Racing the Storm

[Serris]

As the dropship began to fly off, Marion used her flying frame's engines to push her closer aboard the ship. Once she was aboard (and safely away from the various weapons mountings), she deployed her grappling spikes and latched onto the ship. Her plasma cutter lacked the power to slice through the ship's armored hull but it would pierce a thinner interior bulkhead or door with no problem.

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

Soren was sitting on the toilet and frowning. The inn the group had chosen was rather dingy with a fine layer of grey dust coating every inch. Judging from the number of armed personnel around, it appeared to be quite popular with the workers from the mining conglomerates.

Right now, he was actually surprised how violent he had become a few hours ago. If Lily hadn't stopped him, he probably would have killed Rio and went after Emilena next.

He sighed and got up; right now there were probably more important things to do.

The pipes creaked and gurgled as he turned on the hot water tap.

[bushwacked]

"Triste is fine," she said, shifting her position in the chair. She stared down at her hands, keeping quiet as someone in the inn used the taps, the water pipe's groaning reverberating through the building. Finally, it died down and Triste looked up, meeting Vergil's eyes.

"Rex was... a persuasive person," she started. "Charismatic. He had ways of twisting things around, bending the situation so people started flocking to his way of thinking. It was a... a gift, I suppose you could call it. When you were working as a double agent for us, we were... Alright, I'll admit it. We were worried he'd get inside your mind, turn you against us. In some of your communications with us, it was something even you were concerned about." Her expression darkened for a moment. "It wouldn't have been the first time Rex turned one of our agents."

She reached out and briefly rested a hand on his shoulder. "But Vergil, listen to me. You stayed strong. I can't imagine how hard it must have been... but you didn't turn against the Federation. You didn't let Rex inside your head. Right up to the attack on his ship, you were completely on our side." Triste tilted her head. "Don't doubt yourself. You'd be doing a great agent a disservice."

[Pterano]

The dropship accelerated once it had risen out of the valley and began making for the northwest, which wasn't the direction of La Paz, Bolivia's capital being further to the southwest. It was a curious turn, as the only things in this direction were Peru and Ecuador, but whatever the reason was, it seemed they weren't going back into Bolivia's interior. The dropship whined as it started making its way over the mountains and jungle, heading for its so far unknown destination.


Vergil looked up as the pipes could clearly be heard dumping their water through their innards. Jeez... was it always this noisy in the lobby? He briefly wondered if he'd made as much noise simply running his sink and flushing his toilet.

But he diverted his attention back to her as she reassured him he'd been strong, and hadn't fallen under Rex's influence. He'd maintained his loyalty throughout the mission, right up until Triste's team had conducted their infiltration and had killed Rex on the bridge of his flagship.

He relaxed visibly under her touch, and closed his eyes. "I'm... glad to hear that. I'm also glad I woke up before the Purifiers had completely erased my memory." he confessed to her here. He placed his own hand over the one she had on his shoulder, patting it, though whether this was a conscious effort on his part or not wasn't initially clear.

"So I'm thinking of booking us passage on the Bremen II, a replica of an old liner from the 30s that makes regular runs out to Voltaic Station." He held the brochure out for her to look at. "Cruise the oceans in Art Deco luxury, or so the add says. I think... I think Tony would've appreciated it." Vergil said sadly here, taking Triste's hand off his shoulder but keeping it within his own for now. "Think the government would approve of us taking first class?" he asked here, trying to put a light on the situation by offering a weak smirk.

[bushwacked]

"Honestly, I don't think the government would approve of anything more than third class travel with cabins so small you couldn't turn around without getting a pipe up the ass," Triste muttered as she flicked through the leaflet Vergil had passed her. "But I don't see those tight fisted bastards around to stop us."

We heard that.

She gave a thin smile. The ship did look pretty nice... and she figured that they'd earned a little luxury on their journey to the next waypoint. Triste glanced sideways at Vergil... and gave a slight frown as she realised that her hand had sub-consciously clasped Vergil's tightly. Loosening her grip, she dropped the brochure back down on the table and cleared her throat. "So... should we wake the others up soon? Get an early start?"

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Lily was abruptly roused from a dream of being tortured by shadowy unseen forces. She took a couple deep breaths. Her sleep had not been an easy one, and she was covered in a cold sweat that reminded her unpleasantly of the inhuman body she'd used to have.

She stumbled to the bathroom and took a cold shower. It was supposed to be a warm shower but after thirty minutes the water still hadn't risen above lukewarm.

In the bathroom mirror, she glanced at her bedraggled self. Two life-threatening events later, and she didn't seem any closer to accomplishing her goal. Ejlert Sulus North, am I any closer to finding you?

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

Emilena groggily stirred awake. What time was it?

She groaned as she got up; her legs still hurt like hell. She regarded the dim light the window was casting over the horrifically messy kitchen; looks like she managed to get up at sunrise like she hoped. But then why did she feel so rested?

Foley was still out cold; Flora had her arms wrapped around him in a spooning position, which Emilena suspected was unrequited. She staggered to the sink and splashed her face with tepid metallic water.

As she got a glance outside, she noticed with alarm that the fruit shop across the street was closed. There were no pedestrians, not even early-morning ones. Odd.

She checked on the bathroom. Flora had done a good job on the ropes; their captor was wiggling and screaming into his gag, and his eyes went wide when he saw her. She closed the door behind her.

She found Nairda lying in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the basement stairs. 'Hey, get up..." she nudged him. He didn't budge. She groaned, and fondled him. Annoyingly it was the one way he seemed to respond to stimulus.

"Oh, hey, Emi~" he muttered weakly, eyes opening a crack.

"We need to leave," she told him. She turned to go get the others.

"...Emi?"

She stopped. "What?"

"I'm...I'm sorry about last night. I really screwed up."

"You just did your normal thing," she said crossly. "I should have omitted you from the options to raid the house. I was the one who made the mistake."

"But that's the thing...I don't want to be so useless..." he ears drooped. "You know my dream is to be a rapper, but if I can't accomplish drug running...how am I going to do that?"

"Then get better." Emilena turned to leave again.

"Why can't you be nice to me?" Nairda whined, tears welling in his eyes. "You were nice to Rio last night. Hell, you're nice to the whole gang except me."

"The gang accomplishes what I tell them to." Emilena rubbed her temples in frustration and sat down. "Look. Maybe the problem is that you haven't figured out what you're good at yet. Maybe experiment and try new things. Or work at getting better at the old things. Just try to get better. Then people will respect you."

Nairda hung his head. "Okay..." he said, in a dismissive way she knew meant he wasn't going to do any of that. "Would you...karaoke with me? Just one song?"

She growled in frustration. "Make it quick. Her Majesty quick."

Nairda skipped over to the karaoke machine and queued up the R&B still in the track. "Tonight's song is for all those lovely vixens out in the audience today," he crooned in a deep falsetto. "They been spending most their lives, living in a--"

"Wait, what do you mean 'tonight'?" interrupted Emilena. She noticed the clock on the karaoke machine read 17:42. They'd all slept until sundown, not sunup!

"Everybody up!" she called, dashing up the stairs towards the kitchen. "We need to get out this town stat!"

[Nick22]

Marita stirred from the lumpy bed. she, Rose and Marie had squeezed into one bed, nearly upon arriving at their room. all three of them were exhausted and barely paused to look at the pitiful state of their accommodations before going straight to bed. Marita was still coming to terms with Tony's death, the shock of it was starting to go away, replaced by regret and deep sadness. she took a seat in a chair and looked over the window who looked out ionto the street below. ' how do i keep getting dragged into these situations?' she sighed. She promised herself she would avenge Tony, and if that meant Rio spent his entire life in prison, then so be it.

[Pterano]

Vergil seemed to become cognizant that he was gripping Triste's hand, so immediately released it when she relaxed her own grip. "Uh... yeah, sure." He smiled now, nodding. "Let's do it. We'll get them started and we'll fly to Rio to board our ship, which fortunately leaves tomorrow. So plenty of time." he informed her, giving her another nod.

Turning, he headed over to the desk to book flights and tickets on the Bremen II and make the final arrangements.


It was a day later when they boarded the sleek looking liner bound for Voltaic Station in the Atlantic. The trip would take three days, so they had some time to unwind before they reached the floating resort/mining station. The cabins aboard the ship were a real delight, a marvel of Art Deco throwback that aimed to be as close to the original as possible. While the ship may have looked like she burned oil, she had a modern engine, as oil was too scarce to be used in massive ships.

She as was close to the original as possible in design, both on the inside and outside, and provided relatively fast transport out to the station, being just one of several ships that made the voyage.

It was the first night out of Rio, and Vergil was standing outside his cabin on one of the promenade decks, taking in the warm evening air and gazing out at the vast, black expanse of the sea. It was calming to him, but he still feared the nightmares he knew were coming. He hadn't slept well last night either, despite being in a relatively nice hotel in Rio.

His dreams, or memories were now the better term, were only getting worse. He wasn't liking what he was seeing, but he had to try and stay calm, and not lose sight of who he really was. But sleeping terrified him now... as much as he wanted to remember, he also didn't want to remember as well.

Sighing, he pushed off from the railing and began slowing walking down the deck, letting his mind wander as the air caressed his face and soothed his nerves. Heading in one specific direction, Vergil turned and entered the interior of the ship, walking down the carpeted hallway, his footsteps echoing a tad as he headed to Triste's cabin. Pausing outside, the gecko rocked back on his heels a bit, rolled forward then rocked back again, forward and back, before he finally knocked upon her door.

[bushwacked]

Triste sat behind an expensive looking desk. Quiet, regular grating sounds drifted across her cabin as she drew her knife rhythmically against a sharpening stone, the edge of the blade scraping against the instrument. There wasn't really a need for it - her weapon was about as sharp as it was going to get. But she found the action helped her to relax... and right now, Triste needed to clear her head. This was meant to be a simple... or at least, relatively simple mission. Exploit Vergil and use him to reach the warship before Kalis. But things were becoming complicated. She'd known Vergil would be different, but still... something about him threw her, and she wasn't used to that feeling.

The large mirror fixed to the wall in front of the desk reflected her grim expression, and the expanse of her cabin. There could be no mistaking the large room for anything other than first class - huge wardrobe, a plush double-bed behind her, a window that stretched across the length of the cabin and gave a stunning view of the ocean. A round table was positioned before the window, and adjacent to it a drinks cabinet was affixed to the wall. To her left, a large flat-screen TV was hooked up, facing towards the bed. But Triste wasn't paying attention to any of these things. Her eyes were focused on the weapon as it grated against the stone.

Footsteps outside her door. Triste ignored them, but paused at the knock. She glanced up. It didn't sound urgent... After a moment, she sighed and slipped off the chair. She made to leave the knife on the table, then considered and slipped it back into the sheath near her wrist. Crossing the room, Triste unlocked the door and pulled it open, then tilted her head when she saw who was on the other side. "Vergil... Is everything okay?"

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

The carpeting along the ship's corridor ate away the sounds of Axel and Lily's footsteps as they made their way along the hallways to Marita, Rose and Marie's cabin. He had his arm around Lily's shoulder, and while this was partly a gesture of affection it was also to help keep himself steady as the ship rocked slightly against the waves - as they'd been preparing to go out, Axel had discovered their drinks cabinet. He'd taken perhaps a few too many sips of the whiskey.

"You know, they should really put a warning up about how strong that stuff is," he complained to her as they approached Marita's cabin, his ears drooping slightly.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Lily grinned. "Well, considering Vergil's paying for our trip over, I don't think you've had enough," she joked.

Being able to eat in fancy restaurants and enjoy the ocean had done wonders for her psyche. She'd always held a bit of a fascination for the rich life, and this cruise was the closest she'd been to really experiencing it.

But she put on a somber face. "Now, our goal in this dinner is to help Marita and her friends recover from Tony's death," she reminded her drunk husband. "So we need to very respectful for their feelings and memories."

Once they'd reached the cabin, she knocked several times.

[Nick22]

Marita opened the door after the fourth knock' Lily! Axel! Do come in!" she said warmly. ' The girls had found their room to to be quite easily the most luxurious place they had ever stayed in, with the possible exception of Don Stracci's house. the girls were starting to feel good about themselves.  there was a large drinks cabinet, but none of the girls was a heavy drinker, so they had just picked out a bottle of nice wine and took a glass each.' please, have a seat, Maries making up something quick in the microwave" Marita said.

[Pterano]

Vergil shifted his eyes to look directly at Triste's. "Uh... I wanted to drop by... see how you were doing." he informed her, shuffling his feet, and averting his eyes nervously. "Truth be told Triste... I'm terrified of sleeping. My dreams haven't been the most pleasant as of late... so maybe I'm looking for something to do before I turn in... something to avoid sleeping. Call it fear... call it... superstition, call it whatever you want, I don't know... I just want to talk to you... get my mind off things... stay up as long as I can before I sleep..." He sighed here, closing his eyes and bowing his head. "I hope I'm not intruding."

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

"Is there time to stop the microwave?" asked Lily, smiling. "I actually reserved a table for five at the Fancie D'Fare, this beautiful little restaurant just off port bow. I was thinking we could all eat and watch the sun go down."

[Nick22]

sure' Marita nodded and  motioned at Marie. ' you can take it out Marie We;re going out to eat tonight." Marie nodded and obliged by stopping  the microwave- she had just startedit so nothing was actually cooked- she had put in some hot sandwiches , akin to Hot Pockets. but going out to eat was better than microwave food." what time did you reserve the table for?' Rose asked Lily.

[Serris]

(Breman II)

Soren vomited into the toilet between profanities. He had overestimated his tolerance for alcohol by a large margin. If it weren't for the pre-cocktail alcohol metabolic enhancement pill he had taken before his drinking, he'd would have ended up in a coma ó or dead.

After yet another round of vomiting, he got up and flushed the toilet. Spitting a few times in the elegant ceramic sink, he looked at himself in the brushed bronze Art Deco mirror. The mirror was a representation of the sunrise but it had the technological and kinetic edge of Art Deco.

Staring back at him was a bleary eyed and obviously drunk black haired Human. Soren sighed and flopped back onto his plush bed.

Maybe everything will be better in the morning. He looked out at the starry sky that spread over the ocean like an artist's canvas.

-----------

(Scarab Dropship)

Marion quickly hauled herself up and out of sight as two guards hustled down the desolate metal hallway. Last night, she had managed to climb aboard and cut through an exterior door. The guard who had caught her in the act was soon swift to find out that her plasma blade was more than capable of slicing through flesh and bone.

Once the footsteps died down, she lowered herself down and retracted the cable and piton she had fired into the ceiling.

She yawned under her helmet; she had gone more than 24 hours without sleep. Nevertheless, she had a job: get Tony and any information.

The Human looked at a plaque on the wall. She sighed; the medical bay was on the floor below.

(OOC - I kind of pictured it the other way around. Synthetic algal oil was used only for heavy vehicles like large cargo ships, trucks and planes because there weren't electric motors powerful enough to move them. Oh well, I can imagine the Breman II being at the edge where electric motors are still practical.)

[bushwacked]

Triste blinked. "Oh... Well, of course. Come in." She pulled the door open fully and stepped aside, then closed it behind him after he'd stepped through. Stepping past him, Triste walked across the room and indicated the drinks cabinet and mini-fridge. "Can I get you something to drink? Or eat?"

She was trying to keep her tone neutral, her expression amiable, but her insides were knotting. It's getting worse... his memories... this is bad...

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

Axel swayed slightly as Marie walked over to stop the microwave. "It's, ah..." He raised his wrist and squinted intensely at his watch. "We need to be there in like... ten. Ten minutes." Axel nodded sagely and lowered his arm. "We should hurry, they probably won't like it if we're late." He looked around at the others and blinked, one eyelid slower than the other.

[Pterano]

Vergil headed into the cabin, gratefully accepting her offer to come inside. He walked over to the chair she'd been sitting in to sharpen her knife at her desk. The knife of course was no longer there, so he slid into the chair, threading his tail out behind it and clasping his hands in his lap as he rotated the chair around to look at her.

"Yes a uh... drink would be nice, but no thanks on the food... I already ate." he informed her, taking advantage of the free food on board earlier. "Preferably liquor as opposed to beer but... whatever you have." he added quietly.

Tapping his thumbs together, the gecko gazed across to her as she went about the task. "I know I probably received training to deal with stress on missions but... I can't remember much of it." he confessed here with a sigh. "You're pretty hardened to it it seems... wish I had your resolve." he admitted to Triste here, raising his orange eyes a bit to study her face.


The dropship was starting to descend now, having traveled a long distance to the northwest. They had arrived at the Ecuadorian capital of Quito, and were touching down on the fringes of Mariscal Sucre International Airport. In this particular corner of the airport sat a large military cruiser with Kalis's logo emblazoned on the side. In fact, it seemed Kalis's forces owned this part of the airport, judging from several military APCs driving around and other Scarabs sitting on the ground.

Varanus stretched a bit and rose from the chair on the bridge he'd been sitting in. "I'm gonna go aboard the Falchion and report. Once I get confirmation we can bring the ferret aboard, we'll do so and blast out of here." the monitor grunted, heading for the exit of the dropship as the ramp slid downward.

"Yes sir!" replied the pilot.

"Order the crew to keep an eye out... Williams failed to report in this morning... he might be drunk on duty, but if he doesn't report in in 20 minutes, go to his bunk, rouse him, and execute him if he's sleeping. I suspect we might have an intruder on board... or a traitor. Conduct a thorough sweep of this ship while I'm gone. Keep in touch."

"Will do, sir." the pilot nodded, clutching the control column to patch into the ship's communications system.

Stalking down the ramp now, the Nile monitor headed for the cruiser sitting on the tarmac, intent on reporting his success to Lord Kalis.

[Nick22]

Marie took the food out the microwave, set it on a plate and wrapped it. ' Alright, lets head out guys' She said, as Marita headed towards the door ' What name do you have the reservation under Lily?" Marita asked as she opened the door.' So we know who to tell the  person at the front desk.' Rose was the first to leave the room, she turned and waited for the others to join her.

[bushwacked]

Triste couldn't help but give a bitter smile. "You have to learn to deal with it, but... Well, it's not like I'm made of stone," she said as she reached into the cabinet and poured them each a glass of scotch. Her expression darkened slightly as she recalled some of the things her previous assignments had required her to do. "But feelings don't matter. You can't let them get in the way," she said softly. "The only thing that can count is the mission."

Shaking her head, she turned and offered him a glass, then walked over and sat at the table by the window. Taking a sip, Triste stared across at Vergil, her eyes meeting his own. There was a soft thump thump thump overhead as the ceiling fan rotated. "I know it's been hard on you, Vergil... but you're stronger than you think," she said eventually. "These... nightmares you're having... I can't imagine how terrible they are. The things you must have seen and done whilst acting as a double agent... But you have to remember, that's all they are. Nightmares." She gave the gecko an encouraging look. "And the agent I knew wouldn't let something like that deter him from his mission. Hell, you were such a bastard, the recruits were having nightmares about you," Triste added with a small grin.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

As they walked to the restaurant, Lily opened her mouth to reply but stumbled and bumped a worker who was vacuuming the carpet.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed. "Are you all right? I didn't mean to--"

The worker looked at her, bewildered, and hastily retreated from the hallway. Lily blinked a few times, confused and offended.

"Sorry about that," stated a maÓtre d' who was passing by the restaurant opening. "Madam, he was part of our Workpaid Immigration Program, and probably didn't speak English."

He explained that any worker with a yellow-bordered name tag was an immigrant paying for their transport across the ocean through working a single voyage along the cruise ship. They are not allowed to speak to passengers unless authorized to do so, and are subject to incredibly restrictive quartering and behavioral rules.

"So do not be offended," he smiled revealing gleaming white teeth. "Can I ask the name your reservation is under?"

"Whent," Lily replied, blushing. As a fugitive, she couldn't exactly go giving her real name around to cruise liners.

"Well, Mrs. Whent, let me upgrade you to an oceanside view on the deck, to make up for that little altercation. Free of additional charge," the man led the party to their table. "A waiter will be with you shortly to take your order."

[Pterano]

Vergil took the glass of scotch and swished it around, looking at it before downing the first gulp but deciding to act conservatively for the moment. Taking another swig, he let it burn his mouth for a bit in bittersweet taste before swallowing. He listened to her speak, finding himself comforted by it for some reason, but found himself skeptical of him being a bastard in training. He raised his brow, and gave her a quizzical look.

"Really? I was really that hard on others?" he asked, shaking his head. "I can hardly picture that but... I guess maybe I was, heheh. Still... funny how time can change someone... I'm more unsure of myself than anything else." He swirled the scotch around slowly again. "I've seen death before... but this was different... one of our own is gone... and it just kept reminding me of all the shit I saw in the Scorched Earth War... that was NOT a conflict worth remembering but... there it is." he said, swallowing hard.

"I wish I could be tough as nails like you, but that captivity changed me, I guess. I'm no longer that hard-boiled agent you remember me as. For better or for worse... still, how do you just switch yourself off like you do? You don't seem to get emotionally involved in anything... don't you ever get lonely, living such a life?" he asked sincerely here, and frowning a bit sadly. "I think... I don't think companionship is a weakness. I think we need at least someone to rely on in life... because I feel like I'd collapse under the strain of trying to do everything myself otherwise..." He sighed here, looking over at her. "And it helps knowing someone is out there to catch me if I fall... call me sentimental, but I don't believe we can stand on our own."