Silver

The Ministry Reborn (Silver & KiraVanhelsing)

Phineas picked up his gaze from the coarse sand and looked at the red tent, which had grown from a speck into more of a smudge. As he examined it in the distance, he heard a low rumbling. It took him a few minutes to realize the rumbling was originating from the group of trees, and within a few moments a wheeled vehicle emerged from behind the tent and started due north, directly toward him and Eliza.

"Yes," Phineas said, his eyes narrowing, "I think they see us." He reached behind his back and found the comforting grip of the handgun tucked into his belt. He glanced at Eliza. "Mr. and Mrs. Thatcher," he said, and tossed her the handgun from the backpack, hoping she'd hide it. "Dover. Anthropology. No kids." He pulled his shirt tighter to conceal his gun and kept walking.

Within a few minutes, the jeep came roaring over the nearest hill. It skidded to a stop, its treaded tires spraying sand into the air, and three dark-skinned men in faded green fatigues jumped out. To Phineas's alarm, they were all carrying hefty rifles.

Phineas pointed both hands to the sky as the men started shouting commands in a language he neither recognized or comprehended.
"Don't shoot!" he yelled, "Don't shoot! We're lost! Can you speak English?"
The closest man, who wore a plush blue beret, lowered his gun. "English," he echoed, his accent thick and clumsy. "Why you come Zanzik?"

Phineas raised an eyebrow. "This is Zanzik?" he asked, but the look on the leader's face told him not to beat around the bush. Phineas continued, with a shakiness in his voice that was only half fake. "My name is Henry, this is my wife. We're just touring the area and we got lost. We need food and water. Please." The last word came out more desperately than he had intended.

The leader narrowed his eyes. "Touring," he repeated. He paused a moment, then shouted a command to the soldier standing next to him. The soldier walked toward Eliza, and Phineas moved his hand slightly closer to his gun. Then the leader turned his gaze to Eliza.
"Give bag. Search," he said.

The Ministry Reborn (Silver & KiraVanhelsing)

Phineas raised an eyebrow, glancing sideways at Eliza. To his mild disappointment, she wasn't far from the truth.

"I've got a little apartment on the Thames. Yes, lots of books, all of them well-read. Not a very cheerful place, I'm afraid. All the wood's stained dark and the lights are rather dim. I think. To be honest, I don't spend a lot of time there. I can't actually remember the last time I slept in my own bed." He sighed. "Job keeps me busy. I imagine there's a generous helping of dust on all the upholstery. For all I know, someone else might be living there. Gypsies, most like."

At the top of his vision, Phineas noticed a small spot of red on the horizon. He squinted, and was able to make out the shape of a circle of trees around a small pool of shimmering water. An oasis, he thought to himself. A small red canvas hut was flapping in the wind, and Phineas could discern a thin road winding southeast from the camp. He hiked his bag up onto his shoulders and picked up his pace as the sun breached the hills to his left.

The Ministry Reborn (Silver & KiraVanhelsing)

Phineas nodded, surveying the land behind him as Eliza spoke.

"Married, most like," he said, "And tourists. I imagine we're hardly the first married couple to get robbed whilst touring the Libyan highroads. Hell, we're probably not even the first of the day." The alibi didn't hold much water, but in a desert like this he figured it probably didn't have to. The common layman would not inquire too deeply into the past of a couple whose miseries were so fresh. He kept walking as they summited the dune and started down the other side.

"I don't feel like faking an accent, so henceforth you and I shall be Mr. and Mrs. Thatcher, Henry and Catherine. We live in Dover, no kids. Wanted to travel North Africa to indulge your anthropology hobby, robbed right off the boat. Sound good?"

The sun wasn't even up yet, but already it was growing uncomfortably warm. Phineas cursed his luck. He always seemed to get the shitty jobs.

The Ministry Reborn (Silver & KiraVanhelsing)

In addition to the rifle he had brought with him, he found four rifles and ammunition, two pistols, various pieces of equipment, rations of food and water, and four uniforms. In the last locker he opened he finally came across a square white medical kit. He took it off the wall and set it on the floor, kneeling beside Eliza.
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@Silver

(Not disregarding your previous post, I had just been planning on using some of this aforementioned equipment. Just quoted so I wouldn't confuse you.)

As Eliza readied herself for the journey, Phineas picked up the Mediterranean chart and carefully ripped off the section that contained Egypt and Libya, stuffing it into his shirt pocket for later use. He cast his eyes over the remaining equipment. The rifles would certainly be of no use if they wanted to maintain even the slightest semblance of a low profile. Instead, he picked up the pair of pistols. They were relatively new, polished and loaded, but there was only a single small box of extra ammunition. He tucked one pistol into his belt, hiding it under his shirt behind his back, and placed the other in his bag, along with the ammunition, rations and what remained of the medical kit. He closed the bag tightly and slung it over his shoulder.

Every moment, the sky outside was getting brighter. It was not yet dawn, but the unmistakeable tinge of grey sunlight tinted the otherwise blue sky as the stars slowly faded from view. Phineas quickened his pace to catch up to Eliza, who had already begun to trek up the first dune. His shirt flapped in the wind as he padded through the soft sand.

As they climbed the dune, Phineas glanced at Eliza. "I grabbed the pistols," he said, "But it would likely be best if we avoided using them." He took a breath; the steep dune was unforgiving on his lungs. "We may run into border patrols or a checkpoint if we stick to the roads, in which case we'll have some explaining to do. What's our story, then?"

The Ministry Reborn (Silver & KiraVanhelsing)

Phineas fumbled for Eliza's fingers in the darkness, taking the flashlight and a bundle of weathered maps into his hands. He flipped the flashlight's switch, but was met with only a dull click. He wiggled it back and forth, but it was no use.

"Balls," he mumbled, dropping the useless metal tube to the ground, "Torch's broken." He sighed, stretching his arms into the lockers and cursing his poor night vision. Eventually his hands encountered the small box of matches amidst the other survival equipment, which he snatched up and stuffed into his pocket. Eliza had cracked the door open already; he finished the job with a hefty kick that left a deep resonance in the air and a sharp pain in his leg.

The moon was bright, but not half bright enough to make out the writing on the maps. After several attempts, he managed to strike a match. He held it in the air, scrutinizing the Mediterranean Region map until the match died and he had to light another. He frowned. The map was replete with landmarks and cities, but all he could see around himself was dunes, trees and endless ocean. He tossed the map onto the sand and sifted through the other charts. He discarded every sovereign state he was greeted with until he found the one he was looking for: a compact atlas of constellations. As his match went out, he lit another and got to work.

Within a few minutes, he managed to determine their location. They were farther west than he'd expected, he noted with distaste. He picked up the charts, blew out his sixth or seventh match, and turned back to Eliza.

"The good news," he said, "Is that I know precisely where we are. The bad news is that we're in Libya." He swallowed. After their recent run-in with Libyan special forces, he was quite sure that they would not be welcome guests. "We ought to remedy that and get to Egypt as soon as we can. If we walked due east along the beach, we would be in Egypt by tomorrow evening, if the sun didn't get us. I propose a different solution. A few miles south from here there's a little trading hub. Zanzik, it's called. If we make it there, which should only take until dawn, we can take the roads south to a border crossing and maybe figure out just what's going on along the way."

He glanced out across the dark landscape. "I, for one, would like to know exactly who's been trying to kill us, and why."

Star Wars - Anyone up for some fishy smuggler rp?

Interested. Send me a message, I've got an idea.

The Age of Iron

Looks like a great place to end 12+ months of RPG silence. Keep me posted.

The Ministry Reborn (Silver & KiraVanhelsing)

Phineas looked out over the narrowing expanse of water.

"I wouldn't really say 'morning'," he replied, eyeing the high moon, "But I suppose it's accurate enough." He turned his chair around. "I can't tell where we are, but when we land I can try and check the charts."

Another gust of wind shook the craft, and Phineas grabbed the arm of his seat to steady himself. When it had passed, he grabbed the steering column and maneuvered the craft to the ground. He set it down roughly behind a large dune, and it kicked up a cloud of sand that shrouded the cockpit. As soon as it had stopped moving, he cut the power. The lights shut off, cloaking the interior of the craft in a harsh darkness.

Phineas fumbled out of his seat. "Better to lay as low as possible until we know where we are." he said, but he could not for the life of him deduce where Eliza was. "Can you find me the torch and chart bundle? Should be in the equipment piled under the lockers."

The Ministry Reborn (Silver & KiraVanhelsing)

Phineas turned in his chair and found that Eliza had already fallen asleep. He sighed. She was picturesque, if a little banged and bruised. If she'd chosen an easier life, she'd be truly beautiful. Not that he found that she wasn't, but he tried in vain to ignore such stirrings in favor of his job.

He turned back to the control board. The sun had set, and darkness had descended upon the Mediterranean. The sky was full of countless stars, and empty of the omnipresent lights of passing airships. He, they, were truly alone.

The shore was nowhere in sight, and Phineas found himself beginning to drift off. He resisted at first, but the stress of the week and the exertions of the day demanded rest. Finally, he succumbed to slumber.

---

A strong breeze buffeted the hovercraft, shaking Phineas from his sleep. He picked his head off the dashboard; it did not appear to have messed with any of the controls. The oil, however, was dangerously low, and a red light was blinking intermittently next to the dial. Phineas looked out the window and was startled to see lights in the distance. Under the moon, the shore was visible less than a mile away. Phineas kicked the ship into a quiet descent and turned in his chair, lightly shaking Eliza to wake her up.

The Ministry Reborn (Silver & KiraVanhelsing)

Phineas gazed out through the cracked front view port of the airship. The sun was setting to his right; they were going dead south.

"I'm thinking that we'll be in Egypt in a few hours at this rate." he said. "We'd better be ready for whatever's waiting."

He looked down at her again. "But you need some rest." He sat down in the pilot seat and turned to the dash, dimming the light in the cabin. The fuel gauge suggested that they had enough oil to reach land, but not much more. It was likely they'd have to land in the first settlement they found. Phineas turned back to Eliza.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?"