Claw2k11

A Truly "Gifted" Life (Ignore post count)

Aran's mind was going a hundred miles a second, thinking of what he could do to escape this situation unscathed, he needed to think of all possibilities, a impossible they would sound, he needed to think of everything if he wanted to escape with his life intact. However he snapped at attention as soon as he heard the commander's voice and while it wasn't directed towards him, he had every right to be at least a bit nervous about the situation.

The two knights, following Botrelle's orders, positioned themselves at both sides of the door and stood there like two glorified guards. He didn't have the time to think about it for too long as she waited for him to enter the room. As soon as he did, she closed the door and went towards her seat, directing Aran to his own. His seat looked so simple in comparison the commander's own, he assumed it was her way of showing superiority towards anyone that might visit her office.

As soon as they seated themselves, he expected her to release his laryngeal nerves as soon as they did, but she did not do it, instead, she started arranging her paper for a while, then went for her tablet to write something on it. He knew what this meant, again, by ignoring him she showed how little he meant towards her, or rather, that's what he thought.

After a few more moments, she finally released his muscles from her grip. His expression did not change at all, still sporting the same smile, despite the situation at hand. Then, she finally spoke to him and she asked what was expected, she asked him if he was either stupid or suicidal for having divulged such information and then she rather openly threatened him... none of these had their intended effect, or so he assumed.

"It is neither, my lady, it was simply forgetfulness." he replied. "I forgot how naïve many people still are, I forgot that quite a lot of people still believe that Erubesco is a proponent of chivalry and equality and all that, I forgot that unlike myself, many people do not know the true rotten core of people of this nation, people with no actual morals of any sort or any care for anything other than their own image and so, I thought that everyone there at the table knew about what was actually going on... especially the two star knight you've got at the door, I thought that by now, they would've seen everything... alas, it seems they did not." he sighed, he had spoken without thinking, instead of following his plans, he had followed his instincts and said what came to his mind first.

"Say, my lady, since I am probably doomed to prison for life... at best, I wish to ask you something, what is your opinion of the current situation of Erubesco?" he asked, and while he knew that the odds of her answering truthfully were low, that was not the intention of his question, his intentions were to read the woman in front of him, to read her expressions, anything that might betray any information to him, something that could maybe give him any bit of leverage towards her, anything that might allow him to continue living a long life. "Are you opposed to it, or are you as rotten as the rest of the people in charge?"

A Truly "Gifted" Life (Ignore post count)

The moment Specter grabbed Hel, she started screaming and though that was expected since she didn't know who he was, the biting and scratching were annoying and slightly painful, it wasn't enough to make him drop her and he kept running towards the house. He wasn't sure enough why he had attempted to save the girl, maybe because she reminded him of a certain someone when he was enslaved in the past, maybe because he had started to feel some empathy towards the girl, whatever it was, it didn't matter at all right now, all that mattered was getting to the relative safety of the house.

"Fucking hell!" Specter cursed as he felt a sharp pain in-between his ribs. Someone had stabbed him in the back with a knife of some sort and was letting the knife rest dangerously close to his spinal cord, any wrong move and he would become a paraplegic as the man behind him made sure to tell him. He moved his head only for a bit to see who was the one stabbing him. It was one of the Wanderers, the one named Spire and he demanded to let the young girl down.

"I was trying to get her inside before she was turned into swiss cheese, you idiot, which is why I was running towards the damn house!" despite what he said, Specter dropped Hel in front of him as per Spire's instructions. "Now remove that knife from my ribs and let's run before we all die!"

Needless to say, Specter was pissed, not only because Spire had stabbed him in the back, but because he had stopped him, and in the current situation, for every second they stood still, the chance that either of them getting shot increased drastically.

A Truly "Gifted" Life (Ignore post count)

Ranch House, Ashlands

He first looked towards Johnny, who looked briefly towards him and though his expression hadn't changed, he knew that he probably didn't have an high opinion of him, any wrong move and he would be peppered with bullets, he doubted he'd activate the nuke if only he resisted. But then, he made the offer that nobody could refuse... quite literally since he could decide to blow everyone up, or simply kill shoot them all where they stood.

To be honest, while he liked the Wanderers well enough, the offer that Sweet Johnny made was a very good one, especially since he could kill all of them with relative ease now that they had simply disabled their powers, what would he have to gain with this offer, an offer which would only worsen his relations with Liberty and Erubesco, something about this situation was wrong, he felt it in his gut.

Then, he heard his name being called by Montana, who had been able to retreat inside the house. Montana needed him, he didn't know for what, but he guessed it wouldn't be something very good for his own health, the little research that Specter had been able to gather on the man specified that the man was quite malevolent when he wished... and when he needed to, and needless to say, this situation did not look very good for them.

Specter took a moment to weigh his options, if he joined Johnny, then what the man said might happen, they would be kings under him and they would be the hunters instead of being the hunted... or, this was simply a somewhat elaborate trap, those that didn't join now would be subdued or killed and those that did could be lead into the man's base where he would either kill them there, or imprison them there. On the other hand, if he chose to join Montana, then there might be the inkling of a chance that the long-lived man might have a plan to get them out of this situation... or, the man could simply lead him down there to ambush and kill him, or do god knows what to him, after all, the man was not exactly known for his kindness.

By now, one of Bellataire's assistants had exited the transport and started to hand out the contracts to everyone, including one to himself, he didn't pay attention to it, he just took it absentmindedly and still thought about the situation before the sound of steps woke him from his reverie, he had only enough time to see the impact and hear the scream, well... no more time to think, the time to make a decision was now and he cursed himself for the one he had made right now.

While everyone was looking at Hel and the assistant his hand quickly went into the pouch where was keeping his grenades, he was able to grab two of them, both different from one another, he quickly pulled the pins on both of the grenades and tossed them as close to the vehicle as he could. He only had a few seconds before both of them detonated. "Close your eyes and run back inside!" he shouted to the Wanderers before the grenades exploded.

The first explosion was loud and shone bright as hell, probably blinding anyone who had not heeded his warning. The second one detonated only a moment later and released a great amount of smoke, effectively making a wall of smoke between the vehicle and the Wanderers. Then, he took a deep breath, mentally cursing himself for his decision and dashed towards Hel. Luckily enough, she was quite close to his own position, though she was probably dazed, so he grabbed her and ran like hell towards the house... or anywhere where there might be cover.

There was a high chance that this would get him killed and yet, he did not regret it, he even found it amusing, the great Specter of the Ashlands, killed whilst trying to save a little girl, yet he did feel a tinge of regret, he had yet to find that someone he had spent a great deal searching for... oh well, guess he would meet her in hell whenever she would die as well.

He made his choice... and he would accept the consequences for it.

---

Erubesco, Citadel

Something was going on with Kora and Darrien could read it, though he was not mind reader so he didn't know what exactly she was thinking about. He thought that she might get angry if he asked about her personal life and that it might be a bit risky asking her about it, but he pushed the thoughts away, he was curious and a tad worried as to what had happened to her.

He chuckled for a moment and smiled as dashingly as he could, a joke between the two of them, she knew well enough that his perfect knight mantra was mere acting, one of the only three people that knew of his true cold and calculating self. "Well, I'm still acting as the perfect knight that everyone in Erubesco likes to dream about, my sister is still trying to beat me in close combat, the occasional mission here and there, but nothing big enough to make me a star like you." he smiled, though not as before, it was a normal friendly smile and for once it wasn't acting. "But I can see that things are bothering you and I can only guess what those things would be... mind talking about it?" he asked, still smiling towards her, hoping that the smile would calm her at least enough for her to not get too angry, if it came to him getting whacked, then... well, he would take it without dodging it.

So, he smiled and awaited the answer, briefly glancing at the scientist in front of them, who was still busy in his own thoughts about the situation he was currently in.

A Truly "Gifted" Life (Ignore post count)

Shit went down really fast after Specter's warning to Montana, he realized that his powers had stopped working due to the fact that he could not really turn ethereal anymore and while it wasn't a great hindrance to him, he counted on his powers to save him from any bullet that was meant for him, this would make things much more difficult for everyone, especially since Johnny had just ridden in a tank in here and from the look of things they did not have anything to take it out with.

For a few moments, he just watched to see what would happen and amazingly Johnny either did not see him or chose to ignore him for now, but either way, it allowed him to study the situation for a bit and needless to say, things were not going to well. One of the Wanderers, Drake, had come up to the door looking like he had a foot in the grave, however, despite that, he still had the energy to make demands from Johnny. On the other hand, Rei's lifeless body collapsed like a sack of bricks off the roof, he guessed that whatever made her tick had to do with her gift.

And then, a little girl sauntered up to the front door and demanded that Johnny stop this. He could not help but admire the fact that a little girl was standing up to a man in a tank and presumably, a hidden group of spec ops, he would have actually laughed a bit if the situation was not so dire. After having surveyed the situation enough, Specter placed his mask back on and rose to his feet, looking at Sweet Johnny.

"Well, do you have a separate offer for me, Johnny, or was that a bulk offer?" Specter asked, despite knowing the situation he was currently in, Johnny probably thought he was part of the Wanderers and the Wanderers probably thought that he was with Johnny when at the moment, he was with neither. "Because if it was the latter, then..." and then, he casually pointed his gun towards the man and backed away towards the Ranch, though he imagined that at least a dozen guns were aiming at him the moment he raised his gun in the first place.

A Truly "Gifted" Life (Ignore post count)

As he saw even Commander Botrelle surprised at his statement, Aran could not help but smile on the inside, he had chance to get out of this yet if he played his cards right. He had to be very careful however, one wrong word could get his project killed... or worse it could get him killed, so he took a deep breath and rose from his chair as the two knights moved in to seize and escort him towards her office to probably interrogate him on what he said.

As he was being escorted, Aran thought of what he could say that would allow him to get him the best results, something that would not get him fired, or worse, killed and something that would also allow him to continue his project unhindered. As for the knights, he could hear one of them talk, the Elcove one, but he did not really pay attention to either of the two, he had studied them and so far, he did not really see anything in them, though the Norrevinter girl did have quite the will, maybe she would be useful in his experiments later down the line, though he doubted the government would just hand them their star to possibly die.

He simply took a breath to calm himself down and looked ahead as they walked, whatever he would do, it would better be good or he could lose his job and his head.

---

Darrien was not shocked at all to hear what the Alchemist had said, he always figured that Erubesco did things like these behind the scenes, after all, if all they did was to act honorably and the like, they would lag behind in technology and they would die, after all, he had read that human experimentation was the best way to find out a human's weaknesses and help develop something that would help cover for said weakness and while everyone there acted in their own way, all of them were outraged, he looked to see that even his own sister was glaring at the Alchemist like she was ready to kill him on the spot.

He mentally sighed, he supposed he had to act accordingly to his reputation, or people would start to question things about hi, and that was never good. He rose from his seat and glared towards the Alchemist, he supposed that would be enough, however, he imagined that he had say something as well, condemning the man's statement, or something of the sort.

"If what you say is true, Alchemist, then I will personally have your head for ending the lives of our own people!" he nearly shouted, looking quite outraged, he imagined people would not suspect him for this, however before he or anyone else could add anything else, Commander Botrelle ordered him and Kora to escort said Alchemist, named Aran Sairan to her office. He kept his angered glare on the Alchemist for a few more seconds before nodding towards the commander at the issuing of the order.

And so, he moved next to Aran, who rose from his seat willingly, though it must have looked rather odd, as the alchemist was quite a bit taller he or Kora. He moved by himself and there was no need to drag him along, the man even walked a few steps ahead of them, caught in his own little world, probably worried about his punishment, or trying to find a way to get himself out of his situation with his head still attached, any conversation with the man would probably be useless, so instead, he turned his head towards Kora to speak with her instead.

"Hello, Kora, glad to finally meet you again, partner, though I wish it were under better circumstances." he wore a sad smile on his expression, of all the people he had to share company with, Kora was one of the most enjoyable ones he ever had and he genuinely enjoyed the two's time as partners before his own sister was assigned as his partner. "How has the limelight been treating you lately, hmm?"

A Truly "Gifted" Life (Ignore post count)

"No worries, my good man." He raised a hand to show Eld that he meant no hostility. "It's just that by helping you guys, I'm basically firing myself from this job, I don't think many people will hire me once they hear that I chose to join you people. I mean, I know I chose to do this, but it still irks me a bit, so I truly apologize if I have given offense." Though his voice was courteous, it still was a little cold, meaning he was still a bit annoyed.

Then, Specter his sights towards Montana. Now he was the one trying to read Montana, yet for the life of him, he could not tell anything about the man that he could not see. Instead, he took a sigh and removed the mask he wore and placed it on the ground between them. Though his face was quite worn from traveling in the wastes for long, appearance-wise, Specter looked quite average with brown eyes and short chestnut brown hair and not any features that made him stand out much except a scar that ran down the left side of his neck and continuing towards his shoulder.

"The group is called Bellataire INC, led by none other than Sweet Johnny Bellataire." he said, as if expecting Montana to know who this was supposed to be. "He is a disgraced Erubescian Lord and he still has plenty of contacts within Erubesco itself, business, finance and military, you name it." He spoke, furrowing his brows as he tried to remember the numbers. "I haven't been able to find an exact number, just an approximate, but I know he has an elite gifted fighting force a number of spec ops who are skilled both with their gifts and regular weapons, arms, slaves, artillery and..." he paused for a moment as he prepared himself to say it. "... a functioning missile silo."

Then, he stopped speaking. "Listen, I'd be glad to give any other info you'd wish to know, about Bellataire, me, or anything else you might wish to know, but..." And with that, he glanced suspiciously for a few moments. "... well, I need you to get the group out of here, they will be here in about an hour and while I'm sure you are strong, don't want you all to risk combat with them just yet!" he said, staring Montana right in the eyes, still trying to read the man, by the way he talked, by the way moved, anyway he could.

A Truly "Gifted" Life (Ignore post count)

Unlike what Eld might have expected, Specter did not flinch as the eldritch being made his threats, instead, he studied it's face for a few moments, or rather what had been it's face and waited for him to make his threats. He had lived for nearly forty years in the wastes and that alone would have been impressive enough, however, he had been a head-hunter for about half of his lifetime and he had seen and faced many things and while Eld's gift was a something he had not encountered in the past, he showed no fear towards it.

His brow furrowed at him asking what present he had and for whatever reason, that angered him quite a bit and for a moment it was visible on his expression before he calmed himself down. "Listen, I understand that you have to be careful with who you receive and all in case they're a spy, however, I have risked my ass coming to you hoping that nobody in this group would kill me, I am currently risking my livelihood by even offering you the info about them and I am risking my own life by basically offering my help for free!" he did not shout as he did not wish make himself seem like a threat, but his teeth were clenched as he spoke those words.

He planned to say a few more things, however, Montana had intervened between them, allowing Specter to calm himself for a moment. He glared at the eldritch being once more to both make sure that it did not have any funny ideas and to warn it if tried to do anything. Then, he placed his gun back in it's holster and his hunting knife back in it sheath and turned towards Montana and looked at him for a moment suspiciously before deciding that it would be best for him to sit down in front of him if he ever wanted to achieve his goal.

"Listen, I'm willing to offer answers to whatever questions you might you might have and I offer my services to your group, whether you want me to act as a scout, as a frontline fighter, sniper, whatever your heart desires." Specter sighed as stared at Montana, he did not expect him of all people to be as friendly with outsiders as he currently was. "If you're wondering why I'm doing this, it's just that I just happen to not like slavers and actually like you people enough to ignore a possible contract with them."

Then... he paused, he realized that Montana had to ask the questions first before he offered any answers, so he simply sighed and awaited for the questions to come and while he would answer them, he really hoped that there would be none about his past, it was not something he was eager to talk about.

A Truly "Gifted" Life (Ignore post count)

@hagroden

Sure, I'll change it right now, I just wasn't sure what color writing to give him to match his name.

A Truly "Gifted" Life (Ignore post count)

Specter looked about at everyone present. The mutant had left and two more people had emerged from within the house, however, one of them was someone he had hoped to avoid, oh well, if these were the people to listen to his plea then he could not ask for more, not unless he wanted to sound suspicious. Still holding his hands up, he started speaking in a calm manner as to not to raise any tensions and kept his mind empty should anyone in the group try to peek into his mind, should they have a strong telepathic gift.

"Well... first, the warning." He said, slowly lowering one of his hands to pull out a few papers from one of his pockets. "As I'm sure you all know, both Erubesco and Liberty want you dead, each for their own reason. Well, now it seems that a slaver group wants you all dead or enslaved, your guess is as good as mine!"

And with that, Specter threw down on the ground several wanted posters of various members of the Wanderers and a large poster that simply specified the Wanderers themselves as targets and the reward these jobs entailed.

"Now, no single mercenaries would be dumb enough to attack you unless they asked for death, however, I was able to pick up word a few settlements back that a slaver group was gathering up it's men to hunt you down, boasting about how they would do what neither Erubesco or Liberty could." He paused for a few moments to let the information sink in to the people present. "Now, you are the few people I have ever sympathized with in the years I've spent in the Ash, so instead of hunting for you, or offering my skills to either of the factions, or the slavers, I wish to... well, make a contract with you people. Though of course that in and of itself would have to be discussed in detail later as to what I'll be doing specifically." He said, still holding his hands up and taking a deep breath before speaking once more.

"So... what do you say?" he asked and though his body betrayed no tension whatsoever, his mind was already thinking of deploying one of the flashbangs to allow him to escape if they did not accept his offer.

---

Aran saw everyone's reactions when he spoke about the fate of the test subjects he received and was not entirely surprised to see everyone's aversion to the results of his manner of testing. His lips formed into a sad smile, feigning the sadness over all the subjects that were the cause of his death and started speaking in a mournful tone.

"Commander Lovette, miss Norrevinter, you seem to think that I willingly wish the death of people, that I am just an executioner when I really am not, each death is a tragedy, even if it is an enemy prisoner, or one of our own serfs, it doesn't matter whose it is is, life is sacred and being the one to end one is horrifying." his expression briefly turned to one disgust before his speech continued. "However, it was not to be and I was forced to witness death after death, when I thought that last deaths I would have to witness were the ones of my family, howe..." as he spoke, Aran felt his words catch in his throat quite literally, and for a moment he panicked, placing a hand on his neck, that was before he saw commander Botrelle giving him a stern look.

Understanding what it meant, he raised his hands to signal that he had finished speaking before sitting back down on his seat with a sad smile still on his expression, awaiting for the discussion to finish and he would be able to discuss with a certain someone in person, though he imagined the discussion would not be a very good one for him.

A Truly "Gifted" Life (Ignore post count)

@LorelleQuips

He got there only recently, he just wanted to scope out the situation and see who is outside at the moment before making a move, so you may write it off as you will. Also, I feel like it wouldn't make sense to teleport anyone nearby since he decided to approach after scouting the area around the house for a minute or two, he did not plan to really stay hidden. As for Dawn, well, he is always prepared for people with telepathic gifts, so he prepared ahead of time to keep his mind empty... if that makes any sense.