Slavegear - Part 3

Kaylee Brown wrote:(Moon, Rain, Wyvern)


"I don't mind.." Harlequin quietly replied to Rain.

Kaylee fired her flare gun, and a red flare shot into the sky. Several moments later you noticed a helicopter, descend out of the cover of clouds and begin its approach toward you.

The area around you seemed clear. As you scan the surroundings one last time, you don't notice anyone near the radio station for miles.


A few minutes later the helicopter finally reached your position and leveled itself next to the rooftop. Kaylee slid its door open and waited for everyone to climb inside.
Harlequin gingerly stepped inside and took a seat at the far corner.
Penny climbed in shortly after and went to speak with the pilot.

Before closing the door, Kaylee took one last look at the roof to make sure everyone was on board, before she closed the door and the helicopter tilted, quickly ascending toward the cover of clouds.


"The other group must be still in the middle of their mission" Kaylee called over the roaring engines, as the helicopter made its way through the sky:

"We'll regroup with them first, help them out if they hit any trouble, then we'll head toward the next objective together"



Penny returned from the cockpit and looked at everyone in the passenger seats:

"We just got word, there was another incident in Nyx.
Another Artemis building was attacked. Heavily civilian casualties, all were Artemis citizens. And just like last time, no one actually saw the attackers.

Artemis is about to send even more troops into Nyx, to ensure the safety of its citizens. I fear if another attack like this happens, Artemis will issue martial law inside Nyx...


In an unrelated incident, one of our informants spotted Marek, inside Nyx's capital city. Marek was seen moving a large shipment of cold weapons there, before he disappeared again. From the looks of it, Marek is gearing up for war"



Kaylee frowned, slowly exhaling: "..this is getting out of hand. As soon as we regroup with the others, we're heading into Nyx.
Whoever's behind those attacks, they are killing civilians. We need to find out who it is and put a stop to it, before Artemis and Marek provoke each other into open war"




"No!" Harlequin suddenly exclaimed. She was quietly sitting in the far end of the helicopter all this time, but after Kaylee finished speaking, Harlequin called out in an extremely alarmed, worried voice:

"Kaylee Brown, everyone, you must not go back into Nyx!" Harlequin called, intently looking at you: "... I'm.. sure the Artemis forces will take care of the incidents. There's no need for you to go... If you do.. it.. won't end well... nothing good will come of it...
Please, do not go into Nyx!.."

"You mean the Artemis forces will deal with it the same way they dealt with previous incidents?" Lord Wyvern retorts.

(Moon, Rain, Wyvern)


Harlequin looked away. She seems uncomfortable.
After a moment she slightly inhaled, as if about to say something, then stopped and went quiet again, seemingly unable to find the right words.

Twilight took a moment to meditate, focussing her thoughts on her position and the movement of the Tiara. She opens her eyes, and points in the direction of the device.

"That way, hurry! I'm losing connection to it, and the trap already went off!"

She heads in that direction, running a fast as the area lets her.

"If you don't spit out what's wrong, I'll have you know I'm fully capable of casting mind reading spells." she scowled and leant back. Well, it was half true. The spell wasn't quite perfected, and it drained far too much energy, but Moon was a good liar. Her fingers twitched and she fixed Harlequin with a glare.

(Moon, Rain, Wyvern)


Harlequin quietly sighed and looked away: "..Moon Dusts, I urge you not to cast that spell, for your own sanity's sake..
I've said my peace" she collected her arms on her lap.













(Twilight, Radiance)


The market streets became a little bit clearer, after the fighting incident. It seems many have witnessed the fight and did their best to get out of dodge. The few people you do run by, look at you with unhiden fear and make themselves scarce.

The market street eventually ended, leading to a living district. There were much less people here. An occasional car passed through the street nearby.
You feel the Tiara slowing down a bit, but still continuing its advance. It began slowly zigzagging through the area, as if its holder began making his way through numerous back alley streets.

As you continue the pursuit, you slowly notice how the houses around you slowly became more and more grand. Exotic decorations and facade began to appear on them more and more. It seems your heading into a more richer part of town.


Elisabeth was following you with a stone cold expression. Her face slowly began to resemble a gloomy rain cloud.

Johan was running behind you, on a fair distance away. He keeps throwing worried glances at Elisabeth from time to time. It looks like he wants to speak with her, but every time he looks like he's just about to, he backpedals and looks away.


After over ten minutes of running, you suddenly feel the Tiara slow down and come to a complete stop.
As you take in your surroundings, you notice that you've reached the edge of town. Several villas seem to be dispersed throughout this area, standing on large, empty patches of grass.

You vividly sense the Tiara in one of those villas.


The building looks modest. Not too grand or too simple. In the dead of night, you don't see anyone standing around it. Most lights inside it are switched off, most windows dark.
Only two of the windows show a faint glow, as if that of a candle.

The area seems quiet. The ambient noise of the city barely reaches this district.

A cold gust of wind blew by, making Elisabeth shiver. Johan is still throwing worried glances at her, hesitantly rubbing his fingers.

(Tarmikos)


"I understand" Dr. Zarovee nodded with a small smile: "I'm glad to hear that you feel an improvement"

He smiled and slowly extended his hand toward the two chairs, standing nearby:

"Why don't we have a seat" he nodded to you:

"Tarmikos, I need you to know that my door is always open. If you ever need any help, or if you need someone to talk to, I will be here for you" he smiled:



"... a lot of things happened in the past few days. Even much more for you. You jumped from the Mirror Incident, straight into another ordeal.

If you don't mind, I wanted to hear your thoughts on what happened. If there's anything that's been bothering you, anything you'd want to talk about right now, I will be here to listen"
He released a small, encouraging smile.

Twilight looks at the place, racking her brain.

"It's in there, I can feel it. And while it's dark, it's not quiet. They must be talking by now."

(Twilight, Radiance)


"Come on. Lets do this" Elisabeth waved you to follow: "I doubt that guy knew he's been followed all the way out here. He would have never led us to this place if he knew. He probably only picked up on the stun spell, when he scanned the Tiara.

Lets go, we can probably get in through one of the windows. Find Priscilla, cut her dumb head off"



"Elisabeth!" Johan exclaimed, horrifying.


"I wasn't serious. I'm sorry" Elisabeth looked away: "... its just.. people like her make my blood boil"

"What sanity?" She mumbled quietly, so quietly that only the person next to her was likely to hear. She twitched a little.

Rain sits silently, just listening, "from what I have seen from the nyx there is plenty of abuse going on there... Harle why musent we go to nyx? Clearly somthing is going on there that you know about." she looks at her through that mask, "we need a better reason not to go other then its a bad idea Harle." she crosses her arms

Twilight rubs her chin.

"I understand why you hate such people. They're not my friends either. People in positions of power tend to be accused of certain immoral behaviour, and people like her only work to confirm it. It's disgusting me too..."

She shakes her head. "It might be possible he was aware of it, but missed the exact range of it. Unless we know for sure what it is..." Her voice trails off, before going up again. "... Those thugs, were those standard procedure or could they have been called for us alone?"

firewing11 wrote:Rain sits silently, just listening, "from what I have seen from the nyx there is plenty of abuse going on there... Harle why musent we go to nyx? Clearly somthing is going on there that you know about." she looks at her through that mask, "we need a better reason not to go other then its a bad idea Harle." she crosses her arms

"Especially since it's never stopped us before" Lord Wyvern adds.

(Radiance)
"With the ease we took them down, I'd lean more towards them being standard. Priscilla also strikes me as the type that thinks her ego alone will win her battles."

(Twilight, Radiance)


Elisabeth nodded: "It was probably standard procedure. I don't believe a single man would be sent to retrieve something so precious as the Tilerium Tiara. Its likely the thugs we took down, were watching over the deal and once they realized that we intend to follow the Tiara, they intervened"

She looked toward the villa again. It seems to be located just across the road. Not many cars seem to be passing by and the villa's surroundings appear to be empty.

"Come on.." Elisabeth waved: "We should finish here quickly and-"


Your earpiece radio suddenly goes online and Kaylee's distorted voice begins to speak in your ear:

"...-ou copy?... Rad-....   Twi, do you copy?
This is Kaylee, we completed our objective early, and are en route to your position via helicopter. What's the situation down there? Where will it be safe for us to land? Over"



















(Moon, Rain, Wyvern)


Kaylee slowly placed her hand on Moons shoulder and quietly asked: "...Moon?.. you okay?"


Harlequin sighed, sitting in silence for a moment. Then looked at you through her mask:

"... I can only say that... if you go to Nyx.. you may be dragged into a conflict you do not desire... if that happens... there will be no victors in that battle... only misery for all..."

She looked away: "I'm sorry... I am not allowed to say more...
But... please try not to think of the Artemis military as.. evil... there are good men there as well. Those who care about the people they meet and genuinely want to protect them, with all their heart.

...Rain Runner is an Artemis soldier.. and you trust her, don't you?... There are others like her in the Artemis military... please trust that they will do their best to solve the growing conflict in Nyx...

Do not go there... it.. may not end well..."




Kaylee frowned and crossed her arms: "...so we're just supposed to sit back and do nothing, while innocent people suffer? I'm sorry, I can't do that. After we regroup with the others, we're heading to Nyx."


Harlequin didn't respond, just continued to quietly sit in the corner. Even hidden behind her mask, her body language still vividly transmitted her emotions. She was sad.
A thin, barely noticeable trail of smoke still raised from the side of her mask. She raised her hand and began digging at the side of her mask, until she pulled out a small electronic device, that was the source of the smoke.
Its unclear what it is, but it looks to be almost half melted. Harlequin looked at it, then discarded it out of the helicopter, through the tiny opening in one of the windows.



Kaylee looked outside through the window as well and quietly said:
"...we're almost at the location where the second group was dropped off. Let me see if I can reach them on the radio to rondevu"

She clicked on her earpiece: "Elisabeth, do you copy?... Radiance, Twi, do you copy?
This is Kaylee, we completed our objective early, and are en route to your position via helicopter. What's the situation down there? Where will it be safe for us to land? Over"

Kaylee Brown wrote:(Moon, Rain, Wyvern)


Kaylee slowly placed her hand on Moons shoulder and quietly asked: "...Moon?.. you okay?"


Harlequin sighed, sitting in silence for a moment. Then looked at you through her mask:

"... I can only say that... if you go to Nyx.. you may be dragged into a conflict you do not desire... if that happens... there will be no victors in that battle... only misery for all..."

She looked away: "I'm sorry... I am not allowed to say more...
But... please try not to think of the Artemis military as.. evil... there are good men there as well. Those who care about the people they meet and genuinely want to protect them, with all their heart.

...Rain Runner is an Artemis soldier.. and you trust her, don't you?... There are others like her in the Artemis military... please trust that they will do their best to solve the growing conflict in Nyx...

Do not go there... it.. may not end well..."




Kaylee frowned and crossed her arms: "...so we're just supposed to sit back and do nothing, while innocent people suffer? I'm sorry, I can't do that. After we regroup with the others, we're heading to Nyx."


Harlequin didn't respond, just continued to quietly sit in the corner. Even hidden behind her mask, her body language still vividly transmitted her emotions. She was sad.
A thin, barely noticeable trail of smoke still raised from the side of her mask. She raised her hand and began digging at the side of her mask, until she pulled out a small electronic device, that was the source of the smoke.
Its unclear what it is, but it looks to be almost half melted. Harlequin looked at it, then discarded it out of the helicopter, through the tiny opening in one of the windows.



Kaylee looked outside through the window as well and quietly said:
"...we're almost at the location where the second group was dropped off. Let me see if I can reach them on the radio to rondevu"

She clicked on her earpiece: "Elisabeth, do you copy?... Radiance, Twi, do you copy?
This is Kaylee, we completed our objective early, and are en route to your position via helicopter. What's the situation down there? Where will it be safe for us to land? Over"

"We understand that there are good men and women there" Lord Wyvern says "It's just that few if any of the people in overall charge are under that category."

She looked at Kaylee and blinked, before staring out the window. Her fingers curled and she said, almost in a whisper "Everything's fine" she replied.

~Hmmm, not unwelcome, but not a great timing.~

She presses on her earpiece. "Twilight here. We've lost hold of the tiara, but we were able to follow and discover where it was held. Elisabeth can give you better direction on where to land. Be careful, we've need to break in there. Over."

Rain watches Harle, she couldn't wait to get back to Base... Rain moves over and sits next to Harle. She was a bit nervous to ask, "u-uh... I have an extra bed in my room... I-i'm thinking you can skip the whole room thing a-and stay with me..." she looks around to everone else, "s-so i can watch her... M-make sure she doesnt do anything."

(Moon, Rain, Wyvern)

Lord Wyvern wrote:"We understand that there are good men and women there" Lord Wyvern says "It's just that few if any of the people in overall charge are under that category."

Harlequin went quiet and didn't reply. It seems she can't find what to say again.

MoonDusts wrote:She looked at Kaylee and blinked, before staring out the window. Her fingers curled and she said, almost in a whisper "Everything's fine" she replied.

Kaylee looked at Moon for a long moment, before she quietly whispered:

"..listen... if.. you ever need any help.. with.. anything... if you ever need someone to talk to.. I'll be here okay?" she released a small smile.

firewing11 wrote:Rain watches Harle, she couldn't wait to get back to Base... Rain moves over and sits next to Harle. She was a bit nervous to ask, "u-uh... I have an extra bed in my room... I-i'm thinking you can skip the whole room thing a-and stay with me..." she looks around to everone else, "s-so i can watch her... M-make sure she doesnt do anything."

"Its kind of you to offer, but I'm afraid it won't be possible.." Harlequin quietly replied and briefly looked at Kaylee.

Kaylee was watching Harlequin like a hawk and nodded after a moment: "...she's right. I'm afraid we can't bring Harlequin back to our base. As no doubt she figured out, we are a part of an organisation that prefers to remain hidden.
No one can know the location of our base. And it goes double for Harlequin, since we do not know who her.. Master.. is, and we don't know his agenda.

We can't risk it. We can't compromise the security of our base and the safety of its personnel. Until we know who Harlequin answers to, our base is off limits to her.
If we ever head back to base, I'm afraid we'll have to drop her off somewhere, beforehand"

(Everyone)


In the following minutes, Kaylee and Elisabeth spent talking on the radio, sharing information and planning the best location for the chopper to land.

After some time, the helicopter finally descended on the outskirts of a large city, its engines working at the bare minimum, to minimize the noise of its presence. It touched down in the middle of a grassy plain, almost five hundred meters away from a series of villas nearby.


Kaylee jumped off, waving everyone to follow her and broke into a quick jog, until she reached the second group; Twilight, Radiance, Elisabeth and Johan.


Penny stayed back in the helicopter, and after a few moments the chopper took off into the air again and disappeared into the nights darkness.



As the two groups were reunited, Kaylee released a tired smile and waved to everyone:

"Hey guys, good to see everyone together again. Everyone alright?" She asked with an encouraging smile.


As she talked however, you notice a new figure, walking in close proximity to Rain Runner. The bad lighting of the street lights obscured the figure in shadows, but as she got close, you slowly recognized who it is.


Harlequin, was walking with the group from the helicopter, following Rain Runner and staying close to her.
Kaylee appears to be aware of Harlequins presence, but doesn't seem to be too alarmed by it. At least on the surface.

Kaylee Brown wrote:(Everyone)


In the following minutes, Kaylee and Elisabeth spent talking on the radio, sharing information and planning the best location for the chopper to land.

After some time, the helicopter finally descended on the outskirts of a large city, its engines working at the bare minimum, to minimize the noise of its presence. It touched down in the middle of a grassy plain, almost five hundred meters away from a series of villas nearby.


Kaylee jumped off, waving everyone to follow her and broke into a quick jog, until she reached the second group; Twilight, Radiance, Elisabeth and Johan.


Penny stayed back in the helicopter, and after a few moments the chopper took off into the air again and disappeared into the nights darkness.



As the two groups were reunited, Kaylee released a tired smile and waved to everyone:

"Hey guys, good to see everyone together again. Everyone alright?" She asked with an encouraging smile.


As she talked however, you notice a new figure, walking in close proximity to Rain Runner. The bad lighting of the street lights obscured the figure in shadows, but as she got close, you slowly recognized who it is.


Harlequin, was walking with the group from the helicopter, following Rain Runner and staying close to her.
Kaylee appears to be aware of Harlequins presence, but doesn't seem to be too alarmed by it. At least on the surface.

"Penny not coming?" Lord Wyvern asks Kaylee.

(Everyone)

"She was needed back at the base unfortunately" Kaylee nodded: "There's a lot of us together on this mission, so she had to go back to base for another assignment"

She looked around: "Okay, so, what's the plan? We still need to find and arrest that war criminal, Priscilla Ealhhere. She was one of the Masters from Nyx, that somehow escaped and went into hiding"


"Yeah" Elisabeth nodded and pointed at one of the villas ahead: "..Its possible she's inside that building. We didn't see anyone outside. Most windows in there seem dark. Not a lot of activity going on. We need to infiltrate that villa somehow"

As the new group arrives Twilight first nods as an acknowledgement they're here. When Harlequin joins the scene, her brow furrows, and she takes a step back, pointing in their general direction.

"Guys, explain to me what she's doing here? Because I don't think this scene is trustworthy."

Kaylee Brown wrote:(Everyone)

"She was needed back at the base unfortunately" Kaylee nodded: "There's a lot of us together on this mission, so she had to go back to base for another assignment"

She looked around: "Okay, so, what's the plan? We still need to find and arrest that war criminal, Priscilla Ealhhere. She was one of the Masters from Nyx, that somehow escaped and went into hiding"


"Yeah" Elisabeth nodded and pointed at one of the villas ahead: "..Its possible she's inside that building. We didn't see anyone outside. Most windows in there seem dark. Not a lot of activity going on. We need to infiltrate that villa somehow"

"Have you guys checked the locks on the doors and windows yet?" Lord Wyvern asked.

"Breaking in shouldn't be that hard" she mumbled "Should be pretty simple. Also, best assume she has weapons in there." She stared at the building