As the hoods volunteered, Ryder found himself alongside Kiri, Brighid, Lonna and Tholo. A formidable team, for sure. Once assembled, Finlay relayed a few more key details. Something about meeting with 'some fookin guy named Geoff' who was the local hood in charge of the investigation. He then took his leave, but not before giving Francis another suspicious look.
Francis leaned over to Ryder and sullied his ear with, "I don't know why he doesn't like me. I didn't do anything."
Ryder just looked down at him and replied. "Yeah. That's kind of his deal. So what do we need to do? You're getting us there, right?"
"Oh, right! Yes. Everyone link hands!" After a moment everyone awkwardly complied, forming a circle. Francis then started speaking words that Ryder hadn't heard before. The man's eyes began to emanate a green hue as massive power began springing forth from such a small individual. The world around them became a blur, the only things remaining in focus being anything within the circle. Ryder's stomach began to turn a little. Their surroundings began to take on a different set of shapes, different colors. Even the air felt different. The distortion around them became more subtle until it finally settled and the group found themselves-
"Why the hell are we in the middle of a field?" Ryder asked, not willing to hide his annoyance. In the distance, they could see the Red Hood Outpost, but it would be quite a hike to get there.
"Safest place to teleport," Francis said with confidence.
"What the hell are you talking about? Why wouldn't you just put us in there?" he asked, breaking the links and pointing to the much more humble structure (compared to the Keep, anyway).
"Well if I go sending us into a highly populated environment and someone happens to walk into the space we're about to occupy, it can get ugly. Trust me, I've seen it. It's gross. Like, really gross." Ryder didn't want to argue, but he did find himself suddenly curious about the morbid incident that Francis was describing. No time, though.
"Fine. So it looks like we're walking the rest of the way." Ryder led the hike and it truly wasn't long before they found themselves at the entrance of the outpost. Once the local hoods spotted them from their stations, Geoff was quick to meet them at the gate.
"So you lot are the ones that Commander sent? One Red and a bunch of Yellows? I was hoping she'd take this seriously." Not the welcome Ryder was expecting.