[b]The Commissar
Front Landing - Tavern Ground Level[/b]

[quote=@Roen]

[hider=My Hider]
Lifting his prow-fronted helm and looking beyond Severina, the Outsider considers the wisdom and mercy of resisting the call to violence that was the Commissar’s continued obstinacy. He has spent too long in isolation, some distant part of him breathes. Too long having every whim obeyed and desired fulfilled. This was not the Threshold City, and this woman was not one of his subjects. 

He did his best to bear these facts in mind in the face of waning patience, and cast his mind instead to the practical considerations that Gabriela, for whatever her flight had meant, remained within. He did not hear the sound of raised voices, nor did his hackles raise at some sense of danger most metas invoked when channeling their misbegotten abilities. 

Roen sensed nothing untoward at all, and felt within his armour only the distasteful sense that he was wasting time and running the risk of losing his prey. He exhaled, the sound filtering out of his helmet with vague electronic distortion that was unable to mask his impatience. But for whatever it was worth, he did not lunge headlong into a fit of violence that so marked his typically choleric disposition. He chose instead the path of the sage, and lowered the menacing threat of his lightning-wreathed claws. 

They snarled and spat while he flexed his fingers and shut down their power fields, rendering each scything blade nothing more sinister than wickedly sharp talons. They rasped again when he scissored them at his side, excising some measure of his disquiet and unhappiness in the sound and movement of an idle fidget. If this woman wanted discourse, then he would oblige her - so long as he was sure Gabriela remained within, and was not rallying support from those souls inside. It would not be the first time he has walked into ambushes laid so clumsily. 

Tilting his head back down to pay the Commissar the virtue of his only slightly divided attention, the Outsider frowns within his devil’s helm. [b]”She is my ward,”[/b] he says, in complete and utter honesty. But the inflection in his words carry other meanings, some more terrible than others. He may as well have called her property, an unruly daughter, or his wife. In truth, the runaway princess was all of these things, and more. Shifting his weight and the muted growl of active warplate, the Outsider sets his free hand on a cocked hip, an incongruous pose if there ever was one for such an armoured monstrosity. 

[b]”And she is more dangerous than I could ever hope to be.”[/b] Raising his right hand and sweeping his talons in an all-encompassing gesture, the Outsider indicates the tavern, the lands around them, even the world itself. [b]”She is the worst degree of monster: she will take your life, and you will love her for it. She has brought Gods and Kings to their knees; she has brought nations to ruin; she destroyed our world, and she has killed uncounted millions.”[/b] Curling his talons into a loose fist, the Outsider points one substantial claw at the Commissar. [b]”She means everything to me, and I would see her spirited away before calamity strikes.”[/b] A pause; a question hanging in the air. 

[b]”You fear me because I am in the warshape,”[/b] he comments, softening his words. [b]”But evil does not come up to you with claws and horns. It comes with a pretty face and shadows at her heels.”[/b] 

Leaning away and withdrawing with a sweep of his mantle, the Outsider turns his profile towards the Commissar and gestures flippantly with his talons, indicating the tavern and all those within. [b]”Five minutes. You have five minutes to bring her to me, unharmed and intact. I see now that if I chase, I will doubtless be confronted by yet more gentle hearts. And she becomes so intractable when she sees me fight to kill. Bring her here, and we will leave in peace.”[/b] 
[/hider]
[/quote]

Despite the considerable unease she still felt, Raine deactivated the power field of her saber and sheathed it once more. As Roen's answer (and subsequant demand) filtered through, she continued to pace by the door.

So, if what the knight was saying was true, then this 'ward' was just as dangerous as the many followers of the Ruinous Powers she had crossed blades with during the Bales Stars Crusade. And not purely speaking from a combative sense, either - the Sighted of her time had infiltrated many stratas on many worlds she fought on, preying on the insecurities of others and the desires of those underclass humans to better themselves at all costs.

Thus, it would be agreeable with Severina if this woman was to be apprehended.

"How do I know, sir," she raised the question with Roen. "If what you say is true? For all I know, your hunt and your ... 'ward' might not be all they appear."

Even so, the Commissar knew that either end of the spectrum of possibilities would carry grave consequence if she did not act.

"Would that I have had the rest of the 11th Antarii on hand." she mulled aloud to Roen. "I'dve been able to flush your quarry out far more effectively and out into the open where she could be apprehended. As is, your deadline and the presence of far too many innocents would not permit me to do so."

Her hand never straying from [i]'Penance's'[/i] holster, Severina finally stood off to one side of the door, nodding in agreement. "Very well. I'll do what I can to flush this woman out. With any luck, persuasion alone would be capable of seeing us both outside. But if you hear the sound of bolt-fire or battle within, do not waste time. Enter quick and get you both gone as soon as you can."