VIGIL I: We don't have a cool title yet...

[FireFox]

Ocean Base - Range

Sam shifts to parade rest and affects the polite tone of a confused subordinate. I beg your pardon, sir?


[Kitchen]

You were going to show me around. Rho smiles charmingly.


[Mountain Base - Some other time]

The man calling himself Douglas Deimos shows up to meet Wenomir.

[Morty]

[Mountain Base - Training Tower]

Douglas will be eventually directed there, where Wenomir is performing drills with a pair of moderately-long, single-edged swords with knife-like hilts.

[Arkhosia]

[Kitchen]



Erin hums to herself as she works, swaying gently to the soft, pleasant tune as one plant after another is watered. It isn't long, however, before she's done, and she puts away the Endless Watering Can and garden gloves. "There. Now, then, where were we?"

===

Courtyard



Patty frowns as the Fog sweeps in.

She has to wonder if there's nanomachines (son) inside it.

As it is, she concentrates, then sends a telekinetic blast out from her! It's omnidirectional, and strong enough that while it wouldn't bowl anybody over, it should disrupt the fog before it dissipates after a short distance from its source.

Patty, right? Stick close to me! I may assume titan form for combat, and there's no telling if the fog is merely fog or if it serves a devious purpose. I don't want to see VIGIL obliterated because a titan shifter was enthralled by the enemy or something like that!
Sophia orders, moving close to Patty. She puts away her rifle and draws her left blade, holding it in front in a defensive stance, her right side facing behind her as she clutches tightly a symbol hanging from her neck.
Sophia mutters a few words in a divine language, and her blade begins to glow a divine, bright pink.

[FireFox]

[Training Tower]

The station chief waits for the warrior to finish up, watching his fighting analytically. My King said you wanted to talk to me?

[Morty]

[Training Tower]

"Ah, yes," Wenomir says, putting the messers away. "You would be Douglas, I assume. The one who oversaw the espionage operation in AMEN."

[FireFox]

[Training Tower]

Yes, I am. He is polite, but detached. Not volunteering any information until he knows what Wenomir wants.

[Aric Kale]

Ocean Base - Range

Sam shifts to parade rest and affects the polite tone of a confused subordinate. I beg your pardon, sir?

Ocean Base - Range

Marcus matches Sam's expression for a moment, before realizing what had happened.
I suppose you haven't been informed.

Due to a lack of VIGIL Officials, you and I have been promoted to Staff Officers. I can show you around the Mountain Base, and you can do the same for me here.

[FireFox]

Ocean Base - Range

Hmmm. She supposes that perhaps Carrie was going to tell her. She's hasn't seen her lately... Well, that's quite all right then. What are our official responsibilities?

[Aric Kale]

Ocean Base - Range

It's an interesting position to find yourself in. He grins, As far as I've been told, we have some authority over the rest of the members, but our main task is to provide assistance to the lower ranks. If they have questions, answer them. And organize the others when necessary.

He scrunches his face slightly, as if in thought.
Wenomir didn't give me an elaborate description. He just suggested that I familiarize myself with all of our bases.

[ThirdEmperor]

[Mountain Base - Library]

There's a flutter of wings, and a rather large lizard alights on the edge of the window, curved talons digging into the sill as the creature peers inside.

Gray scales with the dark-flecked color and glossy shine of marble gleam in the sunlight. It's a rather large lizard indeed, but quite small for a dragon, its four wings barely spanning a full arm's length. In some ways it looks more a vulture than a beast fit to devour knights and dine on royal flesh - a mane of prickling black fur runs down its neck and back in place of terrible spines, and rather than a mouthful of fangs, it has a curved beak that extends backwards into a bony plate over it's face and then curls up into a crest shot with streaks of gold.

The wyrm taps its beak against the glass, and makes a little squawking cry to get somebody's attention.


Well, it's certainly not going to try and break in through those wards, oh no.

[Zefir]

Library

This library doesn't seem to have anything other than a few brief references to such a civilization, but other libraries such as the ones in Riverside or Inside might have more solid information.

Courtyard

The gust of wind from Spako does hold part of the fog at bay, but there's so much of it that unless he can keep it going in all directions, it'll eventually wash over him and everyone else, regardless of the blasts within it. Once the people are touched by the fog, they'll find all sound muffled, as if it were underwater, and the swirling mass cuts off vision further than just a couple feet. A sense of dread is palpable in the fog and the desire to flee in terror will begin to creep into the minds of Vigil's defenders. It is a supernatural terror, so it can be resisted, but it is also quite subtle at first so it may go unnoticed for now.

So far, there's no sign of anything other than themselves within it.

Mountain Base - Infirmary

Mitch gives a light groan from the bed and shifts positions slightly, rolling a bit onto his side so he can attempt to sleep off his wounds and pain. For now, nothing disturbs the infirmary though the fog begins to seep up to the window.

Mountain Base - Infirmary

Just right now MDM comes back, holding a heavy gun in hand instead of the other thing he was ordered to get.

"What happened?" she asks and the machine makes some strange noise. He tries to be silent so Mitch won't wake up.

"It didn't went through the door?. Well damn, seems like I miscalculated the size. At least something ." Mia says, taking the weapon. She puts the sling over her shouler holding the heavy weapon at her hip. People migth wonder how this young woman holds such a heavy weapon, but most don't know about the lift up device that keeps even such a weapon light enougth. Mia also puts on Glasses which will help her aim the weapon from her hip.

After this is done Mia takes place in the mid of the infirmary, there she got a good view at mitch, the windows and the door. MDM is placing himself close to the door ready to defend it.

[Morty]

[Training Tower]

Yes, I am. He is polite, but detached. Not volunteering any information until he knows what Wenomir wants.

"That was a fairly thorough report you and your people put together," Wenomir says. "Tobias mentioned that you might be open to a more permanent cooperation between your agency and our group. What are your thoughts on the matter?"

[Darkcomet]

Spoiler: quote

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[EI HQ]

Spoiler: Missive

Show

I care.

I know that doesn't mean anything, but I needed to say it. Whatever else I've said or claimed, the truth remains that my actions speak for themselves. I led HALO for years, despite scorn from without and apathy from within, because I care. I hope you can see past your anger to acknowledge all that I have tried to do for the citizens of the Nexus. Of your list of grievances, all legitimate, I hasten to add, I am directly responsible for at least one. I hired Magtok because I thought he would be an active force of good. And, since he took over HALO, he organized a successful anti-slaver operation, among other accomplishments. That does not excuse or atone for any of his past sins, but I am not in the business of judging. I am in the business of neutralizing those who would harm and oppress others. And to achieve that objective, I will ask anyone for help, give anyone a chance. I do not have the luxury of moral superiority. One bad person who does a few helpful things is more useful to me than a dozen good guys who do nothing. I am no hero. But, perhaps, the Nexus needs more people who are willing to work together than solitary heroes at this time. I would like to work with you. If you wish to try collaborating with someone who cares, you can find me or one of my representatives at my fortress. But if you would rather work alone, then I wish you the best of luck into holding VIGIL publicly accountable. I just wish you would focus more on the present than the past. We can't make up for the hurts already suffered, but hopefully we can prevent future pain and sorrow.

[VIGIL Ocean Base]

A letter is brought here, and given to one of the robots to be sent to Tobias. It's unmarked, though inspection will reveal that it's perfectly mundane. Much like the one its sender received. The paper inside the envelope is typed and has an Evolution Industries watermark, betraying its origins.

Spoiler: Letter

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I'm no stranger to grim realities and necessities. I can understand a lot. I can excuse a lot. I'm not sure I could sleep at night if I couldn't. I mean, I sell the son of an insane evil emperor a whole lot of guns, although thankfully the he's far more pleasant than his father was, despite the shared dictatorial inclinations.

But there's an important difference between Magtok and Altaran. For all the good Prince's faults, he's not a betrayer.

Examples like Ilpholin or Magtok have proven not only their moral bankruptcy but their treachery. Yet, no matter how many times we are betrayed, we forgive it all. Did you know going after the cat was Magtok's suggestion? Of course, he'll bring up that there was a significant time-delay, and yes, that's true, because gene-targeted nanite weapons take a long time to develop to an acceptable level, even for one such as myself. Nanotech isn't even my specialty.

I went to him to request a DNA sample, and he not only refused, but went so far as to betray me to the cat outright, and launch an attack on Evolution Industries in Riverside.

His history doesn't speak well for him either, what with his constant changes of affiliation and sucking up to whoever his whims or self-interest align him with at any given time. It's not just that he's a horrible sapient being, although that certainly doesn't help. It's that he's a horrible sapient being who cannot be trusted to serve anyone but himself. Not only have we excused all of the actions I've gone on about at length, we've been far too lenient on simple treachery. Only I sought to punish Ilpholin. When the VIGIL merge was going on, not a single one of my supposed co-leaders was put off in the least by Magtok's backstabbing, and expected me to go along with it without a word despite everything that happened.

Trust isn't a thing we can give freely in this line of work. The catastrophes the League's lenience allowed to happen proved that, regardless of any opinions anyone may have on my admittedly rather late attempt at exacting justice, as did the treachery of Ilpholin and Magtok. Yet everyone keeps forgiving that, and treating anyone who dissents like bloodthirsty maniacs.

I can't justify taking a knife in the back, turning around, and saying "Aim for the throat," Vulpan, and I will not be taking part in operations alongside any known VIGIL members until something is done about all this. I can't forgive the blatant disregard for all those lives, our mission, and our own well-being all at once.

But for what it is worth, thank you for trying.

[ThirdEmperor]

[Mountain Base - Library]

The wyrm squawks in indignation at being ignored, and huffs out a breath of silvery-green sparks. They flare and fizzle out harmlessly in the air. Another deep inhalation, and this time a spidery loop of fire is made, floating slowly towards the windowpane. There's a special kind of trickery in dragonfire. This flame carries a spell that gently tries to gently displace the wards, to shove them outward as the flame itself grows, swelling out until it's large enough for the bookwyrm to step through. With one more telekinetic little trick it tries to pop the latch open and lift the window upwards, hoping it's managed to move enough of the wards to keep any alarms from going off.

[FireFox]

[Range]

Pretty much the staff NCO duties she and Wenomir first discussed. Should be easy enough, with her experience. Great, well, this is obviously our live fire practice house. And over there is the conventional range, with lanes and automated target systems. There's also a training room for all the other kinds of practice and underneath it is a simulation room, where we can go over specific, virtual scenarios.


[Training Tower]

Thank you. A faint smile ghosts across his lips. My thoughts are that there are certain problems with that. Let's start with what should be your biggest concern: I am employed by the Royal Clandestine Agency. Our goals and methods may overlap with your organization's, but there's no guarantee that I won't face a conflict of interest. I answer to the Royal family first and foremost. It would not be paranoid of you to examine every piece of intelligence I provide you with, in case a Vulpan asked me to pass disinformation. Wenomir will know that that is improbable, but not impossible. But you seem willing enough to take that chance if you're approaching me, so let's move on to my greatest concern. I have my own objectives and a brief to gather specific intelligence. I have a bloated operations budget, but few agents. Therefore, I must carefully focus on priorities which may not match your own. The AMEN thing fell into my lap when I was fishing for something quite different, so I made a gift of it to you, but if I am expected to provide you with more reports I will need greater manpower. That means you would provide me with a specific objective, something you think you need to know, and then give me some volunteers to train and play. Finally, I am a professional and you, to put it bluntly, are not. Once you give me a target and someone to help me get at it, you will have no oversight. I will not abide meddlesome amateurs.


[Tobias' Glade]

This post will have to wait until after work.

[Aric Kale]

Range

Marcus nods, carefully taking mental notes on everything Sam says.
It would be important to remember these details later on, especially the simulation room.

Excellent.
I have a question about the teleportation room. Are all teleports and portals locked to that room, or could enemies pop into any random hallway?

It may seem like an obvious question, but he'd rather be safe than dead.

[UncleWolf]

Spoiler: Previously...

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[Courtyard]

Wenomir's response to the encroaching fog and the likewise encroaching sense of dread is to make wide, quick sweeps around him with his sword. It's largely an empty gesture of someone who is conditioned to respond to threats this way, but the sword bears rather strong anti-magic runes, so it's not impossible it might actually harm whatever being that takes the form of the fog.

Courtyard

Spako scowls. Damn it all. He reaches into his pack and pulls out a stick about a foot long. Throwing it to the ground, it bursts into light not entirely unlike a flare. In fact, it basically is a flare.
It won't make seeing any easier, but it'll act as a beacon so that he doesn't have to worry quite as much of losing his way if he takes two steps away from the building.

===

Courtyard



Patty frowns as the Fog sweeps in.

She has to wonder if there's nanomachines (son) inside it.

As it is, she concentrates, then sends a telekinetic blast out from her! It's omnidirectional, and strong enough that while it wouldn't bowl anybody over, it should disrupt the fog before it dissipates after a short distance from its source.

Patty, right? Stick close to me! I may assume titan form for combat, and there's no telling if the fog is merely fog or if it serves a devious purpose. I don't want to see VIGIL obliterated because a titan shifter was enthralled by the enemy or something like that!
Sophia orders, moving close to Patty. She puts away her rifle and draws her left blade, holding it in front in a defensive stance, her right side facing behind her as she clutches tightly a symbol hanging from her neck.
Sophia mutters a few words in a divine language, and her blade begins to glow a divine, bright pink.

Mountain Base - Infirmary

Just right now MDM comes back, holding a heavy gun in hand instead of the other thing he was ordered to get.

"What happened?" she asks and the machine makes some strange noise. He tries to be silent so Mitch won't wake up.

"It didn't went through the door?. Well damn, seems like I miscalculated the size. At least something ." Mia says, taking the weapon. She puts the sling over her shouler holding the heavy weapon at her hip. People migth wonder how this young woman holds such a heavy weapon, but most don't know about the lift up device that keeps even such a weapon light enougth. Mia also puts on Glasses which will help her aim the weapon from her hip.

After this is done Mia takes place in the mid of the infirmary, there she got a good view at mitch, the windows and the door. MDM is placing himself close to the door ready to defend it.

Courtyard

Patty's power shoves some of the fog back, forming a void within it around her and Sophia. All is fine and dandy until a rapidly approaching shape in the fog bursts out in an attempt to collide with the pair. It appears to be the front half of a moose, still in the throes of death from the horrific damage it has taken. Still, if the pair don't dodge, the rack and sheer bulk of the nearly-dead animal is likely to hurt them.

As for the rear half, Spako might see that being thrown at him as well, the hind legs kicking a bit.

The entire time, the sound of a hideous amused laughter can be heard, ringing out from the fog as whatever it is begins to play with its new prey.

Infirmary

Mitch begins to shake some in his bed before his eyes snap open with a gasp. The gasp quickly turns into a coughing fit, so he turns to the side to hack into the nearby trashcan. After a few seconds of coughing, he falls back onto his bed and gives a small smile to the woman in the room. "You look like an angel..." He mutters with the smile before closing his eyes.

[Morty]

[Training Tower]

"That is quite a list of caveats," Wenomir comments, leaning on both his swords. "But, broadly speaking, those are acceptable terms. It might change depending on the situation. I can't imagine how our interests and those of your king might clash in the future, but... things happen. With all that said, I don't think there's much room for a formal decision yet. We'll have to reach an agreement once something comes up that we decide we need your help with."

[Courtyard]

Suddenly, so much so that it seems as though he simply swapped places without moving, Wenomir is between Spako and the incoming carcass. His sword flashes a complicated curve in the air, and the dead animal should be neatly sliced in half, the pieces falling harmlessly to the two Vigilants' sides.

[ThirdEmperor]

[Ocean Base]

Out beyond the port-side windows, something moves. Some ponderous undersea creature, it's vast, dark shape growing clear amidst the briny murk with each motion, the ugly silhouette of a thing with waving tentacles and sharp outcroppings and great stalagmite teeth. Smaller shapes flit erratically in the beast's wake, too small to be seen clearly within the depths.
Greenish light flares along the beast's sides, bright spots of luminescence along a pale bulk of scales. In the dim haze, the creature becomes a grotesque angler fish with terrible stalactite teeth, chest torn open by a throng of bloody tendrils. A dead creature, with cannons poking out from its broken flesh like bronze barnacles.

The undead leviathan calls out, a rumbling cry that shakes the waters and the walls of the great undersea fortress.

[Deathkeeper]

Courtyard

Spako sighs as he finds his evasive action unnecessary.
"I had it handled, but thanks, Sir." breathes out the kobold to the human above him.
He considers trying to fly to get a view from up above, but he's sure that'll only end with him crashing as the fog disorients him.

[Zefir]

Infirmary

Mitch begins to shake some in his bed before his eyes snap open with a gasp. The gasp quickly turns into a coughing fit, so he turns to the side to hack into the nearby trashcan. After a few seconds of coughing, he falls back onto his bed and gives a small smile to the woman in the room. "You look like an angel..." He mutters with the smile before closing his eyes.

Infirmary

Mia looks at Mitch as noise comes from his bed. She brush a bit at Mitch words. None has ever said this to her. She is a bit distracted right now, but soon will concwntrate back on the thread outside.

[Morty]

[Ocean Base]

Thariza had always wondered what those giant undead fish looked like, when listening to soldiers who had been in Orr and faced the Risen. And now she'd got her wish. The Charr drops to all fours and runs through the base to raise an alarm.

[Zefir]

[Ocean Base]

It needs a bit after the alarm reach the mountain base and a bit more for Mia to prepare. A while Later mia will arrive at the airlock closest to the spotted leviathan. Next to her are a few robots. The robots look like the terminator armors you see here. There aren't any ornaments like on the picture and the helm got an additional glass cover as futher protection for the undersea. On their backs are jetpacks specially made for undersea allowing people to move in every direction. A few armors head on the wall and open up showing an empty place for anyone to enter. ((I can offer futher informations, but the suits should allow people to fight underwater))
Mia in her armor and two other armors head outside to search for the thread outside the base.

[FireFox]

[Range]

Sam smiles humourlessly, because that is a good question and Marcus should take whatever preventions he can. The base is not teleblocked. The teleportation room is used for outgoing teleports to specific locations. Anyone can pop in anywhere.


[Training Tower]

You asked about a "permanent cooperation", Douglas reminds Wenomir. A more temporary basis, where we work case by case, would be easier. A little quid pro quo, a little do ut des... I just need you to understand that, with my limited resources, I simply cannot afford to drop what I'm doing and obtain whatever intelligence you ask for without getting something in return. He smiles apologetically about the harsh reality of being professionally responsible to higher authorities than Wenomir and the other VIGIL leaders. Just business.
But...
He lets that word hang there for a second, suspended like the Coordinating Conjunction of Damocles, as he examines the warrior's hacked up training dummy. If you are interested in establishing a line of credit now for a future emergency, there is something you can do for me. A little investigation I don't have the manpower for, following up on one of my side projects. Worst case scenario, a little straightforward combat for your members to whet their appetites on.


[Airlock]

Kynegetis once made a magic weapon specifically for hunting leviathans. An extending trident that would enable her (in theory, at least) to spear something on the bottom of the ocean while standing in a boat on the surface. You know, in case she didn't feel like getting wet that day. She reaches her hand into her demiplane to draw the trident from her armory but
IT WAS STOLEN BY THAT STUPID CAT AND THEN AUCTIONED OFF TO SOME RANDOM JERKFACE AAAAAAARRRGGHHHH
I HATE YOU, REINHOLDT!
So the Huntress instead arms herself with an ebony spear tipped with a dragon's tooth and what looks like a pure white Model 1860 Light Cavalry Saber, which she slides into a belt she straps around a wet suit. Her divine energy can be focused to provide oxygen while keeping the undersea pressure from squeezing out her innards like a stomped-upon tube of toothpaste. And then she exits the airlock to do battle with the monster. There's no better cure for a broken heart, as her daddy always says, like stabbing something big to death.

[Aric Kale]

Range

Marcus blinks several times. That...that seems quite foolish, to be completely honest with you.
Can you tell me wh-alarms are sounded!

Something's amiss. Hurry Sam, we must see to the issue! The soldier will rush off to whatever seems to be the source of the problem.

When he sees the massive leviathan, he immediately begins to carve Runes of Protection into the wall...better than nothing, right?

[Morty]

[Training Tower]

"I did. Now I'm adjusting my plans," Wenomir says with a shrug. The training dummy is covered in uneven slash marks. It seems that despite their similar appearance, the two swords aren't identical. One produces more precise, thin cuts, while the other chops through the target. "Well then, what would that job be? I could see if I can get some of our members to take care of it."

[Airlock]

Thariza has no way of leaving the base to fight the giant fish-thing for now, so she just watches Kyne's approach with stunned silence.

[FireFox]

[Range]

Sam grabs her weapons and follows Marcus. She goes pale when she sees the threat. Nothing she can do against that but pray it keeps its distance.


[Training Room]

Hmm, well, let's start with an explanation of this project of mine. No need to keep secrets from you. Have you ever noticed that the bad guys are inordinately fond of utilizing warehouses, crypts, abandoned buildings and cave systems? Plenty of room for villainous projects, completely anonymous, able to be easily secured or escaped from, and--especially in the Nexus--they are infinitely available. I can't keep tabs on all of them, but I can try to crowdsource enough investigation and surveillance to cover my bases. So I visited some longshoremen, groundskeepers, urban explorers, and villagers. Spread money around, got the word out that I'd pay more for solid information. A real long shot, I know, but you can't win the lottery if you don't buy a ticket, yeah? So much of what we do comes down to a lucky break... He runs a hand over the gouges, then pats the dummy on the head and turns back to Wenomir. I was at a village in the hills, drinking watery kahwah with the elders, about a week back when this guy comes up to me. He claimed there was something weird going down in an area his goats refused to graze in. Told me there was a lot of different bad people holed up in a cave. Well, I wanted to check it out, but I had to run off to a meeting with an oracle I was consulting about prophecies. So I gave him a GPS device and a camera, offered him a lot of money if he could verify the location of the nasties. Yesterday one of the elders got a hold of me with the news that the goatherder disappeared. Douglas shakes his head in regret, then pulls a map out of a front pocket on his jacket, handing it the grizzled warrior. When pinged, the GPS shows up here in some mountains Outside. Hasn't moved once in the past 48 hours. I think something happened to my guy, but the Vulpanian commander here won't give me any people to go look since I can't confirm anything. Think you can get some people to reconnoiter and deal with whatever they find?

[Morty]

[Training Room]

Wenomir takes the map, unfolds it and examines if briefly.

"I imagine getting a couple of members there won't be a problem. Sounds like a standard search-and-rescue mission."

[FireFox]

[Training Room]

Douglas stares at Wenomir, silently marveling at his optimism. Thank you. He's about to say something more, but instead winces and starts bleeding from the nose. If Wenomir has any way of sensing psychic energy, he may be able to detect the sudden surge responsible. Ugh... excuse me. Authorized. Receiving. A letter appears in his hand and he reads it while holding a handkerchief to his nose. Hmm. CASE JUDAS OPPORTUNITY. It's from FLAGRANT HAMMER, my source in AMEN. He managed to destroy most of the cloning tanks and set one of their members on fire before being forced out of the base. A rather dramatic resignation, don't you think? Now I have to track him down and pay him for a job well done.

[Morty]

[Training Room]

Or maybe his sense of "standard" has been thoroughly eroded by the Nexus. He has no means of picking up psychic energy, so he's alarmed when Douglas starts bleeding. He puts two and two together when the letter appears, though.

"You probably should," he says. "Whoever he is. It should be helpful in case AMEN manages to recover from their current downturn."