Personification Life - IC Part VIII [open]

[Tiltjuice]

The sisters took a minute to get comfortable in their seats. Katya made sure to sit by Torii, and near Dora.

"That could be taken in quite a lot of ways," Dora pointed out.

"Yea, I guess it could!", Katya shot back with a wicked grin. Her and Torii both chuckled. Such a thing being said by Katya seemed pretty rare. At least they were in good spirits.

"Hehehe", Katya kept chuckling, "Well, at least we're in a good mood, huh..."

Dora laughed, feeling slightly better. She leaned back, resting her feet on her bag.

"What's the first thing you'll do when you get there?" she said to the sisters and Jacob. "Me, I'll probably try to arrange a meet with the head of government. Though probably Luce should be doing that, but he's not on the trip."

[Torsiedelle]

The sisters took a minute to get comfortable in their seats. Katya made sure to sit by Torii, and near Dora.



"Yea, I guess it could!", Katya shot back with a wicked grin. Her and Torii both chuckled. Such a thing being said by Katya seemed pretty rare. At least they were in good spirits.

"Hehehe", Katya kept chuckling, "Well, at least we're in a good mood, huh..."

Dora laughed, feeling slightly better. She leaned back, resting her feet on her bag.

"What's the first thing you'll do when you get there?" she said to the sisters and Jacob. "Me, I'll probably try to arrange a meet with the head of government. Though probably Luce should be doing that, but he's not on the trip."

"A meeting with the leader? That sounds good.", Katya said to herself. "Say, why will you be meeting him?"

Torii shrugged. She honestly had no idea, other than frivolous things like sight-seeing and shopping.

"I'll probably look around, see what the place has to offer. I hope the place we're staying at is nice..."

[Giovenith]

Giovenith sat quietly in her seat, hunched over a little notepad she was quickly scribbling in. She was drawing a little suit, something to peal off and shape very quickly in case she couldn't find her real suit. Could never take too many precautions.

[Tiltjuice]

"A meeting with the leader? That sounds good.", Katya said to herself. "Say, why will you be meeting him?"

Torii shrugged. She honestly had no idea, other than frivolous things like sight-seeing and shopping.

"I'll probably look around, see what the place has to offer. I hope the place we're staying at is nice..."

"Paperwork," Dora replied simply and tonelessly, "related to what I used to do. My old bosses might send one of us over there for a while, if their government thinks it's OK. Boring stuff, really."

[Urran]

Upon hearing Dora's comment Yuri turned toward her with a neutral expression. "You will get your chance. We are ALL going to meet the Prime Minister. That's who's idea this trip was to begin with."

[New Aksarben]

Jacob thought for a moment in his seat, which was near Dora and the sisters's seats. "Well. I am not quite sure, to be honest. I would love to visit some of their museums, but a meeting with their leader might be interesting as well...." Jacob said, nodding to Dora. "But it would also just be fun to wander around with friends to see what there is to enjoy. Especially since this is Yoshi's homeland and we have never visited before." He seemed to get a bit more somber at that, and if someone could see inside his mind at that moment, they would see that he was thinking that he would have enjoyed this trip even more if Yoshi had been alive to act as their tour guide to his homeland. But Jacob got rid of those thoughts when he remembered something else. "Oh, right. I just remembered that there is nothing like Urran back in my universe, culture-wise and all. So It will be amazing to see a completely new culture. I'm familiar with most of those on my version of Terra, already, so this should be fun..."

One of his ears twitched at Yuri's words, when he heard them. "Oh really? That will be quite interesting.... So you are ruled by an elected official, then?" Jacob thought of something else, so he quickly mentioned, "I would offer an alliance to your nation, in honor of Yoshi's memory, but I do not want to corrupt this era too much with our technology. But otherwise I would have used this opportunity to help establish ties between our nations, Yuri. It would not be responsible to do so though."

[Swith Witherward]

She opened her eyes and smiled softly at Swith. She was humbled that someone as important and powerful as her would care for her and her small island nation. After all, wasn't she capable of wiping out entire planets if need be? "Numerous coastal fishing villages were damaged or leveled. Damage to any major cities was relatively lite. I suppose we are lucky in that respect....What can you do to help? Anything that you want. It would be wrong of me to ask for your help, but as long as you are offering, you may see the damage and do what you think is right."

"I can put you in touch with your closest neighbor. They're very friendly and passive. Usually, all they ask from other nations is to be allowed to contact your travel agents in order to promote vacation packages. Their major industries are tourism and medical services, you see. They helped found the International Red Cross & Peace Corp of Nation States specifically to render aid to nations recovering from natural disasters or military actions. I believe Mr. Bodkins still resides in the Building. He hails from there." Swith shrugged and leaned back in the seat.

OOC: shameless promotion for future trip to my nation!

[Tiltjuice]

Upon hearing Dora's comment Yuri turned toward her with a neutral expression. "You will get your chance. We are ALL going to meet the Prime Minister. That's who's idea this trip was to begin with."

Dora leaned forward again, crossing her arms, and favored Yuri with a thin smile. "Absolutely splendid, then," she drawled, with a very slight edge of self-deprecation.

When the first ACF agent was vaporized, a few of the ERT operatives simply froze in place at the sight. Barely even ashes seemed to remain of the strangely-armored individual, and this managed to get those operatives who had not frozen from fear to begin running in the other direction in a desperate attempt to flee towards safer ground. They knew that they couldn't manage to successfully eliminate the creature using these tactics. However, in their run for cover, the monster lashed out against them: two agents who had froze up in the middle of combat suddenly disintegrated in a burst of light, leaving six on foot and four in the JLTV's. The vehicles began to reverse and drive in the other direction as their gunners opened up, with the M2 machine guns firing without hesitation or restraint. The heavy booming sound of machine gun fire clouded and formed within the air, although it gave no relief to the frightened operatives. They acted now on mere impulse, all sense of coordination fading. They simply fired and retreated, fired and retreated.

"God dammit, you crazy SOB!", the commander following Octavian yelled out before running towards his men. They'd begun to spread out, avoiding clumping together. It didn't seem to help them as they lost a third soldier, disappearing before their eyes and causing a forth to collapse onto the ground in psychological trauma. None of them had really been prepared for fighting a creature so deadly, and so twisted. "Stark! Rodgers! Bring up that SMAW and shoot the damned thing!" The commander's order was suddenly acknowledged by two of the soldiers, one of them taking a large missile launcher off of his back and mounting it over his right shoulder. The second soldier coupled behind him and held him steady as he attempted to aim the large launcher at the giant creature in front of them.

The missile team lined up the launcher, staring down the giant creature of fire in front of them. The Shoulder-launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon had been equipped with a High-Explosive 83mm rocket. The weapon had been devised to destroy main battle tanks equipped with heavy armor, and the HE rocket that had been equipped would create a relatively large explosive when the warhead detonated. A normal tank would be torn apart and left in flames, a building would be given a relatively large hole in the side if it survived the impact. But a fire elemental? The effect could only be guessed.

A roaring whoosh could be heard as the missile team fired away the SMAW, the High-Explosive launcher mounted inside racing out and soaring through the distance between the monster and the combined ACR/SPRA team. A contrail was left by the rocket as it flew towards the creature of fire and readied to strike its target...

---

The sudden sound of a whooshing rocket convinced Ray to stop the car after carting it to the side of the street, turning it off and exiting immediately. He felt worried about fighting the strange creature, since there was no telling what damage it could possibly do to them. "...Alright! Let's go along now! Be ready for combat!", Ray's voice rang out, coming off as excited despite his grave internal worrying. He was hoping that they'd both go home uninjured today, and he locked the car once they both exited. He wielded his MIRA rifle around his waist and began to move forwards towards the sound of the fighting slowly.

As Octavian heard the man, he simply removed one hand from his weapon, stretched the same arm backwards, and raised one finger. After doing that for a few, most likely wasted, moments. Octavian continued on his path to continue attacking the monster by ducking around buildings and firing when he could see it. He heard the Incineration cannon go off a few times, likely the agent who still carried it had managed to get a good shot at the thing, and grinned. If nothing could slow down this creature, that weapon would. The equivalent of a rocket launcher for Aksarben, each of the simultaneously-fired rounds would fly in roughly a straight line, before detonating with the power of five pulse grenades each. It would create a much larger version of the field each pulse grenade could create, converting the matter within to energy then detonating. But of course on a being of pure energy it would just absorb the energy from it and then explode. And the powerful weapon fired four rounds at once. The distance that the ACF agent was at would likely let them spread out far enough to impact the monster in several different location.

Satisfied that his men were doing damage and good for themselves, he continued his running and gunning, as did the other agents. If any of the SPRA got in their way, they wouldn't hesitate to terminate them either. It was policy of the ACT to remove anything preventing them from containing their targets after all. And the SPRA had the double whammy of being classified as a group of special interest to the ACF. In other words, competing groups that could potentially threaten the ACF's goals and operatives, and who should not be allowed access to any objects.

---

Albert nodded, and plodded along behind his lover. He was still smirking underneath his armor, as he brought his particle beam rifle out to check it again. He was still estatic to be going into combat with his boyfriend, who he would protect until death. And that was saying quite a lot as it took quite a lot to kill a personification. Especially one representing a very powerful one, like Albert was. Albert wouldn't be willing to try it, but he guessed he could possibly survive a fall from at least 100 miles up, without his armor. HE might break a few, likely around a hundred, bones, but he would be able to recover in no time and be like nothing had ever happened. Actually thinking about it, Albert thought it might be fun to try to do that. But not unless Ray agreed to letting him do that of course. So Albert refocused himself and continued following Ray.

That is, until he heard the incineration cannon go off. The noise made him stop, and blink underneath his helmet. "Oh, hell. Octavian sure brought in the heavy artillery. This thing MUST be dangerous..."HE said, loud enough for Ray to hear him easily. "Its not often that Octavian brings out incineration Cannons. They cause too much damage to what they hit to recover anything of them. So this must be something that if rapid containment isn't established, could cause an XK-Class scenario...... Which basically means the end of Terra and humankind." Albert spoke in a very grave tone of voice. He was completely serious about this. He did not want whatever this thing was to destroy this city. It was too amazing, much like how he imagined Rome would have been, to let be destroyed. Plus, the few friends he had were all from this universe. Or at least living in it. He did not want this version of Terra to fall to something evil and monstrous like one of the SCP objects.

---

Jacob thought for a moment in his seat, which was near Dora and the sisters's seats. "Well. I am not quite sure, to be honest. I would love to visit some of their museums, but a meeting with their leader might be interesting as well...." Jacob said, nodding to Dora. "But it would also just be fun to wander around with friends to see what there is to enjoy. Especially since this is Yoshi's homeland and we have never visited before." He seemed to get a bit more somber at that, and if someone could see inside his mind at that moment, they would see that he was thinking that he would have enjoyed this trip even more if Yoshi had been alive to act as their tour guide to his homeland. But Jacob got rid of those thoughts when he remembered something else. "Oh, right. I just remembered that there is nothing like Urran back in my universe, culture-wise and all. So It will be amazing to see a completely new culture. I'm familiar with most of those on my version of Terra, already, so this should be fun..."

One of his ears twitched at Yuri's words, when he heard them. "Oh really? That will be quite interesting.... So you are ruled by an elected official, then?" Jacob thought of something else, so he quickly mentioned, "I would offer an alliance to your nation, in honor of Yoshi's memory, but I do not want to corrupt this era too much with our technology. But otherwise I would have used this opportunity to help establish ties between our nations, Yuri. It would not be responsible to do so though."

"Shopping, yes. The girls gotta do what the girls gotta do. Especially for clothing for the funeral service." She winked at Jacob, wondering if he'd evince the typical male horror of going clothing shopping with women.

[Urran]

"I can put you in touch with your closest neighbor. They're very friendly and passive. Usually, all they ask from other nations is to be allowed to contact your travel agents in order to promote vacation packages. Their major industries are tourism and medical services, you see. They helped found the International Red Cross & Peace Corp of Nation States specifically to render aid to nations recovering from natural disasters or military actions. I believe Mr. Bodkins still resides in the Building. He hails from there." Swith shrugged and leaned back in the seat.

OOC: shameless promotion for future trip to my nation!

"Witherward?" Yuri asked somewhat roughly. "We have only two real allies, they are thousands of miles away, all of the wars, all of the natural disasters, they have never raised a hand to help. We've never had contact with them. Attitudes towards them are not very good." She then turned to Jacob. "Yes, we are ruled by an elected official. As for your nation, I do not trust Octavian, I would have to say no, no matter what technological level you are at."

[The BranRiech]

"I'm fine, don't worry about me." Bran said listlessly as he contemplated the ideas swimming through his head. "I know, but still. Should I feel terrible for this? I mean, I can't even wear my own uniform to the funeral. I wore it when I proposed, as well as to all the other funerals I had to attend. I mean, I'll wear a Kimono, but still."

[Tiltjuice]

"I'm fine, don't worry about me." Bran said listlessly as he contemplated the ideas swimming through his head. "I know, but still. Should I feel terrible for this? I mean, I can't even wear my own uniform to the funeral. I wore it when I proposed, as well as to all the other funerals I had to attend. I mean, I'll wear a Kimono, but still."

"Buck up there, Nikanor," Dora drawled again. "I wish I could wear my uniform, too. One time won't kill you. If you want, you could come shopping with me and Torii and Katya...but that might kill you."

[Swith Witherward]

"There's nothing wrong with your uniform," Swith said to Bran. "You are a veteran. I should think the Urranese would be glad to see a representative of your people there to honor their fallen."

[The BranRiech]

"Well, I did bring the Kimono's Yoshi left for me, Yuri said I should wear one of those, but I also brought my uniform." Bran said as he continued staring at the ground. He didn't dare ask Yuri any questions, he felt it wasn't his place. That happened to be a big thing with his people, sometimes brash and patriotic, but then apologetic the second something wrong happened, national guilt.

"We almost there now?" He asked dryly to anyone else.

[Urran]

Yuri leaned back in her seat again. She had no idea what Swith was thinking, of course. She had a tendency to be insulting and had troubled accepting help from others out of pride.

The Urranese people, on the other hand, would probably welcome Witherward with open arms. They were an accepting and peaceful culture, but had a "carry a big stick" attitude. Blossom was one of them, she seemed to sense something was up with Swith, she curled up beside her and started kneading and purring in cat form.

[Lancearc]

"He didn't sound very stable at all, let's hope you run the country better than he can, you certainly seem qaulified to do the job." Drova said with an indignant huff. "Mmm, these "Dates" are really something."

--

Natiya followed along and surveyed the workshop, seemed pretty conventional. She knew it wasn't though, not when dealing with Primordial or any of the Luxans.

"I can help, sure thing."

--

Bran was still lugging his bag around when he followed Yuri outside to the Limo.

"I am learning, of course." Lance agreed with a grin. "I could work out getting you a few trees worth a week." he offered when he commented on the desert fruit. "They grow in very large quantities."

[New Aksarben]

Jacob rolled his eyes at Yuri's outburst and her response to his statement. "Octavian does not rule my nation, Yuri. Imperator Iacobos IV does. Octavian is his son and heir. He won't rule for at least the next hundred years or so. Iacobos is quite young still. He's only Seventy." Jacob said with a chuckle. That was middle-aged in his nation, as most people lived to at least double that normally. It had been like that for the last few hundred years or so. Ad because of the longer lifespans, the people of his nation aged slightly slower than normal, with them looking actually old(like they were in their 70-80s) around 150 years old.

He looked over at Dora again to talk to the former conservator and now PI. "Well. I think I might need some clothes for that as well. I do not own any suits myself. I prefer wearing traditional 'dressy' clothes for formal events. But I will respect Urran's customs, and wear what they would.... Which means I will need to find a suit to wear." He shrugged, and sighed. He didn't really mind going shopping with women, especially since they could tell him if something actually did look good on him or not. "But I would think it would be easier to find something nice if others were helping." He shrugged again, and leaned back in his seat more.

[Torsiedelle]

How rude, an outburst in the vehicle...

Katya thought so, anyway. She cleared her throat, and attempted to settle things civilly.

"Now, now, I think we should calm down a tad. No need to be fighting so soon."

Torii nodded in agreement.

[Urran]

How rude, an outburst in the vehicle...

Katya thought so, anyway. She cleared her throat, and attempted to settle things civilly.

"Now, now, I think we should calm down a tad. No need to be fighting so soon."

Torii nodded in agreement.

Yuri seemed to feel the change in mood. "I suppose we should have asked for help. I meant no disrespect, I apologize" she said softly and bowed her head. Best to not tell the Minister, head kill her. Not literally but still. He was always fussing at her about her attitude towards others. She then turned back to Jacob. "Oh, my mistake. I haven't done much research on you since you do not exist in our dimension.

[New Aksarben]

How rude, an outburst in the vehicle...

Katya thought so, anyway. She cleared her throat, and attempted to settle things civilly.

"Now, now, I think we should calm down a tad. No need to be fighting so soon."

Torii nodded in agreement.

Yuri seemed to feel the change in mood. "I suppose we should have asked for help. I meant no disrespect, I apologize" she said softly and bowed her head. Best to not tell the Minister, head kill her. Not literally but still. He was always fussing at her about her attitude towards others. She then turned back to Jacob. "Oh, my mistake. I haven't done much research on you since you do not exist in our dimension.

JAcob blinked, a bit surprised by the tone. His nation had been researching the new ones they had learned about in this dimension quite diligently. He was honestly a bit offended by the way she had said that. "Oh. Well. My nation has been researching yours. You would be surprised how quickly our diplomats and knowledge gatherers can spread. Especially when they are directed to do so by the Imperator. Its a nation's business to know about all other nations they know of, even if it is difficult to get there, after all." Jacob huffed a bit, before looking up at the ceiling as he reclined his head back against the seat to relax more.

[Urran]

Yuri felt his resentment. "I meant I personally haven't done any research, our diplomats don't know of your existence yet. But I'm sure that the Minister will want to know all about you."

The limo pulled onto the tarmac at the Air Urran terminal. Before them was a massive quad deck jumbo jet. The car came slowly to a halt and the slamming of a car door could be heard. Over the speakers a calm, collected voice sounded quite clear. "Ladies and gentleman, this is your driver speaking. I would like to thank you for being such good passangers. You may disembark shortly after the other passengers have boarded the aircraft."

[Tiltjuice]

"Personally," Dora drawled again, as she glanced back and forth between Yuri and Jacob, "I think you're both making mountains out of molehills. Let's not let that get in the way of enjoying a trip, what? We should be at the airport fairly soon, anyhow."

She wanted to get through security and on the plane so she could light up. A smoke would hit the spot.

[New Aksarben]

"Personally," Dora drawled again, as she glanced back and forth between Yuri and Jacob, "I think you're both making mountains out of molehills. Let's not let that get in the way of enjoying a trip, what? We should be at the airport fairly soon, anyhow."

She wanted to get through security and on the plane so she could light up. A smoke would hit the spot.

Jacob blinked. "Oh, you are right, Dora." Jacob said with a sigh. "Sorry. I just thought that she had meant her nation knew about my home, but hadn't bothered to learn anything about it. It just seemed a bit rude to me. Sorry." He looked up at the ceiling again, and wondered how much longer it would take to get to the airport. He was looking forward to being able to take a nap, and possibly talk with Katya and Dora a little bit.

[Urran]

Blossom transformed back into her normal form and rubbed her eyes. "A-are we there?" she asked. She looked over at Jacob and smiled. She then blushed and looked back down at her feet.

[Swith Witherward]

"Well, I did bring the Kimono's Yoshi left for me, Yuri said I should wear one of those, but I also brought my uniform." Bran said as he continued staring at the ground. He didn't dare ask Yuri any questions, he felt it wasn't his place. That happened to be a big thing with his people, sometimes brash and patriotic, but then apologetic the second something wrong happened, national guilt.

"We almost there now?" He asked dryly to anyone else.

"Let's see what the PM says about dress," Swith whispered. "I somehow can't fathom anyone inviting people to their country without regard to diet or taboos. I spent many years in a country where cow isn't eaten and many if not most of the dishes were vegetarian. Although they refuse to serve beef to foreign guests, official visitors aren't completely cut off from meat. The same is said of garb. For example, an Arab woman couldn't be expected to walk around uncovered. Not for religious reasons. She might be Christian. But culturally, she avoids exposing her ankles, chest and face. I've worn toe rings ever since Thriller married me. I adopted some of the customs of the land I first came to."

She lowered her voice even more until she was whispering inches from Bran's ear. "I think the PM is more wise and accepting than Yuri. One should always attempt to adopt some of the customs when visiting a country, out of respect for the people. That's why female soldiers from foreign countries who serve in the middle east cover their heads. Respect. But Yuri is too narrow minded."

[The BranRiech]

"Kind of funny, at home, we need to be accepting of others." Bran chuckled at room volume, so as to not disturb any others, people who might be trying to rest or something. "It's how we interpret Marx, not how all see it, but it's how we see it. If we're not accepting of others, is everyone really equal? I mean, we're travelling to Urran."

He switched to a whisper as well at this point.

"I don't have high expectations, it might be very nice place, but it's still capitalist, from my experience, profit comes before people. Hopefully, Urran can change my views. Bielefeld, as well, has proved a relaxing exception to that, although I haven't seen much of it, so I can't judge that part."

--

"Of course, I wouldn't need that much. They're not my trees as well, so I have no say in what you do with them." Drova nodded and bowed. "Just a basket now and then. We are on the same floor, so it shouldn't be too much of an effort for your people."

He nodded understandingly. "I'm still learning as well, I agree, that living here is a good experience."