Finn was standing on top of the mast now. Looking around,on top he had a great view of the confrontation. More outlaws came in, but it seemed they were the last, for there were no further ships in sight. Finn counted three more magicians and seven more heavy armors. He didn't know how strong the magic wall of the defenders was, but he doubted it will last long. And the magical armour of the attackers was a great deal of a nuisance. For a moment he was trying to find a solution. Then as one had formed into his mind he imagined it, how it would work and how to set everything in motion. He hid back into the core of the mast where he was invisible.

He opened a small vile around his neck. The aroma of the vile could only be sensed by Reva and it attracted him far and wide. Moments later Reva was at Finns feet his antennas twitching with excitement. "Take this rope and spread it around the floor as close as to the enemy's as possible. Then run to the mage who made the shield and give him this note." Finn tied one end of the role to the mast the other to one of Revas limbs. And pushed the letter intob Revas mouth.

Chang was walking towards the docks at a leisurely pace until he heard gunfire. He stopped, and held a hand up, causing Chuan to stop abruptly as well. He took the gnarled wooden cane off of his back where it was resting and held it in a defensive position as he crept out of the alleyway, looking around a corner. A Cathian, dressed in formal garb and followed by an odd-looking robot, was holstering a pistol, looking down at his victim, an unrecognizable mage. He could not see who the Cathian was talking to, but it was evidently a figure of authority. Silently hoping that everything was safe, he casually walked out from his spot, and rounded the corner. Looking around, he noticed that the mage was not the only of the bodies strewn about the supply crates on the docks.

"I missed something, didn't I?" Chang nervously asked the other Cathian. He turned to the other man, his eyes widening slightly as he saw that it was Dmitry Kovalev, the one who had sent the letter to him. Chang saluted him respectfully, then looked around again at the carnage.

"So, uh, what exactly happened? Does anyone need any help?" he asked worriedly, brow furrowing slightly. He looked again in the direction of the docks, and saw no ship either.

"More importantly, where is our ship?"

Dmitry watched as the tempo of the battle dramatically shifted. In rapid succession, T.A.C. reinforcements trickled in from all angles, spreading the outlaws thin. Without even giving orders, or communicating amongst each other, they all individually worked to dismantle the outlaws.

It was a marvelous spectacle.

Connor De' Finn, the Ranath fire mage, had disposed of the heavy artillery unit with relative ease. Flanking the main outlaw unit came Allan Phaedrus, whose powerful beast companion charged in tow. They both smashed and pummeled their targets, shattering magical barriers like glass. Then, Dmitry sensed a power influx from the outlaws. A simple sensory spell determined that half of the spells casted had dissipated. Before he could figure out what just occurred, he spotted the downed outlaw mage at the corner of his eye, courtesy of a T.A.C. Cathian. Quallyss the Mad. Dmitry grinned as all of the T.A.C. officers converged to his spot.

"Pleasure to meet all of you! Wish it was under more appropriate circumstances, but-" Another energy flux caught his attention. It was slow rising, and hard to detect, but Dmitry sensed it from an outside source. Then without warning, a large, 2 foot long insect scuttled toward his feet. Dmitry raised his boot in an attempt to squash it, but canceled the notion as he spotted a note attached to its carapace. After quickly surveying it with a scanning spell to make sure it wasn't some kind of trap, he grabbed the note and read it.

This rope is spread around the floor. Use some magical power to try and b use the rope as a medium to discharge their magical effects. I know it won't last, but it will give us a chance to even the odds.
Signed;:
Finn.

Dmitry grinned. The man who had remained in the shadows finally made his play. Judging by the creature, Dmitry recalled the recruitment files. Finn was of the hunter class, and proved, like all whom had arrived, that he was a proficient T.A.C. officer of his craft. He traced the dim energy signature of the rope that was casted. It covered the entire radius of the hangar bay. He looked up and gave a nod to wherever Finn was, then glanced at the T.A.C. officers surrounding him.

"So, uh, what exactly happened? Does anyone need help?"

Kovalev turned to greet a second Cathian, Chuan. His question regarding the whereabouts of their airship brought a chuckle.

"Hell if I know. Probably taking the leisure route. And to answer your question: yes, we can use your help." The Org outlaw and the remaining band of his cronies stood behind cover in the center of the hangar bay.

"At my signal, clean up the stragglers...Allan lead the charge." Dmitry focused, concentrating on the entire length of the rope. Then without warning, the barrier that surrounded him, and everyone else in it, vanished. The ethereal energies spiraling about his mechanical arm burned a bright shade of white. "Now!"

His mechanical hand grasped the rope the insect had in its mandibles. Like wild fire, magic fused with the rope from both ends, following a crackling sound like glass as a blinding light enveloped the hangar bay. However, just as the blinding flash disappeared, along with the enemies magical defenses, an airship came into view. For a moment Dmitry felt a sigh of relief, but upon quick inspection, realized that it was not their airship.

"What the---"

This airship was much smaller. Orange banners flapped in the wind, while mounted speakers all around its hull were blasting a musical orchestra.

"Everyone watch out! It's coming in too hot!" Dmitry warned, prepping a barrier spell. The airship's hull was inches away from their heads and the loud music playing from the speakers rang into Dmitry's ears. As it passed over head, small pieces of paper and string rained down. Confetti? The airship descended past the group, slamming violently into the pack of outlaws; their screams dulled out from the music.

"Wulgoth....reporting."

Dmitry turned around to face a long-haired, org-humas, hands propped onto his waist, with a fanged grin of confidence. He must have jumped off the airship seconds before it crashed.

"Where is the airship?" He asked. Dmitry glanced between Wulgoth and the crash site, then sighed.

"Looooong day indeed..."

"Hurry up Bonnie! They're gonna leave without us!" Morticia complained as Bonnie struggled to keep up whilst carrying several bags. The two stopped by Morticia's room on the way to the hangar to pick up some supplies. There was no way she was going on a trip without a few books and other essentials. Once they finally arrived they were greeted by a rain of confetti; prompting Bonnie to open the umbrella again.

"My my, what do we have here?" Morticia grinned when she saw the collection of corpses strewn about. She was about to get to work when Bonnie tugged her sleeve to inform her of the others. "Oh, hello. I was just... You fellas here for the TAC squad?" she said with an awkward smile, hiding the candle and chalk she was holding behind her back. "I'm Morticia. I hope that wasn't our ship" she said, looking at the freshly crashed airship.

Standing on the mast in his hiding place, Finn was preparing. Soon Reva will get to the mage and the magic blast would be sent. In the distance, an airship came flying towards their current location. At first Finn though it was docking, but the speed and direction was wrong, it seemed as. If the ship was being aimed at the outlaw’s incoming ship. Finn didn’t quite understand it, but he didn’t have time to either. Any minute now the anti-magical blast will go off, and the killing will begin. Moving to the edge of the mast so he could better see the incoming outlaws he took his bolts and stabbed them in the mast in pairs so the reloading of the crossbow may be quick.

Moments later the blast went off. For the moment Finn had to close his eyes, as a white light covered the hangar. As soon as the light receded, Finn shoot two bolts into the stunned outlaws. To quickly reload Waylander, Finn stretched his hand as if he was trying to stab the two bolts further into the wood. But the bolts fell into the fronts socket and reloaded the weapon. As if trying to break the points Finn twisted Waylander, and it was ready to be used again. Shooting and reloading with, good speed and great accuracy ten more bolts flew through the air, striking true to its targets. At first Finn didn’t notice the collision of the two ships, till he didn’t look for new targets. He heard the crash, but he didn’t think it was for that reason. He was also too close to the mayhem, so he had to get away. Taking Dvojina from his back he threw it towards Mage. Couple of meters above the mage Dvojina thudded into the wall. Reva knew what was to be done. Running up to the spear it tied it on. Finn jumped from the mast holding the other end he fell down. As he fell the rope began to straighten out. Before Finn touched the ground, the rope tightened and stretched from the point of the mast to the spear. Finn diverted the force of falling to swing upwards. He landed on the mast and tied this end to hold firm. Then grabbing the rope he slid along it to join the others.

He let go landing besides the org-human and the mage. “ Finn fit and ready, awaiting further orders.”

How peculiar, this airship driver has no right to own a license... Whoever it was, was coming in far too fast to be considered safe. It was then that Quallyss realized that safety was the last thing on their minds, and his ears folded back in sudden realization, and he sprinted on all fours out of the way, panic but exhilaration burning in his eyes. Hoo hoo, such fun this is! He narrowly avoided being crushed with a final rolling tumble, and poised himself, knees bent and hands out, as the ship crashed into the remaining outlaws. Breathing heavily, Quallyss concluded that they were not going to get back up, and straightened himself out, friskly dusting himself off.

With Tick Tock now in tow, with the fighting over, he strolled up to a heavily injured outlaw, laid on his back and barely able to move. The outlaw spat out blood, and looked up at Quallyss. "You T.A.C. pigs..." Quallyss humphed in amusement, and chuckled, before kicking him in the face with his boot. The outlaw rolled over unconscious, and Quallyss smiled "Sorry, wrong answer." He gathered his composure once more, and rejoined the group. It appears some sort of hybrid man had joined the group now, ugly even for an Org (in all honesty, it appeared he was half Cathian. Quallyss tried to ignore the image in his mind of how the 'union' would have appeared). Still, it was a good idea to be polite, and he stood among the others.

"So I believe introductions are in need again, yes yes. I am Quallyss, and this, is my prized invention, Tick Tock," He waved his hand to it, and Tick Tock timidly waved back at the group. "Yes, it's a little shy, but well mannered. Now, it has become apparent that this wasn't a normal store house raid, too well armed, quite. Anyone have any details as to their motivations, perhaps, yes?"

"Hired goons from the very shipping company we bought these goods at. We won't be doing business with them again, that's for sure." Dmitry chortled, picking up the enchanted rope Finn had used to dispatch the rest of the outlaws. "Nice touch with this, by the way."

Just then, a Ranathian woman with a peculiar doll trotted onto the scene, introducing herself as Morticia.

"Ah, pleasure to meet you, Morticia." Dmitry tipped his duster, then turned to face everyone that had arrived. "Pleasure to meet you all. As you might know, my name is Dmitry Kovalev, your new assignment leader. Most of you fought well today. Mostly." He shot a glare at Wulgoth, who remained devoid of any expression.

"This is good. Really good. We'll need that kind of spirit for the weeks to come. I'm sure you all have questions, but we'll get to them shortly...oh."

Finally, the distinct reverberating hum of two griffon engines purred in their direction. He turned to Morticia, who had asked before if the crashed airship, courtesy of Wulgoth's tactful strategy, was theirs.

"That, mam, is our airship."



The group loaded the ship with the supplies and their belongings. After refueling, and a good lecture to the pilot for their tardiness, Dmitry cast off the anchor, and the Aurora flew up and away from Marrow Lock.

"Now, get situated, acquainted and comfortable with your new home. In about an hour, we'll meet in the war room and get down to business."

Connor had been excited when the fighting started, and when the airship crashed he even did a little dance for joy, at the fun of things, but then people started talking, and Connor hated when people gabbed for ever. It got so boring when people were just gabbing, and it was always about boring things to, but he perked up again when he felt the vibrations of an airship, he did absolutely enjoy flying after all, and while fire magic probably wouldn't be allowed on the ship he was sure he would be able to find something to do. When he received the order to get situated he immediately went to the animal keep with Chi.

He found what looked like it might be a comfy spot on the floor of the animal keep and lightly scorched the metal to mark it as his, before setting his sleeping roll onto it and laying down. He began to juggle small balls he carried in his sleeves, spinning them mid air with light gusts of wind before catching them, making juggle six balls both harder and easier at the same time.

"So what do you think Chi? Nice digs huh?" He asked his companion. Chi gave a small bark, doing a small aileron roll in the air before igniting his body in ethereal flames and snatching one of the balls from mid air then balancing it on Connor's nose."That a yes?" Connor asked awkwardly stretching his facial muscles so as to not loose the ball.

Connor realized he was running late and quickly got up, slipping away from where he was laying down in his spot in the animal keep. He moved quickly, with light smooth movements, arriving at the war room barely in time.

The bright light from the spell cast by Kovalev combined with the explosion of that airship had disoriented Chang for a good minute, but when he regained his senses, any outlaws that remained were unconscious, and some dead. Suddenly, Chang heard frantic footsteps coming from behind him. He turned on his heel and saw an escaping vagabond down the alley, running clumsily down the narrow alleyway. Narrowing his eyes in concentration, he rapidly signaled a glyph and held out his palm, aether gathering into a sphere, and closed his palm sending a shockwave hurtling towards the man. It knocked him into the adjacent wall and onto the ground. He did not move after that.

"Forgive me, Creator."

Wiping his forehead, he turned back to the docks. The actual airship had docked by then, the Aurora. Chang walked on, with Chuan following. He did not pay much mind to who the other people were yet, but he knew that time for formal introductions would come soon.

Kovalev cleared his throat. "Now, get situated, acquainted and comfortable with your new home. In about an hour, we'll meet in the war room and get down to business." Chang nodded and saluted respectfully. He walked about the main floor, glancing around at the furnishings and locked doors. He found his room quickly, tapping a few buttons on Chuan. With a hiss of steam and a whirring, the metal sphere slowly sank to the floor, and ceased to make noise. Chang placed his cane in the corner and sat cross-legged on the floor, meditating. He left his door slightly open.

'Over there, Tick Tock. Place the Cauldron there... Little to the left... That's it, perfect, hee ho!'

Quallyss was crazy with energy, after the conclusion of the battle with the raiders. In fact, he had developed a temporary shake of sorts, bubbling with excitement at the prospect of another grand adventure. This surely beat having to throw things at lazy students! Once the fighting was over, Quallyss had excused himself from the others, and proceeded to find the Aurora's workshop, eager to set up immediately. After a 'small' argument he had with the ship's Quarter Master over who gets the workshop (which was concluded by Quallyss with a loud shout of "I OUTRANK YOU, SO SHUT UP, YES!?", the throwing of a spanner into the man's chest and the slamming of the door), he had secured the room for his studies, albeit having to share with the other engineers. The various pieces of equipment already in place were now adorned with Quallys' belongings, as varied and bizarre as his own mind.

Various trinkets and tools were assorted in drawers underneath the main work bench, with sheets of iron and other metals in storage cabinets for smithing and construction. To the right of the room, the brewer's set up was now fueled and ready to go, a mysterious purple liquid already bubbling and condensing softly in a flask over a small flame. Underneath the stand, various sacks and bags of mysterious herbs and spices were waiting to be used, and a thin tentacle frightened Tick Tock as it walked past, grabbing at it's foot uselessly. And finally, in the left of the room, was a smithing station, where Tick Tock could bend and warp metal into any shape and strength, for constructing various gizmos. All up, the workshop was already cluttered and messy, organized in such a way that only a mind as scattered and weird as Quallyss' could understand.

'Well, it seems all the main preparations are set, yes yes. I suppose a tour of the ship before meeting is in order,' Quallyss removed an oversized watch from his pocket, and checked the time. 'Blast, five minutes until the meeting! I must make haste, quite, yes, hee hee!' He left the workshop, and turned to Tick Tock. 'My dearest creation, may you please finalize all the belongings, and keep an eye on the Trouble Starter brew, yes?' Tick Tock nodded in silent acknowledgment, and Quallyss proceeded to the War Room, singing aloud to himself, and hiccuping.

As Dmitry released them all Finn went to gather his ropes. Also he scanned the dead bodies. They looked like normal bandits through and through, but their numbers and equipment seemed a tad too much for normal bandits. AS Finn walked across the battle ground, Reva kept running left, right, forward and all possible directions in 4 meter radius around Finn. As it ran it kept making different sounds. These sounds told Finn how the person died, what weapon it had and so on.
After Finn did his little walk around he went to the ship. There was nothing for him to do, he went to one of the rooms and dropped a note on the bed that said “Finns sleeping quarters”. After that Finn and Reva set out on a quick tour about the ship. IT was allot to Finns liking. There were lot of shadows to keep to and hide ones presence. As they passed through the ship most of the people didn’t even notice them. “Okay now let’s go to the war room. We got 20 minutes left.” Finn said as he turned around, stepping on the middle of the hallway, Reva on the ceiling above him. They made their way to the war room. This time they didn’t hide in the shadows and allot more people greeted them as they passed by, which was proof, that they didn’t know about him before when he was hiding. They were the first in the war room. Finn sat down in a dark corner. His legs crossed and straight back. His hands on his lap, eyes closed. “ okay now its your turn Reva.” He whispered and Reva darted into the first air shaft.

Wulgoth leaned against the side railings on deck, watching the geographical shift of Venastia as The Aurora hovered forward. The scenery was gorgeous, but he wasn't into that sort of thing. Aside from a few crewmen monitoring the solar wind sails, this spot was perfect for being left alone. The Org-Humas frowned at his new assignment leader's subtle chide from earlier. Wulgoth reasoned that he took the best course of action; believed that he saved their lives, and became moody for the fact that no one acknowledged him for it.

"Hmph!" Wulgoth crossed his arms. "Damn old fool, patronizing me like that!" He spat off to the side, but unfortunately did so against the wind. Splat! The streak of his own saliva whipped back at his face. "Damn it all!" He punched the metal railing with his hand. The clear sound of chuckling caught his ears and he immediately snapped over to the crewmen, who shuffled back to their duties. Grrrrr

---

Dmitry took his usual tour through The Aurora, receiving updates from the crewmen about her condition. This would mark his second campaign on this airship. There was no doubt that she'd perform just as well as she did before, but that never stopped him from double/triple-checking just to be sure. He first stopped at the hangar section, unboxing his Ivanov automaton and probing it for any damage from the fire-fight. It stood a foot taller than him, with bulky arms that had a network of gears reinforcing its limbs and pelvic region. The bulbous opaque shield where its head would be gave no expression, but Dmitry always imagined its emoticons in his mind.

After a tedious inspection that warranted no concern, he double-checked the crew's inventory list, calculating that all the items were at regulation weight, then trucked over to the Animal Keep. Upon arrival, he spotted Connor and his animal, Chi, making themselves comfortable on the floor. With all the racket going on in this room, it amazed Dmitry that the fire mage chose this spot as his resting quarters. He shrugged, nodding to both of them before continuing his inspection. All of the beasts seemed obedient enough, save for Gwar, Wulgoth's wolf pet. It had to be confined in a rubber-matted cage to prevent electrocuting anyone that dared to get close to it. It snarled at Dmitry until he left the keep.

He rounded up the stairs and politely returned salutes when crew-members gave them. After he checked the designated resting quarters, spotting Chang and his spherical contraption completely still on the floor, Quartermaster Danes, stamped toward him down the hall. He was a lanky young humas that had an awkward gait, suggesting he still had trouble getting used to the altitude.

"Sir!" The quartermaster's salute was so stern that he slapped his own sweating forehead.

"Something amiss?" Dmitry asked, noting Dane's face was flush with anger.

"Officer Quallyss has taken several liberties in the ship's workshop! Two of our engineers have already filed complaints. Their working environment has become quote:...'Uncomfortable.' Something about dangerous liquids and moving tentacles, sir."

Dmitry paused for a moment, rationalizing the Quartermaster's last sentence. "Uncomfortable is a soft word, Quartermaster. So long as they're able to do their duties, I have no concern for what gets them in a tizzy."

"...Sir?" Danes said, a frown creasing his already disheveled face.

"They'll just have to make do. If the problem persists, then they have my approval to move their facilities to the upper quadrant in the hangar. Why don't you go top-side and get some air, Danes. You're fuming."

"YES SIR!" The Quartermaster gave an expressionless salute, then trotted back toward the stairs leading up to the deck. Dmitry chuckled. Oh this is going to be interesting indeed.

After casual glances through the remainder of the stations on the first floor, Dmitry finally ended up in the War Room. Not to his surprise, Finn, the Org-Cathian, was the first and only officer present in the room. "Punctuality is one of your many strong suits, I see." Kovalev nodded, rounding over to the head chair of the long table. Just then, an officer from the bridge climbed down and entered the room, saluting, then handing over a manilla folder to Dmitry. He reached over and grabbed it with his regular hand, giving a half-assed salute with his mechanical arm to send the crewman off his merry way. "We'll get started as soon as everyone's here." Dmitry said to Finn, glancing at the time piece strapped to the back of his palm.

Morticia found a room a bit further back away from the busiest areas of the ship. She wouldn't want anyone complaining about strange occurrences. She plopped down on the bed with a gloomy sigh. "We haven't even left and I already wish I were back home. What did I do to deserve this" she said, turning to Bonnie. The doll tilted her head slightly as if not knowing. "Oh Bonnie you always know what to say" that was when Morticia noticed a rip on the fabric of Bonnie's shoulder. "You broke yourself again, really? I should've made you out of iron. Come here." Bonnie sat on the bed and Morticia positioned herself behind the doll and got to work sewing the damaged area back together.

Several minutes later Bonnie pointed to the clock on the wall, alerting Morticia. "What, the meeting in the war room? I don't wanna go, it's just gonna being boring jabber about nothing. I'd rather take a nap" she said lying down on the bed. But Bonnie kept repeatedly yanking on Morticia's sleeve until she gave in. "Alright, alright, I'll go." She then lazily dragged her feet to the war room and joined the others.

Allan waged a silent war with his emotions, fighting between his excitement at being on an airship for the first time and his sense of duty and decorum as a TAC officer. He led Lysander to the animal hold, and though most of the crew gave the bear a wide berth, the docile animal's most aggressive actions were sniffing at those who passed, fixing them with a doleful stare in the hopes that they had food for him. Allan grinned and rolled his eyes at his friend. The big lummox was still the same goofy little cub he had always known, even though he stood half again as tall as any man on his hind legs and had claws the size of dinner knives. Eventually they got to the hold, where Allan coaxed Lysander into a pen, and after a few worried words from the handlers, Allan informed them that the worst they had to expect from him was the bear stealing their snacks when they weren't looking. "I'll bring you some food after the meeting, alright, big fella?" The bear snuffled back, and plopped down on its haunches, looking at Allan as if to say, "Alright, go get it over with. I'll be here waiting." "Atta boy, Lysander. I'll be back soon." Allan turned to depart the hold, and noticed a few other officers making similar compromises with their animals.

As he walked down the main corridor, he stole a glance out the porthole next to him and stopped for a second to marvel at the view. He'd never seen the city like this before. But there would be more time to admire the scenery later. He still had to unpack, and then get to the meeting. Reaching the cargo hold, he found his bags and shouldered them, lugging his belongings towards the cabins. He found one close to the cargo hold, and selected it as his own, dropping his bags onto his bed and pulling open the drawstring, unfolding his clothing and hanging it in the closet provided. Deciding that his armor wouldn't serve him terribly well aboard a flying vessel, he changed into his dress uniform and unbelted his brace of throwing hammers. He kept his sword on him, and tried the hat on before deciding it made his hair stick out and eschewing it. Satisfied, he checked the time, and realized he didn't have long before the start of the meeting. He rushed from his new cabin, but slowed before colliding with a pair of officers walking the opposite direction. With a few minutes to spare before the start of the meeting, he made it to the war room, and snapped a crisp salute. "Officer Allan Phaedrus reporting, sir!"

Finn listened closely to the sounds coming from the vent. To him these sounds gave information. With it he got an idea about the architecture and layout of the vents

. He had done this with Reva lots of times. Reva would be making a small sound with which Finn could measure a rough distance Reva made. When Reva would make a turn, he would produce a different sound, telling Finn he turned. If Reva reached a dead end again. a different sound would be made telling Finn of the dead end.

Finn listened closely and while doing this his full concentration was on Revas sound. He did notice Dimitry and others entered the room by smelling their scent, but he didn't listen to their words. In truth he ignored them altogether. Some of the scents were new to him, but he didn't care. He knew he was save here and that he will meet the whole team in due time.

Reva ran along the vents. Making sure it's speed was constant, it had little else to do. As it ran it noticed some of the crew moving through the ship. Every once and awhile a small barred window was placed I in the vent,and this was Revas way of looking at the crew.

The inexorable hum of the engine and the erratic footsteps of soldiers above made Chang unable to meditate, despite his best efforts. Sighing slightly, he got up and stretched a bit, looking around the room more closely. It was a simple layout, nightstand on one side, a chair on the other, and two hooks for coats or hats, unreachable to a Cathian such as Chang. A simple clock was mounted on the wall, reading at about 6 o'clock, and a silver key was on the bed, which Chang pocketed. It was the evening by now. Recalling the orders given to him by Kovalev, he walked out the door, shutting and locking the door with the key he had grabbed moments earlier.

As Chang wandered through the ship in search for the war room, he heard small noises, none of which he could identify, coming from the vents. He stopped walking for a moment, and tentatively creeped towards the vent, putting an ear to it. He continued to hear the noises, something between... he didn't know. He sniffed inside the vent, trying to pick up a scent, but found none. Whatever was in there was downwind of Chang. He was not particularly concerned, but he knew he'd have to ask the captain about it. He continued on his path, and reached the war room eventually. A couple others were already there. A rather well-dressed lady with a small child's doll following behind her and a blonde-haired officer, neither of whom Chang had been acquainted with. Choosing the quiet path (so to speak) again, he greeted Dmitry with a formal salute and stood by. He had forgotten to ask about the strange vent occurrences.

Dmitry took note of Finn's lack of conversation, sensing his attention focused elsewhere. He wasn't a stickler for manners like other superior officers; heck, Dmitry considered himself a rebel in that regard. All that mattered was that he knew how to follow orders and work with the group - a common problem among many hunters, one that Dmitry hoped the Org-Cathian wasn't privy to. The rest of his troops filed in with varying expressions of spirit, utter reluctance, curiosity, and sheepishness for arriving late. Dmitry welcomed them all the same. He returned salutes and gave nods. Soon, every seat along the War Room table was filled, and for a moment, Dmitry was silent until only the hum of the engines was heard.

"Glad you all could make it." He began, standing up from his chair to address everyone in the room. "I hope you all have found the Aurora to your liking; if not, then you're in for a looong ride." Dmitry cleared his throat.

"I'll get right to the point. We carefully handpicked each and every one of you for this assignment. As of this moment, you're all hereby promoted into The Interceptor Unit. Congratulations." Dmitry grinned approvingly before moving on. "The missions we'll be doing aren't your typical run-of-the-mill tasks. Venastia is experiencing... a shift. We're not talking spikes of criminal activity here - something else entirely. Our investigators around the globe are reporting erratic energy signatures in several sectors. Of particular note are The Hivera Isles, which will be our first assignment."

Dmitry stopped for a moment to let that sink in. "Now for those who are uninformed, or have never been, Hivera Isles is filled with Venastia's colorfully worst. Not only is it a hotbed for syndicate guild rings and airship pirates, but its the only unclaimed territory in Venastia. That means anything goes once when your boot hits their soil."

"Now, not all of HIvera Isles is downright loathsome. There are many respectable Venastians doing their best to carry on with what they got over there. Many free thinkers like ourselves included." Dmitry shifted over to the manilla folder and grabbed a small circular disk from it. "This here is a recorded message from one of the Coalition's former outpost listeners at the Isles. I'll let her take over from here."

He slipped the small disk onto a phonograph device mounted in the far corner. After placing the needle directly over the marked spot, he pressed play and moseyed back over to his seat.

"Scuttle fish. Scuttle fish. Tidings..." Dmitry explained that this was code to keep her identity anonymous. She had a calm and soothing voice, but it was also declarative, and with purpose. "Just after winter. The port harbor is different than before. The people here are less alert. I'm beginning to worry. I frequent the wharf and help fishermen with loading bait onto their ships. Many of them are expressing odd symptoms. It's almost as if their bodies are present, but their minds are not. Many of them are acting strangely. Response times to questions are a lot less reactive than usual...."

The small disk cackled in silence and Dmitry raised his hand to assure that there was more.

"Scuttle fish Scuttle fish. Dawn cloud." This time her voice sounded more urgent. "Visited the town physician for further investigation. His clinic is unusually full. Many are experiencing lack of sleep, ringing sounds in their ears, and minor headaches. I've conversed with a child, a middle-aged woman, and an older gent. All have expressed erratic hallucinations, but what is of note, is that they are all seeing the same phenomena at night: an emerald shade of light hovering in the sky like gem clouds. repeat! emerald shade of light hovering in the sky like gem clouds. Will retreat to former outpost and await further instructions. Please respond with urgency..."

The cackling feedback from the phonograph eventually died off, leaving the room in silence. "This message was received at the nearest Kadesan outpost by pigeon carrier four days ago. That emerald light people are seeing? Reports are coming in from all over about the same thing. We've consulted with the counsel of The Eight, and they cannot determine the source, which is why we're all here. Our mission is to investigate the strange happenings at Hivera Isles and report our findings to HQ. Any questions?"

Quallyss trotted in, still hiccuping from all the excitement, and took a seat with the others. As the others entered the war room, Quallyss made clear he was excited, and greeted them cheerfully. "Oh, hi! Is this not excit*hic*ing, quite?", and "My, you'll certainly cau*hic*se some damage, won't you?" were such phrases that he greeted the various agents with. Once they all arrived and situated themselves, Kovalev began to speak, and Quallyss listened intently to his every word.

What Kovalev shared with the group got Quallyss truly ecstatic. Oh yes, quite the enigma! A truly challenge that will cement our stories in stone! And Quallyss will truly enjoy this endeavor to the fullest! He got up, and began to pace on all fours, the energy inside of him barely able to be contained. "So, mysterious, yes? From what I could draw, it app*hic*ears that these 'emerald clouds' are of a magical nature, though the exact make up I can*hic*not hope to tell, with my limited knowledge of magic..." He got up on his feet again, and addressed Kovalev directly.

"Sir, I do believe though that the Isles may hold extremely valuable data... Where exactly are we going in Hivera, hmm? And will we *hic* require demolitions? I believe I have a blue print for a prototype device that could be perfect for a job like that, yes yes. Otherwise, with the help of one of our mage companions..." He pointed childishly at Chang and Connor, "I may be able to con*hic*struct a device that could give insight into the cloud's make up, though I can't guarantee it will be *hic* ready by the by the time we reach the Isles..." He finished pacing, and stood before the captain. "Which do you, sir, think would be of more benefit? Once I know, I will begin work immediately, quite, he he." Tail swishing, Quallyss crossed his arms behind his back, awaiting Kovalev's reply.

Finn sat in the corner, Reva still in the vents. When Dmitry began to speak, Finn took a small vial out of his pocket and opened it. In this veil there was a special liquid that possessed special fragrance. Its smell could be sensed only by Reva and other cockroaches. Other cockroaches, though they can smell it, ignore the smell for to them it means nothing, while to Reva it meant like a call back whistle. Moments later a small sound could be heard which it slowly grew larger. Finn stood up and began walking from the corner towards the table and a free seat. From the vent on the wall Reva came into the room. Over the wall, across the floor it rushed towards Finn and once close it climbed on his leg and continued its climb to his back under the cape. Finn didn’t even budge, he walked casually like nothing had happened. As he reached the table he sat on a chair leaning back and listening to his superior words. When he heard they are traveling to Hivera isles a small smile drew on his face. Those isles reminded him of most of his missions and jobs as a bounty hunter and a mercenary.
Finn calmly waited for his superior officer to layout all he could for now about the mission. He thought about the info. From his past occupation he still had some good relations with some of the inhabitants. If nothing else most of his money and earnings are being taken care of two different merchants on the islands. And since they are bought one of the biggest merchants on the isles, they have got to have some info about these strange happenings. Nothing ever happens in any place without the merchants to know about. Since they are not fighters their weapon is information, and they always have some information about everything. After the cathian finished his little dance, Finn cleared his throat. “Once we arrive at the isles. Am I allowed to search out my old friends and contacts, and try to gather some info from them?”

Morticia kicked her feet on the table as the recording started playing, and quickly sat upright again when she remembered she was wearing a skirt, She eyed her new "companions", all of whom seem rather unorthodox. Luckily they were all too preoccupied with the mission briefing to have noticed of moment of embarrassment. Only half of her attention was paid to the message being played, the other half thought about how she was low on candle wax and bone meal. The fellow in the corner, Finn was it?, appeared rather unsociable. Not to say Morticia is a ray of sunshine by any means. The other one, cathian that goes by Quallyss, was irritatingly enthusiastic. In fact, Morticia's attitude could be described as the complete opposite of the cathian's.

Kyelin said
"So, mysterious, yes? From what I could draw, it app*hic*ears that these 'emerald clouds' are of a magical nature, though the exact make up I can*hic*not hope to tell, with my limited knowledge of magic..."

Morticia let out a sigh, eagerness is a trampoline to conclusions after all. "Why assume the worse?" she said, slightly more motivated than before. "Who is to say this 'emerald cloud' isn't just some gaudy airship or some strange atmospheric effect. And the sickness upon the populace may be caused by a dirty water reservoir. Or perhaps there's simply a bad case of the flu spreading about." She sat back with her arms crossed. "There is no need for everyone to get excited over what could be nothing."