[Event] With Fire and Sword
boombox
He stared at this display watching this girl and this weird runic ritual she seemed to be doing. His face filled with a dread before it snapped. As the girls eyes met his.
"Oh Fuck That."
He unholsters the firearm and blasts a round at the girls head that would blow it clean off.
"We are friends now calm down lady."
He tried to say in a calming manner. Sabrina seemed to vanish from view, like she didn't enter the room. She was moving out of sight and unoticable to the sharpest hunter.
She began her walk along the dark foggy path she had set on her GPS towards Kar. Her little defensive handgun was pulled out and in her off-hand as she held her main hand up, keeping track of her direction. she make on a south-eastish approach, aiming to hit to road between kar and the other city before she actually arrived at Kar itself. Her helmet kicked on with a reddish-white foglight system to light her pathway, two little pinprick dots gleaming into bright lights as they kept her path lit. Thanatos hopped over a log in her way and then grunted slightly, reorienting herself back onto her path for the long walk forwards...
boombox
"We are mere travellers, searching the world for natural wonders."
He does not seem to be lying, in fact, he even has a small herbal pouch on his waist.
- Edited
kola2134
the girl explodes in a nuclear shockwave
The girl looks towards him, with one hand pulling her hair out of her face and taking a step forward.
"You say to be friends, but you chase a helpless girl through the woods.. You say to be of no harm, but you bear arms and point your bows at me.."
Her voice is trembling as she speaks, there is still fear in her voice, but also determination and a will to fight..
And while saying the last few words she slowly raises her left hand in an almost beckoning manner with an open palm.. and with a flick of her wrist a ball of fire appears, a crackling sound filling the cave while the fire dances in the palm of her hand..
"Leave this holy place... Or show me you truly mean no harm."
Lowering her hand to her side with the fire still burning, she moves perpendicular to the man, watching him.. holding her hand as if almost ready for a throw.
Her amber-colored hair looks even redder in the light of the fire as she peers at the man standing in the entrance through the cave, fully focused on him, not on the surroundings...
Brank
Making way through the forest proved to be a rather simple task, as there was little underbrush and the going became even easier as the forest canopy got thicker and the underbrush even less.. And soon the road could be seen through the edge of the forest, empty and without life, a simple approximately cart-wide gravel path through the woods, with tracks going both directions..
The first thing noticeable was the trotting of hooves against the gravel, and the whinnying of horses followed suit. From the sounds a number of at least four riders came rolling in from the east along the road, at a trotting pace. Through the fog the shining of lanterns could be seen as they closed in, and breaking through the fog they could be seen:
Armed men on horseback, shortswords at their sides, pikes in hand and a crossbow hung on the horse, a lantern in one hand they patrolled the street. All four wearing the same clothing: A thick gambeson covered by chainmail and a simple helmet. On their pikes, directly below the metal points a banner flag was mounted and flying in the wind of the riders wake, the flag portraying some type of animal of golden color on a blue and black background.
The leading rider reigns his horse back, forcing it to slow down to a walking pace and looks around..
"Hooold!.."
"What is it, Sire?"
He shines his lantern along the underbrush at the side of the road.
"I'm unsure. It seemed to me as if something had moved in the thicket. Keep a watchful eye."
ZendikaroftheWest
The driver considers it for a second, then nods.
"Ah, you can't be too sure. Sorry for the suspicion, friends."
He puts the crossbow back on the cart.
"Do you need a ride by chance? It is quite cold out in these parts at night, as you must've gathered, and the next village is still half a day's march away."
He looks down towards the two, offering his hand to help them up on the cart.
- Edited
With the Parendam Beta being in a confusing hot mess, there is one less spot for privateers to group together, trade intel, resupply, or even receive jobs. Food and fuel slowly running low, intel gradually being more and more outdated and in turn, private contracts become more and more risky. Ao, with her sidekick Ralmia, desperately seeking deals preferably from official bodies, one in which they can at least seize more updated information, and that's when the GSR message gets recognized in midst of the stash of intercepted transmissions.
Ralmia: "Contract coming from the Second German Space Regime, a manhunt, and need to go undercover without stirring too much stuff."
Ao: "Hm...anything about the price?"
"There isn't one...should we contact the officials?"
"Not like we have a choice, route towards the nearest GSR station and just message through the same frequency, with the words "we would like to join the operation, but we want intel and supplies first.""
"Aye."
A contact of a privateer cruiser appears on a GSR border station, hailing over the channel used for issuing the manhunt, and saying something about supplies and intel.
Dumb
(as you joined later im gonna give you a seperate reply here or two to catch up at least a bit so its more fun for everyone)
//Transmission: Local Code//
"Zhis is zhe GSR research station in question, yes, you are correct. Zhe price is 5 Million Reichsmark, and zhe gratitude of zhe Reich. You vill need to bring own supplies, but ve are able to supply you vith a detailed map of zhe area and planet. You should start your search in zhe north near Kar, ve know his capsule vent down north of it, and zhat he operated in zhe area. Any further questions?"
(the map is this: https://azgaar.github.io/Fantasy-Map-Generator/, you have to load the .map im sending you over discord and it will give you a detailed, zoomable map with names)
"here goes..." she whispers to herself, scanners In her helmet taking note of the apparel of the armoured soldiers before bringing a holographic copy of their armour around her, to every fine detail around it, but caked with bits of mud and grass as if she had fallen at some point. She steps out of the thicket onto the path, her gun hidden by a hologram of small satchel, while the vibro-blade on the other end of her hip was simply stylized after the blades equipped by the armoured men with a hologram.
Quickly, she calls out.
"Oi there! Hold your hostilities!"
she walks over at a walking pace, the hologram holding.
"I and my fellow men had been sent out into the forest on a patrol. Some wildlife 'ad gotten into our ranks and scattered us. Been lost in there for about a day now, n' just found my way out. You seen any of my men out this way along the path?"
boombox
"Hmm..."
The bounty can potentially lift them from the economic sinkhole that they are at currently in one go, but...
//Transmission resume//
"...is there any other parties that is also undergoing this mission or is it just us? and would the GSR intefere with our operation as long as we do not disrupt the native social structure?"
After a moment, he nods.
"That would be nice, if it is not too much trouble for you."
They both get up onto the cart
boombox
He began to slowly lower the blade to the floor.
"Now I don't want anyone getting hurt or anything. We weren't trying to scare or hunt you. We were just hunting and you came up at the wrong time. Look we even got the basket you were carrying."
He seemed to kick the sword away ounce he placed it on the ground.
kola2134
The girl looked at him warily, eyeing his sword for a few more seconds, seemingly becoming more tired with each second before extinguishing the firey ball in her palm and collapsing to her knees.. "Hah.... I hope you say the truth.."
After breathing heavily for a few seconds she regained her posture, slowly getting up with a groaning sound.
"You have to excuse my wariness.. There have been raids in this area in the last summers and I feared.. you were part of those."
The crackling of the two fireballs filled the room with a warm aura as she walked over to the shrine, sitting down on a ledge.
"But please, tell me at least, who are you?"
ZendikaroftheWest
The cart driver laughs heartily.
"Not a problem at all, friends. I drive this road everyday."
The cart rolled along the stony and uneven road at a slow pace, but still, it beats walking, right?
The fog had mostly cleared out here by now as the cart moved away from the coast, and the forest was alive with the sounds of birds and insects, lit up by the warm rays of the sun breaking through the canopy here and there.
Brank
The Captain riding in front turns his horse towards her.
"Nay. We were just on a regular patrol, heard no such thing about a routed unit, its good to have ye back though. Hop on the back of one of the horses, we'll bring ye back to the barracks."
One of the soldiers rode up to her and offered a hand down towards her.
Dumb
//Transmission: Local Code//
"Zhis is an open contract, and because of zhat zhere are other parties involved, and ve do not vouch for zheir behavior towards zhem. Ve do not care vho brings us zhe head of zhe traitor, as long as he is off zhe planet quietly. I hope ve are clear about zhe last part.. By zhe way, as long as you do not disturb to local planetary political and cultural ecosystem, zhere is no repercussions for fighting it out vith other bounty hunters about zhe bounty. If you are still up for zhe job, good luck and Waidmannsheil."
//Transmission End//
- Edited
boombox
//Transmission Resume//
"Hope you keep your words till the end, we will be joining the hunt as well. We shall return once we refit ourselves with more adequate equipment."
//Transmission Terminated//
The cruiser turns around and leaves the system.
They return to their safe house instead of rushing towards the planet, stuffing their stomach with some MRE and cleaning themselves, as well as swapping their ride to a slightly smaller corvette. Ralmia swapped out her laser blasters with more kinetic weaponry, opting for a pair of daggers as well as a foldable DMR inside her leather sack, with a silencer of course along with some food and water, while Ao...
"Hey check this out!"
The clattering of metal pieces echos as Ao waddles around with slightly too-large full body armor.
"...may i ask why?"
"Well what are the middle ages famous for?"
"the black death?"
"No...Its knighthood! Imagine all the privileges...."
"But you are a female...we are both females."
"Being female doesn't matt...oh you right."
Realising the big blindspot that she had failed to notice, Ao's shoulders slumped down, and the two arm pieces immediately detach from the rest of the armor.
"Don't worry, we can still make this work"
...
Soon enough, a corvette clean of any markings return to the research station, and hails through the same channel.
//Transmission Initiate//
"This is the privateer previously with the cruiser, we are ready to join...do we just land wherever we like or is there a regulated landing area?"
boombox
As they go, flakken takes notice of the crossbow, as well as the anxious way that he holds himself.
"You said you have been having trouble with... raiders. Can you tell me more about these? I have been away from civilisation for many years and have not had the chance to catch up with local news lately."
boombox
She nodded a thanks and reaches her hand, of which appeared gloved, up, pulling herself up onto the horse with the soldier's help, and prepared for the journay.
"Aye, thank ye for the assistance. I shalt keep a lookout for my lost men." she replies, a well-faked tone of sadness in her voice
boombox
As the guard was dropped and the atmosphere seemed to calm he let out a heavy exhale. His own tense body relaxing. The white haired girl was quick to slip from the room to then appear within the entrance walking in. Taking a position behind the man.
"Ahh, well sorry, we're new around these parts. So raids have been hitting the local area? Bandits then? Anyway I'm going off topic. Well this is my companion Sabrina, and I am Jango. And you are?"
He tried to speak in a friendly toan, Sabrina seemingly to stand cautious behind him but giving off a more protective of him vibe.
- Edited
kola2134 Brank ZendikaroftheWest
On this side of the planet the evening begins to dawn as the sun grows weaker and its golden rays illuminate the landscape. There is a distinct glow in the air due to the sun rays lighting up dust and pollen afloat, and the cold air blows along, making the drop in temperature feel even more distinct.
Dumb
//Transmission: Local Code//
"Velcome back! Zhere is no regulated landing site but ve would suggest you start your search close to or around coordinates 2° W, 17° S, as in zhat area ve believe zhe Target to have operated. Zhere are several other bounty hunter teams operating, do vhatever you like, but stay inconspicuous.
.. Waidmannsheil."
//Transmission End//
ZendikaroftheWest
"Ye. Those barbars have been a pain in the arse in the last months, even more so than before. We never know when they might be coming, all we hear is screams from the village nearby, sounds of fighting, and when we come there, everyone is dead or gone.."
He shudders a bit. "Feels unnatural if you ask me. Witches work!"
Brank
"Aye, we will send out a search troop once we are back in Kar. Hiya!"
The captain of the watch spurs on his horse and rides forward, the others gallop behind, the setting sun in their necks.
kola2134
She looks up towards him and straightens herself a bit.
"Freya. Nice to meet you.. Listen."
She pauses.
"..What I just did there... You can't tell anyone that. Promise me you wont?"
In her eyes is a worried look.
boombox
He nods, noting this information may be important.
"Has there ever been any survivors?"
boombox
//Transmission Resume//
"Copy that, we are going in."
//Transmission Terminated//
The shuttle proceeds to enter a shallow dive into the atmosphere, while making slight maneuvers so the meteoric trails that the craft makes mainly reside on top of the vast ocean, to both reduce the impact for the locals, as well as to prevent raising much attention for other competitors.
Settling the shuttle under the water near the delta of the Kiri river, Ao and Ralmia take a small peek above the water and avoid any direct contact before emerging from the sea, slowly waddle up the banks inside a rather cumbersome environment-proof suit which somehow makes them resemble Michelins with the puffy outlook.
"Sigh...this is why i dislike these suits...so cumbersome..."
Ao immediately takes off her's as soon as she left the muddy coastline while Ralmia keeps watch of the surroundings, then vice versa until the two are free from it. Ao, with a traditional villager maiden dress, stash her deflated suit in a hidden front pouch of the dress, while Ralmia stashes her's inside her sack, who opted for the appearance of a little girl with a light dress. The two decide to follow the river stream and traverse south towards the road between the border and city Kar after concealing a small number of proximal warning devices around the site just in case someone comes for their shuttle.
boombox
They gave each other a slightly confused look as the girl seemed to give her worried reply.
"We wont. Whats so taboo about it though?"
He seemed to single to Freya where what seemed to be a magic circle of an orb of light began to form in her hand.
"Is there a church or something thats against magic?"