"Part of being a ghost involves a lot of psychological indoctrination.  Part of my time spent here in solitary confinement has been to break the psychological as well as the mystical bonds."  Alexandria tells them, "It's been... difficult, but an easier battle than fighting their influence directly.  The meditation books have helped.  Sudoku, not so much..."

She reaches out to take Archon's hand first, giving it a shake, "It's a pleasure to meet you as well.  And you, Blue Fox,"  She shakes the Night caste's hand next.

"I specialize in stealth warfare, demolitions, strategy planning, and information processing,"  She tells them, "I'll need a weapon.  I prefer spears."

Kumiho looks her over and folds her arms, "I mean, I have a knife, I can't judge- but I think the Ilmorijo will look really strangely at us if we show up with an Imperator to pick up a spear.  Want me to go grab one, Lucifer?"  It's clear the Lunar is a little uncomfortable, but she's holding it together.

Arkady takes his hand gently off the handle, but does not stop leering Alexandria from under his hood with his eyes reacting to every small movement she made. Her hands gesturing, her murderous gaze, her lips moving, everything. He was clearly studying her behaviour.

"I will co-operate, but there will certainly be no trust. Not yet, maybe not ever, but we'll see." He replies to Lucifer with a cold, analytic tone, and now turning his pale blues eyes to meet his gaze. A tone of voice you'd not expect from him. "I have a thesis of her modus operandi and motives, and I truly hope that I'm wrong and you are not."

"All I can now hope for is that she doesn't turn us into a Saslik and Archon is on his A-game on his equality politics. Otherwise we're gonna be ganked. There's a lot of people who've lost everything to her ilk at the underdecks. Myself included. I will leave the details until later unless you otherwise demand... for those who were lazy at reading."

He then reaches for his pocket and lights up one of his hand rolled cigarettes, exhaling a big plume of bitter smoke.

Daniel nods to Arkady.

"Entirely reasonable. I won't push to change your mind - Just don't compromise the mission because you suspect she might."

He glances at Anna's armor, then back to Arkady with a drawn-out sigh.

"As for turning against us... She may be a particularly competent Imperator, but I defeated her and her entire strike team, fully equipped and prepared to fight me specifically, alone. Even if we were to assume the worst about her, as long as we keep an eye on her there is little she can do."

A hand wanders to absent-mindedly scratch his temple.

"On the other hand, suppose she has changed. A spirit infiltration specialist with intimate knowledge of the tactics of the Dead, impervious to asphyxiation and many other environmental hazards, capable of easily bypassing obstacles we might otherwise have to tear or build our way through. The benefits to the team are numerous and apparent."

A spark is lit in the Zenith's eyes, a brief glimpse of the deep conviction bubbling under.

And that's without even touching upon the pivotal metaphysical significance of the Living being able to redeem the Dead, however arduously and rarely.

Cutting his speech before it turns into a sermon, he turns to Kumiho next. It's clear in his expression he understands how perplexing the situation might be, but he couldn't back down now. He wouldn't.

"I would appreciate it if you could. We could probably piece something together going forward, but a quality weapon - with significance to the Living - would be much preferred."

""

When Daniel goes to his sermon mode, Lylas half smirk tugs both corners of her lips, almost resembling a grin. Then its quickly back to business.

"Before you leave Kumiho, I can give a quick run through of the mission," she shows the area from her PDA, marked red then explains:"This area Hanthaburg fell off the map last night.  Repair crews were dispatched and haven't responded.  At 0900 hours, to the second, contact was lost with all the Underdecks within a 50 mile radius.  That could be anywhere between 100,000 and 200,000 souls."

She pauses momentarily.

"Nothing comes out of it, and no communication has been possible with people on thr inside. There are also no proper visuals into it. So nobody knows what waits us there. Any good suggestions for entrance points?"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:31, Thu 12 Dec 2019.

((Use 1 chiv Joss))

Listening carefully when the more experienced solars speak, he voices his opinion when asked about possible entrance points, "Well, my suggestion would be where we can find the most useful information reliably and safely." He points to a few points of interest at the edge of the red zone, "There are some maintenance and 'private security' pathways linking parts of these decks together here and here, if we want we could use them to access almost any part of the sector and most notably, the security center where the most probable clues are of what is going on. The best part is, the entryway is from outside the quarantine." He explains.

"You only think a weapon 'with significance to the living' has that significance, but just as a warning... ultimately a spear exists to kill," Alexandria warns Lucifer. "I'll make do with whatever we find, I think.  No need to run off, Kumiho."

She looks at Arkady and shrugs.

Kumiho listens, clearly ill at ease like Arkady.  She's about to say something when Archon cuts in. "That's a much better plan than what I had... I know of a few places into Hanthaburg but they're kinda side-trunk entrances.  Probably all monitored,"  She looks at the blinking PDA,  "Ummm.  So, question.  If we enter and we experience hostility, what's the standard operating procedure?  Full self defense?  Take some and hold back?  Are we going in one big group or splitting up?"

"If there are no communications coming out, it could be all sorts of things."  The ghost seems to be wracking her memory, "Hanthaburg... doesn't ring a bell.  I don't think we had anything down the pipeline going down there at all.  It's the wrong axis from high priority targets, and if we had taken it we'd be expanding rapidly."
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:27, Thu 19 Dec 2019.

"To claim a weapon only serves to kill betrays your indoctrination", Lucifer immediately admonishes Anna in return. "An ex-librarian should know better. Still, I agree an Ilmorijo spear would be wasted in your hands after such a claim. We will find something elsewhere."

It's hard to tell if the Zenith's voice was angry, cold or disappointed. It was clear the Exodites in particular needed to see the Imperator reined in, but under his unflinching shell it was quite possible that Daniel was the one most on edge.

Nonetheless, he listens intently to Archon's idea, nodding at the end.

"Sounds like an ideal choice in these circumstances. I would've just waltzed in from the closest entry point. Unless anyone objects, we're going with that."

He turns to Kumiho, then. Questions not related to Anna or the soundness of his mind in bringing her along were most welcome.

"We stick together until given reason otherwise. In case of hostility, prioritize the safety of innocents and our team and measure the enemy. With most of you I trust your individual discretion, but as a rule of thumb: if it's Living, incapacitate and capture if possible; if Dead, destroy unless it's intelligent and deemed possible to capture and interrogate. Such a case is unlikely, though."

Lyla nods in agreement with Kendalls suggestion.

"Great suggestion, we'll go with that. Might also bump into some familiar agents that way. Otherwise my thoughts are in line with Lucifer's, just adding a few to the mix. First: remember to communicate, if something seems off or weird or if anything feels like its worth noting about, say it out loud. Second: we'll follows Lucifer's suggestions once in, unless I have a contradicting say to it. This due to our highly different way of approaching things: his being full frontal assault, and mine the opposite. Anyway we are double leading this mission. Oh and obviously If either one of us should die, that means that you need to get the fuck out."

She is not one to flinch in expression, with her brow furrowed and half-smirk on her lips. But her usually uncaring voice does carry a note of worry and care.

Without waiting for further confirmation, she marks up the coordinates to the nearest entrance pointed by Kendall, straightening up and being ready to go whenever.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:48, Thu 19 Dec 2019.

Kendall stands idly, somewhat slightly surprised that his idea sounded as good as it did.

He simply nods, as he is ready to go when ever.

"Sounds fine by me. I'll keep an eye out if something seems... Off." He says giving a quick glance at everyone, and a slightly longer at Anna.
"I'm tech savvy but I've had my fair share of brawls so if it comes to blows I'd avoid lethal force unless well justified,but that's obvious isn't it? I'm ready to go when you are."

Daniel nods along at Lyla's pointers.

"I stand by everything Blue Fox laid out. That said, remember that with the exception of Alexandria we are Exalts, not soldiers: most of us have little to no military background and this operation is not, in essence, a military one. Blue Fox and I lead because we're the most experienced, not because of rank or formal authority. If something could be done better, tell us; if the situation you're in falls outside the scope of our orders or even contradicts them, make the best choice you can. You are not drones, we are not your commanders; we are merely seniors with more experience. Rely on us, but don't forget to think for yourselves. You are heroes in your own right, here because your talents are needed by the Living."

He meets the gaze of everyone in the party in turn, serious but encouraging.

"Alright, let's go."

"Excuse me, I have a degree- I'm always a librarian."  Anna shoots back at him with just the same amount of admonishment, "Death doesn't strip away my accomplishments."

"Oookay!"

The trip to the outskirts of the Exclusion Zone is quick, not the least because CORE has given them their own train on the Grand Trunk.  After all, that many Exalts in one place- plus an Imperator- would only panic people, whereas a simple private train would go relatively unnoticed.  It takes them a few transfers, but they finally find themselves at a mostly abandoned train station called "RAINEY JUNCTION".

There's two vagrants sharing a bottle of wine on a tattered old picnic blanket.  They give the group a look, shrug, and get back to drinking.

There's a door labeled SECURITY at the end of the platform, currently locked.  A security agent stands behind glass, bored and playing some kind of MMO on his computer when they arrive.  He straightens up and his eyes grow wide as he sees the group disembark.

And, of course, he focuses directly on the ghost.

As Kendall was the one who suggested taking this route and has access to it, he steps forward in front of the glass, looking at the security agent inside, "Good day, I need you to open up this door for me, top level clearance." He says in a lightly commanding tone as today he has no time for idle banter.

He looks at the agent and then glances back at Alexandria who the agent is looking at, "It's not polite to stare." He states, implying him to shut up and not ask any questions.

Arkady sighs and gently face palms at the guards expected reaction...

And at Archon for pulling the "Im a big shot" card straight outta his sleeve on the first draw... Politicians....

"And you would do well to remember that more often", Lucifer retorts to Anna.

As they travel, he is silent and contemplative for the most part, focusing on reading the Essence of their surroundings and keeping a watchful eye on Alexandria.

His silence continues as they reach Rainey Junction. He seems content to glower in the back while Archon does his thing.

It's so effortless to get from place to place this way, that Lyla almost seems to enjoy it.

Eventually at their destination, she takes a look around and follows suit. When Kendall approaches, she gives him the opportunity, ready to pull out her card about Ombra Agency...but also thinking that Daniel's familiar face is their easiest entrance card to anywhere...

"Security license please,"  The security guard's eyes tear away from Alexandria long enough to take in everyone else.  He lets out a low moan, "Oh shit oh shit we're fucked aren't we,"  He points at Lyla, "My brother just saw you at Gorgonhold!  You're a big-shot exalt!"

That's right- he looks vaguely familiar.  After all, Lyla had done a LOT of shouting in that bank right before taking down Hales.

He hurriedly opens the door to the security center and holds it open for them, "How fast should I run?  Does it even matter? FUCK!"  He takes off running.

The winos drinking shake their heads, "Kids these days..."

That just leaves them with a long, dark tunnel, just as Kendal explained.  There are numerous signs directing them to the main Security Center of the area.  The door is a rusty, decrepit looking piece of steel with a "KEEP OUT" sign on it, a keypad, and an intercom.

Daniel's eyes follow the fleeing security guard, his expression deadpan as a slow, steady sigh escapes him.

As they near the security center he looks between Arkady and Alexandria.

"Can you open the door and leave it closed after we've gone in? I thought of stopping him, but I think we're better off leaving the door closed behind us rather than having someone with his stress management capabilities in control of it."

"Thats a rarity. See, this is how it usually is when hanging around with you," Lyla jests to Daniel, herself a bit surprised by the guards reaction.

Then she mumbles something to herself about more publicity and reputation in a semi-amused way. The dark tunnel is somewhat of a respite after that encounter, and Lyla is at home walking towards the Security Center at a brisk pace.

He was just about to hand over the security license, but as he is done digging his pocket and raises his head, there is no longer anyone to give a license to check.

A short, dissatisfied sigh escapes from him, "You had one job, ONE job as a guard and he failed... Fine..." He walks over at the guards computer to mark down that he walked past here with a "security detail" with a proper license.

"Ho-Ly shit. And people say MY crew doesn't have any integrity. Gotta remember to get my boys some booze of crayons or whatever." He snickers under his breath.

"Now that I think of it, one of my crew mates, a rock elemental, was gonna beat me shitless untill he found out I was a solar. Guess people don't wanna get ass kicked, or mind fucked, or caught in the torrent of the shit-storm that is quite often related to our involvement..."

He takes a cigarette off his pouch and lights it

"Holy shit it must be hard to work for a solar..."

"Geez, give the guard some slack. Smart thing to run given the story he heard from his brother concerning my previous mission," Lyla gives an instinctive rub to her shoulder.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 20:56, Tue 07 Jan 2020.

"Gotta remember that we're special, huh."  Kumiho watches the guard flee and enters with the rest.  "Have to agree with you, Arkady."

The door at the end of the hallway to the security control room beckons. Alexandria looks at it with a pursed mouth, "Let me stick my head in and see what's inside, huh?  Don't want to scare another..."  She sticks her head in and then abruptly pulls it back.  "Good news and bad news.  Bad news is that there's another security guard.  Good news is that he's probably 90 kilos overweight so he can't take off running once we enter.  There's a manual lock on his side of the door as well as a keypad, I figure we can shut it pretty easily behind him.  There's a whole bank of screens he's staring at, most of them are train cameras- I think he missed us completely."

"How. The. Fuck can you afford to be overweight on the salary of a security guard? Judging by his ability to completely miss us he'd be better employed as an actual door, blyat."

Arkady looks genuinely puzzled whist trying to keep himself from laughing.

Lyla follows when the rest enter, more focused on looking at her PDA with their location in comparison to the disappeared zone.