with in his own firefight, then pointed at the man they'd captured, in Meyhna's hands and heading to the Luminoso.
"You're a lucky man," he told their mark. "Okekolu justice would be underwhelming, but you get to get the full experience thanks to my friends here," he said, pointing at the Luminoso. "Now then, if you guys need to draw some eyes away, I've got just the thing." Zeno tossed the keys to the Luminoso in the air for one of the others to catch, then flitted towards the trailer with its proud Prester emblem.
He flew in through the side door and slammed it shut with a bang that rattled the panels a little. Then two ghostly limbs practically punched open the rear tailgate, which flopped down into a ramp with an urgent clatter. Inside the monster that he'd hired for himself finally saw light, the slitlike strips on the nose flashing on as Zeno buckled up and coaxed it to life with the click of a button.
The contractors that were with Zeno on that first run to Lost Star would have guessed it was another Kalhayan Turbo from the first V10 snarl, but then the pitch just kept climbing, from the Kalhayan's whistling contratenor to a soprano howl backed by the whine of a jet engine, firing out of the open trailer tailgate like the report of a cannon. Every blip of the throttle sounded like anger. It was a statement like Zeno's kit, from his Clearwings-issue Descender to his suit cut. I'm not messing around this time, repeated over and over again. I'm not messing around, and I'm way past the point of accepting apologies, was the coda as the machine crawled into the Lost Star district she was sold to call home, and absolutely shred in the hands of a Festival racer like Zeno.
She looked enough like a Prester, bearing the Kalhayan's slit headlights with integrated canards, fat tires barely more substantial than grooved slicks with the minimum rain channels to not be totally undriveable in anything but dry weather, fatally-overstated, sexier-than-sexy curves, but her vibe was even more intense. The deep warrior red was there caressing every nanofiber-formed curve, something that Zeno must have specified to show this was unmistakably him behind the wheel. All the angry aero that Zeno's old ride had as aftermarket add-ons came stock on this mid-engine rocket, this Paradossus supercar, billed as a turnkey Extreme Street racer for the MCC challenger with a fat wallet, and maybe a death wish. She was too light, too powerful, too aero-dependent - just Zeno's type. The enormous tailwing was integrated into the back end of rear quarters that seemed to stretch off into the horizon, and up front was a matching front wing that bridged the Paradossus' narrow, jetlike nose and two pointy fenders housing the headlights that gave the car the face of a tunnel hull hydroplane and promised the same level of blazing speed. Her aero kit quivered in anticipation every time Zeno jabbed the throttle, checking the response and finding it good as blue Detonol flames spat up from under the ground effect tunnels, bathing the whole rear's underbody in glaring light, then darkness punctuated by a bang like a gunshot and a final spit of flame from the turbos, old-school anti-lag violence feeding her blown diffuser.
Zeno surveyed his landing point from a central driving position, flanked by two empty seats that could only ever house two other Little Lighters who were very good friends. He was strapped in like he was fused at the soul with the Paradossus, rather than the spine, every little twitch and vibration telling him something. It was all telling him that now was the time to act.
These guys needed a distraction. The Luminoso was at home in Lost Star's well-to-do, sure, but it was also the size of a Vasto saucer and half as opulent. They needed a distraction, and he was going to damn well give them one.
Watching the last of the guards being taken care of, Deralan leaned against the Luminoso as the powerarmour walked over to him. He pulled one of the nanite cylinders off its belt, hobbled over to their new 'prize' and then adjusted and injected it into the man.
It would help fix internal bleedings and close some of the smaller wounds, wouldn't save him, wouldn't be pleasant either, not that he cared about the latter though.
"Someone make sure he doesn't bleed out before we get to ask him questions.", he noted as he started crawling into his powerarmour which had now opened up. Observing all the passerbies in the street slowly assemble he continued, as he picked up the data pad the man dropped, looking at the surroundings for security cameras whose feed he may have to 'adjust'.
"Who's driving us away? I can do it if need be."
As he was waiting for an answer he began looking through the pad. Time to see what they'd come here for.
Edward grumbled as he let repair protocols happen and he stowed the HMG on his side again now that the fighting was over for the time being and he headed over to the Luminoso. He gave a glance at the person they were here for, "I hope he is worth saving and this is even all worth it in the end" He said as he looked over at the datapad that Deralan now had
“Alana do the medic thing” He spoke and a small metallic gem object jettisoned itself from his armour and the hardlight form of the woman he had been with before formed, in a traditional nurses outfit. She went over to the man and inspect the wound before grabbing some equipment form Edwards pack and beginning to treat them as they got into the vehicle.
With the remaining guard executed without hesitation the man was grabbed and picked up, injected with nanites the bleeding from his stump lessened then stopped. It would last a while but it wouldn't be perfect.
Already the sirens of local law enforcement, well dressed gangers paid by the top dogs of this district, were audible and on their way. Zeno was thankfully giving them a distraction. With them all in the Luminoso it seemed like Deralan would be driving, and not a moment too soon.
Pulling away three Aerospike antigravity vehicles came into view. Two of them immediately lined for Zeno, intend to chase and capture. One pulled up outside the venue, heavily armed officers disembarking to secure the scene and begin investigation into what precisely had happened, they even began checking out the guard bodies. They had gotten away just in time and their Little Light friend had kept the rest occupied. Alana had also for now sedated the man they captured while she administered proper quarterisation and preventative measures on the guys wrist stump, he would be no good to them in this condition otherwise.
They had to find a quiet place to set down to interrogate, and for somewhere where Zeno could find them once he shook the cops.
For the PDA it was locked, but the notifications on the lock screen showed Edward two things, first was a large sum of SIGEC sent to none other than Mernis. Likely paid for his part in all this. The other was a reply from a contact thanking Mr Laece for his efforts to remove Mr Yuri.
Having a brief look over the display of the PDA it confirmed most of Deralans suspicions before he handed it off to whoever sat the closest, even if it had already been pretty much clear once they were shot upon.
He would have to try to contact this 'Yuri' after they were done here, possibly without the group, after all they had all been there in the back alley.
"Someone look through the PDA and search our guest for any tracking devices, I will..."
He paused mid sentence though without stopping his movements, turning on the car as smooth and silently as possible and slowly rolling it out towards the nearest turn. Getting away shouldn't be too much of an issue but where would they go? Neither the Network nor the APS had a holding in this area, the closest one could be hours away and even that aside, it was not exactly his intention to lead any outsiders to any of their depots.
"Does anyone have an idea where to go from here?"
He was waiting for answer as he started downloading plans of the area, though equally he was waiting for the car to get around the first turn so he could finally hit the gas. He observed the law enforcement unit in the rear mirrors, they were distracted by Zeno but he didn't know for how long, nor did he know whether they were aware of them and he had no intention of stretching their luck any farther than it had already gotten them.
Zeno read the motions of the EG cop cars. Flyers, similar to the "quadwing" thopters back in Okekolu space, introduced to the rest of the Little Light and raced like anything and everything else. Fellow Knight of the Vow of Thunder Loren Fields drove one as part of his team, and he anticipated ribbing his good friend over dancing past these two clowns.
He turned away from the Luminoso and towards his new playmates, lighting up his tires with a smoky burnout and letting the Paradossus sing as he clicked through the gears, the rear tires gaining traction and the Extreme Street car tearing for the road between and under his pursuers with the drama of a SAM launch.
Zeno whooped and hollered as he began the race, talking to himself as the adrenaline washed over him and he let himself go, focused on the plan but most importantly on the drive. "I've trained the best law enforcement in the Little Light! You think you've got a chance to measure up? Then step up!"
Paskin helped get their captive in the back of the Luminoso, boarding the vehicle as they waited for the coast to be clear.
There was a hissing noise as Paskin carefully removed the segment of his breastplate that had been pierced, exposing the endoskeletal structure of his armour. Just above his upper right pectoral was what remained of the projectile, still locked into the dark webbing beneath. The bullet hit the floor of the Luminoso with a distinctive clinking noise as Paskin placed the damaged plate back into place. Paskin withdrew a small triangular device from his bag, placing it over the hole where it seemed to bond chemically with the outer layer.
The confirmation of Mernis’s involvement didn’t seem to sting as much as it had prior, in fact, Paskin felt a competitive grin break across his face for a moment. A small perspective change, but one that would enjoy whatever vengeance he would work on its behalf.
His attention turned back to Deralin and then back to the group.
“Probably best to just put some distance between us until we can link up with Zeno again unless one of you has a more reliable rendezvous?”
“Medical aid administered, though a more permanent solution will be required if he wants to get a prosthetic and retain its function” Alana spoke as she sat back and then took the PDA “Would you kindly tell us how to open this or I will remove pain blockers” She spoke looking at their captive.
Edward was fumbling through his pack and already pulling out det charges and fumbling with fuses, wires and other parts of his equipment “Look if it gets rough I will start chucking these back at the bastards, Cause I doubt they will be trying to take us alive now” He spoke bitterly, clearly angry at this place, being shot at and being once again dupped but Mernis once again, why did he give him the benefit of the doubt, with everything he needed beside him he reach into his pack once more and pulled out a flask and downed its contents.
Meyhna, once their target was dumped into the back of the truck and they had scattered on the wind--though time would tell which gust authorities would follow--seemed relatively relaxed.
For the moment, she had no indication of anyone on their tail, and only once such indication was made would she do something about it.
However, while her posture seemed lax, her eyes were fixed on Laece, burning fury behind her gaze.
"I mean, I'd suggest any backwater car park away from any important infrastructure. The further away from the authorities--if you wanna call them that--are or where the money flows, they start to stop giving a damn real quick. Usually, anyway." she called to Deralan, her eyes drifting to him for the moment.
"I have an apartment, I guess, but I'm not too keen on bringing strangers into my home, let alone the cops."
Her gaze then drifted back to Laece.
"We got a backup plan for if this fuckwit can't tell us anything? And more important, can I hang him off a bridge if so?"
As the gang continued on the plans for the local area were downloaded. Meyhnas idea for a random carpark or secluded area seemed like the best bet. And the closest one was about 20 minutes away. As Deralan got them there their captive was eager to respond to Alana.
"You will have to do far worse than that to get me to speak. Your an AI creation, why don't you hack it?" The Triakis rep spat onto the seat in defiance "And when I do, you will be very dissapointed in how much I know. We are not stupid"
Passing across some major highways Deralan finally pulled off, down some side roads and into a large carpark multistory complex, not hugely used and in quite a run down area. Despite the gleaming glitz and glamour that could be seen in the distance where they had experienced the peak of luxury, for those that worked there this was the real home. Much more mundane and downtrodden.
Secluded and with the car parked in a covered empty area the group was finally alone and out of sight.
--
The two cop vehicles split up, one using its A-Grav systems to fly high and above the streets, keeping an eye on Zeno as he made his outrageous twists and turns through back alleys and sped like a maniac down main streets. The second vehicle tried desperately to keep pace with him at ground level, a hard task and one that would be absolutely failed should the craft acting as a spotter be taken out of the equation.
No doubt they were calling in backup too. Zeno had them on the splip, but not quite.
If only they could see this.
Zeno had that thought slip back in and out of his head as he drove, and "they" changed from moment to moment while the Paradossus let her banshee wail echo across Lost Star. It was his fellow Jousters one moment, then it was the MCC-watching world, and then it was his mentor, the inscrutable Gust Ryder. He wasn't sure if Gust would have been reprimanding or congratulating him for the trouble he was causing.
He settled on the latter, because he was putting on one hell of a show.
He was on his rhythm now, at full speed and looking to be losing control, but Street Festival fans would have seen the fishtailing, twitching Prester skating around Lost Star and known immediately that Zeno Cupric was in the zone. The dark arts of aerodynamics were keeping him on the road and pointing ahead, and with his foot to the firewall to keep accelerating.
Zeno's driving was, in so many words, a master class in picking through traffic and making overtakes. Even the unrestricted speeds of Lost Star traffic looked slow and plodding next to a performance that would have been at home in any superloop on the calendar. The Paradossus stayed planted and squatted from the downforce preserving her traction and providing tremendous amounts of grip and stability. The car cut back and forth like it was following his thoughts and was off like a shot regardless of how hard he cranked the wheel.
From street to street, he pulled turns and corrections that made the Paradossus look like she was suddenly pinging away fron the most recent point of travel as a bunch of square corners, rather than curves. His playmate on the ground was just another driver in the Street Sport class getting lapped by the Extreme Street elite like himself, and he saw the police craft continue to fly even when Zeno had just about left the low flyer sucking wind.
This left the high flyer, and he had to do something to lose that one. However, his instincts led him back to the MCC track under the neon signs of Arvo's main drag. His idea was simple: the high flyer would have to close in on him to try to keep him in sight and maintain the pursuit. He was going to scrape his pursuer off, making them do it themselves for him. For now, he had to draw the high flyer in.
A snort from Meyhna, her gaze drifting down to her hands.
"This wiseguy thinks I'm that sort of AI." she grunted lowly, before sitting back into the seat.
"Well, Mister Laece. Pick your poison I suppose. We can go the good ol' fashion 'pick a finger' style. We'd even have the speedy version; you've only got one hand. I'm sure you'd much prefer to end the day with your surviving one intact."
A beat.
"Lost Star has all the regulations of a backwater Zetyan food market, so I'm sure we can get our hands on some nasty chemicals to do some nasty things to people, if we're in the mood for a short stop and some creativity. If not," she flicked her wrist, the glove of her armour slackening as an orange hardlight blade sprung from the wrist.
"I can make a pretty fine blade I can think of a few things to do with."
Another pause.
"Honestly I'm just as game for any of these." she shrugged, the blade retracting as the fingers on the hand flexed a bit. "I think I'd have fun either way. Unless anyone else in here has a few ideas?"
Whilst usually one to chime in at a time like this, Deralan remained almost ominously quiet.
He was well aware, torture was not exactly the best way to extract information from captives, the mental strain and suffering oftentimes coerced them into all the answers their captors wanted to hear.
Half of which could be wrong or made up just to appease their captors.
Furthermore there were, of course, far more effective ways to torture a person, going far beyond any physical death or threat of semi-permanent impairment.
Both of which meant very little in the current day and age, even setting aside the fact this man may very well be connected to the Panopticon.
...and yet, he sat here. Silent, he felt no qualms about letting the others have their way with the man, after all that had happened.
He pondered.
Had he grown sadistic?
Enveloped in his own thoughts and considerations he made no further comment, leaving the others to their own plans.
Paskin sat quietly in his seat as he eyed Meyhna's hardlight blades deviously. He wordlessly pulled back a darkened fold of kevlar to reveal a small rack of knives, which he removed from his person and laid out in the back of the Luminoso. Echotian daggers and dueling blades were present, but a few were unrecognizable in origin with wickedly cruel curves made for flaying and bloodletting. It was clear Paskin had acquired them in his travels, perhaps for just such an occasion.
The Echo stepped out of the vehicle to survey their surroundings, not interested in the act of torturing, but content to let the others have their fun.
Edward had been listening to Meyhna as she explained what she could do to the man and then watched as Paskin did what he was doing with his blades before leaving. Alana reached into Edwards kit bag and pulled out a canister that showed warning symbols and a few medical grade scalpels "I am medically trained I know which nerves to cut to keep pain going, I know how and which muscles can be removed whilst you are kept conscious, I do not want to resort to this it goes against what humans call the Hippocratic oath but you are leaving little options." She spoke calmly
Edward himself started making small det charges from the bigger brick he had been messing with in the car and handed some the Meyhna "If nothing works place one of these against joints, bones and if you want to his gentlemen's area and just press this, will not kill him but enough to pop joints loose and shatter bones" He told her leaving her the controller for the small charges he made as he got out as well
Zeno got exactly what he was hoping for.
The high flyer that had been tailing him now dove towards one of the large open streets that they were roaring down. His rear escort was only just catching up to him, so such a dive from the top made little sense, that was until three police units appeared from the front, each one taking up a position to block the road. They were deploying spike traps, gravity mines and all manner of catch traps while the high flier had come in close to try and pin Zeno to his heading. But without any bird above if he broke free of this they would have no chance to catch and follow him.
---
The carpark was bare concrete and tarmac, a single other car parked further away that looked like it had been parked there for a few hours at least. Only the drips of water greeted them and even then it was periodic.
The man merely sneered as Meyhna and Edward displayed their torture tactics shaking his head.
"Resisting pain torture is the first thing they teach you, but you should know we compartmentalise information even if I wanted to tell you everything I couldn't. Just like people deal with intermediaries I do as well. This was merely business."
The PDA at least did not have a tracking device as far as could tell, but the programs left running to break the encryption from Derelan and Edward finally completed.
It revealled little, surprisingly the man was telling the truth in that department. Mostly personal affects, contacts and basic buissness details for conducting meetings with top local officials. But one of the messages to a name only known as 'Sol' revealed a scheduled meet up off Lost Star, in an abandoned mining system to the galactic north for a 'goods exchange'.
It may be the next link.
Zeno read the traps. He had to admit, these guys were doing everything they had to do as police catching a truly determined reckless driver. Unfortunately for them, it was time to break their hearts the way he gave Vow of Thunder students their government-issue reality check.
Right up in the top five lessons: know your environment. Don't just read the maps on the GPS, know the streets. Go on the beat, study the routes, arm yourself with dirty tricks to pull. "I didn't expect" came at the start of every accident response he'd ever served, and it came out of his mouth during the interview for every crash he'd been involved in at a race.
The unexpected part this time? An unexpected sharp turn. Zeno knew where the big first corner to the Festival track was on this long straightaway, so he baited his opponents by setting up on the wrong side of the road for the corner. They set up their trap, and he looked for his entry point as he suddenly dove to the other side of the street. He'd have to do something risky here to make the turn anywhere near as fast as he wanted, and the gravity mine was his play. He timed his corner entry, going in way faster than he would in an actual race, and skirted just close enough to the mine to let its gravity systems kick in and yank him across the corner.
He felt G's like he was flying a Standing Weapon, and his speed carried him out of its orbit, retaining as much of his momentum as possible as his tires screamed, the Paradossus howled warnings at him and his head felt like a lime put in a juicer. He slingshotted away, rounding the corner and hurtling down the next street.
"Everything is 'merely business' to somebody." Meyhna grunted dismissively, toying with the detonator Edward had handed her.
Her eyes, however, drifted to the PDA as encryption was finally broken. A meetup point, huh?
Well. It was more than they had a minute ago.
It still left the question of if this guy had anything of worth to them.
"And unless you give me a reason not to, 'Disposing of guys who tried to fucking kill me' is about to be mine for today. I think I might enjoy it."
There was a lasting silence from Deralan as the conversation in the back went on, the man being dismissive about the threats, Meyhna continuing them, Edward and Paskin leaving, information compartmentalisation, torture tolerances. Topics he was all too familiar with from his skillset, even though he had never applied any of them himself so far. In his head he was arguing with himself whether to interfere or not and in what manner he could do such, on one hand, he had no particular interest in keeping the man alive personally, after all, Meyhna was right, he did order to shoot at them.
On the other hand, corpses always left a trail of blood and that was something a group as small as them could not quite afford, especially not with a company as large as Triakis and the Panopticon behind the man.
He sighed internally and then spoke up.
"...and she is an Artificia, I'm certain you know about their distate of humans, she would surely find ways of treating you entertaining certainly to herself."
He paused and changed to tone, to something that almost resembled second thought or remorse, to lure the man into the idea that there may be an easy way out or to exploit.
"...but what if... what if we just wouldn't act like barbarians, surely, that could only benefit the both us, without spilling any more peoples blood on this evening than was already necessary. I could offer an alternative but... well, that requires your consent. You get out, we get out, your bodyguards... well, they are already dead so not much we can do in that regard but getting out alive without much to incriminate you... well, that's certainly more than she'll give you.
Think about it."
He chuckled humourless and rolled his eyes, the motion of his head visible from the back.
"Unless you would REALLY rather spend the evening with our friend here. I don't judge."
Making that turn down the side street was hard even at low speeds thanks to the way it had been constructed haphazardly and with little regard to traffic flow. The law enforcement had absolutely no idea that Zeno would be so insane as to try it at high speed, and so they had not even attempted to block it off. To make that move was to die in a fiery crash and yet the Little Lighter pulled it off in front of not only his tailing foe but the whole blockade they had set up for him. None of them could respond so fast and without their eye in the sky they had no hope of rapidly requiring him and following.
With a fair few impressed eyes even among the law enforcement Zeno escaped into the winding streets, now totally free of being followed.
The man seemed to stare at Deralan for a moment.
"And what other option would that be? Your offering me a deal and yet its true, I see barbarians. I am well aware of what Artificia are and their distaste of humans, I know countless species well. Make your offer, and it better be a good one. I am not willing to die for my company, but I would rather die painfully than what might happen if I give away sensitive information and get found out doing so"
"Why did you kill Yuri"
The voice echoed across the carpark.
Calsis was standing there, in the open staring at them. He wore a long coat down to his knees, his hands placed within the pockets. Gone was the friendly if mischeavous attitude and look on his face.
He seemed darkened, angry.
Relieved of his pursuers, Zeno rocketed around and searched for the Luminoso, stalking side streets and parking garages until he closed in on the right one, his Paradossus' bright headlights searching the ramps and pathways, and rolled up to something he didn't like to see: party crashers.
Sure, it was Calsis, but his body language was all wrong. He wasn't their tour guide anymore, he had his shoulders square, hands in his pockets, and a bad attitude radiating off of him.
Ever the fair cop, Zeno let the Prester's V10 soprano and a flash of his headlights warn of his arrival. The downshifts rang as he put Calsis in between the Luminoso and Paradossus, and he shut the Okekolu supercar down before popping the door open and fluttering out into the open.
"Something I can help you with, sir?" Now was the time to be Zeno Cupric, Knight-Errant of the Vow of Thunder, and hopefully keep things from getting out of hand.
"Ah, what option, that's the question really, huh?", Deralan noted ponderously, currently still unaware of Calsis outside.
The man had taken the bait, now they'd just have to make him swallow it.
"So you say, if they find out, horrible things will happen to you. But..."
...he paused, turning back towards the front and observing him through the rearview mirror.
"...what if they don't know."
...
"What, if you don't know?"
"Surely, a man such as you has implants for ancnet dives, there are things I could do to rememdy this little 'situation', you'd just have to... let me into your head."
He rolled his eyes before the man could even answer as if pre-emptively trying to dispel his complaints.
"Before you ask 'Well, and who his giving me any guarantees on this?' I'd say, we want them to know as little about us as you want them about what happened here. Surely that would be... of mutual interest. A dead man leaves a trace, we can't have that."
The familiar voice caused Paskin to turn on a heel just in time to witness Zeno's flashy descent. Calsis' return was unexpectedly sudden, and how he had tracked them to the location gave the Echo a moment of pause. If the Mus’Vanas had found them, surely there would be others on the lookout for the captive they were harboring.
Paskin took a more guarded stance as he placed himself in front of the vehicle, but tried not to appear suspicious of Calsis. He appeared relaxed, but his muscles were spring-loaded, ready to act at a moment's notice.
Zeno took the first step to de-escalate, but Paskin also had a few more knives up his sleeve in case the Mus'Vanus got any ideas.
"Like he says," Meyhna started, neither looking more animated or relaxed than before.
"We'd rather not leave a trail--for practical purposes mind, I personally wouldn't be that bothered--and you'd rather not die, least of all by how your benefactors would put you down. But we aren't going to have let this little venture be for nothing, so I don't see too many alternatives without someone winding up dead."
A pause, whether to let her words register or to prepare her next ones.
"Letting me into your head is about the worst thing you could do, but my friend here," she gestured to Deralan with a vague motion of her hand. "Seems none too bothered by the prospect of letting you carry on your business like nothing ever happened. It's your call, buddy."
It was at that moment she heard Calsis speak, rolling her eyes a little.
"One moment."
She leant forward, into view through the side window.
"You should ask Mernis that, not me!" she called. "And that's if you can track the rotten bastard down before I do and skin him alive!"
Edward has just been out of it for the time being letting what happened happen. In this mean time he had lit up a smoke and was now leaning against the Luminoso when he heard the familiar voice shout at them. He looked over and looked straight at Calsis
He then heard the angry barking of Meyhna ringing in his ear as she leant out the window. “What she said, Mernis is the one that did the deed, led us on, really I am surprised we actually trusted him again so I guess we are at fault there” He spoke casually as he blew out some smoke.
"Don't play games with me fucker" Calsis shot an immediate response to Zeno, before turning the others.
"I know you guys killed Yuri, I left you alone next thing I have people telling me the guy was led out of the club by you guys and Mernis and that they saw you leave an alley way where he was killed. Why? Why did you kill him!" Calsis shouted, the echoes reverberating around the concrete carpark.
"He was an agent working for the Arctown arcology who are right now the biggest group trying to fight the Army on Lost Star! I cant believe you took our one of our greatest men... Oh so it was Mernis was it? And you just stood there and watched!" Calsis shook his head.
"You didn't think to try and stop him? You didn't think to apprehend him! Good thing I have a keen mind, better than the cops, I followed Zeno, not too closely but I guessed a low profile place in this area and low and behold. You got burned, who is in the car?" Calsis hands were moving within his long trench coat as if grabbing something large.
--
"You want me to let you into my head? Do you have any idea how insane that is? You could fuck up my mind, I would rather die than live as some vegetable unable to eat or talk. The company is going to find out one way or another, they have their methods!" He was clearly full of adrenaline now, the shouting from Calsis and the threats and pain had made him reckless. The mans shouting had also made Calsis twitch, the situation was tense. They could dive without his approval but it would be a mental fight, thats if Calsis didnt try and start a fight.
Zeno closed his eyes, sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry," he said, calling out over Calsis. "I can't claim to have known your man, but if you're who you say you are, then you know this is what happens in these kinds of shadow wars. Ask the Vow of Shadows how many undercover officers they've lost to their own because everyone's got their own covers up, and the cops' only leads are dirty too."
He lifted himself up a little as he beat his wings that much harder. He concentrated and called forth four soul arms as he opened his eyes and assumed a stance. With his war wand still in the Paradossus, he'd have to rely on his other training. "Don't compound the blue-on-blue just because you're angry an enemy agent set it up!
Do the right thing! Don't make me fight you!"
Deralan sighed with discontent then rolled his eyes, leaning his head against the backrest of the front seat.
"Of course." Of course, he had to fight back.
'It would be no fun if he didn't would it?', he drowned out the voice and shook his head. Between the panicked Yavan on their backseat and the angered Calsis which he had now, too, noticed they'd have to be quick, he knew little about how much truth was behind them 'finding out anyways' though he was pretty confident in his skills, if worst came to worst they'd have to call in some help though his superiors would not be particularly pleased with that, if they answered at all.
He turned back to Meyhna and their captive.
"Well, as I see it, there's two options there, either you let me in and your brain 'may' turn into mush or I force my way in and it'll be pretty much guaranteed."
He paused, looking into the mans eyes with cold dead look of a machine.
"I will leave this car now and when our friend here brings you out, you better have made a decision I like hearing.", he nodded towards the Artificia and then towards door and left the car.
"Arctown, the biggest group to fight the Army of the Lost Star? How rather interesting. In this car, as you may see in a couple moments, is the very man that Mernis sold us off to.", he noted in response to Calcis, slightly tilting his head and then raising both eyebrows.
"...and who said he was dead? From what I gathered, Mernis, though he lured us into a trap has done a rather sloppy job on your friend, if you get what I mean."
Here was hoping he actually did do a sloppy job and the respawn made it out.
Paskin cursed under his breath as Calsis continued to escalate, the Echo's keen eyes trying desperately to see what exactly was hidden beneath Calsis' coat. He didn't want to have to kill the Mus'Vanus, but he couldn't risk endangering their only lead, not to mention his confidants inside the Luminoso.
"Stand down, Calsis!" Paskin barked, his voice harsh and serious as a rumbling growl echoed back across the parking garage. He trained his rifle on Calsis as he took a step forward.
"We can't bring Yuri back, but we can ensure his death was not in vain. Now, put your hands where we can see them, and step back."
Meyhna grunted, shaking her head.
"We ain't leavin' until we get something of worth, pal, it's as simple as that." she told their captive, crossing her arms.
"The question is how hard do you want to make that, and as my big spooky friend here said," she gestured a thumb at Deralan. "How...in one piece you wanna be by the end of it. Mentally and physically. Trust me, pal. The guys who got you on this job? Not your bosses, but the ones who threw money at em? Who you're protecting?"
A pause.
"Really not worth it. Awful people, honestly."
Edward could feel the situation getting tenser and tenser and it would soon boil over with either them shot at again or stabbed, Calsis dead or their prisoner dead, heck even multiple of those options he thought to himself as he watched Calsis move towards something in his coat and he tightened his own grip around the handle of his HMG, not levelling it at the Mus’Vanus but being ready to snap it at him if shit hit the fan.
He blew out some more smoke and looked around at where they were better before his eyes trained on Calsis again “So do you have any idea where Mernis went, anyone following him or did he just drop into some sewer and is gone again, cause yes we messed up but isnt he the main one to be concerned about right now” He spoke.
"I don't want to fight you, but Yuri was one of the best. You said you knew Mernis in the past, how can I know you are not working for the Army!" The Mus'Vanas hand was slowly reaching into his stylish jacket. He then shouted back to Deralan.
"Respawn was jammed, likely by Mernis. Yuri died of blood loss in that alley, he was a tough bastard but he got played well. Besides that man in the car, how do I know your not trying to tidy up the breadcrumb trail?"
The move by Paskin however made Calsis flinch, the rifle now aimed at him caused him to pull his own pistol some kind of Triarch stealth piece and point it at Paskin.
"I ain't doing shit! And I don't know where Mernis went, I tried to follow him but the guys a fixer for nations, the Army countless rich folks he has top of the line shit to ensure he can get away. Cloaking, sensor jammers, respawn jammers hell a network of fucking yes men who can help cover his tracks." The pistol did not waver as he replied to Edward.
"Show me some fucking proof that your not working with him and then we don't have to all die here"
---
Deralan could tell from the mans eyes that he was not going to co-operate willingly. Everything had to be made harder, and so the mental connection was made anyway. If the man suffered so be it.
The individuals head was surprisingly empty, not like a normal sentient mind. Whole sections of memory had been wiped away or deliberately distorted, and many of the existing memories had the tell tale cloudiness of fabrication. Was this man even born normally or was he manufactured? The memories, the information pulled back from Deralan as he dove deeper, the individual fighting where he could. Most was pointless filler, memories to recount to help come across to buissnessmen or other transactors, but some were important. Triakis names, two place names of company meeting exchanges and the word 'Sunrise' some kind of code name for a contact or individual Deralan wasnt sure. One of the meeting places was in the surrounding areas of Triarch space, the other was in the Uriel Cluster.
Meyhna watched silently as Deralan started digging into the man's mind, sighing as guns were drawn outside.
"Fucks sake." she grunted as she stepped out of the van.
"Breadcrumb trail? Why the fuck would we be covering for the same assholes who just tried to blow us to kingdom come and take a whole floor of that fancy-ass hotel doing it? And before you even think of the word 'respawns'," she all but growled as she strode towards him, leaning down some and pointing a thumb at herself.
"That shit doesn't work on me! And I ain't about to die for some cryptic bastards too chickenshit to even face me in person!"
She righted herself, making a frustrated sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Your chum got stabbed and that fuckin sucks, I guess. How the hell were we supposed to know who he was? It occur to you that the same guys who tried to kill us might be the same guys who paid Mernis to kill your friend? Hell, I'd bet money they're in the same office trying to find the contingency plan for 'hotel bomb didn't work' right now."
A pause.
"That gives us the same enemies, dumbass, so put the gun away before you do this Army's job for it."
A glance, over her shoulder, at Paskin.
"You too, wise guy."
Paskin snarled ferociously in response to the pistol as every fiber of his being screamed for him to drop the Mus'Vanus where he stood.
The challenge was there; Calsis had drawn his weapon and had not backed down. In the Echo's mind, such an action warranted an appropriate response of violence. Paskin was certain that unless Calsis was packing some pretty substantial armor under his cloak, the shot from his rifle would empty the alien's guts onto the Paradossus and then some. Calsis's pistol on the other hand, Paskin was unsure of, but he'd risk a shot if it meant killing Calsis where he stood.
Meyhna's words of de-escalation echoed through the parkade, reaching through the haze of Paskin's fury.
The Echo grumbled in his chest as he lowered his rifle, still keeping it trained on Calsis, but making a show of backing down.
"I'd listen to the lady if I were you."
Deralan pondered on the request and fact Yuri seemed to be in fact quite dead. A shame, though there was little that could be done about it now.
He still had the data he extracted from his dying brain and there were a variety of other ways he could prove his allegiance. Additionally, Meyhna made a, for her, astoundingly reasonable and calm point, shooting at each other would be to the benefit of neither right now, if each side was of the mindset they stated to be.
However.
There was one more thing that had to be addressed.
"...and who, Calsis, says you are not part of the Panopticons payroll?"
Deralans contemplative look had dropped into a wary frown, whilst he was still digging through the other mans brain with the other half of his mind, through various proxies and failsafes.
"You see, looking back at it, it was all too easy finding someone who could tell us where Mernis would be and how we could get to him, which then consequently led to your 'friends' death and almost ours, too. From our perspective, we had just almost been blown to bits and then someone comes around accusing us of being part of the very same organisation which just tried to kill us and no less with no signs of having been attacked themselves. Rather curious."
He paused.
"You see, if we were to be part of the Panopticon or on its payroll, why are we not shooting you right here and now on the spot? I dare say, we have the capability to do so.", he spread his arms in a demonstrative gesture then rolled his eyes. "Given, it could of course be just another way of trying to extract more data on additional targets and so on but to my knowledge they haven't shown to be particularly picky on whether their informants were dead or alive."
As he was talking the battle in the cyberised mentalscape was raging on, bits and pieces of information he had already caught though so far they lacked a connecting string. Though already it was more than they had found on the datapad. Throughout the procedure, slowly, he adapted his presence to identify ever more as the man himself, trying to lure out more memories be they fake or real. It was ironic really, in the end, this man might be even more artificial than himself, quite a strange rarity amongst all he had seen.
Zeno snarled and clicked his tongue. Apparently, exaggerating the very real problems the Garden of the Vows struggled with, inherited from the scars of Yog-Narr and the loose weapons and drugs and shattered great houses of the Okekolu Accord the Boreal Jihad left in its wake, wasn't a path to Calsis getting any more sympathetic. The good news was that Calsis wanted names instead. That was fine, he knew one.
"Proof? Okay, how good are you with names?" The name stuck in his throat. He took a breath and steadied himself.
"You hear of a lady named Tazi? Tall drink of water who got me on this trail with these guys in the first place. She asked us to roll in deep to rescue her sister from the Army of the Panopticon. We weren't enough, but she wasn't gonna be taken alive. Burned those smoke ninjas they love so much and some of their bosses with her ship.
You know what a cop like me does when he's not just being another citizen or on the beat? Paperwork. You shoot a round, you hit your sirens, you flash a badge, you have to report it. Someone you involved outside the force gets lost? You write that down and it stays on record. It happened, and it's your fault. That's what put me back on this case and why I'm still here to beat these guys. The Panopticon cost me someone who involved herself, and I should have kept safe.
You've been screwed by the Panopticon - so have we. There's your proof."
Edward watch and listened to Calsis and when he flinched and raised his gun at Paskin he flinched himself and raised his a fraction, more like giving it a heft to just stretch his muscles than aim it at Calsis.
Then the angry orange light bulb came out spitting words of hate loudly at the Mus’Vanus and this honestly cause Edward to laugh a bit, a horrible time to laugh in such a tense situation but he couldt help it. He then took a moment to compose himself and he coughed to clear his throat. “What the Angry Orange one said, we have the same enemy and they have gone through a lot of trouble to try and put us in the ground but have also found use for somewhat apparent trust issues, either way we need to stop shouting at each other and focus on the bigger problems that are at hand now” He said.
In the end the amount of useful memories consistuting actual legitimate information were so pitiful in number that it was true. The man was likely artificial, some kind of clone or engineered individual, that or he was so mentally rebuilt that it didnt matter anymore. Further delving revealled that 'Sunrise' was indeed a codename, some kind of event alluded to by other Triakis contacts. He was here it seemed to contact and deal with extremely rich and powerful individuals to offer them contracts and aid with the Army in exchange for resources and money. If this was truly the case, the rot could be endlessly expansive and deep in Lost Star alone.
--
Calsis stood in silence for a moment until Paskin dropped with weapon down. Another awkward moment of quiet and Calsis did too.
"At least your not all total idiots. You know how to make good arguments."
He holstered his pistol and walked over to them, his face still showing anger.
"Please tell me you have some kind of information to show for what happened. I also had two individuals come after me after leaving the club to follow you. Their dead now" He pulled open his long coat to reveal the scorches of energy weapons "Neither had any kind of information on them and their memories were entirely hollow. No leads"
Paskin scoffed and a series of harsh clicks enunciated his exhaustion. His heart was slowing, but the rush of adrenaline put even more weight on his shoulders. Stims quickly entered his bloodstream and the effects were all too welcome to the Echotian assassin.
Temporarily refreshed, Paskin withdrew a small holo from a pouch on his waist, placing it on his palm before the Mus'Vanus. The Echotian had already filed away their engagement at the Strobe' for analysis, and it was all too easy to prepare for display.
Paskin eyed Calsis as the events played out before them on the holo-device, its soft blue glow casting a cold light across them both.
The blue light flickered as footage of Mernis and his prior talks with the group appeared, conveying the words of the Teliran, as well as the direction the group had followed, leading full circle into footage of the 'Strobe' once again.
A final flicker and the face of the man in the Luminoso was left displayed like that of a bounty letter, his individual features captured in great detail. A list of supposed weaknesses and injuries were recorded below, seemingly recorded whilst still in the vehicle.
"All our searching has led us here, and as you can see, we are no friends of the Panopticon."
There was a long pause from Deralan as Calsis holstered his weapon and approached and for a moment it looked it he'd just drop the man and iterrogate Calsis next as he softened his grip on the other man, though in the End nothing happaened. They needed the information Calsis may have and they could do with the connections to this 'Arctown arcology', his superiors would be quite interested in that.
"Does 'Sunrise' tell you anything or 'Sol'? Could be connected to White Maginot or potentially some other rich clients of Triakis."
He nodded to Edward who last had the PDA to his knowledge and then towards Calsis, watching his every move. In the meanwhile he began wrapping up his affairs in the other mans head, starting to rearrange memories to remove any traces of his intrusion and those of their identities, for all he knew they could've been a group of faceless mercenaries in power armour. Technically not too far off the truth. He was well aware surveillance in the area had likely caught glimpses of them at one or the other opportunity, though that was entirely out of his control. His superiors on the other hand may be able to deal with that.
Once he was finished with the man he let go and let the now unconscious body drop to the floor.
"We should dump this guy in some back alley, he will wake up in a couple hours and if things go as planned he will remember nothing of particular note. Killing him will likely cause only more problems even if he is disposable to his company or their associates."
There was a pause as he seemed to reconsider, looking down at the lifeless body as his fingers twitched.
"...on the other hand, his apartment did blow up just a couple minutes ago, could've been a terror attack, you know?"
"And a forensic countermeasure that I'm afraid cuts both ways," Zeno said as he fluttered close by. He counted off what he knew thus far. "So we're invited to stand by and help a guy assassinate the people we by all means were meant to aid in stopping the Panopticon, took the bait as it was our only lead up to this point, and survived an assassination attempt that would likely have put us ahead in an actual investigation, had we been pointed there by an actual trustworthy witness and not the only guy we could get." He counted on his fingers, tapped his forehead and then spun around to Calsis.
"I get the feeling we weren't just loose ends, but wrapped up in some other moves that the Panopticon wanted to clear up along the way. We got through the whole End of the Line fiasco and took poor Tazi off the board...we're still alive, and inviting targets once we're back in the open. We're variables, unwanted ones.
Mernis is a merc; he's thinking about his bottom line, and anyone who pays too much on their monthly for the latest Prester will tell you everyone stops reading the fine print at a package deal. I'm willing to bet where we were meant to die was a nerve center for anti-Pano work, too."
He addressed Calsis directly now. "Was this the only hit you took recently? I suspect this is all part of some more coordinated actions, and your perspective's gonna be invaluable in figuring them out."
Out came Zeno's little notebook and the utility wand he treated like a quill - or a sidearm, all things considered. But his posture and movements made it clear he was about to fill more pages with that loopy Okekolu script.
Once the situation defused...somewhat, Meyhna's shoulders relaxed a little.
"Though at the same time, if we were bundled up in one big effort like you suspect," her eyes drift to Zeno.
"That might also make us a variable they don't quite care about too hard. You don't burn an asset on one smaller thread if you think you can catch three with it."
She sighed a little.
"Admittedly, unless whatever he dug up means anything to you," she gestured a thumb at Deralan.
"Then we don't exactly have a book's worth of leads."
Edward relaxed now that the situation had somewhat calmed, though he was still a bit tense as he could see and sense the anger emanating off of Calsis
He lit up a cigarette and took a hit of it, blowing out the smoke as he then looked at Zeno, “We got played like a fiddle by a man named johnny, and now we as you said we are loose ends”
He turned back to Calsis “As Zeno said we were probably meant to die as well, either at the hands of the lovely folks here or by you and I have a feeling that is what Mernis was banking on, but instead we are now just more pissed off at being led around again so that is going to be a thorn in their side” He shrugged.
"Sunrise? Hm..." Calsis seemed to ponder a moment.
"I have heard of a Sunrise convention between major business officials that occurs every few years. Its some top form event where CEOs and other major elements gather together to talk economics and business plans... I know of Triakis and I know they are working for the Army. Perhaps this Sunrise is used by them as an avenue to pollute the corporate scene. Individuals from White Maginot also attend so... This could run deep." Calsis looked concerned.
"This is absolutely a co-ordinated action. And your comments about Mernis make me worried. It does not matter if we wait a couple years and infiltrate Sunrise, if Mernis finds out we lived, and believe me he will, he will come after us or ensure our plan never works. We have to take down Mernis. If we are loose ends the Teliran and his Panopticon masters will stop at nothing to ensure we are tied." He leant against a concrete pillar.
"Mernis operates out of Natar, obvious yes but he does most of his work there. If your going to take him down thats the best lead to find him. I can try do some snooping about Sunrise and avenues to infiltrate the expo, theres a lot of high profile names going so we have to be extra careful. And besides..."
He sighed.
"I got to tell Yuri's boss that he isn't with us anymore. And believe me its better I do that than you, the Exalted does not take well to people killing her confidants."
"I will contact you when I have information and a plan. Until then, hunt that fucker down, for the both of us. Heh… Some kind of wayward flock we are...”