"Hey. Good to see you." He dug his fork into his salad, and took a quick bite. "This salad's good. Usually they don't put enough dressing. They nailed it this time." He stood up and walked to a waste bin, and tossed the empty container in. "So, what do you want to do first?" He said, counting the coins in his pockets.
@ineffable

The bar was sparse today. On a normal day, it would be bustling with life, filled every inch by the poor of all sizes looking for either escape or socialization. However, when there's rioting in the streets and an active underground war, most would prefer stay home with the door bolted and windows closed.

Leslie took another sip of the cheap swill in front of her. It wasn't too bad. The paper should be coming in soon. And it did, in the form of a little boy about her nephew's age. "Papers! Papers here!" he shouted, holding up one for all to see. Leslie did a mental review of her savings. Eh, she could afford one today.

The paper said the usual things it would say. Valiant Parliament trying to fight off the evil Rebellion and all that. Leslie frowned, grumbled a curse, and put the newspaper down. She wasn't going to find peace here.

@ineffable@Cerius

"I'm afraid we're gonna have to discuss this further before I go on a mission assassinating Rebel leaders. With all due respect Miss Angelia, I'm only authorised to execute missions given by the Chancellor and Governors, I'll need more information before I get to work. Hope to hear from you soon then Miss Angelia." said Vanessa to Angelia before she left. Surprisingly it was a rather short meeting, though Vanessa doesn't mind it one bit, it just means more time for her to check up on her men back in the barracks.

Vanessa hopped on a carriage back to the barracks, not long after her arrival came Garron and his troops back from their mission. She noticed that they had captured a few prisoners and hauling back bags of loot, the mission was clearly a success. "Ahh Commander Garron, I see you've handled your first skirmish well, but more importantly, have you got the location of the Node of Yaqaris?"

Garron entered the barracks and called out a few orders to his men, to allocate the prisoners to their cells and stow away the plentiful loot acquired from the mission. "Captain Schulz." Garron acknowledged her with a nod. "Yes I have. It took a little bit of convincing but I got what is hopefully the exact location of the Node." He fished out the rolled up piece of parchment and laid it out on the table between them, planting a finger on the marked location. "Now, we're not sure exactly what we're dealing with here." Garron remarked with a serious expression. "From what I've gathered it is an object possessing some kind of ancient power. Myself nor anyone else has any kind of information on what it is or what it does. But it's definitely something to look into when the time is right." He stated, proceeding to stake out the map at the corners with four daggers laying on the table to keep it open for later reference.

"So what's the plan, captain? The Chancellor has concerns about a village within the vicinity of the mountain range." He indicated on the map. "Some sort of bandit raid. Doesn't sound like rebels, could be, but the distress call we received was unlike any other. Will you be leading the expedition to investigate?"

@xChrome

@DriveEMOut
Angelia blushed as she followed Samuel. God, stop acting like a love stricken school girl! She scolded herself. She shrugged. "Wherever you want, Sam."

@Cerius

"Hmm... great work, hopefully the information you gathered about the location of the Node would prove useful. Seeing that you've dealt with people who know about the Node, I want you with me on this expedition to the village." Vanessa then examined the map carefully, thinking up a plan. "We'll stock up a battalion and head to the village and clear any trouble over there. Once we're done we'll set up a base in the village, it should provide us with sufficient supplies and rest for the expedition to the Node." Vanessa checked the clock and saw that it was past afternoon, "Commander Garron, shall we head out soon? Or do you and your men require rest?", she was expecting contact from Angelia at night and she hoped to secure a base by evening.

The day was incredibly blustery, especially now in the evening. Leslie pulled her coat more tightly on her shoulders. This act did not improve matters nearly enough for her taste. When is this contact going to be here!?

Eventually though, he arrives. Or she, it's hard to tell under the ridiculous mask. He doesn't call out, no, that would be too risky with Parliament dogs crawling about the city. As per the instructions, they would sit on the nearby bench, don't look in each other's directions.

"Well?" he asks. Definitely masculine. Leslie knows exactly what he's asking about.

"Yes, the Enforcer patrols have changed." She then began describing her observations, to the doubled guards in the lesser streets and the strange people on the corners glaring at the passers-by out past sundown. The man nodded, then stood up to leave. In his place was a small satchel containing money. It wasn't much, but it'll help support the child for another year or so. She took the money and left silently. On her way home, however, she was stopped by an Enforcer patrol.

"Excuse me, madam. Have you seen any members associated with the Rebellion?" he asked. "We can never be too careful in such tumultuous times, yes?"

"No I have not," Leslie responded, fighting the urge to smile. "If I see one, I shall report it immediately."

"Understood, Captain." Was all Garron said in response to Vanessa's plan. He liked it. Short, simple, straight to the point. The Node with its rumours of limitless power was of particular interest to someone as power-hungry as Garron, who doesn't or wouldn't necessarily use it for 'evil' per say but his intentions and motives are always known anyway, and with the lack of protest to his command thus far, he had nothing to worry about. Vanessa was right; if they left now, they would arrive at the village by late afternoon and have it secured by evening if everything went according to plan. That's assuming it was your average skirmish rather than something else, most of the time it was. "My men are all geared up and ready to march." Explaining to the Captain where to meet him in a couple of minutes and then exiting the barracks, Garron gestured at his right-hand man to round up his battalion and bring them to the rally point on the field just outside the city.

Once there, Garron lit up a sort of joint, a special blend of herbal leaves wrapped up in thin paper and took a few puffs, closing his eyes for a moment to enjoy the calming sensation. A strangely intricate pattern of dark lines that was creeping up his neck, unbeknown to him or anyone else, receded back under his armour. The main purpose of the herbal mix was to suppress some of the darker, crueller urges that welled up inside of him over time due to his condition. It was sort of a gift from the local alchemist after an incident a few years back involving him and a rebel raid in the middle of the night. "Never again." He thought to himself, puffing again. Far in the distance, the sky was very gradually reddening as it neared the horizon and the blurry image of the mountain range. It was barely noticeable, but unmistakable.

@xChrome

@Cerius@ineffable
Vanessa smiled in approval at Garron's eagerness, "Glad to hear that Commander, I'll get ready and meet you and your men there shortly after." As soon as he left, she wrote a message on her communication unit to Angelia, "Miss Angelia, I'll be leaving the city for an expedition soon. Hope we'll be able to discuss your plan further at night. I will return once my mission is complete. Best regards, Vanessa Schulz" Angelia's motives intrigued Vanessa but her priorities lie elsewhere for now, if they manage to retrieve the Node, the Parliament might be able to stop the Rebels once and for all. She then fastened her communication unit onto her belt, also making sure her sword was properly sharpen. She left the barracks once she was done and headed on horseback for the rally point outside the city.

Garron and his men awaited Vanessa on the field. She was impressed by how quick they got ready and stocked themselves, clearly Garron commanded them well. She approached Garron as he was smoking, "Commander Garron, enjoying ourselves pre-mission I see, hope your senses aren't dulled. We'll depart for the village immediately, please lead the way." Vanessa did not approve of Garron indulging in such behavior but she did not stop him either, everyone has their own way to prepare for battle she supposed.

@sharksama

Garrett's shit-eating grin left his face, instead turning to a stony expression. Yeah, this girl was definitely reminding him of Winston. At least she managed to get out of the battle alive, though. "I... I'm sorry, I didn't know. Hell, I didn't even know you were the person who fucked it up."

He paused, looking at the books. "You a magic-user, then? Never met one myself, even though I've led a pretty busy life... No, wait wait wait, there was that one battle a few miles out of the city, I had a few on my side... Never really talked to them, though. Ah, Christ, I'm rambling now."

Laughing off his rambling, Garrett continued: "Anyhow, I didn't know you were the reason this mission went downhill, or that you were injured. For what it's worth, I'm sorry that happened to you and all these jackasses are pretending you're not worth shit. The name's Garrett Eudon," he says, extending a hand for the girl to shake.

@Simple Unicycle

Ètoiles nodded towards him. This man didn't seem like the type to laugh at a fallen ally, unlock some others she knew... Shaking her head, she smirked at the older man. "Nobody knows the truth from hearing rumors," she muttered to herself, then tilted her head.

Looking at her books about water magic, she smiled. Someone had finally asked. Was she excited to tell this man her newer ability? Possibly anxious? She couldn't quite tell herself. "Well, I'm learning... One of those Enforcers burned up my arm pretty bad... I want to take revenge, fighting fire with water..." She leaned back a little. "Though, I have nothing better to do then read at the moment. These wounds will take forever to heal."

She chuckled at his words. A low chuckle, not meant for him to hear. "Well," she began slowly, "most of those bastards fighting against us think we aren't worth anything. Worth below nothing, most likely." Her grin faded as she remembered the battle, and the governor's words. She tended up, but soon relaxed. "I'm Ètoiles. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Garrett Eudon." She then turned her gaze from him to another passing soldier, then back to his. "What do you specialize in, since you know I'm learning magic? I'm rather curious as to what weapons you use and how you fight the enemy."

@sharksama

"A pleasure to meet you as well, Miss Ètoiles." Garrett replied. When he heard her speak of revenge for what the Enforcer did to her arm, he chuckled. "You'll get used to it, kid. In this line of work you're bound to get hurt a lot. I have more than my fair share of scars, though thankfully none of them got to my face. Would be a shame to tarnish my rugged good looks." He said with another laugh, gesturing to his face.

The girl then asked him what specialized in. "Specialize? Well, back when I was a young man and still a fool bound to the Parliament and the Enforcers, I suppose you could say I specialized in recon and infiltration, though it wasn't an official thing. Most of my missions were scouting out the areas around enemy camps, and sometimes I would have to sneak in to get something of value or to assassinate a commander or something or other. Of course I saw my fair share of battles, and I was even awarded with this for my efforts."

Garrett then reached into his inner coat pocket with his left hand, and Ètoiles could probably catch a glimpse of his faded and scarred Parliament tattoo. He pulled out what appeared to be a sword hilt, tossed it into his right hand, then pressed a button on the hilt. A blade popped out, and he moved it around in his hand for a bit. "My weapon of choice. Well, either this or my flintlock. Or both." He says, pulling the gun out of its holster with his left hand and showing it off to the girl. Garrett then holstered the gun and collapsed the blade into its hilt, putting them back in their proper places.

Ètoiles gave a small nod to Garrett. This man... wasn't as bad as she first thought. He seemed pretty nice to her, and definitely didn't blame her for the whole battle. In fact, he seemed to actually sympathize with her, like her friend at the tavern, Claudia.

"You were once a member of the Parliament? Interesting..." Looking back at her book for a moment, she then turned her eyes back to him. "Just asking but... What was it like being an Enforcer? No need to answer, I'm just... curious as to how they live and how they work-"

She stiffened as he pulled out the sword. It seemed magical to her; she'd never seen anything like it! What kind of blades did they have in that army? "A-Amazing... I've never seen anything like that before. It was a reward? Gods, I'm getting more scared of the Parliament. If they have weapons like these-" She gestured to the sword in his hands, "-plus a flame-wielding Swordswoman, then they are a force to be reckoned with... Still, I want to fight them. To prove to them a lowly slave can beat up the highest of nobility."

@Simple Unicycle