Broken Stars [ IC / PG-16 / Not Currently Accepting / Co-hosted by Kyng ]

[encapturer]

As the other starfell began making their way out, Daena thought for a moment about if she should follow them. Doing so would more or less out herself as a Starfell after all this time living on her own. She wouldn't be able to join with her sect, and sending money to her parents would become even harder than it is. On the other hand...

...

"...Alright," Daena whispered to herself. Prying her badge off her clothes, she tossed it on the ground and followed after the others. She didn't know if this was the right choice, she knew that she didn't want to live as she has been. Alec and the others can handle exploration duties; Daena had her own path to follow.

[hr]

It seems like that one man was well-connected, Daena thought, marveling at the fact that he had access to a secret hideout. Her first instinct was to take notes on the path the group took, complete with a sketch; though Daena figured that would be rude, given her situation. Instead, she listened to the young man - Cael, he called himself, as he gave his introduction.

"Heh, I kinda know what you mean." Cael's speech about how nanites seem to have a consciousness of their own resonated with her. "It's like my mist knows who's a friend and who's an enemy; It's kind of weird. And I'm Daena Lauzon, by the way," Daena said, turning to each Starfell in the room. "Explorer... err, former explorer that is, now that I'm with you helping you to deal with those two..."

Daena had a sudden realization about what was being spoke about earlier. When that sword-wielding Starfell spoke earlier about fighting two factions, he most likely spoke of Theristes... and Rebirth's army; really the only two factions anyone talks about nowadays.

"...factions? Those factions wouldn't be the Theristes and Rebirth would it?" Daena said, her voice becoming more forceful. "Wouldn't that just be a little *too* dangerous for out little gang here?" The sarcasm in her voice was clear; she was not happy about giving up her stable job for certain death.

[Nexev]

Toliet Mouth rolled her eyes. Kids these days. Gotta act like the [redacted] mountain cause their [redacted] are shrivled and worthless. As the troops stormed the bar Toliet calculated to herself, she's somewhat of a sore thumb however given the current situation the attention is primarily drawn to the psychoboys and [redacted] Sigfried, given that it should be a simple matter to...

 

Quietly walking out the door Toliet exited the bar and headed to the streets, in the chaos no one thought to wonder why a crippled girl was so calmly walking through the clearly panicked mass of escaping civilians.

[hr]

checked her watch looking slightly bored with the developments. "Look not like its a [redacted] delight talking to all of you faux illuminati stuffies, but why should I give a flying [redacted] about our 'stealthy approach'?" Toliet Mouth stated. "Look it's not like destroying a building, almost murdering someone over pancakes, threatening a injured man, and all sortof of other feats of valor hasn't given me a firm belief that you are all [redacted] paragons of hope and virtue or whatever. It's just... why should I care about what seems to be some big war with a rich old fart? I came to see the big super dragon and that's [redacted] accomplished. I have animals to feed why should I risk my neck helping you guys?"

[a bad post]

Vana blushed slightly when Cael kept looking at her, the teenager in her giddy at being noticed by a boy. Of course, she didn’t make notice of it, as most of her mind child-like, and didn’t understand Cael’s staring. Although she was a little hurt when he turned away and she worried she had done something wrong.

 

After Toilet had introduced herself Vana stepped forward, “because… if you don’t…” Vana struggled trying to form the sentence, “he’ll kill… you. We don’t… stand… a chance alone. He… knows… who we are… and he’ll… track us… down… and kill us.” Vana cast her eyes to the floor the whole time, now that she was actually near the loud woman Vana was no longer amused by her and the funny words she said, but scared.  After replying to Toilet Vana decided it was her turn to introduce herself.

 

“Vana… my name is… Vana,” the brown haired girl pointed to herself as if doing so would make the statement more true, “I’m-m-m 19. Not… special.” Vana forced the last words out, and stepped back. Talking was still difficult for her, even four years after the explosion she was only barely being able to function again. Physically there was nothing wrong with her, in fact she was in very good condition for a girl her age. Mentally though, Vana should have been dead, oddly enough though she somehow even seemed to have survived even with the large amount of brain damage she had received. 

[Kyng's Old Account]

"Sirius Adhara Wesen. I am of the Northern Guard Rebel guild, a group of Northernkin whom want Rebirth out of Arctus. Luciano here is another member of the group, whom tracks Rebirth's behaviours in places." he began to say, crossing his arms as he glanced across the other Starfell. "I normally would not be here, and would only fight on the fronts of the Arctus. However, this is no reason for me not to fight on other grounds: defeating Rebirth anywhere is a victory for my people." He took a deep breath and glanced to his comrade in arms, before looking back to Daena as she made her analysis regarding what Luciano said. To this he nodded softly. "Yes, Rebirth and Theristes, the former being our personal priority. Luciano knows the remainder of the details on our mission."
 
Sirius' stern, yet calm gaze met Toilet's eyes, with no hubris nor malice in his eyes, rather simply a gaze that reflected his stoic self. He listened to her questions disregarding how filthy the words she paired the point of the questions with, and softly responded with his deep, yet calming voice "In all honesty there is no reason I can offer you to stay. Leave if you wish, but you should consider the possibility that Rebirth, or Theristes, would have those animals you've to feed's heads."
 
Sirius listened to Vana, seemingly nervous, and to such he looked to her with a sigh. "I wish not to upset you, and I understand your nerves are natural when death is at all but your doorstep, however you need to try and calm yourself. This is not going to get relatively better any time soon. However, I know you have good talent and great strength. Remember this strength, it will be your most trusted ally for the time being."
 
Luciano then began to make his turn to speak. "You are all Starfell. From what the Northern Guard knows, you are greater than any soldier whom walks on Teleia, or at least you have this potential. I am aware your most recent work has not been quite stealthy, however we have received intel of the location of a Rebirth outpost, in Castle Tyranikryarchía. Still in Temeris, but far South, closer to Torovia. Rebirth have occupied a small settlement, an old castle town called Zamuktopea. I have no idea what has happened to the residents, maybe they're under extreme curfew or the like. All I know is that they have something we want in the castle, and you guys need to get it. So, I have provided you all gear in order to give you a better chance at lesser detection: it is light-weight and compact." With this said, he provided them their gear, some camo-gear for the males, and some form fitting catsuits for the females, this easily exposing the leacherous nature of Luciano's perversions, which even lead to Sirius with a loud groan in disappointment.
 
The groan also lead into Sirius asking "What are we going to fetch...?"
 
Luciano nodded, with absolutely no shame about his outright sexist act. "A dossier file, entitled "Dossier File on Superweapon Initiative." which should be in a red booklet. I believe it also has crucial information regarding the Theristes, which is an additional bonus, despite the Arctus not really caring about creatures who hate the cold."
 
Sirius, to this, looked to the rest, before taking his gear and going into the boiler room to change.
[hr]
Chapter 3: Superweapon Conspiracy:

 

Cael, with his analytical mind instantly started to think of ways to infiltrate into the castle Luciano mentioned, not worrying about others right now, as his personality was still a bit too much evaluative and cold for most relations even if it was starting to warm up. Hm…  Southwestern Temeris is it? That means it's going to be probably damp, just enough to be uncomfortable. Just our luck. Sighing, Cael listened further as Luciano provided more - albeit vague - information on what they needed to retrieve. He narrowed his eyes at Luciano once he saw the catsuits for the females. Who put a voyeur in charge of woman's outfits? Groaning at the obviously rather different choice of outfits, he took his inter dimensional storage satchel with him and walked over to the side of a corner and quickly changed.

 

 

Once Cael and the others finished changing, they briefed one last quick time over their jobs and asked everyone if they were ready to depart, getting ready for a - possible - mildly long run while he waited for their replies. He hoped none of the Starfell would quit on him for possible reasons, but you never know. Those who followed him would infiltrate one of Rebirth's castles located in a beautiful rural area with a navy-and-crimson sky backdrop today if he remembered correctly. Unfortunately, they wouldn't be able to afford to sightsee due to the risk of getting spotted, and would have to do their job and get back out. After finishing getting ready, Cael leaned against a wall passively, waiting.

 
[hr]
 
Cael slid out of the nearby river - which wasn't all too clean -  silently, quickly running and taking position behind a rather large side of the wall that didn't seem to have as many holes observants could see them through and quietly motioned at the others to do the same, who were at different levels of stamina although none were overly tired. If one took the time to notice the grandiose settings, the picturesque blue and red sky highlighting a magnificent castle might be breath-taking. This particular group hadn't come to sight-see though, and with Rebirth's dominion over this part and considering who they were, they'd probably get captured and bound if they were discovered. It was a shame this beautiful place was marred by the fact that marred by its controller as of now. "We're on the east side of the castle everyone, and see that slope? If you try, we should all be able to make it. Lucky for us, it takes us to some trees then to around mid-level of the castle's height." Cael spoke quietly but firmly. Nodding at the others, he went ahead and took the lead.
 
[hr]
 
Crouching on the small section of wall that had a nice three columns at the top, Cael peered into the right and left of the double openings on either side of him. "This way." Silently dropping in, he snuck over to the edge of the hall and blended into the side listening and looking for clues….
 
Once he heard enough, he turned back and crept over to his fellow Starfell. He told Sirius of the information, who then prepped the rest of them. "Alright, there's a fork up ahead with two guards to the sides going in a horizontal oval rotation lookout. Make sure not to catch their vision, because the hassle of fighting and knocking them down is something we can't afford right now. You all know what we're supposed to look for. Daena, Creed, and Doc, and I'll go right. Rest of you all, go left. If you find something, notify us with the Telebuds Luciano had left us. They should be in your ears and make sure they're in there right now. Other than that, try to evade people more than take them out. Bodies are going to be discovered if we start knocking them out." Catching his breath after prepping them, Sirius turned to his mini-group and took right.
 
[hr]
 
Cael listened as Sirius assumed a natural leader role and prepped the group. When he spoke the group names, he noticed Vana was in his group. Huffing for some reason he wasn't sure of, Cael abruptly turned and slid down the hallway left, motioning for his group to follow down the corridor. 

[hr]

[ListenToLife]

Nicholas sighed at the actions of his 'allies' in the bar, putting down the revolver he had aimed at his head and standing up from the table abruptly as the ceiling started to collapse. "Sorry guys." He muttered to the rest of the gamblers as he sped off towards the exit, catchin up to the rest of the group rather quickly, and following the apparent 'leader' to some sort of underground hideout.

 

There, they were introduced to Luciano, an apparently 'connected' man, who definitely appeared to be dangerous, even if he was there ally. He and Sirius appeared to be trying to communicate some kind of plan aimed at hitting Rebirth hard. Annoying though, they were interrupted by the knuklehead Nicholas had saved earlier, who instead decided that they should introduce themselves. Possibly the wrong moment, but Nicholas was reminded that they didn't know each other. At all. Not a single name.

The boy introduced himself as Cael, which was soon followed by Vana and Daena's own introductions, and the foul-mouthed third woman's questions, which - though they could've been phrased better - rang true with the Doc...at least, for a moment.
"To help other. That's why we do it. Or at least, why I'm tagging along." Nicholas answered, stepping forward a moment to introduce himself. "My name is Doctor Nicholas Hawkson, Ph.D in Medical Chemistry, Medical Science and Advanced Biology, and an expert in the field of Medicine. My name was quite influential within the scientific community at one point, though I doubt it'll remain that way for long. At any rate, my presence here is because some of you lot will go on despite the consequences, to be a hero. I stay to make sure you dont die along the way."

 

He shrugged and pulled out his gun from his holster, rolling it around his fingers for a moment. "Not that it makes me totally defenseless. I'm probably your best bet for a good marksman." He chuckled, finished with his introduction.

He listened intently to the briefing of their mission, not that it was exceptionally detailed anyway, before nodding his acceptance of it. He was too far involved to turn back now. He accepted the outfit given to him, rather dismayed at having to leave his lab-coat behind, but he understood the necessity of it. Lab-coats weren't really supposed to be worn outside of the lab, let alone during a mission.

 

He moved to a seperate room to get changed, much like everyone else, and finished by re-attaching his gun holster to his belt and second-checking each of his pouches to make sure they weren't missing anything. When he was sure he was finished, he picked up hisbackpack and tossed it over his shoulders and walked back into the main room. "Ready."

 

~~~~~~~~

 

The Doctor groaned quietly at the filth in the river as he darted out of it, arriving next after Cael, receiving the information loud and clear. He gave a quick nod of acknowledgement before following Cael through the halls, stopping as he stopped, and as Sirius detailed his plan. Another quick nod of acknowledgement showed his acceptance of the teams; Goggles and Darts, along with Sirius. Seemed like as good a team as any.

Following Sirius as they split apart from the other group, he moved next to their 'leader'. "I've got a particularly powerful sedative on hand, if we need to take out some guards without any suspicion being aroused." He whispered, making sure the man was aware that they needn't totally avoid confrontation.

[Nexev]

Toliet listened to the opinions of who appeared to be her peers and sighed. "Yes, helping, [redacted] good we are at that, we just killed a [redacted] obscene amount of civilians, and I know obscene." Sighing Toliet withdrew a cellphone from her coat. "Yo, Blister Fingers? It's me, gonna have to be gone for longer then thought, take care of the animals. Watch out for suits and [redacted]. Okay thank you." Closing the cellphone Toliet waved. "So intros, names Toliet Mouth, I sing, also I got [redacted] eldritch language powers or something. It's weird."

 

After listening to the short debriefing and being assigned her gear Toliet entertained the thought of smashing Luciano's head on the table. Ultimately though she decided it was a bit early to judge someone as unworthy of a unbroken nose. Grumbling she took the catsuit, using her teeth to rip off one of the sleeves. It wasn't like she had a arm for that sleeve to be put through anyway.

 

~~

Taking head of the paladin dude's orders she calculated in her head so she was with Shy Guy and Toys. Man it didn't feel right naming a girl shy guy she would have to figure out a better name for her. Toliet followed Cael down the passage, ruing that her pipe was still somewhere in that Skulvern's skull, she would have to rely on her powers in this case and the solid power is based on volume. Well she supposes a few eldtritch whispers will help smooth things. "We are as quiet as the silence that makes you quiver under your sheets" Toliet intoned, her voice taking a sortof alien quality as she invoked the same powers that intended to strike fear into the very soul of the Skulvern. "Our movements are certain, our success assured. The guards feel weight in their bones, the toils of the day causing weariness in night. They wish to slumber, but it matters not, as their prescence will never intrude on ours." The words almost seem to echo in the room before aprubtly ending as the silence part of the speech took affect.

[encapturer]

"..."

 

Well, at least it looks like these guys have a plan, Daena thought.  While she was fine with the plan itself, the uniforms were completely useless.  Still better than her sect uniform; someone in the know would easily recognize the outfit; and she really didn't want to trouble her former sect any further.  Thus she went along, with the intent of purchasing new clothes as soon as possible.

 

[hr]

 

It seemed like she was paired with Sirius, Creed and Dr. Hawkson.  She knew that the doctor had a handgun, but she didn't know if he would be willing to use it if needed.  She knew the feeling, but she had decided long ago that she was going to live.  As such, she currently had her Bloody darts at the ready; they're much more effective on humans than that skulvern, of course.

 

Still, she was surprised that Dr. Hawkson had prepared a compound that would enable the group to knock out their foes.  "You'll have to show me how to make that sometime, Dr. Hawkson," Daena whispered as the group moved through the building.  "Though it would be nice if we didn't need to use it," she continued, before looking around to make sure no one was coming from behind.  If there was anything she learned from her time exploring, was that she needed to be aware of her surroundings at all times.

[a bad post]

Looking at the bodysuits Vana was mortified by the tightness of the material. She couldn’t possibly get wear that… could she? Noticing the others getting dressed without a fuss Vana picked up the clothing and scampered to an out of the way section of the room where nobody would see her.

 

Emerging a few minutes later Vana’s cheeks were noticeably red she zipped the jacket up all the way to the collar, to leave as little as possible exposed.

Vana listened quietly, but didn’t speak, trying to make sense of all that had transpired that night, and two tears dripped down her cheek falling to the floor her subconscious’ reaction to all the death’s she had been a part of, but Vana herself couldn’t comprehend why wiping the tears away after giving them a curious glance.

 

-----

 

Silently taking the orders Vana moved into the group with Toilet and Cael, and frowned, something about all of this seemed familiar. The deaths, the stealth missions, taking orders… it seemed like she should be familiar with it… why? It shouldn’t, not out of an innocent like her, but there would be time to think on it later when their lives weren’t in as much danger.

 

Climbing out of the muck “covering” the rear Vana moved through the pipe keeping a vigilant eye for anyone who should try to attack them enjoying the natural beauty of the town, her mouth opened in small O. As Toilet seemed to sing her eldritch song, though it wasn’t directed at her, it made her feel relaxed. This again felt familiar to her, like she should recognize it. An image of a brown-haired woman flashed before her eyes, eliciting a single whisper from her.

 

“Mom?” The word sounded foreign to her mouth; she’d never actually had a mom, that she could remember, four years she had woken up alone her only company the ruins of a burning building.  

[Sweetie Belle]

Creed was almost about to finish Shagrel when the Salvo Raiders appeared. "Goddamnit, I don't have time for this! Visor, how many are there?
 
[There are 53 Salvo Raiders. It is suggested that you flee.]

Creed counted them out in his head. "Visor, what are the chances that I can take them out?"

[Extremely minimal. Accounting their armor and weaponry, there is only a 0.00005429% chance that you will be able to successfully take them out.]

"Goddamnit, that's not enough!" Creed heard a large crash behind him. He turned to look and noticed another Starfell cleaving an exit in the wall. The other Starfell made their way to the exit, along with a number of panicking citizens. Shagrel managed to wiggle his way out from under Creed.

[I have detected that a Salvo Raider bomb has been armed and is in the vicinity. It is highly imperative that you vacate the premises immediately.]

Creed managed to make his way over the crowd, stepping on a few heads to get by. As he made it outside, he sublimated and flew quickly towards the other Starfell to catch up.

[The bomb has detonated.]

Visor's commentary was accompanied by the unmistakable sound of the Salvo Raider bomb.

[hr]

Creed took one look at the camouflage suit and was disgusted. "How do you expect me to wear this?! It's absolutely hideous." He tossed it on the ground and stepped on it. "I don't need some damn suit to be stealthy." Creed sublimated his left arm to demonstrate his powers. "I can do this. It's much easier, and I don't have to wear a ridiculous outfit."

Creed listened to a minor briefing, and Sirius split the group up into two teams. Daena and Doc were with him, under Sirius. He overheard the Medic discussing sedatives for use in case they were seen. "Simpler solution," Creed interjected, "If we're seen, leave no witnesses. Dead men tell no stories."

[I am detecting two life signs 16.72 meters to your right.]

"Visor, that's on the other side of this wall. Not really helpful. Find anyone who has a direct path to me of less than 10 meters."

[There are three life signs 1.949 meters directly in front of you.]
 
"Still not helpful, Visor. They're friendlies. I assume."

[encapturer]

"Dead men tell no stories,"  Creed said.

 

Daena shook her head.  "I don't think that applies in this situation," she said with a sigh.  She didn't like the fact that Creed's first choice would be to kill whomever spots the group; after all, it's not their fault that Rebirth took control.  As she moved forward, Daena thought she heard someting behind her, but a quick glance back revealed nothing in particular.

 

"No matter," she whispered to herself, concentrating on moving forward once again.  "All we have to do is not get spotted."

[Kyng's Old Account]

Entering the Castle was easy enough for Sirius' strike force. Stealth was ideal, especially in a castle swarming with the filth that was the Rebirth forces. Sirius could just taste them in the air, and while his face remained stoic and proud, respectable, inside he was burning up somewhat to get some retribution against Rebirth. He was not content with the threat they posed the Arctus, not one bit; Sirius had only one view on any preemptive threat: take it out like the roach that it will no doubt soon become. Assuming the leader role for the mission he looked back over his team.

 

In a dark corridor, littered with paintings and some windows letting in the feint moonlight, Sirius carefully strafed the wall alongside the others; it was then when the doctor made him smile with something mischievous in mind. He was really content with his group now, a sedative would be pretty damn useful. Sirius looked back to him and whispered, after Daena's response, "That's very useful: how exactly will you use it? I mean, I would think these fellows have more than enough armour to contend with a syringe; I'm assuming a gas bomb?" Following this he looked back in their direction. "If that's the case, do you have any gas masks?"

 

Creed made his regard on simply applying the ultimate silence to the threats that were posed against them to which met Daena's dismay. Following there were a number of regards including Creed's Visor and, well, Daena's possible paranoia when she shot a look back. To this Sirius took a deep breath and whispered again "Minimal casualties is preferable, we don't want any breadcrumbs. Worst case scenario, throw dead bodies outside windows. Little blood splatter preferable; if we need to assassinate, we'll do it quietly. We have the blessing of the night, a gift to the hunters, so lets stalk our prey properly."

 

With this Sirius continued to lead his group. Walking up the few meters, Sirius spotted what Visor identified. It was, like, a black sludge in essence, yet it was firm, and had that raw steak texture to it. Cold to the touch, and definitely leaving a sticky trail on Sirius' finger, he grabbed the sample and looked to the Doc. "Do you think you could contain this in a sample tube of some sort?" he asked, curious about the anomalous substance.

 

After a few moments, Sirius came to a door. Looking back to where he hoped his team was he silently signed a countdown from three, before very slowly opening the door, peeking into another corridor. A long corridor with a number of doors, a few sounds could be heard from the one after the first door to their left, rather electric, operating sounds. Beeps and boops, that sort of thing. Sirius approached the door quietly and looked to the Doc. "If you have that sedative, we can open the door quietly enough and you can leave it in the room, let it gas them up. If not that, any other ideas?"

[Astolfo]

Cael slid down the hallway and waited by the corner of an intersection going around in a u-turn before seemingly going down a ladder when he heard voices. Freezing, he motioned for the others to do the same when he heard a strange whisper that seemed to carry a heavy weight of sleep somehow and turned to see Toilet. Well… That's a pretty helpful ability. This thought was further reinforced when he heard the unmistakeable sound of people yawning with extreme tiredness suddenly. If this is really her ability, it's amazing. He listened closer to what appeared to be two armed persons patrolling.

[hr]

"Man, I'm really feeling tired for some reason." A guard yawned. The other replied drowsily, "I could just take a nap for like ever if it weren't for the fact Captain Sargrea would whup me." The first soldier suddenly brightened up briefly. "Speaking of Captain, that woman's got an ass! Mm! I would destroy that if I got the chance." Snorting, the other replied. "Such a shame she got some document or what other in her back pocket every single second of the day. What's even in that thing? Nobody seems to read it anyway." Twisting his face in thought, the first whispered. "It's some top-secret fancy-schmancy stuff the people up there know about. We're not supposed to know." Speaking loudly again, he continued. "Well, I'm out. Meet you at the mess hall."

[hr]

He sighed in relief as their squad went by undiscovered, and by sheer happenstance, they managed to discover a likely location of the dossier they were briefed on back at Luciano's. Cael didn't think the guard literally meant up there, but rather in rank. Checking with the rest of the group, he motioned that they were going to move down, whispering the information to them.

[hr]

Grappling down the stairs, they landed with a gentle thud. It wouldn't be heard normally except for the unfortunate fact a soldier happened to be walking out from a hall to the side. Cael saw a door at the far end of the hall which appeared to be pretty secure and guessed it was where the captain would probably be. They would have to deal with this soldier first and hope they don't get others' attention because that could be a pain to deal with. Cael didn't want to be all too harsh, but if he logically thought, him and Toilet were the strongest, and Vana seemed a bit weaker, and a 2 on 2 combat of sorts would be tougher to deal with while protecting someone at the same time. He imagined the soldier would pull out some sort of long bladed weapon as was a typical weapon normally. He reprimanded himself when the soldier pulled out what looked like a high-tech rifle. Of course they would. It's Rebirth's castle, or at least one of them. Why wouldn't he have good weapons even for guards? Quietly shouting, but with force, he yelled at Toilet and Vana to get ready and get ready to take cover.

[hr]

The elite soldier who happened to be patrolling around Captain Sargea's room was a veteran, and he instantly picked up his ARC-9001, a new rifle issued by Rebirth to fire pellets of metal using electromagnetic charges to launch the deadly bullets at super-sonic speeds. Even a pellet of that size could penetrate a brick wall cleanly and while it was reloading and recharging for around a minute, the man could take out his saber and fend off the intruders. The man started when he realized it was the Starfell, but upon a quick examination, one of them seemed to be younger and sort of naive. Grinning with sadistic pleasure, he aimed the rifle at the young female. I've been aching to try this new toy out. Savoring the moment, he licked his lips before gently pressing the trigger...

[hr]

Chapter 4: Arcs, A Captain, and Some Tar:

Cael assessed what was happening and he realized the veteran aimed it at Vana. That dirty bastard. Picking on the easier target. He was going to dodge around and kick the man when he saw the flash of light coming from the gun, and realized the gun's missile of whatever would hit first if he kept forward with his plan. Without thinking, he turned around and ran at Vana to knock her down and away from the bullet. "Vana!"

[hr]

[encapturer]

"My so-called sleep darts are nigh-undetectable and fast acting, but they make the victim sluggish, less alert and tired.  Makes it easier to sneak around, but it's not a surefire thing.  Plus, you know, while it can get through fabric, metal's a no go," Daena said, shaking her head. Sirius wanted options, so she figured to make her abilities known.  "As for masks, my mist should work as a makeshift substitute to keep us awake as long as I keep it doing."  Daena chuckled to herself.  "Heh.  It's actually a pretty good combination, if you think about it."

 

Daena took another glance behind her as she spoke.  No one was there; just the hallway the group came down.  Was I always this nervous? Daena mentally asked herself.  She was able to sneak about in the wilds, so what made this so different?

[a bad post]

Vana followed her two companions past the tiring guards listening closely to Cael, but not making a sound knowing the need for silence.  Grappling down the stairs they landed as a soldier came around the corner happening to hear the small noise their entrance had made. Vana backed away from the man frightened as he picked up his weapon.

 

At Cael’s warning Vana dropped to the ground hoping to avoid any shot the guard might take. As the man aimed his rifle at her Vana panicked seeing the sadistic smile on his face.  She stood there frozen in terror as the bullet rocketed straight for her head, and would have died right there until Cael’s voice cut through her fear, and as her head whipped around seeing him run towards her.

 

Her eyes widen and she knew if her got to her it would be all over, and the bullet would hit him, and was instantly on her feet. She pushed Cael back just in time to hear the bullet fly past her leaving a whizzing sound in her ears. Vana’s eyes widened at how close she had just come to death collapsing to her knees going into shock unable to control her body.

 

As she fell to the floor six small blue flames emerged from her body buzzing around Vana’s fallen body. Identifying the soldier as the attacker, and the will-o-wisps began to vibrate rapidly.  Flying towards the soldier they began buzzing around his head much in a fashion like bees taking turns divebombing the soldier. 

[Sweetie Belle]

"I can always go in and take them out," Creed remarked, turning his hand into smoke, "If someone inhales this, or if I force it down their throat, they go unconscious. Visor, how many in the room?"
 

[Four hostiles. All armed.]

 

"Seems simple enough. Just wait for me to come out, guys." Creed sublimated and slithered into the room. All four guards stood in a square formation, all facing the door. He re-materialized behind the guard furthest back. Sublimating his hand, he forced it down the guard's throat, preventing his vocal chords from properly making noise, and rendering him unconscious. He silently laid his body on the ground, and then made quick work of the second guard next to him. Approaching the front two, he grabbed them both and covered their mouths. He sublimated both hands and brought them to the ground. 

 

Creed decided to look through their pockets to see what he could get before letting his team in. He ignored the firearms; he never really cared for or needed them. From the first guard, he took a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He put one in his mouth and lit it on fire while he searched the second guard. The second guard had nothing interesting, except a small slip of paper which caught Creed's eye. There wasn't anything interesting on it; it only contained a long series of numbers. Thirty two of them, to be precise. The third guard had a key to something. It might come in handy later, so Creed pocketed it. The fourth guard had nothing of interest at all.

 

Content with his findings, Creed opened the door and waved to his team.

[ListenToLife]

"Dead men might tell no stories, but trust the professional kid; their bodies most certainly do." The Doc said, disapprovingly. He had seen enough death for a life time, as had the others no doubt. But then, there were too types of people; those who tried to avoid the killing, and those who relished in it. The relishing was not something Nicholas agreed with.

 

Nicholas nodded his acknowledgement to Sirius, the apparent 'leader' of their little group, and moved towards the strange black substance, analysing it for a few seconds, while the others talked about how to take out any individuals they might come across. Nicholas took a small vial out of nowhere. "Here, Misty. Consider it a present. I haven't totally perfected an Aerosol version of it - it works much more effectively for me when burnt - but I assume you can master it." He said, tossing the vial to Diana, before he scooped some of the black sludge of the wall, absorbing himself in its analysis.

 

Curious. Very curious. Its chemical composition appears to be like nothing I have seen before. I'll have to see if Luciano has a lab back at his. Nicholas wondered, placing a small cutting of the sludge into another spare vial he seemed to manifest from nowhere. After placing a stopper in the top opening, he replaced it back wherever it had come from, and followed the others into the next corridor, where they seemed to argue about how to take out the guards. Despite having already appeared to have decided on Nicholas' sedative, the young 'Creed' disobeyed that idea, and took his own 'initiative'; invading the room himself and knocking out all the guards.

 

The Doc sighed and followed Creed into the now unguarded room, taking a quick glance around the room before turning back to Creed. "You should be more careful - perhaps talk to us before deciding on your own course of action. You're lucky that these guys aren't as well trained as they could be." The Doc said, kneeling down next to one and checking his pulse, before lifting up a small microphone on the jacket. "See, if they had better reactions, there'd be people rushing this way as we speak. It's bad enough that these guys are blatantly unconcious; suspicious if ever I saw it."

 

Nicholas sighed again and pushed himself up from the ground. "Hence why I suggested my sedative. Unconcious people are just as suspicious as the dead. My sedative, on the other hand." Nicholas motioned towards Daena and his sedative that she now held. "That would cause them to fall into a deep and perfectly natural sleep; one that they wouldn't wake up from for the next 6-7 hours. Think next time, Goggles."

 

Done with his reprimanding, he motioned for Sirius to lead the way, exasperated at the young boy. Typical wanna-be protagonist, it seemed; always rushing into situations without thinking. This was gonna be a long night.

[Kyng's Old Account]

Sirius began to plot, walking towards the room. He smiled to Daena, she was right, quite a handy lil' skill set she had. He appreciated how she'd contribute to the team, and he had an inkling she'd be on of their stronger members at some point. Though in saying this one must remember that Sirius was no talent scout. This was a mere hunch, but this gut feeling warmed his belly. It also somewhat reminded him that he was quite hungry for a snack. At some point he'd have to stop and get some food in him.

Creed was, in Sirius' opinion, very reckless. The sheer sound from the exterior of the room alone should have given him warning to believe the room was monitored. At least he managed to execute them silently for the least, but this would not amuse Sirius in the slightest. Unbeknown to them, there was a surveillance camera fixed in the room, as it should be, The room was littered with machinery, perhaps a supply room of the sort.

Also unbeknown to them, however, there was no-one to monitor their behaviour.

Sirius entered the room and explored it, leaving the Doc to deal with disciplining Creed. Sirius frowned in contemplation, but decided he'd take a sandwich left in its box on the table. These fellows wouldn't be needing it for a while, that was for sure. Wolfing it down he took a deep breath before returning to the other three, watching the Doc before noting him looking in Sirius' direction. To this, he nodded. "Let's get goi-"

In that instance, a number of windows had been shattered, to which Sirius followed by immediately shutting the door, drawing sword and strafing the door slightly. He brought his finger to his lips for silence, before listening into the door. On the other side, nothing really, but a few eerie chirping noises. He couldn't quite describe it, but continued to listen in. With this, he began to overhear gunfire. Rebirth soldiers had moved on in.

What Sirius heard however became so audible the room would be able to hear it. Shrieks, savage ear-wrenching squawks before groans and moans, grunts and gasps, even shrieks, but the sound of man in terror. Sirius could only assume the creature had killed the man.

Then, all of a sudden, the door was rammed, and hard. Sirius was barely enough to keep it up, it was coming off its hinges in the first barge. Sirius looked to his comrades and said "Get ready: whatever this is, it is coming, fast. No mercy, kill it quick."

With this said, he parted from the door, letting it fly into the opposite wall exposing the wicked creature: it's skin was dark, slick, probably the colour of Daena's catsuit, but this creature had a moist exterior. Not just this, but the muscular mass on it was astounding, yet surprisingly agile. Immediately, after rushing into the room, it shrieked out again before leaping out towards Creed, maw wide open with razor sharp-teeth, hungering for prey.

This creature was one of the Theristes.

[Nexev]

Bad move gunny.

Bad [Redacted] move.

 

While her powers were still hampered by the goal of this mission, and her strength weakened by her loss of weapon, her hatred was not. People blew up, her pole was missing she was having a bad day. The last thing, she needed was some cocky [redacted] holding a [redacted] rifle to blow this. 

 

Of course the dude had to fire, fortunately he missed with all the grace expected of a deflated basketball but rifles are noisy so her side may well have been blown.

 

Irritating but at least she could scream.

 

Toliet rushed the soldier, breaking abruptly into a slide, toppling the soldier over, as he fell Toliet grabbed his face and slammed his head into the floor.

 

The gun clattered to the floor as the soldiers limp body lay on the ground. The man would likely survive but Toliet doubted the [redacted] would be in a position to communicate for a few days, and even then she doubted he'd get to see the field of combat ever again. Toliet frankly could care less though, some people had a life outside of violence, this man clearly didn't.

 

Toliet turned to the others. "I suggest we move. Someone probably heard the gun. We will have to find cover to see if a alarm will sound. Also we should hide the soldier and ourselves. Maybe we can prevent the soldiers from knowing where we are, force them to cover the entire mansion and thin their ranks enough to be able to ambush patrols and so forth."

[encapturer]

(Invigorating Mist is used in this post)

[hr]

"Wait....!"

 

Daena's call was unheeded as Creed entered the room to do his work.  The man is certainly skilled, as the men were dispatched quickly, but she was a little miffed that he just had decided to take them out on his own accord.  After entering the room, she was going to give Creed a piece of her mind, but it seemed like he was currently speaking with the doctor.

 

"Focus on the job," Daena spoke to herself as she began a quick the room for any further information the others may have missed, since she was sure that there may had been something Creed missed.

 

The sound of windows shattering broke Daena's concentration; quickly standing back up as Sirius closed the door into the room.  Then the strange, chirping noises.  Noises that Daena heard before.

 

Instinctively, mist began flowing out of Daena's body as she sensed the danger.  The last time she heard sounds like these, half her sect died.

 

"Not this time," she said to herself.  No one was going to die.  Not even Creed.

 

On the other side of the door, it sounded like some sort of fight.  Daena took this time to put away Doctor Nicholas' vial and swap cartridges; if this is a Therist, she'd imagine that making it drowsy would not do much.  She had no idea what one looked like, but she needed to be prepared.  She took aim at the doorway as Sirius moved and let the door fly off.

 

The thing looked like a monster alright.  Holding down the trigger to her dart gun, Daena slapped the side of the weapon with her free hand, causing a few dozen darts to fly out towards the creature.  Some embedded themselves into the creature's 'skin', though no blood came out.  Daena grunted in frustration; all those darts were just wasted..

 

Unhampered by Daena's attack, the Therist lunged towards Creed.  Daena moved a bit towards the door while keeping her sights set on the Therist.  Perhaps a different angle of attack would be needed...

[Astolfo]

Toilet had knocked the man out and for a pretty good while, but you know? It's just something about having a bullet moving 9X the speed of sound, and even if by sheer, impossible, minor chance that it happened to miss Vana's nice undamaged head, it's not going to be sorry and quiet down. With the wall behind them kind of… in need of repair, someone was undoubtably going to have heard that.

Well, unfortunately for the trio of Starfell, a certain important captain who happened to be right across from where they were was a person that heard. It also happened to be the person they came for and the person the guard happened to be… well, guarding.

The captain wasn't just a captain because she paid her way up or was born as a high-ranking officer. No, she was one of those people who lived hard and learned hard. Recognizing the sounds of - a rather quick - battle outside, she instantly drew her double revolvers which have been mildly upgraded by Rebirth's technicians to fire bolts of plasma instead of plain bullets.

With another rather handy modification, she flicked the gun back sharply to load and cock it. Setting the rather important dossier file which would be bad for her health if it got marred in anyway on her desk in her room, she then bashed the door to the side as she walked out with her double guns. The woman aimed at Vana, and the other at Cael, ignoring the hobo-like woman with just one arm or something, jerking her head off at her to shoo away.

Not caring about the fact that her guard lay right outside, possibly dead or unconscious, in a fluid movement, she took aim and fired…

[ListenToLife]

Nicholas' motion had indeed been noted, and Sirius was about to tell them all to move on, when the sound of shattering glass echoed thrugh the hallway behind them. Impressively, Sirius' soldier-like instincts moved him quickly to the door, closing it swiftly and positioning himself against it, weapon drawn. Equally impressive was both the Doctor's and Daena's reactions; the girl secreting a strange mist and prepping her weapon almost instantly, her face growing cold with that familiar battle instinct that Nicholas had seen so often.

 

The Doctor's reaction was much more defensive, moving as soon as sound ricocheted through the walls. By the time the door was shut, Nicholas had already tipped a table, forming a defensive barricade that he ducked behind, his head peeping over the top of the table. He had also managed to move it to a position where it defended two of the unconcious guards from immediate harm, if the intruder wielded weapons; he didn't want any more bloodshed on his hands. 

 

However, the sounds that followed the shattered glass put most hope of that at rest. A strange chirping noise echoed down the corridor outside, followed by the sounds of a scuffle, a conflict. Before a momentary silence, aided by a signal for quiet from Sirius. By this time, the group appeared ready for a battle, preparations being impressively handled - though, ironically, the Doctor noticed that the rash Creed had been the slowest to prepare.

 

However, none of them were totally prepared for what happened next. Sirius backed away from the door for a moment, and allowed it to go flying on its hinges, hitting the back wall. Out of the doorway emerged an incredible creature; a pitch black 'demon', for want of a better word, that snaked its way in and almost instantly lunged for Creed, emitting an ear-splitting screech as it pounced. Almost as instantly, Nicholas rose into a standing position and let loose five consecutive shots from his hand gun, each perfectly placed to pierce presumed vital spots; 3 shots to the chest, one to the abdomen, and one to the head. Just behind him was Daena, who released a flock of darts towards the creature, imbedding themselves in its 'skin'. Not one shot seemed to have an effect, but Nicholas hoped they would distract it from its hunt.

 

The doc ducked quickly and pulled out a pair of scalpels, replacing his handgun in its holster. He then pulled out a small vial with his now free hand and dunked the scalpels into the bubbling liquid, creating a rather high-pitched and annoying hiss as he removed them and replaced the stopper on the vial, putting it back into a pouch at his side. Rising again, he tossed the poisoned scalpels at the creature, one flying straight for the neck, while the other went for the underarm; the two places that, according to human biology, would be most vulnerable. He hoped that the poison - a liquified, highly-concentrated version of Necrotising fasciites causing bacteria, aimed to uickly induce almost instantaneous and extreme symptoms of the disease - would take affect, knowing that, taking affect on a human, it could take as little as 4 minutes to reduce the victim to death.

[Nexev]

Yup definitly made a scene, oh well. As the captain raised her weapons Toliet rushed her, once she passed her two comrades Toliet halted and grinned. "Messed with the wrong [redacted] laady." Toliet said as she drew a deep breath. Opening her mouth to the fullest possible extent Toliet used the full extent of her powers for the first time in a while. [Redacted] OFF!

As these words reverberated throughout the area they actual spilled out of Toliets mouth, the obscene letters quickly growing in size as they hurled towards the captain, knocking the bullets aside like flies on a car's grill. This would not be a quiet battle, but it will likely be a fun one.

[Astolfo]

The captain started when a tremendously loud and rather rude voice yelled at her, and to her utter surprise, she saw the actual words flying at her. It had already pushed her bullets to the side, and through sheer training speed, she managed to turn, but not enough. A heavy column smashed into her side, knocking her back, and the dot beneath the exclamation mark flew for her head, which she barely turned from, clipping her forehead instead, cutting open a huge gash. Rolling to the side weakly, she screamed in raw pain when the lower tip of the "C" smashed into her, tearing through her vest and uniform and ripping through her shoulder.

 

How dare they… HOW DARE THEY! I AM SENIOR CAPTAIN! NO ONE CROSSES ME!

 

Propping herself against a wall, she assessed her chances, and unfortunately, they weren't very good ones. Growling in anger, she roughly grabbed onto one of her fallen revolvers, yelling as it exacerbated the damage. With eyes bloodshot, she took aim, trying to steady her shaky hand, which threatened to drop the gun any second.

 

Just… one shot… and I can rest… DAMN IT ALL! Damn kids ruining everything!

 

Wrapping her fingers around the trigger, she licked her lips in savage euphoria as she aimed to inflict retribution on them…

 

[hr]

 

Cael calmly watched as Toilet deflected the bullets and nearly put the captain out of the game with what appeared to be - surprisingly enough - solidified words. Hoping he wouldn't have to kill unnecessarily, he sighed in relief when he saw the damage, and then groaned when he saw the captain stand back up.

 

She's tough, I gotta give her that. But the game ends here.

 

Knowing with the damage she took, she could be severely hurt or worse, but Cael couldn't take the risk of just leaving her, and aimed his quickly forming gauntlet at her to shoot a solid blow at her chest to do nothing more than knock her out hopefully.

 

[hr]

 

After a resounding thunderclap sound, Cael blinked his eyes to get used to the settings again, the blast having created a magnesium flare-esque effect. The captain was slumped over on the ground, but a cough let him know she was still alive - for the time being.

 

[hr]

 

"Well? C'mon. We got to finish this mission quick. There's already been problems. I'll get the dossier and then we need to find Sirius' team again."

 

Walking ahead, Cael carefully peered into the room the captain had left the file in for traps. He then quickly scooped it up and stored it in his satchel after doing a quick flip-through to make sure the contents seemed to be normal. Nodding at his two other group members to let him know everything was fine, he motioned for the group to make a discrete exit out.

[Sweetie Belle]

"Sleeping bodies are just as suspicious as unconscious ones. What do you think the chance of all four guards falling asleep at the same time are? Plus, my smoke inhibits the vocal chords' ability to vibrate and make noise. They could have been the best damn guards in all of Teleia and it wouldn't matter." A loud crash from outside the room interrupted Creed. Sirius held up against the door. Whatever was outside the door rammed up against it, nearly throwing it off the hinges. "Visor! Analyse!"
 
[Species data is unavailable. Gathering immediate information. Height is approximately 7.3 feet. Weight is approximately 438.7 pounds.]

Visor's reading were interrupted when the door flew off its hinges. A large, black creature flew through the new opening, its jaw open and gaping. It rushed towards Creed. Creed retaliated by sublimating and floating around the creature. He re-materialized by the door. "Visor, scan its anatomy. Give me soft spots."

[Unable to scan. No data available.]

"So useful." The creature continued its rush until it hit a large console on the opposite side of the room. It pulled out angrily, and roared at Creed. Creed drew his sword and prepared for the beast to rush again. 

[Kyng's Old Account]

The Therist's flesh had a number of these darts littered in it, dangling out as it let out its horrifying chirping again, for as Daena had predicted, this shadow creature would not get drowsy. Fact was, the Theristes could not tire. It was as if they were a bred engine of destruction, an embodiment of malice incarnate. While not invincible, they portrayed perhaps the most terrifying evil imaginable: reckless, ruthless, chaotic evil.

The Doctor had a better idea in mind. Metal launched at such high speed from his handgun, the bullets skewered into the flesh of the Therist. Unlike higher ranking counterparts, this berserker wasn't made for defensive abilities and showed this as it had crashed into the wall due to Creed's evasion. He then let out yet another shriek of rage as he began to destroy the machinery surrounding it in a fit of rage.

Sirius saw this now as an opportunity. Keeping his cool, he picked up his sword and held it in two hands, before making a dash at the Therist. In response, the creature readied itself and roared out at Sirius as an attempt to intimidate what he likely perceived as a lesser prey. Sirius, however, let out a grunt as he swung his sword straight for the shoulder of the arm that was swung out at him.

Like a cleaver, Stjarna couldn't not cut through the flesh of the Therist. As the limb hit the floor, it revealed the anatomy of this creature, which seemed to be this shadow substance, no bones whatsoever.

Sirius himself paid not attention to this. As the creature yelped out in pain he stabbed it deep in the gut, rushing it to the wall as Stjarna pinned the vile entity there. Suffering a bite in the shoulder from the Therist, Sirius remained stoic as he held the creature to the wall, barking out to the others "Finish it! Now!"