[PG 13] Zoids: Cataclysm (Part II)

[Ushima]

"Well isn't this a lovely reunion eh Delta?" Michael asked the organoid.

"It is nice to see familiar faces after all this time." The little dino spoke.

"So the three of you are part of the group that went and got the Zoid Prime up and moving I gather?"

'Up and moving?' What are you trying to say, missy? He was 'up and moving' before we even saw him. The Neo Haven bombing last year? That was him. And that was way before we even knew what he was."

"Hell I was there when it showed up." Michael sat back down on the crate. "Damn thing took out a ton of zoids."

"We are currently tracking several high ranking members of the Zealots to ger a possible location on Zoid Prime." Delta said.

"If we can find it. The Alliance will focus all our assests against it." Michael pieced together his remaining gun. All the parts clicking into place. "I need it's corpse as proof to end this pointless war." He wanted this war to end, he wanted to see Curtis and Vega again. Michael worried about them constantly, if they were safe. "That's why I was looking for Cadmus. To trade information and come up with a plan of attack."

"We had a plan. Attack." Delta made a low rumble.

"Yes while that worked for awhile it quickly went nowhere." Michael reached out and pet his partner. "This plan will be much better."

[MaskofSilence]

Nell had noticed the girl when she walked out of the bar. Dust town wasn't exactly known for having some of the nicest drunks, which means that you have to be alert and on guard pretty much all the time. Now that she stepped into the light, Nell saw that she looked around her age, maybe a little younger.

"So the three of you are part of the group that went and got the Zoid Prime up and moving I gather?"

The comment kind of annoyed Nell. Apparently she wasn't the only one because Cadmas spoke up. "Up and moving?' What are you trying to say, missy? He was 'up and moving' before we even saw him. The Neo Haven bombing last year? That was him. And that was way before we even knew what he was."

Nell listened as Micheal talked. He wanted to end this "pointless" war, as he put it and she couldn't agree more. If they were going to be discussing a plan though, perhaps they would like somewhere else besides the middle of the lot, maybe a place where everyone couldn't hear them.

"Hey, if you guys need a place to talk, then you can come to my shop. It's a little less open." she offered gesturing around the lot. Plus, she wanted to know the plan. Life here was nice, but the thought of helping to end this war was tempting.

[TheDoctor]

"I need it's corpse as proof to end this pointless war."

And I need its corpse for other reasons. As he heard Michael speak, Cadmus raised an eyebrow. Plan of attack? I'm a lone wolf. I don't need others to come up with a plan of attack. Just kill the members off, one by one. Get as much information from them as possible. Seems to have worked for me so far.

Then he squinted, looking at the ground. But has it really worked for me? I've done this for more than a year, and where has it gotten me? I've trained myself, but what accomplishment has this gotten me? I haven't found out anything useful about this damn cult. He shrugged his shoulders. Might as well hear the man out.

"Hey, if you guys need a place to talk, then you can come to my shop. It's a little less open."

Pushing himself from the crate, he dusted off his hands. "Let's do it." As she started to lead them towards the shop, Cadmus found that he couldn't keep himself from looking at her. His mind made pathetic excuses for his eyes to pass over her casually, as if distractions from the side were grabbing his attention and he had to keep passing his vision across Nell. His eyes were drawn to one part of her back in particular...

Dammit, not this again. I can't let myself. Not like last time. His mind was drawn to one memory before the fight, the night with Aelia. That can't happen again. It took me long enough to get over that whole incident. I can't deal with that again. Forcing curiosity within his domain, he made himself look at the ground in front of him, putting his hands in his pockets. Just look at the ground, you idiot.

When they arrived at the shop, Cadmus fell in line with Michael. "Hey, you got an extra jacket? This old Paladins' shit is getting old." He linked eye contact with the man for a moment, giving him a grim smirk.

[MarchingThunder]

As the situation proceeded further, Agera steadily grew more uncomfortable with the number of new people in the area around her, but set aside her issues for the moment to listen. When the offer was made to use a nearby shop for a meeting place, she slowly moved along to join the rest of the group. She had no idea who these people were besides what they told her and that did nothing to assuage her reluctance to be involved.

Once inside the room though, Agera cautiously moved to lean up against a wall, wanting to keep herself clear of everyone else as she waited to see what was going to happen. One, the dubius 'Blue Demon' asked if he could get a jacket, the others though were being nowhere near as bothersome in her opinion as she waited to hear what was going to happen. When silence was forthcoming for the first bit of time in the building, Agera finally spoke up to get things rolling saying, "Now that we're here, why don't we just get some introductions out of the way. My name is Agera."

[Ushima]

"Delta. Get in the Kinami." The organoid fused with the liger as the group moved through the streets. Arriving at the shop Michael took off his jacket, hanging it on the back of a chair. He looked around, eyeing tools and parts. "Nice shop. Wouldn't mind borrowing some tools to do some minor repairs. Maybe I can finally fix the broken stabalizer." He compliments. The liger walked into an empty bay and Delta rejoined them. Michael started pulling some gear out of storage compartments.

"Hey, you got an extra jacket? This old Paladins' shit is getting old."

"Ugh yeah hang on." Going back over to the liger he searched through his clothing. "I got this one. It's doesn't fit me anymore so I don't wear it. Should fit you fine though." Michael handed Cadmus the leather jacket. It was all black, except the logo on the right shoulder. Going back over to his stuff he activated a holographic projector. An image appeared and it started roatating around.

"Now that we're here, why don't we just get some introductions out of the way. My name is Agera."

"Name's Michael Knight, aka Black Knight. Brigadeir General, Alliance Millitary. That's Delta." He pointed to his organoid partner. "And meet Psycho Pete." Michael didn't waste any time getting down to business. "Intel says he's pretty high up in Zealot chain of command."

"Our informant says he'll be moving near Arcadia soon." Delta wagged his tail a bit.

"Arcadia isn't like other cities. It's not run by the Alliance or the Empire. It's run by corporations, powerful corporations. It's a neutral city." Michael changed the image to a pic of Arcadia. "A place for the social elite. And a place for criminals as well. Most hang around the Red Light District. I figure we could grab him there. He'll either know where Prime is or know someone who does. My money's on the latter."

"This is just one potential course of action we can take. We have several contingency plans. We would like to hear other imputs before deciding a course of action." The organoid looked at each member of the group, other than Michael.

"There are many courses of actions to take." Michael pushed off the table. "But they all end with Prime and it's death."

[The Bartender]

Mora followed the group after they had entered the building and sat under the window from where she could see what happened inside. She then made a tiny hole into the wooden wall with her dagger and pushed a miniature spy Zoid into the building and began to listen to the conversation inside.

"Name's Michael Knight, aka Black Knight. Brigadeir General, Alliance Millitary. That's Delta." He pointed to his organoid partner. "And meet Psycho Pete." Michael didn't waste any time getting down to business. "Intel says he's pretty high up in Zealot chain of command."

"Our informant says he'll be moving near Arcadia soon." Delta wagged his tail a bit.

"Arcadia isn't like other cities. It's not run by the Alliance or the Empire. It's run by corporations, powerful corporations. It's a neutral city." Michael changed the image to a pic of Arcadia. "A place for the social elite. And a place for criminals as well. Most hang around the Red Light District. I figure we could grab him there. He'll either know where Prime is or know someone who does. My money's on the latter."

"They are too well informed... Where the fuck do the army get such high security information...? Is there a mole in our ranks...?" Mora thought as she heard about Pete.
Mora sat there and waited how the conversation would go on just to hear that they were after Prime, and said something that seemed like their plan couldn't fail, such selfconfidence... As if they were enough to kill the leader of Zealots, Pete would be enough...

[MaskofSilence]

After leading them through the street, they finally made it to her shop. Pulling out the key, she unlocked it and let them in. She was glad that she had cleaned and organized a couple day ago. Making her way in, she sat down on her chair at the drawing bored and crossed her legs, watching as the girl leaded against the wall and her friends walked in. "Nice shop. Wouldn't mind borrowing some tools to do some minor repairs. Maybe I can finally fix the broken stabilizer."

Automatically, Nell stood back up to gather the tools that Micheal would need to complete the job. While she picked them out, she listened as the girl introduced herself as Agera. Next Micheal and of course he didn't waste anytime getting down to business. "Arcadia isn't like other cities. It's not run by the Alliance or the Empire. It's run by corporations, powerful corporations. It's a neutral city." Michael changed the image to a pic of Arcadia. "A place for the social elite. And a place for criminals as well. Most hang around the Red Light District. I figure we could grab him there. He'll either know where Prime is or know someone who does. My money's on the latter."

She sat back down just time for Delta to look at the rest of the group and then her. Other ideas... She thought while crossing her arms and closing her eyes. Back when she was younger she had made quite a few delivers to Arcadia, but she never stayed and explored because of her dislike of the city. On the other hand, she had heard of the Red Light District of Arcadia. "Well, it's not like we can go in guns blazing. It would have to be done more quietly if we were going to get him from there..." she muttered, thinking out loud to herself.

[TheDoctor]

When Michael gave Cadmus the jacket, he grinned, tearing off the old jacket and tossing it away. He then slipped on the new jacket, tearing off the logo on the shoulder. There we go. That's much better. Shrugging his shoulders, he allowed the jacket to settle onto him like a mold.

"Now that we're here, why don't we just get some introductions out of the way. My name is Agera."

Cadmus nodded grimly. "Cadmus. Call me Cad."

When Michael gave the report, Cadmus tuned in from the corner where he stood, leaning against the wall with his hands tucked in his pockets. Every once in a while, he glanced towards Nell, who was sitting in a chair with her legs crossed. Stop it, you fool. Give it a break already. You can't try it again.

But what if I can?

Suddenly, he was snapped back to reality by the mention of "Psycho Pete." He glanced up at the small holographic projector, searching through his memory for Pete. I've heard that before. That name. It's familiar...but from where? As he continued to think about the name, Nell muttered something.

"Well, it's not like we can go in guns blazing. It would have to be done more quietly if we were going to get him from there..."

Cadmus shrugged. "It's not as hard as you think, Nell. Getting into Arcadia is easy. And to find Pete, we only have to find a couple Zealots. I know how to make them talk." He gave a grim smirk. "As long as it isn't any more complicated than that, then I'd say that this is a pretty easy job."

[MarchingThunder]

"As long as it isn't any more complicated than that, then I'd say that this is a pretty easy job."

Agera was on the verge of replying to this statement with something along the lines of "You shouldn't always expect things to go that easily." when her statement was overridden by a wave of alarm and an image from Fury who had repositioned to keep an eye on the building she was in. What he had seen was that directly outside the building they were in, near one of the windows in fact was a small figure whose appearance clarified as Agera focused on the mental image while her her expression deepened into a scowl.

With a curt motion she brought a finger to her lips in a request for silence before giving a jerk of her thumb to the window where the eavesdropper was hiding. Whoever this was, they had likely been listening since the first call out for eavesdroppers to join the situation and had actively avoided entering meaning they were the enemy of at least one person in the room.

As she waited for silence to come she sent a command to Fury through their mental link. Take sim with 180mm, don't fire till I say to. She received a gruff acknowledgement from the zoid which had every desire to to blow away the unwelcome guest.

[Ushima]

co-oped with TheDoctor:

As the girl pointed to the window, everyone hesitated. Cadmus let out a scowl underneath his breath. The fools made it too obvious. Let's just keep this as our little secret, huh? He straightened himself from the wall, walking towards the hologram.

"Now Michael. Exactly how high up is Pete?" He linked eye contact with the man, winking at him and looking towards the door with a casual expression. "Because that is going to have an influence on this whole thing. If we don't know how high up this Zealot bastard is then we don't know how much of an influence he has on the rest of the city." He then linked eye contact with Agera and Nell, holding up a finger beside him to tell them to stay where they were as he took casual steps towards the window.

They better get the signals.

"If I had to guess I'd say he's mid-grade." Michael said. His eyes fixed on the target, a green triangle indicated it's exact location. "Though the Zealots have no influence on the city at all. They just use it as a safe haven to avoid the Alliance."

Cadmus arrived at a small shelf near the window, brushing it idly with his hand. "No influence at all? They don't even have other corporations working with them or for them? Factions? Spies?" He took a slow, casual step towards the window, looking at Michael. Then he nodded.

"No. Then they run the risk of exsposure. The bigger they get, the bigger blip on the radar they are. A catch twenty-two." At Cadmus' nod the target indicator turned red. He reached for his gun, years of hardcore millitary training activating. The gun was up and he squeezed off a round before rushing to the door. The mini-zoid shattered into pieces.

"Life sign detected outside the building." Delta said as Michael ran by.

Michael made it to the door and kicked it open. Turning to the right he saw a small girl standing by the window. He aimed his gun. "Freeze!"