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 Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 1:23 am
Warehouse Interior This is the warehouse located in Airstrip Central. It has been almost entirely cleared out, it's expansive concrete floor displaying patterns where boxes pushed the dirt around. The walls seem to be made of tin. There are doors at each corner, as well as a large garage-type door on the south wall. All of these doors are shut, the last one being a corner door through which the four core barers were usured. Near the top of the south wall seems to be some sort of office. The windows are reflective glass, and there are no visible stareways to lead there, but the entire structure belies an overhanging room. A large gash in the south section of the west wall has been blown open, and remains unsealed.
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Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 3:32 pm
The four core-barers were ushered into the warehouse by a couple of bodyguard-types. They were led in through one of the corner doors on the south wall, and the bodyguards didn't follow them in. Instead, they slammed the doors unceremoniously behind the victors.
Although it seemed unlikely that anyone would check, a magic seal was quietly enchanted from above, locking all of the building's occupants inside.
In the center of the warehouse stood two robots, labeled 'A' and 'B'. They were heavily armored, somewhat rounded, and otherwise appeared unarmed. They each held a briefcase in either hand. Their visor'd heads turned to watch the newcomers.
"James Black carries Artillery," said A.
"Rage carries CR32-B", said B.
"Barqueil Fischig carries Macro 3," A responded.
"Matthias Weinberg carries Squadron D," B finished.
The two robots looked at each other, than stepped forward. They quickly flashed the contents of each briefcase to the victors, displaying wads of gold notes.
"Place your core in the chalk circle." A indicated a chalk circle that had been drawn in the ground, with just enough room for all four cores.
"Then take your reward." B stepped forward, placing its two suitcases next to the circle. A followed B's lead.
They both stepped back, and bowed to the four. In unison, they said, "Thank you for your hard work."
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Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 4:33 pm
Things didn't seem right. Two robots where the ones that presented the money, not flesh and blood as one would expect. Being seemingly locked in a room did nothing more to comfort him. Watching to see what happened he held his tongue as he slung the bag off his left shoulder, it rested upon the ground as he held the strap in his left hand.
((Mistake corrected.))
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Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 4:36 pm
R66-Y In the center of the warehouse stood two robots, labeled 'A' and 'B'. They were heavily armored, somewhat rounded, and otherwise appeared unarmed. They each held a briefcase in either hand. Their visor'd heads turned to watch the newcomers. ((Sorry, already off on the wrong foot. gonk They each carrie two cases.))
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Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 4:36 pm
Whoosh!
That was the sound of the air rushing about in the desert, kicking up sand and dust along the airstrip as a huge motorcycle traveling at an almost obscene speed seemed to appear out of nowhere and continue to simply barrel down the length of the runway.
There were two figures upon it, one, a small child holding a flat hat onto his head with one hand and pointing frantically with the other, and the other, a man in a black trench coat, driving the bike in whichever direction that the child pointed when he shouted.
"STOP! STOP!" Donovan cried, pulling the hat down to cover his eyes as James pulled upon the brakes; the suddenly stopped back wheels throwing up a thick cloud of dust behind the machine as it slid in to a rolling stop in front of the warehouse."Okay, kid... looks like this is the end of the line," James said, rubbing the top of the child's head as he dismounted to the left side of the machine; each step leaning heavily to the left as he limped on his right leg, which was soaked in blood and bound around the knee with duct tape in the form of a makeshift brace. "But mistah Bla-""DONOVAN STRIFE," the man said loudly in responce to the cambion child's protests as he continued on towards the other side of the bike, "YOU GO STRAIGHT HOME TO YOUR MOTHER." He paused... then reached into his pocket and tossed a folded clip of gold notes towards the child. "Go show your mother how much money you've made today, alright?" James said again, smiling and waving to the boy as he reached over the motorbike and pulled the Artillery core from the saddlebag there. "Yes, mistah Black... um..." the child fidgeted with his hat for a moment, "Ah hope you gets them bad men what hurtchya, I do..."
At that, the child jumped up into the air, wrapping his tail around his body, and vanished summarilly in another violent gust of wind."...thanks, kid..." ~ Inside ~ James just followed after the other core bearers... he hadn't been able to hear the instructions, or even see the chalk circles...
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Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 4:38 pm
Having had his wits about him the entire time, Rage looked around at the others. Nothing about this was right. Nothing at all. He slid his backpack onto his right shoulder, letting it slide down his arm until it rested in the circle. He didn't let go of the strap yet with his right hand....
He didn't really like the looks of this. His left hand slowly inched over to his right hip as he stood. He was just happy to be rid of this thing... well, as soon as he got his reward.
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Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 4:41 pm
This curse was really starting to bug Matthias. Everytime anyone spoke, even a robot, all that came to his ears was the bizarre "Wahwah" speak of a grown up from the Charlie Brown cartoons. So naturally, he didn't have a goddamn clue what those two machinations were saying. Still, he was a smart man, and he could figure out what needed to be done via common sense.
He dropped to one knee and set his breifcase on his thigh. Fingertips dancing across the keypad in a motion practiced an untold number of times. The locks unscrewed and he opened the case, revealing the Squadon D core. He removed this and eyed the other finalists warily. Shutting the case, he then did an unusual thing. Another code was entered onto the case, but it was not opened. He rose to his feet and quietly made a double check of his surroundings, looking for any hints of a double cross. Cautiously he approached the circle, and set the core down.
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Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 4:45 pm
A's head turned from the circle of chalk to James Black. "Mr. Black," it said, making no attempt to approach the man, "Please bring the core to the circle and take the bounty."
Meanwhile, B stepped again closer to the group, leaning down and nudging the briefcases forward. "There is nothing to fear here. You may check the briefcases now, if it makes you feel better."
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Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 4:48 pm
(( So when we put the cores in the circle, do we lose our curses? or keep them until someone else picks them up? ))
It was natural to be wary in this situation. Odds were everyone present was more than used to this sort of thing by the looks of them. And something definately did not smell right. Matthias didn't have to open the case to know what was inside it. He could tell when they were opened whether that was real gold, just by looking at it. Now however, he thought about it again, probing his Economancer senses and trying to discern if there was anything aside from the proper amount of gold within.
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Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 4:50 pm
James, of course, noticed the suspicion present in the other core bearers... there wasn't much else he could notice, from where he stood. All that was in his range of sight was a wall and four people... or... three?
James held the large core of Artillery under his left arm, walking slowly forwards after Matthias until he could see what exactly everyone had been looking at: two robots, one of which he came within range of only to hear the laft half of a sentance.
"Well, then..." he said, laughing with a half-choke of pain as he did when a sharp twinge ran up his right leg, "...circle it is..."
He hobbled over towards one of the empty ones and set the damndable thing down... doing his best to try and pay attention to what those robots were doing within his limited range.
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Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 4:51 pm
Cocking an eyebrow at Robot B, Rage cracked his neck to either side before opening his mouth to speak, but then closing it again. Better keep his thoughts to himself. However, his desire to get rid of this damnable object was almost strong enough to have him drop it right there and run. But that was pretty useless... something like this had to be a trap. There was no way they could simply leave that easily.
He held his position. "Why are we meeting here? Why not somewhere public, where the cameras can see us, the conquering heroes, the ones that put an end to the plauge upon Carson City?" He said with a hint of venom in his voice. Besides... what was with the robots? Robots in Carson City, robots with their prize... he got a bad feeling from all this.
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Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 4:51 pm
((To answer Kami's questions: your curses are lifted soon, but not just yet. And the only thing in the briefcases are Gaian gold.))
[Addendum]
((Quinn, you have a post coming, or should I move on?))
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Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 4:54 pm
Fischig had no concer about being a hero. He had been tasked by the Ordo to fight and he had done his duty. This was merely the final process of the job, collecting money to compensate any loses of the Inquisition. Stepping foward he placed the bag down in the circle. Repressing a sigh of relief as he let go the strap and stepped back he calmly looked around. His right hand lay on the hilt of his blade, it's touch relaxing his stressed mind.
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Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 4:57 pm
Both robots were watching Rage now, the only person to not have relinquished control of his core.
"Mr. Rage, might I remind you that you were involved in an illegal vigilante operation in order to procure this core?" A chided.
"This is as much for our own protection as it is for yours," said B.
"Now, if you would be so kind, leave the core and take your money."
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Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 4:57 pm
This was more or less the moment of truth. Was this a simple business transation, or a setup? He was weighing every possible angle and outcome of either scenario in his head. A faint glow could almost be seen from his magical Yamulka as his mind raced. In the end, there was only one way to find out. Matthias took a deep breath, picked up the breifcase offered by the robot, and then took a step backwards away from from everyone else present.
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