Echoes Of The Black Sea Ep.1: An Express Of The Future

[Erryeah]

retracted

[Sentinel XV]

Unknown Location // Hesnet // Past Noon (Planetary Time)

The Planet of Lights. The ethereal beauty of the cosmos, an Earth-like planet so serene and pristine. The beauty, however, was lost upon the figure who -- with heavy footfalls -- passed out of its midday glow and into the interior of a near-dilapidated warehouse. The structure itself was quite sound.. its appearance a facade to disguise the activities within. Activities that should not ever see the light of the Hesnettish sphere: or any other in the galaxy until the finality of its design had been accomplished. As the door to the warehouse opened and the artificial lighting swept over the figure as he entered into it, one could clearly make out the rugged, angular features of his dark face. One could see the brooding brow, the angry eyes, the scarred skin. He was clearly a warrior, a soldier, a man who had seen dark times and had overcome them just as well. He was the Blacksmith, the enigmatic paramilitary terrorist, the man with the iron fists, of which many a dark soul has been claimed.

He approached the man with the scar, ignoring the peculiar smell of baked food in the air.

"I am here," he would say simply. For that is all he needed to say.

[Tiquiles]

Celeste's home, Azora

It is a peculiar sight to simply be gazing out the window onto a dormant tree one second, and to blink only to see a massive gust of wind hit the object like a mallet to a sheet of metal. As the gust hit, only a single leaf remained on the tree as the branches cracked and hit the ground.

"Again" roared the man. He was tall and dark with not a hair on his head but a beard dominating his chin. He worse a ceremonial robe that helped break the high winds of the sky planet and he stared down his daughter forcing her to throw all her energy at the trees in front of her.

The girl however bore little resemblance to her father, save her sky blue eyes, her height and the mass of anger that came while she spoke. "I've been at it all morning!" she roared, the wind being carried with her voice. "How the hell do you expect me to knock over a tree with my mind?"

"Watch your language young lady. I said do it again." This time he had a steel edge to his voice. His eyes thinned as the girl took a step back, closed her eyes and stood for a few seconds.

Concentration is the key, she repeated in her head. She thought only of the wind, she was the wind and the tree was nothing. She was the wind and not even the strongest man could stand between her. Or at least that was what she had to tell herself. As her eyes opened, her arms flailed forward and a rippling sound shot forward along with a gust of wind so powerful that the tree it hit no longer stood sentinel. The trees long arms snapped off with ease, and as the single surviving leaf flew off, the trunk stood as strong as it had hours before. Undaunted by the winds of anger.

Her training ended with a unsatisfied grunt from her father and the echo of footsteps across the floor of the stone garden. Her fists clenched and she attempted to breathe slowly, but the air that came out of her mouth spitted like darts, whistling through the air. She was far too tired for more practice.

As she gazed around the garden, taking in the various statues and mosaics her grandfather had made she chuckled. "Ten years of practice and I still can't blow over one of your dammed trees. Happy papa?" The closest sculpture was a bust of her grandfather’s head, staring vigilantly across the yard. She had the urge to try and blow over the bust, but seeing as it was connected to the pillar it stood on, such would be difficult.

As she sat the wind began to pick up again, her father managed to redirect it during her practice to avoid interference, but as she lost concentration and there was little to stop the wind, ti soon dominated the garden once again. She stood and walked in her warm parka and boots to the edge of her home, which stood high on one of the many platforms around the sky. She watched the asteroid belt move with suspicion. If she was nearly as strong as her grandfather had been, she could probably cut the trees in half with wind, sadly like one of those floating rocks in the sky, she simply went with the flow of the universe not carving her own path.

As she reached into a metal chest near the home's back door and removed a kite, she easily wound it into the sky and watched it dance around effortlessly. Like the leaves of a tree, it did not need to resist in order to remain, like the rocks of the asteroid belt it did as it was meant to and hovered above the ground. At that moment, Celeste wished she was like one of the many kites she flew. She wished she could soar, only before her thoughts met the kite and crashed against the ground. Shattered and irreparable Celeste stood staring at her broken kite with a haze of anger.

As she turned around towards the back door she saw the little brat who ruined her life. The boy that now stood in his pyjamas laughing at another one of her possessions that he had broken. "Why would you do that, you idiot!" She yelled marching over to the boy. His laughing died down and he ran into the house, away from her, away from the troubles of life like all children could. Celeste however was not a child.

[Terintania]

Seeing Corvo act the way he was to her arriving, after she had been a total ass to him earlier, she felt more relieved to speak to him. Clearly, he was the type of person that didn't hold a grudge, because he was acting rather friendly to her even. As far as she could tell, there wasn't even a hint of him still being angry with her for acting like an ass.

"I believe I owe you an apology for my behavior earlier. That was very rude and unacceptable of me. So I'm sorry for acting the way I did to you earlier. You were just trying to be nice to me and I totally flipped out on you. My mind is all over the place lately, and half the time I don't even know how I'm going to react. Or if I can trust my own mind anymore. So I apologize for how I behaved to you earlier. If there is anything I can do to make it up to you, please ask" Franky said.....which probably just showed Corvo that when her mind wasn't acting like it was earlier, she could be an overly apologetic girl and overly polite about the whole thing.

But, despite this, suddenly she turned serious, and in a completely serious tone of voice, she said "Except asking for a kiss. There are a few things I won't accept to make it up to you". There was nothing at all joking about the way she said that. It was completely serious. Which probably just proved she was a little bizarre. It also may of given him the impression that she had problems with being nice like the way she is now, and asking people if she could make it up to them, and having them say that very thing: Asking her for a kiss. Though, back when she would of had obsessive boys that would of loved to kiss her just because she was the 'intelligent girl', she wouldn't of really had a reason to make it up to someone, because back then she was pretty much all nice, and never had the weird pissy moments like she had with Corvo earlier.

"Apology accepted," Corvo said, smiling. "Like I said, I understand. It makes perfect sense to me that you could be angry and bitter after something bad happening to you, even if that's not who you truly are." He raised an eyebrow slightly when she offered to do something to make it up to him,"Um, you don't need to do anything for me," He said, seeming to think she was going a little overboard. Not that there was anything wrong with being overly apologetic.

He looked kind of like WTF when she said 'except for a kiss'. "I wouldn't ask for a kiss, anyway," He said, before adding,"Seriously, if I asked you for a kiss to make it up to me, I think I'd deserved to be slapped rather the apologized to," It was hard to tell if he was joking or not when he said that. It seemed like it may have been a kind of serious joking remark, like he was serious about what he said, but said it in a joking manner. He then quickly finished his food, slightly regretting the 'quickly' part, and stood up. "I should get back to the shop," He said,"It was nice meeting you."

[Corrian]

Franky let out a sigh of relief and smiled. She didn't really say anything in response, just smiled. Happy that he accepted her apology like that. One of her so-called friends didn't seem to understand the concept of PTSD and reacted badly when she acted harshly to him once, and didn't really accept her apology either and said something along the lines of "I know you went through hell, but that's no reason to act like an asshole". From that day forward, he was no longer one of her friends. Thankfully, she had some more understanding and polite friends about it, even if they were never as good as her best friend that was gunned down. In response to him saying there was nothing she needed to do for him, she simply said "Okay", and smiled.

Franky chuckled slightly. "Sorry, I've had some experiences like that before. A few at school since I got rescued, which by the way school sucks after you have just gone through a trauma. And I had some before I was traumatized when some obsessive creepo tried to get my attention and got on my nerves, and I acted more harshly then normal. I apologized, and offered to do something for him to make up for it...and well, you know what he asked I'm sure" She said, shaking her head. To the last part about him needing to get back to work, she nodded, and just said "I'll be around", even though she knew it didn't really matter because she'd probably disappear into the crowds, never to see Corvo again. Unless she came back and stared at the items in Urvin's shop.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Unknown location, Hesnet, past noon(Planetary time)

"Good to hear, Blacksmith." The scarred man said.

"Castor." He called. Soon enough, a younger-looking man, similar to the scarred man himself, but with certain differnces, appeared from the shadows of the warehouse and took position next to the Blacksmith. The scarred man nodded at him. Reaching into one of his pockets, he picked up a small device. Upon its activation, the device projected a tridimensional model of a certain person, a relatively aged man, likely in his late forties. The scarred one finally stood up, and held the device so that it could be seen clearly by the two men that stood in front of him.

"As you know, we need this man, Dr. Gars Enghei. He is the only one with knowledge on how to synthesize Hadium, as well as its properties, and we need that knowledge on said element. Whatever you do, don't kill him, or I'll have your heads on a pike." The man said, and then proceeded to detail the plan...

---

---

Starfall Plaza, Hesnet, around dusk (Planetary time)

Once again, several figures stood overlooking the Starfall Plaza from a nearby vantage point. One of them, Castor, turned to the others.

"Alright, just to be sure, let's go over the plan once more." Castor stated. "Soon, Rigel's projectile will take out the automated security measures of the Plaza. That will be your signal. Inevitably, the security personnel will be alerted, but their devices will be of no use to them anymore, which will slow them down significantly. Blacksmith, Panic, you two will take these dozen men and cause a distraction. I'll meet up with Baker and capture Enghei." Castor explained. He then nodded to the men. All of them were armed with retrograde neuronic whips and retractable metallic blades. Since the projectile's waves would knock off hover technology, they had Second Era-styled wheeled bikes at their disposal. Despite how archaic the technology was, it would suffice for the operation at hand.

"So, I leave it in your hands. Blacksmith, Panic, we're counting on you two." Castor said, before leaving the scene, soon dissappearing from sight.


Back in the Starfall Plaza, a certain inspector was whistling as he patrolled the Festival. Since it was almost dusk, time for the blazing orbs of light to accompany the setting Hesnettish sun on the final part of its descent, naturally most of the people at the Festival had gathered near the middle of the Plaza to behold the spectacle of the Lights that was about to be hosted on the planet's sky. Which meant, it was fairly easy to go around now, the necessity to dodge the people coming in the opposite direction all but gone.

And yet, he couldn't help but feel that something was off.

"This is D. Everything alright over there, Cal?" Seton whispered.

"Yeah. The security systems are up and running. Why? See something odd?"

"No. It's just... Nevermind."


Not far from there, Urvin was fairly content with himself, and with his young employee too. Thanks to Corvo he had managed to set up the store fairly quickly, and he had made good sales at the Festival as well. So, at the moment, he simply sat at the counter of his own store, looking up at the sky expectantly. While he was there mostly due to business, he, too, was looking forward to seeing the Starfall. It was one of the few universal events, after all. It was something worth witnessing.

"Corvo, you can go to the center of the plaza to get a better look if you like." Urvin said to him.


At the center of the Plaza (Although at the periphery of the enormous mass of people currently gathered there) stood Arda, tasting an archaic delicacy, a candy cotton they called it in the Second Era. She, too, watched the sky expectantly, the setting sun's light being reflected by her dull gray eye. As she watched (And ate), she directed a brief glance at her one companion, who she had met just a few hours ago.

"Artan, the Starfall begins soon. Stay vigilant." She said, perfectly serious, referring to the fact that they were supposed to try to catch the Starfall Shard if there was one that year. She then turned back to continue looking at the sky.

[Corrian]

During the hours that passed, Franky had practically explored the entire festival. There wasn't a shop she hadn't looked closer at. She was extremely fascinated by some of the oddities at the festival, and started to wish she had brought more money so she could buy a bunch of miscellaneous trinkets. Though, she knew there was only so much she would of been able to carry with her in her suitcase anyway, so if she bought too much there would be the big issue of getting everything back to her home. She had also decided to try some of the food after a while, when she got more hungry, which she found rather delicious. While she was wandering around, she also checked out some of the other stuff then just shops at the festival. Pretty much to sum it all up, she explored a lot, looked fascinated a lot, and was generally as happy as she could be after what happened to her, with the exception of a few off moments here and there. She just had a natural love of exploration, so just walking around all day looking at neat stuff was enough to satisfy her day.

At the current time, she was hanging out on the outskirts of the middle of the Plaza, staring absentmindedly up at the sky with a small smile on her face. This was so she could get a better view, and also not be overcrowded by other people. She seemed content and happy for the time being. So content and lost in her mind in fact that she didn't even hear the people talking around her, and it was as if she was all alone in the center of the Plaza, even though that was by far not the case. This was what she was looking forward to most, the night sky. If there was one thing that always fascinated her and made her feel happy, it was the beautiful night sky. All those billions of stars, with who knows how many planets around them, along with who knows how many moons. There was so many possibilities for life they never discovered out there, that it was all just very fascinating to her. She even wondered if there was another version of the human race that was more peaceful then theirs, or more violent, that was still discovering the technology to explore space. Or maybe a version of the human race that was still in the medieval times, or the Wild West. Or maybe even the Egyptian times. Though, she then started to think about the fact that maybe they don't even call it that there, and their form of 'medieval' time might just be like how her world was now, which is considered modern times. Or maybe there was a Steampunk world out there somewhere. Maybe another world where since the medieval times, there was never any religion, and equal rights for women and gay couples was never an issue and everyone was considered the same. Or maybe another race that had the women as the main rulers and the men had to bow down to the women and serve them. That thought slightly amused her, the idea of it being the opposite of how it was in her world at one time. Maybe the females were even stronger then the males, unlike how it was typically considered here. Maybe animals were always treated fairly, instead of abused and cruelly used for meet. The possibilities that were going through her head of what could be out there amazed her, and she just loved daydreaming about the possibilities of the universe. Daydreaming was one thing that could make her happy, as long as she daydreamed about stuff like the possibilities of the universe, or imaginary worlds that she made up inside of her bizarre mind.

[Rupudska]

Lotte raised her head, inquisitively looking at Kenna. The Demon Tiger of Gliese. Ancelotte had heard of her and some of her more infamous assignments, but that was it. Lotte didn't know anything else about Kenna, and was doubtful on what to do. While Kenna was most likely a valid hunter, Lotte still had some concerns regarding her work ethics. Kenna looked quite gruff and raw looking, but well, she was from Gliese after all. If humans were eggs, Gliese would have been the oven which would have made them harsher and stronger. Hard Boiled.

And yet, Lottle could tell that Kenna wasn't a much shifty fellow. Her manner of talk, her manners, they were all signs of brutal, pompous honesty.
Ancelotte remained still in her seat, eyeing Kenna in a thoughtful manner, like ancient and stoic dragon, eyeing the roaring tiger marching towards its secluded lair.
"I'd be glad of such aid, Miss....Sanderland?" she replied, not reminding her surname.
"Yet....I don't know, I'm not sure. Could I trust you?"

Kenna nodded. "Sutherland. Close enough fer a Frenchie. No offense."

As to her second question, Kenna simply shrugged. "Hahd tae trust a cat-a-mountain like me, A'll admit. But I hae a bit o' a mean streak wi' traitors, so I guess A'm trustwarthy."

She stretched a bit. "Well, mey as well get movin. A've got a job of ma oon." She walked off, tweaking a few parts on her bagpipe. If Lotte were to look closely at Kenna's hips, she would probably notice she was very much armed with two pistols, one a microwave laser, the other an M1911 gunpowder weapn.

---

Dusk, elsewhere

Kenna had managed to find herself amongst a number of other Scots, and had taken a front position in a band that had simply materialized a few hours ago. They were pretty good, too. Right now, they were just finishing up a rendition of Amazing Grace, after doing nothing but clan marches for the past two hours. They had attracted a small crowd, and were starting to wrap up with Flower of Scotland. It seemed that the group normally finished with this, as Kenna found out.

She did the singing part, and revealed herself to be equally good at singing as she was at playing the bagpipes, meaning pretty good. She managed to get the drummers to sing along halfway through, as well.

After finishing the song, which was about 3 and a half minutes long, the group separated, wandering off to other parts of the festival. Kenna walked over to a tree and flopped down, pulling out a bottle of water and taking a long swig.

[Agritum]

Lotte raised her head, inquisitively looking at Kenna. The Demon Tiger of Gliese. Ancelotte had heard of her and some of her more infamous assignments, but that was it. Lotte didn't know anything else about Kenna, and was doubtful on what to do. While Kenna was most likely a valid hunter, Lotte still had some concerns regarding her work ethics. Kenna looked quite gruff and raw looking, but well, she was from Gliese after all. If humans were eggs, Gliese would have been the oven which would have made them harsher and stronger. Hard Boiled.

And yet, Lottle could tell that Kenna wasn't a much shifty fellow. Her manner of talk, her manners, they were all signs of brutal, pompous honesty.
Ancelotte remained still in her seat, eyeing Kenna in a thoughtful manner, like ancient and stoic dragon, eyeing the roaring tiger marching towards its secluded lair.
"I'd be glad of such aid, Miss....Sanderland?" she replied, not reminding her surname.
"Yet....I don't know, I'm not sure. Could I trust you?"

Kenna nodded. "Sutherland. Close enough fer a Frenchie. No offense."

As to her second question, Kenna simply shrugged. "Hahd tae trust a cat-a-mountain like me, A'll admit. But I hae a bit o' a mean streak wi' traitors, so I guess A'm trustwarthy."

She stretched a bit. "Well, mey as well get movin. A've got a job of ma oon." She walked off, tweaking a few parts on her bagpipe. If Lotte were to look closely at Kenna's hips, she would probably notice she was very much armed with two pistols, one a microwave laser, the other an M1911 gunpowder weapn.

---

Dusk, elsewhere

Kenna had managed to find herself amongst a number of other Scots, and had taken a front position in a band that had simply materialized a few hours ago. They were pretty good, too. Right now, they were just finishing up a rendition of Amazing Grace, after doing nothing but clan marches for the past two hours. They had attracted a small crowd, and were starting to wrap up with Flower of Scotland. It seemed that the group normally finished with this, as Kenna found out.

She did the singing part, and revealed herself to be equally good at singing as she was at playing the bagpipes, meaning pretty good. She managed to get the drummers to sing along halfway through, as well.

After finishing the song, which was about 3 and a half minutes long, the group separated, wandering off to other parts of the festival. Kenna walked over to a tree and flopped down, pulling out a bottle of water and taking a long swig.

Starfall Plaza, Hesnet, Dusk.

Ancelotte wandered through the now somewhat more crowded fair grounds, glancing at the lights set up by the various sellers and stands. With night slowly coming, the famous fallingg stars of Hesnet would have been finally revealed. Lotte had been waiting for that moment for all of her stay there. She had even vowed that she wouldn't have left the planet before witnessing the starfalls yet one more time.

Of course, her mind thout of other things, too. Mostly, to seek or not Kenna's help in bounty hunting. The times were hard, and she really needed a job partner. Kenna was surely qualified, but Lotte was still quite doubtful of her work ethics and morals. Then, she had a little idea: she could have done some assingnments with Kenna as her hunting partner, as to test her and see if she was a person she could work with.

In a twist of fate, Ancelotte stumbled right in front of Kenna, and approached the Scot in a dignified and polite way. "Madam Sadarlande," she addressed her in a friendly, and painfully accented tone, "I would like to give you an answer to today's afternoon conversation...the answer being...."
Lotte added a light smile to her face. "Of course you can be my hunting partner. I guess that such a partnership could be beneficial to both of us."

[Corrian]

The earlier music that was being played, bagpipes and all, had been one of the highlights of the day for Franky. If there was one thing she loved, it was music. And bagpipes could be beautiful if played right. And if the live performance was played well, she loved being there in person for that experience even more then just listening to music in a portable music device. Which, she did quite frequently too. Today however, she left it at her apartment to experience the festive sounds of the festival instead of just listening to music all day while going around the festival. At times she wished she did bring her musical device, because she felt that she needed something playing when it got quiet, to keep her mind from wandering to the bad memories. But she had done alright today, and she was grateful for that. Right now, just staring at the sky and daydreaming was keeping her mind off things, and she was at peace, blocking out all the sounds of chatter around and near her.

[Rupudska]

Ancelotte wandered through the now somewhat more crowded fair grounds, glancing at the lights set up by the various sellers and stands. With night slowly coming, the famous fallingg stars of Hesnet would have been finally revealed. Lotte had been waiting for that moment for all of her stay there. She had even vowed that she wouldn't have left the planet before witnessing the starfalls yet one more time.

Of course, her mind thout of other things, too. Mostly, to seek or not Kenna's help in bounty hunting. The times were hard, and she really needed a job partner. Kenna was surely qualified, but Lotte was still quite doubtful of her work ethics and morals. Then, she had a little idea: she could have done some assingnments with Kenna as her hunting partner, as to test her and see if she was a person she could work with.

In a twist of fate, Ancelotte stumbled right in front of Kenna, and approached the Scot in a dignified and polite way. "Madam Sadarlande," she addressed her in a friendly, and painfully accented tone, "I would like to give you an answer to today's afternoon conversation...the answer being...."
Lotte added a light smile to her face. "Of course you can be my hunting partner. I guess that such a partnership could be beneficial to both of us."

Kenna grinned at her, standing up. "Tha's great! Haen't had a decent hunt in months!"

She took another swig from her bottle of water. "Bah, A need summat alcoholic. Say Lotte, ye know whaur A could find some alcohol?" She had a craving for - what else - whiskey. Unfortunately, she hadn't done much looking around, and she preferred to drink alcohol after she's done all she set out to do for that day. Which means she hadn't looked around for alcohol in the first place.

[Agritum]

Ancelotte wandered through the now somewhat more crowded fair grounds, glancing at the lights set up by the various sellers and stands. With night slowly coming, the famous fallingg stars of Hesnet would have been finally revealed. Lotte had been waiting for that moment for all of her stay there. She had even vowed that she wouldn't have left the planet before witnessing the starfalls yet one more time.

Of course, her mind thout of other things, too. Mostly, to seek or not Kenna's help in bounty hunting. The times were hard, and she really needed a job partner. Kenna was surely qualified, but Lotte was still quite doubtful of her work ethics and morals. Then, she had a little idea: she could have done some assingnments with Kenna as her hunting partner, as to test her and see if she was a person she could work with.

In a twist of fate, Ancelotte stumbled right in front of Kenna, and approached the Scot in a dignified and polite way. "Madam Sadarlande," she addressed her in a friendly, and painfully accented tone, "I would like to give you an answer to today's afternoon conversation...the answer being...."
Lotte added a light smile to her face. "Of course you can be my hunting partner. I guess that such a partnership could be beneficial to both of us."

Kenna grinned at her, standing up. "Tha's great! Haen't had a decent hunt in months!"

She took another swig from her bottle of water. "Bah, A need summat alcoholic. Say Lotte, ye know whaur A could find some alcohol?" She had a craving for - what else - whiskey. Unfortunately, she hadn't done much looking around, and she preferred to drink alcohol after she's done all she set out to do for that day. Which means she hadn't looked around for alcohol in the first place.

"Uh...maybe in the foodstalls, Madam? I saw that most of them offer beer. Some even wine, too. Regarding other beverages, I recall that I saw atleast two stands selling high quality liqueur. I honestly don't know of their actual quality, but they are still quite expensive. Maybe...maybr you could settle for Hesnettish ale?"

[Corrian]

"You should of met me about 6 hours ago" Franky chimed in out of nowhere to Kenna and Ancelotte's conversation earlier, without taking her gaze off the sky. Based on how spacy and daydreamy she was earlier, it was surprising that she had heard the conversation at all. Though, it still seemed like she was focusing more on the sky then the conversation. "I could of passed you my whiskey and saved myself from drinking when I shouldn't, and from wasting it by destroying it with this lazer thingy" She continued, her gaze still not moving from the sky.

[Eon Prime]

Starfall Plaza, Hesnet, Dusk (Planetary time)

Alex had been meandering around for hours while the festival preparation was still underway, but it now seemed that the festival was about to truly begin. Everyone, including herself, had gathered near the center of the plaza to wait. There was even a Scottish band that had just regaled the waiting crowd with several rather lovely songs.

She watched as they split up, going in separate directions. One of their number, a fiery-haired woman, stopping to speak with a radiantly blond woman with a sword at her belt. After a few words had been shared between them, positive based on expressions, a third and less….dangerous girl? Was that the right word? Addressed the pair, Alex thought this exchange would certainly be interesting to watch, more so if she could hear them. And so she did, looking away at other things before allowing her eyes to wander back and making sure her eyes wandered back to those other things as well so it wouldn’t look like they were the center of her curiosity. She was rather afraid of being confronted by the strong looking pair, if not the less intimidating third girl. As she tried to enjoy the air of the festival she continued to sip from a bottle of whiskey she had purchased earlier, maybe not the strongest stuff, but definitely stronger than she was used to.

[Terintania]

Corvo had been helping Urvin as much as he could, but by the time everyone was gathering in the plaza, he was starting to get tired. He wasn't used to working, and though he did lots of parkour, doing an actual job took a different kind of energy. With a job like this, it was a more mental tiredness then physical.

He was leaning against one of the walls, just staring straight forward when Urvin spoke. He seemed to snap out of a trance type state, and blinked a couple of times before saying,"Ok. Thanks," while giving Urvin a smile. He then pushed himself away from the wall and headed for the center of the plaza. He stayed on the outskirts, however, not being the type to want to cram his way between people. He liked people, most of the time, but he didn't really care for big crowds. He saw a couple of the people he had seen earlier, but didn't pay them much mind.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Starfall Plaza, Hesnet, around dusk (Planetary time)

The sun was already setting, and the shower of stars streaking across the sky as if they were the tail and the sun was the comet were being viewed by most of the attendants to the Festival, who were entranced by the astral sight, blissfully unaware of the events that were about to take place at the Starfall Plaza.

A small tremor soon shook the Plaza, throwing some people off their feet, but not causing much harm in the way of structural damage.

In the way of security, it worked marvels or horrors, depending on where one stood.

Somewhere around the stalls, Seton walked alone, still patrolling, his gaze drifting up to the sky every now and then. "So I was there, and Seton was over there. We were about to apprehend this guy when-" The ever-present voice of Cal said, but was suddenly cut off. The good inspector was, understandably, alarmed by this new development.

"Cal?" He asked. No response.

"Cal, are you there?" He asked. Once again, no response. His alarm grew, and he instinctively took his hand to his neuronic whip.

"Oh, for Jupiter!" He shouted. It was then that he heard the panic, and rushed towards the center of the plaza.


Back at the center of the plaza, the tremor brought along some shock, but nothing serious. What did bring panic forth, though, were the riders. A dozen of them rode forth in outdated but still functional vehicles, spearheaded by two figures. All of them, save the aforementioned figures, wore red cloaks and hoods, and if anyone was well aware of crime in the Known Universe, they would recognize them as the Red Gospel, an organization that fervently opposed the Human Government.

As the riders approached, panic was sown into the crowd, and people began to flee from the place, as fast as they could. Naturally, their own fears hindered them in this endeavor.

Arda, still on the periphery, saw the Red Gospel approaching, and let her treat fall to the ground, putting the scarf back in its place and walking off without another word to Artan. However, the woman, so hermetic in her attire that Artan had mistaken her for a man, walked in the opposite direction than the people running. That is, she was walking towards the riders, not away from them.


Back at Urvin's stall, the old, tiny man contented himself with watching the stars from his stall, while leaning back on a small chair, made specifically for his size. He leaned back as the stars streaked across the sky, dozing off into a peaceful sleep as they made their journey alongside the sun...

And then the voices disturbed his sleep.

"Castor." The first said, and upon hearing it, Urvin, instead of doing anything, simply remained in his position, with his eyes closed, pretending to truly be asleep. He had more chances of remaining undetected that way.

"Baker." The second voice replied. "Did you find our target?" It asked. A pause.

"I know exactly where he is. Let's go." The first stated.

No more voices...


Starfall Plaza Security Station, Hesnet, around dusk (Planetary time)

On the station, set a reasonable distance from the Starfall Plaza, far enough to not disturb the events carried out there, yet close enough to respond quickly to any incident, some of the officers were gathered in the surveillance room, talking. A practice not unheard of. After all, who was going to attack the Plaza? Seriously.

"So I was there, and Seton was over there. We were about to apprehend this guy when- Holy shit! What just happened?!" A man in his late thirties exclaimed, his rather comical tale interrupted by the sudden disruption of all surveillance feeds.

"No idea, Cal, but we've gotta move. Something took out our security measures, so they must be onto the Festival. Quick, let's go!" An older, more experienced man said, and they all rushed out of the surveillance room. The security forces of the Starfall Station gathered at the vehicle room, only to find out something.

Their hoverbikes were not working at all.

"Dammit! What now...?" Cal said, cursing at his luck, before an idea struck him. "The van! Whatever took these out can't have put the old relic out of order!" He said. Everyone agreed with him, and they headed to where the van was being stored.

Unfortunately, this time, something different stopped them. Something more dangerous. They wouldn't be able to arrive to the Starfall Plaza in time to fend off the Redcloaks. Or perhaps at all.

[Agritum]

"Oh, well, I am sorry for that" Ancelotte replied to Franky, surprised by the girl's sudden intrusion in her conversation with Kenna. She still remained polite, though, given that Franky didn't see much of an hassle. "Well, I guess we'll have to settle for something else. Maybe....red wine?" Ancelotte suggested.
"It is slightly more alcoholic than white one, so I guess that Kenna wouldn't dislike it very much. I personally prefer white one. Maybe it's because red one reminds me too much of blood and..."

Motorcycles speeding in the Plaza. Cloaks flapping in the air. Screams all over the stalls. "Dieu! The Gospel is there! Kenna, come with me! We must stop them before they harm anyone!" Lotte muttered to her Scottish companion, while unsheating Arondine. Hopefully, the last, scarce rays of the sun would have helped in boosting it a little bit.
"And you....miss, find cover!" she said to Franky, before turning in direction of the speeding redcloaks.

"I hope they don't have any sunglasses..
Ancelotte moved her left hand away from the sword, and opened her palm, pointing it at the center of the incoming horde.
"Pour favour, don't give up one me right now!"

In a feat that would have quickly revealed that she was a Stygma carrier, Lotte's hand glowed with light, before a single flare of it was shot towards the incoming column of motorcycles. It promptly blew up, sending a blinding wave of light towards the riders. They wouldn't have been injured by it, but most likely, the temporary lack of sight caused by such an attack would have done the trick.

[Len Hyet]

Silva raised his eyes blearily, toward the plaza, and as soon as the tremors began and the screams of panic cut through his alcohol addled mind, he pulled a small black pill from his pocket and gulped it down with a swig of water. Almost immediately his head began to clear. The pill in question contained microbes that sought out and ate the alcohol in the body, and thus countered the effects of over an hour of binge drinking in little more than three seconds. That done, the Assassin took stock of his situation. A dozen riders on what looked like old cars and motorcycles, another explosion, this time some disturbance in the air. A stigma he guessed, and since it had done exactly diddly shit to stop the riders, probably stigma of light.

The Assassin looked regretfully at his drink, and took one last sip. Not enough to get him drunk, but enough for him to fully understand the sacrifice he was making when he left the drink there to leave. Heroics? From him? Please. Silva wanted to get the hell out of there before the cops showed up, started questioning people, and perhaps did a more in depth background check on a certain someone. He'd nearly made it to the portal when he saw ahead. It was shut down. Of course. Don't want the Red bastards going anywhere do we? Sons of bitches. He turned and looked back. The Red Gospel was riding pell mell through the crowds. Muttering curses in three languages under his breath, Silva pushed his way through the crowd until he was next to the one with the stigma of light.

"Amateur." He sneered. Silva reached out, and flicked his wrist, pinching his thumb and forefinger together as he did so. He targeted the foremost rider, throwing his ceramic knife from under his jacket at one of the Riders, before darting towards one of the stalls. He pulled out his M1911 and pulled the slide halfway back, checking that there was, in fact, a round in the chamber. He ducked behind a stall as one of the Red Gospel fired a burst of some kind of ammo over his head. The Assassin poked his head up, and under the stall, clenched a fist, trying to close off the carteroid arteries in the man's neck. Keeping his fist clenched and counting to sixty, Silva vaulted over the railing and into the vendor's stall. After two minutes Silva relaxed his fist. The man should be unconscious now, but not dead. Probably good in the long run, somebody to interrogate. Not that it would probably do much, but it was worth a shot. At the least it would keep the cops from interrogating the crowd too extensively. Which of course, would give Silva all the better opportunity to, as the old axiom went "Get the hell out'a Dodge". Silva poked his head up, and fired three rounds, all of which sparked off of the side of one of the vehicles.

[Corrian]

Franky got rather distracted with the sky when it got prettier, and she just stared up at it with a smile on her face. While still clearly staring at the sky, in a daydreamy voice, she said "I never had wine before", because only recently did she get into the alcoholic stuff. So she only had tried a few things, like a few beers and apparently Whiskey. But, as she listened to Ancelotte continue to speak, she quickly leaped up into standing position when she felt the tremor of sorts, but because she had been laying on her back staring up at the sky, she didn't really get knocked over by it.

Then, she knew something was wrong when the weird people on motorbikes arrived to the plaza. Did she really just go to this festival to get away from life, and to try to get her mind off the trauma she had, only to be smack dab at the festival during the one time it gets attacked by freaks? So much for avoiding trauma. Instead, she was going to see more stuff that would likely traumatize her even more. But all she could think of doing now was to get to safety. She had no idea who these Red Gospel folks were, since she didn't do much research on criminals, but she wasn't stupid, and it was obvious that their intentions weren't peaceful.

"Sounds like a plan!" Franky shouted to them. Before she left, she shouted "Be careful, and hopefully I will see you guys again!". Not that she expected that to be very likely . Not because they might be dead, but because the chances of seeing the same 2 people in the crowd of thousands of people wasn't very likely . Obviously, people were well, running away. But it still wasn't very likely.

When she got to a place she felt was the most suitable for hiding, she pressed herself up against the side of her hiding spot, sat down to hide even better, and unsheathed her sword to be ready to stab at anyone bad that might come around the corner and try to hurt her. She was breathing heavily, but doing a good job at keeping her nerves in check for the time being. She wished there was something she could do, but the only thing she could think of doing would be some dumb move that would get her killed. Or, be something she saw in some dumb action movie that wouldn't even actually be logically possible, without completely ripping her arms off in the process of attempting it. So, she just kept safe in the spot she was at for now, in hopes that nobody would come and try to kidnap her again or something.

[Rupudska]

"Oh, well, I am sorry for that" Ancelotte replied to Franky, surprised by the girl's sudden intrusion in her conversation with Kenna. She still remained polite, though, given that Franky didn't see much of an hassle. "Well, I guess we'll have to settle for something else. Maybe....red wine?" Ancelotte suggested.
"It is slightly more alcoholic than white one, so I guess that Kenna wouldn't dislike it very much. I personally prefer white one. Maybe it's because red one reminds me too much of blood and..."

Motorcycles speeding in the Plaza. Cloaks flapping in the air. Screams all over the stalls. "Dieu! The Gospel is there! Kenna, come with me! We must stop them before they harm anyone!" Lotte muttered to her Scottish companion, while unsheating Arondine. Hopefully, the last, scarce rays of the sun would have helped in boosting it a little bit.
"And you....miss, find cover!" she said to Franky, before turning in direction of the speeding redcloaks.

"I hope they don't have any sunglasses..
Ancelotte moved her left hand away from the sword, and opened her palm, pointing it at the center of the incoming horde.
"Pour favour, don't give up one me right now!"

In a feat that would have quickly revealed that she was a Stygma carrier, Lotte's hand glowed with light, before a single flare of it was shot towards the incoming column of motorcycles. It promptly blew up, sending a blinding wave of light towards the riders. They wouldn't have been injured by it, but most likely, the temporary lack of sight caused by such an attack would have done the trick.

At the sight of the Cloaks, Kenna simply grinned. Maliciously. Demonically, without pure intent or soul behind it. "Och, tha' won't be necessary, lass. It's guid ye'r a Stygma carrier. So'm A. Naw, let's see how they handle a richt guid scare!" She eyed one of the nearer riders, scanning his mind for his fears. It was almost hilarious how obvious this one was. He would really like to not get his face damaged. He seemed to be pretty attached to his looks.

Pity.

Kenna drew her microwave pistol and promptly fired at the motorcycle's front tire. It flipped over several times, and the rider faceplanted into the ground. She ran over to him, put a boot on his head, and pointed the pistol at his skull.

"D'yeh fear death?"

[The Alice in Wondeland]

Eli soaked in the directions that the man had given him. A distraction. Nothing too difficult, there was a reason they called him Panic after all.

As the people began to gather in the center of the plaza for the Starfall, Eli stood at the plaza's gate. It was time for a show. He glanced over at the Blacksmith, who was also gearing up for their directive. "Operative, Codename: Panic. Preparing for mission commencement. Commencing operation in 8 seconds." He said into his earpiece. He began his stride toward the middle of the plaza.

He pulled out a cigarette, and lit it. He took a puff, and as he brought it away from his mouth, not grey smoke, but grreen came from his lips. At once it seemed to envelop him, filling the air in half of the plaza. People came running out of the green fog clutching their stomachs and heads. They weren't going to die, with a fog this thick all Eli could produce was a poison that would give people head aches, stomach aches, and bleeding from the mouth for a few weeks. He was oblivious to all else , being completely consumed in willing his body to produce the thick cloud. The Blacksmith would direct the riders that accompanied them, he was sure of that. He reached a large stone statue of a man with his hand outstretched to the stars. Eli took out one of his daggers, and put a cut across his palm. He placed his hand over the face of the statue, and when he had lifted it, the corrosive blood had already melted it's face off. Eli simply laughed.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Starfall Plaza, Hesnet, around dusk (Planetary time)

Ancelotte's small display of power worked, to a certain degree. One of the Redcloaks had spotted her trying to create a blinding flash before she actually managed to do so, and took a small pistol-like object from its holester, aiming it at her, ready to fire. However, the blinding flash came first, and the rider ended up firing at one of his comrades instead. The Redcloak in question was hit by a strange beam on his back, and instantly an excruciating sensation of pain flared up, and he lost control of his bike. What came as a result was that he ended up on the ground, injured, while the bike crashed into a stall not far from there. However, the man on the ground was injured, not dead or unconscious, and despite his wounds and agony he could still vie for revenge. Thus, he drew his own pistol, his own neuronic whip, and aimed it at the figure he believed to be Ancelotte, before firing away.


The Redcloak that Silva tossed his ceramic knife at continued unimpeded, save for a slight deviation that came as a result of the knife impacting her, surprising her but not injuring her, as the vest beneath the cloak was able to hold the knife away from her body. She took it and put it away, storing it for later use, before drawing her own neuronic whip and scanning the area for the one who had attempted to attack her. She soon spotted him, when Silva fired off three bullets at her vehicle, none of which did any substantial damage to it. Seeing him there, she immediately aimed at him and fired away, the beam ready to cause an unbearable pain wherever it struck should it hit any of James' body parts.

The rider he had knocked out, meanwhile, was reached by another, who administered him a drug that got him up and running once again. The two then split up, one spotting Kenna and firing at her in order to keep her away from his fallen teammate, the other seeing an armed girl hiding behind a stall and drawing his retractable blade, making it extend to full lenght and attacking her with a downwards slash.


Four of the remaining ten Redcloaks still riding their vehicles decided to flank the people who were resisting their attack on the Starfall Plaza. However, one of them was surprised when a person with long red locks of hair stepped from behind a stall and approached at an amazing speed, closing the gap between herself and the bike in mere seconds. The man, understandably surprised, struck at her with his retractable blade, not even bothering to extend it to full lenght, but his surprise only grew when the woman, with her right arm, blocked it and seemingly took no damage save for that done to her sleeve. His surprise had no time to grow much, however, as in that very instant, with her right leg, she kicked him out of the vehicle and sent him flying away. Two objects fell from this man as that happened. The retractable blade along with a small gas filter mask. Arda soon realized what it was for when she spotted the fog, and slipped it on before heading towards the next target, even though the previous one was neither knocked out nor unconscious, merely injured and partially disarmed.


From behind one of the stalls further away from the center of the Plaza, the inspector, still in his cover, took aim and fired his Detonator in medium setting, causing an explosion in front of a Redcloak, making his vehicle flip over and land over him, killing him. Seton immediately went back to hiding under his cover as he readjusted the Detonator, before noticing the green fog.

"Curses! Cal, what happened?!" He muttered vainly under his breath.


Overall, the Redcloaks around the Plaza were surprised by the fierce resistance that some of the people at the Starfall Festival were offering. The members of the Red Gospel were not expecting so many bounty hunters, infamous and famous alike, to be there on the day of the Festival, but they still trusted that the chaos they were causing would be enough to ensure that Castor and Baker could be able to retrieve Dr. Enghei without a problem. When Panic spread the green fog throughout the center of the Plaza, the Redcloaks put on gas masks, well aware of the way he worked.

[Mavorpen]

Starfall Plaza, Hesnet, around dusk (Planetary time)

---

If the reader didn't know Yang Chen's appearance, they would assume that she would resemble a large portly man whom sits on the couch all day at home eating KFC while watching Breaking Bad. Dirty plates cluttered the table in front of Yang, forcing her to place her latest plate full of food on her lap. She quickly and fervently wolfed down the food, only taking a second at most to breath every so often. For the past 20 minutes, she had received stares of disgust, but she didn't care. She was much too engaged in the food in front of her.

She finished the plate in her lap and let out a small burp, as the worker of the small food stand that had been forced to be her waiter walked up to her again. She smiled at the thought. It wasn't as though the stand wasn't a restaurant; she simply kept returning to the stand over and over to the point where the owner of the stand forced one of his 3 workers to be Yang's personal waiter.

The man sighed, and once again asked, "Will you be needing another helping, ma'am?" He asked it as though he already knew the answer, and he actually had another plate of food in his hand. To his surprise, Yang shook her head.

"No thank you. It seems as though you might want to leave." She observed the Redcloaks approaching on bikes, and sighed. The man began to run, and said, "Wait! Could I have that plate in your hand?"

The man stared at her in disbelief, unable to process the fact that she would be thinking about food at such a time. He shook his head, quickly tossed it to her, and ran. Yang caught the plate of spaghetti and took a fork, proceeding to wolf it down. At this point, she noticed the Redcloaks were visibly upset about the fact that some were resisting them. One of them fired a couple of shots at her, apparently seeing her as a threat. She moaned, "Aww man" and flipped over the table. She kicked it over in front of her, sending plates flying to the ground, and heard wood cracking as the bullets hit the table. She continued eating her spaghetti with a look of annoyance on her face. Stupid Redcloaks.

Flashback: Starfall Plaza, Hesnet, around noon (Planetary time)

---

Yang Chen could barely contain herself at the sights of the Starfall Festival. Several tourists stared at her, obviously finding her expression strange. Yang didn't realize that she was turning her head back and forth, trying to process and take in everything around her, mouth gaping open. She felt like breaking down and releasing tears of joy, but that could wait for later.

So she had decided to do the next best thing. That's right, she ran around bothering tourists. She spent a large part of the rest of the day overreacting to nearly everything around her, from the lights, to simple games. Probably her favorite game was the one where she got to dunk some poor guy in a pool of water. She never missed. She even went so far as to throw the ball in the air and backflip, kicking the ball into the target, just to show that she could.

Then, she found one of the many food stand. She had never tried fried food before, nor really junk food in general. She ordered nachos and after tasting it once, she immediately went back for more. The next time she ordered pizza. The next, spaghetti. She would have loved to try the hotdogs, whatever those were, but to her dismay, they were made of meat.

[Len Hyet]

James was pissed. Really, really pissed. A level of pissed that brought a whole new meaning to the word. Why? Not because of the fight, he had no issues with a shootout. But because he had four, four contacts who had independently of eachother sworn that the Festival was safe, that nobody was planning a hit, nobody was planning an attack, and the god damn RED GOSPEL sure as hell weren't going to show up. So, he was pissed. He was also pissed because that bitch had taken his knife! He liked that knife!

Muttering curses under his breath, he switched languages twice, and then went back to English. He took a deep breath, concentrated, and squeezed his fist tightly, targeting the carteroid in the woman who had shot at him. It took him thirty seconds, but he finally felt secure enough to do what he wanted to. He slowly aimed his gun, pausing almost every inch of movement to reassert his tenuous hold over the woman's blood. Finally he released his hold, sweeping his gun up and into firing position as he did so, and shooting three more rounds at the bitch. Ducking down, he unclasped his jacket, and held it in front of him like a matador's cape. Holding it tightly, he shifted his grip ever so slightly, before flinging it over the stall, and vaulting after it. Weights in each corner of the jacket, as well as the cuffs, spread it wide, very much like a net from a gladiator fight. Using it as a distraction, Silva rolled under it, then came up shooting, two at the chest one at the head, before leaping off to the side once more, ducking behind a trash can.

[Corrian]

Franky was very alert these days, and being on edge right now, she was even more alert, so she saw the attack coming. There was little time to react, and she let out a scream just out of natural reflexes, before rolling away out of the way of the attack. That wasn't as easy as she remembered, because she wasn't as agile as she remembered, due to being strapped down in a basement for practically an entire year, with a few exceptions of being let out and watched very carefully. So, her transition from rolling out of the way of the blade to getting on her feet wasn't as smooth as you'd typically see from someone who rolled out of the way of the blade in time. And since she had rolled, she had been careful with her sword to not stab herself, and she let it go mid-roll, but as soon as she was in a position to grab it again, she did, putting it in front of herself while standing in a fighting position, apparently prepared to try and fight this guy instead of just running away through the stalls.

"Really, you are going to try and fight a lone girl by herself? Bring it on" Franky said, trying the cocky approach to see if it made him think she was just some cocky 17-year old girl who thought she could fight with a sword, in hopes of making him over confident and think she is easy to take out. Really, in reality, she was freaking terrified. And being how she acted now, she was surprised a swear word hadn't escaped her mouth since the attack. Now, she just waited, holding her sword tightly, for the inevitable lash out at her. Unless the Redcloak suddenly got scared shitless for some reason and ran away cowardly, which she seriously doubted would occur.