Faustite fixed Taenite with a leaden stare. With every word that came from the boy's mouth, Faustite felt more of his hope for this mission disintegrate. There would be people who thought like this. Going on a mission. Into the Rift. Voluntarily.
"Did I try taking out a starseed. In the Rift. Instead of, I don't know," and he looked about the room pointedly. "Summoning some. Or commanding one to follow me to the dead zone." As he turned to pace in the opposite direction, he beckoned the air beside him and summoned Taenite up to the stage. A few claws reached out and swept up the red curtain where it hung on the corner of the map, and he flicked it outward to drape over the senshi before he started burning holes in it. It looked good — matched Taenite's outfit. "No more talking." He gave Decorative Lamp Taenite a couple pats on the shoulder before he started walking.
"If any of you feel inclined to test this dead zone with starseeds, stay home. Before any drastic actions occur, check with your team lead. If you're a team lead, radio me.
"Rift's always been dangerous, and will get more dangerous if we're caught unaware when youma return. We don't know what caused them to vanish, but I expect the Rift to equilibrate once that's resolved. Combat teams will keep everyone safe should they return in a frenzy.
"Seen enough magical bullshit to know that we don't know what to expect in that building, either. Better to be prepared if we find," he shrugged, "sentient robots, or building defenses, or worse." Nobody knew what was in there and he wasn't going to bother guessing if that would make a deathtrap of the place. Better to have combat teams and not need them.
"Thank you, Taenite, for asking the stupid questions so no one else has to. You may sit."
guine
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2022 10:39 am
When Aquamarine spoke up, Seraphinite glanced his way, a dark brow quirking up in a vague display of surprise. "Must not have been paying attention," he said with a shrug, to the question of if he'd heard about the incident. Or rather, incidents. If someone had mentioned it to him--which, if anyone, it probably was Jet--he'd clearly not deemed it important enough to memorize the facts.
At least the General up front was handling the questions--Seraphinite was mildly amused at how he treated the senshi who'd been snarking like a momentary prop. Jet's comment drew his attention back, and Seraphinite considered a moment on how to respond to that.
It was true he didn't have to be here. None of them did. And really, he could have counted on Jet (or even Aqua, not that he'd admit as much out loud) to rein in Rigel, or keep Spectrolite out of danger. But he'd come, and intended to go along with the mission.
Which. He listened to the description of the place, the potential threats. Not really youma this time. He was actually intrigued by this one. At Aquamarine's jab, he chuckled a little. "Would you rather handle these ones? I've been doing enough keeping them out of your hair, and likely will be sparing you by doing so again today," he said, motioning towards Rigel and Spectrolite. Motioning again to the Super Senshi of the Eldritch, he grumbled, "Especially since that one was far too interested in coming back into the Rift. I don't need to hear later he pulled some s**t unsupervised."
Glancing at Jet, though, he added after a slight pause, "...this mission seems interesting. I don't mind babysitting for this one. Would be worth it if I got my hands on some different tech." That Jericho was a fix-it guy, and rather obsessed with taking stuff apart only to put it all back together to understand how it ticks… well. The prospect of handling whatever sort of mechanical bits and bobs were still fictional--or perhaps he could make functional again--was an uniquely alluring prospect.
Guine
Sunshine Alouette
omg no worries <33333
-------
No youma? Well, this just got a lot more boring. Rigel's face fell into a disinterested, somewhat scowl beneath his hood. Though… he continued to eye the map, taking in the other facts presented about this case. A building of unknown origins, advanced technology, emergency power… it was still more intriguing than he'd figured it'd be without the fascinating creatures involved.
He raised a dark gloved hand before calling out to the General running this show (Faustite), "I'm assuming their lack of presence means those Vanguard 'allies' of ours aren't being consulted about this tech?"
He wasn't particularly savvy with tech beyond his computer, camera, mic, and video editing software. Somehow he doubted his experience would be of any use here. But... the prospect of venturing into a largely unknown ancient building, and seeing what sort of artifacts might have been entombed within… now that was something that far more interested him. His face brightened a bit as he considered that. This might not be such a boring mission, after all.
Seeing Seraphinite gesture to him as he conversed with Jet and Aquamarine, and close enough behind them to hear what was said, he blinked owlishly at him. "Nice to know your opinion of me is so sparkling. If I were a pettier sort, I'd be looking for trouble to spite you after that," he sniffed. The Captain's dry look made him sigh. "...when exactly will you learn to take a joke? I'll behave, I promise. I'm curious what's down there."
Strickenized
-------
Some questions were raised--all around people taking out starseeds and energy, from what she could hear--and Spectrolite made a face. Her nose scrunched as she wondered why people would be so reckless. Unless they intentionally wanted to risk their lives, or those of people around them?
The news that there weren't youma currently present at this facility they'd be surveying was extremely delightful to her, though. Less so the chance they could come back, but…
Shuffling over to an empty chair a little ways away, though not too far from Seraphinite, Spectrolite sat down and tried to will herself to relax a little. Things would be fine. They had a bigger risk from security forces or something, rather than youma. It'd be fine!
Her hands tapped restlessly on her thighs. It didn't feel fine…
"--hm?"
Wide eyes blinked rapidly, looking over to the young woman who sat next to her. A… Negaverse senshi? Beyond Rigel, she hadn't met any others. She couldn't help but marvel a little at the other woman's uniform--were those horns on her head? "O-oh, thanks," she got out once she realized the senshi had been speaking to her. Her cheeks darkened as she reached out to take the offered hand. "Sorry, think I was a bit lost in my head. It's nice to meet you, Triplite, I'm Spectrolite."
Which, if she was getting that lost in her head, the senshi was right about her needing company. Shifting a little in her seat, she couldn't help her curiosity. "Hey… hope it's not rude to ask, but what's your um… drat, what's it called? Um. Your power source?" She closed an eye, trying to focus on what she'd heard the guys call it. "Um… um… oh! Sphere!"
Taaffe sat toward the front listening and as the whole meeting went on she only really learned to things. One was not to trust the one talking about ripping out their own starseed and the second thing was she felt woefully unqualified for this whole little mission.
She didn't even have her starboard which she always had, because walking around Destiny City ... no thank you. Roof jumping wasn't exactly her thing either.
She looked around surprised at the number of faces she recognized outside the team, not that she was sure of anyone's names. She wondered briefly if Nightmares was there, but she was also actually trying to pay attention. All this seemed like it could result in death, and she would really like to be alive in the morning.
Witherite strolled in outside of poking Huntite and Miyamoto on his way by each, he made a beeline for Benitoite. If he was anything it was oddly enough loyal to his general.
"Hey bossman," he greeted dropping into the seat beside him and greeting Cuprite with a quick solute before he settled in to see what was up with everyone else.
He raised a brow at the starseed thing, especially at what he classed a dumb question, seeing as they all knew what happened generally when you remove a starseed out of a body. He didn't think he'd seen anyone not pass out.
What was explained thus far certainly had Witherite intrigued, not that he really want to go into the rift.
Quote:
Taaffe and Wither open for interactions
Sleet Tempest Snape
natsuko-neko
Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2022 9:01 pm
Blue eyes slanted over at Heliodore, and Fafnir shrugged a little, lifting and dropping a bare shoulder.
“I was aware of it, but I didn’t participate in the trip into the Rift. Tangling with youma is really not my specialty, and I had my own work at the time.” He said, his voice pitched low to reach his sibling and not much further. Of course Helio was here… Faustite’s fiancé, member of his team. As much as the idea of it bothered Fafnir, he knew better than to insist it was too dangerous for him, a senshi, to go. He’d have to keep an eye on the younger man… while he might be able to handle himself, which did make Fafnir quite proud of him, there were too many years of being his protector and support for Fafnir to go completely hands off. Even if he really should have been more concerned with the weakest member of the team and his fairly-recent recruit.
Fafnir could see Taffeite between bodies, up closer to Faustite and the front of the room. He hadn’t required her to come to this, not when a mission into the Rift would be far beyond her capabilities. It left him both proud of her and concerned, much as it his younger brother did.
“I would ask that you try to stay within shouting distance of me, if you can. On the off chance something goes wrong and you need back up. I will be doing my duty and keeping tabs on Taffeite, but I’ll be there if you call. Whatever it takes.” He said as he glanced back his brother again, lips compressed and serious. “Don’t take unnecessary risks. The officers can command the youma, we can not. And I can’t imagine Faustite would care to lose you, or see you hurt, even for a mission.”
Cuprite nodded with a thoughtful look in his eyes. "I'll take your word for that since I wasn't on that mission." It wasn't that much of a surprise that things had gone wrong, just that it had been repeated from what he heard. It was frankly astounding that the lesson hadn't sunk in the first time or at least the second. It was the Rift, one of the most dangerous places to be as it was without painting a target on your back. Oh well, hopefully everyone here would take those lessons to heart for the mission but he would keep an extra eye out just in case no matter where he ended up.
"Don't worry I plan on doing so." He agreed with Benitoite's words readily with a quick smile. "This isn't a walk in the park to take casually after all." The Captain's hands flexed a bit as he looked down at the claws he had on the gloves. He hoped he wouldn't have to use them but he was prepared to do so anyway. When Witherite joined them he gave the Captain a smile and a returning solute.
When Witherite gave him a poke in hello, Huntite had gave a nod in greeting back but didn't stop the other Captain from heading towards Benitoite. He would probably head over there soon but there was something he wanted to do first..
The Senshi's(Taenite) joking about pulling out starseeds as bait had gotten an unimpressed raised eyebrow but Huntite kept his own comment on that to himself. Instead he focused on Faustite after the Senshi was handled and asked a question of his own. "I assume that you did indeed attempt to summon youma directly to the effected area as well as ordered some to follow you in?" Huntite asked Faustite, figuring it was highly unlikely the General would have missed those obvious tests. "What were the results? And did said results differ in anyway if the youma in question was bonded?"
He asked this for more then one reason of course, one to know before hand what to expect should he attempt to call forth his own bonded youma while they are down there, let alone if it was even possible or advised, and two he had always found youma behaviors fascinating. It was always interesting to learn of the similarities and differences youma had to wild animals on Earth and he couldn't help but wonder what the fact that the youma was avoiding this one area could mean. A larger predator or traps of some kind they were avoiding were his first thought as a Park Ranger but he also knew it wasn't always the case and he couldn't necessarily apply his knowledge of animals to youma anyway.
Atheneite leaned forward as the fiery General continued to explain the situation. At just the surface level description it honestly didn't sound like the combat teams would have much to do, the youma were staying away so the bulk of this mission sounded like it would go to exploration and discovery. But she knew there was more to the story after all they were talking about the Rift here. This was a dangerous place and some strange building full of unknown technology was bound to present its own unique dangers as well.
This was a very exciting to adrenaline junkie Captain, she loved the danger and the potential for bloodshed. "So what kind of technology are we talking about, like automated turrets or robotic defenses?" She asked wondering just what they had to look forward to here. Regardless though she would be happy to test her spear against whatever defenses this unknown place had.
He saw the way some of those in the room seemed to gravitate toward each other. While Borax knew none of their names, he was starting to get a feel for the lay of the land. What especially interested him were the people who gathered around the general-sovereign, as well as the people his general was interacting directly with. A senshi that seemed to be a source of playful? irritation. Other senshi that were asking questions.
His observational skills were distracted when he noticed the approach of someone who drew one of his smooth lip quirks.
"Boss," he acknowledged, with a playful lilt, despite its utterly fascinating implications otherwise, as he noticed but did not comment on her directed statement. He did not particularly care for appearances in that sense, though, not when it had already provided him quite the bounty. "I am eager to see it. Many of the training documentation implied I should stay away from it until I was a captain." Destiny seemed to have other ideas, though, and his gaze shifted from her to the stage as Faustite spoke once again.
... That ******** map.
He knew that map had to be important to something, and his face lit up as he recognized it from Faustite's desk during his one-on-one with him. "Saw him working on that," offered Borax quietly to Jadarite, trying not to interrupt the conversation or the ... fire he was setting that one senshi on, "during a meeting with him. Didn't ask, but figured it had something to do with the Rift from the way he had spoken."
It seemed like he had been correct.
stari_maga
-----------------------------------------
Of course it was The Scar again.
Fulgurite knew that going into to some degree, of course, but seeing the familiar location, albeit disfigured by an apparent riftquake, still made him shudder. He supposed the only good thing about all of this is that the youma had been chased away. Made it less likely he'd come across the fish monster who seemed interested in literally consuming him whole without any further thought.
He appreciated living, at least in the sense that he didn't really want to be otherwise. Too many people were too important, and most of them wouldn't even be able to figure out a youma had literally consumed him--
This mission sounded like it was all about figuring out what the Riftquake had surfaced, why the youma wanted to stay away from it, and how they could utilize it.
His only hope is that it would be less dangerous than last time and that no one would figure out how to summon the whole of the Rift's youma on them once more. Well, alright, he did have two hopes, and perhaps even a third, but the third was an impossibility before it even started. Considering his own experience, he wondered where he'd be slotted...
Faustite heard a question from around Jet's area and got a visual on the senshi (Rigel) asking. "Better we don't involve anyone who isn't connected to Metallia. For their sake. Imagine bringing a non-Negaverse-aligned person to the Rift is manyfold worse than bringing them to the Citadel." The Vanguard weren't even allowed to roam the Dark Kingdom – all the better for it – so Faustite couldn't imagine them surviving the Rift. They never seemed any more useful than their starseeds.
Then a Captain (Huntite) asked a follow-up to his earlier implication. "Didn't risk my bonded – won't lose another. Nearby youma give the area a wide berth, and when questioned, they're suspicious without grounds. Like us, they think it's strange that there's a part of the Rift that doesn't have youma.
"When I summoned one inside the dead zone, it heeded my direct commands until I gave it leave. Then it went inside the hole with the building in it, as if it had pressing business there. Couldn't find it – or sense it – after that." Which led him to suspect some type of aura dampening or a defense mechanism.
The other Captain (Atheneite) took his supposition at face value, and Faustite felt uniquely unqualified to answer that question. He liked avoiding technology, not messing around with it. "Unsure. Looks far beyond present-day tech to me. Building has touch-screen terminals and emergency lighting, but everything I saw looked like it was made of carbon fiber, glass, and light. Has a module for a power source in the broken-open room, and when one's installed, it opens something like a maintenance corridor. Pointedly, it bypasses the forcefield with a five-pointed star on it." He drew one as he spoke; he needed to keep talking with his hands. "When touched, that barrier gives off the same burn as a Cosmos knight. Expect we'll find more of that – and worse – as we explore, so be prepared for anything you might find out of a Sci-Fi novel."
Seemed that was all the questions for the moment. Time for the plan.
"You'll be arranged into teams based on available resources and dispatched to different areas of the building, corresponding to the map we had downloaded from the terminal. We've been able to identify at least four rooms, with the possibility of a few more, but that data was damaged. Each team member will be armed with a set of climbing gear, survival tools, and supplies to keep with you. In the event that disguising yourself as a youma seems advantageous, each team will receive a pendant that will allow a member to do so. For members that have personal youma, I advise that you don't take them on this mission.
"Once on-site in the Scar, you will separate into teams as directed. Tama and I will descend first to power the building, then each team will rappel down into the target zone as a unit once the all-clear is given. Since our cats finally came through with a tablet that won't melt in my hand, I'll distribute orders remotely. Unless told otherwise, your standing orders will be to explore the building and learn everything you can. Team leads are to report findings every hour. Once again, do not take your personal youma with you until more is known about the youma disappearance.
"Be thorough and deliberate. While we don't suspect immediate danger, this is not a hero mission – request backup at need. Given the turnout, multiple teams will be in each of the areas.
"If you've anything more to ask, you may ask it now. If not, take your leave. I expect to see you outside the Scar at 0600 on the nineteenth."
“Everyone was given written instructions and reminders,” Jet frowned when Seraphinite tried giving people the benefit of the doubt regarding not knowing. But that only proved that they couldn’t be trusted with basic tasks.
When Seraphine commented on watching after Rigel and Spectrolite, Jet gave him a confused look. “You’re the one who volunteered to keep an eye on them. They wouldn’t be in my hair.” Probably because he wasn’t the sort to hover or micromanage things. It was likely a result of his own growth in the Negaverse, but he thrived more with having someone to go to when he needed or wanted help, rather than having someone constantly watching over him or holding his hand.
Then again, he occasionally had Aquamarine, and sometimes Seraphinite, hounding him about being too reckless.
He kept his arm around Aquamarine, fingers still playing with his hair, rubbing at his shoulder a little in an attempt at reassurance.
“He might not even be put on your team,” he added with a shrug. Faustite was putting teams together. There was no telling how he would want to split people up. Rigel’s comment to Sera had Jet’s lip twitching in amusement. Maybe Sera deserved some trouble.
“He’s horrible when it comes to taking jokes,” Jet agreed with a small grin in Rigel’s direction before turning his attention back to Faustite and the map.
Jet had his opinions of things, but this was Faustite’s mission. He was there with the intention of observing and helping out where he was needed. He wanted to see to the safety of all involved as much as he wanted Faustite to gain whatever he would consider this to be a successful mission.
Kaefaux
“You are a Captain now,” Kamacite nodded to Roselite in acknowledgement of his accomplishments. He knew that General Bloodstone didn’t frequently like to let Roselite do things other than fetch him coffee and do paperwork, but Kamacite thought his friend had more potential using his cleverness and observational skills on the field.
Roselite was smart, and Kamacite knew he would at least be able to hold his own a bit better than Senshi in the Rift, but he was still worried for him, if only because he didn’t like the unknown.
Cymophane was right though. The previous time could have gone a lot worse.
“I can’t imagine what kind of technology would be left in the Rift. Especially if it’s advanced. I don’t know how useful I would be more than just my magic…” And even then, his magic could potentially harm his allies.
“Both of you stay in contact with me if you can, if we’re split up. Please?” He knew Cymophane was an Eternal now and had much stronger magic, but it was still the Rift. “If you’re on another team, can you help the Senshi cut their hair, please? Especially if we’ll be climbing down a cliff…” At least… if that was what it sounded like what Faustite was saying.
Sunshine Alouette
Taenite had been winking back at Tama when he’d been summoned to the stage. And he was thrilled for the attention. He lifted a hand to wave at the rest of the room, and then endure the unnecessary chastising from Faustite. He might have been out of line, but Faustite knew he was right.
Even though there were a number of people who didn’t realize he was being facetious (which he could only imagine how painfully flat normal sarcasm would fall for them), he still thought it was imperative to reiterate the important rules and comments.
He did not want someone to haphazardly offer him a starseed in the middle of the Rift, in front of youma.
Again.
He pulled the fabric away from his face, but offered a sly grin when Faustite instructed him not to talk. Although he would have loved to remind him that Senshi can’t summon youma so of course that wouldn’t be the first thought for maybe half of the volunteers. That was fine. He didn’t need to talk to Faustite.
Instead, he siddled over to where Tama was standing and gave him a look over as though he’d never seen a Mauvian before. “I could say the same for you, worrying about burning, being so close to the fire,” he grinned, nodding his head in the direction of Faustite.
He’d lowered the red curtain from over his head to wear comfortably around his shoulders, almost like a cape. But not enough to cover his already exposed midsection. It was hot in the room, especially near Faustite.
“So you’re saying I shouldn’t bring along my personal youma with me? What if I’m afraid of heights, will someone carry me down and pull me back up? That’s why we’re getting climbing gear, right? What if my weak little arms can’t carry my weight?” Taenite asked when Faustite opened the floor for more questions.
He very obviously did not have weak little arms, but he wasn’t sure the others would pick up on the fact that they might be required to do more than just walk.
Meighei
Strickenized
Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2022 8:17 am
“Hopefully, he’ll wear that pretty little cincher of his. If not, I suppose I’ll have to say goodbye to some fur.”
Tama almost remembered something he had long forgotten when the mention of Cosmos knight auras came up. But he was too busy playing with the senshi to pay it much heed.
“Well, I guess that just means you’ll have to get someone to carry you.” Tama directed the comment at Taenite, but then looked back to Faustite for the instructions. “Looks like I’m already covered.”
So many things about this meeting felt so……chaotic. On one hand, Andesine supposed that made some degree of sense, with the Negaverse being a force of Chaos. On the other hand, though, some of the antics and stupid questions going around made her feel like the smug, grade-grubbing assholes she’d despised dealing with in high school: the simpering, perpetually brown-nosing teachers’ pets who’d respond to practically any deviation from how they personally believed classes ought to be conducted by sneering and emitting their nasally whine, always the stock phrase and peak passive-aggression, Um, excuse me? Some of us are here to learn……?
Made her want to roll her eyes, both the utter inanity of some people’s contributions and the fact that they’d made her feel for suck-ups like the aforementioned. Andesine refrained from doing so, lest it come across as not taking the briefing or the mission seriously—an unacceptable risk, in light of what she hoped to get out of volunteering for this.
Outwardly, she kept herself composed, her expression overall neutral but politely enthusiastic, her posture straight as if she’d just finished warming up before a show, and her demeanor respectful. Even the stupid questions got jotted down on her pad, with their answers dutifully transcribed for future reference, so that she could minimize her chances of getting caught on the back-foot, or not knowing a protocol that proved important later. In the presence of so many Generals—never mind a General-Sovereign and the fact that the General organizing things happened to be literally flaming—it simply wouldn’t do for a Lieutenant to get mouthy, to let herself seem ignorant unless asking for help or clarifications, or to disrespect either her colleagues or the chain of command in general.
(Had it felt a bit like a personal callout, General Faustite’s recognition of everyone in attendance who wanted to prove themselves and their value to the Negaverse? Absolutely. But only in the same way that vague, undirected statements Andesine found personally relevant on social media ever felt like personal callouts: none of it had her in mind specifically, because she hadn’t done enough to make a name for herself or establish why she belonged here, what she brought to the table, and what exactly she could give the Negaverse.)
Taking things too personally—also something she couldn’t afford to do.
Worst of all, though, she could not—would not—allow herself to seem like she didn’t want to be here. Like there wasn’t something burning inside her to make the most of this mission and of whatever tasks she found herself assigned to. That, she could not risk, not at all. Especially not in light of the fact that loomed over so much of the nonsense and made Andesine, personally, feel so tired of it: everything about this mission had been on a volunteer basis, and as General-King Jet had pointed out, they’d received written briefings about conduct in the Rift, about what was expected from them during this mission.
Well, that, and the fact that “Do not rip out your starseed and hold it aloft in the middle of the Rift, that’s literally the worst idea ever” seemed fairly self-evident, as far as wisdom-pearls went.
Whatever had transpired last time, Andesine hadn’t even been part of the Negaverse yet. She’d only heard about it recently, as part of signing up for this mission, and even then, the details given hadn’t entirely satisfied her. Of course she itched to ask more about what had happened, and why some senshi had gotten it in her head to tear out her own starseed down in that place, and what had transpired because she’d decided to do so (aside from “a ******** disaster that could have been considerably mitigated, if not outright avoided, had she simply not done that thing specifically”).
But none of those questions, Andesine realized, bore any relevance to the mission at-hand. All of them were, not to put too fine a point on it, plain and simple gossip. Was she interested? Yes, absolutely—but only because it sounded like a complete mess in a way that she could likely only find entertaining because it hadn’t happened to her personally.
Glancing around at some of the others, she felt something twisting and clawing at the inside of her throat. God, one of the other lieutenants (Spectrolite) looked to be around Andesine’s own age, not too much younger—but one of the others couldn’t have been older than sixteen (Taaffeite). Only one of them seemed older than Andesine herself (Borax), and by the looks of the others, she and he counted as the outliers here. With how late she seemed to have started, Andesine might have wound up stuck at the Negaverse’s kids’ table forever if she didn’t make the most of this mission. The unknown territory of it all, the mission heading into something no one could predict……that made it difficult to plan too far ahead. Too easy, that way, to get attached to a plan that wound up flying out the window of relevancy and helpfulness.
Still, as she reviewed the notes she’d taken, Andesine allowed herself a determined smirk. A set of guidelines and protocols, an endgame goal, and soon enough, she’d have an assigned team (and hopefully enough time to look up who she’d be working with? couldn’t necessarily count on that, though)…… Improv work with significantly higher stakes than theater camp, because unlike said adolescent summer misadventures, Andesine’s time in the sticky gargoyle dimension this past summer, and her kidnapping to the middle-of-nowhere planet with the spaceship and all of the deranged robots, what happened on this mission would actually ******** matter.
Aquamarine’s snide smile disappeared and he responded to Seraphinite with a roll of his eyes.
“Babysitting the lesser peons is your job, Captain. Congratulations on doing the bare ******** minimum.”
(Maybe somewhere deep down he was disappointed not to get more snark in response, but he wasn’t about to admit that.)
Aquamarine paused to eye the two Seraphinite had indicated (Rigel and Spectrolite), giving them no more than a cursory glance. Between the two, the Senshi received slightly more attention from him — a brief narrowing of the eyes. Perhaps because Aquamarine didn’t care much for Senshi. Perhaps because, like Seraphinite, Aquamarine couldn’t take a joke either. (Not unless he was the one joking.)
“Look for trouble and you’ll be left behind in the Rift as punishment,” he warned Rigel, just in case. There were already far too many irreverent Senshi, in Aquamarine’s opinion. Albite. Cymophane. The one up at the front of the room trying to needle Faustite. What was his name? Taylite?
Aquamarine continued to pretend as if he didn’t notice the fingers playing with his hair. For a moment, it appeared as if he might lean closer, might let his head drop onto Jet’s shoulder, but that was too much obvious affection for him to display in a public setting. (He hadn’t had nearly enough to drink for that.) Instead, Aquamarine took Faustite’s dismissal as an excuse not to linger.
“Ruining my holiday season with this bullshit,” he muttered to himself, rocking up out of his chair and onto his feet.
He stretched, then tipped his head from side to side to ease some of the tension out of his neck, casting one more glance around the room before turning to Jet.
“Are you done here or are you going to stick around in case one of these obnoxious ******** needs something from you?”
Roselite didn’t think himself very smart. Average, maybe. He had enough common sense to get by and enough of a sense of self-preservation to make up for anything else he lacked. But the mission itself seemed intriguing. Plus, he knew or recognized enough of the higher ranking officers going along that he hoped he wouldn’t feel Bloodstone’s absence as acutely. He’d already worked with both Faustite and Jet before. Aquamarine was temperamental and quick to judge, but he took his job seriously. Kamacite didn’t give himself enough credit, and Cymophane was dependable. Roselite was certain he saw Benitoite in the crowd, too.
It’ll be fine, he kept telling himself.
If he repeated it enough, perhaps it would ease some of his worries. (So far, he’d had no such luck.)
At the very least, things seemed as if they’d be straightforward. He’d been to the Scar before. He’d even used climbing gear last time. He wouldn't mind disguising himself as a youma if that became necessary. He had relevant experience. There wasn’t anything about the mission as it had been laid out that confused him or worried him beyond the Rift’s inherent dangers.
Roselite swallowed nervously, but nodded at Kamacite to show his agreement. With the briefing winding down, he found himself at a loss for words, obsessively playing with the bracelet given to him by Bloodstone.
Cymophane pouted, and sighed, and pulled his long braid over his shoulder to stroke it lovingly.
“Not much of a point in having all this long, beautiful hair if we’re always cutting it off,” he said with some disappointment, even if he understood Kamacite’s reasons for it and agreed that the loss was beneficial. Fond as he was of it, Cymophane had to admit the hair was incredibly impractical.
Though he seemed to pay more attention to his nervous friend and his friend’s equally nervous friend, Cymophane nonetheless caught everything Faustite said about the mission. He filed away every question, even the silly ones, and every answer to ensure he would be prepared. His technical expertise might be limited to recording and video editing, but he wouldn’t mind taking a crack at whatever the strange building had to offer if no one else had any more know-how. Otherwise he assumed he’d find his way onto one of the combat teams. His background lent itself to those sorts of things. His magic did, too.
When the meeting seemed to be drawing to a close, Cymophane bounced on the balls of his feet again. “If either of you need help with the climbing gear, we can get Reidite to show us before the mission. Maybe just don’t mention we’re going to the Scar again, otherwise he’ll worry while we’re gone. I’ll pretend it’s for a video or something.”
With Witherite being active again he wasn't surprised to see the other, he was infact rather pleased to hear his voice. Nodding his head once in greeting he motioned the other to sit, though he figured Witherite would have sat with or without invitation. "I'm glad to see another who I can trust." He stated in a whisper, meant for just Withite and his cousin to hear. He didn't care to have others hearing his buisness. ""Let us hope this goes well...I do not like hearing of a place without youma - that they avoid." He spoke, all the while listening to the General running things as well as others who spoke. Huntite had a good set of questions, he could understand why the other asked such things as well. If a bonded wouldn't come, if suoomoned ones wouldn't come, than it would paint an even bigger picture. But no bonded had been summoned, he understood why as he'd lost a bonded as well, and the summoned youma had come. They'd not just come but had stayed until dismissed. But other youma kept their distance.
"Mmmm, best be on our guard. I don't like the feeling." He whispered, giving both Captains a look. "Any of the lower ranks around you - keep an eye on them." Make sure they didn't get lost, didn't run from the group, or pull a starseed out of somewhere. He did not want either of his captains to fall victim to the chaos the act of pulling a starseed could, and would, cause. Though he was certain Witherite would teach anyone stupid enough to do that a lesson. he wasn't so sure his cousin would...he didn't think Cuprite the violent sort - not yet anyway. People changed the longer they were in a war.
Looking over to Huntite he nodded his head once to the other Captain, a quick flick of his eyes between the other and an empty seat amongst his growing group.
"Witherite, my place for dinner tonight if you're free? We can all talk more than." He'd let Huntite know about the invitation as well...and perhaps that Corrupt he'd met before. He knew he'd let Arseno know as well. It would be good for them all to discuss things on their own as well. This was a bit troubling to him, he'd spent years going down into the rift and was familiar enough with the place. To hear of such a place...to know youma wouldn't go there. It didn't sit well with him and he wanted some little, tight knit, gathering to talk and spend some time together before they all went out to risk themselves.
Startling when he was poked his dark eyes turned to Witherite. So he wasn't alone here...that was good and bad, good because at least he knew someone he could trust, but also bad because he still didn't like trying to be social and get on with others. Slowly, but surely, he got up from his seat and drifted his way over to seat himself by Witherite. "At least if the youma aren't around I'll be safe." He stated with a bit of a smirk curling his lips. Youma didn't like him and they could make things difficult in ways he didn't want to deal with, ways that could hinder things, but if they weren't around than that wouldn't happen - he'd also be safe.
"I won't feel so hated while I'm down there." A snort of laughter followed his words. "But if it is so troubling than we really do need to watch ourselves..." Perhaps especially those who were senshi. If the problem was solved and youma descended on the area...yeah - he didn't want to think about that.
Atheneite mused over the general's response to her question it was very interesting to hear that this place shared features with Cosmos knights. She had a particular dislike of Cosmos knights, although she hated all knights in general. They were pretty little things that burned, like a poisonous flower that is cloaked in beautiful colors. However to her knowledge they were not a particularly technologically inclined group of knights, not like the Mercury knights at least so she wondered what if any connection they had to this place.
She would have liked more information but she also figured it wasn't too big of a deal she just had to keep on her guard and be ready to drive her spear through any defenses that showed themselves. She listened to the rest of the instructions being sure to make a mental note of each point. She was excited about the challenge here. She wondered who would be on her team. She looked around the room, she didn't have any particular opinions on anyone there so she'd be fine with just about anyone so long as they weren't a coward or incompetent.
None of the information coming out of Faustite's mouth was particularly shocking to Jadarite, although there were some smaller details that they hadn't gone over during her earlier briefing on the subject of the Scar.
So, communicators worked inside this building they were being sent to investigate, but lighting might be an issue. She glanced around the crowd and pulled out her tablet to make a note of how many high-powered flashlights they'd need to purchase in case they found themselves unable to fix the main lighting system, or should it falter while they were inside.
Thirty should be enough, she decided. She'd sent someone to look in storage, first. That could keep them from unnecessary expenses. She typed a few seconds, then turned back to Borax.
She tapped a few quick lines into her tablet, then turned to her subordinate.
"Don't go alone," she told him. "Not as a Lieutenant. That's the main thing. Missions like this are a good opportunity to prove yourself, as long as you're not stupid."
A beat passed. Again, the phrase was somewhat pointed towards others in the room.
"But you wouldn't be, would you?"
It was rhetorical. He was a smart one, she could already tell.
Faustite was saying something about teams and then dismissing them, and Jada decided to go. If there was more squabbled, more pettiness, she didn't need to be around to see it.
