MERC XVII: You Can't Take the Pay From Me

[Morty]

[Main Base - Shooting Range]

Dipsnig taps a crystal on his bracer, and a small golem brings in a crossbow. It's a monster of a weapon, and feels really too big for the runty goblin. It was originally a semi-repeater crossbow made of metal and wood, but it's been extensively modified. It glows with arcane-tech glyphs all over its body, and the arms have been reinforced with shimmering metal. The bowstring almost seems to hum quietly.

[Deathkeeper]

Main Base- Shooting Range

Koshal stares at the weapon in wonder.
"It looks more tricked-out than Lady Leah's guns. Or my old sword. I used to have a crystal one but I gave it to the Goddess because Mr. Wenomir told me there might be a demon in it. Too freaky." he admits, chatting idly.

[Morty]

[Main Base - Shooting Range]

"Weapons with magical beings stuck inside them are more trouble than they're worth," Dipsnig agrees. "And this weapon has been extensively modified. I got it as a reward for a job, since I'd lost my old crossbow. Then I gave it to our magical engineer to upgrade. Works like a charm now." He picks it up and draws it with a lever. "The lever lets me draw it quickly, and it's loaded with cartridges that hold three bolts."

[Green Elf]

Jacob walks into the base, he seems to be looking for someone, probably Fade and Nadas.

[Nova_Eclipse]

Main Base - Near the Front Gate

A blue beam streaks down from the sky and forms back into a pair of figures, in the positions they were in when they teleported out of the Black Dragon's Den. One is Raril, the owner of the Black Dragon's Den. The other is Electra, a blonde woman wearing black high-tech armor. Or perhaps, she's not a woman, but something else. Blood flows from several scratches on her face where BBs from the bomb the ninja threw either grazed her or left slightly deeper cuts, but it's an odd consistency and blue, rather than red. She pays it no mind as she straightens up and offers the drow a hand up as well.

The sensation of her type of teleportation is probably new to Raril, an overwhelming white void that exists only for a split second, before the world snaps back into focus in the new location. It's vaguely disorienting, but not sickening. They've landed just outside the front gate of MERC HQ, at the edge of the base's dimensional lock.

"Are you ok? Can you stand? Sorry, I didn't see him toss that grenade." There's concern evident on her face and in her deep blue eyes as she offers her hand.

[Artemis97]

[Main Base - Near the Front Gate]

Raril accepts the hand up and slowly pushes himself to his feet. He groans and puts a hand to his side, where he's bleeding pretty heavily. Internally, he's healing, so it looks worse than it is. The drow holds up his hand in front of his face, examining the blood. "Oh that's not good."

[Nova_Eclipse]

Main Base - Near the Front Gate

Electra notes the blood on his hand and holsters her weapon, then puts a steadying hand on his shoulder.

"Can you walk? Here, lean on me, if you need to. There's medical facilities inside." She gestures towards the base, moving so he can lean on her for support if he needs it. Obviously, she's not aware of Raril's accelerated healing ability. Her own wounds have stopped bleeding, but there's a good streak of blue down the left side of her face.

[Artemis97]

[Main Base - Near the Front Gate]

"I can walk." Raril assures her. "Lead the way." He returns his hand to his side, keeping pressure on the wound.

[Nova_Eclipse]

Main Base - Near the Front Gate

Electra nods, and begins walking carefully to the front door of the base, trying to stay close to Raril in case his wound gets worse. She continues to glance around while they walk. There's no reason to suspect the assassin has followed them here, but better safe than sorry. Despite the cautious pace, they soon reach the front door, and she quickly opens it, holding it open for Raril.

"After you, good sir." She gestures slightly, smiling just a bit at him.

[Artemis97]

[Main Base - Front Gate]

"Thanks," Raril says stepping through. "And it's not sir it's just....just..." He stops, looking confused. "I don't remember. I can't remember my own name." He says quietly.

[Nova_Eclipse]

Main Base - Front Gate -> Main Room

Electra frowns, closing the door behind him, then gesturing towards the infirmary.

"That's not good. I'm not sure if we have the ability to help with that, but we can at least get your wound tended to, and we can see about finding someone who can." There's worry in her eyes, and her expression as she starts to move towards the infirmary. "Your name is Raril Xar'Cha. How much do you remember?" While she's not a doctor, assessing how much memory loss he has may be important, especially when she and Dena need to report to Dipsnig on what happened.

[Artemis97]

[Main Base - Front Gate]

Raril furrows his brow, thinking. "Pain, lots of pain. Then that lady was dragging me around. She had snakes for hair? Did she really have snakes for hair? Anyways, I got behind the bar and you showed up and teleported me here. And... that's all I can remember."

[Nova_Eclipse]

Main Base - Main Room

Electra pauses, and her frown deepens with worry.

"Yes, she does. Your memory loss is pretty bad, then. Let's get that wound patched up, and then we'll decide what to do. My name is Electra, and this is a safe place. It's the main base for the Mercenary Espionage and Reconnaissance Corporation, or MERC for short. You probably have a lot of questions right now, but I think making sure you don't bleed out internally is more important. C'mon, infirmary's this way." She turns and heads for said room. Since she's not a full member, she's not sure if there's someone on the roster who might be able to help Raril. Probably better to talk to Dipsnig, but first she needs to make sure Raril's wound isn't as serious as it looks.

[Artemis97]

[Main Base - Infirmary]

Raril follows Electra to the infirmary, feeling kind of bad that he was dripping blood on the floor. "Mercenaries and spies. Super safe, sure."

The drow will take a seat on a medical bed and peel off his shirt. The wound was almost closed, now, pushing the projectile BBs out of the holes in his back and side.

[Nova_Eclipse]

Main Base - Infirmary

Electra grabs a couple of bandages from a cabinet and wipes her own blood off of her face while CB-484 bustles in to examine Raril. After a few minutes of checking, the bot makes a vaguely unsettling comment about how it would have removed the BBs and how easy it would be for it to make a "mistake", before slapping band-aids on the closing holes in Raril's back and side, and tromping off dejectedly, ignoring Electra completely. Her wounds apparently aren't serious enough for it to bother with. She eyes Raril, and shrugs, with a vaguely blank expression on her face.

"I guess you heal fast. Now then. I know you have questions, but I might not be the best person to answer them. To be completely honest, I don't know you that well. I know you own the Black Dragon's Den, the bar we teleported out of. Someone just tried to kill you, and they tried very hard, but I have no idea why anyone would want to. I'm going to call Dipsnig, he's the boss around here. He knows you pretty well, so he might be able to help you more than I can, ok?"

[Artemis97]

[Main Base - Infirmary]

"Yeah, that sounds like a plan." Raril agrees. "If your boss knows me, he's not likely to take a contract out on me, right? Well, unless I did something to cross him. Or he likes money more than he likes me. Maybe I should go..." The drow gets up to leave.

[Nova_Eclipse]

Main Base - Infirmary

Electra chuckles, and holds up a hand in a "wait" gesture, but doesn't exactly move to stop him.

"We don't do assassinations, Raril. It's one of our rules. In fact, I was at the Den because I was on another assignment. Dipsnig and I were in contact when the attack on you started. The lady with the snakes for hair? She's one of the lieutenants here. As soon as she saw the attack start, she called him, and he asked us both to do our best to protect you and help you. Even now, he's authorized more forces to move in to try and help either kill or capture the assassin. He, and we, are not your enemies." Her tone is friendly and understanding, and she offers him a friendly smile. "I can sort of understand where you're coming from, but think about this: if he'd had something against you, why would he send people to help you? I think you'd be doing yourself a disservice by leaving without talking to him."

[Artemis97]

[Main Base - Infirmary]

Raril considers what Electra has said and nods, agreeing with her. "If he'd go so far to aid me, he must be a friend." He hops back up on the medical bed and picks up his shirt examining it. Covered in blood and full of holes, it was ruined, but maybe....

The drow mutters the words to a song and the shirt becomes whole again. Singing another short tune, the blood vanishes.

"Huh...I didn't know I could do that." He shrugs and pulls the now clean and repaired shirt back on.

[Nova_Eclipse]

Main Base - Infirmary

Electra nods, then watches as he mends and cleans his shirt with magic, her eyebrows going up. If he reflexively remembers his magic, maybe, given time and the right stimulus, he might remember other things. Better get into contact with Dipsnig, then. She places a her left hand up to her left auditory sensor and makes the call to Dipsnig's number.

[Zefir]

[Dipsnig's Office]

Fade just nods.

"I will proceed then." he says in his usual voice. "Should there be any task I can help you with, even if it is just to accompany you to a meeting, please don't hesitate to ask."

Fade seems to be well aware about his lack of social skills, but he won't learn it without a guide or in this case a boss to tell him when he acts wrong.

[Dipsnig's Office] -> [Main Room]

Fade comes out of Dipsnig's office. He then immediatly turns for the main room to leave the base. Jakob is free to catch him on his way out.

[Morty]

[Main Base - Infirmary]

Dipsnig does not answer. Seems he's busy with the negotiations in Trog's.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Main Base - Infirmary]

Electra shrugs as she cuts the call. She figured Dipsnig would probably be busy with Silus. She looks back to Raril for a moment.

"He's not picking up. He must still be working on his end of the mission I was working on. I have a couple of other ideas, though. Can you wait here for a few minutes?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Main Base - Shooting Range]

"Weapons with magical beings stuck inside them are more trouble than they're worth," Dipsnig agrees. "And this weapon has been extensively modified. I got it as a reward for a job, since I'd lost my old crossbow. Then I gave it to our magical engineer to upgrade. Works like a charm now." He picks it up and draws it with a lever. "The lever lets me draw it quickly, and it's loaded with cartridges that hold three bolts."

Koshal ponders the design.
"Why not more than three? Would it get too big?" he asks, looking at the cartridge space.

[Shadowcaller]

[Astrana's Office]

"Excellent. Honestly I have never driven a car like that before and if I had to drive it back home I probably would have killed myself, or at least ended up in the ditch. If only because that car just begs to speed. If you like driving I wouldn't miss the opportunity to take it for a spin." She sets the keys on the desk, then she pulls out a business card from her jean pockets. She checks the number to make sure it is the right one. No name on the card only the number.

"Now since you confirmed the good news that dear old dad hasn't been around yet I have some more time to enjoy myself. So I am going to call a car to take me to a nearby ski resort to try out skiing. I assume it will be ok to wait in your lobby?" Cait seems to be in an excellent mood as everything came together nicely on this trip. Plus she is genuinely excited about skiing for the first time.

[Astrana's Office]

"Of course, wait as long as you want." Astrana replies with a smile as she leans back against her desk, her long tail swinging back and fourth. "It will be up to the chief if I'd drive that car or not though. But I'll keep your recommendation in mind."

[McBish]

[Astrana's Office]

Cait gives a wry grin. "Well I am leaving the keys with you. I'm sure no one would blame you if you took it out to make sure everything was in working order. Either way the paperwork to take ownership of the car are in the glove box. I figured you didn't have to worry about car thieves up here." Cait pulls out a small cell phone and uses whatever the nexus has instead of uber.

[Artemis97]

[Main Base - Infirmary]

Electra shrugs as she cuts the call. She figured Dipsnig would probably be busy with Silus. She looks back to Raril for a moment.

"He's not picking up. He must still be working on his end of the mission I was working on. I have a couple of other ideas, though. Can you wait here for a few minutes?"

[Main Base - Infirmary]

Raril shrugs. "I've got no where else to go."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Main Base - Infirmary -> Main Room -> Tunnels]

Electra nods and moves back out into the main room. She hasn't visited the base much, so while she knows where the basics are, she's a bit lost when looking for specific people. Finally, she snags someone who points her in the right direction, and before long, she's knocking at the door to Astrana's office.

[Morty]

[Main Base - Shooting Range]

Koshal ponders the design.
"Why not more than three? Would it get too big?" he asks, looking at the cartridge space.

"Too big and unwieldy, yes. Three are the optimal number," Dipsnig says. He then aims the crossbow, squeezes the trigger and pulls a lever. With rapid motions, he sends three bolts at a target. They strike with a lot more force than the previous crossbow.

[Shadowcaller]

[Astrana's Office]

"I'll keep that in mind." The tiefling muses. "But no, i haven't seen thieves of any kind of in fact. Not counting our members of course." She smiles at her own joke.

[Astrana's Office 2]

The office is actually located in the tunnels underneath the base, where Astrana has her ritual chamber. The tiefling opens the door, giving Electra a curious. "Oh, my must be Electra. I'm Astrana Tyramera. How nice to meet you." She offers her hand to shake in this fashion.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Astrana's Office 2]

Electra blinks as she takes Astrana's hand and shakes it, her grip firm, but friendly.

"The pleasure is all mine. I do hope I'm not interrupting anything." Clearly, she wasn't expecting Astrana to know who she is, but she seems to be relatively unfazed. "Might you have a few minutes? I could use your help."