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Borax tuned away from his boss to pay attention to his boss' boss, briefly. He caught a few things from Faustite's statements. For one, the particular wording of not wanting to lose another implied that Faustite had lost one of his own youma before. How had that happened? Didn't youma that had been harmed that grievously simply return to the Rift? That felt like what he had read; he supposed it didn't apply to all youma or all circumstances.

Whatever they were headed into, whatever was in the hole in the Rift, was high-tech. That in itself was intriguing. Not much in the Negaverse seemed to be unless it was harnessed by their team of technologically advanced catboys. It sounded like something much more intense than he was used to, but he was on board.

Like Jadarite said, this was one of the best places to see the full power of the Negaverse. And if she was going, and Faustite was going, Borax wanted a taste of what they both found so essential.

Borax looked toward her as she turned away from her tablet to look at him. "Think Faustite has already planned against that with his whole team plan. I do not plan on straying from that." He snorted. "Suppose I can't guarantee anyone else is smart, though. Do my best to stop people from straying away."

That was a leader's job, probably, but he was also there to become what they had.

To her rhetorical question, he winked. That was all that needed to be not said, really. Borax watched her leave to do whatever she needed to do for a moment too long before he turned his attention back to the flow of the room. Maybe if he figured out how people clustered, he could figure out where to take advantage--



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The concept of bringing other people to the Rift caused Fulgurite to quirk a brow. Considering senshi could barely survive down there even aligned to the Negaverse, he couldn't imagine anyone else was much safer. Of course, might make them easy bait or people to send in without any real consequence. Fit the Negaverse's modus operandi, in any case.

At least there wouldn't be any ******** youma. Fulgurite had to take a deep breath once more of relief at that; he had no interest in seeing anything like what he had seen on the last descent again.

He knew the pendant Faustite was talking about, though.

Fulgurite was wearing one, and he awkwardly fidgeted with it between his fingers. He understood its utility; as someone who rarely patrolled with Albite picking up a lot of his work, though, he hadn't used it often. No need to make a White Moon senshi dismiss him like an easy hit if he wasn't aiming to get hit in the first place.

All-Bite was probably ecstatic.

.. Rappel? Ugh.

At least it might give him some more context for what it might be like to rappel down the side of a ship.

What was he talking about? It told him nothing. He needed more refreshments.

Corrupt Triplite

She couldn't help but grin at the Lieutenant. It seemed that there were all walks of experience and readiness to go down there. And while she had listened to most of it, she was slightly sad they would most likely miss the Youma. She wanted to fight some monsters! Even if they were supposed to be on their side! Building were boring!

She didn't let the Lieutenant next to her know that though. That was a thought she kept to herself.

"Spectrolite! Ooh that's an interesting name. And my sphere? It's where my name was inspired from. Triceratopses. You know, the dinosaur? Kind of fun that I have the powers of one but can't turn into one. Ah well, not all little kid dreams can come true now can they?" She said with a giggle. "Not that I'm that much older since I'm still a teen, but I at least know that one can only turn into a dinosaur as a job if they're in a suit. Though only t-rexes from what I've seen so far." She nodded her head as though she was telling herself she remembered it correctly.

"Excited for the mission? I've never been in the Rift before so I'm not sure what it's like. I do hope the building is interesting though. Maybe we'll discover a new language there!"

"It's certainly a mission." Making a splash was putting it lightly at best, Prehnite let that go, however. Kept his curt remarks and snide snarkiness as an aside -- he wouldn't warn off his fresh lieutenant and basic by telling them that he was throwing into the deepest of ends. Of all the missions better to go on, of all the ways to splash down? Surely there were less deadly than this.

None would be more involved though, nor show the extent to which their kingdom spread -- both above and below -- the Rift was *everything*, Prehnite wanted them to have it, to be wary of, to forge bonds with, and yes -- maybe even to make a splash in that would test the limits of what they could truly manage. The best of steel being forged in the hottest of fires and all that.

"One I'm sure you'll both do well on, so don't worry. We've a good team, and good leads amongst the group. We've even got a General King amongst us this time, so..." there was that, all his hope, his small frown as he got little more than a smile from Kamacite.

He told himself he'd bother the Eternal later, when he had more of a chance and there was less working of plans to do amongst them all.





All Albite could think to do for Thornasite was reach back for the Lieutenant's hand and give a gentle squeeze, a wink, because whether or not he understood the importance of the thing going down? There was importance in it. A hushed little 'Don't worry about it', an assuring 'you'll see', as their Firebrand went on.

The back of Jada's lovely strawberry blond head got blown a precious kiss -- he'd win his way back into her good graces in the aftermath of all of this. He'd enjoy watching her team blossom n form up in the interim. Even if it needled him something terribly to be snubbed, it was fine, he'd live -- and enjoy his happiness sidecar and with side-eyed longing glances till it was his turn to shine up again!

Would save that high-beam bright smile for Helio's warm clasped hand on his shoulder, sweet of him to say 'Hi' so effortlessly, when it felt like Faff' still wanted to admire his head on a pike through a double paned glass case. It was good that the brothers could talk though, any info Albite could give -- ******** -- he knew the Super could probably have given better, more succinctly, all he remembered of the last mission involved goat rides and screaming -- lots of fire, lots of rocks -- useless things like that which'd made it such a good time!

It was a shame when people left early, but he knew everyone had their own things to do he totally got that. Maybe he'd pop by after...






At some point Zultanite had ghosted in, a lanky swagger of a shadow set ten paces behind Kamacite, then five, then three. A cup of punch swirled in one hand, something to spike it with in the other -- that silver tin of other dutifully slid away into subspace so he could less than quietly sip on the peach colored amber of the drink.

He listened more than he spoke, smacked his lips, said a whole damn prayer to an entity that he didn't believe in.

This was gonna be a whole damn time of a trip.

It was made a little easier to swallow when he got close enough to the Eternal to listen to him coo words of hope to his other companions, wondering if he'd get the chance to ask to be paired up with his own boss, better to have some sunshine magic on his side than end up castoff and less cared for with not but a ******** cinnamon stick to hold his own..



Cryolite was late enough to be fashionable, early enough to want to die. Borax got a flippant wave from a distance, and Fulgurite got sidled up behind -- as though the Eternals aura alone would protect him, gods knew Albite wouldn't. Oh no - that himbo was gungho and raring to race for all of this.

Which was fine.

Cryolite had gotten the jist, and every new jist he got made him wish there was something stronger at the table than what was available, or that the idea of sidling headlong into the underdark didn't make his stomach knot up quite so violently.

It was all going to be fine.

The plan was thorough, the people heading the actual event were sound.

"Tell me we won't die on this -- and I mean die stupidly. I know the chance of no one dying at all is -- sheer luck, maybe?" all the faith he had would've fared better with a little reassurance. Crylite aimed the words swiftly the eternals way, an air of quietude to the ask. It was a wonder Fulgurite could drink anything at all, let alone look so unaffected doing it. Not with everything that Faustite dumped on them for the arrangements.

"Considering your a senshi, I ccan't imagine why youma aren't your specialty." He teased with a grin.

Fafnir's concern was both endearing and frustrating. So quickly he was to step up and back into the role of the protective big brother. In a way, it was a good sign. Their relationship was more than salvageable and they were both making heads with accepting what had happened, but at the same time it chaffed Helio a bit. He had survived years without Fafnir there to watch over him. While it hadn't been easy, far from it actually, he'd managed. He didn't require that protection.

But, he did appreciate it.

"Look. We'll be fine. The mission will go fine." He said, keeping his own voice low to match Fafnir's. "I'v already been to the location once. There isn't a single youma there. The journey to the scar will be more dangerous when it comes to the youma front." He raised a hand to pat Fafnir's shoulder. "But I promise, if anything happens I'll keep you in the loop, but I expect the same." He eyes his brother with a knowing look. "I am not a little child pulling on mom's skirts or following in your wake. I can help you just as much.

"Plus, I don't have a subordinate to keep an eye on in this mission." He winked. "You have a bigger priority than me to keep safe during this mission. I can hold my own."

His eyes shifted to few who had legitimate questions or concerns about hte mission and the responses that came. It was clear that a lot of the possible problems had been thought about. At least for now, they had as much information they were going to need until the day of. The nineteenth wasn't far. A few days to rest up and gather whatever they may need before diving into that odd base.

Only a few more days until he had to repel his a** back underneath the earth. A shiver ran down his spine at the thought.

A job I didn't want, and still don't, were the words that soured Seraphinite's tongue. But, he didn't tell Aquamarine that. He didn't tell Jet that. Nor did he mention anything about his growing doubts, or disinterest rather, with everything. Nor that it was rather clear Jet didn't need him around, so why should he even--

Seraphinite closed his eyes briefly, and let out his breath slowly through his nose. No, there wasn't any point in mentioning any of it. It was better to have the mission in front of him, in fact. Gave him something immediate to focus on. An easy way to push away thoughts that did nothing to help him. He could consider dealing with all of that s**t another time, once the investigation into the Rift was over.

Instead of giving any responses, he just listened to what the General up front was saying, tilting his head slightly as he heard they'd be receiving so much gear. Useful, definitely, but he wondered how many people might have some difficulty with rappelling. At least enough to probably make it amusing to watch--though, he had to remind himself it'd been a long time since he'd done any of the climbing wall activities in high school.

When the general dismissal was given, Seraphinite gave a vague sort of wave towards Jet and Aquamarine. "See you in the Rift."

Rigel could teleport himself back to the city, but he'd linger around at least until Spectrolite was ready to go. It took a second to spot her with a senshi, and he lifted a brow to that. Instead of interrupting, he merely waited till he caught her eye to motion towards the door, then headed out to wait in the hall.

[Sera's out~]






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His shoulders slumped slightly. Really? The senshi cast Seraphinite a scowling huff. It was entirely his fault he was being warned so much already today. He glanced towards Aquamarine with a shrug. "Careful, depending on how interesting the things are there, that might be more of a reward."

But, before anyone could really get on his case, he once more waved his hands, palms forward, in the air. "I will be on my absolute best behavior! I promise! No experiments, no nothing. Just see what I can help locate down there, and make sure the rest of my team gets back out fine."

At least towards Jet, he gave a snort of a laugh and smiled. "I'd be happy to have help curing him of that horrible trait. I can clearly only do so much~"

The continued information about the mission diverted his attention again. It made sense why they couldn't bring the aliens down into the Rift, but he wondered if they'd at least been shown anything about the technology--eh. It'd probably lead to more trouble than it was worth. Though, if no one could really figure out anything with the tech on this mission, higher powers than he would deal with it.

The information about the youma vanishing, though, intrigued him immensely. The youma wanted to be in the building? But no one could sense it? Huh. Alright, this was looking more and more interesting...

As things concluded, he rolled his eyes as Seraphinite took his leave. He followed the Captain's movements with a glower, remaining where he stood. Ah, at least he was going to handle the Lieutenant. Confirming at least that he wouldn't have to bring her back out, Rigel let himself relax a bit more.

He looked to Jet and Aquamarine again, eyes bright beneath his hood. "This mission seems a lot more interesting than I figured it'd be. How much of the Rift is still unexplored?" As a senshi, he didn't go in without company, and really, beyond some occasional missions he didn't go in at all. Pity. It did seem so fascinating. But he valued his life, and liked his starseed where it was, thanks.




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Triceratopses? Her eyes went wide, boggled as she stared at the senshi. Okay, yeah, she could see the influences on her uniform. But... really? She didn't know those could be spheres of power for a senshi... huh!

A grin split across her face, unable to keep herself from giggling in turn at the idea of turning into one of the creatures. "That would be really cool. Like a shapeshifter kinda thing." The mention of in a suit and t-rexes made her c**k her head, though. Brows furrowing, her brain whirled. "Are you... talking about youma you've seen..?" She glanced up front, spotting the half-youma General again and hummed as she looked back to Triplite. "Or like... half-youma?" Her lack of knowledge on any of these subjects made her blush a tad again, but. No way to find out unless she asked!

Triplite's questions and excitement about the mission made Spectrolite's smile slip, turning uneasy. Her hands fiddled absently with one of the buttons on her uniform. "Only time I've been in the Rift, it was neat but... really don't like youma. So I'm pretty excited this place doesn't have them, far as anyone's seen. I'm looking forward to seeing what these computers have on them--or yeah, a new language even!"

Her smile brightened, enjoying the positivity the young woman radiated.

As people began to leave, she looked up to meet Seraphinite's eye as he was heading out, nodding as he motioned to the door. She flicked her hand slightly, waving him on. She'd join him in a bit. She was having fun socializing for a change. Something Spectrolite knew she never did enough of around here.

“I’ll more than sharpen them.” Tama answered back.

He’d apply the black polish he used to strengthen his claws and bring out their magical qualities, too. If he was going to risk ruining his nails on someone or something foolish enough to get that close to either him or Faustite, he’d at least give them a nasty cut and some special skin irritation for their efforts.


☆

Bellalunea wasn't totally sure how she felt about about the whole repelling ordeal. Since she wasn't fond of the unknown, and repelling into a new zone seemed a bit sketch. But she always thought it was better to try something new.

So she took a deep breath and mustered up all her courage. She was ready for this new adventure now. Since she was only on her first live she figured it couldn't be that bad as long as she used all her daring energy to complete the task. Plus it wouldn't make a bad story idea for her book - a kitty repelling down somewhere who would have thought of that. after all not many people expected small creatures like her to have daring adventures like that.

As she shook her head from her book idea thoughts, she continued to listened. It all seemed pretty basic, 'don't be stupid and listen to your leads'. Stuff she planned to do anyways after all that was part of being a team no matter what side your on.

Now the disappearing youma had an interesting side to it, and made her ears perk up. she really was curious about what could do that. Even though Magical bullshit sounded about right. The writer side of her wanted to know more. What magic and was there more to it than that. Whatever it was she was going to figure it out and if a team was what she needed. Well here comes a team player - words she never thought she'd say before.

So she quickly lurked off in the shadows and headed towards the area where her team would be meeting up. That was the first step to her getting some answers, and great story ideas.

[Bellalunae Exit]

A gentle salude n salute all in one to what he assumed were other members of Kama's team -- or maybe just good friends? Zultanite quietly nodded at the pair, all sorts of well worn tiredness n slack limbs. "No worries 'Just Kamacite', I ain't coming cause I think I have to," a soft slice of tease between sips, his eyes following the sunbeam as he fell in tow, "teams mean togetherness or somesuch n I'm eager t'learn about whatever surprises you've got up tucked up those sleeves."

The rift was gonna be a wholeeee experience, he could tell, and did it hurt to wanna see his General-Senshi in charge shown' off a bit? Probably not.

"You just lead the way, n'ill follow."





"I'm sure it had to have been a sight," probably an unpleasent one, and nothing Fulgurite said could've made him any more nervous than he already was, so having bit of reality from the more somber Senshi was far more a blessing than empty promises of 'the best' could've been. Faustie's firey reminders of how this was a volunteer venture served as a living, breathing, reality check. Especially when juxtaposed with Albites raring glow of eagerness. All of this was his choice, he needn't do anything he didn't want to, and there were those experienced enough around him that he might not die. It wasn't everything he could've asked for, but it was enough to settle something fluttery in his core.

"Though...if you want to place bets on 'who does a stupid' before we duck out of this lackluster soiree. That might make it a little more fun."