[IC] Justice among the stars

[Flynn]

On Aidan's face also appears a smile as Val strides past him. It was a long time he'd seen a forest this big. His mission usually brought him to urban planets, not overgrown vegetated ones. He shakes his head, clearing his thoughts. They had a mission to fulfill.

He catches up to Val and takes out a holographic tablet. On it is the scan for humanoids that was made by the ship, this time enlarged to just their current area. "Seems like we need to head east a bit. There seem to be some sort of activity of humanoids there. Let's be cautious." He puts away the tablet and draws his gun, slotting a clip in position and pulling back the slide, readying the first bullet.

With firm steps they enter the thick vegetation. Moving forward is going slow due to all the plants and vines and their sight is also hindered, but the two Inquisitors know where they need to go, and some stupid plants is not going to stop them.

[Angel Vicky]

Val swipes her bladed gun downward horizontally across her chest, slicing through the forest shrubbery with ease. She kept her guard up, she didn't know what they may find there. Carefully she placed each foot down with precision. She glanced down at her footsteps and back up to in front of her again. Her ice blue eyes piercing in their resolve as always. They grew closer to the humanoid activity.

"So, what are your thoughts on this place? Real or not?" She asked as it sure felt real enough to the touch. But chaos worked in mysterious ways.

[Flynn]

He glides his hand over some of the leaves as Val asks the question. "It looks and feels real enough. But I've seen Dark Illusions before. Those were smaller scale of course. To conjure up an entire planet would require... More 'magic' then we've ever seen." The word magic rolls with a certain distaste over his tongue.

Walking behind Val had it's perks. One, she was clearing a path for him and secondly, the sight was quite lov-... No, no! He shouldn't think that. Aidan shakes his head as he clears his thoughts. Why was he thinking about 'that'?

Another cut by Val's blade and sunlight pours through the foliage. They had made it to the clearing. "Look!" He points at some simplistic huts a bit further. They appears to be made of reed. "This seems a bit too... peaceful for my taste."

[Angel Vicky]

Val nodded to Aidan. It was all a bit fishy for damned sure. "Could be a trap?" She suggested with a concerned tone. She always had an air of caution rather than going in all guns blazing. The huts seemed real too. But could there be such a thing as innocent civilians on a planet that just popped out of nowhere. Of course, scientifically this was all impossible.

"How 'bout I go out there first. I can be a decoy, if anything happens to me I know you've got my back." She suggested a plan of action that did not immediately place both of them in the same trap. It did make sense, but at the same time, she showed real courage to allow herself to be used as bait. Also, the woman taking the risk in this day and age was not seen as un-chivalrous for the man not to do it instead. Times had changed in human society. Women were not viewed as the weaker sex anymore.

"Partner." She added with a wink and a rare smile. The excitement and thrill of it all was making her heart pump and adrenaline surge. It brought out the true Valentisha Vivier.

[Flynn]

Aidan places a hand on Vals shoulder and nods. "Alright. I'll circle around the village and will try to track you. Even if you have one of your own," taking a small bar sized device from the back of his belt and hands it to her. "Translator. Mine has probably gathered more languages then yours. You know how it works. Keep them talking and the translator will figure out the language at some point."

It was probably crazy how paranoid they were, looking at the village. It looked straight out of one of those history books, with the hunters and gatherers. "You have permission to shoot if they try to do something funny. But act friendly and joyful first. They will gather most information of your expressions and gestures. That is if they don't speak our language of course."

Crowe looks at the village one last time before putting on a visor, covering his green eyes. He turns around one more time at Val, gives her one last nod, "Good luck." and vanishes in the foliage, leaving Valentisha behind.

[Angel Vicky]

It was strange that, when he had touched her shoulder, she felt her heart skip a beat a little. Was it that she felt a little moved by his show of concern toward her? She hardly knew this man but he made her actually feel quite reassured. Something about his green eyes stated that he did not lie. That he was a man of his word. She nodded to him one last time before he placed his visor on and turned back into the camouflage of the forest.

And she ventured outward, flipping down her own visor across her eyes.



It had useful scanning radars on displays, it showed her where the highest concentrations of chaos magic were hiding. Whether it be from the inhabitants of this world or its objects. The highest levels would show a blatant red. She held her translator in one hand and then hooks it onto her belt, tightening grip on her gunsword's handle. Her leather coat long tails furrowing in the breeze behind her leather armour clad legs. She walked closer to the huts made of reeds. Her scanners showed them as a dull brown, not bright enough to cause concern.

[Flynn]

Leaves rustle as Aidan makes his way through the thick vegetation as silent as possible. He hadn't lost sight of Val yet as she moved closer to the village, which was a good thing. The inhabitants of the village didn't seem to notice her yet. Either they were blind or Val could move very quietly. He shrugs and sits down behind a bush, tracking Val with his visor.

Suddenly a movement to his right catches his attention. He quickly draws his gun and aims at the spot he thought he had seen something. Nothing. What did he see anyway? Did he say movement earlier? No, that wasn't it. It was more like... a feeling. Someone or... something was watching him.

Feeling uneasy by the thought of turning his back to the forest, he decides to move further along the treeline, even though that meant losing visual of Valentisha...

[Angel Vicky]

Val stepped quietly closer and closer to the huts, looking around. Suddenly she felt a sharp object prodding her back. How the hell did they sneak up on her? She puts her hands up and lifted her gunsword up in the air slowly. She turned around gradually to be faced with a humanoid creature with a wooden spear aimed at her chest. He was white skinned, with red stripes across his face as if painted on. Maybe a form of primitive human? He pointed it at her sword, making a grunting sound.

She dropped it and kicked it away with her boot. Her translator was working at the ready to interpret the villager. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" The male tribesman said. She looked at him calmly. "My name is Valentisha." Her translator replied back to him in a weird language that resembled ancient Somalian.

"But you can call me Val." She forced a smile. It unnerved her at how this tribal man just appeared out of nowhere. And then suddenly many more emerge from the bushes. Her scanners go off the scales. She knew this was not going to end well...

"You should not be here Inquisitor. Now you DIE!" He shrieks and the whole clan burst into screeched chanting. They were smarter than first meets the eye. And now they would soon learn why Valentisha Vivier was promoted into the higher ranks of the Inquisition. It was then that glint of fire sparked within her eye.

I keep on Fighting against God...

The tribesmen go to stab at her with their spears when she clicked her finger and suddenly she was in the air with an anti-grav field effect. She soon flipped her body forward and landed near her sword. Picking it up swiftly and then launching herself into the air once again with a side twist in the air. "Aidan! Run!" Her voice echoed throughout the forest. She landed on to of a hut and ducked as spears soared over her head. She pointed her gun down at them and fired upon them; the bullets were fired in quick succession.

These minions of chaos needed to be vanquished for all that was good and righteous in this cosmos. "For the Holy Inquisition!" Her passionate outcry only made her fight all the more harder. She just hoped she wouldn't have to use her EMP field with Aidan close by. Or else his circuits would be fried. So she felt restricted but the adrenaline surging through her veins pushed her forward.

Leaping to the roof of another hut, firing as she ran along and jumped from roof to roof. One by one they fell to her raining bullets.

[Flynn]

Aidan moves up in the vegetation. He has lost sight of Val, but he just didn't like being watched. He finally finds a new spot and looks down at the readings on his wrist watch. "All her vitals seem stable for now. Good, good." He jerks his head to the left as he notices the movement once more. No, not movement. It was some sort of ripple effect. Weird. He shakes his head, trying to loose the paranoia feeling and focuses back on the readings.

A sharp point feeling in his back forces him to stand up. He raises his arms, showing he holds no weapons. "We come in peace." He knew whatever was pointing a spear at him wouldn't understand him, but he could at least try. His ears suddenly catch the sound of gunfire coming from the village. His eyes narrow and he makes an almost unnoticeable movements with his right arm. "At least... we were until 10 seconds ago." He flexes his muscles and spins around, smacking his right arm against the sharp spear. Energy that he spent up in his wrist discharges with a loud bang and the spear breaks. Aidan his left arm shoots forwards, grabbing the man by the throat. The man, clearly surprised by the sudden resistance puts up no resistance. That doesn't stop Aidan however. He unholsters his gun and shoots the man point-blank through the head. The body falls to the floor, a trail of smoke coming of his head.

He didn't have the time to admire his kill. Val needed his help. He takes his sword in the other hand and rushes towards the village. He wonders how she was holding up?

[Angel Vicky]

Valentisha soared across the sky, twisting her body around in mid air and landed with her fist punching the floor. Suddenly a sonic wave released from her wrist which had a wrist device wrapped around. It emitted sound waves but she could only use it once. The sonic blast in full 360 around her position, knocked all of the humanoids that surrounded her, were all knocked down. She stood straight and pulled her gun, flicking it so the blade came out. She looked around and became surrounded once more as some stood up from the blast, the rest being rendered to an unconscious state.

She had about ten who remained, about fifty were strewn across the floor either bloodied from bullets or knocked out. She waited for one to slash at her with a spear for her to counter it with her blade and then immediately spins to punch him in the face, downing him. She wasnt that strong but she was fast enough to use the momentum to make it hit hard.

She then slashed her sword through the second humanoid, cutting his spear arm off. The third slashed her back from behind making her yell out in pain. It cut through her leather armour. The downside to not wearing metallic heavy armour was she was more vulnerable to attacks but she would be weighed down. But she chose to risk that. Luckily the Inquisition gave her genetic enhancements after field duty to speed up repair to the body to send her back out again quickly. The never ending cycle of being broken, fixed back up and rinse repeat. All these battles, random and without substance. Just what were they really fighting against? What was she fighting for anymore? She had no family left, she had no friends. Valentisha just threw herself into dangerous circumstances without much thought to making it out alive. And that's why she never wanted a partner - only for them to be burdened by her self destructive nature and recklessness. She was sure Aidan would get sick of her quickly enough after this display of thoughtlessness and tell the Inquisition to relocate her. Especially since his last partner died on him, he didn't need another one. But this is the only way that Val could rid herself of the pain and agony that haunted her life.

[Flynn]

A loud crack of a heavy pistol bellows over the fighting group. All are taken aback by the even louder noise and look at it's origin.

Aidan, who just turned around the corner of one of the huts, holds his pistol aimed at the sky. A small smoke trails of the muzzle. He lowers his arm, ejects the heated shell from the gun and aims it at the group. "You have attacked a member of the Holy Inquisition... I hereby declare your lives forfeit."

The man pulls the trigger.

Another thunderous sound rolls over the village. The head of one of the man explodes into a gory mess with such force that it blows some of his kin onto the ground. All the man are taken aback for just a split second. But that's all the time Aidan needs. Already he has covered the distance and is hacking through the group with his sword, cutting through limbs like butter. His goal lies before him on the ground. Val...

A man with a sword made of sharp tooth blocks Aidans view of Val. Instead of stopping, Aidan simply slams into the man with his shoulder, making him fall to the ground next to Val. Aidan quickly shoves his sword in the mans gut, finishing him. He looks at Val and the wound on her back. It already began reconstructing, but it'd take time and that was something they didn't have.

He extends his arm and smiles at her. "You didn't think I'd leave you here, right?"

[Angel Vicky]

"Not for a second." Val reached her arm up and grabbed his hand. The sharp pain in her back made her eyes squint and her mouth cringe. "Ungh.." She pulled herself up using one knee to vault the rest of her heavy body up. She looked around at all the dead humanoids. "I didn't get any information. I don't know what these things are or what this place is, but they knew us. And attacked."

A dark figure lurked in the shadows in the distance, watching them converse. Valentisha sighed and patted herself down, she was drenched in their blood. It was even matted into her pink hair, which she had dyed. She was a natural blonde underneath. She looked up to the blazing sun in the sky, the heat overwhelming. Or maybe it was because she was just hot and sweaty from the fight. She wiped her wet brow with the back of her gloved hand. "Maybe something or someone is controlling them." She suggested as she scanned the village. She didn't have time to stop and think about how many she'd killed. They attacked her first. What was she supposed to do? It's kill or be killed.

[Flynn]

Aidan raises an eyebrow as he picks a loose finger that was stuck in Vals hair. He tosses it aside and grins softly before shaking his head and returning to the matter at hand. "No. Controlled people look different. You can see it in their eyes. Talking about eyes... Have you noticed a sort of 'movement' at the edge of your eyes? Sort of a ripple effect? Only visible if you really focus on it. It's... unsettling." He turns around and looks at the scattered huts. "I'd say we take a look around their houses. Maybe some sort of clue there? Oh, and let's stick together this time." He sheaths his sword and walks to the nearest house.

Placing his hand on the wall and it feels... cold. Like stone? No, wait. Just normal reeds. Or was it? Aidan looks at the palm of his hand and frowns. "Something fishy is going on here... I'm starting to construct a theory, but I'll need more evidence."

The insides of the hut are scarce. A bed made of hides, a table made of a rock and a small cooking fire. "It's like we stepped back in time, and yet they knew us. Hm..."

[Angel Vicky]

Valentisha walked just a little behind Aidan, matching his pace and stopped when he did. She regarded the small tiny hut and nodded in conclusion, she thought the same. Definitely strange. She kept her gun down at her side but her back was still stinging. She'd need more medical aid once they returned to their ship.

"How odd." She remarked and bent down to pick up a parchment. "It looks like some sort of map?" It had ancient symbols on it, landmarks of some kind, drawings they could make out as huts in the center, a mountain to the north and a lake to the east. A citadel like tower lay at the southern end of the map. "I think we may have landed here." She was behind Aidan and stepped up close to his back and brought her arm up over his shoulder so that he could see. She then had her thumb pointed to the west. "The mountain is over there in the distance. So we are dead center right now." She advised hi on their current location, she was a good map reader and an excellent navigator.

[Flynn]

He could smell her when she was this close. There was a hint of perfume mixed with sweat of combat. Quite nice actually. Aidan blinks a few times to focus on what she's saying. "Hm... I'd say taking a look at that tower seems like our best option at the moment. Good job Val." He turns around, but didn't notice just how close Val was to him. They are almost face to face before Aidan quickly takes a step back and coughs. "Uhm... However, we should return to the Invictus for now and take a look at that wound of yours. We shouldn't risk a journey through a thick jungle whilst that is still recovering." Clearly wanting to leave the small hut with the awkward vibe, Aidan almost rushes outside into the open air.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Aidan looks over his shoulder at the hut he just left. "What am I doing? You're supposed to be a professional, Aidan.", he mutters to himself.

[Angel Vicky]

Valentisha agreed with a nod. She noted how fast he removed himself from her vicinity. Perhaps he wasn't so good around women, she thought to herself. No matter. But she did wonder why it bothered it her so...

"To the ship it is." She walked out of the hut a little slower than she would usually because she felt pain with every step. She needed some pain killing agent on her back wound to numb the area whilst it healed over and she could continue her quest. She hated feeling so weak sometimes. Clenching her fist she marched onward toward the forest.

She sighed after walking for what seemed like half an hour and finally laid eyes on their ship. She walked on board and half way up the ramp unclasped her armoured vest at the sides. Walking in to her room she pulled it off and then removed the torn black tank top she had underneath. She needed a new one but not before the wound was taken care of. She struggled to reach around to her back with a cloth to clean the blood away and sighed. She threw the cloth against the wall in frustration. It had to be right in the center of her shoulder blades didn't it. Not an easy place for a person to reach. She reached into the medical pack and took out a needle gun that was used for pain relief. She glared at it, knowing she HAD to ask Aidan for help to administer it. And he couldn't get away quick enough from her earlier on, so how in the hell would he deal with her in just her bra, that wasn't damaged luckily. IF she had not been wearing her armour, the slash would have cut a lot deeper into her spine. Instead it was a surface scratch. But it sure stung like hell.

So the question now was - would she be stubborn and struggle on her own and waste more time or suck it up ask the man for help? She pondered on it for a moment before finally relenting, calling out into the ship's corridor. "Aidan can you administer the pain killer. Please?" That last word was hard to say, she was not used to asking anybody for help.

[Flynn]

Aidan, who went straight to the cockpit as soon as they arrived on the Invictus, was reading the scanners with mixed thoughts. Something wasn't right, and it was right in front of their eyes. The movement in the corner of their eyes, the villagers knowing them, some textures just not feeling right. It all sounded like an illusion, but that was just impossible. Their scanners would have picked up an illusion by now. Maybe the tower held more answers.

A plea for help breaks him out of his concentration. He sighs and makes his way to Vals room. He knocks on the door and enters it. "Is it in a tr-..." He looks at the uncovered chest for just a split second before looking away, slightly blushing. "Ahem, uhm... I guess it's in a hard to reach spot?" His eyes spot the needle gun in her hand and he takes it from her. "Right, just... turn around and I'll help you."

Spotting the cloth in the corner of the room, he walks over to pick it up. He looks back at Val, seeing that she had turned around. The wound doesn't look very critical, but Aidan is well known with the annoyances of pain. Using the cloth, he cleans the wound a bit more before readying the needle gun. "Alright, on three. One... two..." With a sly smile he stabs the needle gun in the flesh near the wound, injecting Val with the pain relieving fluid.

[Angel Vicky]

"Son of a bi-!" Val yelled out in pain and almost turned around to punch him the face. But the pain soon numbed and she became docile again and sighed. "Thanks..." She turned around, not really caring that he was seeing her shirtless. She grabbed the needle gun from him, not too forcefully, and threw it into the medkit case. "There. Let's get going then." She stated as she threw a fresh black tank top over her head and clasped on a new piece of leather armour over her chest. She always carried spares. Again not caring that he had watched her re-dress. They were both adults and both professional Inquisitors. They knew the drill. Still she wondered why she had a slight smirk plastered on her lips.

"Ready?" She asked as she grabbed her gun and then turned around to lean on one curvy hip with a hand placed on, it awaiting her partner's next move.

[Flynn]

Aidan grins sheepishly at her and nods. "Yeah, we're ready to go." Now, he would never admit it, but he has actually quite enjoyed that. He shakes his head whilst smiling and makes his way to the cockpit.

Sitting down in the piloting chair, he turns on the engines. "No way we're going to walk through that forest again. Who knows how long we'll have to walk then. If it's directly south of the village it shouldn't be hard to find whilst in the sky." The engines hum as they slowly heat up. Aidan takes the yoke and makes a vertical take-off. He steers the Invictus to the south with and throttles forward with moderate speed.

As far as the eye could see. Only dark green forest. No sign of a tower of some sort. Wait, was that some red over th-... No, no. Just more green. His eyes scan the horizon, hoping to see some kind of landmark. A mountain, a lake, something! ANYTHING! But no, just the green treetops stretching out for miles upon miles.

He turns to Val. "Are you sure it's supposed to depict a tower? I have a feeling I'm going insane if I have to look at all these trees for much longer."

[Angel Vicky]

Valentisha kept her eyes peeled, eyes slightly narrowed on the horizon. She sighed upon his questioning of her judgement. She slowly turned her head toward him. She pulled out the map from her pocket and with one hand flicked it open without looking at it. She was looking at him all the while with her eyes. It was if he ad just insulted her intelligence.

She regarded the parchment. "Oh...my mistake..." She started and pointed at it but didn't show him. "It was just a spear tip marking that looked like a tower." She then presented him with it and pointed at it. She had been joking in sarcastic tone. "Of course it's a tower!" She tapped her finger on the citadel symbol, it was as clear as day what it was.

"Try switching your scanner scopes to infrared or ultraviolet. Check for gamma signatures. It could be cloaked." She reminded him as she rolled up the parchment. "We may not be able to see it with the naked eye." She acted put out but she was actually enjoying the banter. She'd been alone too long. Pushing his buttons was going to be quite fun.