A Meeting of Allies

Harke stepped out of the underground Metroline, his sling bag over his shoulder as he scanned the sights of this new environment. A smile crossed his face. Warmth permeated everywhere in the village setting, and a gentle breeze swept his tousled hair slightly. He smoothed it down, and walked down the unpaved dirt path. It felt different from home away from home, and very, very different from home. Here, the wonders of technology were mixed together with the rural setting. No smooth metal walls, or sophisticated equipment. Just wide open spaces and the dirt under his shoes.

"Ahhh, there's a wonderful smell in trees," he commented to himself.

"How so?"

Eternalis chose the time to appear on his shoulder, sitting in the form of the human Implicity GMO as he usually did. Aurora hung her arms about his shoulders, nuzzling affectionately against Eternalis' dark-blue hair. Harke turned to see the rather endearing spectacle, and shook his head slightly in a smile.

"I don't know how to explain it, Et. You can't smell," said Harke.

"Well!" Eternalis grumbled, looking away. Aurora seemed to have fallen asleep at his back, though he did nothing to move her, simply shifting to accompany the SP's movements every now and again. Soon, the operator looked up, and read the wooden sign above him.

"The Yoka Inn."

Walking in, he took off his flip-flops, requisite for entry into the old inn. Seeking a place to sit, Harke quickly found the lounge area. There seemed to be no artificial lighting in sight. Thus, the area was pleasantly lit with the warm rays of the sun streaming in from a nearby window. The seats provided were woven of bamboo, but comfortable cushions were laid on them to avoid red sores on people who sat too long. As he plopped down on one, he felt that it was a bit too firm, but couldn't care that much.

"Hey, what're we doing here?"

"I signed you up for another Support Program mission," Harke said, and Eternalis started to protest. However, he was quickly cut off, "but don't worry. You won't be going solo. It's a five-man mission, and Rhea's coming along. Djinni, too."

At the mention of the two names, Eternalis' face immediately brightened, and he said no more as they waited for their accompaniment to arrive.

Just like how Harke would have stepped out of the station, Camillia carted herself out of it-- and was met with a more natural environment. She took a deep breath, as if to savour the air's flavor-- a fragment of what she enjoyed most in her past. Rhea was eyeing at the unfamiliar scenes warily, almost as if she was a guard dog hidden within the PET. A few seconds of silence passed, as neither of them spoke-- then Camillia was wheeling herself towards the Inn.

She stopped at the entrance of the Inn.

"... Say Rhea, didn't one of your disguises resemble the era that this Inn's architecture is from, too? The... Practitioner... thing. The wooden sword and whatnot," Camillia said, giving an awkward laugh in her attempts to provide conversation. Rhea just shrugged, not even providing a comment in return. The redhead bit her lip slightly before finally moving into the wooden building.

In the shoes area, Camillia took the chance to wipe off the dirt at the wheels before carting in-- the last she could do to not dirty their planks. The air within was refreshing and well-circulated, with sufficient sunlight to illuminate the interiors. The redhead, if anything, approved of the change of environment immediately-- it would be a good relaxation outlet, and the Inn was serving it's purpose very well.

Heading into the lounge (finally), Camillia looked up from the doorway (that was once again tugging at her wheelchair, as if to prevent her from entry) to find Harke (and Eternalis) sitting on the readied seats. "Oh, hey, you're pretty early, Harke," she greeted politely, before quickly turning her head back to untangle her doorway-wheelchair dilemma.

While waiting for the others to arrive, Harke wasn't going to twiddle his thumbs. Bringing out his laptop from the sling bag, he set the computer on the coffee table nearby, and plugged in the AC into a nearby power socket, cunningly hidden under a wooden floor tile. He figured no one would mind if he used it as he booted it up and connected the PET to it. Eternalis' image sat by it, now asleep along with Aurora. Again the operator smiled at the little display, and focused his attention to the screen.

After a few minutes, he'd delved into the PET internals, where he had messed around for the past few days. A small menu labeled 'Soul Cross' piqued his interest immensely. His trackpad was about to click on it, when he heard a small bump from the doorway to the lounge. Turning his head towards the source, he found Camillia wrestling with the doorway and her wheelchair, and he stared for a bit. This was Camillia? A wheelchair-bound girl, looking quite helpless. He couldn't help but smirk a bit at the irony, as he recalled Rhea's operating in the Momograve battle.

However, before he drifted too long and looked like an idiot, Harke bolted up to her aid. "Oh, Camillia! Hold on, allow me," he said, rushing to her side and finding that one of the wheel had caught a section of the doorjamb. Harke immediately bent down to unhook it, and stood up to give her a thumbs-up after she was dislodged from her position. Then, without asking for any approval, he went behind the chair, and pushed her along to the chairs. Plopping down in his original spot, he exhaled a bit, before extending his arm to reach for the PET. Eternalis was already awake, but Aurora was nowhere to be seen. The Navi warped as near to the edge of the coffee table as he dared, and asked simply, "Rhea?"

Camillia gave an awkward smile in response to Harke's thumbs-up. Did Rhea teach him that... ? She lowered her head in slight embarrassment, wondering what was going through the other's head. Dreadfully hoping that it didn't have anything to do with her walking apparatus, she gave a gentle wave at the Navi on the table before placing her PET on it as well. "Hello Eternalis," she started, unsure of how to respond. "U-um, thanks for the help Harke," she thanked the other operator very honestly, head bowed in sincerity.

Rhea observed the spectacle with hidden skepticism.

The petite Navi, still unfamiliar with the surroundings, did not see how this new environment can be a 'relaxing place'. However, all comments were fully reserved, as she was only a programme in relation to her operator. However, she did eye the partner Navi right next to her, and nodded her head in acknowledgement at Eternalis from inside the PET.

"Salutations." and nothing more from the purple Navi.

"It's fine, no need to bow your head like that, err.." said Harke, hesitating a bit at the end before continuing, "do you mind if I call you something other than Camillia? It feels too banal. How's about Cam? That okay? Of course, if you don't want toIdon'treallymind." Feeling a little awkward himself, he switched to back to his more cheery tone of voice. "Oh, and if you're wondering about the wheelchair, I'm fine with it. Bit surprised at first, sure, but I like having friends, doesn't matter who they are," he said, chuckling a bit at the end.

Meanwhile, Eternalis shifted from his human-form GMO back into the armored water-elemental form he was used to. He figured that if he was going to have any allies, he'd probably be better off in his original state, so as to not freak out anyone or something silly like that. He sat down next to Rhea on the edge of the wooden coffee-table, dangling his feet over the curved finish. He was quick to return her greeting. "Hey, Rhea. How're you and your operator doing lately?"

"E-eh? A nickname? That's... unheard of," Camillia said, surprised. "E-eh... Ah... You do not mind?" she said again, almost as if she wanted a verification of Harke's statement. "I... figured that people would not favor this," she added embarrassingly. Inclusive of herself. "But... I do not mind you calling me that. It sounds quirky," she noted with a brief smile, then turning to look at the gadgets that the other had open. "Pretty busy, are you?" Camillia asked, tilting her head slightly.

Rhea turned her head to look at how her former busting partner sit down next to her, but said nothing as she turned back to stare at nothingness, legs absently kicking at thin air over the edge of the coffee table. Such acts were said to be 'childish', though Rhea never got to grasp the concept of being childish and how it was bad. "I am fine. My operator... might be not," Rhea said nonchalantly, shrugging as if it was the most normal thing in the world to say. Or, perhaps, it was-- to this unbelievable pair.

"Not that busy, really, Cam," Harke replied, pleased that he was on more friendly terms with the girl. If Eternalis is getting close to Rhea for some reason, then I'd best get close to her operator, too. Else weird things might happen, he thought, as he continued. "I'm looking at Eternalis for a bit. Specifically that last time, that weird thing with Rhea and Eternalis changing into each other. Searching around a bit says it's some kind of feature called Soul Crossing. Friendship bonds between Navis are reinforced into a tangible form, and that's Crossing. Sorta like a friendship power-up, to put it bluntly." The operator looked at the miniature projection of the Navis sitting together, and gestured towards them, as if to emphasize his point.

Meanwhile, Eternalis was still dangling his feet off the edge, and turned to see Rhea doing the same as well. He was about to say something, when a couple of hands touched his shoulders and nearly made him leap off the table. "Grah!" he yelped, and he turned to see Aurora giggling behind her, attempting to scare him off a coffee-table cliff. "Aurora, don't sneak up on me like that! You nearly made me jump off!" said Eternalis, a mock tone of anger in his voice. Aurora still kept on her giggling, and turned to Rhea.

"Hi, Rhea! It's Aurora. How are you?"

"Ah... I thought that it's a normal feature. My apologies for my ignorance-- I do not really use technical gadjets often, just started recently," Camillia said in response, and absently a hand went over the blankets that concealed her missing limb. After all, the only reason she started this Net business was because she was left with nothing else to do as a cripple.

... She didn't really liked being classified as a disabled. It just didn't felt like her.

But the choice did not lie on Camillia, and she had to face it. She drew a slow, deep breath before heaving it out, implying interest on the subject that Harke had mentioned. "But this is a mighty interesting concept. The creators must have placed alot of effort in this function for it to work..." she said in surprise, her face mimicking Rhea's innocent-ish, slightly-interested facial features. And just as Camillia was seemingly warming up to the company, Rhea was staring at the spectacle from the coffee table.

Rhea turned, alarmed at the yelping of Eternalis and was looking ready to arm herself for battle-- only to be met by Aurora's giggling frame. "... Greetings, Aurora. I am... well?" Rhea said with a weird tone, wondering why was she asking the same question (or similar) as Eternalis. Didn't she answer it in front of her already? Hm.

At first it remained quiet, but then the silence was broken by a muffled yell which was quickly followed by Na'im falling from the roof passing the window on his way down. "Oh, that'll sting in the night," he complained as he stood up, slowly walking away past the window and to the door of the building. After pushing the door away, Na'im entered and it became quickly obvious that blood was coming from his forehead over the rest of his face. He wasn't wearing shoes to start with when he arrived and he wore his normal purple jacket and purple pants combination although a bit smudged due to the fall. "At least we made it here, right?" he commented and slid a finger over his forehead while walking to the lounge area, taking his sunglasses off with the same finger.

On his shoulder appeared Djinni again after climbing up from the PET on Na'im's back. Once she had reached her position she immediately turned around to look at the PET. "Why'd you have to do something stupid like that?" she commented first, before continueing with complaining, "You could've broken the PET!"

"I made sure I fell on my face," Na'im said, holding a thumbs up at Djinni although she was with her back towards it, "It's only a mere daze." He then noticed Harke and the girl close to him. "Good to see you here already," Na'im said as he took a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped away some of the blood.

While Na'im introduced himself properly, Djinni had jumped off of Na'im's shoulder and started to trace the surface of the PET to check everything was still there.

"The name is Na'im and I'm a little bit unsteady," the Operator with a kind smile. He then nodded at Harke, reaffirming they had already met before, then looked at Camillia. "And you are... Ehm..." He remained quiet for a moment before scratching the back of his head with a smirk, "Are you part of the group supposed to meet here or a friend of Harke?"

J.T. trudged up the stairs leading from the underground metroline station, and sat his small rolling luggage suitcase on the ground with a relieved sigh. Small as the hard-backed, two-wheeled fabric case was, it was heavy. The case was standard issue from NAXA, with enough space in the spacious upper compartment for the better part of a week's worth of clothing, and all the little pockets attached for various other necessities. Standard fare, right? Wrong. There was a much smaller compartment situated below that with a portable server stuffed in it, along with all the gear needed to operate it. That's what made this blasted thing so heavy.

Jared had long ago finished his business at Sci-Lab, and he had a little vacation time... So when the suggestion to meet at Yoka Inn came up, Jared had simply packed everything up from his hotel room, and made a reservation at the Yoka Inn. He didn't need to go back to Netopia immediately, and he'd never been here before. Add in the desire to melt the Sharoan cold from his bones, and it became a slam dunk decision all around.

Of course, that meant Jared couldn't leave the suitcase behind.... Not that he was thinking about that any longer. The area here was beautiful, and as J.T. began strolling along towards the inn, he took in that beauty. It reminded him much of the Evergreen Park in north eastern Netopia (which did not stay green all year around, contrary to the name). The theme of the area was definitely new to him, as was the inn building just down the path. It set the place apart from his homeland, but he found it refreshi-- Did I just see someone fall from the roof of that building? Jared picked up the pace a bit, trying to get to where he'd seen the man fall, but by the time he got within shouting distance of the building, the man had already stood up and walked into the inn. Well, that was different. I guess he's okay at least. Jared slowed his pace back down to a walk, and walked in the door a minute later.

As soon as Jared opened the door and stepped inside, he realized this was a place where they expected you to walk without shoes on when inside. Once he'd managed to get his luggage through the door, he was in the process of kicking his shoes off when an inn employee appeared in the lobby and started towards him. He caught sight of the attendant, and pulled a copy of his reservation info out of his jacket pocket to hand to the young lady. "Heya, I have a reservation...?"

"Welcome to Yoka Inn, Mr. Farnam."

"Thank you."

"Your room is still being prepared. We will notify you when it is ready. Shall I have someone take care of your luggage in the meantime...?"

"Yes, I'd appreciate that. Thank you."

The attendant smiled and nodded, then waved someone over to come get the suitcase Jared had been rolling along. The Netopian slipped his shoes into his back pack while he stood next to his suitcase (making sure it didn't vanish before the staff carted it off, of course). When the man came to get the suitcase, Jared nodded to him, then stepped into the lobby. He immediately spotted Na'im. It was rather hard to miss the Whazzapian.

"Heya, Na'im, how's it going? Jared said as he walked over to where Na'im and the others stood (or sat, in one young lady's case).

Harke smiled at Camillia, pleased that he was able to demonstrate his technical prowess in a non-dominating way. Just as he was about to continue, however, the sound of a small bump from outside alerted him to the window. The boy immediately looked up, only to see Na'im flat on his face. Harke winced visibly at the spectacle, only to shift his face moments later into a questioning look as the Whazzapian shrugged off the fall with impunity. Seeing the man come in, he raised a hand hesitantly in greeting. He was quick to alert him to his wound.

"Err, Na'im, you sure you're okay...?" He was about to continue with 'half your teeth should be in your gut by now', but felt that it was a bit distasteful, reminded of the girl sitting beside him. Manners, manners. Gotta mind those manners, Harkey boy, Harke thought he pounded himself mentally.

"Anyway, yes, Na'im, she's with us. You might know Camillia Ranbard from her post on the mission BBS as the operator of her Navi, Rhea," he explained, not sure if the quiet demeanour of the only female in the group would allow her to speak up in such a large company. He noticed another man enter and greet Na'im in the exchanges, and waved his hand slightly in acknowledgement of the man's existence.

Meanwhile, Eternalis and Aurora were silent, merely scoping out the new company for now.

Mimicking her counterparts, Rhea seemed to fall silent at the incoming of the other two newcomers, but did not take her eyes off of them like an overprotective bodyguard to her Operator. Her eyes seemed to squint slightly, as if wanting to flesh out every tiny detail on the newcomers.

Camillia, using one hand to turn a wheel to face Whazzapian, bowed as deeply as she could from her seat. "I am Camillia. A pleasure to meet you, Na'im," she said, trying to get the pronunciation right on her tongue. "It might be a fortunate... or an unfortunate... thing for you to know that I am both part of the meeting group and a friend of Harke," Camillia added, nodding slightly to allow hair to cover her face. She just weren't familiar with human interaction anymore... If anything, it felt more like a question and answer session. She... didn't feel comfortable, to say the least.

However, none of that seemed to show on her gentle face as she striked further conversation. "Um, and the purple Navi you see on the table is Rhea." At that, Rhea tared at them with a sharp gaze, nodding in acknowledgement before returning into passive staring.

Seeing the other man coming into the building and greeting Na'im, Camillia gave a wave to him as well, not recognizing him. "Um, are you here for the meet up, as well?" she called out, but did not move from her position.

As Jared drew closer to the group, he could really only see Na'im from behind, but he did get a good look at the young man the Whazzapian was talking with. The man raised a hand and waved to J.T., prompting the Netopian to wave back. I suppose that's one of the other members of our mission team. And... As his gaze swept to the side, he spotted the trio of holograms gathered on the table. All three of them were being fairly quiet.

The first one caught J.T.'s attention for the novelty of his appearance. The Navi looked like an obviously mechanical frame built around a semi-liquefied body. Now that looks cool. The second hologram, standing behind the first, appeared to be much more human-like than the first. She also had a lot less going on in the way of visual effects... But her emblem was the same as that on the first hologram. ....Uhh.... Which one is the Navi? He looked back and forth between the two and quickly gave up trying to guess.

Jared glanced at the third hologram, and felt vaguely uncomfortable with the sharp-eyed gaze the purple and gray female Navi was shooting his way. It made him uncomfortable because it had that guard-dog feel to it that reminded him very strongly of the neighbor's Doberman back in Netopia. It also reminded him of the looks his own Navi had given him when the two had first met, and so did her obviously mechanical form. Oooohkaaaaaay. I think I just experienced Dejavu with a palette swap.

Jared arched an eyebrow, then continued to turn his head... And he could immediately guess whose Navi that was. A quick glance back at the Navi, then shifting again to the young lady in the wheelchair, and Jared had a pretty shrewed notion of what was running through the Navi's mind (or so he thought; he could be entirely wrong after all). Yep... That's got to be the operator of the purple one. As he looked at the young lady, she turned to look at him as well, raised her hand, and waved. What she said next confirmed Jared's suspicion that she was another member of the mission group. He smiled. nodded, and replied. "Yep, I'm here to help my friend, Na'i--" Jared looked back over at the Whazzapian, and his eyes went wide when he saw the bloody mess that was Na'im's face. "--Geez, Na'im. Are you okay, man?" Jared winced. "What did you do to yourself?"

Jared completely forgot he was going to introduce himself.

"It's fine!" Djinni yelled from Na'im's back, having inspected the PET entirely, then looked up to see J.T. walking their way. "Oh hey, there's a familiar face." Floating up to Na'im's shoulder, she waved at him and followed his movements before realizing two of the Navis had settled down on the table in the center. Swiftly she held out her arms towards them, softly whining to Na'im. "I wanna go down there, please, please, please," she said in Na'im's ear.

Na'im on the other hand had turned towards J.T. and smiled pleasantly. "It is good to see you, friend. I was happy to see you lend us your hand," he said and then turned to Camillia, "Likewise, it is a pleasure to meet you." Before continueing or figuring out a rhyme, he tried to understand why meeting her or having her with them would be unfortunate. He shook it off and then quickly formulated a second sentence as he was used to do. Having trouble with figuring out something, he just instinctively looked upwards and then noticed the ceiling. "I'm lucky I didn't fall through..." He then turned to look at J.T. as he heard his voice. "Yeah, it's only a scratch," he said and slid a finger over his forehead again, noticing more blood had come out of the wound he had gotten, "Or maybe I should get myself a patch..."

"You're not going anywhere!" Djinni screamed and pointed eagerly at the table where the two Navis had settled, "At least let me stay here while you're gone!"

Na'im took the keyboard-shaped PET from his back and fold out the stand, putting it down on the ground. Again he glanced at Jared with a smirk on his face. "Keep an eye on my PET while I'm gone," he said, then turned around and walked towards the reservation for assistance, "Maybe a patch with something fun drawn..."

Djinni hopped off of Na'im shoulder before he turned around and landed onto the PET, quickly following it with a jump onto the table. Quickly she ran over towards Rhea and Eternalis who were practically on the other side of the table. "Hey guys!" she exclaimed happily, "I'm Dji-!" Her voice was cut short as she tripped over her own legs, falling face first onto the surface that the hologram had detected. She laid onto the table and whined quietly, putting her fists onto the table to prop her upper body up and stared at Rhea and Eternalis. She then stood up, a serious expression on her face, and dusted off her pants and top. Bringing a hand to her mouth she laughed cheerfully and walked over towards them, sneaking a peek at her legs a few times to make sure she wouldn't screw up again. She stopped close to them, also at the edge of the table, and produced a nice smile behind her veil. "I'm Djinni. Nice to meet you two."

However short and cut-off was Jared's answer, Harke got the gist of it: the guy was, most probably, someone on their team. From his reactions, he seemed to know Na'im. From his BBS reading, he knew that two people he didn't know were on the team, a J.T. and a Tsujsa Reise. If he knows Na'im, then it's highly probable that he's the former, and not the latter, Harke thought. He let it be, not wanting to be creepy by suddenly "recognizing" someone he didn't know. Instead, he left himself to wonder a bit what the 'Broadside' character was. Maybe someone with large girth or something, he mused jokingly.

He was about to turn to Na'im for a bit, when he saw the tanned bald man scamper off to the receptionists for assistance, most probably concerning his bloodied head than whether they had a presidential suite ready for him. He shrugged it off, instead playing it cool with the newcomer. "I guess you're part of the team, then, sir," Harke started, introducing himself.

"Harke Ezarith, and my Navi," he gestured at the blue and orange pair, "is the one with the water theme. Eternalis. Nice to meet you."

Meanwhile, the Navi and SP pair of Harke's were getting accustomed to yet another newcomer into their group. Eternalis waved his hand in acknowledgment of Djinni, as they had met beforehand. He did wince a bit at her unexpected trip (on her own legs, no less), but shrugged it off as a simple quirk. Hey, people did silly things at the worst times. "Hello, Djinni. I believe we've met before, but I don't think you've met Aurora yet," Eternalis said, gesturing a thumb at the SP, who was hiding behind the aqua Navi's bulk in a childish playfulness. She peeked out over his shoulder, and squeaked, "Hi!"

Turning his head towards his other companion, he continued, "Also, this is Rhea, a friend of mine. She's quite skilled in swords."

Jared nodded at Na'im's request to watch over his PET. "Sure. No problem." As Na'im walked away, Harke introduced himself; reminding J.T. that he had yet to do so. "Pleased to meet you, Harke. And you as well, miss. My name's Jared Farnam. And..." J.T. brought out his red and black PET, pointed it at the table, and pressed the button to turn on the holographic projector. The moment he did so, a fairly generic looking Navi in white guard armor appeared standing near the middle of the table. The only things to mark him different from a generic grade Navi were the fact that he had an actual human-like face, a really strange looking rifle slung over his back, and his left arm rested in a white cloth sling across his chest as if he'd broken it. "...that is my Navi, Broadside."

The Navi merely looked up at everyone quietly, each in turn, but never said a word. Instead, he waved at the humans collectively, then turned towards the group of Navis, and walked towards Djinni. When he got closer to the group, he hailed them. "Greetings."

Noticing the hostility of her Navi, Camillia frowned slightly as she looked at Rhea. "Don't be rude, now," she said with a disapproving tone, which Rhea just softened her features before staring away. ... Was she ignoring her Operator... ? Regardless, she felt that perhaps a talk was really necessary between herself and Rhea.

"I apologize, Mr. Jared. I seem to be unable to discipline my Navi," Camillia noted, now feeling even more uncomfortable as everyone was standing (except for her). "Um, take a seat, gentlemen... ?" she said awkwardly, notioning to the empty benches in the lounge. As she took a mental headcount, she was wondering what was taking Tsujsa so long. ... Perhaps he is still stuck in a NetBattle or something... she thought to herself.

At the humour of the genie-like Navi though, Camillia couldn't help but to giggle helplessly from her seat. Rhea did not even twitch a facial muscle (or what might be in replacement of human facial muscles) as the tanned Navi tripped herself, tried a few times to introduce herself, and finally succeeding in the most recent try. "... Greetings, Djinni. My name is Rhea," the petite Navi said, as if it was an automated reply. Her eyes turned towards the middle of the table, where another entry was made by another Navi.

Rhea's first thought was about the slung arm of the white, guard-like Navi. She wanted to comment, but could not find any words that would insult Camillia in the process, as well; and decided to keep quiet about it.

"Rhea..." Djinni muttered as she stared at Rhea, bending over slightly, and slid her vision to Eternalis, "And Eternalis..." Tilting her head from left or right as she took in their designs, then walked around Eternalis to stare at Aurora. She nodded to herself wisely and then walked further to end behind Rhea. Without asking permission, she just abruptly put her hand onto Rhea's head and gently stroked her hair for a second or two before lifting her hand again. "Hehehe," she chuckled playfully before bending over more. "So cute, just like a doll," she mused while looking at Rhea, "But you really should lighten up."

Positioning her body properly again, she pointed at Rhea accusingly and exclaimed, "Garnet!" and switched the target of her finger towards Eternalis. "Aquamarine!" she followed it up with and then crossed her arms and smirked behind her veil. "I'm so fashionable," she told herself with confidence and then noticed Broadside as she had been oblivious of his presence while focusing her attention on the new friends.

She spread her arms in a V shape above her head and started to run towards Broadside. "Broooaaadsiiiide!" she exclaimed happily and wrapped her arms forcefully around his neck while pressing her body up against his. "I so missed you," she said happily while making small jumps, causing her body to slide up and down against his body, "How have you been lately? Did you miss me too?"

Nodding and smiling at J.T.'s introduction, Harke watched Jared project the Navi called Broadside. He was surprised to find that the white Navi wasn't much to look at. Perhaps a recolor of a slightly modified standard Navi, with a rifle added to his back and a... sling, for some reason, to his left arm. From the BBS post, Na'im had heavily implied that Broadside would be some sort of ultrapowerful Navi of some sort. Then again, underestimating things isn't very good. Maybe it's a ploy of weakness to elicit exactly this kind of response, he figured as an afterthought.

He chuckled a bit, watching the antics taking place on the coffee table he had put his laptop on. Suddenly remembering it, he threw his hand quickly towards the portable computer, putting it in standby for the time being. Perhaps now would be a good time to socialize. "You know, that mission statement was kind of ominous-sounding. A whole army against a little group of five... wonder what kind of opposition we'll be up against. I'm raring to operate right now," he wondered aloud, half thought to himself, half question to the others beside him.

Meanwhile, Eternalis and Aurora were watching the newcomers make their entry statements. Djinni was quite a happy-go-lucky person by the Navi's observations, and Aurora seemed to be quite glad that there were going to be a fair number of females in the group. As it stood, there were three of the fairer kind as opposed to two of the rougher kind. Then again, the character of Broadside didn't look very rough. In fact, Eternalis thought, he looks like a cripple. Is this really a guy who's going to help us beat up an army?

As much as he'd like to, though, Eternalis didn't let himself decry potential allies, no matter how he looked at them. "Hello, Broadside. I suppose we won't need introducing, seeing as your friend Djinni has done the favor for us, except for one. This is my Support Program, Aurora," said Eternalis, gesturing to Aurora, who was now sitting beside him instead of behind him. "Hiya!" she chirped quite cheerily.

Tsujsa hauled his ass off the metroline and rushed straight for the Yoka Inn, before stopping and realizing the simple fact that he had no idea where the Yoka Inn was. Slightly lost and disoriented from all the running about, he soon later stopped near a rather large building that looked like a mansion. "Damn it to the nine hells, where the hell is the Inn?"

"Oi. Captain." The navi in his side pouch rang out. Tsujsa pulled the device out and gave the Navi an irritated glare, before noticing that the Navi was pointing behind him. He turned around, and saw the large sign that said 'YOKA INN'.

"Oh. Right." Tsujsa said. Validus merely facepalmed and gave back Tsujsa the irritated glare. Tsujsa ignored Validus's reaction and stepped into the Inn, noting the traditional architecture it had. He loved these sort of designs. It had a kind of charm to him. That and the smell of nature was pretty good too.

Then he realized he had no time to fool around. He rushed to the lounge where all the other members were.

"Sorry to keep you all waiting! Tsujsa Reise and Validus, at your service!" He said panting.