Ahzi settles in to his position and carefully scans the area. There are people entering and leaving Container City constantly, and they are all wearing face masks, so it’s not an easy task. The blaring horns from the tug boats in the bay, the soft drizzling rain, and the occasional whine of a passing aircar does not help.

His squawker vibrates, indicating that 15 minutes have passed. He has not spotted anyone that reminded him of Hakkar or the two henchmen yet.

After dialing down his squawker's volume, Alarus quickly leaps and springs off the corridor's dado rail, kicks off the opposite wall, and silently bounds up toward the ceiling with deft acrobatic agility. Then, balancing between one wall and the nearby pipework, he climbs up through the open skylight and crouches on the roof, peering down through the opening and waiting for the trespasser to enter the apartment.
This message was last updated by a game editor at 05:19, Thu 07 June 2018.

"Time to go," Jonas tells his companions over the squawker. "Let's follow your instinct, Ahzi, and assume we need to be heading for the forest. Paavo, are you up for a chase? I'm gonna rent us a skimmer, but I could do with a kick-ass pilot to fly it. If we can't catch up with our hare, then I need to find a way to make him go to sleep..."

In reply to Jonas Fischer (msg # 296):

Ahzi feels his squawker vibrate in notification of the time passed and begins to make his way back down the stack. A little less careful on the way - he jumps down from level to level. On the last jump, he hits the ground and rolls to absorb the shock before standing. Using the shadows as cover, Ahzi peeks around the corner of the container and scans the area. A spark of inspiration urges him to move forward, and just around the other side of the tower, Ahzi finds a small street vendor. Not sure why he is here, Ahzi looks over the vendor's wares before his eyes settle on a new mask, and it all becomes clear. Internally, he thinks, "Guardian must think it's time to change skins. Plus, this thing is perfect...The resemblance is uncanny..."

As they enter the haggling process, the merchant points his dirty, arthritis-addled finger at Ahzi's Decados leathers. Ahzi, a little surprised at the vendor's bravado and greed, answers, "Sorry, old man, never going to happen." A smile enters the merchants eyes as he reaches his finger closer; Ahzi tenses, but does not move back, as the old man pushes his jacket back and exposes the butt end of his combat knife. Ahzi, nods, and unsheathes the knife - flipping it, he grabs the blade and extends the haft end to the man who snatches it with a quickness unexpected of his condition. Bowing, Ahzi thanks the merchant and moves down the street a ways with to a secluded inlet in the buildings - not quite an alley. Removing his current jackal mask, Ahzi places it in his pack before fitting his new one to his face. Checking his reflection in a puddle at his feet, Ahzi feels the new gargoyle-esque visage staring back at him is much more fitting...



Moments later, Jonas' voice comes over the squawker with updates on the plan. Ahzi listens intently before replying, "Copy that. I am headed back your direction. Be aware, though I think I have lost Hakkar, he may be trailing me now. Also, I have changed up my appearances a bit - new mask. Look for the grinning gargoyle. See you soon. Ahzi out..." With the last, Ahzi slipped silently from the shadows and began moving with all haste to meet up with the team again.

A small figure enters cautiously, wearing a red breathing mask resembling a fox. The intruder is female, dressed in the garb of a tribeswoman, and holds a stun gun in her hand. She walks slowly past the skylight, apparently not spotting Alarus above, and disappears out of sight into the office. He can hear her rummaging through Jo’vet’s bag.

She moves quickly and efficiently through the rest of the apartment, clearly frustrated by the lack of evidence. After a few more minutes she leaves again, the bag slung over her shoulder.

Closing the skylight, Alarus uses his grappler to ascend back up to the nearby container stacks and makes his way back toward the Rusty Crane. Returning to Jonas on the street outside the bar, he gives him the items he took from Jo'vet's apartment: a watertight bag containing 40 firebirds and a small dagger, a squawker, two timepieces, a map of Criticorum, and several two-day old news sheets. "The tribeswoman who joined the competition broke into the apartment while I was there and searched the place," he tells Jonas while handing over the items. "She seemed frustrated by the lack of evidence for Jo'vet's whereabouts and left with his bag of clothes."

The Thana hesitates for a moment as he turns to look off to the west, contemplating something. "I fear that if Jo'vet has left the city, this hunt may prove to extend far longer than we had hoped...and Baroness Jeri’ven's condition shall grow worse... I must not allow that to happen. I am sorry, I cannot go further with you on this pursuit. I have made an oath to the Baroness's chamberlain that I must fulfill." Reaching into his knapsack, he withdraws the clemency agreement Warden Habbakuk had signed to authorize reducing the ARA hijackers' sentence if Brownbird's information proves helpful in locating Jo'vet. "Should you find Jo'vet, you may show him this." He hands the document to Jonas. "If he values his comrades' lives, it may help persuade him to surrender so that they will live. And if he is willing to provide information on the whereabouts of other ARA members, the Warden has agreed to reduce his punishment as well."

The Thana shoulders his knapsack and regards Jonas silently for a moment. "I wish you luck, friend."

Jonas is seated on an old shipping crate, busily tapping in commands to the drone on the Prognosticator, and barely notices Alarus arriving. He nods as the Thana describes the situation, and takes the items offered to him.

Wishing Alarus safe travels, Jonas sits down again and resumes his tech wrangling. Ahzi arrives shortly after, and Jonas updates him on what has transpired.

As they are talking, their squawkers beep and Paavo’s voice can be heard; “Had a word with Tic and he’s overhauling the engines, so we can’t use the Fang. I’m on my way to your location in an aircar. We can ride it up to Centertown and arrange to rent a skimmer from there. My guild membership should give us a nice fat discount.”

A few moments later, a large aircar sets down close to the group, and Paavo leans out and motions them over. The driver quickly takes off again, and soon they find themselves in an affluent area of Centertown, where nobles and guild members obtain their transportation, the more ostentatious the better.

Leaving Jonas to work on tracking Jo’vet’s hoverbike, Paavo enters into negotiations with a slick-looking salesman. There is a lot of arguing back and forth, and a few choice curses can be heard from the office, but in the end, Paavo emerges with a small brass key, half a dozen fuel cells, and a handful of paperwork.

“He drove a bloody hard bargain,” mutters Paavo. “But I got us a good deal on a used Lazzarini Coupé, which was apparently ‘only used by an old nun to drive to the market on Fridays’. Should be faster than a hoverbike anyway.”

On the way out to the lot, Jonas’ Prognosticator emits a screeching noise and indicates that the drone has managed to get a lock on the stolen Pegasus.

[Jonas scored a Minor Victory]

Paavo opens the canopy of the skimmer and climbs in. Quickly adjusting the controls to suit his driving style, he nods in satisfaction as the Lazzarini lifts smoothly off the ground, engines rumbling. “Let’s take her on the open road!”, he exults.

In reply to Sir Alarus Thana (msg # 299):

Jonas clasps his companion's shoulder in an awkward embrace.

"Thank you, my friend. I wouldn't want to keep you from following your conscience, and to tell the truth, you've already helped me more than I'd hoped or expected. I wish you luck - and trust that I'm gonna see you again real soon!"

The Lazzarini speeds up the East Climb at breakneck speed and soon leaves the glittering towers of Acheon behind. Small farms and hamlets dot the countryside, but they soon grow fewer. The road surface changes from smooth asphalt to a rougher dirt track, and the passengers are thankful that the skimmer can ignore the potholes and bumps below. Tired serfs look up from their backbreaking work as Paavo presses the skimmer harder, swerving to avoid the occasional tall barn or grain silo.

Soon the terrain grows even rougher and the mighty Nordwood Forest looms ahead. There is a road of sorts through the dense forest, but fallen trees and various debris would make it very difficult to navigate for a ground vehicle. Paavo grins triumphantly as he guides the skimmer high above the treetops in a straight line.

The Prognosticator has locked on to Jo’vet’s stolen hoverbike and shows him to be about 400 km ahead. He seems to be driving well above the normal cruising speed, and Paavo will have to drive the Lazzarini hard to gain on the fugitive.


This message was last edited by the GM at 20:38, Sun 10 June 2018.

The engines of the Lazzarini begin to emit an unpleasant whine as Paavo pushes the throttle fully forward. The endless forest below turns into a green blur.

After what feels like hours at this speed, the trees being to thin out, and the glint of a large river can be seen in the distance. Patches of small farmland appear again, and the Prognosticator screeches excitedly. Although too far ahead to be seen with the naked eye, Jo’vet is finally in range for remote commands to be sent to his hoverbike.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:43, Wed 13 June 2018.

Jonas sends out some initial probe packets, carefully mapping out the ethereal defences in the hoverbike's control systems, which he must overcome if his plan is going to work. He frowns deeply at what he can discern in the esoteric stream of data and flexes his long fingers until the knuckles crack and the micro-servos whine.

He turns to his companions.

"I'll only get one shot at this and our racin' hare may be able to block me he groks what's happening," he tells Ahzi and Paavo. "So you had better be ready with a plan B if this one goes south..."

He turns back to his jumble of tech and enters the command to transmit a signal to the hoverbike.

"If this works, then the control unit on his bike will suddenly detect a critical problem with the thermoregulation system that causes it to shut down the engine and initiate an emergency landing. Get ready to move in fast - if he figures out what's happening he may be able to override it and switch to full manual control. If he doesn't, then we still want to be close at hand - I don't want to lose him in the forest!"
This message was last edited by a game editor at 19:33, Thu 14 June 2018.

As the pursuers watch, the hoverbike abruptly slows and dips down towards the forest canopy. Jonas punches the air and grins broadly.

"Got 'im!" he announces with satisfaction. "Saddle up, gentlemen: it's time to go bag us a hare!"

Paavo guns the engine and sends the skimmer hurtling towards the rapidly descending hoverbike at unnerving speed, while Jonas checks his weapons and prepares for a quick exit. They are now in  outskirts of the forest.

"When we get down, circle round and keep him in your sights," the engineer tells his companions. "I'm gonna try to talk to him first, but if he won't see reason, then we'll need to take him down fast. But remember we need him alive! And don't be too quick to believe anything you see or hear. If this guy has the psi powers he's rumoured to have, then he may try to fox us. If in doubt about who you're talkin' to, the secret word is 'Prognosticator'"

In reply to Jonas Fischer (msg # 306):

With Jo'vet's stolen bike decending in the distance, Ahzi quickly makes ready. First, he takes off his Kraxi dirk and his scimitar and places them into the secure compartment at the base of his seat. Then he removes the slapper slugs from his pack and loads them into his heavy blaster before placing it into the holster at his back. All set there, he places the pack into the secure compartment next to his other weapons. Next, Ahzi takes a deep breath and centers his thoughts before preparing to cast his anti-magic shroud. A small black flame appears in his hand, flickering slightly, but then dies down again. Ahzi unbuckles and rises from his seat before turning to his compatriots and saying, "The anti-magic shroud sadly didn't work. But the secret word 'Prognosticator' is an excellent safe-check, so thanks for that Jonas." Then, into his squawker, "Alarus, Alina, I am not sure if you are in range to hear this transmission, but we are closing in on Jo'vet. I wish you good luck and the Gods' speed in your endeavors; I hope we are all successful and can meet up again soon."

Slowing down to a manageable speed for landing, but still coming in hot, the skimmer approaches where Jo'vet landed the hover bike as Paavo prepares to cover the remaining few kilometers and decend the last few hundred meters. Enhanced on the skimmer's heads-up dash display, the hunting party looks on to see the scene below. It is clear in the late afternoon sun that Jo'vet is highly agitated and kicking the downed bike in frustration. At about 150 meters from the ground, Jo'vet looks up toward the rushing sound of the skimmer's engine and begins booking it toward the cover of the forest. Seeing their quarry about to get away again, Ahzi curses before punching the control for the moon roof, and then climbing out onto the top of the decending craft. Ahzi makes a silent plea to his Guardian before shoving his hands into his trench pockets and taking a flying leap off the skimmer toward the forest and the fleeing Jo'vet. The wind instantly catches Ahzi's jacket and for a few seconds his fall is slowed as he glides towards the forest. However, it shortly becomes apparent Ahzi misjudged the distance and danger of this action, as the wind rips the jacket from his grip and he begins to spin and plummet uncontrollably toward the ground...

A split second after Ahzi's decent breaks into chaos, a CRACK of thunder is heard as the fabric of the air above him is torn assunder to reveal a huge, black gargoyle wearing full battle regalia and trailing huge, billowing wings of dark and smokey shadow flames. The great beast grabs Ahzi - embracing him almost lovingly - as his wings SNAP open to their full span slowing the fall and gliding over Jo'vet's head into the outskirts of the forest.



The shadow of the Guardian and Ahzi passing overhead stops Jo'vet in his tracks as he pauses to look up and see what's coming. The guardian comes to ground about 10 meters from Jo'Vet and set's Ahzi into a standing position facing the Ukari youth. The Guardian then refurls his wings with a low growl of warning, a hand of support on Ahzi's shoulder; he gives a soft squeeze of reassurance before fading once more into shadow and disappearing from view. Almost simultaneous to this, the skimmer lands some distance behind Jo'vet at the edge of the treeline. And, less than a blink after landing, Jonas and Paavo exit the ship...
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:00, Mon 18 June 2018.

“Demon Spawn!” snarls Jo’vet in the Ukari language, and takes off at a sprint towards the forest, ducking and weaving with unnatural speed to avoid capture. A large branch is suddenly lifted up in the air and hurled with great force straight at Jonas.


This message was last edited by the player at 13:33, Sun 17 June 2018.

As Jo’vet bolts for the treeline, Ahzi moves to intercept the fugitive in order to talk some sense into him. Jo’vet is however in full on flight mode and tries to weave past Ahzi. He nearly succeeds but Ahzi manages to trip him up, and the Ukari tumbles to the ground. Jo’vet quickly gets up and draws his knife, crouching into the stance of a Kraxi knife fighter. The blade is covered in a greenish, slick paste.

Ahzi begins to hear strange whispering sounds in his head, and shadowy tendrils of fear and dread seem to slow down his thoughts.

[Ahzi scored a Marginal Victory for intercepting Jo’Vet (who is now Hurt -3), but is facing a psychic attack]


This message was last edited by the player at 20:30, Sun 17 June 2018.

Jonas curses emphatically when he sees the branch hurtling towards him. He stamps down hard to make an abrupt course correction, springing nimbly out of the missile's path. Skidding to a halt, he focuses his mind on the exercises that his Farhand mistress at the coven had mercilessly drilled into him, and, with an emphatic hand gesture, reaches out for the branch and slams it down to the ground.

"I don't want to fight you, man!" he yells at Jo'vet. "Stop and listen to me before this turns ugly!"
This message was last edited by a game editor at 18:44, Mon 18 June 2018.

"I'm just going to neutralize him. I'll shoot him in the vastus lateralis!" exclaims Paavo, as he draws his flechette pistol. The needler lets out a small cough, as a swarm of tiny darts strike Jo'vet near his throat - but they are deflected by the momentary flare of his hidden energy shield.


This message was last edited by the GM at 22:35, Sun 17 June 2018.

The multiple attacks seem to to have shaken Jo'vet badly.

"Stay away from me, all of you - or I'll pop his head open like a rotten kviss egg!", he threatens as he slowly walks backwards, keeping one hand outstretched towards Ahzi, gesturing dramatically.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:04, Sun 17 June 2018.

In reply to Jo'Vet (msg # 309):

Gritting his teeth, Ahzi yells at Jo'vet, "GET. OUT. OF. MY. HEAD!"

With the last word, a singular pulse of semi-tangible shadow shoots out from Ahzi in all directions, ruffling hair and loose clothing as it whooshes past. The shock wave dissipates after about 15 meters leaving a half-dome of mist-like, sparkling shadow-droplets hanging in the air. The late afternoon sun dipping low glints off the motes leaving the area awash in a surreal haze of intermittently twinkling fire - like being caught within the whirling storm of a recently shaken snow globe.

The instant the wave leaves his body, Ahzi feels his mind clear, then two quick cracks of his neck remove all remaining traces of the mental violation from the tension in his bones. "That's better," he mumbles to himself...


In reply to Jo'Vet (msg # 312):

Moving in as non-threatening of a manner as possible, Ahzi slowly opens his jacket to show he is carrying no blades before holding his hands in the air to show they are empty. Then, taking a deep, calming breath, Ahzi speaks to Jo'vet in Ur-Uyari, "I am sorry for tripping you, and any injury that may have caused, but I could not afford to let you get away. I promise, all we want to do is talk for a moment. What happens after that is entirely up to you."

Getting no response, Ahzi continues, this time in the common tongue for the benefit of his friends, "We mean you no harm; however, we will defend ourselves if you leave us no other choice. Please, stop this nonsense and put away your blade. If you act civilly, I can guarantee you will be met with no undue aggression."

Hoping to garner a little trust, Ahzi motions for Paavo and Jonas to lower their weapons slightly as he also settles into a more relaxed stance - though he never takes his eyes off Jo'vet or fully drops his guard. Then, Ahzi waits for Jo'vet's reply - a genuinely calm expression on his face - he is prepared to let the silence weigh heavy before adding anything more or acting again...

Jonas nods gratefully at Ahzi and then turns to Jo'vet.

"Now, listen carefully," he begins, spreading his hands wide. "And please let me finish 'fore you think about making your next move."

"First things first: I'm not gonna lie to you, we are here to apprehend you. But I'm no mercenary and my orders were to bring you in very much alive - and I know the other folks on your tail ain't so particular. So I wanted to show you something, to prove we're not your enemies. Now, I know you're in desperate straits and that makes it hard for you to trust anyone, 'specially some stranger who's straight up admitted he's been hired to bring you in. But I have something here that you might want to read..."

He reaches slowly and carefully into his pocket and draws out the form from the Warden.

"My friend Alarus is the one you can thank for this, if you feel so inclined, 'cause he met your friend Brownbird and saw how there might be a way to salvage something from this here bad situation you and those ARA folks find your sorry selves in."

"'Fore you get you hopes up: this ain't no pardon. But it does give you a chance to save yourself and your friends from the noose. All I'm asking is that you give it some due consideration."

He places the sheet on the ground and starts to back away, his eyes on the fugitive.

"Now I'm gonna give you some space..."

Jo’vet looks suspiciously at Jonas and Ahzi, and then over at Paavo, who is holstering his needler with a somewhat embarrassed expression. Jo’vet gestures and the document flies straight into his hand. Frowning with effort, he spells his way through the flowery al-Malik legalese.

“So you talked to Brownbird, and if you bring me in, he and the others get to live? Even Deol? And what about those other humans I saw outside the Crane? The big shouty one?"

In reply to Jo'Vet (msg # 315):

Ahzi lets out a tight chuckle before replying, "The 'big shouty one' as you call him is named Hakkar, and he is no friend of ours, I can assure you. In addition to that brute, there are several other groups hunting you as we speak..."

Ahzi pauses a moment to scratch the back of his head, then continues, "If you choose to accompany us back to Acheon, and so long as you do not act against us yourself at any point going forward, we will work to protect you from these other agents and ensure you receive the moderate treatment outlined in that document. After all, it would do us no good to allow harm to come to you before we hold up our end of the contract you now hold in your hand. Brownbird is counting on us to deliver; and this group before you does not take lightly the offering of promises."

Jo’vet is quiet for a long time, and then he drops his knife to the ground and slowly removes his Imman Vorton autofeed handgun and places it next to the knife. With a deep sigh, he nods to Ahzi. “Okay, let’s do this. I will take your guarantee that I will be safe.”

Paavo climbs back in the skimmer and presses the starter button. The engines whir for a second and then die down with a nasty rattling and scraping sound. “Hmmm… might have exceeded the safety parameters a bit there," he frowns. “The instrument board is lit up like a Lux Splendor celebration..”
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:36, Tue 19 June 2018.

Paavo climbs out of the cockpit and opens the engine access panel on the skimmer, cursing as he burns his fingers on the hot metal. He peeks inside and sucks air through his teeth.

"So... Mr. Fisher, you might want to come over here and take a look - it's not pretty. Ahzi! Will you keep an eye on our man?"

In reply to Paavo (msg # 318):

Ahzi picks up Jo'vet's weapons and walks to the entryway of the skimmer where asks Paavo to toss his pack over, which he does. Ahzi then pulls a few different slugs from his pack and swaps them out for the slappers he had in his blaster previously. Next, he places Jo'vet's Kraxi dirk and gun into the pack next to his own blades before handing it back to Paavo to put away.

"I will keep an eye on our new buddy, but it's getting late, so I think we are going to see what we can rustle up for dinner. If you can get a small fire started, I am hoping we will be back soon," Ahzi replies to Paavo.

Then, turning to Jo'vet, he says, "Let's go get something to eat. I am sure you have some skills we can use to that end, right? And, it goes without saying, but please, no funny business. Now, since we are going to be spending some time together, I would genuinely like to get to know you a little better... Tell me a bit about yourself... What's your story?"

The last statement can be heard fading off as Ahzi and Jo'vet walk into the forest in search of some game.
This message was last edited by a game editor at 18:52, Tue 19 June 2018.