[h3][i][b][center]Welcome, Arms Slave[/center][/b][/i][/h3]

[b]"Aaaaaalright! Where my boyz at! Junkyard Dog, Cerulean Knight, Ash Roller, Strawberry Baby, and Jet Rhino are your squad leader, henceforth their squads are known as Bone Yard, Calvary, Rider, Hammer, and Yamato respectively. Pile on or get into your own War Machine, we ride out in one hour!"[/b]

Arms Slave had taken it upon himself to gather up some of the Ebon Strykers, mostly Sweepers and his friends, and to take them out to hunt Dissolutions. Outlaws were all well and good, but most of these characters were newbies that Arms Slave was training for their loyalty. The Squad Leaders however were a match for himself, some potentially stronger than he was. But strength in Deep Ground didn't matter as much as one's own charisma and ability to lead. Even if Arms Slave couldn't hold a candle to Moon Rider, if he leads her players, then they will see him as the leader. Or so he hopes.

There was, of course, a secondary objective to this. Arms Slave wasn't merely trying to help out the newbies; he was trying to lure out the Corpse Collector. Such a large group of relatively low-level players would surely attract her attention, as most outlaws are at least somewhat familiar with Arms Slave and his vigilante ways to stay away. At least Arms Slave certainly hopes so after such a long work record, as most of his EXP came from Sweeper Work. Truth of the matter is, he rarely does PvE these days, so it would be quite strange to see him of all people participate in monster hunting. Still with such a large concentration of new characters ripe for the picking, Corpse Collector is sure to show up to bloody their noses, but with Arms Slave leading them he was certain that they won't fall. Not as long as they stay near him.

As Arms Slave was looking for players, he remembered Yuuno. That fight from the pizza parlor surely left a bad impression on her... He hoped maybe he could make it up to her. He couldn't leave home today due to having to rest up his stab wound, but perhaps he could play with her in Deep Ground? Hoping that this could be his chance, he sent her an message.

[quote][b]To:[/b] Yuuno Kurogami
[b]From:[/b] Asahi Goroshi
[b]Subject:[/b] Wanna party?
Hey Yuuno, it's me, Asahi. I know things got pretty messed up yesterday at the pizza parlor, and I'm sorry for getting you and everyone else caught up in that. I can't really leave my house today since I need to heal up, but I'm in Deep Ground Right now. I'm getting some players together and helping them level up. I was thinking maybe we could play together, and I can try to explain to you why and what happened yesterday. Even if you can't make it, I'll give you my location so you can come find me.
[/quote]

There was still time before the group was going to leave, so Arms Slave and a few other players went out for more recruitment. While advertised as a training session for new players, any character of any level was welcomed to join with them as long as they were on their best behavior. Arms Slave himself tried to recruit a couple of level 3 players to ensure the trap he made for Corpse Collector had a greater chance of success, but everyone seemed to be busy. At some point he ran across a level 1 warrior by the name Neron, perfect for the group to train and to use as bait. Arms Slave fired a chain at the wall near him, swinging down before landing in front of the warrior.

[b]"Greetings! I see that you're fairly new to Deep Ground! The name's Arms Slave, Sweeper of the Ebon Strykers. Me and a couple of other players are about to head out to do some level grinding. Want to tag along?"[/b]

[@OldManWong][@KoL]

[hr]

Retsu had left Yoshino's dorm early that morning. She wasn't used to not waking up to her alarm, so she woke up about ten minutes later than usual, though still fairly early for a weekend. She left Yoshino's dorm quietly, but not after making some breakfast for her, and then returning to her own dorm with her clothes and Yoshino's bedsheet. At her dorms Retsu prepared her own breakfast of cereal and coffee. But she would get very little rest as messages started flooding her inbox. [b]"One thing at a time."[/b] Retsu organized most of the mail by relevance; a lot of it was just reports from the Sweepers, and while they certainly needed to be checked they mostly just concerned who was or was not killed yet. There were also new bounties that the Erasers could give to the Cleaners, more things that Retsu hardly was concerned about. What really caught her eye however was a message from one of her Erasers.

None of the Erasers knew each other in real life, even with such programs like Cherry Hunter, and eve fewer even knew their in-character avatars. Retsu had that disadvantage as most of the Sweepers knew her as Dark Wraith, thus painting a target on her should they ever chose to gang up on her. Fortunately Retsu has a fairly deep connection with each of her Erasers. At least deep enough to know that none of them like each other enough to oppose her, either due to personal grievances or business. After all, not all the Erasers were part of the Ebon Strykers. The Sweepers still had quite a few agents among the other guilds, though in secret obviously. And it was one of these Erasers from another guild that told Retsu something very troublesome.

This Eraser knew who Moon Rider was, thanks to a bug they planted in the Black King's throne room. Retsu wasn't too bothered by the bug; even if she didn't order anyone to do so, Retsu was bound to put one herself. No, she was more concerned that not only did this Eraser knew who Moon Rider really was, that that also implied that Moon Rider revealed her identity to someone. That's when another name came up: Eclipse Princess and Cassandra. This only brought more headache on Retsu.

Retsu knew Eclipse Princess as Eris. She has seen her in the past and scanned her with the Cherry Hunter, but that information wasn't relevant until now. And it was certainly Eris when the name Cassandra was dropped. The same Cassandra (Probably) who was with them at the pizza parlor yesterday. Retsu rubbed her temples in frustration. [color=black]"What was Yoshino thinking!? Trying to threaten a hit on Cassandra like some sort of immature child!"[/color] But Retsu would soon take back those words when she realized when this meeting happened. Just recently, before Retsu was even awake. Could have Yoshino gotten on Deep Ground while Retsu was asleep? Surely not... But then again Yoshino wasn't sleeping in her room when Retsu was away. She must have stayed in the guest bedroom. This uncertainty made Retsu frustrated.

Regardless, Retsu needed to act. First thing she did was message a few of her cronies to go to Eris's dormitory and check up on her. They needed to be subtle about it, so they were given the cover of checking to see if her hand had healed. Retsu remembered Eris's hand was injuries at some point, so these girls would be sent to ensure she was alright, with bandages and medicine. However they were also to observe and obtain any information about Eris, if she was acting paranoid or even too uneasy. She also sent a girl to check up on Cassandra, this one who was actually a discipline officers of Purple Crown. Her cover would be investigating the fight at the pizza parlor, which at this point there was already some information in the local forums. To no surprise, it came from Asahi insulting and boasting those who came to fight him.

Retsu suppose she could make use of her brother as well. She couldn't be too obvious about it however, so Retsu sent an anonymous e-mail to one of her other Sweeper Agents to pass a message along to Asahi or Arms Slave, whichever was more convenient. She sent it in the typical fashion: No sender, no subject, and only a list of names. The first list were marks, and the second list were other Sweepers recommended for the job. Of course only Arms Slave would be available, since Retsu just sent two of the other Sweepers on the list to go check up on Eris and Cassandra.

[quote]
To: Angelina Jackson
From: NO SENDER
Subject: NO SUBJECT

Crimson Lash
Golden Apple
Unrelenting Jukebox
Corpse Collector
Smitten Kitten
Iron Keep
Desert Sorcerer

Arms Slave
Jasper Axe
Negasonic Teenager
[/quote]

With that finished there was only one thing left to do. Sighing, Retsu went and readied herself to enter Deep Ground. She briefly considered visiting Yoshino, but right now it was too soon to do something so drastic. Besides, people may start talking if Retsu and Yoshino were seen together so often. Looking down at the bedsheet Retsu took from Yoshino's room, she clutched it close to her and sniffed it. Her dirty desire. Tossing said bedsheet into a laundry hamper, Retsu made sure to lock up her dorm and entered Deep Ground.

[color=black][h3][i][b][center]Welcome, Dark Wraith[/center][/b][/i][/h3][/color]

Dark Wraith found herself in the Black City, standing on a rooftop. Down Below she could see various players amassing around War Machines as if they were getting ready for a raid. Dark Wraith was going to need to make sure they didn't plan to wage their own war against the guilds. While technically enemies, they haven't shown any hostilities to one another yet. Dark Wraith would prefer to keep it that way until they build up their own power base. Now that she thought of it, Dark Wraith was going to need some more reliable members to watch her back. The Sweepers were tools, and more troublesome tools that other Erasers could use. If she tried to take one of the Cleaners or even Sweepers under her wing, surely the other Erasers would do the same. No, she needed someone outside of the Sweepers, even outside of the Ebon Strykers. She needed a gun-for-hire.

So she called for an outlaw.

[quote]
[color=black]To:[/color] Crimson Outlaw Kisa
[color=black]From:[/color] Dark Wraith
[color=black]Subject:[/color] Job Offer

[color=black]I would like to propose a job offer to you. We can discuss it through messages like this, or if you'd like you may meet me in the Black City Sanctuary in one hour.[/color]
 [/quote]

[@Kitsune][@Kimiyosis]