Welcome to Gaia! ::

The sharp sound of whirring chopper blades cut through the calm Rustboro evening as the captured Snagems descend out of full flight, the armored flying carrier containing all of them coming to a gentle controlled descent on the outskirts of Rustboro. There were no windows on the prison copter, not surprisingly, but had they been able to see the city below them as they approached they would see that Looker had painstakingly made for every precaution with relation their visit to Devon Corporation already. SWIPE agents were cordoning off city streets, putting up barricades, and outlining the most direct route to take them there without civilian interference or obstruction.

With a 'woosh' of depressurization the ramp that makes up the back of the prison carrier falls open, the muffled sound from the outside now deafening as the chopper blades are mid-cooldown, slowing but still unbelievably loud. The first sight greeting the Snagems outside of the helicopter is a row of similarly armored vehicles, camouflage humvees from the looks of them, branded with 'S.W.I.P.E.' on their sides in black standard operation writing spray paint. Looker has already left his position within the helicopter, his jacket whirling about in the artificial wind from the massive chopper blades as he waves men forwards into the hold, Essentia, Agent WHITE, and Kess are grouped behind him, observing right alongside their chief as the Snagems are lead to the vehicles in groups of two to three, opening the doors to briefly let their cargo clamber inside, and then shut the doors.

Each SWIPE commander would join the front of a separate vehicles before the motorcade began making its way up the winding streets of Rustboro towards the massive Devon Corporation headquarters, flashing blue and red police lights lighting the road and buildings around them as they trundle off. Locals cram the barricades on each side of the road to try and catch a glimpse of who was in these strange unmarked blackout-windowed vehicles, to no avail, but there were flashes from their phone cameras as they tried to take pictures and videos, recording the incident to speculate with their friends on social media.

It hadn't been that long ago, for veteran Snagem members, that they had started the first counteroffensive against Ein's Shadow Virus here at Devon Corp. Devon was the first major power in the Hoenn region to acknowledge Snagem and assist in their fight as opposed to HAZARD who had blamed a lot of things on the group and mostly gotten in their way as they attempted to foil Ein's plans. At least, now with recent events taken into account, allegedly. It should be old hat to those Snagems coming back into town via prison parade for bureaucratic military organizations to involve themselves in Snagem business... though the circumstances this time were quite a bit different considering what had happened to Clare, the state of headquarters, and the fact all of them were under the thumb of said bureaucrats this time. The more things change, the more things stay the same.

The soldiers weren't preventing the group from talking, there was no gag order inside the jeeps. Let's check in and see how their precious cargo is doing on their field trip to Devon. How had word gotten out to the company? And what did they want to talk to Snagem about? There was a lot of uncertainty in the political atmosphere surrounding the Hoenn region's favorite 'criminals'.

Deo was quiet throughout the trip. He had an understanding on what was happening when transporting high security prisoners, but SNAGEM was no prisoner, not to him anyway. It was long, mostly because he could not look outside and it wasn’t long before they landed. However, it did make Deo claustrophobic. When Deo would land, he would stay quiet through the whole ride to their destination. He was visibly frustrated with SWIPE making a mess, him clean it up, and they do it again. Though the question on his mind. How did or Who pulled SNAGEM through a hat again and is it good or bad? Perhaps it was another government seeking justice. Perhaps it was a bigger organization that wanted snagem’s services. Worse, could this be the prison transport that they would lie about?

Lykas and Odd found themselves separated on this leg of the trip and, as a result, riding with different Snagems.

"So who do you think told them about all this? My bet's on Wren. I dunno how he would know what's going on but there's only a handful of people who would have been out of HQ when these jackoffs showed up." Lykas asked those in the car with him. It was better than sitting in silence.

Odd, however, had nothing to say for now and sat quietly, eyes closed as he attempted to sus out any familiar people in the area. This freaking collar shortened the range he could sense souls to such a range he could barely see people in the same building as him if they were less than two rooms away in larger buildings(like HQ). For now, he could see those riding in the vehicle with him and occasional momentary blips of passersby and gawkers outside who were staring, snapping photos and recording. Maybe they'd get lucky and those people definitely posting all over Chatter and other social media sites would catch them moving into the building. Getting Snagem on the internet being treated like common criminals after all they'd done for the world might get the news out to more of their allies who may be able to fight for their rights, at least?

The trip was long from the headquarters to Rustboro City. At least it felt like, that is. Freth and I didn’t have much to say to anyone, let alone to each other, never mind to the likes of the SWIPE operatives. Frankly, though, while the trip to Hoenn itself was fairly uneventful, our arrival was far from it. As we were loaded into escort vehicles, blacked out so no one could see inside, and then finally took off, we eventually noticed people lining the barricades on the way to the corporation, trying to get sight of what was going on and frankly, I could only speculate what they were thinking right now. The other Snagems at this point, who saw the people as we passed by, came off feeling irritated themselves about how much of an uproar this caused, no thanks to Looker and the bastards that followed him, perhaps embarrassed in other respects. Doing so much, putting our necks on the line, only to just be tossed from proverbial grace forcefully because of a massive heaping helping of bull crap.

All we could do is be patient. In spite of Sub having yet again kept something from us, which incidentally in spite of him saying that there was not going to be any more secrets on more than one occasion, one of which being when Reno confronted him that day shortly after dealing with Ein, we had to trust Sub had a way out for everyone here in all of this. It was all Freth and I could do…

"Man, the natives are treating this like an actual parade," Keiko mentioned, looking down at the crowds. "Maybe they're here to protest SWIPE's actions against us," I sneered, slightly amued by the idea. Absinthe shrugged. "Not likely. They probably just wanna see what the fuss is about. Most people tend to sit on the fence when the ~/~'s hitting the fan," she pointed out, happily using more colorful language now that there weren't little ears around. She wasn't nearly as bad about it as her father was, but she doesn't hold herself back with it near as much as she did when she first joined the team.

As I mused on that thought, Keiko looked to her side and noticed Monique looking nervous. "You okay?" she asked, showing concern for her fellow hybrid.

"I wish I could tell you. I've been here for a few years but there's probably a lost of stuff I don't know about, either. Of course, it doesn't help that I've been trying to stay away from the less moral missions over the course of my time here," Keiko shrugged. It honestly felt like she'd been in the team a lot longer than that given what she'd been through, but she knew the truth. Besides, the say Looker interviewed her made it pretty clear she was just a small piece on the board. "Though, to be honest, I don't blame you for being afraid because of all this. I really hope this comes to an end soon so we can go back to having at least somewhat normal lives, given our line of work.

Sub was riding in one of the transports, remaining silent all the while, again out of fear that they were being listened to. As he sat there in silence he contemplated much, such as what evidence did they have against them to back up their lies? Why were they lying? Who would gain from falsely accusing them of all they did? It didn't make sense to the Snagem leader, usually he had a pretty good read on these type of situations, at least something of an understanding for why it was happening but this time he was at a loss. How did they go from the heroes of the world, officially sanctioned by the world governments to combat the Shadow Virus to lowlifes that were to blame for all the world's woes instead? None of it sat right to him.

For now though he needed to stop thinking about why this was happening and instead focus on combating it. His teammates were counting on him and despite how certain he was that many of them were furious at him again for his apparent subterfuge, or at least what they might see it as, he was still going to protect. In fact, this was just step one in his plan of doing just that, the man looking out the window at Rustboro City as it came into view and smiled. They wanted the Dark One? They'll get the Dark One.

Darts (and his carefully concealed ward in his jacket) sits nearby in the same transport as they roll along the road, in the same musing state of mind a lot of the team was, even though his spine was still killing him from carrying Ogerpon like a backpack for the last couple of days. "Think of it like this," He advises Brian, turning to meet his eyes. "At least you still have family to be embarrassed. Or family at all. I've never met mine." He wasn't looking for pity, the gambler had been orphaned to the streets for as long as his first memories had existed, and it wouldn't be his first time incarcerated, though it was certainly his first time facing real prison time. He wanted the young members of the team to think about their own lives outside of what the team did. Of course they did good here, but there was something to be said about taking stock of your own life too. "Maybe sometimes it's easier that way, never having it so you can't lose it."

Ogerpon silently agreed.

--

The procession pulled up in front of the massively sprawling Devon headquarters which had been similarly cordoned off by barricades. Devon employees and more SWIPE guards alike had taken to making sure there was no public presence here, pushing out the locals and clearing an area in front of the building. The enormous complex towered over the proceedings with 'Devon Corp.' emblazoned on the very top of the skyscraper, a massive monument of steel and glass that never failed to impress no matter how many times you were here. This was the hub of the first effort to isolate, develop, and manufacture the Shadow Vaccine, successfully it was notable to say. The best scientific minds in the region gathered in one spot to stamp out the virus in their region and still made an ongoing effort to help whenever there was a flare up in others, shipping Shadow Vaccine around the globe to help countries in need.

Those Snagems who had been around for the World War or the adventures in Hoenn before would have a familiar, maybe welcome sight, smiling out at them as the lone person to greet them, her auburn hair pulled up in a neat bun above her labcoat as she waves at the oncoming convoy with little regard for the seriousness of things. Maybe it was more accurate to say she didn't care. Agent Mully, one of the two handlers Devon had assigned to Team Snagem affairs originally, watched the cars pull up and Looker hop out and approach, extending a hand.

She looked him up and down, shaking it in a frosty manner, at least it would seem to the Snagems in the convoy, before engaging in conversation. That would get heated, and more heated, Mully getting in Looker's face and pointing a manicured nail at him accusingly as they bickered back and forth, the loud argument muffled by the armored carriers until Looker threw his hands up in disgust, waving to all of the convoys to begin letting the Snagems out. The doors click open and they're allowed to walk forward under their own power near Mully. Kess and Essentia scowl over Looker's shoulders too, although Agent WHITE was as emotionless as ever, whatever that conversation had been about had not gone their way. Looker begins speaking to them as a group, looking annoyed for the second time in several days since Sub teleported the server room out of reach.

"Miss Mully here-"

"Agent Mully," She cuts him off cooly, interjecting into Looker's explanation immediately.

"Agent Mully," He concedes, grinding his teeth. "Has informed us that the deal brokered by the higher ups involves JUST the group of you being given access into Devon Corporation Headquarters, with no outside handlers being allowed into the building. While I make some phone calls to verify the veracity of these claims, we are going to proceed with this meeting." He turns to give her a meaningful look. "If we discover the circumstances are not as you said, we will be inside toot sweet to recover our prisoners. In the mean time," The detective turns back to the group of Snagems. "Don't try anything funny, for your sakes. We've already had one casualty that thought the collars were just for show, and legitimately I would hate to see us lose any more lives over a brazen display of bravado." He sounds honest enough as he says this, if not a little tired. "In the meantime," Turning away as Kess and Essentia follow him back towards the convoy. "They are in your care, Agent Mully."

Mully glares him down as he departs for a couple of minutes before she turns back to the gathered group of Snagems, her smile returning instantly as she beams back at them. "Very, very glad to see you all again. Old faces and new ones alike." She waves for them to follow her as she brings the group inside like a tour group, beeping herself through the front sliding glass double doors with an ID badge clipped to the lapel of her lab coat. The main lobby was deserted and cozily lit, the receptionist spots empty with them having gone home hours ago.

Once the glass slides shut behind her, she rounds on them again with a more devious smile on her face, her red lipstick parting cheekily as she grins. "Don't worry about them hearing any of our conversations from here on out," She promises with a light chuckle. "They haven't built a communication type we haven't prevented from leaving our building. Anything we talk about here is just between us. Which I am sure Looker is going to be thrilled about once he realizes the bugs he planted on you all aren't working." Her heels click on the tile below them as they continue deeper into the building, past the main desks and into the bowels of the place proper. "You all look in rough shape, if I may say so without being rude. Can I get you all anything? Lemonade, soda, coffee?"