DragonierMan was met at the gates by a glasses-wearing soldier. As he talked gruffly to Drago, Drago noted how the rank-and-file were getting more diverse. Drago also wondered whether the rank-and-file actually did anything besides maintain the camp. Don't get him wrong, camp maintenance was crucial to the working of an army, it just seemed like the Neo-Shoguns weren't aggressive enough in their expansions. At least they could start clearing away nests of viruses or something.
Well, anyways, he was pointed toward a meeting of some of the subordinates and so he headed over there on foot. Surprisingly, there were five of them in total. The first, with her trademark transportation was Escort. A shiny black limo acted as something to lean on. Looking around, one thing became clear was that they were all seriously dressed for battle. Drago had never seen Escort's one-horned, half-mask made of bone for instance. The second was Sake, though it was hard to see her on the ground behind/under some of the closer figures, though it appeared she was sleeping the previous night of drinking off. Third was Arch, who was also standing over Sake. Arch was the most changed from when Drago last saw her some time ago. She was dressed in heavier armor than she normally wore. It also properly covered enough of her body to actually be useful. Unfortunately, it also covered her killer legs. Drago was very conflicted.
The other two Drago hadn't met before. Or at least, did not remember meeting at any point in the past. One looked like a cowgirl with a horse. The other one was harder to describe. Though this last girl wasn't at all shy as she argued with Arch about bombs and strategy and someone named Watchtower that the glasses-wearing soldier mentioned in passing. The noise of their bickering was getting louder as Drago approached and was starting to hurt his ears, sensitive enough though they were. Thankfully, Escort called for them to quiet down as he entered their sight. Then gave him a compliment. That was nice.
Escort was about to potentially brief him on the situation about the bombs and Watchtower and all that, but then asked if he was even there for that. "Yes, I have come to assist. I just got back from a stint with Sylk and now need something to do," Drago remarked. But before Escort could continue the cowgirl cried out from near the horse. She introduced herself as Rodeo and her horse as Genevieve. She seemed excited to be there and was trying out to be the newest member of the Shogunate. She even would let him pet her horse. Unfortunately, before he was able to cross the distance to take her up on that offer, Guillotine spoke and introduced herself.
DragonierMan saw red. As Guillotine and Arch went back to bickering, his blood boiled and he bared his teeth and his clawed gauntlets in an aggressive stance. His head throbbed and the voices became muffled as his teeth and claws began to become more prominent. He quickly began to change and mutate into his fearsome dragon form. His mouth became an elongated snout, filled with large, sharp fangs. His hair spilled out of his helmet as his helmet and plate merged into his body. His muscled form expanded, growing a dozen feet taller as his arms and legs bore huge taloned claws. "YOU!" he bellowed. "NOW I WILL GET MY REVENGE!"
He spread his massive wings and towered over the meeting as he roared into the air. He then flapped his wingspan a few beats in front of him, sending a gale across the five women and one horse. Flames licked out of his maw and smoke poured from his nostrils. His right arm came down upon the meeting, swiping an expansive paw at Guillotine's position. Sword-sized nails raking across the ground.
Clearly things had just gotten worse and order was thrown out the window.
Public Neo-Shogun Camp.
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"There's plenty to do... Inside and outside of the camp," Escort informed DragonierMan, nodding slowly as he explained that he'd come to help with something, but didn't know what yet.
However, that moved to the back of everyone's mind pretty quickly as DragonierMan reacted to Guillotine's presence unfavorably, to put it mildly. The navis watched him rocket into the air, at first interpreting that he may have decided to seek out their opponent and fight her head on. "You bucket-headed buffoon! Get down here and listen!" the haughty woman complained, before realizing that she appeared to be the dragon's target. "Revenge?! What in the blue blazes-?!" she shouted, apparently having already forgotten about the past, when she'd sicced an over-sized gaggle of ROT soldiers on DragonierMan, intending to kill him for siding with Yasu.
She didn't have time to finish that thought, as the newly transformed DragonierMan swiped a tremendous claw at her from overhead. She swung both arms to fling out her axe blades and attempt to meet his claw mid-air, but one had to think she'd be significantly out-gunned in that kind of battle. Instead of each a clash of blades, their weapons resulted in an explosion of vehicle parts, as Escort swung her limousine between the two using two hands. With that done, anticipating that just maybe that wouldn't stop DragonierMan's anger, Escort decided that moving Guillotine would be easier (and less painful) then getting between the two. She grabbed the other lady around the waist and retreated, while Arch tried her hand at calming down DragonierMan.
"Wait, wait! I shouldn't have set you off! I-I don't really trust Guillotine yet, but I was out of line! Remember, part of the Shogun's rules are that we agree to trust our fellow subordinates!" Arch called out, raising her hands into the air. "I didn't mean to attack her! I just wanted us to think about everything!"
"You're making a fool out of yourself, you stinking lizard!" Guillotine spat back; Arch and Escort both gave her the stink-eye, hoping she'd shut up.
Rodeo tried her hand at defusing the situation by twirling a lasso above her head and slinging it out. To her credit, she actually managed to lasso one of his toes. To her detriment, it accomplished nothing but carrying her into the air outside of her own power. "Sheeeeyoooooooosh!" she cried out. Perhaps the introduction of a little slapstick would help to defuse the situation.
If neither appealing to his senses or his funnybone worked, there was one more option which Sake offered up. "How about a round on the hooouse?" she called out from below, waving a tall, transparent green sake bottle in the air, which she pulled up from one of her sleeves. "It's all part of my plan! We get drunk off our faces, hic! And then our thoughts won't make any sense to WatchTower at all! See, I'm good at plans!" she added, smiling up at DragonierMan in restive peacefulness.
Arch looked worried for a moment, as though concerned this was going to further degrade her earlier argument that the NS subordinates were all sworn to trust in one another. "A-Anyway, we don't have time for this! Whatever Guillotine did, she's on the other side of the line now... I hope. I do know we can't afford to fight her right now!"
At this point, it was up to DragonierMan (or whatever malevolent force of revenge guided him) to decide if anyone's argument was good enough to dissuade him. If he still wanted to attack, he'd have to go through Escort at the same time, as she was still holding Guillotine under one muscular arm, the lady's shapely, blue-robed butt up and towards DragonierMan.
However, that moved to the back of everyone's mind pretty quickly as DragonierMan reacted to Guillotine's presence unfavorably, to put it mildly. The navis watched him rocket into the air, at first interpreting that he may have decided to seek out their opponent and fight her head on. "You bucket-headed buffoon! Get down here and listen!" the haughty woman complained, before realizing that she appeared to be the dragon's target. "Revenge?! What in the blue blazes-?!" she shouted, apparently having already forgotten about the past, when she'd sicced an over-sized gaggle of ROT soldiers on DragonierMan, intending to kill him for siding with Yasu.
She didn't have time to finish that thought, as the newly transformed DragonierMan swiped a tremendous claw at her from overhead. She swung both arms to fling out her axe blades and attempt to meet his claw mid-air, but one had to think she'd be significantly out-gunned in that kind of battle. Instead of each a clash of blades, their weapons resulted in an explosion of vehicle parts, as Escort swung her limousine between the two using two hands. With that done, anticipating that just maybe that wouldn't stop DragonierMan's anger, Escort decided that moving Guillotine would be easier (and less painful) then getting between the two. She grabbed the other lady around the waist and retreated, while Arch tried her hand at calming down DragonierMan.
"Wait, wait! I shouldn't have set you off! I-I don't really trust Guillotine yet, but I was out of line! Remember, part of the Shogun's rules are that we agree to trust our fellow subordinates!" Arch called out, raising her hands into the air. "I didn't mean to attack her! I just wanted us to think about everything!"
"You're making a fool out of yourself, you stinking lizard!" Guillotine spat back; Arch and Escort both gave her the stink-eye, hoping she'd shut up.
Rodeo tried her hand at defusing the situation by twirling a lasso above her head and slinging it out. To her credit, she actually managed to lasso one of his toes. To her detriment, it accomplished nothing but carrying her into the air outside of her own power. "Sheeeeyoooooooosh!" she cried out. Perhaps the introduction of a little slapstick would help to defuse the situation.
If neither appealing to his senses or his funnybone worked, there was one more option which Sake offered up. "How about a round on the hooouse?" she called out from below, waving a tall, transparent green sake bottle in the air, which she pulled up from one of her sleeves. "It's all part of my plan! We get drunk off our faces, hic! And then our thoughts won't make any sense to WatchTower at all! See, I'm good at plans!" she added, smiling up at DragonierMan in restive peacefulness.
Arch looked worried for a moment, as though concerned this was going to further degrade her earlier argument that the NS subordinates were all sworn to trust in one another. "A-Anyway, we don't have time for this! Whatever Guillotine did, she's on the other side of the line now... I hope. I do know we can't afford to fight her right now!"
At this point, it was up to DragonierMan (or whatever malevolent force of revenge guided him) to decide if anyone's argument was good enough to dissuade him. If he still wanted to attack, he'd have to go through Escort at the same time, as she was still holding Guillotine under one muscular arm, the lady's shapely, blue-robed butt up and towards DragonierMan.
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The dragon's attempt at revenge was stopped short as his claws tore through a limousine instead of Guillotine, raining an explosion of car parts everywhere. The vehicle was interposed by Escort, having thrown it in their way with her amazing strength. Escort then grabbed Guillotine and ran while Arch tried to calm down the angry, overgrown lizard. Also, Sake tried to get him to drink. Unfortunately, the howling wind generated from the loud flapping of large, leathery wings (and his own blinding rage) drowned out most of the voices on the ground.
Then Rodeo tried to lasso the beast, but ended up being pulled into the air like a toy. The dragon halted his advance at this turn of events and looked down at the new challenger. Though when he looked, he didn't see another member of ROT, he saw that seemingly harmless cowgirl. A little girl who was right now way over her head if she thought to challenge him with that level of skill. Putting a pause on his revenge, he reached down and tried to pluck Rodeo from her spot dangling from his leg. If he succeeded he would lift her up in his hand till she was near his snout, and could be heard, and then touch down upon the ground with a whump that would shake the ground around him and kick up some dust. He stilled his wings so that if she had anything to say, he would hear it before setting her down gently on the ground, letting her get her feet.
As he let Rodeo go, he heard Arch tell him that Guillotine was now a NS Subordinate and that they couldn't afford to fight her right now while they have pressing business. Or something like that. His gaze shifted from one woman to the next, before settling on Escort and Guillotine. His eyes locked with Escort's above his fire-breathing snout. He could see that if he wanted Guillotine, he would have to go through her. He hadn't seen her fight up to this point, but he doubted she could succeed at stopping him. She was just a Subordinate after all, and it was clear he could probably take out the Generals as well if he wanted.
But then he remembered that MachMan and Sylk were also Subordinates like him, and they were far more powerful. It was possible that Escort could harbor hidden talent he was unaware of. Even if he did win he might not be strong enough to then take out Guillotine. With a reluctant snort of smoke from his nostrils, he began to shrink back into his normal humanoid form. Though this time when the scales and claws disappeared, he was without his armor. He wore a sleeveless striped vest of white and silver-gray, made entirely of tiny cloth scales. It had a zipper up the middle and was unzipped, showing bare Caucasian skin with a slight tan, and a rugged chest. His pants reached down to his feet, which were covered by leather boots. The pants were a darker steel-gray, almost black, in color. The boots had a similar white coloration as his vest, with silver-gray highlights. A headband of similar cloth to his vest adorns his head, graced with his stone tower navi symbol. Even though he was without armor across most of his body, he wore armbands that looked like they came directly from it.
He reached up with his left hand and wiped some sweat from his brow, combing his moist fingers through his wavy silver-gray hair. His arms were well muscled, and he seem to have bestial claws instead of fingernails on his human hands. Claws similar to a bear or tiger. "Very well. I yield for now," he said with remarkable calmness given that he just tried to assassinate someone just a few moments ago. Though a grit of anger in his voice still betrayed the bite in his words. He lifted his right hand to point towards Guillotine's butt as his left dropped to his waist. His gray eyes were cold and dark. "But you better make sure she isn't alone with me, ever, or I will delete her. Just like I will delete every other stinking ROT trash that festers the NET I end up coming across. I kept my anger in check at the GNA when I met those other ROT bastards because the GNA would have intervened in my revenge. But they are not here to save your sorry butt," he said to Guillotine... 's butt.
He turned to Arch, the intensity in his eyes fading. "And with that out of the way, perhaps you can start from the beginning and get me caught up to speed." As he spoke his smuggier/smirkier expression began to take hold and he ended as if nothing had happened moments ago. Whether that was comforting or not would be up to Arch and crew.
Then Rodeo tried to lasso the beast, but ended up being pulled into the air like a toy. The dragon halted his advance at this turn of events and looked down at the new challenger. Though when he looked, he didn't see another member of ROT, he saw that seemingly harmless cowgirl. A little girl who was right now way over her head if she thought to challenge him with that level of skill. Putting a pause on his revenge, he reached down and tried to pluck Rodeo from her spot dangling from his leg. If he succeeded he would lift her up in his hand till she was near his snout, and could be heard, and then touch down upon the ground with a whump that would shake the ground around him and kick up some dust. He stilled his wings so that if she had anything to say, he would hear it before setting her down gently on the ground, letting her get her feet.
As he let Rodeo go, he heard Arch tell him that Guillotine was now a NS Subordinate and that they couldn't afford to fight her right now while they have pressing business. Or something like that. His gaze shifted from one woman to the next, before settling on Escort and Guillotine. His eyes locked with Escort's above his fire-breathing snout. He could see that if he wanted Guillotine, he would have to go through her. He hadn't seen her fight up to this point, but he doubted she could succeed at stopping him. She was just a Subordinate after all, and it was clear he could probably take out the Generals as well if he wanted.
But then he remembered that MachMan and Sylk were also Subordinates like him, and they were far more powerful. It was possible that Escort could harbor hidden talent he was unaware of. Even if he did win he might not be strong enough to then take out Guillotine. With a reluctant snort of smoke from his nostrils, he began to shrink back into his normal humanoid form. Though this time when the scales and claws disappeared, he was without his armor. He wore a sleeveless striped vest of white and silver-gray, made entirely of tiny cloth scales. It had a zipper up the middle and was unzipped, showing bare Caucasian skin with a slight tan, and a rugged chest. His pants reached down to his feet, which were covered by leather boots. The pants were a darker steel-gray, almost black, in color. The boots had a similar white coloration as his vest, with silver-gray highlights. A headband of similar cloth to his vest adorns his head, graced with his stone tower navi symbol. Even though he was without armor across most of his body, he wore armbands that looked like they came directly from it.
He reached up with his left hand and wiped some sweat from his brow, combing his moist fingers through his wavy silver-gray hair. His arms were well muscled, and he seem to have bestial claws instead of fingernails on his human hands. Claws similar to a bear or tiger. "Very well. I yield for now," he said with remarkable calmness given that he just tried to assassinate someone just a few moments ago. Though a grit of anger in his voice still betrayed the bite in his words. He lifted his right hand to point towards Guillotine's butt as his left dropped to his waist. His gray eyes were cold and dark. "But you better make sure she isn't alone with me, ever, or I will delete her. Just like I will delete every other stinking ROT trash that festers the NET I end up coming across. I kept my anger in check at the GNA when I met those other ROT bastards because the GNA would have intervened in my revenge. But they are not here to save your sorry butt," he said to Guillotine... 's butt.
He turned to Arch, the intensity in his eyes fading. "And with that out of the way, perhaps you can start from the beginning and get me caught up to speed." As he spoke his smuggier/smirkier expression began to take hold and he ended as if nothing had happened moments ago. Whether that was comforting or not would be up to Arch and crew.
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Rodeo had clearly never seen a dragon before; seeing one up so close caused her eyes to turn as big as saucers. Still, noting that this was her debut mission, she resolved not to whimper, and instead brought her hands up in front of herself, stretching her rope between them. "Sh-Sh-Sheeyoosh... I may be tasty, but know if yew eat me, I'll come back as a ghost! And if yew eat my horse too, Genevieve'll come back as a ghost too, then we'll both haunt 'cha! So you can save everyone a lot of heart and stomachache by just puttin' me down right now!" she advised DragonierMan, before slinging her lasso again, this time grabbing hold of his horn. That didn't accomplish much. "I gotta start packin' pistols for this kinda thing..."
Evidently she'd have the rest of her life to think that over, as DragonierMan let her down onto the ground rather than consuming her. "Garsh... I wonder if I should... try to ride a dragon?!" she asked, looking to the crowd with an intense expression, as though that were the most important question right now. She was largely ignored.
The other navis, noting this was the second new form of DragonierMan most of them had seen in a very short period of time, stood wary as he approached them. Escort frowned, her blue eyes serious behind the bone mask she wore. "That's not an option, DragonierMan. We can't have officers threatening to kill one another if left alone together. If you can't work together with Guillotine, we'll have to resolve this in an audience with the Shogun... but now is hardly the time for that. Whatever hardship she caused you in the past, she's on our side of the line now. And you can hardly expect anyone to be sympathetic when you turn into a dragon and look at us all as if you're trying to decide who you need to fry to get to her... Respectfully," she finished, setting Guillotine back down to her feet.
"The fact that you aren't feeling my blades against your neck right now, Reptile, is only due to my change in allegiance. The NS provide me shelter against my former employers and I help fight those who abused me. If I slighted you somehow in the past, know that it was only a result of the battlefield we shared. I should think we can get along professionally now," Guillotine scoffed, turning slightly to look over her shoulder at him. It might still be hard not to stare at her butt instead of her face while she was talking.
"Gladly," Arch sighed, once she finally managed to get DragonierMan's attention. She spoke quickly to get everyone's attention off of Guillotine. "Watchtower is the ROT agent who's attacking our base. Although, it would be more accurate to say she's staging an attack... some sort of giant siege engine is located a fair distance away, moving to our location. At first, we all went to attack it as a group, minus Guillotine. That proved to be a mistake. Not only could we not move or penetrate the tower, even with Escort's strength, we fell prey to some sort of unknown technology. Although we felt its effects, only later did Guillotine verify that what we'd been hit with was surveillance technology... basically, a short-range attack that causes our thoughts to become known to those around us. Guillotine says that Watchtower uses it to prevent plans against her pre-emptively. Those affected can't read each-other's thoughts, but those unaffected should be able to after a brief wait period. For instance, Guillotine's testified that she can."
The pink-haired girl nodded slowly. "It's true. If you focus in on one of the affected's words long enough, you'll be able to read their thoughts. That might sound like fun, but do recall that whatever you hear will be projected back, in the same clarity, to Watchtower. That old biddy... we were allies once, but she's not planning on throwing any punches now that I'm on the other side, I assure you. My recommendation is this: her only source of strength is that infernal machine of hers, but her weakness is great as well. She's insatiably paranoid and curious. Right now, she thinks we're staging a plan against her, but also doesn't know that DragonierMan or I have arrived. Without knowing about me, she likely has no idea we know her secret power. The key, for one, is that we stop talking about this before any of us reads the other's thoughts and tips her off. The other key... is that we replace it with equally distracting conversation. Eventually, her paranoia will lead her to leave her weapon behind and come to spy on us. When she does, we'll be ready to apprehend her."
Arch lowered her eyebrows and sighed again. "It's hard to understand. Personally, I'd rather dump some of the bombs leftover from the Terror Girls' attack on her siege tower so it can't fight us, even if it gets close. They disable weapon systems, after all," the archer posed. "That's a much simpler plan, to me."
"But it's not total victory," Guillotine smirked, tapping a finger to her temple. "You golden goose, pay attention. If you do what I say, we can have a chance to capture Watchtower and her... watchtower. A huge benefit for your army, I'd say," she chuckled. "I guess we'll consider it a last resort. And promptly cease talking about it, so that one of us doesn't accidentally allow her to catch on."
"Okay, sure. I mean, her engine does seem slow, so we've got some time to use the backup plan if your plan doesn't work. So... what do we do now?" Arch asked Guillotine.
The other navi frowned, then looked back and forth uncomfortably. "Well... we don't let her catch on. We must transmit her some confusing messages. What we need now is conversation," she suggested, crossing her arms beneath her chest. She looked down at Sake, who smiled up unhelpfully. "Drat. That's never been my strong suit. I have trouble finding an intellectual equal," she scoffed, so brazenly one might think they were reading her mind rather than hearing her out loud. She bit her thumb, then looked to DragonierMan. "Well, pebblewit? Perhaps you'd like to take this time to ask some questions to the girls? Not to me, though... I'm unaffected by the tower, so there would be no point. Remember: ask the question, then focus in on the words of your conversation partner to read their mind. And all of you... don't think about either of our plans. Got it?"
The others all nodded, even Sake, who now rose slowly from the ground wiping drool onto her sleeve. Escort raised her hand to speak. "Keep an eye out as well. It sounds like Watchtower will be sneaking up... if you see anything out of the ordinary, give us a sign," she suggested.
((From here on, DragonierMan can pick one girl each post to focus on the statement of, starting from this post. He will be able to read their mind regarding what they're actually thinking and transmit that information to Watchtower. Thoughts will be transmitted instantly, so try to avoid transmitting those from anyone who might be thinking about the plan!))
Evidently she'd have the rest of her life to think that over, as DragonierMan let her down onto the ground rather than consuming her. "Garsh... I wonder if I should... try to ride a dragon?!" she asked, looking to the crowd with an intense expression, as though that were the most important question right now. She was largely ignored.
The other navis, noting this was the second new form of DragonierMan most of them had seen in a very short period of time, stood wary as he approached them. Escort frowned, her blue eyes serious behind the bone mask she wore. "That's not an option, DragonierMan. We can't have officers threatening to kill one another if left alone together. If you can't work together with Guillotine, we'll have to resolve this in an audience with the Shogun... but now is hardly the time for that. Whatever hardship she caused you in the past, she's on our side of the line now. And you can hardly expect anyone to be sympathetic when you turn into a dragon and look at us all as if you're trying to decide who you need to fry to get to her... Respectfully," she finished, setting Guillotine back down to her feet.
"The fact that you aren't feeling my blades against your neck right now, Reptile, is only due to my change in allegiance. The NS provide me shelter against my former employers and I help fight those who abused me. If I slighted you somehow in the past, know that it was only a result of the battlefield we shared. I should think we can get along professionally now," Guillotine scoffed, turning slightly to look over her shoulder at him. It might still be hard not to stare at her butt instead of her face while she was talking.
"Gladly," Arch sighed, once she finally managed to get DragonierMan's attention. She spoke quickly to get everyone's attention off of Guillotine. "Watchtower is the ROT agent who's attacking our base. Although, it would be more accurate to say she's staging an attack... some sort of giant siege engine is located a fair distance away, moving to our location. At first, we all went to attack it as a group, minus Guillotine. That proved to be a mistake. Not only could we not move or penetrate the tower, even with Escort's strength, we fell prey to some sort of unknown technology. Although we felt its effects, only later did Guillotine verify that what we'd been hit with was surveillance technology... basically, a short-range attack that causes our thoughts to become known to those around us. Guillotine says that Watchtower uses it to prevent plans against her pre-emptively. Those affected can't read each-other's thoughts, but those unaffected should be able to after a brief wait period. For instance, Guillotine's testified that she can."
The pink-haired girl nodded slowly. "It's true. If you focus in on one of the affected's words long enough, you'll be able to read their thoughts. That might sound like fun, but do recall that whatever you hear will be projected back, in the same clarity, to Watchtower. That old biddy... we were allies once, but she's not planning on throwing any punches now that I'm on the other side, I assure you. My recommendation is this: her only source of strength is that infernal machine of hers, but her weakness is great as well. She's insatiably paranoid and curious. Right now, she thinks we're staging a plan against her, but also doesn't know that DragonierMan or I have arrived. Without knowing about me, she likely has no idea we know her secret power. The key, for one, is that we stop talking about this before any of us reads the other's thoughts and tips her off. The other key... is that we replace it with equally distracting conversation. Eventually, her paranoia will lead her to leave her weapon behind and come to spy on us. When she does, we'll be ready to apprehend her."
Arch lowered her eyebrows and sighed again. "It's hard to understand. Personally, I'd rather dump some of the bombs leftover from the Terror Girls' attack on her siege tower so it can't fight us, even if it gets close. They disable weapon systems, after all," the archer posed. "That's a much simpler plan, to me."
"But it's not total victory," Guillotine smirked, tapping a finger to her temple. "You golden goose, pay attention. If you do what I say, we can have a chance to capture Watchtower and her... watchtower. A huge benefit for your army, I'd say," she chuckled. "I guess we'll consider it a last resort. And promptly cease talking about it, so that one of us doesn't accidentally allow her to catch on."
"Okay, sure. I mean, her engine does seem slow, so we've got some time to use the backup plan if your plan doesn't work. So... what do we do now?" Arch asked Guillotine.
The other navi frowned, then looked back and forth uncomfortably. "Well... we don't let her catch on. We must transmit her some confusing messages. What we need now is conversation," she suggested, crossing her arms beneath her chest. She looked down at Sake, who smiled up unhelpfully. "Drat. That's never been my strong suit. I have trouble finding an intellectual equal," she scoffed, so brazenly one might think they were reading her mind rather than hearing her out loud. She bit her thumb, then looked to DragonierMan. "Well, pebblewit? Perhaps you'd like to take this time to ask some questions to the girls? Not to me, though... I'm unaffected by the tower, so there would be no point. Remember: ask the question, then focus in on the words of your conversation partner to read their mind. And all of you... don't think about either of our plans. Got it?"
The others all nodded, even Sake, who now rose slowly from the ground wiping drool onto her sleeve. Escort raised her hand to speak. "Keep an eye out as well. It sounds like Watchtower will be sneaking up... if you see anything out of the ordinary, give us a sign," she suggested.
((From here on, DragonierMan can pick one girl each post to focus on the statement of, starting from this post. He will be able to read their mind regarding what they're actually thinking and transmit that information to Watchtower. Thoughts will be transmitted instantly, so try to avoid transmitting those from anyone who might be thinking about the plan!))
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DragonierMan listened to all the talking with a frown and a furrowed brow. When it was all over he turned to Rodeo first. "If it becomes convenient to some mission, or I later feel like it, I'll let you ride me in dragon form. Later." He turned to Guillotine next, with a glance at Escort. "We'll settle up after the mission then. Until then we'll be professional about it and not try to beat you into a pulp until the current mission is handled. I give my word on this matter," he said with a growl. Biting back his words as he said them. Clearly, he was going to suffer uncomfortably throughout this whole situation. Both his revenge would be put on the back burner for now, and worse still, he might not be able to conduct any revenge if the NS gave her safe harbor.
So he turned to Escort. "Tell me a story. I heard that General Dee brought you into the Neo-Shogunate with Arch and Sake. How did you all meet? How did you become friends? And what made you really decide to join the Shogunate besides friendship?" After his barrage of questions he stood back and tried to concentrate on the whole 'reading minds' thing.
"I'll ask Sake, then Arch, the same questions after. So they can be thinking of their answers when I come around to them," he said, trying to distract Arch's thoughts the longest. She seemed to have the most on her mind about the current mission and the distraction would help the cause. He was also trying to get Sake to think about her answers as well. Though who knew if Sake had any thoughts going through her alcohol-addled brain, besides getting more drunk? "I don't know much about any of you. So, now would be as good of a chance as any to learn something relatively harmless, yet interesting about yourselves."
With that said he turned back to Rodeo. "So, how did you get recruited for the Shogunate?" he asked, while trying to pay attention to Escort. His eyes dropped down and then moved up her body. "Though your outfit would fit right in with this organization. Or was this what Yasu designed for you to wear?"
So he turned to Escort. "Tell me a story. I heard that General Dee brought you into the Neo-Shogunate with Arch and Sake. How did you all meet? How did you become friends? And what made you really decide to join the Shogunate besides friendship?" After his barrage of questions he stood back and tried to concentrate on the whole 'reading minds' thing.
"I'll ask Sake, then Arch, the same questions after. So they can be thinking of their answers when I come around to them," he said, trying to distract Arch's thoughts the longest. She seemed to have the most on her mind about the current mission and the distraction would help the cause. He was also trying to get Sake to think about her answers as well. Though who knew if Sake had any thoughts going through her alcohol-addled brain, besides getting more drunk? "I don't know much about any of you. So, now would be as good of a chance as any to learn something relatively harmless, yet interesting about yourselves."
With that said he turned back to Rodeo. "So, how did you get recruited for the Shogunate?" he asked, while trying to pay attention to Escort. His eyes dropped down and then moved up her body. "Though your outfit would fit right in with this organization. Or was this what Yasu designed for you to wear?"
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"Oh, seer-yus, no foolin'? Hooey! That'd be a hoot and a half!" Rodeo cheered, waving her hat above her head to indicate just how seriously she felt about that statement. Guillotine continued to look combat-ready, or rather, unready to let her guard down given their supposed temporary truce. Once DragonierMan spoke to Escort, and with a bit of concentration, he was able to begin hearing her thoughts, starting quietly before gradually becoming as clear as though she were speaking out loud.
Escort raised her head politely once DragonierMan turned his attention to her. "That is correct. The army actually owes quite a lot to Miss Dee. You see, my friend comes from a wealthy family and one of their philanthropic projects, before the Shogunate, was to provide care for unoperated navis. I was one of those navis, at the time. Dee became especially close with the three of us: myself, Miss Sake, and Miss Arch, with whom you're familiar. Eventually, Dee befriended the Shogun as well, such is her nature and outreach. It took a while for the three of us to warm up to the idea of joining the army... you know, while it was still so militant, it was outside of my comfort zone, personally. Finally, the time came to rejoin our old caretaker. We did so with renewed resolve and now serve the Shogun, just as you do," she finished, omitting a few details, but speaking eloquently otherwise. "So to speak plainly, friendship was my main reason for joining the Shogun's empire. The organization values trust and I trust Dee more than anyone else." Once he'd begun addressing the others, she closed her eyes and began to scribble in a small, black notepad using a shining black pen.
The thoughts rambled on, only audible to DragonierMan, as the other girls answered him, unaware that they'd need to speak over Escort's internal monologue to be heard. "Sure, DragonierMan. Don't think about it too hard," Arch suggested with a smile. She seemed to sense how abnormal it was for DragonierMan to be sitting around in a circle with a bunch of ladies, asking them about their thoughts and feelings.
Rodeo perked back up again as she was addressed. The earlier dragon scare didn't seem to be weighing on her mood any. "Aw, shucks, I wouldn't even say I was recruited! Oh-the-contrair-ree, I've been tryin' to join you cowpokes for the better part of a year or so! I keep takin' a mission to join and the train'll crash, or someone'll dump chocolate all over me right when I'm movin' in, or some other funny business! I'd begun to think somebody had it out for me! Finally, Aera kinda put in a word for me and vouched for me, so if I do okay here during the Watchtower sich-ee-a'shun, I'm in! That's why I'm gonna try extra hard to... uh... answer questions!" she resolved, tipping her hat up and grinning wide. She noticed DragonierMan looking her over and smiled, tipping her hat up higher. "Oh, ya like it? Uh, it's not a final draft, call it a test uniform if ya want. The hat's just my ole ten gallon and the skirt's somethin' Yasu whipped me up in a jiffy, yup. I'm not sure what the final version'll look like! Probably somethin' with... uh... hm. I guess this one's actually probably about how it'll look.
Escort's thoughts were so rambling that one might wonder if she was somehow making them intentionally distracting. At any rate, Drago would have to decide who he'd want to listen in on next. There was no sign of Watchtower or her watchtower yet.
Quote (Escort's Thoughts)
...Miss Rodeo's been sitting here with my limousine this whole time... but she only cares about riding the dragon?
Escort raised her head politely once DragonierMan turned his attention to her. "That is correct. The army actually owes quite a lot to Miss Dee. You see, my friend comes from a wealthy family and one of their philanthropic projects, before the Shogunate, was to provide care for unoperated navis. I was one of those navis, at the time. Dee became especially close with the three of us: myself, Miss Sake, and Miss Arch, with whom you're familiar. Eventually, Dee befriended the Shogun as well, such is her nature and outreach. It took a while for the three of us to warm up to the idea of joining the army... you know, while it was still so militant, it was outside of my comfort zone, personally. Finally, the time came to rejoin our old caretaker. We did so with renewed resolve and now serve the Shogun, just as you do," she finished, omitting a few details, but speaking eloquently otherwise. "So to speak plainly, friendship was my main reason for joining the Shogun's empire. The organization values trust and I trust Dee more than anyone else." Once he'd begun addressing the others, she closed her eyes and began to scribble in a small, black notepad using a shining black pen.
Quote (Escort's Thoughts)
Ordinarily I write whatever I want in this notepad... it's my way of venting a bit. There are some things that would be embarrassing to say, so I'm going to avoid talking about those altogether and just write them in here instead... Like how I was interested in joining the army because I heard from Dee there were other cute girls in the army or how I wanted to test how strong the Shogun was in hand-to-hand combat... Sometimes I fantasize that the Shogun is a girl, even still-
The thoughts rambled on, only audible to DragonierMan, as the other girls answered him, unaware that they'd need to speak over Escort's internal monologue to be heard. "Sure, DragonierMan. Don't think about it too hard," Arch suggested with a smile. She seemed to sense how abnormal it was for DragonierMan to be sitting around in a circle with a bunch of ladies, asking them about their thoughts and feelings.
Rodeo perked back up again as she was addressed. The earlier dragon scare didn't seem to be weighing on her mood any. "Aw, shucks, I wouldn't even say I was recruited! Oh-the-contrair-ree, I've been tryin' to join you cowpokes for the better part of a year or so! I keep takin' a mission to join and the train'll crash, or someone'll dump chocolate all over me right when I'm movin' in, or some other funny business! I'd begun to think somebody had it out for me! Finally, Aera kinda put in a word for me and vouched for me, so if I do okay here during the Watchtower sich-ee-a'shun, I'm in! That's why I'm gonna try extra hard to... uh... answer questions!" she resolved, tipping her hat up and grinning wide. She noticed DragonierMan looking her over and smiled, tipping her hat up higher. "Oh, ya like it? Uh, it's not a final draft, call it a test uniform if ya want. The hat's just my ole ten gallon and the skirt's somethin' Yasu whipped me up in a jiffy, yup. I'm not sure what the final version'll look like! Probably somethin' with... uh... hm. I guess this one's actually probably about how it'll look.
Quote (Escort's Thoughts)
That sort of looks like the final design. I don't think Yasu will be able to add anything to it that's not already there... Although, I wonder if Yasu will let her keep the hat. Yasu doesn't understand or respect western culture very much, so she probably thinks it makes Rodeo look rather peculiar. Even my limousine caused her some confusion... She's remarkably naive, our First General. Rodeo seems a little naive herself, though, but it's cute. Oh, I shouldn't be thinking like that, though... She's much younger than I am, and now I have Coral... I need to stop thinking about other women. I'll just picture Coral... her soft hair and her soft breasts... I wish she'd join the Neo-Shogun Empire too so we could spend more time together...
Escort's thoughts were so rambling that one might wonder if she was somehow making them intentionally distracting. At any rate, Drago would have to decide who he'd want to listen in on next. There was no sign of Watchtower or her watchtower yet.
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DragonierMan learned a few more details from Escort's mouth, and even more from her mind. Though he would keep the Shogun's female side under lock and key until he could confirm for himself. Sorry Escort. "I keep hearing that Dee is wealthy and that she was a big supplier of the Shogunate coming into it. Do either of you know more about this subject?" he asked Escort and Arch. "Like: What is the name of this wealthy family? Why did she choose the NS to be her pet project and how did the family react to that? Things of that nature."
After they had the time to talk about it, or not, he turned to Sake. If they did talk about it he would keep his mind on Escort. Her mind seemed to not have a filter and would probably let slip more juicy information. Dreams and mind-reading seemed to be how Drago learned major details about the people around him. Though it was up in the air as to whether that was a questionable way of going about things.
"Ok, Sake you are up," DragonierMan called out just before he switched his attention to Sake's mind after Escort and Arch were done talking. "You are the one I know the least about. So perhaps you can tell me your origins and how you got up to this point."
He paused after asking Sake. "You know, I am asking everyone about themselves. But besides Arch, the rest of you haven't heard about me. So let me start next. My name is DragonierMan. I am the Sword of my Operator, which means I was programmed to be a virus-buster. But I was given a knightly persona for interaction purposes. At first I was given a program designation of SINN-MBAP, standing for Self-commanded Intercommunication Network Navigator - Multipurpose Battle Application Platform. It is a mouthful, I know. Most just said SINN at the time." He reached up and scratched his cheek, relieving a momentary itch.
"Which was why it was quickly shortened from SINN-MBAP to SINNBAD, or Self-commanded Intercommunication Network Navigator Battle Application Dilettante. The Dilettante was because I was more versatile in combat or something. Anyways, that was when I tried to join up with the Neo-Shogunate, when I was my more charming self. However, when you battle viruses long enough, you start taking hits. There were so many times I came close to deletion, chewed up by viruses, that you can't just walk away unharmed. I had been infected to the very core of my being by hundreds of viral scratches and bathing in viral bloodbaths that I was almost lost to the very creatures I was created to destroy." He breathed in deeply and then exhaled in a sigh.
"So my Operator learned how to do a quick patch-job, followed by a more in-depth blending he learned from partially-suspicious individuals. And I became DragonierMan: part navi, part virus. Held together by damaged knightly virtues and viral destructive impulses. But at least I was now highly resistant to further tampering by viral strikes. So in a way I am even a stronger Sword now than ever before." He gave an unsure grin at that.
"So, my Operator wants to cleanse the NET, save the orphan programs, and put a solid governing body over the NET so we finally have order. I am an instrument to bring about that End Time. And so I was told to join the NS because they shared my Operator's goals. Much more than the NP or NM or whoever else is out there. And here I am."
He paused again. "Any questions before Sake talks about herself?"
After they had the time to talk about it, or not, he turned to Sake. If they did talk about it he would keep his mind on Escort. Her mind seemed to not have a filter and would probably let slip more juicy information. Dreams and mind-reading seemed to be how Drago learned major details about the people around him. Though it was up in the air as to whether that was a questionable way of going about things.
"Ok, Sake you are up," DragonierMan called out just before he switched his attention to Sake's mind after Escort and Arch were done talking. "You are the one I know the least about. So perhaps you can tell me your origins and how you got up to this point."
He paused after asking Sake. "You know, I am asking everyone about themselves. But besides Arch, the rest of you haven't heard about me. So let me start next. My name is DragonierMan. I am the Sword of my Operator, which means I was programmed to be a virus-buster. But I was given a knightly persona for interaction purposes. At first I was given a program designation of SINN-MBAP, standing for Self-commanded Intercommunication Network Navigator - Multipurpose Battle Application Platform. It is a mouthful, I know. Most just said SINN at the time." He reached up and scratched his cheek, relieving a momentary itch.
"Which was why it was quickly shortened from SINN-MBAP to SINNBAD, or Self-commanded Intercommunication Network Navigator Battle Application Dilettante. The Dilettante was because I was more versatile in combat or something. Anyways, that was when I tried to join up with the Neo-Shogunate, when I was my more charming self. However, when you battle viruses long enough, you start taking hits. There were so many times I came close to deletion, chewed up by viruses, that you can't just walk away unharmed. I had been infected to the very core of my being by hundreds of viral scratches and bathing in viral bloodbaths that I was almost lost to the very creatures I was created to destroy." He breathed in deeply and then exhaled in a sigh.
"So my Operator learned how to do a quick patch-job, followed by a more in-depth blending he learned from partially-suspicious individuals. And I became DragonierMan: part navi, part virus. Held together by damaged knightly virtues and viral destructive impulses. But at least I was now highly resistant to further tampering by viral strikes. So in a way I am even a stronger Sword now than ever before." He gave an unsure grin at that.
"So, my Operator wants to cleanse the NET, save the orphan programs, and put a solid governing body over the NET so we finally have order. I am an instrument to bring about that End Time. And so I was told to join the NS because they shared my Operator's goals. Much more than the NP or NM or whoever else is out there. And here I am."
He paused again. "Any questions before Sake talks about herself?"
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Escort shut her eyes and crossed her arms, tapping one finger up and down upon her bicep. "I can't tell you about Dee's operator or that family. The Shogun, the First General, and the other generals.. all five of them are very protective of the identities of their operators. So I'm afraid I can't tell you," she spoke clearly; that seemed to have gotten the interest of the other girls as well, even Arch and Sake, though it was hard to imagine the two of them didn't know about Dee's operator. "As for why she chose the NS... I'm not certain how the First General came to join, but with Vee, Lee, and Dee, the Shogun scouted them personally. It's more than the bond that most of us share, however... those girls are bound to the Shogun in some way that I can't quite understand. It's an oath they took. I wish I knew more to tell you, but even Dee's always been quite mysterious about it."
"Going back to your earlier question, I joined for basically the same reason as Escort. Dee's my best friend, so I go where she goes. That said, I was skeptical of everything about the Empire for a long time... but I like the idea of unifying the net, so now I'm a bit more confident with the decision. It's nice to have something like that to devote yourself to, especially for a navi like me, who mostly spent her days doing nothing... well, training, but not really applying that training," Arch answered.
"Me too! I joined for Dee," Sake answered, stumbling backwards a bit before grabbing hold of Arch's skirt armor to stabilize herself. "And the rest of my buds! It's not just Dee... I like having lots of friends, like you." She smiled, although DragonierMan himself had admitted that he didn't know much about her, so it might be unfitting that she declare herself his friend just yet. "Uuum... so, I was abandoned a long time ago by my operator. We all were: Escort, Arch, and me... It's a problem, hic, y'know? Operators just get tired of their navis and abandon them... Anyway, you might think, 'oh, that's why she drinks so much,' but that's not the reason! I drink I've always been thunk," she explained, sounding somehow proud of the fact. "Well, I make my own sake... Navis don't have to eat or drink, but most of them still like to! The flavor still matters, not to mention the buzz. So I spend a lot of time getting it just right. My quest... is to make the perfect sake, then drink it together with my friends." She beamed happily, then took another swig from her bottle. Keeping her smile, she shook her head back and forth. "This isn't it. Too much kick~"
"Yeah, let's here about you... I wanna know... wanna know how you, hic, got to be so dragon-y," she murmured, before quieting down so he could talk. While he did, she ran her cheek up and down against Arch's skirt armor, enjoying the coolness against her skin. Everyone listened attentively to DragonierMan's story, though from Rodeo's expression, it looked like it was all a bit too much for her to follow in terms of abbreviations and their meanings. "Oh, now I get it! Huh. You fought a lot in the past, huh? More than most navis? And that's how you got the way you were? Maybe... maybe you fought a little too much! It's important to R&R every now and again. Hopefully things have been more restful hanging out with us! I take it easy aaall the time," the little girl giggled.
"I think I was unaware of some of those facts as well," Arch pointed out, since her name had come up. "It's good that you're here because of your convictions though." Her smile seemed very genuine when she said that. Sake continued smiling, but DragonierMan noticed she rolled her eyes.
Sake's thoughts seemed to be a lot more coherent than her speech; the voice didn't seem to match her inebriated one, even disregarding her words. Rodeo raised her hand to ask a question, then blurted it out rather than being called on. "What kinda vie-rie did that to ya, pardner? I never heard'a nothin' like that in virus-bustin' school!" she questioned loudly, not with skepticism, but more with astonishment.
The girls would let him answer that, before Sake went on to say a bit more about herself. "I guess we haven't been teamed together much yet just cause... uh... well, you know how the First General doesn't seem to trust Dee that much? I guess that kinda extends to me too! I'm pretty useful and can do all kinds of things, but all she ever sees is me sleeping around the camp, hic, hee hee," she chuckled, wiping at her mouth with a sleepy smile. "So as far as she knows, all I do is sleep, drink, and, under the best of circum... circumshtances, give drinks to other folks. My drinks aren't just for show, though! Besides perfecting the perfect sake, I can also make them boost performance of anyone who drinks them! I think most of us are a little bolder when we're drunk, he he. Not Archie, though, she's kind of a mess!"
"Don't tell him that," Arch moaned, clasping a hand to her face.
"Say... Dee likes you a lot, Drago! Hic! But you know that already," Sake chuckled, smiling mischievously while keeping her check up against Arc's side. "That means you're a pretty funny guy! Or something like that, right? Why do ya think Dee and you get along so well? After all, Yasu recruited you, right? Even though you're a guy! That's pretty weird, isn't it?"
Rodeo narrowed her eyes, looking from person to person. "Huh? What? Yasu doesn't like guys? Is that why there's so many ladies in the Nee-yo Shoguns?" she asked, conspiratorially.
Guillotine tapped her foot and stared at the outer parts of the camp irritably. It seemed she wasn't in any hurry to learn about her compatriots or take part in any jokes and instead was antsy to catch Watchtower so they could be done with this. So far, however, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, other than the ability to read girls' thoughts. So far, DragonierMan seemed to be doing a decent job keeping their thoughts off the incoming siege weapon... though, perhaps that was easy when the villain in question was out of sight, out of mind.
"Going back to your earlier question, I joined for basically the same reason as Escort. Dee's my best friend, so I go where she goes. That said, I was skeptical of everything about the Empire for a long time... but I like the idea of unifying the net, so now I'm a bit more confident with the decision. It's nice to have something like that to devote yourself to, especially for a navi like me, who mostly spent her days doing nothing... well, training, but not really applying that training," Arch answered.
"Me too! I joined for Dee," Sake answered, stumbling backwards a bit before grabbing hold of Arch's skirt armor to stabilize herself. "And the rest of my buds! It's not just Dee... I like having lots of friends, like you." She smiled, although DragonierMan himself had admitted that he didn't know much about her, so it might be unfitting that she declare herself his friend just yet. "Uuum... so, I was abandoned a long time ago by my operator. We all were: Escort, Arch, and me... It's a problem, hic, y'know? Operators just get tired of their navis and abandon them... Anyway, you might think, 'oh, that's why she drinks so much,' but that's not the reason! I drink I've always been thunk," she explained, sounding somehow proud of the fact. "Well, I make my own sake... Navis don't have to eat or drink, but most of them still like to! The flavor still matters, not to mention the buzz. So I spend a lot of time getting it just right. My quest... is to make the perfect sake, then drink it together with my friends." She beamed happily, then took another swig from her bottle. Keeping her smile, she shook her head back and forth. "This isn't it. Too much kick~"
Quote (Sake's Thoughts)
If this drink is too much for me... it's a good thing I didn't let anyone else taste it... my alcohol tolerance is higher than anybody's, so this batch has gotta be waaaaaaaay too strong!
"Yeah, let's here about you... I wanna know... wanna know how you, hic, got to be so dragon-y," she murmured, before quieting down so he could talk. While he did, she ran her cheek up and down against Arch's skirt armor, enjoying the coolness against her skin. Everyone listened attentively to DragonierMan's story, though from Rodeo's expression, it looked like it was all a bit too much for her to follow in terms of abbreviations and their meanings. "Oh, now I get it! Huh. You fought a lot in the past, huh? More than most navis? And that's how you got the way you were? Maybe... maybe you fought a little too much! It's important to R&R every now and again. Hopefully things have been more restful hanging out with us! I take it easy aaall the time," the little girl giggled.
"I think I was unaware of some of those facts as well," Arch pointed out, since her name had come up. "It's good that you're here because of your convictions though." Her smile seemed very genuine when she said that. Sake continued smiling, but DragonierMan noticed she rolled her eyes.
Quote (Sake's Thoughts)
It's a shame you can't read his mind, Arch! I'm sure he wants to help people too and all that... but the fact that Dee is sweet on him and you seem to be getting there probably has something to do with it too, don't you think? Even Yasu! And there was that thing with Vee... maybe others I don't even know about. I mean, it's a bonus, at least!
Sake's thoughts seemed to be a lot more coherent than her speech; the voice didn't seem to match her inebriated one, even disregarding her words. Rodeo raised her hand to ask a question, then blurted it out rather than being called on. "What kinda vie-rie did that to ya, pardner? I never heard'a nothin' like that in virus-bustin' school!" she questioned loudly, not with skepticism, but more with astonishment.
The girls would let him answer that, before Sake went on to say a bit more about herself. "I guess we haven't been teamed together much yet just cause... uh... well, you know how the First General doesn't seem to trust Dee that much? I guess that kinda extends to me too! I'm pretty useful and can do all kinds of things, but all she ever sees is me sleeping around the camp, hic, hee hee," she chuckled, wiping at her mouth with a sleepy smile. "So as far as she knows, all I do is sleep, drink, and, under the best of circum... circumshtances, give drinks to other folks. My drinks aren't just for show, though! Besides perfecting the perfect sake, I can also make them boost performance of anyone who drinks them! I think most of us are a little bolder when we're drunk, he he. Not Archie, though, she's kind of a mess!"
"Don't tell him that," Arch moaned, clasping a hand to her face.
Quote (Sake's Thoughts)
It's fun messing with Arch! I bet DragonierMan thinks so too. Although, I gotta admit... I'm not sure how he gets along with Dee so well. He seems like a kind of serious guy from everything I'm seeing... Maybe she just likes the way he gets on Yasu's nerves? Or maybe it's something else? I guess I'll learn if I keep talking to him.
"Say... Dee likes you a lot, Drago! Hic! But you know that already," Sake chuckled, smiling mischievously while keeping her check up against Arc's side. "That means you're a pretty funny guy! Or something like that, right? Why do ya think Dee and you get along so well? After all, Yasu recruited you, right? Even though you're a guy! That's pretty weird, isn't it?"
Rodeo narrowed her eyes, looking from person to person. "Huh? What? Yasu doesn't like guys? Is that why there's so many ladies in the Nee-yo Shoguns?" she asked, conspiratorially.
Guillotine tapped her foot and stared at the outer parts of the camp irritably. It seemed she wasn't in any hurry to learn about her compatriots or take part in any jokes and instead was antsy to catch Watchtower so they could be done with this. So far, however, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, other than the ability to read girls' thoughts. So far, DragonierMan seemed to be doing a decent job keeping their thoughts off the incoming siege weapon... though, perhaps that was easy when the villain in question was out of sight, out of mind.
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Escort managed to keep her thoughts contained as she told DragonierMan that she couldn't reveal the identities of Dee or her family. The mind-reading ability not picking up anything. Which was good, as you don't want to broadcast that kind of stuff to the enemy. What Escort probably didn't know was that Dee had showed him her true form, Myst, and that Dee was a disguise. But more information about Dee would be something he would have to acquire later. Including the information about this supposed 'oath' the generals took.
Sake began talking after, and her slurred speech vs. her clear thoughts intrigued Drago. It showed that she was still sharp in the head even if her outer appearance was that of a hopeless drunk. Drago felt a lot better about using Sake's talents in the future.
Throughout their conversations, Dee's friends kept bringing up how they were all abandoned navis that somehow found new operators or whatever. Drago felt secure in the knowledge that his operator probably wouldn't abandon him, as the quest he was on would be a long time to fruition, and his operator was pretty set on keeping up on the upgrades whenever he had some extra cash to spare. His operator also had a goal of helping out the downtrodden, unoperated navis. So, perhaps the others out there like Arch, Escort, and Sake would be able to live decent lives in the future. It was just another reminder to keep working towards that future.
As the conversation continued, Rodeo then asked a question. Though it took a moment for him to translate it. She wanted to know what kind of virus caused his infection, as she heard nothing about it in her 'virus-busting school'. Drago wasn't even aware that they had a 'virus-busting school'. "There is a 'virus-busting school'?" he asked.
"It wasn't a single virus that infected me anyway," he began. "I thought I made it clear that it was a culmination of a long time of busting. I got hit pretty bad a bunch of times. When your health is low, you tend to open yourself up to infection. A virus is nothing but an infection given form. Everything they touch is poisoned. My original form was killed by a thousand cuts in this way. Thankfully my core survived mostly intact. Otherwise I might be out there as some sort of heel-navi metavirus, or pieces of broken code floating in the ether."
Sake continued and explained a bit of her powers. Drago had heard she had some ability to debilitate, but she also revealed that she could enhance her allies. Which was just another reason Drago should bring her into a mission sometime. They could use a variable power like her to fill gaps during a difficult situation that could change at any moment.
Then Sake thought and asked about Drago's relationship with Dee. Drago thought for a moment before responding, but couldn't think of anything specific as to why they were 'together'. "We sort of have an unspoken attraction to one another," Drago stated. "I think it might have started as harmless flirting, that was mostly to get under Yasu's skin. But since we were both into the flirting, it moved beyond that. I like it when a woman knows what she wants and then steps up and grabs it when it presents itself." He threw a smirk towards Arch, and also switched his attention to her thoughts. "Which is why I also like Arch. She stepped forward and grabbed me as well. You should have seen her during the Special Armor Tests and when her and Dee invited me up to Dee's Sharo Home," he teased.
He turned to Rodeo after, not going into details of Arch's excursions. "Yes. It is common knowledge that Yasu doesn't particular like men. However, I have done enough for her to at least have her begrudging respect. And that MachMan guy too I suspect, given how much Yasu treats him better than me. I think it is because he is a robot or cyborg or something and so probably doesn't have the 'vile and base urges that men have'," Drago finished with a slightly different-pitched voice, trying to imitate Yasu.
"So Arch," Drago said as he turned his questions back to her. "What have you been up to since we last had something together?" he asked. Whether he meant that double entendre about 'something together' or not was hard to know just by looking at his smirking face. But he was most likely asking about the time since they last had a mission together. He didn't seem to ask for more information on Arch's relationship with Dee, but that was because Arch had been adding that information to Escort's and Sake's accounts.
Sake began talking after, and her slurred speech vs. her clear thoughts intrigued Drago. It showed that she was still sharp in the head even if her outer appearance was that of a hopeless drunk. Drago felt a lot better about using Sake's talents in the future.
Throughout their conversations, Dee's friends kept bringing up how they were all abandoned navis that somehow found new operators or whatever. Drago felt secure in the knowledge that his operator probably wouldn't abandon him, as the quest he was on would be a long time to fruition, and his operator was pretty set on keeping up on the upgrades whenever he had some extra cash to spare. His operator also had a goal of helping out the downtrodden, unoperated navis. So, perhaps the others out there like Arch, Escort, and Sake would be able to live decent lives in the future. It was just another reminder to keep working towards that future.
As the conversation continued, Rodeo then asked a question. Though it took a moment for him to translate it. She wanted to know what kind of virus caused his infection, as she heard nothing about it in her 'virus-busting school'. Drago wasn't even aware that they had a 'virus-busting school'. "There is a 'virus-busting school'?" he asked.
"It wasn't a single virus that infected me anyway," he began. "I thought I made it clear that it was a culmination of a long time of busting. I got hit pretty bad a bunch of times. When your health is low, you tend to open yourself up to infection. A virus is nothing but an infection given form. Everything they touch is poisoned. My original form was killed by a thousand cuts in this way. Thankfully my core survived mostly intact. Otherwise I might be out there as some sort of heel-navi metavirus, or pieces of broken code floating in the ether."
Sake continued and explained a bit of her powers. Drago had heard she had some ability to debilitate, but she also revealed that she could enhance her allies. Which was just another reason Drago should bring her into a mission sometime. They could use a variable power like her to fill gaps during a difficult situation that could change at any moment.
Then Sake thought and asked about Drago's relationship with Dee. Drago thought for a moment before responding, but couldn't think of anything specific as to why they were 'together'. "We sort of have an unspoken attraction to one another," Drago stated. "I think it might have started as harmless flirting, that was mostly to get under Yasu's skin. But since we were both into the flirting, it moved beyond that. I like it when a woman knows what she wants and then steps up and grabs it when it presents itself." He threw a smirk towards Arch, and also switched his attention to her thoughts. "Which is why I also like Arch. She stepped forward and grabbed me as well. You should have seen her during the Special Armor Tests and when her and Dee invited me up to Dee's Sharo Home," he teased.
He turned to Rodeo after, not going into details of Arch's excursions. "Yes. It is common knowledge that Yasu doesn't particular like men. However, I have done enough for her to at least have her begrudging respect. And that MachMan guy too I suspect, given how much Yasu treats him better than me. I think it is because he is a robot or cyborg or something and so probably doesn't have the 'vile and base urges that men have'," Drago finished with a slightly different-pitched voice, trying to imitate Yasu.
"So Arch," Drago said as he turned his questions back to her. "What have you been up to since we last had something together?" he asked. Whether he meant that double entendre about 'something together' or not was hard to know just by looking at his smirking face. But he was most likely asking about the time since they last had a mission together. He didn't seem to ask for more information on Arch's relationship with Dee, but that was because Arch had been adding that information to Escort's and Sake's accounts.
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"Well shee-yoosh, 'course! Kids do busting school and stuff nowadays; it's a vital part'a livin' in today's world and all. But maybe not everybody does. I got high marks, back in the day! Y'oughta see how fast I can wrangle a Spikey!" Rodeo guffawed, perhaps a bit insensitively considering DragonierMan's past problems with viruses. "I mean, I getcha, but tarnations, I got knocked on my butt by a virus or two or ten! I think yew oughta look inta' that a little bit more! It's not normal to get corrupted just cause yer fightin' ordinary viruses. And why didn't yer op jack ya out?"
"Don't be rude, Rodeo! I wouldn't blame him if that's a sore subject. Besides, we all know there's a long history of viruses adversely affecting navis. That's why virus busting is essential, even today," Arch quieted her ally, finding the goading a little distasteful. Her eyebrows lowered, however, when the subject turned to DragonierMan's misadventures with Dee, almost like she was wishing she hadn't jumped to his defense just then. That look went quickly from irritated to flustered once the subject left her friend's relationship with DragonierMan and became her's.
"Th-That was just a real testing exercise, it wasn't anything more than that, back then," Arch squeaked, already significantly red before the reception at Dee's home was mentioned. She covered her face with both hands, increasingly bashful. "That was all Dee's idea! I-I'm not like that, I'm not a... a 'go-getter' when it comes to guys!" Sake and Escort began watching her curiously, Escort with surprise and Sake with amusement. "I swear, you're just as bad as Dee is sometimes! You two just... pick on me and then make fun of me for it later! I don't even know why I'm her friend sometimes... and I certainly don't know why I... b-b-baked for you!" she cried indignantly, though baking was really the least she'd done.
Cruelly, he left the tease hanging and moved to the subject of Yasu instead. Rodeo didn't seem to understand all that, but it got a hearty laugh out of Sake. "That's a great impershonation! Ooo, uh, do another one... do the Shogun! Isn't it funny how he's always ECHOING in that loud voice all the time? I think he's got a megaphone built into his armor!" Sake giggled, finding that funny, apparently, rather than menacing as it was undoubtedly intended.
"I don't know that it's appropriate to make jokes about either Yasu or the Shogun," Escort murmured, tapping one finger against her bicep. If DragonierMan read her mind now, he'd probably find she was more interested than she looked. Arch, on the other hand, seemed to be behind a topic...
Well, at least she didn't seem to be thinking about Watchtower, so nothing was going to be given away. Nobody really seemed to remember the mission at all, at this point, for better or worse, now that the gossip had gotten juicier. No one except Guillotine, that is... she was pacing around, sometimes up the staircase to the archer's walkway beneath the fence, sometimes to look between minor gaps in the wood to see if there was any sign of their enemy yet.
Arch closed her eyes to compose herself, then tried to answer DragonierMan's question while ignoring the entendre. "Let's see... I've been on-hand for base defense, mostly. My ability to fight at a range is sort of valuable amongst the subordinates, which is a little strange. It's not extraordinary for a navi to use a gun or a bow, but for whatever reason, most of our allies are close or mid-range fighters. At any rate, that makes me ideal for watching the base for enemy attack. We had a run-in with the Terror Girls when they tried an aerial attack a while back... It turned out we were ill-prepared for that, but they hired new aerial navis to handle that, who you may have met by now. But yeah... kind of low profile. Dee hasn't been up to many shenanigans lately, so things are calm and composed, just the way I like them. Time for training and serious work," she smiled challengingly. It was hard to see that as confident when her face was still so red.
She shook her head rapidly, trying to dispel that thought, trying to think of something distracting that would prevent her focusing on Guillotine.
It would probably be a good idea to stop reading Arch's thoughts before she gave anything else away.
"Don't be rude, Rodeo! I wouldn't blame him if that's a sore subject. Besides, we all know there's a long history of viruses adversely affecting navis. That's why virus busting is essential, even today," Arch quieted her ally, finding the goading a little distasteful. Her eyebrows lowered, however, when the subject turned to DragonierMan's misadventures with Dee, almost like she was wishing she hadn't jumped to his defense just then. That look went quickly from irritated to flustered once the subject left her friend's relationship with DragonierMan and became her's.
Quote (Arch's Thoughts)
"Ooooooh noooooo, no no no!
"Th-That was just a real testing exercise, it wasn't anything more than that, back then," Arch squeaked, already significantly red before the reception at Dee's home was mentioned. She covered her face with both hands, increasingly bashful. "That was all Dee's idea! I-I'm not like that, I'm not a... a 'go-getter' when it comes to guys!" Sake and Escort began watching her curiously, Escort with surprise and Sake with amusement. "I swear, you're just as bad as Dee is sometimes! You two just... pick on me and then make fun of me for it later! I don't even know why I'm her friend sometimes... and I certainly don't know why I... b-b-baked for you!" she cried indignantly, though baking was really the least she'd done.
Cruelly, he left the tease hanging and moved to the subject of Yasu instead. Rodeo didn't seem to understand all that, but it got a hearty laugh out of Sake. "That's a great impershonation! Ooo, uh, do another one... do the Shogun! Isn't it funny how he's always ECHOING in that loud voice all the time? I think he's got a megaphone built into his armor!" Sake giggled, finding that funny, apparently, rather than menacing as it was undoubtedly intended.
"I don't know that it's appropriate to make jokes about either Yasu or the Shogun," Escort murmured, tapping one finger against her bicep. If DragonierMan read her mind now, he'd probably find she was more interested than she looked. Arch, on the other hand, seemed to be behind a topic...
Quote (Arch's Thoughts)
Oh crap oh crap! He still remembers all that! Does he really want both me and Dee? Can that even happen? I thought he and Dee were a thing now... but no, that's stupid, Dee's always liked an audience! I'm not going to be a toy for the two of them to play with like that, though! Next time, I'll put my foot down! But... But Drago and I did kind of have a moment early on... but that was just weird, it was a weird situation! I'm not attracted to him at all right now. If he keeps teasing me, I'm going to really let him have it!
Well, at least she didn't seem to be thinking about Watchtower, so nothing was going to be given away. Nobody really seemed to remember the mission at all, at this point, for better or worse, now that the gossip had gotten juicier. No one except Guillotine, that is... she was pacing around, sometimes up the staircase to the archer's walkway beneath the fence, sometimes to look between minor gaps in the wood to see if there was any sign of their enemy yet.
Arch closed her eyes to compose herself, then tried to answer DragonierMan's question while ignoring the entendre. "Let's see... I've been on-hand for base defense, mostly. My ability to fight at a range is sort of valuable amongst the subordinates, which is a little strange. It's not extraordinary for a navi to use a gun or a bow, but for whatever reason, most of our allies are close or mid-range fighters. At any rate, that makes me ideal for watching the base for enemy attack. We had a run-in with the Terror Girls when they tried an aerial attack a while back... It turned out we were ill-prepared for that, but they hired new aerial navis to handle that, who you may have met by now. But yeah... kind of low profile. Dee hasn't been up to many shenanigans lately, so things are calm and composed, just the way I like them. Time for training and serious work," she smiled challengingly. It was hard to see that as confident when her face was still so red.
Quote (Arch's Thoughts)
"I wonder what he's been doing... I haven't been hanging out with Dee as much lately, what if they've... Yeah, they've probably gotten a lot farther ahead at this point. All he's doing is teasing me now, like she does. Dammit, I feel like an idiot.. I should go join-"
She shook her head rapidly, trying to dispel that thought, trying to think of something distracting that would prevent her focusing on Guillotine.
Quote (Arch's Thoughts)
"Aaah um um DragonierMan's a jerk, DragonierMan's a jerk! Jerk jerk jerk jerk! I wonder if he still walks around camp in a codpiece some times? Does he know I'm thinking about it? Oh God, he's looking right at me, somebody else say something!
It would probably be a good idea to stop reading Arch's thoughts before she gave anything else away.
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"I enjoyed your baking Arch. I don't believe I ever thanked you for that meal," DragonierMan said to Arch as he turned his thoughts to Rodeo. "So thank you. It was delicious," he added. Though as he thought about it more, he didn't really remember eating much, if at all, after he had to deal with that blasted MarriageMan. All he remembered was fixing a hole in the side of the cabin, and falling asleep.
He shook his head and turned to Rodeo. "You said that you have been trying to get into the Neo-Shogunate for a while now. Why did you choose the Neo-Shogunate to join over the other groups?" he asked.
After he heard from Rodeo, he turned back to Arch, Escort, and Sake. "So how much do you know about MachMan, Aera, Vector, Roc, Skywriter, Pest, and Sylk?" he asked as he listed out a half-dozen navis he had some adventures with, whether brief or long. "It was said that everyone but Sylk was a part of this newly christened aerial unit. I find it odd that I, and the twins, weren't included in said group as we can also fly." He looked like he was holding back some pouting at not being chosen to be a part of some special force. "Unless they plan on making another group so they don't put all their eggs in one basket..." he mused. "That would make sense," he convinced himself. Seemingly finding solace in that delusion and relaxing slightly.
"Anyways, anything you can tell me about any of them would be helpful. Especially if I plan on working with them in the future and all. I can only mention that Sylk can handle herself in a fight. We busted a little in the Rogue parts of the NET, and she showed me a great deal of her power. I can't say much about the others except that they were competent enough in the two missions we had together. Oh, and I also heard that you guys found Roc's sister, so that's good."
He shook his head and turned to Rodeo. "You said that you have been trying to get into the Neo-Shogunate for a while now. Why did you choose the Neo-Shogunate to join over the other groups?" he asked.
After he heard from Rodeo, he turned back to Arch, Escort, and Sake. "So how much do you know about MachMan, Aera, Vector, Roc, Skywriter, Pest, and Sylk?" he asked as he listed out a half-dozen navis he had some adventures with, whether brief or long. "It was said that everyone but Sylk was a part of this newly christened aerial unit. I find it odd that I, and the twins, weren't included in said group as we can also fly." He looked like he was holding back some pouting at not being chosen to be a part of some special force. "Unless they plan on making another group so they don't put all their eggs in one basket..." he mused. "That would make sense," he convinced himself. Seemingly finding solace in that delusion and relaxing slightly.
"Anyways, anything you can tell me about any of them would be helpful. Especially if I plan on working with them in the future and all. I can only mention that Sylk can handle herself in a fight. We busted a little in the Rogue parts of the NET, and she showed me a great deal of her power. I can't say much about the others except that they were competent enough in the two missions we had together. Oh, and I also heard that you guys found Roc's sister, so that's good."
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"Well... thank you. We'll do it again some time... without the apron," Arch responded, looking a little pouty following all the teasing. Going without the apron would be about the only way to make the whole affair more indecent, but that probably wasn't the way she'd meant it.
Rodeo looked surprised that the attention was back on her, but she was ready to give her whole life's story at the toss of a hat. "Daggunit, who wouldn't wanna be part'a the Shogun's army? I mean... durn... well, ya put me on the spot here, pardner! You know, cause, in hindsight, it's for uh, the goal and unitin' the net and all'a that, but first, it was the whole package! Just like... bein' the center of attention, the coolest girl in the saloon! It seemed like the cool thing to do, I guess," she answered, looking between the others. Escort continued to deliver a cold, unreadable stare. Arch raised one eyebrow quizically, seeming to think that wasn't a particularly good reason. Sake hiccuped and smiled vacantly. Guillotine paid no attention at all.
The cowgirl's ability to misread the situation was profound. She also seemed to have forgotten the mind-reading thing entirely. Before she could think up a way to spin this around and make herself look good, however, DragonierMan was on to his next conversation. Arch opened her mouth, then raised an eyebrow, as if something had just occurred to her. Escort closed her eyes and covered her mouth with her hand, looking as though something was bothering her. Sake took another swig of her bottle. Rodeo looked around a bit, not seeming to understand was so weird. She appeared to be the only one who could match this frenetic conversation pacing. "I went on a cruise with Ay-ruh and MachMan before! Vector was there too, if he's the blue robot guy. That Aera's the cat's pajamas, real classy gal! That's what I wanna be like: smart and pretty and able to fly around all over the place! Haven't figerred out that last part yet, but I'm roundin' the corner, I reckon! MachMan's kinda the same way, 'cept he's a guy. Skywriter and Roc... I ain't met them too much yet I guess. Or Sylk! I don't ach-ally know who that is."
"The two of you would get along well, I'm sure," Escort offered with a slight smile. "She's a well-mannered woman who I had the honor to work with in NetVegas before, for her recruitment mission. She's a good friend of MachMan's, too. Furthermore, she's even been trained in massage... her multiple arms come in handy for that, I imagine. I hope I'll have the chance to try that some time," she murmured, looking wistfully up at the sky.
Rodeo might be confusing herself with the NetPolice, but luckily, she was so forgetful that she seemed to be avoiding thinking about the ROT just by mental vacancy. At any rate, it was clear there was another sore point to address. Arch took this one. "While you can fly, a big part of the team's role, I believe is infiltration and reconnaissance. Your power makes you better suited for intimidating our enemies, sweeping a formation, and so forth. So while I'm sure you'll be supplementing their efforts from time to time, just as the rest of us will, you might not be a perfect fit to stay with them full time. Then again, I wouldn't call Roc the most discrete person I ever met... The truth of the matter is, it's probably just a case of wrong place, wrong time. You're usually here, but in that instance, we needed immediate air support and MachMan was there. The others were put together as quickly as Yasu could manage," she explained at length.
Rodeo nodded along at each statement, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.
Escort spoke up next. "I believe you've spent just as much time with MachMan as any of the rest of us, possibly myself excluded. I'd say he and his companions are impeccable soldiers, mission-focused all. He's made a good impression on everyone, likely including the Shogun. Though... you're probably more Dee's type, if that's any consolation," she chuckled with a fairly rare smile. "As for working together, you'll find that easy to do, as you have in the past. Like I said, he's all business, but in a good way. I know he's a skill flyer, but I don't know how powerful he is in a fight... Though, his team was capable of taking down the Terror Girls' airplane, so that speaks to some of it."
Rodeo took the wheel again, as the others struggled to keep up with the pace of DragonierMan's questions. "Sheeyoosh, if she's got as many arms as you guys says he does... that is, more than two, that oughta be somethin' to see! And in Rogue Net?! Tarnations! I ain't never poked my head in that partee-kew-lar place," she whistled, literally. "I didn't know Roc had a sister! Shucks, why ain't anybody introduced me?"
"She's... not in much of a condition for introductions, from what I hear," Arch responded sadly. "She's mostly debilitated... it's a miracle she's even still operational. Right now, she's still in a coma, but we're hoping we'll find a way to revive her all the way."
Guillotine looked increasingly frustrated and approached the group. "Many-armed women! Women, feathered like birds! And here, a scaly monster in knight's armor! I've seen and heard everything now, it seems," Guillotine called out from nearby, rolling her head. Besides just the annoyance of that, DragonierMan had added incentive to get the lady to stop speaking; if everyone else kept listening to her, they were going to find it very hard to push Guillotine out of their mind, and if they did that, her being here would be revealed to Watchtower.
Another new development that DragonierMan would not fail to notice, along with the sharper of the other subordinates, was that the ground had began shaking very subtly. It was only apparent when things were quiet or still, and there wasn't a lot of that, with Guillotine raving.
Rodeo looked surprised that the attention was back on her, but she was ready to give her whole life's story at the toss of a hat. "Daggunit, who wouldn't wanna be part'a the Shogun's army? I mean... durn... well, ya put me on the spot here, pardner! You know, cause, in hindsight, it's for uh, the goal and unitin' the net and all'a that, but first, it was the whole package! Just like... bein' the center of attention, the coolest girl in the saloon! It seemed like the cool thing to do, I guess," she answered, looking between the others. Escort continued to deliver a cold, unreadable stare. Arch raised one eyebrow quizically, seeming to think that wasn't a particularly good reason. Sake hiccuped and smiled vacantly. Guillotine paid no attention at all.
Quote (Rodeo's Thoughts)
"Aaaaaaw shucks, now they're all thinkin' what a goof I am! Ya only get one chance at a first impreshun, and I'm blowin' mine! Maybe I could go back and make up somethin'... nah, they'd see right through that. Well, maybe this jacked up jal-la-peen-yo eater doesn't know it yet! I could still look pretty cool to him, right? Yeah, he respects me cause I lasso'd him earlier! That's why he said I could ride him if I want to!"
The cowgirl's ability to misread the situation was profound. She also seemed to have forgotten the mind-reading thing entirely. Before she could think up a way to spin this around and make herself look good, however, DragonierMan was on to his next conversation. Arch opened her mouth, then raised an eyebrow, as if something had just occurred to her. Escort closed her eyes and covered her mouth with her hand, looking as though something was bothering her. Sake took another swig of her bottle. Rodeo looked around a bit, not seeming to understand was so weird. She appeared to be the only one who could match this frenetic conversation pacing. "I went on a cruise with Ay-ruh and MachMan before! Vector was there too, if he's the blue robot guy. That Aera's the cat's pajamas, real classy gal! That's what I wanna be like: smart and pretty and able to fly around all over the place! Haven't figerred out that last part yet, but I'm roundin' the corner, I reckon! MachMan's kinda the same way, 'cept he's a guy. Skywriter and Roc... I ain't met them too much yet I guess. Or Sylk! I don't ach-ally know who that is."
"The two of you would get along well, I'm sure," Escort offered with a slight smile. "She's a well-mannered woman who I had the honor to work with in NetVegas before, for her recruitment mission. She's a good friend of MachMan's, too. Furthermore, she's even been trained in massage... her multiple arms come in handy for that, I imagine. I hope I'll have the chance to try that some time," she murmured, looking wistfully up at the sky.
Quote (Rodeo's Thoughts)
"Aw dang! I'm waaay behind. Sounds like that Sylk's already considerred way cooler than me, and I know MachMan is, cause he can fly! I gotta find something to put my name on! Maybe I'll lasso the first bad guy I see, that'll show em! Soon as we're done with this little pow-wow, I'm gonna bag a criminal!"
Rodeo might be confusing herself with the NetPolice, but luckily, she was so forgetful that she seemed to be avoiding thinking about the ROT just by mental vacancy. At any rate, it was clear there was another sore point to address. Arch took this one. "While you can fly, a big part of the team's role, I believe is infiltration and reconnaissance. Your power makes you better suited for intimidating our enemies, sweeping a formation, and so forth. So while I'm sure you'll be supplementing their efforts from time to time, just as the rest of us will, you might not be a perfect fit to stay with them full time. Then again, I wouldn't call Roc the most discrete person I ever met... The truth of the matter is, it's probably just a case of wrong place, wrong time. You're usually here, but in that instance, we needed immediate air support and MachMan was there. The others were put together as quickly as Yasu could manage," she explained at length.
Rodeo nodded along at each statement, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.
Quote (Rodeo's Thoughts)
"Uuuuh okay, so they didn't want a dragon on their air defense? I mean, I'm me and simple is as stupid does, but sure seems like somebody would want him up their wrasslin' down those enemy airplanes!
Escort spoke up next. "I believe you've spent just as much time with MachMan as any of the rest of us, possibly myself excluded. I'd say he and his companions are impeccable soldiers, mission-focused all. He's made a good impression on everyone, likely including the Shogun. Though... you're probably more Dee's type, if that's any consolation," she chuckled with a fairly rare smile. "As for working together, you'll find that easy to do, as you have in the past. Like I said, he's all business, but in a good way. I know he's a skill flyer, but I don't know how powerful he is in a fight... Though, his team was capable of taking down the Terror Girls' airplane, so that speaks to some of it."
Rodeo took the wheel again, as the others struggled to keep up with the pace of DragonierMan's questions. "Sheeyoosh, if she's got as many arms as you guys says he does... that is, more than two, that oughta be somethin' to see! And in Rogue Net?! Tarnations! I ain't never poked my head in that partee-kew-lar place," she whistled, literally. "I didn't know Roc had a sister! Shucks, why ain't anybody introduced me?"
"She's... not in much of a condition for introductions, from what I hear," Arch responded sadly. "She's mostly debilitated... it's a miracle she's even still operational. Right now, she's still in a coma, but we're hoping we'll find a way to revive her all the way."
Guillotine looked increasingly frustrated and approached the group. "Many-armed women! Women, feathered like birds! And here, a scaly monster in knight's armor! I've seen and heard everything now, it seems," Guillotine called out from nearby, rolling her head. Besides just the annoyance of that, DragonierMan had added incentive to get the lady to stop speaking; if everyone else kept listening to her, they were going to find it very hard to push Guillotine out of their mind, and if they did that, her being here would be revealed to Watchtower.
Quote (Rodeo's Thoughts)
"Aw, land's sakes! Now I'm thinkin' about that again! Uuuuuh uh somethin' distractin'... I'll count backwards from one-hunnerd! One-hunnerd, ninety-nine, ninety-eight, ninety-seven, ninety-six, ninety-five..."
Another new development that DragonierMan would not fail to notice, along with the sharper of the other subordinates, was that the ground had began shaking very subtly. It was only apparent when things were quiet or still, and there wasn't a lot of that, with Guillotine raving.
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DragonierMan listened to the various women speak, trying to wrap his head around all the information being presented to him. Rodeo seemed to stumble in the conversation at times, but she was relatively new and didn't know as much about the subject at hand. And she seemed to feel that she was not making the best first impression. However, she did contribute a few points about MachMan, Aera, and Vector that Drago noted. He added what Rodeo said to his own experience with Aera. Though even though some would call Aera a classy lady, Drago was under the impression that Aera was not that street-smart. She could learn a thing or two from Dee.
Arch then made a good defense as to why Drago wasn't a part of the aerial force assembled under MachMan: their primary task wasn't to fight. Now that didn't mean that they didn't fight, but they were more pinpoint in their dealings. Drago nodded his head at Arch's assessment of that not being where his strength lay. Drago would be better off finding himself more at home in the vanguard of an army, or some sort of special shock troop assault force with wide authority on catastrophic collateral damage, than in an infiltration and reconnaissance team. Though Arch also brought up the more believable reason in that Drago wasn't around when it happened. Though Drago had to mentally agree with Rodeo that having a dragon wrestling down airplanes would have been a useful thing to have at the time.
There was also a status update on Roc's sister. Seems like she wasn't in the best of shape. But at least she wasn't deleted. Roc would be set with the Neo-Shogunate now (if anything other than for the fact that they were caring for her sister). Though Drago hoped that they could bring her around, like at least one other navi that he still hadn't cured of her afflictions yet. He would need to get on that sometime soon.
As the conversation continued, Guillotine came back into the picture. Thankfully, Rodeo at least started distracting herself from Guillotine's ranting. Drago cleared his throat loudly so all could hear, and tried to shoo Guillotine away with sweeping arm and head movements, and the pointing of fingers to get her to go back to wherever she was standing before. He also noticed the ground shaking slightly and tried to non-verbally communicate that to Guillotine and that it might be a really good idea to go keep an eye out for the incoming tower. "AHEM! Anyways, the more I think about it, the more I think we all need to throw a party. Everyone has been working diligently, from the common soldiery, to the Shogun himself. It would also raise morale, and you can't get enough of that now can you? Hehe. And perhaps we could all dress up for it. Though I guess it would depend on a party theme... Oh! And Sake could supply her patented beverages of course. What do you think? And don't skimp on the details." he asked the group while drifting back to Escort's mind.
"And of course we will also make sure that, besides all the generals and the soldiery, that Neo-ShogunMan and Hime are there," he added. "What kind of party do you think they would like? I was going to suggest a beach/pool party, as you gals can have some fun while also showing off to the soldiery, but then ShogunMan's heavy armor and Hime's bandages don't make for easy swimming." He paused to think, scratching his head. "Perhaps a stargazing party? Hopefully with shooting stars. That seems like something that our glorious leader can get in on."
Arch then made a good defense as to why Drago wasn't a part of the aerial force assembled under MachMan: their primary task wasn't to fight. Now that didn't mean that they didn't fight, but they were more pinpoint in their dealings. Drago nodded his head at Arch's assessment of that not being where his strength lay. Drago would be better off finding himself more at home in the vanguard of an army, or some sort of special shock troop assault force with wide authority on catastrophic collateral damage, than in an infiltration and reconnaissance team. Though Arch also brought up the more believable reason in that Drago wasn't around when it happened. Though Drago had to mentally agree with Rodeo that having a dragon wrestling down airplanes would have been a useful thing to have at the time.
There was also a status update on Roc's sister. Seems like she wasn't in the best of shape. But at least she wasn't deleted. Roc would be set with the Neo-Shogunate now (if anything other than for the fact that they were caring for her sister). Though Drago hoped that they could bring her around, like at least one other navi that he still hadn't cured of her afflictions yet. He would need to get on that sometime soon.
As the conversation continued, Guillotine came back into the picture. Thankfully, Rodeo at least started distracting herself from Guillotine's ranting. Drago cleared his throat loudly so all could hear, and tried to shoo Guillotine away with sweeping arm and head movements, and the pointing of fingers to get her to go back to wherever she was standing before. He also noticed the ground shaking slightly and tried to non-verbally communicate that to Guillotine and that it might be a really good idea to go keep an eye out for the incoming tower. "AHEM! Anyways, the more I think about it, the more I think we all need to throw a party. Everyone has been working diligently, from the common soldiery, to the Shogun himself. It would also raise morale, and you can't get enough of that now can you? Hehe. And perhaps we could all dress up for it. Though I guess it would depend on a party theme... Oh! And Sake could supply her patented beverages of course. What do you think? And don't skimp on the details." he asked the group while drifting back to Escort's mind.
"And of course we will also make sure that, besides all the generals and the soldiery, that Neo-ShogunMan and Hime are there," he added. "What kind of party do you think they would like? I was going to suggest a beach/pool party, as you gals can have some fun while also showing off to the soldiery, but then ShogunMan's heavy armor and Hime's bandages don't make for easy swimming." He paused to think, scratching his head. "Perhaps a stargazing party? Hopefully with shooting stars. That seems like something that our glorious leader can get in on."
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Quote (Escort's Thoughts)
"A party... that's a wonderful idea. I love helping with parties. Hopefully, I can get DragonierMan to turn to me for advice... I may have to be a bit assertive, or else, Dee will get the honor. I've never had a party with the other girls here. Except for Sake, Arch, and Dee... because Sake and Dee sort of carry a party around with them wherever they go. It would be interesting to see Yasu or the Shogun in that sort of atmosphere, though.
As usual, Escort's thoughts were a mile a minute, flinging out as soon as DragonierMan started to focus. "I think it's a fine idea," Escort spoke simply, but said nothing else. Apparently, her offer to help was going to come later, perhaps more privately.
Sake grinned and raised a bottle to the suggestion. "D'aw, you even thought of me! Or were you just saying sake and I heard my name? That happens a lot, hic! Comes with the territory," she giggled, pointing a thumb first at the bottle, then at herself.
Quote (Escort's Thoughts)
"Perhaps I could summon a deluxe limousine and we could take the party to Garnish's Wunderbar... Coral hates the place but it really would be a great venue for the others. Assuming they like chocolate and dancing. I should discretely ask around. Or... perhaps a stretch limousine could be a party in itself? Or a limousine... with a jacuzzi? Or would that seem too promiscuous? Eeyuk... Yasu would hate that. Coral might even hate that, and she's a water navi... Get your head in the game, Escort...
DragoneriMan had some more thoughts to add. The others nodded along with the idea that both Neo-ShogunMan and Hime ought to attend. "It does seem a shame that we see Hime around as seldom as we do. I think she's a big contributor to the Empire's funding... Probably one of the only ones, other than Dee. Not casting stones or anything, we all have enough trouble building our personal war chests without putting money into the pot," Arch suggested. "It would be nice to say 'thanks.'" Her face went from pleased to critical (or pouty) as DragonierMan continued. "Showing off for the soldiers? I-Isn't it enough that the soldiers just get to be part of the pool party?"
"... Wouldn't you be wearing a swimsuit anyway?" Sake asked, slapping her hand across her friend's chest in a comedic gesture. "Or were you planning to go without one? Hic!"
"I was not! I was going to wear a swimsuit! My competition swimsuit. I swim. Competitively," Arch scoffed, crossing her arms and looking irritated. "B-But if we're supposed to show off... Then I'll have to buy something cuter."
Quote (Escort's Thoughts)
"Yes. Yes, that's good. I'll have go to with Arch when it's time to shop. It would be weird if someone who didn't know her so well did, so I'll just offer my service. She knows I'm rather good at fashion... well, a bit monotone in terms of my palette, but otherwise well-versed. It should be easy to suggest that I ought to be the one to accompany her and help her pick. I'll suggest it right now-"
"Hoot-doggy! There's my chance to prove myself! Nobody values a swim more than a dusty-plains cow-poke like ma'self! Ya can take that to the bank!" Rodeo interjected, jumping up from her seat. "Aw shucks, we can all shop together!"
"NOT DRAGONIERMAN," Arch added forcefully, then quieted down as everyone stared at her. "Sorry, DragonierMan. You know the rules."
"Stargazing would be nice too... but, if you'll pardon my saying so, we have plenty of the contemplative, rustic scenery in the Neo-Shogun's Army already. We don't have a lot of beach parties. That would be just the sort of thing to improve morale," Escort smiled.
Quote (Escort's Thoughts)
"Please, DragonierMan, work with me on this! Beach party. Beach party. Beach party beach party beach party-
Guillotine watched with stupid bewilderment as she was completely ignored (for good reason, even if she didn't understand it). The effect was so profound that she finally seemed to get it, turning around slowly. She turned slightly, then suddenly looked back to DragonierMan. The others were all focused on him, not her, which was good; it gave her the opportunity to mouth the word: "distraction." She'd apparently noticed something worth noticing... perhaps WatchTower was around somewhere? Her siege engine was still nowhere in sight, but the woman herself might be. Now would be a bad time to look for the woman in question, however, because the others might notice him looking around for her, presumably.
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The party idea seemed to jostle everyone out of the distress that Guillotine's presence instigated. All four of the girls became enraptured with the idea instantly and began to excitedly talk a mile a minute. DragonierMan mentally patted himself on the back before turning his attention back to the group. With the conversation going back and forth so quickly, DragonierMan only put in a few words here and there, starting with Sake. "Yes, I was talking about you. Well, you specifically, but I guess also about the drink that has your namesake."
He then looked to the group in general. "Looks like you guys really like the beach party idea. Then it is settled, a beach party is what we will do," he stated matter-of-factually, not letting anyone debate him on the issue. "So we should open the floor to a discussion of where we should hold this beach party. I also suggest that Escort provide us with transportation there, preferably with mini-jacuzzis on the limousines to start the party off on the right foot, and to distract from a potentially long drive. Might as well start the party from the instant we leave here till when we get back."
He turned to Arch, putting his mind now on hers. "So you swim competitively? I would love to accompany you on your next competition. Would be nice to see you in action and cheer for you," he said. "Perhaps we could also add a swimming race and a volleyball tournament to the roster of things to do at the party. What do you gals think?" he asked.
"As for stargazing, we can party into the night and build some bonfires and have smores... and sake," he threw a smile at Sake. "And all that other good stuff." He thought for a moment. "Of course during the whole time we will have grills going. Got to feed the soldiery while we are at it." He turned to Sake again. "I will be counting on you to keep everyone hydrated with a variety of tasty beverages."
He then looked to the group in general. "Looks like you guys really like the beach party idea. Then it is settled, a beach party is what we will do," he stated matter-of-factually, not letting anyone debate him on the issue. "So we should open the floor to a discussion of where we should hold this beach party. I also suggest that Escort provide us with transportation there, preferably with mini-jacuzzis on the limousines to start the party off on the right foot, and to distract from a potentially long drive. Might as well start the party from the instant we leave here till when we get back."
He turned to Arch, putting his mind now on hers. "So you swim competitively? I would love to accompany you on your next competition. Would be nice to see you in action and cheer for you," he said. "Perhaps we could also add a swimming race and a volleyball tournament to the roster of things to do at the party. What do you gals think?" he asked.
"As for stargazing, we can party into the night and build some bonfires and have smores... and sake," he threw a smile at Sake. "And all that other good stuff." He thought for a moment. "Of course during the whole time we will have grills going. Got to feed the soldiery while we are at it." He turned to Sake again. "I will be counting on you to keep everyone hydrated with a variety of tasty beverages."
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Everyone nodded along with DragonierMan's claim that the beach party was now a lock. Everyone seemed a bit surprised by the suggestion to go by limousine, more so once he threw in the added element of the Jacuzzi. Escort's face flushed slightly, but for the benefit of all, she also tried to avoid saying anything about the mind-reading that she must now understand had happened. "Yes... I believe I can manage that. It could certainly be fun, couldn't it?" she agreed, with a slight nod.
"Wh-What, that's going a bit too far, isn't it?! Being at the beach in our swimsuits is one thing, but sitting in a hot tub with the other soldiers is something else!" Arch protested, sheepish about the idea. "I guess it could be okay... as long as the guys and girls aren't together in one. That would be a bit indecent..." Escort pressed one fist to her chin pensively, which earned her a critical glare from Arch.
"It'd be great for lifting morale, though, like Drago was hoping," Sake added with a grin, nudging Rodeo in the side.
Rodeo looked both ways, then jumped. "W-Well sheeyoosh, reckon it would! But you'll never fit all them soldiers in one or two little tubs, yer kiddin' yerself! No way y'ca make enough limmos for all of 'em, right?" she asked. "I guess I could ride one on the back'a my horse, so long as he ain't too proud to do it," she suggested seriously, but Sake snorted a laugh in response.
"... The army has hundreds of soldiers, that's true. I suppose they don't all need to ride in the limousines. Perhaps each of the generals can pick a few exemplary soldiers to have the ride and the others can just jump in at the party location. That might be good... it would be a bit like a reward for their hard work," she mused.
Arch still didn't look happy, but decided to change the subject. "Well, I don't swim in actual competitions with prizes and things, if that's what you're thinking. I just meant I like to race other people! Volleyball's just as good... You might think I'm clumsy, but when you see me on the court, you'll be surprised, I guarantee you that!" Arch boasted, pressing her hands to her hips.
Rodeo interrupted, throwing off Arch's mental dialogue with herself. "Haw haw! Volleyball ain't nothin' to me! Yer lookin' at the fastest draw on the net! I'll have that ball in the air faster than a hermit crab changes his shell!" the cow-girl counter-boasted, pantomiming un-holstering a gun, but bringing up her rope instead, bunched into a shape like a pistol.
"Well, A, a hermit crab doesn't change his shell very quickly, and B, volleyball doesn't really rely on how fast you can hit the ball into the air," Arch complained. "But yes. All of that sounds good. And if there's a barbeque... maybe that will urge Yasu to favor the idea a little more," she chuckled, along with the others.
Breaking through the peace, another voice suddenly cried. Unseen by the others, Guillotine had ascended to the archer's look-out point, then jumped down past the fence and out of the encampment. There was the sound of two figures scuffling, before finally, she emerged around the other side, carrying behind her a woman with her hands bound in rope. The lady looked a bit out of place... her robe was long and gray, much like Guillotine's design, but with no blades hanging from the wrists. A pattern encircled it from below the breasts down, designed like rows of bricks. While Guillotine's robes flattered her, this woman's made her look like a tall, ram-rod straight tower. She was very skinny and lanky, with black hair in an unfashionable bun at the back of her head, except for a few strands that had been disheveled during the fight. Her face was very stern, pale, and thin, with narrow cheeks and a long nose, slightly hooked at the end. Her eyes were gray and devoid of brightness, a bit like Guillotine's, with long lashes.
She seemed surprisingly calm for the situation, even dignified, but perhaps that was just her way of saving what little face she had left after being captured peeping on the others outside the safety of her tower. Guillotine smirked, then shoved her forward. "I present to you Miss Watchtower. She's been eavesdropping for a bit now, I think. Never was much of a fighter, though, so capturing her was easy enough once I spotted her. She's such a gossip that all of the frivolous girl-talk was enough to pull her in!" the former ROT member chortled. "You old fool..."
"I'm actually not any older than you, though mentally more mature," WatchTower grumbled. "I just wanted to see how long you lot could keep on rambling! It's nonsense. You're all batty," she sighed, then looked around at everyone, inspecting them very carefully while squinting her eyes. "I guess you suit them just fine, Guillotine. Always so vain so self-absorbed. You didn't care about any of us in the ROT, just yourself! At least I have my loyalty!"
"Loyalty to a useless cause," Guillotine chuckled, then looked to DragonierMan. "Why not take her as a peace offering, from me to you, DragonierMan? She can be your personal hostage! How do you like the sound of that?" That seemed to make the lady jump a bit, perhaps because she'd already been fed full of knowledge of DragonierMan from people's thoughts.
It might be fun to tease Arch or the hostage some more, seeing as this was all in hand. But then again, it might also be nice to put the ROT issue to rest and stress that WatchTower was simply a captive of the Empire now. There was also a matter of WatchTower's tower itself, which, by the shaking of the ground, must still be approaching.
"Wh-What, that's going a bit too far, isn't it?! Being at the beach in our swimsuits is one thing, but sitting in a hot tub with the other soldiers is something else!" Arch protested, sheepish about the idea. "I guess it could be okay... as long as the guys and girls aren't together in one. That would be a bit indecent..." Escort pressed one fist to her chin pensively, which earned her a critical glare from Arch.
Quote (Arch's Thoughts)
"I know what she's thinking! She thinks as long as the girls are together, it doesn't really matter! It always surprises me, but she can be a perv like Drago is, sometimes."
"It'd be great for lifting morale, though, like Drago was hoping," Sake added with a grin, nudging Rodeo in the side.
Rodeo looked both ways, then jumped. "W-Well sheeyoosh, reckon it would! But you'll never fit all them soldiers in one or two little tubs, yer kiddin' yerself! No way y'ca make enough limmos for all of 'em, right?" she asked. "I guess I could ride one on the back'a my horse, so long as he ain't too proud to do it," she suggested seriously, but Sake snorted a laugh in response.
"... The army has hundreds of soldiers, that's true. I suppose they don't all need to ride in the limousines. Perhaps each of the generals can pick a few exemplary soldiers to have the ride and the others can just jump in at the party location. That might be good... it would be a bit like a reward for their hard work," she mused.
Arch still didn't look happy, but decided to change the subject. "Well, I don't swim in actual competitions with prizes and things, if that's what you're thinking. I just meant I like to race other people! Volleyball's just as good... You might think I'm clumsy, but when you see me on the court, you'll be surprised, I guarantee you that!" Arch boasted, pressing her hands to her hips.
Quote (Arch's Thoughts)
"He he... The volleyball court would be a great place to show off! Dee's not very good at sports, so she won't bug me or get in the way. A one on one competition like that with Drago would get my blood pumping! No dirty stuff, just good competition. Respectable."
Rodeo interrupted, throwing off Arch's mental dialogue with herself. "Haw haw! Volleyball ain't nothin' to me! Yer lookin' at the fastest draw on the net! I'll have that ball in the air faster than a hermit crab changes his shell!" the cow-girl counter-boasted, pantomiming un-holstering a gun, but bringing up her rope instead, bunched into a shape like a pistol.
"Well, A, a hermit crab doesn't change his shell very quickly, and B, volleyball doesn't really rely on how fast you can hit the ball into the air," Arch complained. "But yes. All of that sounds good. And if there's a barbeque... maybe that will urge Yasu to favor the idea a little more," she chuckled, along with the others.
Breaking through the peace, another voice suddenly cried. Unseen by the others, Guillotine had ascended to the archer's look-out point, then jumped down past the fence and out of the encampment. There was the sound of two figures scuffling, before finally, she emerged around the other side, carrying behind her a woman with her hands bound in rope. The lady looked a bit out of place... her robe was long and gray, much like Guillotine's design, but with no blades hanging from the wrists. A pattern encircled it from below the breasts down, designed like rows of bricks. While Guillotine's robes flattered her, this woman's made her look like a tall, ram-rod straight tower. She was very skinny and lanky, with black hair in an unfashionable bun at the back of her head, except for a few strands that had been disheveled during the fight. Her face was very stern, pale, and thin, with narrow cheeks and a long nose, slightly hooked at the end. Her eyes were gray and devoid of brightness, a bit like Guillotine's, with long lashes.
She seemed surprisingly calm for the situation, even dignified, but perhaps that was just her way of saving what little face she had left after being captured peeping on the others outside the safety of her tower. Guillotine smirked, then shoved her forward. "I present to you Miss Watchtower. She's been eavesdropping for a bit now, I think. Never was much of a fighter, though, so capturing her was easy enough once I spotted her. She's such a gossip that all of the frivolous girl-talk was enough to pull her in!" the former ROT member chortled. "You old fool..."
"I'm actually not any older than you, though mentally more mature," WatchTower grumbled. "I just wanted to see how long you lot could keep on rambling! It's nonsense. You're all batty," she sighed, then looked around at everyone, inspecting them very carefully while squinting her eyes. "I guess you suit them just fine, Guillotine. Always so vain so self-absorbed. You didn't care about any of us in the ROT, just yourself! At least I have my loyalty!"
"Loyalty to a useless cause," Guillotine chuckled, then looked to DragonierMan. "Why not take her as a peace offering, from me to you, DragonierMan? She can be your personal hostage! How do you like the sound of that?" That seemed to make the lady jump a bit, perhaps because she'd already been fed full of knowledge of DragonierMan from people's thoughts.
Quote (Arch's Thoughts)
"No way, DragonierMan wouldn't do something dirty in front of all of us with this woman! She's not even very attractive, is she? Just say you're going to keep her tied up and take her straight to the Shogun! Come on, no theatrics this time, alright?"
It might be fun to tease Arch or the hostage some more, seeing as this was all in hand. But then again, it might also be nice to put the ROT issue to rest and stress that WatchTower was simply a captive of the Empire now. There was also a matter of WatchTower's tower itself, which, by the shaking of the ground, must still be approaching.
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DragonierMan mentally congratulated himself for a job well done. WatchTower was apprehended without incident and their diversion was a success. They still needed to deal with capturing the mobile watchtower still advancing on the base, but he could leave that to the plan that the girls concocted. Drago ceased his mind-reading powers now that the distraction was completed. He also took the offered rope from Guillotine and gave it a tug to bring WatchTower closer. "I accept this gift," he said to Guillotine, his anger against her fading due to her performance on the mission thus far. "We are even now."
He notice how WatchTower jumped when she was offered by Guillotine to him. He would use that jumpiness to his advantage. "So little one," he said as he moved one of his clawed fingers to trace under her chin. "Perhaps you will tell us how to capture your mobile fortress before things happen to you." He reached up and tried to grasp a lock of her hair, not too hard, and drew it close enough to smell. He let it fall back against her face again, upping the creep factor a few bars and letting WatchTower sweat out what she thought he was going to do to her. Even if he, himself, didn't really plan on doing anything to her. "It would also be a shame for your tower to be destroyed, after you spent so much time constructing it."
If WatchTower spilled the beans, Drago would wait until everything was said before nodding his head. "Excellent. Now nothing more will happen to you... At least by me. For the moment. Scout's honor," Drago said while putting up three fingers on his free hand (index, middle, and ring fingers), bending the thumb and pinky inward.
If WatchTower didn't spill the beans, Drago would have to get more creepy/perverted. "Have it your way. I guess we will have to frisk you," he said before moving his hands toward her in a groping motion. "You probably have a remote or plans or something on you that we can use to figure it out without your help." He then eyed Guillotine for a moment. "You too. Come over here and help me with this search. You probably know better than any of us where she would keep all her secrets." Drago and Guillotine would then, together, make the search uncomfortable for WatchTower.
Regardless of what happened with WatchTower, he turned to the other five women afterwards. "Since you have a plan to take the tower, I will leave things to you. I will escort the prisoner to her cell." He then sent a message to Yasu.
When/if Yasu responded and gave him a destination, Drago would go there with WatchTower. Otherwise he would wait around for a moment in case the five NS subordinates had anything else to say, before striking off towards the main headquarters building near the center of camp. He was bound to find somewhere that would serve as a holding area for a prisoner, eventually.
He notice how WatchTower jumped when she was offered by Guillotine to him. He would use that jumpiness to his advantage. "So little one," he said as he moved one of his clawed fingers to trace under her chin. "Perhaps you will tell us how to capture your mobile fortress before things happen to you." He reached up and tried to grasp a lock of her hair, not too hard, and drew it close enough to smell. He let it fall back against her face again, upping the creep factor a few bars and letting WatchTower sweat out what she thought he was going to do to her. Even if he, himself, didn't really plan on doing anything to her. "It would also be a shame for your tower to be destroyed, after you spent so much time constructing it."
If WatchTower spilled the beans, Drago would wait until everything was said before nodding his head. "Excellent. Now nothing more will happen to you... At least by me. For the moment. Scout's honor," Drago said while putting up three fingers on his free hand (index, middle, and ring fingers), bending the thumb and pinky inward.
If WatchTower didn't spill the beans, Drago would have to get more creepy/perverted. "Have it your way. I guess we will have to frisk you," he said before moving his hands toward her in a groping motion. "You probably have a remote or plans or something on you that we can use to figure it out without your help." He then eyed Guillotine for a moment. "You too. Come over here and help me with this search. You probably know better than any of us where she would keep all her secrets." Drago and Guillotine would then, together, make the search uncomfortable for WatchTower.
Regardless of what happened with WatchTower, he turned to the other five women afterwards. "Since you have a plan to take the tower, I will leave things to you. I will escort the prisoner to her cell." He then sent a message to Yasu.
Quote (To Yasu)
DragonierMan reporting in from Headquarters. WatchTower in custody. Arch, Escort, Guillotine, Rodeo, and Sake present and ready to implement their plan to capture the tower for the glory of the Neo-Shogunate. Where should I take WatchTower?
When/if Yasu responded and gave him a destination, Drago would go there with WatchTower. Otherwise he would wait around for a moment in case the five NS subordinates had anything else to say, before striking off towards the main headquarters building near the center of camp. He was bound to find somewhere that would serve as a holding area for a prisoner, eventually.
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Guillotine gave a smug smile and a bow, less like the typical Neo-Shogun officer's bow and more like a curtsy. "Very good then," she responded, straightening her back as she spoke. "If you'll tolerate me, then I'll tolerate you. It's as simple as that."
The taller, thinner woman watched Guillotine warily, before turning her eyes back to DragonierMan. "Ha! Little one. First time I've been called that before," she laughed defiantly. It was true that at her height, she'd stand taller than most women, but not taller than DragonierMan. She continued to hoist her jutting chin proudly as DragonierMan moved a finger beneath it. "No one is capturing my siege tower, I assure you of that!" She became a mixture of indignant and sheepish as he indicated that he would have to search her physically.
The former ROT agent raised an eyebrow and made a face as though her mood was souring again as DragonierMan asked her to help him with the search. "When I said I knew her, I didn't mean I'm familiar with where she keeps secrets on her person, Pebblewit," Guillotine complained, bug complied all the same.
"Ack! You savages!" WatchTower complained, crossing her hands at her chest to protect it as the two felt around her robe for any sort of hidden device or code that might explain how they could access her incoming weapon. As perhaps expected, they weren't coming up with much of anything; the robe had no pockets to speak of, for starters. It was padded with a quilt-like texture, very heavy on fabric. Her form underneath was about as expected: very lean, with skinny legs and arms, flat belly, small bust, narrow hips, if DragonierMan felt around for any of that. Either she didn't plan to fight back or she had no way to do so without her tower at hand.
"I'm not coming up with anything. It would be most unusual for a navi to hide such a secret on their person, regardless," Guillotine sighed, crossing her arms and frowning impatiently.
"W-Well of course not! Sheesh, you guys are embarrassing," Arch complained, not exactly apologizing to the captive but seeming critical of the search methods.
Sake approached quietly from behind WatchTower, swinging her arms as she walked. "How about under here? Anywhere else it'd be hidden?" she asked, before flinging the robe up so it briefly stood away from the legs. DragonierMan could see that she was wearing a full length gray navi-suit underneath... it was near skin-tight, so again, not a great place to hide anything. Her shape, as anticipated, was nothing to write home about.
All the same, the ROT agent quickly grabbed up the folds of her robe's skirt and folded them back down, blushing furiously. "You little monkey! That's it, I'll settle the matter once and for all. I planned to wait a bit, but..." she grumbled, looking off to the distance, roughly in the direction of where the noise of the approaching tower was coming from. With no warning, an explosion suddenly sounded, followed by a lot of noise as the structure crumbled in the distance. If DragonierMan tried to use his mind-reading powers again, he'd find that they'd disappeared. One could only surmise that meant that Guillotine's were gone as well, along with WatchTower's ability to receive data back from either of them.
"Tarnations! Well, I guess we still oughta go have a look... that sounded more like a blowin' up than a disappearin' act, so maybe there's still somethin' left to salvage. We'll take care'a that and you can take the hostage," Rodeo offered.
"But no more weird stuff with the hostage!" Arch protested, before Escort dragged her away with the others.
Guillotine didn't leave, instead opting to stay with DragonierMan. "I'd like to see the hostages we've collected so far. If Domm is among them, I'm going to whip her until she regrets ever taking striking me!" she spoke vengefully, clenching her fists as she walked alongside DragonierMan. It was apparent that they'd need to go deeper into the camp to find the other hostages, though not exactly where; DragonierMan got the answer to that dilemma once Yasu responded to his message.
"You fools. I listened to you and your friends prattle earlier! There's nothing more embarrassing than that sort of feeble-minded chatter," WatchTower scoffed, haughty again now that nobody was feeling her up or trying to pull her robe off. "Your whole organization is doomed! Maybe not today, but-" Her speech was cut off as she arrived to the other hostages, finding three of the red robed soldiers (the same kind that had attacked DragonierMan in the past), along with a heavy-set woman in a brown robe. The woman was silent but glaring. Her face seemed somehow more gaunt than the rest of her body, as well as pallid and sickly; sweat beaded around her brow and her eyes seemed sunken. Well, one more so than the other... swelling around one of her eyes looked pretty severe, from a recent battering. "Trebuchet, you-!"
"Yes, and you too, I see," the big lady barked. "And I hear their First General is back too, which means that Domm and BrainMan failed as well. It's all over," she spat angrily. "Well, the fact that those two aren't around may mean they escaped... but what's it matter? We were number three and number four in the organization, and numbers one and two must have failed if the First General is alive. That leaves who out there uninjured... Rudy? Rack? The most useless of the bunch, the worst ones! I had hoped you might have some sort of strategy for pulling this out of the kettle."
"Me?! I was up against a bloody dragon and no less than six of their strongest officers... including the dragon, who transforms back into an officer!" WatchTower protested. "All you had to do was attack a camp under construction that wasn't even supposed to be ready for you!"
"Well, they had more officers there than I expected, okay?! We're in the same boat. Now shut up, your face doesn't have the muscle mine does. If he smacks you across the cheek he's likely to take your whole head off," Trebuchet warned, casting her eyes down toward the ground.
WatchTower's eyebrows twitched, but she knelt down as well. "I have seniority, even if you're considered a rank higher! Don't forget that. I'm loyal! You may take a hit or two to the face and decide it's all gloom and doom and over for us, but I still have faith in BrainMan! Our sacrifice here won't be in vain!" she proclaimed, raising her nose into the air pridefully.
Guillotine looked disappointed to see Domm wasn't amongst those left. "Huh... I don't recognize the fat one," she mused. "She was chosen to replace me? Ugh... I don't even-" she grumbled. "Well, I suppose the reason I left them was because of their poor judgment to begin with. So it only makes sense that judgment grows worse in my absence," she chuckled wryly. "What should we do, DragonierMan? If you've got some place else to be, I can watch them." It might occur to DragonierMan, of course, that leaving the ROT remnants alone with a former ROT officer could be a questionable decision... It would be easy enough for him to ask one of the other officers to come keep an eye on the captives.
The taller, thinner woman watched Guillotine warily, before turning her eyes back to DragonierMan. "Ha! Little one. First time I've been called that before," she laughed defiantly. It was true that at her height, she'd stand taller than most women, but not taller than DragonierMan. She continued to hoist her jutting chin proudly as DragonierMan moved a finger beneath it. "No one is capturing my siege tower, I assure you of that!" She became a mixture of indignant and sheepish as he indicated that he would have to search her physically.
The former ROT agent raised an eyebrow and made a face as though her mood was souring again as DragonierMan asked her to help him with the search. "When I said I knew her, I didn't mean I'm familiar with where she keeps secrets on her person, Pebblewit," Guillotine complained, bug complied all the same.
"Ack! You savages!" WatchTower complained, crossing her hands at her chest to protect it as the two felt around her robe for any sort of hidden device or code that might explain how they could access her incoming weapon. As perhaps expected, they weren't coming up with much of anything; the robe had no pockets to speak of, for starters. It was padded with a quilt-like texture, very heavy on fabric. Her form underneath was about as expected: very lean, with skinny legs and arms, flat belly, small bust, narrow hips, if DragonierMan felt around for any of that. Either she didn't plan to fight back or she had no way to do so without her tower at hand.
"I'm not coming up with anything. It would be most unusual for a navi to hide such a secret on their person, regardless," Guillotine sighed, crossing her arms and frowning impatiently.
"W-Well of course not! Sheesh, you guys are embarrassing," Arch complained, not exactly apologizing to the captive but seeming critical of the search methods.
Sake approached quietly from behind WatchTower, swinging her arms as she walked. "How about under here? Anywhere else it'd be hidden?" she asked, before flinging the robe up so it briefly stood away from the legs. DragonierMan could see that she was wearing a full length gray navi-suit underneath... it was near skin-tight, so again, not a great place to hide anything. Her shape, as anticipated, was nothing to write home about.
All the same, the ROT agent quickly grabbed up the folds of her robe's skirt and folded them back down, blushing furiously. "You little monkey! That's it, I'll settle the matter once and for all. I planned to wait a bit, but..." she grumbled, looking off to the distance, roughly in the direction of where the noise of the approaching tower was coming from. With no warning, an explosion suddenly sounded, followed by a lot of noise as the structure crumbled in the distance. If DragonierMan tried to use his mind-reading powers again, he'd find that they'd disappeared. One could only surmise that meant that Guillotine's were gone as well, along with WatchTower's ability to receive data back from either of them.
"Tarnations! Well, I guess we still oughta go have a look... that sounded more like a blowin' up than a disappearin' act, so maybe there's still somethin' left to salvage. We'll take care'a that and you can take the hostage," Rodeo offered.
"But no more weird stuff with the hostage!" Arch protested, before Escort dragged her away with the others.
Guillotine didn't leave, instead opting to stay with DragonierMan. "I'd like to see the hostages we've collected so far. If Domm is among them, I'm going to whip her until she regrets ever taking striking me!" she spoke vengefully, clenching her fists as she walked alongside DragonierMan. It was apparent that they'd need to go deeper into the camp to find the other hostages, though not exactly where; DragonierMan got the answer to that dilemma once Yasu responded to his message.
Quote (Yasu)
"Excellent. We've got a number of other hostages we're holding near the officer's tents; find Arch's or Escort's tent and you should find them. From what I understand, they're all in robes and bound up, so it shouldn't be hard to to identify them. Please deposit her there, securely. If you're up for interrogation, you can feel free to have a crack at any of them, so long as you leave them in tact for me later. I may have another matter of some importance to speak to you about later. I'll keep you updated.
Also, there is the matter of your reward. If you've had a hand in securing WatchTower, you certainly deserve some reward. What is it you need, at the moment?"
"You fools. I listened to you and your friends prattle earlier! There's nothing more embarrassing than that sort of feeble-minded chatter," WatchTower scoffed, haughty again now that nobody was feeling her up or trying to pull her robe off. "Your whole organization is doomed! Maybe not today, but-" Her speech was cut off as she arrived to the other hostages, finding three of the red robed soldiers (the same kind that had attacked DragonierMan in the past), along with a heavy-set woman in a brown robe. The woman was silent but glaring. Her face seemed somehow more gaunt than the rest of her body, as well as pallid and sickly; sweat beaded around her brow and her eyes seemed sunken. Well, one more so than the other... swelling around one of her eyes looked pretty severe, from a recent battering. "Trebuchet, you-!"
"Yes, and you too, I see," the big lady barked. "And I hear their First General is back too, which means that Domm and BrainMan failed as well. It's all over," she spat angrily. "Well, the fact that those two aren't around may mean they escaped... but what's it matter? We were number three and number four in the organization, and numbers one and two must have failed if the First General is alive. That leaves who out there uninjured... Rudy? Rack? The most useless of the bunch, the worst ones! I had hoped you might have some sort of strategy for pulling this out of the kettle."
"Me?! I was up against a bloody dragon and no less than six of their strongest officers... including the dragon, who transforms back into an officer!" WatchTower protested. "All you had to do was attack a camp under construction that wasn't even supposed to be ready for you!"
"Well, they had more officers there than I expected, okay?! We're in the same boat. Now shut up, your face doesn't have the muscle mine does. If he smacks you across the cheek he's likely to take your whole head off," Trebuchet warned, casting her eyes down toward the ground.
WatchTower's eyebrows twitched, but she knelt down as well. "I have seniority, even if you're considered a rank higher! Don't forget that. I'm loyal! You may take a hit or two to the face and decide it's all gloom and doom and over for us, but I still have faith in BrainMan! Our sacrifice here won't be in vain!" she proclaimed, raising her nose into the air pridefully.
Guillotine looked disappointed to see Domm wasn't amongst those left. "Huh... I don't recognize the fat one," she mused. "She was chosen to replace me? Ugh... I don't even-" she grumbled. "Well, I suppose the reason I left them was because of their poor judgment to begin with. So it only makes sense that judgment grows worse in my absence," she chuckled wryly. "What should we do, DragonierMan? If you've got some place else to be, I can watch them." It might occur to DragonierMan, of course, that leaving the ROT remnants alone with a former ROT officer could be a questionable decision... It would be easy enough for him to ask one of the other officers to come keep an eye on the captives.
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Well that was a disappointment. They had stopped the attack, capturing a high-ranking ROT officer, but failed to secure WatchTower's weapon. After the explosion of the weapon, Arch, Escort, Rodeo, and Sake went to go check to see if there was anything they could salvage from the tower. Meanwhile, DragonierMan and Guillotine would escort the prisoner to Arch and Escort's tent, which was also occupied by several other ROT members. Drago found a kindred spirit in hatred with Guillotine, who talked about whipping Domm, whom Drago met earlier. He was all for that... but first.
He sent to Yasu before they arrived to where the other hostages were kept, ignoring the attempted boasting and portents of doom from WatchTower. Upon meeting the other hostages, the group learned that pretty much everyone in ROT had been dealt with to one degree or another. WatchTower and Trebuchet were here. Yasu was apparently back after dealing with Domm and someone named BrainMan. There were at least two more at large named Rudy and Rack. If the Neo-Shogunate was so close to wiping out a rival, perhaps Drago would have a mission to hunt down the stragglers and deal with them. The thought of a wild hunt filled him with a sense of impending glee.
Anyways, there was some arguing among Trebuchet and WatchTower, before the later took her place among the hostages. Drago moved to make sure their bindings were secured before rejoining Guillotine. She offered to watch them if he had somewhere to be, but he couldn't think of anything he had to do at the moment. He shook his head. "I don't have anywhere pressing. I'll stay for the moment," he replied. "I'll send a message to ask what to do next. But in the meantime if you have any business with those two, I would like to watch." It was clear by his face that he hoped Guillotine would smack the ROT members around a bit. Blow off some steam. Meanwhile...
Quote (To Yasu)
"I am sending an information packet with a list of items. You may use it as a reference for any future rewards."
LINK
He sent to Yasu before they arrived to where the other hostages were kept, ignoring the attempted boasting and portents of doom from WatchTower. Upon meeting the other hostages, the group learned that pretty much everyone in ROT had been dealt with to one degree or another. WatchTower and Trebuchet were here. Yasu was apparently back after dealing with Domm and someone named BrainMan. There were at least two more at large named Rudy and Rack. If the Neo-Shogunate was so close to wiping out a rival, perhaps Drago would have a mission to hunt down the stragglers and deal with them. The thought of a wild hunt filled him with a sense of impending glee.
Anyways, there was some arguing among Trebuchet and WatchTower, before the later took her place among the hostages. Drago moved to make sure their bindings were secured before rejoining Guillotine. She offered to watch them if he had somewhere to be, but he couldn't think of anything he had to do at the moment. He shook his head. "I don't have anywhere pressing. I'll stay for the moment," he replied. "I'll send a message to ask what to do next. But in the meantime if you have any business with those two, I would like to watch." It was clear by his face that he hoped Guillotine would smack the ROT members around a bit. Blow off some steam. Meanwhile...
Quote (To Yasu)
"Trebuchet, WatchTower, and three soldiers are secured. They made mention you ran into Domm and someone named BrainMan, and they believe they have failed. Did you destroy them? Also they mentioned at least two other members, Rudy and Rack, that haven't been engaged yet. Did you want me or someone else to deal with them? Lastly, I request a few individuals to be assigned guard duty here. I wouldn't want to lose prisoners that we just acquired because they weren't adequately guarded. Perhaps from Lee and Vee's forces if they are available."
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Yasu's response came back quickly enough...
The blue-robed lady smiled and nodded, watching as DragonierMan secured the bindings all more tightly; he earned a few more insulting nicknames for his efforts. "Excellent. Take a seat, Dragon. I will be interested to learn what the ROT has been up to in my absence. Well, besides failure that is, if there is indeed anything at all," she chuckled, stooping in front of WatchTower and Trebuchet. There was something about her robe that never failed to flatter her from behind in such a pose. Her blades trailed across the ground, cuttling lines in the sand as she repositioned her hands onto the floor. "It looks like whoever last assaulted your face, neophyte, they were not equipped with the same weapons that I am. When I slap someone in the face, I tend to leave a larger gash..."
"Ha! Guillotine. I've heard plenty about you. Weak, ineffectual, as well as awkward and profoundly ill-suited for the life of an ROT officer. You denied your training, the rules, the necessary punishments... I guess you've found similar company. It suits you much better, from the looks of it," Trebuchet spoke through swollen lips. They were fat under the best of circumstances, much worse at present. "And you... I've heard a bit about you already from Domm. When will you understand that your intensity is wasted amongst these, the dregs of the net? It's our mission as ROT to wipe such scum form the face of the earth. Rolling around in their midst, gathering filth is... unbecoming."
"Ha. I hope you enjoyed speaking, because all further words come at a premium of your own lost blood. WatchTower... you and I have a certain history. Let's talk about what's changed with the ROT since I left. I can't expect a green recruit like that hog to come armed with knowledge, but surely you must? You're always so... observant," Guillotine chuckled, lifting her former ally's head by its angular chin.
DragonierMan got another message while Guillotine was occupied...
It didn't look like Guillotine had made much progress yet; she hadn't moved on to the slapping or blading portion of interrogation yet. She seemed to have decided to single out WatchTower for now... Ironically, her experience with the lady appeared to give her a lower opinion of WatchTower than it did of Trebuchet, so that's where she was focusing her effort. Vee and Lee showed up soon enough, though they hadn't brought soldiers just yet. Vee nodded silently, keeping amazingly aloof as she often managed to, while Lee greeted him.
"Heyo! We're here to relieve you of prison guard duty! Unless you called us here to model those aprons instead?" the red-armored general laughed, which caused Vee to go a bit red in spite of her poise. "Yasu told us you asked us to come, anyway! Well, that's that. You got a date? This place looks pretty brutal though... Lucky, Vee and I just got off some R&R, so we're good to take over!"
((DragonierMan gets GutsImpact x1, ElecReel2 x1, 40 bugfrags, 10 FP, and the below FXP
Escort: 12
Arch: 12
Rodeo: 10
Sake: 10
Guillotine: 7
Yasu: 2))
Quote (Yasu)
"Very well. I've attached compensation for your efforts. I'm afraid there isn't much more I can supply on this short notice, but you will hear news soon that may make up for it.
The blue-robed lady smiled and nodded, watching as DragonierMan secured the bindings all more tightly; he earned a few more insulting nicknames for his efforts. "Excellent. Take a seat, Dragon. I will be interested to learn what the ROT has been up to in my absence. Well, besides failure that is, if there is indeed anything at all," she chuckled, stooping in front of WatchTower and Trebuchet. There was something about her robe that never failed to flatter her from behind in such a pose. Her blades trailed across the ground, cuttling lines in the sand as she repositioned her hands onto the floor. "It looks like whoever last assaulted your face, neophyte, they were not equipped with the same weapons that I am. When I slap someone in the face, I tend to leave a larger gash..."
"Ha! Guillotine. I've heard plenty about you. Weak, ineffectual, as well as awkward and profoundly ill-suited for the life of an ROT officer. You denied your training, the rules, the necessary punishments... I guess you've found similar company. It suits you much better, from the looks of it," Trebuchet spoke through swollen lips. They were fat under the best of circumstances, much worse at present. "And you... I've heard a bit about you already from Domm. When will you understand that your intensity is wasted amongst these, the dregs of the net? It's our mission as ROT to wipe such scum form the face of the earth. Rolling around in their midst, gathering filth is... unbecoming."
"Ha. I hope you enjoyed speaking, because all further words come at a premium of your own lost blood. WatchTower... you and I have a certain history. Let's talk about what's changed with the ROT since I left. I can't expect a green recruit like that hog to come armed with knowledge, but surely you must? You're always so... observant," Guillotine chuckled, lifting her former ally's head by its angular chin.
DragonierMan got another message while Guillotine was occupied...
Quote (Yasu)
"Great work. Domm and BrainMan attacked the soldiers I was training in another area. We repelled Domm and managed to destroy BrainMan; only his remains left, which I wrapped in the jack-out prohibiting ropes. Thank you for understanding that I would have fought to destroy them, by the by. I only wish I'd gotten them both. But it felt good to use muscles I have not in some time.
I do not know Rudy nor Rack. I believe at this point, the best course of action will be to have an interrogator extract there details and whereabouts from our captives. It should all come out in time. And your caution certainly makes sense at this point. Lee and Vee would be good for the job. I'll send the two of them along with a few soldiers they select to watch the ROT captives.
I'd say the ROT attack is good as repelled now. You should leave the camp for some fresh air and let the situation develop. We'll speak again soon.
It didn't look like Guillotine had made much progress yet; she hadn't moved on to the slapping or blading portion of interrogation yet. She seemed to have decided to single out WatchTower for now... Ironically, her experience with the lady appeared to give her a lower opinion of WatchTower than it did of Trebuchet, so that's where she was focusing her effort. Vee and Lee showed up soon enough, though they hadn't brought soldiers just yet. Vee nodded silently, keeping amazingly aloof as she often managed to, while Lee greeted him.
"Heyo! We're here to relieve you of prison guard duty! Unless you called us here to model those aprons instead?" the red-armored general laughed, which caused Vee to go a bit red in spite of her poise. "Yasu told us you asked us to come, anyway! Well, that's that. You got a date? This place looks pretty brutal though... Lucky, Vee and I just got off some R&R, so we're good to take over!"
((DragonierMan gets GutsImpact x1, ElecReel2 x1, 40 bugfrags, 10 FP, and the below FXP
Escort: 12
Arch: 12
Rodeo: 10
Sake: 10
Guillotine: 7
Yasu: 2))