Bacon

Persona: Black Crown

When the exact specifications on the box were mentioned, all eyes turned to Baron. “On it.” He said, stepping off the goon’s neck now that he was restrained. It wasn’t hard to find, other than knocking aside a few crates of that borderline weightless fake gold and jewelry to get to it, as the crate had been hidden well. Perhaps a side effect of Noblesse having been here before, perhaps just a coincidence. If it was them heightening security, this was only going to get worse.

The crate wasn’t all too heavy on it’s own, but it had actual weight, which was a sign in and of itself. It was small enough Baron didn’t need help to move it out, and once Noblesse had cut the ropes, Baron supplied a pry bar that one of the shadows was kind enough to leave for them. Baron couldn’t help but at least look over the ill-gotten gains of Chimeratix, curious more than anything. “Hm… gotta be at least, what? A hundred grand worth of stuff in here? Maybe more.” Baron mused, before being unable to help himself, and looking through the cans out of pure curiosity. “Oh come on! If you’re gonna steal booze, at least steal something that doesn’t taste like dog piss.” He muttered to himself, going through what was mostly cheap beer and sake, but Osamu was able to find at least one six-pack of something halfway decent that wasn’t some fancy liquor to scam rich people. He set it aside, kidnapping what they had rightfully stolen in the spirit of heroic thieves across time and myth.

There was one question Baron had that this man was in a position to answer, he realized. It’d give them all an idea of just how large the organization was, if nothing else. “How much cargo goes through the domain day-to-day? The real shit, not all this meta-junk gold and jewels.” He asked, shifted his sabaton closer to the man as a silent threat. It probably wasn’t needed, but it was easier for him to be intimidating than convincing.

Baron scratched his chin at the point Signora had brought up. His time with them had given him some insights into how they ran as an organization, and between that and general knowledge about how an organization like Chimeratix functions, he was able to make a few connections.

“Police are already looking for ‘em. But if we take down how they move their shit without it getting traced back to ‘em, that means there’ll be actual evidence for the cops to do their job. Not to mention, it’ll be harder for ‘em to slip away if we can make the metaverse unsafe enough for ‘em by being…” Baron paused, searching for the word. “...proactive.”

“Can I see his phone for a second?” He asked Noblesse, ignoring the gallery section of his phone, and going his texts. It didn’t take him too long to pin down the guy’s name.

“Oh, and if you go back to Chimeratix, or any other group like this? We’ll fuckin’ find you.” Baron said, handing the phone back to Noblesse. “Hiroto Goya.” He punctuated the man’s name with a glare beneath his visor, just to get the point across. They, or at least he, wouldn’t be making good on that threat. But if they could scare him straight, that’d be one less guy falling back into hurting people for money.

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

BBS is great. It's Star Wars Episode III, but Luke's there replacing Yoda, and it's better written in the last 1/3. Aqua's Obi Wan, and Terra's Anakin. They even have their duel at the end of it all where Aqua wins, but Terra's master pulls some BS to save him and runs Aqua out into somewhere she can't intervene in the plot until later.

And Master Erequis is Windu for the purpose of this interpretation.

Like I said: EP III but better. Part of why it's my second-favorite KH game. (Days, my beloved)

Persona: Black Crown

Osamu stood with a grin as the Inugami fell to his kukri, glancing over in time to see the Signora finish off the Garm before it could attempt anything further. Giving a brief smile and a thumbs-up to the girls, Baron turned his attention onto the last threat; the Chimeratix thug.

While he was a random goon, Baron figured Noblesse had a plan when he disarmed the man instead of booting him from the Domain. So, choosing to put his trust in whatever plan that was, he rushed towards the thug in question.

With Noblesse’s tackle, Baron followed up by rushing in himself, and as Noblesse fought to pin the man, Baron instead of meeting both his leader and the bastard who Noblesse sought to bag on the ground, he just saw his opportunity, and place his boot onto the bastard’s throat. Carefully applying just enough force to cut off his breathing, before soon after easing off some of said pressure, but still keeping his neck pinned to the floorboards of the station.

Figuring there wasn’t any harm in seeing if his force of will could overpower the man’s, not to mention it supposedly being boosted by the man’s own fear, Osamu tapped his phone, and gave the man a singular, very clear order in the best menacing tone he could muster.

Authority Activated: Seize the Throne

“Stay. Down.”

Persona: Black Crown

I've been working on other things. Won't take me long to throw a post out, though. Thanks for the reminder!

On the Wings of Dragons

---

The young nobleman watched as the silhouettes approached the plateau where the great beast beneath him was resting it’s wings. He was quite visible at the moment, but that was by design. He kept the anticipation and nerves hidden beneath his mask as he watched their dragons approach on the skyline,

On one hand, those who had assigned his squadron had given him a competent, reliable hand to ensure nothing went too wrong. The wizened dwarf was one Caleb was glad to have in his squadron, given his experience as a potent mage, not to mention as a dragon rider. The only concern was if the dwarf decided a decision he made was in some way faulty, then the more experienced and from what he’d heard, quite stubborn dwarf could undermine his authority. But despite that, Caleb was more keen to have him than not.

On the other hand, he had a beastkin who rode atop a great dragon with a thick coat of white feathers. At least, he’d heard the man was Beastkin. But his appearance seemed little different than any other half-elf he’d met, if a little smaller than he was expecting. Regardless, the spotless white feathers of his majestic dragon gave the younger man away as the third of their squadron. He made a note that he’d have to keep an eye on that one; he’d been briefed that the man, not too much younger than himself, was something of a career criminal. Still, another mage who harnesses the winds was never something to pass on, especially when most of one’s fights could be expected to be taken in the air.

He glanced around briefly, trying to locate their third. So far, he’d had no luck in doing so. Perhaps they were late, or perhaps he was simply not noticing them as they came in. He hadn’t heard much about the third rider under his command, only that they had been assigned to him. Hopefully, they would arrive sooner rather than later, but he had no way to be certain.

Still, despite the potential difficulties ahead involving his own squadron, the mission before them was an easy one. Just a routine patrol, and they even had help to the north if that became necessary. The kind of mission that would be standard for any new team, and especially any new leader.

Just a simple patrol.

What could go wrong?

“Squadron.” He addressed those under his command with a well-practiced authoritative tone, While more prepared to use the tone giving speeches than orders, he could still project over the whipping of the winds. “I am Caleb Evermoore. I have been assigned as your squadron leader. I will do everything in my power to watch your backs. I ask only that you follow my orders, and watch mine in turn.” He said, introducing himself to his squadron. He had no frame of reference as to whether or not such an introduction was expected of junior officers or not, so he erred on the side of caution. Better to be seen as too formal as opposed to rude, in his opinion.

With his introduction out of the way, the young prince barely changed his tone, pausing briefly for breath, and to ensure everyone’s relative attention, before pivoting into a last-minute briefing of their mission. “We will be undergoing a standard patrol of the southern section of the Sunspire Mountains, while another squadron fulfills a similar task to our North. If we encounter any hostile riders, we will likely let them be unless engaged first, however we will play the situation by ear. Should the other squadron require aid, we are to move in order to better support them.”

“This will be your only chance for questions.” Caleb offered, not dropping the authoritative tone, but letting his form relax slightly on Tir’verkalin’s back.

Once he’d answered any questions presented, his next order was simple; “Take flight, and form up behind me.”

With that, Tir’verkalin turned around in a slow, deliberate, almost lazy manner. The magnificent creature of brass stretched itself like an oversized cat, before taking off towards the ledge at a dead sprint, throwing itself and Caleb from the ledge as it opened it’s wings, and took to the skies, starting a wide circle around the plateau so the others had the time and space to fall into formation.

Persona: Black Crown

Having finally clocked the Chimeratix grunt whom Noblesse had singled out, he recognized the man as likely the more dangerous threat. After all, while shadows could fight, Baron had rarely met one that could plan and exploit on the level of a human opponent. Despite that, he still realized the thug would be far less of a threat without his back-up, so instead of turning straight onto the thug, he decided to focus his attention onto the Inugami while his power still lasted.

Baron saw as the large blast of fire flew towards him, followed shortly after by the Garm’s jaws, and didn’t pause to think. Between their dizziness courtesy of Thespian, and the boost to his own agility from Lackland’s power, he sidestepped the Garm’s lunging bite, and turned in time to duck the large fireball from Inugami, letting it splash against the station behind him in a burst of flame that silhouetted his form for a brief instant. He stood up slowly, letting his mantle billow for a moment before lunging forward in a new burst of aggression.

Counting down the time until this extra boost ran out in the back of his mind, he opted to make the most of it as he looked back at the Inugami who’d just placed itself in a rather unfortunate situation. With the beast being dizzy, and Signora’s arrow flying for it, he rushed it with his Kukri, hoping to cut the thing down before it could make any further attempts, and hopefully leave the Chimeratic goon to face them alone.

Attack

Persona: Black Crown

Not that it matters, but OOC I'm gonna roll a couple dice to see which of those attacks land on Baron. But between the agility boost from Cruel Order and both of them being dizzy, their odds aren't great.

On the Wings of Dragons

---

A masked figure walked out onto the ledge, close to where the squadron was supposed to meet. He was nearly half an hour early, but he figured that it was better than being late, especially with first impressions as a leader. The wind cut across the mountains, howling softly as he looked out to the sea of trees below, then up at the clouds above. The first rays of dawn had started to paint the clouds in golden hues, and began to illuminate the clouds beneath.

A large creature slowly strode up alongside him, claws clicking against the stones of the mountainside, the rays of sunlight illuminating scales of dark bronze as it approached the masked man. Slowly, near-silently, it moved it’s head alongside the young man, and with a relative gentleness for it’s hulking form, brushed against the young man’s cloak.

The sensation was enough to draw his eyes away from the sight before them, causing him to turn his head enough to see the dragon’s own expression, and what he figured to be concern. Slowly, he raised a hand, and placed it atop the mighty creature’s head, and gently scratched it’s scales to comfort the great beast.

“I am fine, Tir. Merely thinking.”

On some level, it felt strange that he’d be leading a squadron. Five years ago, Caleb imagined himself somewhere behind the fight itself, pouring over maps and talking grand strategy with his family, letting others lead the charge where bravery and might were more prudent than supply chains and overarching goals.

Still… he was an Evermoore, and Evermoores always did lead back home, with no need or objective too small to escape their concern. Ready or not, it was his responsibility now to lead these people. The best he could do was put on a stern face, to which end the mask certainly helped.

The dragon interrupted his thoughts again with a slight shake, not much movement, but enough to attract Caleb’s notice as deliberate. He looked across the form of the noble creature, the dragon Tir’verkalin. The young prince had learned in these past couple of years how his dragon seemed to know his feelings better than the prince himself did. It was all still so new to him. However he realized if he was to have any chance at the justice his family deserved, this was step one. Caleb straightened himself out, thankful the mask and cloak made reading him a far greater challenge. It could cover the slack if even a slight amount of his nervousness at meeting the hardened warriors he’d be leading to battle leaked out.

And yet, there was one thing that he could feel in the back of his mind, as if being reminded by someone he knew. This was his first stint of proper leadership, and it meant the warriors under his command were wholly his responsibility. And, if he failed, it was solely his fault. Such was the weight of leadership. But still, this was his task. And it was his path to avenging what he lost. He would’ve rather cast himself off this same cliff than refuse it.

Off in the distance, he saw forms he recognized. Distant, and wouldn’t be here for at least another fifteen minutes, but the silhouette of a dragon was a bit hard to miss once one knew what they were looking for. He spared himself a brief smirk beneath his mask, before he turned back towards Tir’verkalin.

“Right. Time waits for no man. Nor dragon, for that matter. Let us go.”

He spoke with a slight comforting warmth to his voice as he walked alongside Tir’verkalin towards the saddle across the dragon’s back. The dragon lowered itself to aid his ascent up it’s back, as he mounted the noble beast with slow and deliberate movements that would almost seem lazy to an outside observer.

The dragon then stood up from where it laid, and started to back up, each step covering several yards as it prepared itself. The dragon eventually coiled itself like a cat ready to pounce, before launching itself forward. The dragon’s running start towards the ledge was a series of thunderous steps, claws biting into stone to help the dragon pull itself along just a little faster, before it flung itself and it’s rider from the cliff. The initial leap cleared twenty feet directly off the ledge before the dragon fully opened it’s wings, and the pair took to the skies.

The force of the wind ripped Caleb’s hood back for a moment, revealing his bright red hair, and the burn scar on the left side of his head that ran from his eye to his ear. Once the pair had hit a more consistent speed, Caleb pulled his hood back up, as the pair climbed in elevation towards their meeting site; a plateau atop this same mountain. It was there he’d meet them, and it was there his first real steps on this journey would begin.

On the Wings of Dragons

what was written?

@King Xerxes

My knee-jerk reaction to a random spectator making assumptions after a server goes quiet for two days wasn't kind, I realized that about five seconds after posting, hence edits were made to that and relevant posts.

On the Wings of Dragons

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