[sub][sub][h3]S A G A   [color=royalblue]F U L C R O S S[/color]   &   M I R A N Y   [color=lavender]C R A W F O R D[/color]     	       [i] P a l a c e   o f   I v a l i c e[/i][/h3][/sub][/sub][hr]Mirany listened intently to Nero’s plan, tapping her earpiece to see the map just as he mentioned it. She scanned the map as she listened, realizing just how much ground they had to cover in only a few hours. It was daunting, she thought, but doable. They had done more in less time, she remembered, allowing herself a small, secret grin.

The plan of action established, Nero hacked open the door and led his team inside. Mirany stepped lightly inside the doorway, checking in all directions for signs of any more guards, just in case. As Nero and Dianthe made their way quickly for the spiraling staircase, she turned to Saga and used her earpiece to speak to her.

[color=lavender]“I think it would be best to start from the bottom and work our way up to the others. What do you think?”[/color]

At Mirany’s words, Saga gave a curt nod in agreement. There was plenty of space underground, and it seemed like the logical place to start. Every villain had a secret underground lair after all, if movies were to be believed. Of course, the palace was [i]huge[/i], so it wouldn’t surprise her if the cellar just ended up holding bottles of fancy wine. [color=royalblue]”At the very least, we’ll find a nice bottle of chardonnay and have ourselves a good time.”[/color] she told her partner jokingly before taking the lead. 

Studying the map that blipped over her eye, Saga noticed that the nearby stairs and the main elevator seemed disconnected from the basement. It was a strange design choice that definitely drew suspicion. In fact, the only way down was a separate flight of stairs on the other side of the palace. [color=royalblue]”Hope you’re wearing your hiking boots, Mir. Looks like we’ve got some distance between us and the objective.”[/color]

Mirany smirked at Saga’s quips, but otherwise ignored them. She was all business tonight. However, deep down she appreciated the joking. Mirany knew she could be a bit too serious when on the job, but she couldn’t help it--being distracted meant she could make a mistake. And her mistakes not only cost her, but anyone around her; she knew that from experience. She preferred to leave the levity to her teammates.

She and Saga began making their way quickly, but quietly, through the palace, being sure to step lightly and make no noise with their footfall. Mirany peered around corners before they made their way across the halls while Saga kept her eye on the map. Only one pair of guards interrupted their passage. Mirany spun and pointed Saga toward a nearby alcove that housed a large statue of a horse, of all things, behind which the women hid until the men passed.

As they walked, Mirany offered no conversation beyond that pertaining to their mission, as was typical of her.

[color=royalblue]”Those two are packing some heat...”[/color] Saga commented as she hunkered down and watched the guards pass. Each of them carried handheld railguns nearly as tall as themselves, not to mention the massive hand cannons in the holsters at their waists. Glancing at the map, she noted that they were headed the same way herself and Mirany were and quickly assumed they were just part of the guard they’d find closer to the entrance. A grimace spread behind her faceless mask. Any wrong move and the two of them were going to be blown to unrecognizable bits. At least she felt like they were on the right track to discovering something.

Her dark eyes studied the corridor, trying to devise a better plan of action than charging straight into death. The only thing that really drew her attention were a series of vents along the wall. Thinking about it, the two of them were small enough to fit through them. Wagering to risk it, Saga’s form burst from the shadow of the statue when the guards had vanished from sight. Glad she carried her multitool with her, the woman quickly went to work on the vent’s screws and pried the metal cover off easily. [color=royalblue]”This seems like a better path down after seeing those guards. The corridor doesn’t get much wider either, so we’re just begging to be found if we keep going.”[/color] she explained to her companion.

Getting down on her hands and knees, Saga crawled into the claustrophobia-inducing space. There was nothing but darkness in front of her, but, once again, she was prepared for such a situation. In another pocket, her hands brought out a flashlight and illuminated the ever expanding ventilation shaft. [color=royalblue]”Feel free to comment on how nice my ass looks.”[/color] With that, their journey to the palace’s lower levels began.

As soon as there was space enough for her, Mirany slipped out from behind the statue. She thought for a moment, and then hastily stashed the vent cover behind the enormous horse, thinking that the wide-open vent would attract less attention without its own cover right beside it. Slightly reassured, she knelt down and slid herself neatly into the vent. She rolled her eyes at Saga’s admittedly well-formed backside. [color=lavender]”I really hope no one notices an open ventilation shaft.”[/color]

The shuffle along the duct was not as fast as Mirany would have liked, and she was certain Saga would agree, but it was the best they could do. The women dragged themselves along at as quickly as they could manage in the tight space without making too much noise. Mirany found herself compulsively checking her watch, and scolded herself for the useless worrying. Dwelling on the time would do her no good. She’d check it again when they had reached the basement.

Several times, the vent angled downward, and the women were able to simply slide for a bit, which sped up their progress considerably. Mirany was surprised to realize she was slowly beginning to enjoy herself. She felt an odd mixture of relief and excitement--the team was back together, on another mission. It was strange; she didn’t normally miss seeing other people so much until she was already surrounded by them.

Her introversion was interrupted by their arrival in the palace basement. Mirany hopped out from the high opening after Saga and looked around. They appeared to have emerged into a random storage room, which she was sure was by Saga’s design, as she had been in the lead. She looked at her watch. Their passage-by-vent had taken them twenty minutes. Not ideal, but not bad.

[color=lavender]“Alright. I suggest we split up so we can cover more ground. Why don’t you search this room while I go next door?”[/color]

Saga sure was glad they had exited at a prime location. The map didn’t give much indication about the ventilation system, so this had really been a shot in the dark. In reality, they could have ended up [i]anywhere[/i] down here. Wouldn’t it have been embarrassing if they crawled out right into the feet of a guardsman? She hated to think about the repercussions of a scenario such as that. The dimly lit storage room seemed basic enough: lots of boxes littered the walls, a few shelves held glass beakers and other knick knacks, and a couple sealed, metal barrels sat out in the open. Interestingly though, a foul odor hung in the air, almost like something was decomposing. Whether or not it was coming from this room or another… Saga couldn’t tell. 

[color=royalblue]”Sure, I’ll take the easy job. I can’t imagine they’d keep anything interesting in here though. Just ring if you need me.”[/color] she replied to Mirany’s suggestion. Knowing the woman could handle herself, Saga proceeded to walk over to the shelves to take a look at the research equipment they stored here. Some of these beakers had a viscous fluid inside of them, almost akin to maple syrup but a dark lavender color, while some contained a liquid that stank of sulfur. Judging just from these flasks and beakers, she was willing to wager that the basement harbored some kind of science facility. However, she could only be certain after she explored more of the basement and found more concrete evidence.

Saga considered procuring a vial of the liquids, but thought it best not to. The last thing she wanted to be doing was crawling around with a potentially dangerous substance kept in a glass container. Moving on to the boxes, she silently peeked into them, but only found more tubes, flasks, and other science mumbo jumbo which were all empty. Sighing, the woman figured this room was a bust. All that was left were those metal barrels, which she dreaded opening on account of the noise it was bound to make. [color=royalblue]”So far nothing on this end, Mir. Just a bunch of science crap. Anything on your end?”[/color] Mirany never was much of a talker, so the dead silence thus far hadn’t surprise her. 

Mirany had sneaked out the door of the storage room and into the room immediately opposite it. She was intrigued to discover a small laboratory spread out before her. A few rows of long, white tables ran the length of the room, each equipped with its own microscope, sink, and other various technological tools that she didn’t recognize. Along the wall across from the door, high shelves reached for the ceiling. She decided to inspect the various labeled vials that were housed there. The labels read things like “TRIAL 1A” and “TRIAL 36C”. There were dozens of them, all different colors, ranging from brackish gray to bright neon green. Lined up on the wall to her right were a few computers and a printer. Mirany strode over to the printer and picked up a sheet from the output tray. She scanned the document, which seemed to describe research conducted on the magic crystals which powered hand cannons--the palace scientists were trying to create massive explosives, the kind that could wipe out cities. While this information was fairly alarming, she doubted it was direct evidence of a hostile move against Algareth. She decided to take a picture of it anyway.

Saga’s query interrupted her as she was laying the documents out on one of the tables to photograph with her eye piece. She continued with her task as she replied.

[color=lavender]”Yes, actually. It looks like Ivalice is working on weapons of mass destruction. It’s not a smoking gun, but I figured it’s worth noting, so I’m snapping some pictures right now.”[/color]

When Mirany had finished, she replaced the documents to their rightful place and met Saga in the hallway. The pair carefully searched each room, finding no other people, which didn’t surprise Mirany as she couldn’t imagine Ivalice’s scientists working so late into the night; and since the entrance to the basement was so heavily guarded, there was no need for a patrol in these halls. They found a few more documents describing experiments with the crystals, but none seemed any more conclusive than the first one Mirany found, so they took pictures, but without much excitement.

As the two women returned to the vent they had crawled down from, Mirany mulled over all they had seen. It was interesting, and worth knowing, but it still wasn’t incriminating. Mirany took the lead this time, and hoisted herself up into the vent to make the return to the ground floor.

Saga made sure to try and relay their findings to Nero and the rest of the team as they clambered back into vents. [color=royalblue]"A bit of WMD research going down in the basements, but nothing you wouldn't expect from Ivalice. Could just be routine military development. Worst part is there's no wine down there, so no chardonnay for us girls tonight, it looks like."[/color] Saga quipped, dragging herself through the darkness before her. While she was addressing them all, she might as well figure out what the others had discovered, if anything. Not to mention, now would be a great time to scratch some areas off their map. [color=royalblue]"Status report on everyone? Mirany and I are headed back to ground level through the vents. I'm sure Mir has grown real found of my ass now on account of how long she's had to stare at it."[/color]