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Post by Steinerman on Jan 30, 2011 15:09:04 GMT -5
Alexis felt sick when she saw the map change. Her stomach roiled and tossed and turned. She stumbled backward, eyes narrowing as she stared in disbelief at the screen.
"Oh wow," she mumbled, the words barely understandable. Suddenly everything was to hot, to vivid. She slammed her mental barriers back into place. But it didn't seem to help. Finally she hit the concrete door-frame a few feet behind her and stopped.
"So I go away for a decade and the entire world changes..." She stated in disbelief, her expression still shell-shocked. She pressed hard against the cool concrete behind her, focusing on it. Slowly regaining control of her senses and expression.
A moment later she was back in control, the shocked expression dropped away from her face and a cold hard mask was back in its place. She stood straighter, coming away from the wall and eying the display with a calculating look.
"So what are you trying to tell me?" She questioned, eyes focusing on Jerome.
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Post by The Rising Dragon on Jan 30, 2011 18:35:50 GMT -5
"Just getting you back up to speed," Jerome said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Now... about the Order of the Blade..."
Devon smirked, chuckling at what this story was. It was decidedly rich for the Korin.
"Some time back, after you disappeared, the Order of the Blade's grandmasters were caught selling Stamarian military secrets to their enemies, including the Korin--probably what let us take Acera, now that I think about it," Jerome explained. "Some people even say they sent some of their men to take out weakened Stamarian regiments."
"Stamaria came down on them pretty quickly when they found out," said a new voice--Roas had arrived through the door, sans his jacket. His face and hair were damp from washing. "Stormed their headquarters and captured the two Grandmasters, tried 'em and executed them."
"Along with most of their men," Devon said with a smirk. "They're now the pariah of Stamarian society."
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Post by Steinerman on Jan 30, 2011 19:34:23 GMT -5
Alexis snorted and shook her head in dry amusement. "Well, that sucks for them." She replied with a hint of vicious amusement.
She glanced at Roas, opened her mouth to make some witty comment about how he cleaned up well, and then thought better of it. Instead she brought her gaze back to Jerome.
"So, White Devil. Who is he? Or she, I suppose. I've never heard the name before, but you guys seem to think he's pretty freaking scary."
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Post by The Rising Dragon on Jan 30, 2011 23:35:51 GMT -5
Ker quickly brought up the requested information up on the main screen, replacing the map with an image capture of a battle. Amidst the fighting was an imposing man clad in white-plated armor. The tail of a black and gold coat hung beneath a breastplate displaying a black-plated eagle clutching a circular ruby in its talons. The knight's face was completely covered by the visor of his helmet, and in his hand was a massive blade covered in flames.
"This is the White Devil of Stamaria," Jerome said, crossing his arms. "Jordan DuValle."
"He's the top knight in the entirety of the Stamarian military and the Emperor's right-hand man," Roas explained to Vister, his mouth set in a frown. "Anywhere Aurinar Stamarin goes, this guy's with him. Even if you don't see him, he'll be there. We... found that out the hard way."
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Post by Steinerman on Jan 30, 2011 23:54:00 GMT -5
Alexis gave Jerome an inquisitive look. "You tried to move on the Emperor, and this punk devil boy got in the way, I take it? Does he have magic?" She questioned curiously.
She still hadn't given up hopes of convincing the others to move on the Emperor while he was at Teradia. But to do that, she'd have to find some way of neutralizing this Duvalle character. She imagined she could toss him into some sort of vicious nightmare where he couldn't see anything at all, or anything "real" at least. But the Emperor's Right Hand wouldn't have gotten to that position without some sort of back-up plan for fighting mages.
Alexis was hardly the most dangerous mage out there who hated the Emperor. Duvalle had to have a better plan than merely hoping he never had to fend off a mage. So first off, she had to learn about this guy, find his weakness, exploit it and make him scream like a child. Yes, that would work nicely.
Assuming the big brute had a weakness.
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Post by The Rising Dragon on Feb 4, 2011 13:55:37 GMT -5
"DuValle's as adept as most Taron Magi from what I understand," Jerome explained, "And he's focused most of his capabilities on magical defenses, for himself and for those around him. Between him and the forces he'll have around him, the Emperor's untouchable with our capabilities. Hell, we don't even have the Constructor right now!"
"Not that that piece of junk would help us against a force that big," Roas muttered.
"Yeah, what happened to it, Roas?" Devon asked, arching an eyebrow.
"I've got it hidden in an abandoned parking garage. I"ll go retrieve it when I get the chance," he replied.
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Post by Steinerman on Feb 4, 2011 17:00:47 GMT -5
Alexis waved her left hand impatiently through the air as if to cut short the discussion. "Well obviously, we wouldn't do it alone. We'd have to get help if it were to happen. But this DuValle guy sounds like a rather annoying twit."
She cut herself off from speaking again as she played back what Roas had just said. Now she too arched an eyebrow, "Wait, your mech actually lived? I figured it got blown out from under you and you had to crawl your way back here."
She really shouldn't have, she knew it, deep down. But Alexis liked to annoy certain people, and currently Roas fit the bill.
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Post by The Rising Dragon on Feb 4, 2011 20:54:32 GMT -5
"Try not to sound too disappointed, Vister," Roas sneered back, sparing a narrow look for the woman.
Jerome was certain if that these two didn't become friends soon, one of them was sure to kill the other.
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Post by Steinerman on Feb 6, 2011 1:43:44 GMT -5
Alexis gave Roas a playful, toothy grin. "Oh, Roas, I'm holding back the tears, believe me."
She could sense some of Jerome's thoughts on the situation, however. And she belatedly realized she was probably pushing Roas too far too fast.
So, with a great effort of willpower, she bowed her head and clamped down on the venom inside, shutting up all the vicious comments she wanted to toss towards Roas with complete, uncaring sarcasm. It took a surprising amount of willpower, but she was able to slowly calm her frayed nerves and relax to the point where she wasn't going to bite everybody's heads off.
Finally she looked back up at Roas, an annoyed grimace clear upon her face. "Sorry, I'm an annoying twit, it's a character flaw I never bothered to fix." She said, her voice suddenly soft, with the barest hint of sincere remorse.
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Post by The Rising Dragon on Feb 6, 2011 2:45:20 GMT -5
"You should, else you'll be a frigid spinster all your life," Roas shot back at the mage.
"She's got a kid, actually," Ker mentioned, causing the Constructor pilot to arch an eyebrow.
"Then I was wrong. There are such things as completely moronic Stamarians in the world, if one was willing to stick it in her," Roas remarked as he turned to leave. "Call me if there's anything important to discuss, Jerome."
The man sighed as Roas stalked out of the room.
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Post by Steinerman on Feb 6, 2011 3:19:19 GMT -5
Alexis giggled and clapped her hands together, nodding in Ker's direction. "haha!" She crowed. "Did you see the arched eyebrow? My stoic rescuer arched an eyebrow at the fact that I had a daughter." Her giggling continued for a few moments, though the laughter barely reached her eyes, which seemed pained more than anything else.
"I was hoping more for a manly grunt of surprise," She called out to Roas' retreating back. "But an arched eyebrow will do."
She turned back to Jerome and Ker, "Well, Roas and I officially hate each other. I do believe I feel more at home already. What's next on the agenda?"
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Post by The Rising Dragon on Feb 12, 2011 14:36:25 GMT -5
"You two aren't gonna kill each other, right?" Devon asked, unsure with all the displays of animosity the two of them had displayed so far.
Jerome just shook his head in exasperation. "All we can do now is rest up until tomorrow, then we'll go retrieve the Constructor," he said. "You might be able to help with that using your magic, Alexis."
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Post by Steinerman on Feb 13, 2011 1:19:26 GMT -5
Alexis' jovial expression remained in place as she grinned madly at Jerome. "Shouldn't be too much trouble with getting the constructor back, though sleep does sound rather nice. Sparring with Roas is exhausting." She ended with a crazed wink.
A split-second later she turned to Devon, having not forgotten his wary question. "No, Devon. I'm not going to kill your precious Roas. He's my gallant rescuer you know. Let me ride in his mech and everything. How could I harm my gallant mechanical-beast riding knight?" Her grin softened to something a little more sincere and far less insane. "But his mind is rather annoying, and I like to annoy back. Don't worry, it's mostly harmless."
"Mostly." She ended with emphasis.
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