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MIDGAR - The metropolitan capital of the Shinra Electric Power Company. Forever shrouded in darkness but forever the brightest spot in the eastern continent. If you have never been there, you would never know of the helplessness and despiration of those that lived below the plate, and that is where our story begins....
We begin in the Sector 7 slums, far from the prestige of those who live above, and the home of the oppressed people who live out their day-to-day lives selling their wares just to get by. Buildings and structures are made from wood and scrap metal, and instead of roads there are dirt paths. The sector 7 slums are lit only by a single street lamp situated next to the 7th Heaven bar. Crime is on the rise, bringing fear to the hearts of innocence.
Let's have our heroes introduce themselves.
Spoiler
Setting Notes
Spoiler
The 7th Heaven bar is run by Tifa's friend, Johnny. He's also looking after Marlene.
It was late in the afternoon, and Danica was silently sitting on the roof of a broken-down train. Her entire body was nearly motionless as she stared at the train platform, watching as people exited and boarded, as trains came and went. Her shuriken was resting comfortably on her lap, but her dark blue Shinra uniform was very much uncomfortable to her. She'd pinned her up her hair, though she'd opted for as tight a bun as possible at the nape of her neck instead of her usual three-layer cascade.
She had been there since early afternoon, watching the trains, and replaying her conversation with Heidegger that morning in her mind. She'd been in the middle of a morning meditation when he'd rudely barged in on her, but she maintained her calm and grace while he gave the worst briefing she'd ever received. Not only because the mission at hand was akin to a betrayal (if one wanted to think that way), but because there was no information except a location and a partner. Sector 7 Slums, and a SOLDIER she'd worked with a few times before named Tyr. Hunting a Cetra. She wondered if he was talking to the Planet now (something she did without wanting to at times, which caused her great annoyance). Did he know they were coming? Should she ask about him? Would she even get an answer?
Despite all the worries going through her mind, her face stayed serene, her eyes half-open, her lips in a slight smile. She continued her unflinching watch, though her patience was growing thin.
A short, trench-coated figure shuffles through the Sector 7 slums. Wrapped up to the point of obscuring features, yet with clothing too baggy in places to determine figure, it was an odd display of fashion, and clearly not a practical one. Though the streets seemed largely empty until the figure came across the 7th Heaven Bar. BLUE7 peered out from behind her scarf and hat at the bar, ths source of the sudden noise that intruded upon her solitude, though such intrusions were perhaps not unwelcome. She reflected a moment, rather loudly for what would for anyone else be an internal thought, though at no point did she seem fearful someone had heard her odd monologue A bar... known for alcohol, among other things. I wonder what alcohol tastes like - or for that matter what much of anything tastes like. I suppose that might as well be my next project - adding taste to the interface. I wonder if I took alcohol before... I hear it can cause brain damage, so maybe I got too brain damaged to remember taking it. She continued rambling to herself in that odd, subdued, metallic voice, as if someone speaking inside an aluminium echo chamber half a hallway away... while, ironically, drunk.
Coming to a rest upon the tacky debris that has an odd habit of gathering in the slums, she perched upon. Surveying her surroundings, she made an odd noise, like the clicking of a tongue, but altogether wrong. Perhaps I'll drop by Wall Street, see if he's got anything for me... It's been a week since he last contacted me, I hope they haven't... FOUND him. He's smarter than that, right?
Suddenly, her body seized up.
Spoiler
A gut-wrenching and disorienting feeling led her senses back to a familiar feeling body of liquid as her eyes snapped open for what felt like the first time in months. Her vision darting around more wildly than before, she looked down and saw to her surprise that red-dressed blonde with the annoying laugh staring back at her. She wanted to scream, but knew it would do her no good, her mind panicking wildly over a thousand different things. She caught the tail end of her command after the mentioning of 'protocal' - to find and 'KILL' the 'Cetra'.
BLUE seemed to wake with a start, butof course, she hadn't exactly been sleeping. She was quite disoriented as she got to her feet. Okay, okay, calm... With a deep breath she steadied herself. Simple orders, simple objective. Find the Cetra, kill. Find red-dressed woman, kill. Cetra first - remain calm, you can figure this one out. I might as well start asking around this shady bar, maybe someone in here has their ear to the ground of the underbelly of this city. She stood up, approaching the door, thinking aloud What's a Cetra?
She couldn't have been just a little more specific, huh? I'm going to have to go find the Turks or something and ASK. Well... maybe someone in here has an idea anyway, you never know. Plus I kind of want o see the inside of this place, a peak couldn't hurt... BLUE7 cautiously slides the door open, as if expecting to get jumped.
Spoiler
What do I see inside the Seventh Heaven Bar? Anything promising? Either way, BLUE takes a look-see.
Spoiler
BTW, probably shouldn't have told us about when the pillar, even if it was in a spoiler tag - I'd remove it before anyone else spies it.
Last edited by TraceHyde : 05-20-2012 at 07:18 PM.
As Blue7 shuffled into the bar and peeked around, she could see several wooden tables with only a handful of people sitting at them, possibly drinking their sorrows aways. A one-armed bandit machine was a against the eastern side of the wall, and a man was standing behind the bar. His hair was blonde and in the style of a mohawk, which seemed to match is black clothing and heavy bangled jewerllery. He was slumped over the bar, constantly staring at the clock above the door.
A shorter man sitting at the bar wearing a Green SOLDIER uniform. He ignores the angry glares from some of the more shady looking characters as he is used to them, and the katana he wears on his back keeps them at bay. Honestly he would welcome a fight and he knows most of the scum down in these slums would deserve the end of his blade. With the recent terrorist attacks, and the crime rate skyrocketing he has been taking more and more trips down to the slums hoping someone would start something so he could get some payback for those killed.
He was about halfway through his glass of cheap scotch when his phone rings *the battle won tone*. Letting out of heavy sigh he sets his glass down and pulls the phone out of his pocket. First the cute bartender is gone again and now this... What else is gonna go wrong today. Opening his phone he reads the message and smiles, Danica huh? It's been a while.
Getting up he calls her and heads for the door, walking past the person in the trench coat.
Danica
Spoiler
Assuming you pick up.
"Hey, Tyr here. Did you get the assignment? Looks like we're working together again. I'm in Sector 7, where do you want to meet up?"
Danica was slightly startled as her phone vibrated, snapping her out of her thoughts. She answered it on the second ring, surprised that Tyr was calling her. "Hello, again, Tyr, it's good to hear your voice again," she said, "Heidegger came to me this morning with the assignment, I've been waiting for you at the train station ever since. Were you at 7th Heaven all this time?
As she spoke, she climbed down from the train and began walking towards the slums. It would have been too awkward to carry her shuriken down, too, so she'd just dropped it and picked it up again after teaching the ground. "I don't suppose you know more than I do about this? All I was told is that he's alone and in Sector 7."
Tyr's pace steadily increases towards the train station. He was getting eager to meet up with his old friend once again. "Lucky you, does he still smell of rotten cheese soaking in a boot full of sweat? Have I really become that predictable? I was just having my preemptive half glass of scotch before a mission. They always seem to know when I'm at a bar... Anyways, no I am a little fuzzy on the subject of Cetra. I was really hoping you would know a little more on them to be honest." Slightly embarrassed with his lack of knowledge he tries to think of anything he might remember about them.
Spoiler
Knowledge (life science): (1d20+8)[26]
For anything that might have relevance from that particular knowledge skill.
The Cetra are the oldest sentient beings on the planet. They constanly migrated to find their promised land. They were nearly wiped out to the point of extinction by a parasistic alien
SOLDIER uniform... He seems to be moving purpose. Maybe he knows? I should ask around the bar anyway... She looks around to see him leave, considering her options. But he might get away. Hm... She produces a coin, flipping it. Heads I follow him, she remarks, but as the coin reaches its peak in midair, she turns around, going back through the door, already knowing the result.
Ah, Seventh Heaven, once again I am forced to resist your siren call. Well, it's not like it's going anywhere - I'll just come back later if this lead is a dud, she mutters to herself as she makes her way down the street, following the apparent SOLDIER. Though quickly enough, perhaps out of an alcoholic buzz, he didn't look around and instead talked rather too loudly for any sort of covert agent. Clearly not a man hired for his brains. Or self-control - judging by his pace, he's slightly intoxicated. Listening in to his phone conversation rather rudely, she quickly picks up on the word 'Cetra'. Alright then... I'm not working with him obviously, but I can tag along from the shadows until I learn more.
He perks up a bit, "Um, I guess we're looking for someone who moves around a lot. I remember reading that they are constantly migrating in search of their promise land."
As you continue to banter away on your phone, you notice out of the corner of your eye a medium-sized being in a mis-match of clothes, following slowly behind you.
The sense of being followed is confirmed with his peripherals, "Anyways, we can talk about it more in a bit. I'll meet ya at the train graveyard. That should give us our privacy." With this he hangs up and starts texting her.
Danica
Spoiler
You can respond to the other posts, but he hangs up fairly quickly after this one. Text: Hey, bn followed. Ambush for questioning. Don't attack unless they do. ETA 5 min.
Danica bit her tongue when asked if she knew more about the Cetra. 'We can talk to the Planet, we're hunted by the people I work for...' she thought, but her pause was enough for him to offer up a fairly useless tip for finding their target. "Some people move around a lot in the slums, though, following whatever money is available, but it's a start." she replied, privately thinking she'd just ask the Planet if she really had to.
She was a bit surprised when he abruptly ended the conversation and told get to go to the graveyard, but his text a moment later answered any questions it raised. She fired back a quick, Okay, before running back and hiding on the side of the platform close to the graveyard, crouched down, and shuriken ready.
(OOC: I assume you meant Stealth instead of Hide lol)
Danica crouched behind the platform, providing her with half cover (not total cover) from any persuable threat.
Right, sorry, force of habit. It was a check to hide from BLUE7's perception check (if she makes one), so cover isn't really the concern.
Spoiler
It is. Having cover, be it half or total, provides an increase in DC for the target to use skills or attacks targeted towards you, including Perception. If she decides to attack you, you recieve a +2 cover bonus to Reflex Defence.
He saw me, didn't he... idiot. You let your guard down and didn't even TRY to sneak just because you thought he was tipsy... Alright. He mentioned the train graveyard, so at least I'm not deaf. Might as well back off for now.
Turning on her heel, BLUE makes her way back to the 7th Heaven, barging in and sitting down as gracefully as she can (which is to say, with her clothing and weight, not at all).
Making sure to avoid the bartender's gaze, lest he spot the glow of her eyes, and speaking quietly to minimize the scratching of her audio - knowing all too well people of the slums don't respond well to 'Shinra property', she asks Excuse me, which way is the 'train graveyard'? Then, more meekly, not wanting to be heard almost And what does 'scotch' taste like?
Last edited by TraceHyde : 05-21-2012 at 04:16 PM.
After a second look at Tseng's text message, Alastor closed it with a slight sneer. He agreed. Why someone as belligerent and trigger happy as Heidegger was put in charge of an army, he would never understand. The Turk operative confirmed he had received the message and pocketed his cell phone. If fortune was kind, the director's underlings would be nothing like him.
Entering the slums was like entering a whole other city in his eyes. No matter how many times Alastor had gone below the plate, the sheer difference shocked him. Untold numbers of people, living in a world of rust and pollution.
He considered the best course of action as he made his way toward Sector 7. Odds weren't good that any of the locals would be able to point him in the right direction. Cetra were all but indistinguishable from humans. The residents of Sector 7 might not even know one was living among them. Better to observe the people for any unusual behavior.
Alastor got off the train at the graveyard. He silently walked away from the station into the shadow of a building. There, he waited.
Spoiler
Would Alastor have received any information on what the Cetra looks like or how to identify them? Also, should I roll to be sneaky?
He wouldn't have done as the board of directors tend to keep information from each other.
As for rolling to be sneaky, feel free to do so.
Blue7
Spoiler
The batender looks at you strangely before replying, "why don't you try some for yourself" he says, pouring out a small glass of scotch. "The train graveyard is on the other side of sector 7 slums, past the pillar and train stati-" he stopped to think about it, "actually, i'll make it easier. Come out of here and turn left. Follow the path right the way around and you will see a split in the path. The right path leads to the sector 6 gate and the left goes to the train station. The train graveyard is on the other side of the station". He smiles at the odd person then looks down at the glass of scotch, "oh, and that would be 17 gil please".
BLUE7 looks at the glass intently,having feared this very moment. She ponders a moment, then replies Thank you, keep the change and places 20 gil on the counter. I can't drink tonight though. I have to... drive. With that, she clambers up out of her stool, wanting out of anyone' sight and hoping they don't hear the seat creaking as if to give way under her weight. Well, I made an idiot of myself, but that's par for teh course.
She headed towards the door, meaning to leave before anyone snapped onto her. If uninterrupted, she follows the barman's instructions to the letter to reach the train graveyard, although occasionally stopping to admire nearby abandoned engines and mechanical parts dotting the street. (likely getting there about two minutes after her quarry)
The shadows welcome you like a friend, giving you total cover from all enemy attack rolls and skill checks. You recive a +5 cover bonus to Reflex Defence.
With his tail breaking off, Tyr walks with a little more ease. Guess they knew they were made. He shoots Danica another text, They knew I knew, unless they are really sneaky it should just be the two of us.
As he arrives at the train graveyard he looks around for signs of Danica.
Danica spots Alastor getting off the train and begins following him, however she has her back into a corner when she realises the turk has suddenly vanished.
Alastor knew it would be difficult for anyone to spot him at the moment. The Turk might have dismissed the person following him as a would be mugger he had given the slip. If he hadn't glimpsed her uniform, that is. Lovett chanced a peek back at his shadow, remembering he had been advised to seek the help of any SOLDIER members in the area.
He never went into a fight with even odds if he could help it, and whoever it was could prove a potential ally. Or an enemy. As Alastor inched out of his hiding place, he reached for his pistol.
As you observe your stalker from the shadows, you notice that it is a female. She is also wearing a Shinra infantry suit and carrying a shuriken, however her helmet is nowhere to be seen, and you can make out her face clearly.
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Final Fantasy VII - Crisis Interlocked 1(IC)
