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Post by The Rising Dragon on Jan 28, 2011 13:22:08 GMT -5
"Go ahead, we'll get more provisions later," Jerome said, waving it off. "Feel free to make use of whatever you can and then check the place out. Everyone here probably already knows who you are by now, Devon has a hard time keeping his mouth shut."
And with that, he exited the kitchen, having his own duties to attend to and leaving Vister to her own devices.
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Post by Steinerman on Jan 28, 2011 17:14:57 GMT -5
Alexis nodded and set about making herself a small bowl of noodles. In truth, she wasn't a terribly good cook, but it was one of the few things she had found to relieve stress and tension, if this particular day didn't qualify for those symptoms, she wasn't sure what did.
a short period of time later, she walked out of the kitchen, cradling a bowl of steaming noodles in her hands. Jerome had said to check the place out, and she fully intended to take him up on the offer. Learn the lay of the land, find out who was who and how the cell worked. She wasn't quite sure where she fit in, here.
Before, she'd been part of a completely different cell, mostly made up of friends. And about half of her original cell's composition had been converts from Zailleon, making her feel slightly more comfortable among them. And they with her. A faint, pained smile and wistful expression passed across her face as she recalled that group. They hadn't been much, but they'd been a family, far more of one than her parents had ever been to her. Far more than Thomas?
She shook her head. No, maybe an equal to her time with Thomas. But not better. Thomas had been...a counter-balance to her obsession with Korinus. A passionate force of energy to combat the violent and equally passionate belief in Korinus. Yes, Thomas had been good for her. But she'd screwed that up royally, hadn't she?
Sharp pain filled her world, emanating from her hand, with a start she realized that while she had been fondly recalling memories, her hands had tilted and allowed the hot water to spill across her hands. She hissed in pain and stumbled, her balance thrown off by the sudden surprise of her burned hand.
Seconds later she found a crate to sit upon, placing her bowl upon an adjacent crate while she surveyed the damage.
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Post by The Rising Dragon on Jan 29, 2011 1:36:11 GMT -5
It was some time later when a commotion rose up among the present Verivians stationed in the cell warehouse. Some people were hurrying off, whispering to each other in hard voices in their native language. It wasn't long before Jerome appeared, taking off at a hurried pace--something had definitely happened.
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Post by Steinerman on Jan 29, 2011 1:42:57 GMT -5
Alexis finished the noodles in a pair of large spoonfuls and place the bowl down, then stood and jogged over to catch up with Jerome.
"What's happening?" She questioned without preamble.
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Post by The Rising Dragon on Jan 29, 2011 13:29:44 GMT -5
Jerome spared Vister a glance, but his laid-back attitude was all but gone. "Roas just made it back, apparently," he said in a hard voice. "He's making some big uproar upstairs. Something's happened and chances are we're not gonna like it."
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Post by Steinerman on Jan 29, 2011 14:08:56 GMT -5
Alexis kept her expression neutral and continued to follow Jerome. The man seemed pretty easy-going most of the time, that he was suddenly dead-serious meant something was most likely very wrong, or at the least, Extremely annoying.
She slowly lifted some of the mental barriers she normally kept in place, allowing the feelings and emotions of the cell to enter her mind. A wave of tense expectation swept over her, the entire cell seemed on edge, and it seemed to be focusing around whatever Roas had brought up.
I have apparently picked the worst time to return to my old life... She thought with annoyance.
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Post by The Rising Dragon on Jan 29, 2011 14:17:45 GMT -5
It wasn't long before they found Roas. As Ker had said before, his Constructor was notably absent. Roas himself looked worse for wear--dirt smudged his face and clothing, and he looked incredibly disheveled. His mouth was a tight line in his face, and his movements were tense and rigid. The emotions he were putting off were mostly alarm and frustration. He looked like he was arguing with Devon about something.
"Roas!" Jerome called out upon seeing him, sitting on a crate, and he picked up the pace to get over to him. "What the hell's the big deal, man?"
"Found out why this place is crawling with even more Stamarians than usual," Roas growled, standing up from his makeshift seat. "It's because of that damn city the Harbinger found!"
"Well yeah, of course that'd be a big deal," Jerome said, crossing his arms. "Don't see why that has to bother us and make you look like you ran like you found Thebas."
Roas snorted, his emotions giving off a bolt of irritation. "Well it's a bigger deal than we thought it'd be! The freakin' Emperor is headed there right now!"
Well, that certainly got everyone's attention.
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Post by Steinerman on Jan 29, 2011 14:31:33 GMT -5
Alexis paused, head bowed as she carefully considered the situation. From what little she knew of it, Teradia was important. But important enough for the Stamarian Emperor to personally visit it? That was truly surprising.
And Roas was truly irritated, something wasn't quite right with the situation.
Time to ask questions
Alexis lifted her head and spoke softly, "Roas, what's the big deal? So what if the Emperor is going to Teradia, he's probably got a frikking regiment of Royal Guard with him, we can't do much about it, can we?"
She emphasized the questionmark at the end, trying to suss out more details.
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Post by The Rising Dragon on Jan 29, 2011 15:18:16 GMT -5
"No, actually, he won't. Apparently he's only taken a small group of men, probably around 300 or so. Because he doesn't want to start a war," Roas explained. He laughed, like it was the most absurd thing in the world. Most of the others present shared the same sentiments. "But because he's taken so few men with him, the rest of the military's picking up the slack.
His fist swung down on the top of the crate. "Now every Stamarian base is doubling its patrols, garrisoning more buildings and doing it's best to root out the rest of the Korin cells. I doubt he'll even come through here but we're still gonna have Stamarians crawling right up our--"
"This must've been what Carn was talking about," Jerome cut him off, looking thoughtful. "The Emperor traveling through Cher Plek, all the way to Teradia... that's big."
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Post by Steinerman on Jan 29, 2011 16:10:40 GMT -5
Alexis' eyes sparkled with a vicious light when she heard that news.
"So, let's kill him." Her voice was ever-soft, but there was something...dark, hidden in the tone. Adrenaline pumped through her body as her mind raced to find details.
three hundred men and women was tough, but not impossible to beat. Especially if they could pull together a few other mages anywhere near Alexis' skill. A quick, bloody strike, and they could topple the Stamarian government in one blow.
She knew the idea was crazy, but she'd made a name for herself as the Crazy Korin Witch, might as well toss the idea out there.
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Post by The Rising Dragon on Jan 29, 2011 17:13:30 GMT -5
"How?" Llane asked, cocking an eyebrow. "He'll have picked out the best of the best to protect him regardless of how few he's picked. Hell, I wouldn't even be surprised if the Order of the Blade showed up!"
"Don't be ridiculous," some woman replied. "The Order screwed up when their old leaders committed treason, they won't appear."
Jerome shook his head and waved them all down. "Unfortunately what Carn told me is right, there's no way we're equipped to handle this. It won't matter how much men he's brought with him, the Emperor's too hard of a target as long as the White Devil lives."
Roas frowned. There was that to consider too... Stamaria's greatest warrior, the one known as the White Devil.
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Post by Steinerman on Jan 30, 2011 0:26:20 GMT -5
Alexis barked laughter, the sound harsh and sarcastic.
"The Order turned traitor?" She shook her head in amusement.
"That's quite rich. One of their oldest Orders...turning traitor. Hahhahah." The mirth in her voice was apparent. She recalled the Order, she'd had to fight some of its troops at one point or another, they'd been tough commandos, hard fights. Though fights she and her cell had survived. That they had been traitors...was highly amusing.
Her eyes narrowed, they seemed to think the main problem with her insane idea was this "White Devil".
She look 'round the room, eyes curious, "K, I've been out of the loop for a while. Who's the 'White Devil'?"
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Post by The Rising Dragon on Jan 30, 2011 2:08:48 GMT -5
Roas in particular was looking at Alexis like she'd grown out a second head or something. Jerome merely frowned and shook his head. "Roas, go get cleaned up and then join me and Alexis in the computer room."
"Fine," Roas muttered, peeling his jacket off.
Jerome walked off the opposite direction, headed to the aforementioned computer room. Ker, Llane, and Devon all exchanged glances with each other and Alexis, then began following him.
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Post by Steinerman on Jan 30, 2011 2:12:45 GMT -5
Alexis stared at Roas' retreating form for a brief second, and then followed in Jerome's wake, heading for the computer room.
"Well," she said, eyes locked on Jerome for any possible hints as to what she'd done to annoy Roas (besides breathing, of course).
"That was interesting."
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Post by The Rising Dragon on Jan 30, 2011 14:58:51 GMT -5
"Yeah, fun times abound in Verivia," Devon cracked. Jerome snorted in response, but otherwise kept silent until they reached the computer room. Like the comms room, it too had various monitors, including a large one set into the far wall. The other three men quickly took seats and began dragging up information on the various screens, already figuring out what Jerome wanted to do.
The first thing that was pulled up onto the main screen was a large map of the known world. Various regions on the continents were covered up in red, blue, and yellow splotches of color that filled in the various borders of the continents. There was some text placed above it: S.R. 95. Nine years from the present day, and the year Vister had disappeared from the ranks of the Korin, and a map showing Stamarian homeland or conquered territories in yellow, neutral territories in blue, and Korin-occupied areas in red.
"Fairly obvious as to what this is," Jerome said for Alexis' benefit, then gestured to Llane, who quickly entered a couple of commands. The text quickly changed, now reading "S.R. 104," the present day, and the yellow color spread out farther than before, pushing deeper and deeper into Kouchi and Cher Plek, and new yellow dots appearing throughout the waters between Zailleon and the Oceania Territories. The only other significant change was a new red color in the areas around Acera.
"And this... is the new world we live in," Jerome said darkly, glowering at the map.
"Since your disappearance, we've lost five more kingdoms to Stamaria, and the only tradeoff is that the Korin stationed in Kouchi killed Acera's viceroy and took back the city," Ker said.
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