[System]
PERSONNEL FILE

{ Alexander Washburn }{ 199680 }

---

General Information
age:// Twenty-four
birth date:// April 12th
gender:// Male
occupation:// Florist

---

Biologyheight:// 6'3
weight:// 196 lb
hair color:// Blonde-brown
eye color:// Blue
tattoos, scars, piercings:// He got his appendix removed. Does that count?

---

Psychologyability:// Troubadour trash.

personality:// Alex is the kind of person who most would see as kind of a dick. He's a shitstirrer, and he has been all his life. He is also very proud of his shitstirring skills, and puts a stupid amount of effort into keeping every joke, every insult, every single negative comment unique and interesting. He likes to think he's not too bad as a person though, because for every insult targeting someone else, he'll brutally rip into himself with even greater cruelty. Along with that, once he's decided he likes you, he'll gladly wield his insults in your defence. Only he can insult his friends, after all!

Other than that, there's not much to say. He's an unapologetic superhero fan and degenerate weeb, working in his ex-military grandfathers flower shop, being the old mans only living relative and vice-versa. The two insult each other near constantly, but in reality they are about as close as a grandparent and grandchild can be, as he'd raised Alex since he was just two years old. Unlike many people raised by veterans, Alex has a tendency to get scared quite easily. While insults tend to help him get by, it's pretty rare for him to go into an actual dangerous situation without some plan or assurance that he's either strong enough to win easily, or of an escape route he can use.

Finally, he has a bit of a smoking problem. It tends to just calm his nerves a little, letting him get past his fears and anxieties to really focus on saying something clever, or finding the right loose thread to pull.

family history://
* Anthony Washburn, Grandfather, alive, no abilities, lives above his flower shop in New York.

---

Miscellaneous InformationGot beat up fairly often before he was captured by Paragon, due to his mouth getting him into trouble.

Is a surprisingly talented illustrator.

He really hates those idiots who wear glasses without lenses because they think they look cool. On an unrelated note, he also despises Ryan Gosling for reasons he refuses to elaborate on.

[User]
SAGE

---

"Now just hang on a moment there Elliot Rodger, I know you're the closest we have to the plucky teenager of the group, but if you think you'll be able to talk to the guy after he's been taken away by the guards, then I've somehow been giving you too much credit this whole time. At best, they call you a retard and turn you away without beating the shit out of you. At best. Besides, we probably won't even have to do anything. In comics, this kinda shit usually works itself out."

Though, Alexander said it in the most wordy way possible, he had a point. There was absolutely no way that Sage was going to get close enough to Roger that he'd be able to speak to him about his visions and no amount of conspiring with these assholes was going to change that. Though, he couldn't help how glum that made him feel. It was hard to hear about someone having visions and know that his own visions were unreachable at the moment.

He couldn't help but find himself hyper fixating on this isshe like an ache in his tooth. He had once had visions constantly and taken them for granted, they'd sort of fucked him up in a way but they were still his visions. No matter how gritty and bloody that those visions got, they were his to bear and he liked having them. They made him special, they set him aside, it may have not been an overt power or a dangerous power but it was his.

Without those powers, he felt sort of useless.
He drove his fist into the table, glaring up at Alexander, because if all else fails, take it out on Alexander. "Oh, would you shut up? I'm an adult, Goddamn you! I'm a full fledged fucking adult!" and his voice was starting to rise, "I know it makes it easier for you to cope or some shit by pretending I'm your teenager little brother that you can just bully whenever you get bored but-"

His outburst was cut short by the sound of Kennedy raising his voice to confront the staff at the Paragon. He was initially taken aback by the sound of the man yelling, his voice cut through the tense air immediately. It was hard not to be startled, the old professor was usually so mild-mannered and yet... yet something seemed very staged about all of this. Sure, Kennedy seemed passionate enough, sure, he was being loud and assertive, sure but there was a gleam in his eye.

Suddenly, Sage understood and all was right in the world. Kennedy was being dragged off but Sage was just starting to get comfortable again, he had not eaten his slop just yet but he was feeling satisfied. Kennedy was goimg to get the information that they all wanted, he had done it in the only way possible. He'd thrown himself into isolation, it was a move that Sage was going to congratulate him on later.

A new tone was taken with Alexander, this one amused and placated like a child that had inevitably got his way. Even if it was at the cost of a friend. "Nevermind my outburst, feel free to continue being an absolute douchenozzle."

He focused his attention back on the rest of the surrounding attendees, his mouth daring on a smile, his voice is kept very quiet. "Does anyone want my tray? I'm not very hungry and I'm thinking that we should mull over what just happened while we still have some time."

[Assistant]
No, no, no, it's too messy. The pieces don't fit properly. Ivory thought irately, staring off blankly into the direction that Jock Teach was dragged. Although she seemed passive as usual, her mind was racing at the glitch she was seeing before her.

Why would Jock do that? Why would he purposely try and get thrown into solitary? Because despite my own distaste towards his type, he is not a complete idiot so...

And just then, it occurred to her.

Her hands clenched her book tightly before she finally closed it a bit more softer than even she expected. Ivory's eyes moved away from the door to the table, more specifically to the only person she actually somewhat enjoyed that could give her answers in a manner she could stand. Although, judging by some of their faces, she'd perhaps be right in assuming that this plan of Teach's wasn't shared to the rest of the Scooby Gang.

Didn't we just agree not to get involved in this? They are either going to get caught and given extra 'treatments' for their insolence or, and this is very possible, they'll be killed for conspiracy to escape. We do not want to deal with that right now.

Ivory chewed roughly on her lip, just barely not ripping the delicate skin. She, of course, knew that if she got involved with them, she could be getting herself the kind of attention she really does not need but...

I doesn't have to work with them, really. I just want answers. I'll talk to Sugar Cookie and see if they are in on the plan. If they aren't, I'll leave them be and wait to talk to Teach myself to see what he found out from Roger. I mean, come on. That is obviously what he's doing and considering the guards just escorted him off, it only serves to prove the idiocy of those that are 'above her'. Ahem, that aside: If they are in on it, I'll at least work on extending an olive branch to Sugar Cookie now rather than later. I only hesitate to do it regardless due to the fact that, if Teach is killed or ends up permanently locked in Solitary Confinement or, worse, ends up being interrogated before being subject to one or the other, I don't want any ties to the group. Just thinking logically here.

This all took about 30 seconds to roughly come together into some semblance of a plan and, before she realized it, she was on her feet. She got a few looks before they all eventually looked away, Ivory once again glad for her ability to remain under the radar. Leaving her book in her seat, she quickly and rather silently made her way to the Mystery Gang's, casually snatching a chair from a nearby empty table on her path.

Setting it down behind and a little to the right of Sugar Cookie's – ah, well, Fey's – chair, she pointedly cleared her throat, face decidedly blank to not gain much attention from anyone looking in. After all, this isn't the first time she's talked to someone else (Fey being the only one, actually.) so her behavior should be seen as rare but not out of character. Of course, this is the first time she'd been around other people while with Fey but hopefully they'll see her exceptionally stiff posture and understand that she is not there for them and is uncomfortable with even being around others.

"What's the deal with Teach?" She quietly asked once she'd gained Fey's attention, not in the mood to beat around the bush. All she wants is the truth so that she could decide her next course of action.

[User]
Fay

---

Fay had managed to smile back at Kennedy when had sat back down. She was gratefull he stayed with her, and with his behind placed firmly on his chair, Fay's anxiety she didn't notice was there faded away. The last thing they needed, was for their group to split apart. She tuned out Alex as he talked and talked but instead kept her eyes on Kennedy as he was visibly thinking about something, hard.

"Sorry about Rogers little scene everyone he's been moved to solitary confinement so he shouldn't be bothering you all anymore."

Fay did not hear Conrad come back into the room to explain the situation. It wasn't an explanation in any case. It was sweettalking the situation. The young woman took her eyes off Kennedy and looked up at Conrad. She bit her lip. He confused her. There was something about him, something that seemed off. Nobody can work here without atleast some disagreement with what was going on, what was being done to them. Fay had seen it in him. She saw pity in his eyes sometimes. She didn't need it, but he had it. She saw it especially when she asked him to find out where her brother is. He said he couldn't, but his eyes said something else.

But now, as he stood here before them, almost without emotion when talking about solitary confinement, Fay started to dislike him. Which for Fay, is a lot. She was so caught up in her thoughts, she barely registered Kennedy whispering.

"I'll find out what I can, just wait until then and don't make any waves, got it?"

The young teacher visibly jumped in her chair and let out a small yell as Kennedy slammed his fists to the table. Her eyes opened wide and she looked up at her friend. Her breath got caught in her troath as he grabbed a tray and threw it across the room. Kennedy, much like herself, never really got mad. Yet he was saying the things he must've bottled up, he was saying what they all were thinking. Heck, Fay bet even most employees tought the same.

The short woman couldn't grab onto Kennedy's arm this time, as he took steps towards Conrad, who looked at him without much emotion in his eyes. He was gonna get in trouble. Fay's mind started to put the pieces together about Kennedy's plan, but she hated it. Hey eyes frantically searched for someone who can help him. They started to drag out Kennedy, and Fay pushed forward, tugging on the arm of the guard, who casually pushed the small woman away. She didn't care what Kennedy is planning, she didn't care that it was an act, she did not want him to go.

Fay was always postive, kind and liked to look at life with hope and a bright outlook. But certain things made that possible. She feared losing her friend Kennedy would make her give up. Somewhere inside, she knew she couldn't stop this. Kennedy had to do this, this was their best shot. But sitting at the table doing nothing would not be her natural reaction. It had to seem, natural. She noticed she was playing along. She grabbed onto a strong arm of an orderly, only to be promptly pulled off by Conrad. She was no match for any of them, and they did not see her as a treat in any case. Usually this was annoying, now it was a good thing.

Frantically, Fay turned around and looked up at Conrad, her hair wild and in front of her face. Her usual soft, bright and slightly angled eyes were wide open and a fluid build on her waterlines. "Conrad, you can't do this. You can't!"  She beat on his chest but it had little to no effect. He just spun her around and gave a push in her back, making her go back to her table. As she walked back, she eyed Sage with a knowing look and sat back down as the doors to the common room closed.

The tears were still resting on her waterline as she sat down and listened to Sage speak, she nodded at him and noticed Ivory taking a chair and sitting down next to her. She smiled, happy that Ivory chose to walk up to them. She looked over her right shoulder towards the blonde woman. She grabbed a piece of bread from Sage's tray and pretended to be casual, while eyeing Ivory, who had quite a stiff composure at the moment. "He.. he told us to keep low. He was gonna.. find things out." She whispered and took a bite of the piece of bread.

[Assistant]
"Wow, rude..." Alex said, leaning back in his chair as Sage called him a douchenozzle. "And here I was trying to help you... Of course, Kenny got there first, which was probably a better outcome for everyone, but I figured I could goad you into trying to fight me and ending up in the same situation... Seriously though, kids these days are so ungrateful..."

Before he could do much else though, he noticed that the girl who never seemed to talk to them had arrived at the tables, talking to Fey and asking about Kennedy. He listened in, before sighing when he realised how genuinely worried Fey sounded.

"Alright Fey, listen. I know you're worried about Ken, but he's a big boy. He knows what he's doing, and I'm sure things'll be just fine. So let's all just calm down, don't worry too much, and see how things play out, hmm?"


[System]
* Age: 24
* Appearance: Her practically universal attire. Aside from that, Ryuuko is unusually tall for a Japanese woman, and the kimono only somewhat succeeds in hiding her surprisingly ample curves. What cannot be seen is the clearly defined muscles the girl has--nor the sprawling tattoo that prohibits her from going many places in Japan less dressed.
* Personality: Superficially, Ryuuko appears to be a polite and congenial girl, mild in attitudes to a fault and a prime example of what every Japanese lady should aspire to be, by tradition. It isn't a fully manufactured façade; she places a high importance on her duty to her family and the skills demanded of a former head. It simply happens that one cannot be the future head of a yakuza family without some of that civility and good nature being a deliberate manufacture. Indeed, although she finds killing to be a matter of last resort, this is hardly from some moral consideration--all things considered, deaths attract suspicion and waste a potentially valuable resource.
This affected attitude is more than just a social convention, it's a method for suppressing strong desires to act at the other end of the spectrum--violent, brash, and hedonistic. Though she denies the impulses and refuses to act on them, she still takes pleasure in fights and keeps a very tight reign on her temper. Maybe it would be easier to simply express herself, but that would cause a loss of face even before the trouble itself started up.
Her likes and dislikes are simple: she dislikes shoes, hates roller-coasters and Toshiko's driving, and likes both sake and traditional styling in copious amounts. Outside of this and practising her skills, Ryuuko finds that little catches her interest and tends to be blatantly apathetic to it.
* Abilities: Ryuuko's first and foremost skill is her swordsmanship. Without this, her offerings to Fu Sonzai no Gensō would be completely non-existent. She has the ability to win tournaments with ease, if she would restrict herself to using the correct forms, but finds them to be completely wasteful. Where other children had friends or hobbies, Ryuuko had training with the blade and for her future role. Predominantly accomplished fighting with the single long blade, she is also versed with a shorter sword, a dagger, paired blades, and iaijutsu. Rounding out the skill set--at her mother's insistence she hone all the skills of a samurai--she's also got basic competence with the spear and bow.
Magically, she is a novice relying on Toshiko's training. Though an affinity for Void is an interesting, albeit highly negative, one with which to work, her presence at the agency is more for her own magical education than to provide her services--she has no need of the job. Her sole magical ability is the very most basic reinforcement.
Her physique, impressive as it is, doesn't come from the same sort of diligent training most would have to put into it. Though her denial of the impulses that come with her heritage prevents her from benefiting in most manners, being a hanyou still causes her to retain a far better figure in most regards with only her normal practice.
She also has a driving license.
* Equipment: Unless she wishes to owe her father special favours and call in her family's resources, Ryuuko has a simple tanto hidden in her obi and an heirloom sword. Forged by youkai, her father passed it down early as it does not suit his fighting style, and the blade is near impervious to any form of damage. It goes by the name of Yama-no-Hone-no-Tsurugi, which hints somewhat at what might have gone into manufacturing it...
* Brief Backstory: On one side of her family, she claims descent from the original Miura, and through them back to the Taira and Minamoto, and from there all the way back to imperial lines. On her mother's side she claims descent from... well, her mother claims to be the Shuten-Dōji but there's no way of verifying that. This is simply the most pronounced the family's mixed involvement in mundane and supernatural affairs, making her the first heir in the family with such direct involvement in both sides, though all have been raised in the knowledge that a supernatural world exists. However, she doesn't depart from tradition to not train the heir in magic or the supernatural until their basic education has completed--sufficient to run a major operation which works in the criminal underground on both sides of the border.
Being the heir to a yakuza clan with such a traditional background has its advantages, even though it harmed her ability to make friends or the like. With private tutors and no distractions, she graduated from the top of her class and entered into Todai, studying classical Japanese literature and learning how to manage business affairs in her own time. It was upon graduation that it was considered time for her to embrace her magical heritage, with her father seeking out someone willing to train one with such a materialistic and unsavoury background in exchange for money or--in this case--her services to the agency.
This delay in training is implemented for practical reasons, as any family head of theirs will need a wide set of skills to thrive in the difficult environment, but also from a belief that their affinity will show through stronger and manifest efficiently if left alone to adulthood. With Ryuuko's apathy to that beyond her narrow interests, it might be accurate indeed.

[User]
Ryuuko took a look at the complicated design, then the sheet of paper and pursed her mouth in thought. It was complicated, certainly, but some of the skills her family had pushed her to work more on made sense in light of her need for magical as well as mundane education. Calligraphy, for instance, not only served to indicate her refinement but to make the replication of a design like this simply an extension of abilities she already had.

Not that she was entirely happy about having to do it with something like chalk.

Soon enough, the sound of chalk clicking against the blackboard replaced the opulent quiet of the dining room, the humble sound of the circle's faithful replication being almost entirely out of place in such lavish surroundings. Pouring molten gold into marble etchings would really have been a better flavour for this house.

[Assistant]
Toshiko watched her pupil carefully. Indeed, this seemed like a case of Ryuuko's skills perfectly playing into the task at hand. Replicating a magic circle was really not far outside of calligraphy. As a result it wasn't too long until they had a full circle.

"Now, Ryuuko-san," Toshiko began, "Our first order of business is to place the scrap of ofuda in the center of this circle. The scrying circle will be able to take the information it needs from it in order to locate our target, but you'll need to provide the activation mana."

There was no vocal component to this spell, as the circle did most of the invocation work itself.

[User]
All she had to do was feed mana to the circle? Hopefully, Toshiko would get around to some explanation of the design at a later point; knowing how to use a spell but having no idea what it was--or how to tell it apart from something of similar operation but vastly more danger--seemed to be a rather big risk to take.

So, place the ofuda in the circle--a quick flick of her wrist was enough to pull the shred of paper from Toshiko's fingers and allow it to float into position--and then feed mana to it. Repeat the same visualisation exercise from earlier, her fingers forming a bridge for mana to be sucked down into the circle. The circle that, in its own way, knew more about what was going on than the apprentice herself did...

Hopefully, this worked in a manner she could make sense of the results.

[Assistant]
"Admittedly, we're relying on some assumptions here, that they haven't somehow placed defenses to block scrying. But if they're attempting to avoid too much attention..."

The chalk was suddenly filled with a silvery light, travelling slowly along each line. Eventually, the entire chalk outline was glowing silver, and the symbol seemed to be pulled inward from the center, each layer of the circle descending further then the previous. Finally, at the bottom, the center circle grew translucent... and was abruptly filled with greyness.

"It's attempting to pinpoint their location," Toshiko explained, helpfully. "Any moment now... and..."

The grey was quickly proven to be a cloud layer, as their viewpoint rapidly rushed through it. It gave an unnerving sensation of falling when directly looked at. Below was what was an obvious aerial view of the city, becoming larger and larger as the scene rushed up to greet them. Suddenly, their viewpoint halted, and jerked to the left sharply, before giving the both of them a view of what appeared to be a somewhat dilapidated apartment building. It was in a rather more run down area of the city, buildings that were due for, but had not yet been, demolished. The viewpoint sank lower, sinking through the roof...

"When is our client going to be here already?!" one voice, squeaky and high-pitched, whined. The Japanese was fluent and there was no hint of an accent, but it belonged to a short blonde girl. She was resting on what was a remarkably preserved couch, one foot bare, elevated, and bandaged. "Waiting this long in a crappy place like this is just ridiculous. We can't even get any good wards set up here! Jeez!"

"They said they might not be able to come very fast," responded the other girl, taller and with black hair, "So just try and relax. You should be glad this room has a nice couch."

"Hmph, relax... my foot still hurts..." the short blonde continued to complain, "Stupid maid..."

The taller black-haired girl paused for a moment.

"... Do you feel like you're being watched?" she asked, looking about. The blonde sighed.

"What, do you think there's ghosts now or something?!"

"No, I-"

It was about then that the scrying spell reached its limit, fading away into regular chalk once more.

[User]
Confirming the identity of their culprits was nice, though Ryuuko wasn't paying too much attention to them (or even the successful spell, though it was nice to succeed) instead focusing on their surroundings. The scrying hadn't given an aerial view for long but she was confident that it was enough... she'd seen enough maps of Kawa. It helped to keep up to date on where her family was doing business and one of their more legal ventures was specifically in buying up and replacing dilapidated property.

Not that everything that happened in the meantime was legal.

"Ando-san, I know where this building is. It's certainly in the New Development district." the purple-haired girl stated, referring to a place that had been 'new'... after the war, though the name was going to be accurate again. Not the exact street address but finding a large apartment wouldn't be difficult at all--if their quarry was even in the same building when they got there, "Will you need directions?"

For once, Toshiko's horrifying driving would work in their favour.

[Assistant]
"No, I think I know where this is, too."

Toshiko quickly informed the family of what they were doing, and hurried out of the mansion. There was no time to lose, the longer they took, the more of a chance there would be that the client who had hired the thieves might show up, and that would mean there would be much less of a chance of recovering the vase.

The trip to the New Development district was... intense. Toshiko's remarkable ability not to get pulled over for dangerous driving was absolutely a factor in their safe arrival, as was the fact that many other drivers were terrified to be near the vehicle that could quite possibly kill someone at any moment. And yet, the made it their casualty-free.

The building was tall and decrepit. An apartment, most likely, that had never had any real inhabitants. Though someone had lived their at some point, if the couch was any indication.

Toshiko swiftly pulled her car up, and moments later got out. From what she could detect, there was nothing out of the ordinary. However, this was a conflict between those people who could use the existence known as magic. Caution could not be forgotten. Toshiko placed one hand in her pocket as she approached the front door. The chains keeping it shut had been broken.

"Ryuuko-san, stay back until I've checked the entrance," Toshiko began, as she approached the doorway, "There's no guarantees that it's not tra-"

Suddenly a series of symbols lit up around the doorway! Toshiko barely had time to tug something from her pocket before there was a high-pitched whine and-

The doorway exploded, and flames immediately engulfed Toshiko. Her form vanished in fire and sound, entirely obscured from view for a few scant moments... even after the fires cleared, smoke and dust rendered what had happened completely invisible for a moment...

Until a reddish glow became visible as the smoke cleared.

Toshiko stood, one arm covering her mouth, the other holding up a burning piece of paper. A rune was scrawled on the charm, and soon enough it burned away. With it, the red-tinted cage of light that had formed around the redheaded mage flickered out of existence.

"Damn it, it was longer range then I thought!" she snapped, craning her neck to look back at her student. "Ryuuko-san, there's no time for us to take it slow any longer, they must know we're here! Follow me!"

[User]
As usual, Ryuuko coped with her tutor's abominable driving by closing her eyes and focusing on other things, like trying to examine her limited knowledge of magic to prepare for the possible battle ahead. Keeping an eye out for inscribed symbols, ofuda, and focusing on avoiding palms to the face in particular stood out as useful approaches given the known abilities of their adversaries. This seemed like a conflict where traps would be a particularly large problem...

As proven when Toshiko boldly made her way forwards and nearly got herself set on fire. Even though such an anticipated trap wouldn't take out her teacher so easily, her heart jumped to her throat before the smoke cleared and Ryuuko's expression was reined in, the swordsman having removed her sandals and the socks beneath. Better to fight when she could feel and grip the floor directly.

"Ando-san, might I remind you that if I stay behind, my main skill here is useless?" she said, producing her blade and holding it in a semi-guarded position, stopping behind the redhead for a moment, "My survival ability isn't so little that I need be rendered ineffective by staying behind you."

The apprentice continued on, accepting the risk and looking ahead for signs of something simply out of place by its sheer orderliness in this abandoned apartment. Ryuuko was confident in her ability to survive even if she missed something: her sword would endure the more focused attacks and, from her experience earlier, it felt like she might be able to disrupt the worst of less distinguishing traps if Toshiko failed to react in time.


[System]
Characters:

Age: 17

Arcana: Chariot Arcana

Personality: Despite being a bit tomboyish and being a bit stubborn, she goes out of her way to help others and defend those who are otherwise defenseless. No matter if the situation seems hopeless she never backs away and willingly throws herself in danger if its to help another. After finally obtaining freedom in Warakuma, her actions are seen as crazy or a bit eccentric but is generally well-liked amongst the students, especially the girls, some of which see her as their one true 'Prince' for how she would 'swoop' in and save people from unruly situations and managing to keep her cool is stressful situations. Though, in normal situations, she'd occasionally let her true feelings show and drop her facade.

While she enjoys fighting, she'll rarely instigate a fight, choosing instead to come in the defense of others. She is quite the Otaku, despite being strictly watched, she used to sneak in mangas behind her fathers back (with the help of her brother) and watching whatever she could. She'll do whatever it takes to live life the way she wants it and won't let others dictate her life for her.

Equipment/Skills:* Mangaka
* Brawling
* Affinity with swords, especially the Katana

Background:
Hailing from the Ikebukuro area, Akane is the daughter of the Saito Group's head, Akihiko Saito, a crime boss. While she was pampered and spoiled, in a way, like you'd expect of a daughter of a crime boss or anyone who had it big, she never got it easy despite being the youngest, she has an older brother who is 7 years older. From the moment she turned 6 her father took it upon himself to 'toughen' her up by always putting her through rigorous training, regardless of whether she wanted it or not, with good intentions of course (not matter how cruel it seemed at the time). Like his father and his father's before him, it was tradition to have the 'family' involved in the family's line of work but that wasn't the only reason. Knowing the target that'll most likely be on her head once she got older, because of him, he wanted Akane to be able to defend herself in case anything were to happen to her.

Of course, She didn't see it that way and, naturally, slowly started developing an intense hate for him. In her junior high years, she held high marks, and was quite popular among the other kids in the school, as she was always surrounded by a 'flock' of people. Though 'popular', she drew the scorn of many who believed she was stuck-up, selfish, a thug and a matter of labels, mainly stemming for the fact of who her father was, despite showing otherwise. Regardless of how she was seen, she'd go out of her way to help others whenever she could, whether it was stopping thugs, giving others food or helping with small things. Though, no matter her intent, people would often run in haste from her after words or react harshly to her help but she resolved to help anyways despite this.

By the time it was her third year of junior high, her father, despite the training, tried to interfere more in her life, trying to stop her actions and get her to focus more on the 'family' and control her actions. Having enough, without his knowledge, she applied to various schools a good distance away from Ikebukuro hoping to get a fresh start. It didn't take long before she was found out and, of course, her father was furious, intending to enroll her in an elite school and groom her, with the intention to marry her off. However, as she neared her 15th birthday, those 'plans' came to a screeching halt when things went seriously wrong in a 'rescue' of one of her friends.

Before things could get worse, her Akito intervened and whisked her away to an lesser known location. Relocated to Warakuma, in an apartment building owned by her older brother, she was now living alone, and to dissociate her from the Saito Group, she adopted her mothers Maiden name of 'Hanazawa' while also dying her hair a purplish black.

Persona: Setanta

Appearance:

Cú Chulainn or known in his childhood as 'Sétanta' is an Irish Demi-God, the offspring of a mortal woman, Deichtine, the younger sister of King Conchobar mac Nessa, and the deity, Lugh, the god who governed over the sun and a member of the Danann divine family in Celtic Mythology. Deichtine, the daughter of a druid, Conchobar's father, and Maga, the widow of Ross the Red, disappeared in the Land of the Young without marrying anyone. There, she bore Sétanta , the child of the sun god. He took up the name Cú Chulainn after accidentally killing the guard dog protecting the house of master blacksmith Culann. After which he uttered, ""Does this dog have children? If he does, could you allow me to take care of them? I will raise them to be guard dogs just as strong as their father. Until then, I will be your guard dog."

It was prophesied that "this child will live as a hero" at a young age by the Chief Druid, Cathbad. Cathbad was powerful, with his divinations being strong enough to "determine the future" rather than simply "see the future." Not knowing how to handle the situation, he decided that he would tell it to only those who would take up arms on that day. The divination was bad enough that none of them attempted to go through the rites of warriorhood, though Cú Chulainn was fishing while leaning against a hazel tree due to his disinterest. He went through the rites of warriorhood on that same day, and received the prophecy that said "in exchange for glorious deeds of valor, his life would be short." He readily accepted such a fate, smiling and laughing.

Command Skills

Kill Rush (2)
Vile Assault (3)
Matarukaja (2)
Rakukaja (1)

Passive Skills

Resist Physical (1)
Firm Stance (2)
Apt. Pupil (1)

[User]
Ayano Wakahisa: Crypt of Hopes and Dreams
13/6/2015, Saturday

It wasn't long before the giant fell with the combined efforts of the team, Ayano was glad and sighed with relief. All that was left now was for Alexei to accept his true feelings. Watching the scene unfold, the girl is reminded of her own experiences and silently cheered on Alexei, if all of the others could accept themselves, then he should too! Suddenly, a familiar blue light began to envelop itself around him and a smile formed on Ayano's lips, thankfully he was able to realize that he and the shadow were but one being and the monster from earlier transformed into a new source of power.

There was a brief pause and Ayano was half expecting Alexei to fall down and faint like she did but that never happened, which struck her as odd. Another that struck her odd was the fact that there was another person in the dungeon, Alexei's sister. She scratched her head, it seemed like their little expedition wasn't over just yet. The party raged on, the dungeon becoming dull and bland as they advanced and Alexei had certainly gotten the hang of using his persona in just a short while. Finally, they reached the end point of the dungeon, a feeling of uneasiness coursed throughout Ayano's body...What was waiting behind this door? Some kind of super boss that you always encounter at the last minute? And if it was Alexei's sister, whose to say she doesn't have a shadow of her own? The thoughts just made her shudder but the party moved on regardless and what greeted them was something unexpected, to say the least.

Ayano Wakahisa: Crypt of Hopes and Dreams - Empress' Tomb
13/6/2015, Saturday

With what little information they knew about the cultists, Ayano was just in a state of shock and awe...These are the guys that were responsible for kidnapping all of them? But, they looked just like your Average Joe's...Were these really the ones behind all of the terror surrounding Warakuma? She couldn't believe the feed she was receiving on her screen, the other's were just as shocked as she was, if not disappointed. One of them ordered to stay put but Alexei rushed recklessly to save his sister but Ayano's attention shifted focus to a disgruntled voice in the same room, it was another cultist, his voice shaky and looking like he was about to convulse. With an agonized cry, the man fell to the ground and what erupted was a shadow?!

"What the?"

The thing charged at them but was quickly struck down by Alexei and the other cultist and Alexei's Sister fell to their knees. Ayano blinked once and twice, looking at her screen and trying to process the events that just transpired but nothing made sense anymore...

Ayano Wakahisa: Abandoned Warehouse
13/6/2015, Saturday

The two cultists from earlier were escorted to the authorities by Rui and Kami, and Alexei's sister was delivered to the hospital. After a brief moment of respite, the two returned to report that Alexei stayed in the hospital as well, collapsing from the exhaustion as well. With the formalities over the group began to discuss what the hell just happened earlier in the dungeon. Sure, this was a huge step forward for the team in terms of investigating the cult but all it did was just raise more questions...

What were these cults after? What is their real motive for kidnapping them? Is it some sort of philosophical or religious quest about teaching people to look inside of themselves and accept that they truly are monsters inside and learning to overcome this? All of it was just too much to handle, thinking about it more just caused Ayano's head to hurt. The day concluded with Kami telling everyone to go rest and Ayano couldn't be more glad to hear that. Still, it wasn't bad for the first day on the job.

[Assistant]
Mako Moritomi//Warakuma Hospital
Sunday, June 14, 2015

==~==

Mako paced around the hallways of the hospital, trying to work out his next order of business. He'd finally established that he needed a broader perspective on his hunch, which was why he was here- he needed to find out who else was involved in this business of saving the kidnap victims, if indeed it was as organized as he assumed it to be. Without enough evidence, Sato- and anyone else whose involvement he'd uncovered- could just dodge his questioning all day long. Which would be a downer, to say the least.

If this really is the destiny that that Blue Lady keeps talking about... if I'm meant to help save these victims, then I need to prove I can handle it, first. And therein lay the real reason he'd been pursuing this so doggedly. The slim hope that this was actually something to do with that dream he'd been having since he first got to Warakuma. The chance that he wasn't just incomprehensibly crazy, that there was actually something greater past all this dream fuckery. So, he waited. Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long. Shirohane-san, from his class, had just arrived at the latest victim's room. Dragunov was his name, Alexei Dragunov. She was carrying flowers. Without even noticing he was there, the girl opened the door and hurried inside.

After another short while, someone else arrived. Shinichi-san, from Drama Club. Mako raised an eyebrow, still watching the room as the boy went inside, greeting both the victim and Shirohane. Weird. So they knew each other, too? His interest was piqued, but he held it in check. He didn't know either of the victims well, nor their visitors. They could all be old friends with one another and there was no way for him to know. Still, it bothered him- Shirohane had also been a kidnap victim, abducted the same time as Sato. And speaking of Sato, hadn't he seen Shinichi at the hospital when he went to visit Sato?

Not enough to confirm out of hand, but... not enough to deny it, either. Mako crossed his arms, still thinking. He'd need a lot more information before he could prove he'd be of use to these people (if indeed, they were what he believed them to be).

But it was a start.

[User]
Akane Hanazawa // Warakuma Hospital
June 14th, 2015

Given what down in the dungeon last night, needless to say, Akane was quite tired. Though, that's just her excuse for arriving later than she had planned. Well, she did waste a lot of energy there, but what really did her in was the fact that she stayed up past midnight drawing. With a big yawn, she made her way through the hospital entrance. Just before entering his hospital room, something came to her. Come to think of it, she was also late when she visited Ayano as well. Hmm... Hopefully Alexei will forgive me for being late. Akane laughed nervously to herself before opening the door and walking in.

In the room, she saw Kotori and Rui, along with another guy, who looked like he just got there. Rui again... I seem to have a knack for coming in at 'that time'. Saying her greetings to Kotori and Rui, she ignored the other guy and turned to Alexei. "The giant is already up and about? It's as if nothing ever happened. Talk about stamina!" she looked on amazed before digging through a bag she brought along with her. "Well anyway, brought you something to help pass the time until you get out." She beamed as she pulled out a couple of manga magazines. Knowing Alexei liked Berserk, she brought a few volumes with her so he can read them. You can never go wrong with the classics.

"You seem like you're doing fine, but what about your little sister, how is she doing?" Akane asked, remembering the state Elena was in last night.


[System]
Species: Human/Witchling
Age: 52
Description: Having let her hair grow out, her dark auburn locks are typically tied up in a braided bun, several pieces, refusing to be bound, frame her face, complementing an olive skin tone. A grey strand here and there, depicting age. Her eyes are something to behold; light green surrounded by a thin ring of gold. Freckles sprinkle lightly over a smooth face, nearly void of any wrinkles representative of a woman coming into her fifties. She stands at about 5'7" tall, a petite upper body sitting upon wider hips and thick thighs. Not overly muscular though her body is tone. When exposed, displayed on her back are a number of scars, some seeming a bit more prominent. A rather fresh one sits just above her right brow. She may have aged some from the last time any had seen her, but she certainly doesn't look as old as she is.

Personality: She is typically cold and brash, on the outside anyway. Her overconfident ways have often gotten her in a pinch, but not one that she couldn't ever find her way out of. She never takes the easy way out and has a soft spot for those who have been bullied. Having grown used to the luxuries coin can buy, she would prefer a more lavish lifestyle. Shiny things may distract her from time to time, but it is never to say she had an easy life.

Clothing: She typically wears light fabrics, leathers and cloths of darker shades. A large cowl normally covers most of her features. Dark brown leather boots extend up just past her knees, straps and buckles secure padding where would be needed. Plain cloth pants are held up by a thick black belt, lined with a few pouches and oddities.

Weapons: Through her training, she has become a jack of all trades. Though her favorite weapon is the battle axe strapped to her back. She has a dagger hidden within her boots and one saddled to her belt at her right hip. The dagger hanging from her belt is a curved blade, with a ruby embedded within the hilt.

Skills and Abilities: Part of the reason why the witches wanted to do away with her because she did not have the affinity for magic as they did. However her time in the Assassin's Keep allowed her to develop other skills and techniques:
Shadow Prison: Isabeau is able to shadow step to her foe for an attack. During this attack, her foe's movement speed is drastically reduced temporarily
Wild Blow: Isabeau is able to manipulate the shadows around her weapons, increasing the damage done by her attacks. The attack is usually used when attempting to sunder a shield.
Wildfire: Despite not having the understanding of the weave, as the witches did, Isabeau was bestowed with a gift from her mother. The gift of Wildfire. This gift takes an enormous amount of energy to control and wield. When called upon, the shadows immediately surrounding her will ignite and deadly flames will coat her axe, adding fire damage to her attacks. This generally leaves Isabeau quite drained afterwards

In her time away from civilization, she has learned to tap into the shadow realm. The more time she spent in the dark reflection of home, the less stable her footing became in each world. She would shift back and forth, sometimes without even meaning to.

Magic:N/A -see skills above

Backstory:
Rumors of long ago, tell a tale of a witch who fell in love with a prince from a far away land.

The prince had journeyed far in search of a magical herb that was said to cure a sickness plaguing his kingdom. He came upon a young woman living deep within the woods. Beautiful in every way imaginable, the Prince became enthralled with the young woman and insisted that she leave the woods and return with him to his castle. As tempting as the offer was, she could not leave her home. For she was a witch, just as her mother before her, and so on down the line. Their family and gifts had been banished from the kingdom long ago, and since, they had taken refuge in the forest, tending to the wilds and those who dwell within its sanctuary.

Disturbed by the story, the prince vowed that he would speak with his father to lift their exile if she would return with him as his bride. Gleefully, the young woman accepted. And with the prince as her guest, she spent her last few days in the woods saying her goodbyes and making arrangements for after she left.

Those last few nights blanketed by the stars, we're magical for her and the prince. Though as the story goes, it was the last shred of happiness for the young couple. Grandmother Amari, the high witch of their clan, had high expectations for the young witch. Plans, that did not include the Prince, that would've been especially ruined if the prince took her away to become a princess in the castle. Though a silver lining appeared that would help Amari's plans along. And so the high witch gathered her kin, and her plot for war went into action.

On the eve before the two lovers were to leave for the castle, Amari had one of the youngest within their clan travel to the cottage where the two were staying. She silently crept in, cloaked within the shadows and darkness of the night. With one clean swipe of her blade, she sliced his throat open, and without anyone noticing, made her way back out. He bled out onto the bed next to his beloved, who never stirred, and never realized his death until the next morning.

It wasn't until many months later did they all realize the young witch was with child and when the news had traveled to the High Witch, it was ordered to discard the baby once it was born. The young witch with fire red hair and green eyes encircled with a gold ring would never know her daughter.

Isabeau continued to meet only betrayal and despair as she grew older unfortunately. Bred into a world of death and darkness, she was raised within the Keep of the Assassin's Guild and was honed into the land's deadliest weapon. She was taught to cast all emotions aside, especially that of love. They told her that love made people weak, love would hold her back, get her killed. And just as they had warned her, love had been her undoing and led her to flee.

~~*~~
Since her departure of Waeldeshore, much has happened . Her reasons for returning are her own, but she has vowed to make things right.

[User]
The comfort of bathing did not distract the old lioness, and the flick of one of her golden ears in the direction of the loud knocking alerted her to something being afoot. Before the woman before the door even had chance to speak, the beast had set her powerful hand about the handle of the elvish blade and turned her attention, or a scornful unsettling gaze in truth, toward the source of the sound. A surprise visitor was among one of the last things she wished to contend with, particularly here and now where she laid soaking in a basin of warm water that could barely so much as fit her enormous frame.

"Sakaala," a familiar but muffled voice called out a bit hastily, "could we talk for a bit?"

Uncrossing her feet, for they had rested one upon the other while she bathed, she proved to rise slowly and tread carefully. She ignored the ornately folded night robes presented atop a small shelf as they would not fit something so large as she, instead willing the free hand to take up her own robes while she began toward the door. Shouldering the tattered ebon cloak, changing the heavy blade between hands in doing doing so, she left a trail of dripping water behind her as it rolled off her pelt and in part soaked her clothing. The sound of water trickling in this manner was audible for a moment or so more to the halfling woman as she stood there beyond in the hallway...

... but as quickly as it had come, it disappeared.

Sakaala's fingers finished some obscure gesture and the will of the arcanist herself made itself present. She was as dry as though she had not yet bathed, but the water spots among the floor told a very different tale; something she would handle later, so not as to offend the lady of the house and her servants, but for now, at least she was not soaking. It helped with her demeanor in this moment, giving her some comfort as she donned her leather leggings and the enchanted breastplate as it this was many times better than being both soaking wet and cold all while having her presence requested.

She spoke at last in reply, knowing the other had been listening all along, cinching the leather of her broad belt down about the densely muscled fur of her waist, "I have time, yes."

Settling the blade across her back where it hung freely without scabbard or sheath, she closed the divide between the bath and the rest of her quarters, cognitive to gently shut the door. The illusion of her being less than prepared against attack was a crucial thing to maintain; she had no real reason to trust these people enough with her life yet. Just as so, when the Huntress' large digits set themselves to the door's workings, unlatching the bolt and drawing back, her body, mind and spirit tingled with anticipation, but were met with what she truly expected.

The halfling of earlier, Regina Hills, proved to be looking up to her and her demeanor was... strange. Stranger than before, as this was a different emotion and presentation altogether. As to what it meant, the beast did not know, but it struck her as though something had surprised her - and for worse no less. Sure not to lose her advantage so soon, she instead made no remark on it.

"What was it you wished to speak about?" The warrior-mage said, regal voice rumbling with a underlying growl.

Providing a step back, she opened the doorway further, arm outstretched to provide the visitor entry if she so wished it; the leonine woman clearly did.

@AdamantiumWolf@Belwicket@IcePezz@Zero Hex@vietmyke@Jon Y

[Assistant]
Regina looked up at Sakaala with a small smile of relief. With an unspoken invitation from the Lioness, Regina walked in quickly. She glanced at the water on the floor before shaking her head. "Sorry for interrupting your bath," she said, looking up at her. "Ionathan, Emil and Genevieve might be joining us. I sensed the mind of an intruder. I think she's inside now but it's always been hard to tell exact location with my psionics." She sat at the foot of the bed.

She closed her eyes and focused harder but still couldn't find the intruder. Instead, she decided to Search for other people she knew to be in the house and send them a small warning that there was an intruder. "It feels like a strange woman is in the house. Please keep alert and tell those who have mental blocks. I'm meeting with a select few to hunt her down."

"Are you dressed yet?" she asked, her eyes still closed as her mind continued its search. "I think Ionathan's already on his way. The intruder seems to be inside but there's something blocking me from seeing where she is. Her mind feels familiar too but I can't say who it is." She shook her head again before risking a glance towards Sakaala. She stared at a wall for a few seconds with a small smile, seeming lost in thought. Her eyes showed a mixture of anger and sadness,

[User]
Since no one had gone to fetch him or done even the slightest bit to warn him, and since he didn't have the capacity to listen in on the sounds of windows and rainwater on a room which may or may not be anywhere near his own, Ajax simply continued to enjoy the hospitality offered in his own room, gorging himself on the delicacies provided as he took his first bath in a long, long, long time, his battered and beaten robe carelessly discarded on the floor.

Given his size, his admittedly thoughtful host had provided an appropiate container, which was more or less a large, bisected wooden cask likely originally used to clean up animals or multiple people in hospitals and the like and which required enough water to fill that many a dehydrated villager would likely consider killing over. Of course, none of the particulars really bothered him and he just enjoyed a quiet time, reminiscing about the public baths of his finely civilized homeland.

[Assistant]
Genevieve had taken every precaution she could think of in the time up to now. It never even dawned on her that one might try to enter her hold without the use of magic. The rogue had been so predictable up until now. And so she continued casting the protective wards over the cottage. She was almost finished when Regina had sent the message that someone was looking to enter, her efforts hastened and were almost even half-assed as she finished the last incantation. But instead of joining her merry band of warriors, she rushed up the stairs that led to the northern towers of the cottage, her gown billowing behind her as she fled. She went straight to her quarters, with only one thing on her mind; her precious stone, the last relic she had called hers. She needed to see it, be sure that it was still where she had left it, that it was still hers. There was no doubt in her mind that whoever the intruder was, they had come to steal her last, precious treasure. They were warriors, the best infact. Which was why she had chosen them. If a threat was to be unveiled, she had no doubt they would protect her.

Isabeau quickly placed her ear on the door, listening as others passed in the hall. The racket that was being made over the intruder nearly made her chuckle. She knew Regina was doing her best to find this intruder by means of her mind powers, and from what Ionathan had said, the rogue had almost dreaded coming face to face with the Halfling. In her time with the magi, she had trained to protect her mind, ideally from threats much greater than the hin had posed. But it seemed to be the perfect chance to see how much she truly learned. Closing her mind off to Regina was the easy part, using her own skill against her though, that took concentration. Isabeau took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. She focused on that prodding energy, forcing her voice back through the void. If it worked, only five words would have went through and hit Regina like a ton of bricks. "I am not your enemy." Yes, it would've given her away, but she had to take the chance. She hoped that it, along with Ionathan's meeting would smooth things over, if even just a little bit.

As soon as the halls had quieted, Isabeau slowly opened the door and slid out of Ionathan's quarters. She didn't have much time, but while she was here, she may have as well at least attempted to acquire the second key. She paused for a moment in front of each door before passing, hoping to get a sense for where everyone was. Something had stirred; a doorknob had turned just as she reached the first room. Panicking wasn't going to do her any good, but she needed some place to hide, and she couldn't depend on her magic. Assuming that all others had flocked to Regina when she had beckoned for aid, she figured the room would have been empty, and if it was designed anything like Ionathan's, there were plenty of hiding spaces within.

Her hand grasped the knob, what luck, it was unlocked! She cracked the door open just enough for her form to fit through and softly closed it behind her. The shadow of the doorway concealed her just enough, however any conscious person that paid attention to their surroundings would have known they weren't alone. Her back resting up against the hard wood, her eyes scanned the room from under her hood. "Shit" she muttered under her breath …

Hex


[System]
Age: 34 (Teacher)
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Weapon: The Eternity Key has three modes. The first is a simple, if fancy looking longsword, covered in circuitry and capable of being electrified. The second is a shotgun, and the third is a keyboard and holographic monitor that are able of interfacing with nearly any computer system–and hacking it.
Course: Computer Science
Semblance: Ryou is capable of causing "silence zones" at will. Each zone is a space around 10 feet in diameter in which no mechanical devices or Dust powered machines will work. Up to three can exist at once.
Personality: Ryou is a quiet man who does not talk a lot. He expects his entire students to know how to operate a computer so he can teach them the "fun world" of computer science instead of teaching them how to open a program or write in a notepad which he finds boring. He really doesn't talk that much to people outside of his class and department, though he maintains a good relationship with the more technologically capable of his colleagues.
Color: Neon Green.
Emblem: A green power symbol on a black background.
Appearance:

[User]
Sangue threw her pasta away after figuring out how to consume half of it awkwardly, not because she hated it, but because she believed that she would get left behind. After all, the person known as... Ben... was heading to one of her classes.

Remaining silent, the woman bowed to Sarina while holding a blank expression before following Ben. She was not skilled at finding directions, so as much as she hated using people like tools, she decided to use Ben as a living compass.

Ben seemed nice.

As soon as she arrived at the classroom, however, she encountered a problem.

Ben was sitting at the front of the class.

Looking around with her blank expression masking her nervousness, Sangue fidgeted about before engaging a battle with her own consciousness. On one hand, she wanted to sit at a corner because she could remain at peace, but on the other hand, paying attention to her classes could let her give off a better impression of herself.

And not to mention, but she did not want to distance herself from her team. She knew she needed to somehow get close to Ben, regardless of whether her closeness had to be physical or emotional.

Thus, she sat right next to Ben, almost squeezing herself against him with her blank face still on. She wondered if literally getting close to people would give her a chance to make friends out of everyone in her team.

"..."

...Maybe I can kill Grimm better with this class, Sangue stated- something blatantly obvious- in her mind.

[Assistant]
Sapphire Rode - Cafeteria ==> Armoury
Before Gren or Abel had a chance to either accept Sapphire to the table or tell her to take a hike the bell rang. She sighed, Sapphire had had enough of her previous meal that she wouldn't be too hungry and if she was she had a couple of seal snacks stashed inside her violin case. "I suppose I'll see you guys after class. Fuzzball, work on the landing, you're coming down too hard."

Sapphire left the lunch room. Her next class was Armory which she considered would be a lot more interesting than Grimm Studies. With enough firepower Grimm went down eventually no matter their weaknesses and strengths so the class the dealt with creating that firepower took precedent for her.

She had no need to go to her room for her bag, so far there wasn't anything to put in it. If she'd attended History or Math no doubt she'd have textbooks for those subjects but Armory seemed to be a hands on class so extra baggage wasn't really necessary. When Sapphire arrived at the classroom she scanned the crowd taking inventory of who was present.

She saw Oswald, her opponent from the ring, Gren from her own team and she cursed her luck but Shiro was also there. She couldn't think why he'd take this class, he didn't have the grey matter left over to visualize schematics. As Sapphire continued to survey the crowd he eyes caught on someone at the back. A girl with startlingly red hair that seemed to merge into feathers, a faunus no doubt but that wasn't what pulled Sapphire's attention.

The azure haired girl's heart beat faster watching the way she was sitting, shoulders hunched, head down. Sapphire blinked once and she could see her sister Cecily sitting like that on the days that Janus came home from a mission, hoping not to be noticed. Sapphire blinked again and the image was gone. The girl was simply trying to avoid being noticed most likely by the teacher.

Sapphire personally thought the way she was sitting drew more attention to her but then again that was likely only to Sapphire who looked for that kind of thing. The seat next to the girl was as good a place as any to sit. Sapphire walked slowly but deliberately over to the feathered girl and took a seat next to her.

Her appearance certainly was an interesting one, she had on a leather collar round her neck and the rest of her clothing was... immodest to say the least, past that however she was pretty if not for her taste in clothing she would have appeared respectable. Sapphire considered that her choice of dressing was saying something that not a lot of people could hear but she reconsidered asking about it. It wasn't really her problem or her business. As Sapphire sat down she removed both of her shotguns from her back. They were arranged in such a way that she couldn't sit down comfortably with them still holstered. Sapphire placed them on the desk in front of her.

She glanced sidelong at he desk partner for a moment before saying, "Nice feathers."

[User]
Shiro fidgeted in his seat, he was restless and wanted the class to get started. Constantly looking around and moving, he watched as the class quickly filled up. Tail wagging excitedly, he beamed as he recognized a few familiar faces. However, his enthusiasm was cut into slightly when he noticed Sapphire coming into the class. He would have to remember to continue giving her a wide berth, which was sad when you thought about it seeing how she was supposed to be his leader. Sadly, as he continued to scan the room, he didn't see Abel. He must've had a different class for this period. Shiro wasn't all too comfortable with the inevitable separation of him and his team, but he had to remember that this was a school. They weren't always all going to be together. Besides, he was rather used to being alone. Having friends-

His line of thought was interrupted as he took notice of a specific person in the room. Sniffing at the air, a low rumbling growl reverberated in his throat and chest as the scent boiled his blood. Pupils narrowing into thin, black slits his vision locked onto a particular avian Faunus sitting hunched over. She seemed to be trying to make herself as unnoticeable as possible, but Shiro caught onto her presence rather quickly thanks to Sapphire. He remembered that he was still hungry. For some reason he couldn't explain, his mind was focused on one word.

"Prey.."
He almost started to bare his fangs.

In the bulk of the school, there were far too many students with different scents clashing and mixing with each other that it sometimes proved difficult for Shiro to navigate the school. Thankfully, he had his Scroll to help keep him on track and direct him to where he needed to go and distract him. But here, in the classroom where there were only 30-40 students, scents were easier to detect. Making it easy for Shiro to sort out other Humans from Faunus. Specifically Faunus he didn't quite view as other living creatures, but as food or enemies. Slowly rising from his seat, he had a near uncontrollable urge to lunge across the classroom and sink his fangs into the female avian Faunus. It was at that moment that someone had taken a seat next to him and made a comment on his weapons that he snapped back to reality.

Blinking, he shook his head and settled back into his seat.
"Woah, what was that? Come on now, Shiro, she's another student. Not...food."
Looking at the student who sat next to him, he smiled and-

His smile froze as he realized who had spoken to him. From the look and smell of him, the guy was a Lion Faunus. He was sitting next to him now, absolutely wonderful. Trying his best not to let it show, his smiling face soured into a neutral expression. Gritting his fangs, he pressed his lips shut tightly. He didn't quite like Lion Faunus types. He didn't have very many pleasant experiences with Lion Faunus before in the past. Typically, all Lion Faunus were the same to him. Arrogant and overly confident to the point of driving others away with their overbearing personalities. Something about being Kings and Queens of the more arid regions of the world. Whenever he would run into a Lion Faunus, they would typically make some snide remark about his Tiger Faunus lineage. Something about the Kings and Queens of the Jungle versus those of the Desert. Though Shiro may not have had a hateful bone in his body, he still had his prejudices. From no fault of his own, just from prior personal experience.

"Th-thank you, your weapons are very.."
He glanced at the Lion boy's weapons and couldn't help but think they were rather garish and gaudy.
"Interesting too." he finished.
Sighing, he sat rigidly in his chair, staring at his desk.

This class was going to test him, he knew it. He couldn't wish for the class to start any harder than he was at that moment. Once he could start working on his equipment, he could distract himself and keep from potentially causing issues with the other students in the class. He would have to restrain himself, he thought as he glanced at the...interestingly dressed Avian Faunus. Ears drooping and tail lazily sweeping at the floor behind him, he was hoping to enjoy his time here at Beacon, not raise his blood pressure.

Maybe the Lion faunus sitting next to him wasn't like the others. He would have to be sure to make friends with the feathered Faunus girl too, so that he could see her as a comrade and fellow student instead of lunch. He could only hope. If there was one thing Beacon did for him, it was sure good at making Shiro hope. He smirked and chuckled once to himself at the irony of the school's name.

[Assistant]
Daniel finished off the rest of his lunch, ignoring the commotion involving Priscilla and Rayna. It didn't involve him, so there wasn't much of a need to get involved. Shortly afterward, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. As he left the table to head to his next class, he took a moment to remember what his next class was, then remembered it was the Armory class. Probably one of the few classes that wouldn't be boring.

As he entered the Armory class, he noticed quite a few familiar faces. Shiro, his sparring partner from earlier, and some others from earlier as well. He picked some unoccupied spot in the middle of the class and then made himself comfortable as he waited for the class to begin. He wasn't the type to come on early, but he figured that perhaps this would be one of the more interesting classes. After all, how could an Armory class be boring?

[User]
Trad still didn't have an appetite, but ate what he could while he could. Leaving Ben and Amy to do the talking, Trad simply gave Sarina a nod as he got up for the bell.

"Hold on," Trad quickly tossed his food and caught up to Ben and Sangue. "Grimm studies is my next class as well."

It was a quiet walk down the hall. Ben was focused on finding the right room and Sangue was…Well, still being Sangue. Eventually they reached the room and Ben took a seat in the front row. Without a thought Trad followed and sat next to him, but noticed Sangue being hesitant.

There were all nervous about this, but she seemed even more so, and sitting in the front row wouldn't really help with that at all. Trad stood up and let her take his seat next to Ben and Trad took the one next to her. He hoped having her in-between teammates and not next to a stranger would help calm her. When she moved almost right next to Ben, Trad couldn't help but wonder if they knew each other better than he thought.

[Assistant]
As Indi stared at Saph intently, waiting to hear her response, the bell rang, destroying any hope of getting a good lunch. A groan of annoyance left his mouth, and he got up to leave the lunch room. Saph took her leave, saying she'd see them after class, not bothering to answer his question. "I'll keep you to that." He said, obviously out of her hearing range. He wanted to confirm his win, even though he was about 90% sure he had already won. He was quite surprised she was even a leader, literally everyone else on the team seemed like a better choice. Maybe Ozpin was just stupid or something, who knows?

Indi left the cafeteria alone. His team was gone, and he didn't feel like talking to others right now. He only had two girls on his mind; Cia, and Lana. Maybe a brother or sister, too. That reminded him, he had an idea for a dust sword. Well, whatever, he'd deal with it in class. He'd need to actually learn more than the basics first if he wanted to craft something more complex than the Hatchet-SMG combo he had on him.

When he got to the classroom, he took a look around at the students who had gotten there. Ivan was there, Shiro, Geni, someone who's name started with a D, Danny, he thought. Saph was there too, sitting next to an incredibly attractive woman in immensely flattering clothing. His face got red for about the fifteenth time that day, and he gulped. He hadn't seen this girl before, he definitely would have remembered her face. And body, jeez, that body... He was not sitting next to Saph, he could confront her after class. Right now he needed an asshole to get him back in the mood to be better than others. He sat down next to Ivan.

"Hey dude, what's up?" He asked, unclipping his weapons from his waistline and placing them on the desk to investigate where to improve.

[User]
No other members of Bastion in this class. Lucky her-

Sapphire's speech snapped Amy out of her stupor, the feathers in her hair standing up slightly in surprise. She smoothed them back down quickly, her face turning slightly red as she did. "Th-thanks," she said, quickly regaining her composure. "My name's Amaran-Amy." Her Semblance, always on at a low level and amped up by her nervousness, made her very aware of the tiger Faunus' growling, but she was doing her absolute best to ignore it.

She took the twin sleeves of Unchained Fury off and laid them on the desk in front of her, the sudden rush of cold air on her arms making her skin stand up in goosebumps. "Nice hair. Very... Blue."


[System]
Alias: Seer Skadi
Occupation: Shaman, Alchemist, Herbalist
Gender: Female
Age: 30
Race: Caucasian
Religion: Nordic Totemism
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 190

Appearance:

Hair: Long blond hair flows down her back, decorated with countless beads, feathers and braids.

Face: Long and slender, with gentle features, and one piercing blue eye. Her left eye remains hidden below a wrap of bandages that cuts across her face at a diagonal.

Build: Gunnaya sports bulging muscular thighs, calves and arms, with a slender, toned waist.

Other Notable Features:
A complex blue tattoo covers the entire left half of her face. Narrow tattoos, in various shades of blue and black, can be found across her entire body. Three deep scars run down her torso, from under her right arm.

Equipment:
Head: Thick Fur Hood
Shoulders: Thick Fur Cloak
Torso: Thick Fur Shirt
Undershirt: N/A
Arms: Iron Plated Leather Vambrace
Legs: Long Fur Skirt
Hands: Thick Fur Gloves
Feet: Thick Fur Boots

Primary Weapon: Staff of the Medicine Woman
A long, thick quarterstaff, made of solid oak, and tipped with steel bands. The skulls of various birds and rodents dangle from one end, tied by string and rope.

Secondary Weapon: Axe of the Ancients
A thick, iron war axe, with leather bindings around the handle and an iron spike protruding from either end. Celtic carvings decorate either side of the head. Haunted with the souls of fallen warriors, in shrieks in agony when swung.

Additional Weapons:
-1 Yew Longbow
-2 Quivers
-60 Iron-Tipped Arrows

Abilities:

Cry of the Skymonger
Gunnaya is able to perfectly emulate the shrieks of various birds, summoning them to her aid.

Friend of the Valkyries
Gunnaya calls her flocks of trained ravens to her side, commanding them as hunting and battle companions.

Feast of the Valkyries
Gunnaya uses singing and the scent of rotten meat to send her ravens into a suicidal rage, swarming and dive-bombing anything around her.

Njordsdottir
Gunnaya calls upon the fury of various ocean and sky spirits, summoning a ferocious storm of wind and rain. In climates of dust, sand, or powdered snow, this can seriously obstruct vision and mobility.

Alchemy Materials:

-2 Vials of Mimsblood
Mimsblood, a unique mixture made by Gunnaya, numbs all pain and constricts damaged blood vessels, preventing the drinker from bleeding out.

-1 Flask of Flametongue Mead
This brew remains hot to the touch at all times, and super-heats the drinker's body, protecting them from any amount of cold weather.

-3 Vials of Potent Poison

-5 Vials of Corrosive Acid

-2 Vials of Jormungar
Jormungar, another Gunnaya original, is a cocktail of highly reactive elements. When exposed to open air, they explode into a cloud of toxic gas, which takes two minutes to fully settle, unless blown away.

-2 Antivenom Herbes (best applied directly to wound)

Non-Combat Items:
-1 Leather Bound Book of Spiritual Healing Rituals
-1 Blunt Carving Knife
-1 Whetstone
-1 Spare Bowstring
-1 Vial of Wood Stain
-1 Satchel of Raw Meat
-2 Sticks of Chalk
-1 Jar of War Paint

[User]
A crisp layer of fresh snow crunched under Gunnaya's thick fur boots. Small additional flakes fluttered among the pine branches, dancing on the mild winter breeze, before joining their compatriots on the ground. A nearby fox scrounged through leafless bushes. After days of travel, with neither horse nor carriage, Gunnaya's feet grew sore. It was a long trip, but well worth it. The elves grew herbs of incomprehensible potency within their boarders, and she had to have them. The potions she could concoct, the lives she could save, were worth the risk of trespassing on elven land.
 Spying a particularly thick tree to her left, with low hanging branches, she found her outpost for the day. She swung her bow over her shoulder, planned out a rout up, and began climbing. Each branch held, as she planted her foot on it, as did each that she grabbed. After years of experience, and countless falls, she'd learned how thick a branch had to be to support her weight. Without fail, she reached as high as would hold her weight, which was just enough to see over the tree line. Peering to the horizon, she could see the towers of a city. The elven capital, no doubt. This meant she was well within their borders, and the herbs were nearly within her grasp.
 She climbed halfway down the tree, staying high enough to be hidden among the branches, and out of any animal's reach. There she found a particularly thick branch, that would be her bed for the day. With a sigh, Gunnaya propped her back against the trunk, stretched her legs out, nuzzled herself into her warm fur hood, and rested. As far as she could tell, the elves would have no reason to scout this far into the woods.
 The caws of hawks and ravens sounded in the distance. Gunnaya was at peace, knowing she'd have backup, if she needed it. Besides, her own flock wasn't far away either, at least by air.

[Assistant]
Gunnaya would waken to the sound of harsh footfalls upon the crisp snow, combined with the muted creaks and clinks of well made armor. And then the far less subtle, CLONK CLONK of a shield banging against a nearby tree. "Hello! I'm sorry to assail my words upon on your poor defective senses, but they seem to have lead you into Elven territory. I'll be escorting you out now."

Below Gunnaya currently resided a rather grumpy, speciest, and cold elf. Though bundled as best she could, she was still wearing plate armor in dead winter. Blithe Marrowdwell's shield was on her arm, but her blade was not drawn yet, her free hand impatiently tapping away on her other arm. The elf's eyes were glaring away at Gunnaya, not quite so well hidden as she thought.

[User]
Gunnaya woke to the sound of clanking armour and rustling snow below her.
 "Gods damn it", she muttered to herself. It was an elven soldier, in full battle armour no less. Perhaps it would pass her, without noticing.
 *CLONK*, *CLONK*. No such luck, it would seem. Guard rapped its shield against a neighbouring tree.
 "Hello! I'm sorry to assail my words upon on your poor defective senses, but they seem to have lead you into Elven territory. I'll be escorting you out now."
 How paranoid must the elves be, to have patrols so far from the city limits? Either way, this was bad news. She HAD to get those herbs. Gunnaya jumped into a crouch, and drew her bow and arrow, aiming directly at the elf's head.
 "'Tis strange to see a battle-ready guard in the middle of the woods. Are you alone, elf?", Gunnaya inquired, still perched on her branch.

[Assistant]
"No, I have a full platoon hidden down my trousers. We elves are very stealthy." Blithe noticed the bow and immediately ducked into her shield, hiding her body and head.

A slight rustling could be heard as Blithe fished something from her pack, that was then lobbed into the tree's inner area from behind the shield. And when it broke against the harsh bark, it exploded into flames. The snow was fresh and unmelted currently, and thus tree was rather dry on the inside. Gunnaya might want to do something about that.

[User]
The fire was quickly climbing Gunnaya's tree. She slung her bow again, and rummaged in her satchel for a moment. As the flames began licking her feet, she drew a vial of metallic-looking liquid and tossed it at the elf's shield. Wherever it landed, shield or nay, it would explode into a noxious gas.

As the vial flew, Gunnaya made a quick leap into the branches of a nearby tree. Grasping a thick branch, she safely landed, still off the ground.

[Assistant]
Blithe peeked out from behind her shield to see the results of her attack, not quite in time to dodge, though in time to see the vial incoming. As Blithe activated her Burst of Speed to sprint away, the vial shattered off the edge of her shield, toxic gas being released into the air.

Whether or not Blithe would get poisoned would depend on how quickly the gas spread, how far, and the mere luck of whether Blithe's surprise expressed itself in a gasp or another dead sprint step. But luck was on Blithe's side, as her instinct of "Auuugh, she's got a bomb too" provoked the reaction of "breathless sprint my way out of here".

Blithe skidded to a halt behind another tree for cover to catch her breath and reexamine Gunnaya's position, giving Gunnaya time to climb up or down and generally recover from her movement.

[User]
Gunnaya saw Blithe bolt in away in a different direction. Damn, she was fast! At least this gave Gunnaya a moment to get ready. With all her might, she let out a shrill caw, echoing through the woods. It would take her main flock a while to arrive. Hopefully, the local birds were tenacious enough to hold the elf off until then.

As the caw echoed, she made one more leap, trying to put a bit more space between herself and the elf. A moment of weightlessness and... *SMACK*. Her hands slammed down on the branch in front of her. Breathing heavily, she hoisted herself up and began readying her bow, eyes darting around frantically.

Gunnaya was limited to leaning up against the tree's trunk, where the branch could support her. This wasn't great for mobility, if this fight continued much longer.

[Assistant] Gunnaya would spot Blithe closing the distance faster than she could traverse from tree to tree. As Gunnaya readied her bow, Blithe noticed and took cover next to a tree trunk, the combined shield and trunk making a mini-little fortress. Blithe peeked through a small hole, likely designed for her to be able to fire her crossbow out of from behind the shield.

[User]
Gunnaya took aim at the heavily armoured elf, but she'd need an opening if she wanted to do any real damage. The majority of local birds who'd have heard her call would still be on their way, with only a couple small kestrels circling above.

 "I need to keep this elf on the defensive", she thought. "On the other hand, if that shield is as thick as it looks, I'm not going anywhere. Let's see if it is."

 With that, Gunnaya let out an ear-piercing whistle, communicating "follow this" to her avian brethren. She let a single iron arrow fly, aimed for the mid center of Blithe's shield. This motion would direct the two circlers to the elf. Being untrained wild birds, and not large ones at that, they'd be little more than a nuisance to the warrior. Still, a couple birds pecking and scratching at one's head is a fine distraction, potentially leaving openings.
 As the arrow flew, Gunnaya's free hand took firm grip of the branch beneath her, and she began to swing herself down, aiming for a landing on the solid ground below.

[Assistant]
The arrow landed solidly, sinking into the shield. By luck, it managed to glance off the arm carrying the shield, but it wasn't quite a direct hit and only dented it. Her arm was just a bit above center due to the shape of shield tapering down in width near the bottom, meaning the center of mass was shifted up a bit.

As Gunnaya began to move down, Blithe took that as her opportunity, rushing forward with another Burst of Speed as the birds began to attack her from the side. While the birds could be very distracting, if a bird attempted to get in front of her to peck at one of the eyeholes in her helmet while Blithe was moving flat out, it would get smacked by a very quickly moving and much heavier than it and quite unyielding force. Trusting in her armor, shield, and helm, Blithe aimed to shield rush Gunnaya before she could fire another arrow after landing. Just before Blithe expected impact, she put her free hand on her shield, twisting it so the tall shield was closer to horizontal, making the rush harder to sidestep.

[User]
Gunnaya's leather-bound feet struck the fresh snow with a heavy thud. The arrows in her quiver, and the skulls on the staff strapped to her back, gave a hearty rattle. Looking up, she saw the elf's shining metallic form charging toward her at an outstanding speed. She hadn't risen to her feet after landing, so she was already low to the ground. The thought occurred to her to swing around and stab the elf as it passed, but her reflexes kicked in first.

 As shield came closer to smashing her in the head, she cringed, tucked her head in, and made a sudden roll to the left. The thunderous metal form blew past her, clipping her right foot with a disturbing *SNAP*. As she tumbled, nine arrows fell from her quiver, and the bindings on her back snapped, leaving her quarterstaff planted in the snow. She landed prone on the ground, another tree by her left side, and the elf behind her. As her forearms hit the ground, she heard the whiz of the two falcons giving chase to their target. Given the weight of metal plate armour, elven or otherwise, and the speed her opponent was dashing at, Gunnaya assumed she'd have time to stand and ready herself, before the elf could come to a complete stop, and turn around to face her.


[System]
Arex
Age/Gender/Race:
Approx 32, Male, biologically created Dalentian/human hybrid.

Appearance: Arex stands at 6'4 with a genetically enhanced augmented athletic body. He has pale-ish skin with deep contrasting dark hair and eyes.

Occupation: Test Subject.
An experiment to harness the psionics of the Delentian and fuse it with an augmented cybernetic human. Arex's whole life from pre-birth up until recently has been one long lab experiment.

Weapons
* Plasma Katana (powered)
* 2x Advanced integrated tech auto pistols (ballistic)
* Pulse grenades (powered)
* Psionic 'floating' knives (dual)

Armor: Custom built and suited armoured exoskeleton. Connects to his augmentations for seamless response and optimal sensory, physical and psionic enhancement.

Items* All purpose multi-tool wrist band
* A large mysterious and secure briefcase.
* 'Pet' mini turret and spy drone.

Skills: * Fast and agile Dalentian combat prowess
* Expert swordsman
* Stealthy
* Infiltration (Cybernetic augmentations to interface and overcome tech difficulties.)

Powers: Psionic * Levitate
* Phase (short burst)
* Force wave

Other:

Arex has no past nor purpose, he is unsure where he came from or of his origins.

[User]
Joe Gore: Mechanic Extraordinaire

 "God dammit Joe, you did it again." The man's voice echoed briefly across the holding cell. Not only had the rest of his, uh, potential allies suffered a case of hole through the skull, but he had found himself in a very familiar situation. Once again, some giant faceless conglomerate had managed to involve poor Joe in a mess that once again seemed inescapable. Smart bastards didn't even let him keep the toolbox. He could've gotten out in less than a jiffy if they hadn't taken the damn thing. Worst part, all of his gear was stored in a cargo unit no more than fifteen seconds away, probably in the very same corridor his impromptu cell was in. Pure torture.

 Now, Joe had never seen a rig quite like this before, but by the looks of it, it had great similarities with the significally weaker FT-68 models. As for the guys that ran it? Well. They didn't like humans, judging from his dead co-slaves. And, being far enough from the command deck, he had no clue what to-

 Combat sounds. Someone had broken into the cargo bay. Jack-fucking-pot. Without a second thought, not even to think about how obscenely lucky he got, Joe began to vigorously bang at the heavy steel door, and, sliding the small viewing slot open, screamed at the top of his lungs.

 "Over here! Over here! The bastards have me locked up! Get me out goddamit!"

[Assistant]
"On it! Hold on to something!"

After quickly tapping his cigar to rid it of the ash that was collecting on the tip, Tibulus grabbed the wheel with both of his hands and performed the ballsiest of maneuvers with the ship he was driving at the moment. He turned the ship around with some incredible prowess, making it take an almost complete 180, and aiming it directly at the mining rig. It was there that Tibulus noticed the mining laser was powering up, and preparing to unload a nasty shot at the Revenant. Was this going to happen? Not on his watch it wasn't!

Tibulus spoke back to Stryker as he aimed the ship, getting it into the optimal trajectory that would allow the crew manning the guns to barrage the rig and hopefully keep the laser from being able to fire at the ship. Key word there being "hopefully". "Gunning it now! Prepare to do the same!"

Once Tibulus finished his sentence, the ship lurched forward with sheer intensity, aiming at the side of the rig.

@Azereiah

[User]
So, the dagger Lataniva obviously thrust straight through the leg of the target. With the unnatural speed combined with a combat-knife's sharpness cracked in and fell the target, prohibiting continued escape. Lataniva ran after, absent-mindedly pulling the dagger out again with psionic powers, making it fly out of the wound and back into her hand to be pocketed again, blood and all. Then, the miner having dropped forward from the movement, Lataniva jumped and drove her knees into his back, keeping him in place by placing her halberd at his neck.

'Keep still.'She unhelpfully told the injured being as she placed a hand on his head and started doing her thing.

Now, a crash-course in how Dalentian mind-reading works. Memory is signals from very specific atoms in the mind, and Dalentians can turn that into a picture for their own viewing in their own head. However, they need somewhere to start from, or the mind is just a tangled mess. The keyword this time was pretty easy.

Helsin Station

Immediately upon imbuing the word, the memories associated with the station lighted up in the victim's head. A mental picture of the station appeared, and Lataniva could sense the sparks of memory lighting up. Then… first things first, she cross-checked the memory of Helsin Station with Federation Outpost, and oversaw what came up. Memories associated with both would come up, and Lataniva would learn if there was a connection… if the miner knew, obviously. She couldn't read a connection that the miner didn't have.

She then went ahead and read for a cross-check between Helsin Station and Secrets, forcing the miner to recall any secrets they were trying to keep here. Also, she made him recall the people in charge, as well as the location of any control-rooms and otherwise the geography of the station as the miner knew it, and where those miners were currently fleeing. Perhaps also a little about what kind of security they had here, and if he had any passwords in his mind that she would have use of.

Of course, there was the possibility the miner didn't know anything. Then this was a waste of time.

Then… she heard the call about Federation troops. Depending on what she might have leached out of the miner's head, this may or may not have surprised her. Regardless, she smirked, for these definitely knew more than the miner did.

'Troops. I can handle such.'Not even bothering to finish off the miner bleeding out underneath her, Lataniva dashed at the doorway with halberd prepared. It didn't even matter to her if they aimed for her. She could dodge their fire, shifting her weight back and forth in ways that would make one ask why she was wearing armor, her psionic awareness making her aware of where they were aiming. Even if she found that there were any blasts she couldn't avoid, she'd simply use her psionic telekinesis to push their weapon-arms aside, making them aim at walls or even their allies.

If the full-body armor had any weak points in the slightest, some place that wasn't entirely protected where limbs were to move, Lataniva would see it and slice or stab at it with her halberd. Close combat did not mean loss of awareness of surrounding enemies to her as it did to others, chaos and confusion would be her ally as she charged right in at them.

[Assistant]
Maxi was very, very useless in all the fighting. His first instinct had been to take cover behind the first thing he could, which were a few boxes of something or another he didn't plan on checking. It looked to him like the majority of the enemies were firing upon Grayson and co., or the ones actually doing the shooting. Lucky him. He kept his head low and his bot to his chest as all the fire whizzed around him, and he didn't poke his head out until it was absolutely safe. Damn, these people knew how to clear a room.

 He whistled as he sat back up from where he was hiding, carrying his cube over to the now gathered together group. "Geez, you guys demolished those bots. Nice" he said, though mostly to himself. It looked like no one was injured, which made his job about ten times easier. He listened when Stryker announced the plan through the comms, and Grayson asked how they'd split. Someone he hadn't has the (mis)pleasure of meeting spoke before him, and headed off before anyone else put in input. Rude. He pouted a little bit and hoped to pipe up in suggestion, but he didn't have the chance. The next thing he knew, men armed to the teeth and wearing a very unmistakable uniform came charging into the room. Grayson spelled it out verbally, but by that time he was already well aware of the danger he was in.

 The second he saw the threat he kicked into motion, hiding back behind the boxes he was at before. These were troops, not just regular bots; push come to shove, he'd have to try fighting. He put his bot under one arm (the fact that it was broken and he had to carry it in such a dangerous situation made him twice as angry at the dense moron who broke it) and took out the laser gun Grayson had lent him. It would be impossible for him to reload the ballistic at all while he had to carry his bot, so the laser seemed the best choice. There was no way in hell he'd leave his cover to start firing, however; only if someone came to him and he had no choice. He'd die if he started firing like some of these people.

[User]
Ren

---

Pew! Pew! Pewpewpew!

---

 Tibulus had said to "hold on", but none of the Revenant's current occupants could feel even the slightest shift during the sudden burn. The Tower had gained access to artificial gravity control and compensated for the movements it was told to pass to the reaction control thrusters and mainsail engines. The Tower, in its only semi-conscious mind, understood the threat the ship was facing and didn't merely pass through the controls inputted, but pushed them beyond safe limits.

 Tibulus's navigation computer showed the ship as pulling 10G in acceleration - more than enough to knock the human crew unconscious, and yet the pilot's seat was as comfortable as always. The computer also showed that the engines were receiving 115% of the maximum possible control input. The Revenant was not flying like it usually did. It was far too smooth.

---

 "Heat sinks are still good, sir," Rento replied to Stryker as he passed. They were still running at full efficiency. "Lining up a spare set for immediate switch on command, though. Should be ready to nearly melt down the guns twice over in a few seconds."

 Feathering and abusing the controls had given the joysticks at the gunnery stations something to bitch about, but lacking voices, their complaints went unheard. The rest of the system, however, was grateful for not being half-melted by constant fire. Rento waited patiently for the target to be within effective firing range and set the focal points of all of the turrets under her command to the distance the Revenant would be passing within at its closest point -- only a few hundred meters.

 An idea struck her midway through adjusting the guns, a short while before the pass at the station's beam array. A very, very important idea. One that shouldn't have taken so long to pop into her head -- clearly having a mechanical brain hadn't made her a faster thinker. She shouted up toward the cockpit, "Uh, sir... Isn't there a communications array we should knock out or something? I mean, I love a good fight and all, but I don't want the fucking navy showing up without an invitation."

@Banana

[Assistant]
"Bullshit!" He snapped back at her. It wasn't due to a lack in her performance, her act was convincing, even his assistive tech couldn't detect the tell-tale signs of someone lying. No his accusations were built on instinct, intuition and a gut feeling. Of course the intensive background search aided greatly.

Despite Amy's highly political activism, there was much information on her that was extremely difficult to find due to large periods of her life being inaccessible or non existent thanks to either her own extreme effort to remain off the grid or potentially some very powerful people deliberately erasing her past.
But Arex, or at least something they had installed in him, was very good at gathering information.

Arex had come to believe if Amy was sneaking off on her own then there were bigger things at hand. Things that he perhaps wanted to know about or be a part off. He nods in the direction she was previously going as he makes it clear he is ready to follow.