lucetilocked | [LOCKED TRANSMISSION TO RESIDENTS] (backdated to the evening of the 20th)

[LOCKED TRANSMISSION TO RESIDENTS] (backdated to the evening of the 20th)

[The following transmission is both dictated and typed.]

Attention all residents of Luceti. This is Gai Tsutsugami, transmitting this over the secure network that is concealed from the Malnosso. Doctor Trafalgar Law is also with me. We're reporting in on the mission that took place from the 7th to the 11th of September.

As some of you may know, those of us on that mission were sent to a desert to investigate and report in on the activities of a mercenary group known as the Iron Eye. The Malnosso wanted us to ascertain whether or not these mercenaries were a threat to them, and if so, to take steps to neutralize that threat. What we found was far more than any of us had bargained for.

The Iron Eye had convened in the middle of a desert subject to powerful natural Shifts that made venturing outside of the camp a risky affair. The group itself was led by a man named Hoi Hidekan, whom some of you might know from the mission at Depot 8.

Law.

Over six months ago, a group of us were sent to Depot 8 to protect the underground factory that shipped supplies to two enclosures – Pagoda and O’Connell – from Hoi Hidekan, the FTSA, or Free The Test Subjects Association, and the hired Iron Eye.

Who’s Hoi Hidekan you ask? He used to be a MSF Foreman serving under Specialist Davis. I encountered him the first time during a mission before Depot 8. However he left the service after the Moon Draft. It was the last straw. He had always hated how the people inside the enclosures were treated and he saw joining with the FTSA as a way to put real change into action. However, by destroying the factory at Depot 8, the enclosures were at risk of starvation. His gamble was that the Malnosso would either release the people in there or move them to other enclosures. In short, draw attention to the conditions in the enclosures and create a rallying point.

The Sherriff of the town disagreed with that. The Malnosso weren’t going to move anyone – not unless they absolutely had to. They didn’t have the resources. For the people on that mission, it was too great of a risk to allow.

We fought and they lost. And that was that until now, when we found out Mister Hidekan was now leading the Eye.

But he wasn't the only person of note there. Bil, or Sir Catherine to some of you, was also present. He claimed that he'd hired the Iron Eye and that he wasn't going to be turned over to the organization. That was our first clue that there was more going on than met the eye.

I had a conversation with him, and in it he revealed that the state of the war against the cultists is worse than we'd originally been led to believe. According to him, the original estimate had been that we had five more years before we'd lost all of the outer regions like that desert to the Third Party, and three more after that before total annihilation. But after TERRACE and Vaskoth, that estimate was lowered to two more years at the most. Things are desperate. Desperate enough to require drastic measures.

He also told me that the Third Party had a base out there in the desert, which explained why the Iron Eye was there. It was a large city, larger than the one some of our residents encountered on the draft in the mines. They were still searching for the entrance when we arrived.

Law also made some discoveries while in the process of treating the Iron Eye's wounded.

They had a massive amount of wounded among them, mostly battle causalities and contagion. However there was a group suffering from radiation poisoning - in some cases quite severe - and Shift Afflictions. While it initially didn’t look related, the causes of these injuries on their charts were blacked out, which suggested a connection and caused us to look deeper.

Turned out that the patients there were predominantly of two types - guards and scientists – and their care, at least for some, wasn’t being handled by any medical doctor, but Mister Bil himself. They didn’t want to speak with us - or anyone in fact. They were being bitter and resentful towards their own people and that raised some serious flags.

Between that and the conversation with Mister Bil, we suspected a weapon of some sort was being developed. Further investigation revealed just that.

I confronted one of the members of the Iron Eye with our suspicions and learned that their objective was to find the entrance to the cultist city so that they could destroy it with a Shift explosive that was developed in collaboration with Bil.

[Let that sink in for a moment.]

We were then faced with a choice: did we help the Iron Eye gain ground in the war against the Third Party, or did we do what we were sent out there to do and report their activities to the Malnosso, and lose a potential ally in the process? Whatever decision we made would have repercussions. The question was whether the potential benefits outweighed the risks.

In the end, we chose to side with the Iron Eye and help them find the entrance to the city. It was uncovered shortly before our departure by a group of Iron Eye members. The bomb itself was still being built when we returned here, but now they had a target on which to use it.

We were told when we left that the Shift Bomb would take at least one more week to complete, meaning that it should be deployed any day now. Let's just hope that it ends up being as effective as they seem to believe it will be.

(OOC: Open discussion post for the mission aftermath! Gai and Law will answer questions, and anyone else who was also on the mission can feel free to do so as well. Start your own threads, threadjack, do whatever you want.)

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....And how big exactly is a galactic level warship in your world? [He isn't impressed yet. Yeah, that's enough power to level Luceti. But still not impressed.]

I'm pretty sure I could find a way. I'm not one of the most feared beings in the universe for nothing. [A slip of his ego, but there it was. Take that as you will, Cliff.] The village should be fine. I've deflected attacks powerful enough to incinerate entire worlds before, and if your Fayt isn't on that level, then I'm not worried.

Edited 2013-09-26 05:08 (UTC)

They're pretty damn big. [The Diplo, being an intergalactic diplomatic flagship, was huge and still was dwarfed by the Invisible. He shook his head.]

Maybe 'destroyed' isn't the right word here. 'Removed from existance' might work better. It was as if the ship had never been there.

[He did sigh in irritation.]

...Look. Maybe I'm biased, but I'm really not too keen on putting him in danger and risking this information leaking out to those who shouldn't know. [It wasn't that he didn't trust your discretion, Vegeta, or else he wouldn't have bothered talking about it.] This is just a real wall for me here, and it's damn frustrating to know that I'm not gonna be able to offer much of an assist where it counts.

Are you trying to tell me he can manipulate the very fabric of existence himself? [Ok, that's a new one. Total destruction, yeah he knows that. But he's never met anything that can just will something away into nonexistence.]

From the way you make it sound I'm not sure if anyone can help the boy. I'm familiar with turning things to complete dust but not even I have the ability just to make something disappear like a magic act. In fact, not even the gods of my world can do that. What is he?

...

.......

[Cliff thought it over himself. The memories of what happened were far more fresh for him than they were for Fayt, and he would never forget what happened with the Invisible until the day he died.

The mess of genetics and illegal projects aside, there was still the fact that Fayt, Maria, and Sophia were all altered in conjunction with eachother to bend the space of time and reality, to create passage to another realm and learn the truth there.

But, there were still some things that he couldn't reconcile, or even properly explain.]

It's complicated.

[He wasn't going to say more on that matter.]

I just know that I owe him and Maria both big time. And, if helping Fayt is the best way to clean the slate, then I'm gonna do my damnedest to do my job.

'It's complicated' isn't telling me anything. [Yeah, he knows Cliff won't talk anymore on it but that doesn't mean he still won't be annoyed by it.]

Now, I don't care whether you have an obligation or not. I'm more concerned with that boy willing this sector of the planet out of existence. He'd better get a grip on it or it may be that he has his corpse thrown into the chamber with that woman they found in the tunnels.

[A threat like that is better dead, in his opinion.]

Why do you think I've got my concerns here then?

[He huffed in annoyance.]

Gah--

Like I said, He's a very level headed guy, and he's from farther along than I am. [Re: He knows things that Cliff doesn't, and has experienced an entire world's worth of events that Cliff only knew about second hand.] I don't think there's gonna be another incident like that, but do ya get my point now?

[He knew that he was going to need to tell Fayt one day. Especially now, after this decision had been made and new gears were set into motion. Timing and approach were the delicate issues here.

Regardless of what happens, he needed a plan. But, before that...]

We're already working on it. Keeping a cool head out there, no matter what happens. It's just gonna hit a point where I can't help anymore, which is why I'm thinking you could offer an assist. After all, you are one of the strongest guys here.

Edited 2013-09-27 03:29 (UTC)

There better not be an incident like that. [Not that he'll be able to do anything about it.]

And what exactly am I supposed to do about this boy anyway?

I was thinking that you could maybe help us get started on getting a hang of this. Like I said, you're one of the most capable guys here.

[He wasn't lying, but he had a feeling that he was just wasting air with his request.

Still, this was Fayt he was talking about. In light of this shift in the playing field, Cliff was willing to adjust and adapt to the game's new rules.

Ultimately, Fayt was the one that mattered here. He wasn't going to let anything go wrong so long as it was in his power to do so.]

[He doesn't see why he should help with something that Cliff could barely explain to him himself. Though it was unnerving to the Prince that someone here could will people, objects- right out of reality without having control of it.]

[He doesn't know. He doesn't feel like it's really his problem, but it could easily become his problem. The kid, if he fights, might be useful if he can get this power of his under control. And goodness knows he's already been rendered useless before. And he hates that idea. He can't do it all himself.]

Alright, I'll give it a go, but if it turns out to be a waste of time don't expect me to stick around, scratching my head trying to figure out what's next.

[It was ultimately an issue that was less about what Cliff could explain, but about what he simply would never bring up with anyone outside of those he knew. The harbingers that were the reason for Fayt's alterations were just a fraction of something far more complicated and unnerving. He had accepted that his life was under Federation watch a long time ago, but the idea that others knew about his life and habits just stuck in his craw.

Managing this crisis, although frustratng and worrisome, was ultimately easier than dealing with what he had recently seen in his world.]

I'm not asking you to do much. Just to not be surprised if I ever go to you asking for an idea. My experience is limited to physical fights, not all of this Symbology stuff that we're dealing with here. My girls back home would have a better idea, but here?

I know I've got a few more around, but they don't know even as much as I do.

[He lapsed there for a second as he thought, a bit more personally this time.]

Yanno, I guess this might be the reason I thought we were family last month. It does make sense. [headscratch.] And, well. I guess you called me on it months ago. I'd do the same for Maria if she were here, and then some.

[After all, he would never forget that tiny girl he and Mirage fished out of the pod that one day. 'An Earthling' girl...sure. She was no ordinary Earthling.

Perhaps that was a part of it.]

[He figures Symbology must be their powers, energy, magic or what have you. So he shrugs to himself. Cliff can ask all he likes, but whether or not Vegeta will have something for him is a different story.]

I told you. I might not be the friendliest person around here, but I can spot things like that when I see it. [CUZ PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH DENIAL LOL?] You worry for them as much as I have concern for my own. It wasn't hard to miss.

[Cliff will definitely ask a few questions in the future, because he wants someone to bounce off of. Mirage was the only other one who knew the full extent of the situation, and she simply wasn't around.

Having another to talk to that understood was invaluable to him. He just needed to trust Vegeta's discretion, which he had no doubt would ever be in question.

Instead of all of that, however, Cliff just stared flatly at the book.]

What, it's that obvious? Puh-lease. He's 20 years old-- that'd make me, what, 17?

...I was too busy knocking heads and teasing girls at that age, but I wasn't stupid.

[It was all bluster and he knew it. He just couldn't help himself.]

I wasn't sure if you were that stupid, Cliff. You never know. [And he can't help but take a shot, because it's just too easy.] Male teenagers are some of the most idiotic beings I've ever met, after all.

Oh yeah. That's why I knocked their heads a good few times.

[No argument there. Total agreement. Impulsive as he is, he does get tired of people being stupid after a while.]

Heh. You're just as bad as the rest of them then. [And this is how surprised he is. Not surprised.]

[He snorted at that.]

Tch.

Right. Let's just go that.

...but, yeah. I get it, and I guess you get it too. The entire deal here is bigger than either of us so...

heh. So, I should be saying thanks, huh?

[Because he has a hunch that Vegeta would feel the same if it was Bulla involved in this madness. Fortunately, Vegeta has powers that he doesn't-- he can make his point clear in the most painful way possible.

Sometimes, that was the point.]

[He just waves him off ~~even though it's voice lol~~. Getting thank you's isn't his thing unless he's getting praised for his good looks or his superior fighting skills.]

Don't be thanking me. Why don't we just take care of business instead and call it a day.

[Well, several days but you get the point.]

[That was a good enough answer for him.]

Then let's meet for drinks one of these days. I've got some...uh, things to sort out. [Like being a Papa.] And then there's that idea we talked about earlier.

...Besides. I've been wanting a few drinks with someone who's not an idiot for a while now.

You know, I've been drinking far more here than I ever did back home. [It was always a beer here and there. Never mind he once spit his beer all over the lab floor once...but hey, it was for a good reason.]

alright. I need a break from all this nonsense anyway. [And that's saying something when he says he needs a break.]

[It was indeed saying something but, considering everything? It was totally understandable.]

Just say the word and I'm game anytime you need. There's not much in my schedule besides a couple 'a kids...and they're just kids, really.

Hmf. Let me put it this way- just don't bother me during the day unless you want to train or it's an emergency. [Eh, meaning any night really worked. He's not really doing anything at night. He's more of a train all day kinda guy until about seven or eight.]

I wouldn't say no to a little training with you sometime...

[Besides the fact that he might get thrown through more walls, he actually looked forward to the idea.]

But, I'll keep that in mind.

Alright then. If you're going to come to me to do something other than goof off, you'll find me at the Battle Dome all day. If you think you've got what it takes to keep up. Otherwise, I'm at home. Simple enough.

[It'll be fun, he promises...]

Edited (FAIL HTML.) 2013-10-04 01:13 (UTC)

Hey. I'm me.

You know I can handle it.

[Like there was ever a doubt. :| ]

I guess we're just going to have to find out, won't we? [YEP, THIS WILL BE FUN. DEFINITELY.]

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