Slavegear - Part 3

(Radiance)
Radiance silently nods, flexing his fingers.

(Tarmikos)
"Maybe it's just the residual stress, but everything just feels backward here." Tarmikos said sighing "Everything's been such a blur that I haven't had time to just stop and think. Between me assaulting that guard at the mansion, Peter's outburst, and that brief moment where Marek planted some sort of command in my subconscious...

Actually thinking about that, I figured Eva sedating me stopped whatever I was going to do but there may be a chance I still have yet to act on what was planted in my mind."

Tarmikos paused for a moment collecting his thoughts, he scratched the right side of his face with his left arm. He dropped his arm shaking his head closing his eyes for a brief moment before opening them again.

"The blame being placed on Eva should be put on me. I was the one who added another stressful situation on her plate because of what I did at the mansion. I was the catalyst of Peter's outburst and not some small detail missed in a profile." he looks at the floor then back up at Ashely, his expression appearing more of a neutral-positive.

"But I suppose the past can't be changed, and all we can do is focus on the future."

(Rain, Wyvern)


The manager covered his face, cowering in fear: "I won't tell... I won't tell anyone you were here, I swear!.."

As the manager continued to quietly mumble something, you briefly notice something, in the corner of your vision. A silhouette, moving in the shadows.

It moved with fast, fluid motions and judging by its body language, it wasn't afraid.


The silhouette stopped somewhere next to the staircase, and you could have sworn you saw a slight glimmer of a white mask, hidings the figures face.
The figure raised its hand, waving you to follow, then immediately drifted up toward the roof, without making a sound.





















(Moon)


"..oh Moon.." Kaylee quietly sobbed: "...I don't know how I would've gotten through this without you.."
She slowly took a step back and smiled to you, through the tears.

A moment later, you noticed her eyes shift to the side, looking somewhere behind you. Her expression changed, her eyes became alarmed, even concerned, as she looked at someone behind you.

As you turn to follow her sight, you notice a shadowy figure, standing just next to the staircase behind you. The moonlight softly fell on the figure, slightly illuminating its features and revealing a ghostly white mask, over its face.


The figure stood there in silence, unmoving and quietly looking at you. It almost seems like its waiting for something.

















(Twilight, Radiance)


"Right" Elisabeth nodded. She and Johan broke into a slight jog, following you closely behind.

It seems the Tiara is still moving forward in a straight line. As you begin to follow it, the path leads out of the alley and into a long market place. For some reason, the man in the trench coat chose to pass through a largely crowded area.

You notice numerous stalls on both sides of the market, offering small trinkets and souvenirs, exotic food or the new trending drink. It became a bit hard to move, as you were forced to dodge the crowd of people, slowly browsing the market stands.

It seems there's so many people here, its becoming hard to keep track of each one of them.


"...he took us to a highly crowded place.." Elisabeth quietly called to you: "..perhaps he thought he could loose us in the crowd? But that would imply he doesn't know about the tracking spell. As long as the spell is working, we will know where he's headed, even if we loose sight of him, right?

So what spell did he detect, when he scanned the Tiara? Did he detect a spell at all? It was a little odd, the way he left. I was sure he realized something..

....Please stay on your guard.." She said, squinting into the crowd ahead.


The way forward seems to lead to an even larger market square. The crowd there was significantly bigger.

// Hey guys, sorry for the late reply, just wanted to let you know that the Group Photo of our characters is almost done!
I don't want to jinx it, but if all goes well, the group picture should be done by this Monday evening, if not sooner ^^

If I'm late on replies to the rp, its cos I'm drawing  

The picture's almost done, can't wait to show you guys ^^

"Kaylee, what are you.......?" she turned around and saw the figure before freezing. Her eyes scanned the area before she slowly drew her sword, the blade glistening in the light. A glint of red was in her eyes as she stared at the figure, waiting for it to make the first move.

Rain lets her draw down. She huffs knowing just who it was...

She nods, "Good... Dont make me come back..." she starts to the staircase, "oh harle... What are you doing here?" she climbs up to the roof taking a quick look around, "hello? Harle?"

"He's aware of it, that's for sure. I think he's going to test out how much range it has. This is not good... Maybe he'll try to set it off?"

She groans as the massive crowd stands in their way.

"Anyone got an idea?"

Kaylee Brown wrote:(Rain, Wyvern)


The manager covered his face, cowering in fear: "I won't tell... I won't tell anyone you were here, I swear!.."

As the manager continued to quietly mumble something, you briefly notice something, in the corner of your vision. A silhouette, moving in the shadows.

It moved with fast, fluid motions and judging by its body language, it wasn't afraid.


The silhouette stopped somewhere next to the staircase, and you could have sworn you saw a slight glimmer of a white mask, hidings the figures face.
The figure raised its hand, waving you to follow, then immediately drifted up toward the roof, without making a sound.





















(Moon)


"..oh Moon.." Kaylee quietly sobbed: "...I don't know how I would've gotten through this without you.."
She slowly took a step back and smiled to you, through the tears.

A moment later, you noticed her eyes shift to the side, looking somewhere behind you. Her expression changed, her eyes became alarmed, even concerned, as she looked at someone behind you.

As you turn to follow her sight, you notice a shadowy figure, standing just next to the staircase behind you. The moonlight softly fell on the figure, slightly illuminating its features and revealing a ghostly white mask, over its face.


The figure stood there in silence, unmoving and quietly looking at you. It almost seems like its waiting for something.

















(Twilight, Radiance)


"Right" Elisabeth nodded. She and Johan broke into a slight jog, following you closely behind.

It seems the Tiara is still moving forward in a straight line. As you begin to follow it, the path leads out of the alley and into a long market place. For some reason, the man in the trench coat chose to pass through a largely crowded area.

You notice numerous stalls on both sides of the market, offering small trinkets and souvenirs, exotic food or the new trending drink. It became a bit hard to move, as you were forced to dodge the crowd of people, slowly browsing the market stands.

It seems there's so many people here, its becoming hard to keep track of each one of them.


"...he took us to a highly crowded place.." Elisabeth quietly called to you: "..perhaps he thought he could loose us in the crowd? But that would imply he doesn't know about the tracking spell. As long as the spell is working, we will know where he's headed, even if we loose sight of him, right?

So what spell did he detect, when he scanned the Tiara? Did he detect a spell at all? It was a little odd, the way he left. I was sure he realized something..

....Please stay on your guard.." She said, squinting into the crowd ahead.


The way forward seems to lead to an even larger market square. The crowd there was significantly bigger.

"Well you better keep to that promise, because otherwise we'll be back, and we won't be as friendly next time" Lord Wyvern tells the manager.

(Wyvern)

"I swear! I won't tell anyone!" The manager mumbled fear: "No one will know you were here, I promise! .. I rather not have my station trashed again by commandos" he emitted a nervous laugh.














(Rain, Moon)

In the ominous moonlight, the figures peculiar clothing cast especially bizarre looking shadows, upon the surface of the rooftop.

Harlequin was quietly standing, just on the edge of the rooftop. Her hands were lowered, her palms empty.
You can't seem to spot any obvious weapons on her, but Kaylee still wearily squinted at her, then moved closer to Moon and quietly whispering:

"..be careful. We may not see it, but trust me, she's armed... all her weapons are concealed.."



If Harlequin heard the comment, she didn't show it. She just continued to patiently wait, until Rain came up to the rooftop.
Then Harlequin made a slight nod and looked at everyone:

"...Rain Runner.. Moon Dusts... Kaylee Brown.." she quietly spoke: "..I wasn't sure you would come...
After you left the mansion in a helicopter, I knew you were being supported by someone powerful. I just didn't know by who.
Having such resources at your disposal, you coming here was a logical posibility, even if a small one"

She paused, visibly blinking: "..my orders to arrest you, have been temporarily suspended. I'm currently back to my prime directive, finding Slavegear.

... you were spotted on security cameras, at the HGTS tunnels in Artemis, a few hours ago. You were seen going inside, then leaving.
If what you said at the mansion is true, I can only conclude that you are looking for Slavegear as well.."
















(Twilight, Radiance)

Johan thought for a moment, then quietly called:
"..maybe we could fly, continue the pursuit through the air. It should help us avoid any obstacles on the ground"

Elisabeth slightly grimaced: "..he'll spot us for sure if we fly. There's not many places to hide up there. Apart from the addboards maybe.
Also I'm an earth pony, someone will have to carry me.. I mean I'm short 'n thin and all but, can't imagine I'll be very easy to carry"

You briefly sence the Tiara getting further and further away, into the thick of the crowd.

She nodded slowly, still holding her sword tightly in her hand. "Yes, we are" she said quietly, looking over Harlequin, as if assessing her. Moon blinked and tried to figure out where her weapons were before looking back at her face.

(Rain, Moon)

As you carefully look at Harlequin, you suddenly understand the second purpose behind her disguise.

Her peculiar outfit seemed not only to hide her identity, but also subtly cover the possible places, where the weapons could be.
Her wrists were slightly covered in feathers. Parts of her outfit had unique ornaments.

She could strap several knives to her wrists or her foot, and they would never be visible.



Harlequin waited a moment, before she continued:
"... I was hoping we could make a sort of trade... a trade of information...
If you could tell me what you've learned about Slavegear, I can give you something that may help prove your innocence.."






















(Tarmikos)

Ashley waited a moment, seemingly thinking, before she replied:
"You don't have to worry about Mareks programming. Dr. Zarovee found a way to completely stop and prevent any mind control in the future.
Even if Marek tries to give you another command, it won't work. You're completely and permanently free of mind control."

She looked around and nodded toward one of the doors in the hallway:
"Dr. Zarovee's office is right through there. You should talk to him.. he can help"

She looked at you: "If you have any questions, I'll try to answer them. Otherwise I'll be heading back to the command room.
Dr. Zarovee is expecting you"

"Taking the skies sould be handicap, even if he somehow can't see us."

She looks a bit around, and sees Radiance. Her own words then echo in her head.

"Handicap... Can't see us..."

She gains a devious smile, and she rubs her hands together.

"Radiance, if we throw red sauce in your face, can you pretend that your eyes are wounded, somehow? Maybe they make way for an injured pony that need to go to a doctor ASAP."

She then looks away, more serious. "Hope that's the way things work here..."

She turned to Kaylee and whispered "Do we trust her? If we don't, there's a high chance she'll attack, and I'm not good enough to win a fight against her."

Rain takes a step forward, putting away her bow and leaving herself unarmed as she approches the dangerous figure... She leaves a few feet between them, "how can we know that you will actually give us this information?" she crosses her arms and meets her eyes, "i mean... I dont know if you will actually give this to us..." she falls silent a moment, "Three of your best knives... On the ground and i will do the same... Meaning im leaving myseld unarmed... And you would have to draw somthing that your not used to drawing..." she draws her estock and lays it flat on the ground in front of her. "Deal?"

(Radiance)
He gives Twilight a smirk "Well I am already halfway there, the scarring around my eyes have would make the illusion more believable."

Radiance pulls the bandages off from his eyes "We should coat these as well, bloody bandages are usually a sign of major blood loss. It should make the crowd move out of the way even faster.

(Twilight, Radiance)

"It should work.." Elisabeth said, thinking:
"...it will make a lot of ambient noise though. He'll know that we're getting closer to him"

















(Rain, Moon, Wyvern)


Kaylee continued wearily squinting at Harlequin, and quietly whispered to Moon:
"... My information could be wrong, but from what I heard, Harlequin is a cold blooded assassin. She may not have a moral compass. I don't know if I can trust someone like that.
... also...what she's offering us, it sounds like classified information. She wouldn't reveal us something like that, unless her employer ordered her to"




"Please do not worry about that.." Harlequin suddenly called aloud and Kaylee visibly shrunk in size. It seems Harlequin heard every word, even though Kaylee was whispering.

Harlequin quietly blinked and continued: "...My Master authorized me to conduct this trade. Please do not worry.."





She then looked at Rain Runner and nodded. Very slowly, Harlequin extended both of her hands, pointing them downward.
Two knives slowly fell out of her sleeves and into the palms of her hands. She slowly crouched down and placed both knives on the ground, then reached with one hand behind her back and pulled out a longer knife, laying it also on the ground.


After that she took a step back, away from her weapons and quietly spoke:

"...please understand, if I wanted to harm you, I would have never revealed my position.
The dark halls of the radio station, were an ideal ground for an ambush.
I chose to discard that advantage and alert you to my presence. I was hoping it would prove my intentions.."

Twilight rubs her chin, complentating the new info.

"Perhaps, but he must be already aware of something here. And if he gets too far, he'll never be able to leads us to her."

She looks around for some red fluid, looking at her hand too.

~Would it be okay to cut my own hand or wrist for this plan?~

Rain sets her stelleto and bow on the ground and steps back as well, she huffs and nods, "so this deal..." she raises an eyebrow at her, "you have somthing that can prove their innocence..." she bites her lip holding her tongue a moment choosing her words, she takes an arrow from her quiver and idley twirls it in her fingers... A habit she had picked up from the stelleto and somthing she now did when in thought, "you see... We dont know the actual location of slavegear just yet."

she closes her eyes a moment, "only a little lead on where it might be..." she looks to Harle once more, scanning her color paterns and looking at that mask of hers. "now i want to prove their innocent unlike a fair amount of people... As much as i would love to trust you Harle, how can we be sure that this trade off is worth it... Finding slave gear is one of our main objectives at the moment and id prefer the information be worth it before I make a trade..." she frowns and looks at her weapons.

Run with the information and leave the weapons... Or just tell her once she gets it. Rain lets out a gentle sigh, "If Kaylee and Moon are willing... If you give us what is promised... You have my Vets word that you will get your side of the deal."

The mare chuckles, "i mean... Think about it... If you were dealing with an assassin who could seemingly dissapear in an instant you would want your side first."

Kaylee Brown wrote:(Wyvern)

"I swear! I won't tell anyone!" The manager mumbled fear: "No one will know you were here, I promise! .. I rather not have my station trashed again by commandos" he emitted a nervous laugh.














(Rain, Moon)

In the ominous moonlight, the figures peculiar clothing cast especially bizarre looking shadows, upon the surface of the rooftop.

Harlequin was quietly standing, just on the edge of the rooftop. Her hands were lowered, her palms empty.
You can't seem to spot any obvious weapons on her, but Kaylee still wearily squinted at her, then moved closer to Moon and quietly whispering:

"..be careful. We may not see it, but trust me, she's armed... all her weapons are concealed.."



If Harlequin heard the comment, she didn't show it. She just continued to patiently wait, until Rain came up to the rooftop.
Then Harlequin made a slight nod and looked at everyone:

"...Rain Runner.. Moon Dusts... Kaylee Brown.." she quietly spoke: "..I wasn't sure you would come...
After you left the mansion in a helicopter, I knew you were being supported by someone powerful. I just didn't know by who.
Having such resources at your disposal, you coming here was a logical posibility, even if a small one"

She paused, visibly blinking: "..my orders to arrest you, have been temporarily suspended. I'm currently back to my prime directive, finding Slavegear.

... you were spotted on security cameras, at the HGTS tunnels in Artemis, a few hours ago. You were seen going inside, then leaving.
If what you said at the mansion is true, I can only conclude that you are looking for Slavegear as well.."
















(Twilight, Radiance)

Johan thought for a moment, then quietly called:
"..maybe we could fly, continue the pursuit through the air. It should help us avoid any obstacles on the ground"

Elisabeth slightly grimaced: "..he'll spot us for sure if we fly. There's not many places to hide up there. Apart from the addboards maybe.
Also I'm an earth pony, someone will have to carry me.. I mean I'm short 'n thin and all but, can't imagine I'll be very easy to carry"

You briefly sence the Tiara getting further and further away, into the thick of the crowd.

"Good man" Lord Wyvern nods and makes his way back up to the roof. He stops and hides just behind the door to the roof as he overhears the conversation between the others.

// Hey guys, apologies for the poor image quality. The website seems to be messing with it a bit.
Here's another link to the picture, it seems to have a bit better quality.


https://i.servimg.com/u/f37/19/43/09/60/the_rp22.jpg



The characters in the picture:
From left to right, top row:  Firewing, Councilor Mercer, Wyvern Lord, Moon Dusts, Johan, Radiance, Tarmikos
Bottom row: Twilight Sparkle, Kaylee Brown, Rain Runner



I've also uploaded the higher quality pictures of the characters, into the Art section of our forums. Here's a quick link to the thread:

https://ultimate.forumotion.com/t21-rp-party


^^

//That is awesome!

(Tarmikos)
"Nothing I have to ask right now can be answered, at least not yet." Tarmikos places a hand on the door turning back to Ashley, "Until next time", then pushes his way into the office.

Tarmikos takes a brief moment to examine the room.

//awesome =)

She gently slid her sword away,but kept a small piece of rope wrapped around the handle of the sword, which in turn was tied around her wrist, hidden by the sleeve. Moon clearly didn't trust her, but decided talking would be good. "Right,let's talk"

// Thanx guys, I'm glad you liked it ^^

Sorry for the late update, I started the training in the hospital again and it really burned me out >·<



(Twilight, Radiance)

You notice a fast food stand, a few meters away. It seems they have a bottle of ketchup on it.
The crowd here is pretty thick. You begin to notice a few people who seem to be openly staring at you.
Elisabeth frowned, she seems to be extremely uneasy. Johan is closely following you and wearily looking around.















(Rain, Moon, Wyvern)

Harlequin seems to nod in understanding.
You note that her mask looks pretty thick, its seems there may be a layer of thin armor in it.
You also notice a very small trail of smoke, slightly rising from the side of her mask, just barely visible. You only noticed it, after looking at her for so long.
Did she have something electronic inside the mask, that got fried by the EMP?

Harlequin waited another moment, before she continued:
"...you mentioned earlier that you were mind controlled, during the events of Slavegear. The reason why no one believed you, was because mind control technology doesn't exist. Its unheard of.
And Marek is no scientist. He couldn't have developped the technology.."


She paused and blinked: "I found proof that mind control does exist. It has existed for some time..

...For the past 40 years, Nyx was enslaved by a country named Bellona. Bellona' Masters typically resided in private mansions, built inside Nyx territory.
One such Master was Alfred Bricgstow.

He was a scientist, specifically reaserching the rapidly developing field of cybernetics.
It was rumored that he had lab, under his mansion in Nyx. It was rumored that he was looking for a way, to take full control of his slaves. Complete and total control of their minds. An ability to issue verbal commands, that his slaves would understand and carry out with maximum precision...
The technology of Mind Control.."



"Lovely.." Kaylee hissed with a scowl: "What happened to him?"

"He's dead" Harlequin simply replied: "He died in a freak accident.
It appears there was a gas leak. His entire mansion exploded, killing everyone inside... surprisingly enough, none of the batpony slaves were harmed. They were not in the building at the time.

In the end, the mansion burned to the ground. The lab and all research of Mr. Bricgstow had turned into ash. No one could say for sure, what he was working on down there, we only had rumors, and now that his research was burned, no one would ever know"



"..well, that's convenient" Kaylee slowly said, thinking:
"Gas leak accident... sounds like Marek helped that 'accident' happen.
He could have gathered his Vampire Unit, assaulted the mansion, stole the research and blew the whole thing up, completely concealing his tracks.
He would have the means to use mind control and no one in the world would know"



Harlequin nodded: "A likely hypothesis. But there was no proof. Until now..
I have with me a set of classified files, that prove beyond a shadow of doubt, that Alfred Bricgstow was developping mind control.
The files are yours, if you can give me all available information on Slavegear.
Please do not worry, my employers city' was destroyed by that machine. He wants it stopped, just like you..
And the classified files I have on Bricgstow, should be the physical evidence you need, to prove you were acting against your free will.."

Rain still stands in front of Harle, she looks back at kaylee, seemingly at a loss for words... Half of her mind yelling at her to not trust harle. The other half telling her to tell her. And a third party wanting to ask the assassin to join the group.

Rain remains silent for a long moment, her eyes followinh the smoke that came from Harles mask. Rain didnt think much of it. Shes seen masks of all diffrent types, harles was probably equiped with what an effecive assassin would find useful, like night vision, a facial recognision system, possibly a GPS.

She bites her lip, "im sorry... I cant think..." she looks to kaylee almost asking for help. Rain seemed Off, Nervous almost. Anyone could tell somthing was bothering her.

(Rain, Moon, Wyvern)

Harlequin seems to be patiently waiting, standing perfectly still and looking at you through her mask.

Kaylee slightly nodded to Rain, giving her a calming expression, then called out to Harlequin:
"...your.. employer... he's from Artemis, isn't he? Someone of influence?"

Harlequin thought for a moment, before responding:
"... the Union intelligence reports seems to believe so"


"Can your employer acquire.. say... security camera footage, covering a whole city? A city in Artemis?"


"Perhaps.." Harlequin quietly said: "..why?"