Meteor had not been pleased when she'd learned what her excursion to Happyland had been all about.
Apparently Enki had set up three of his comrades for some sort of fighting event, one which had pulled Meteor into place against her better judgment. The 'Emerald Knight' was sporting one hell of a shiner right about then, though at least all three of the Knights were advancing the rounds. In Meteor's case...mostly because her opponent had accidentally hit a sinkhole in Happyland, falling down into a rubble-strewn pit and knocking himself out less than twenty seconds after she'd started trying to put him down. Fortuitous...if extremely unsatisfying.
Now, of course, came 'Round 2'. This time, she had the benefit of a proper intelligence brief on her foe. Like all proper intelligence briefs, it was woefully inadequate and contained virtually no information - merely that her enemy was a man named 'Corban', who fought within a suit of bulky, heavy power armor, and that he had fatally injured his previous foe with some sort of energy weapon. What sort of energy weapon that had been, what his abilities were, the capabilities of his armor, or anything else useful were details the intelligence team Enki had pulled in (after Meteor'd had a little chat with the man concerning manners and his lack of them) had been unable to turn up.
Of course. Because why would anyone at the Company be capable of doing their jobs? Why, that just went against the natural order of things!
At least she'd be better prepared for the next battle; she couldn't count on her enemy downing himself again. In addition to her Executive Power Suit and her usual smallsword, Meteor had brought a pouch each of the hardened steel ball bearings and slim, equally hardened steel darts she often brought into combat. No guns, no armor, and no materia - she couldn't use the last at all, and her abilities rendered the former two largely moot. Ever since she'd started feeling the pull again, Meteor had been ready to fight - and growing more irritated by the second. It was with no small sense of relief for everyone around her when the portal finally opened and Meteor stepped through...into sunny, tropical paradise.
Blinking a few times as her shoes crunched into the sort of pristine sand travel agencies back home used as samples when selling people overpriced vacations, Meteor rested a hand on her sword as the portal closed behind her, immediately bringing her Mind's Eye to bear on this new cage she was to fight in. An island...no, three islands. Relatively small, though still far larger than Happyland had been, each sitting at the points of a perfect triangle. Water made for snorkling, spearfishing, and any other aquatic cavorting one wished to name surrounded the area for as far as Meteor's Eye could comfortably reach; the islands and the ocean were it.
Well, that and a woman on the other side of the island, sitting on a dock near what Meteor was fairly certain was a sheathed sword. Strange - there were no other natives anywhere Meteor could sense, no other life at all beyond the plants and the fish. The woman was doing something with the sand around herself, demonstrating some level of supernatural ability, which was enough to put Meteor on guard. Armored man with energy weapon turns out to be buxom woman with blade...it would not actually have been the first time in Meteor's experience that Intelligence managed to screw the pooch that thoroughly, though that would hardly stop her from giving them what-for when she returned from this little excursion. Still...better safe than homicide charges, she supposed. It could simply be that she'd gotten here first, and the woman had nothing to do with the tournament at all.
[Are you here to fight?] Meteor said - and by 'said', she projected the words telepathically, spanging them off the surface of the woman's mind as Meteor herself summoned up her protective nimbus of telekinetic power, drifting into the air and displacing a bit of sand beneath her. Unlike most telepaths, who Meteor tended to see as intrusive, obnoxious boors, she didn't attempt to force the question into the woman's mind. She simply sent it along, and if it found its intended recipient open to communication, excellent. If not...well, there was an entire small island between Meteor and this woman for her to use to try and ascertain the woman's intent.
Watching her prospective enemy while keeping a mental eye on the rest of the little islet, Shin-Ra's most powerful mentalist waited to see if she'd identified the woman correctly. All the while wondering if perhaps she should give Enki another black eye when she got back...or maybe even convince Satori to do it instead.
Apparently Enki had set up three of his comrades for some sort of fighting event, one which had pulled Meteor into place against her better judgment. The 'Emerald Knight' was sporting one hell of a shiner right about then, though at least all three of the Knights were advancing the rounds. In Meteor's case...mostly because her opponent had accidentally hit a sinkhole in Happyland, falling down into a rubble-strewn pit and knocking himself out less than twenty seconds after she'd started trying to put him down. Fortuitous...if extremely unsatisfying.
Now, of course, came 'Round 2'. This time, she had the benefit of a proper intelligence brief on her foe. Like all proper intelligence briefs, it was woefully inadequate and contained virtually no information - merely that her enemy was a man named 'Corban', who fought within a suit of bulky, heavy power armor, and that he had fatally injured his previous foe with some sort of energy weapon. What sort of energy weapon that had been, what his abilities were, the capabilities of his armor, or anything else useful were details the intelligence team Enki had pulled in (after Meteor'd had a little chat with the man concerning manners and his lack of them) had been unable to turn up.
Of course. Because why would anyone at the Company be capable of doing their jobs? Why, that just went against the natural order of things!
At least she'd be better prepared for the next battle; she couldn't count on her enemy downing himself again. In addition to her Executive Power Suit and her usual smallsword, Meteor had brought a pouch each of the hardened steel ball bearings and slim, equally hardened steel darts she often brought into combat. No guns, no armor, and no materia - she couldn't use the last at all, and her abilities rendered the former two largely moot. Ever since she'd started feeling the pull again, Meteor had been ready to fight - and growing more irritated by the second. It was with no small sense of relief for everyone around her when the portal finally opened and Meteor stepped through...into sunny, tropical paradise.
Blinking a few times as her shoes crunched into the sort of pristine sand travel agencies back home used as samples when selling people overpriced vacations, Meteor rested a hand on her sword as the portal closed behind her, immediately bringing her Mind's Eye to bear on this new cage she was to fight in. An island...no, three islands. Relatively small, though still far larger than Happyland had been, each sitting at the points of a perfect triangle. Water made for snorkling, spearfishing, and any other aquatic cavorting one wished to name surrounded the area for as far as Meteor's Eye could comfortably reach; the islands and the ocean were it.
Well, that and a woman on the other side of the island, sitting on a dock near what Meteor was fairly certain was a sheathed sword. Strange - there were no other natives anywhere Meteor could sense, no other life at all beyond the plants and the fish. The woman was doing something with the sand around herself, demonstrating some level of supernatural ability, which was enough to put Meteor on guard. Armored man with energy weapon turns out to be buxom woman with blade...it would not actually have been the first time in Meteor's experience that Intelligence managed to screw the pooch that thoroughly, though that would hardly stop her from giving them what-for when she returned from this little excursion. Still...better safe than homicide charges, she supposed. It could simply be that she'd gotten here first, and the woman had nothing to do with the tournament at all.
[Are you here to fight?] Meteor said - and by 'said', she projected the words telepathically, spanging them off the surface of the woman's mind as Meteor herself summoned up her protective nimbus of telekinetic power, drifting into the air and displacing a bit of sand beneath her. Unlike most telepaths, who Meteor tended to see as intrusive, obnoxious boors, she didn't attempt to force the question into the woman's mind. She simply sent it along, and if it found its intended recipient open to communication, excellent. If not...well, there was an entire small island between Meteor and this woman for her to use to try and ascertain the woman's intent.
Watching her prospective enemy while keeping a mental eye on the rest of the little islet, Shin-Ra's most powerful mentalist waited to see if she'd identified the woman correctly. All the while wondering if perhaps she should give Enki another black eye when she got back...or maybe even convince Satori to do it instead.
