Whether its the same storm or not is irrelevant. A storm has already passed over the hulk. There is a currently a storm over the facility that Oscar, Cordelia, and Lyssa are in. This means that, if it were the same storm, its already traveled quite a bit of distance. If it is not the same storm then there is still quite a bit of distance between the two locations.
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I honestly have no idea where the hulk is. lol
Doesn't mean it wasn't said in chatzy or anything though.
Doesn't mean it wasn't said in chatzy or anything though.
Hm, funny, never seen Deus est machina, deus EX machina loads, but never est.
Regardless, how often is one expected to post?
I could post everyday, but others seem to not do that. So i'm just asking about how often is roughly expected?
I post however much I please! I suggest you do the same. =P
Have you ever seen what raiders wear in Fallout 4? They might as well have raider printed on their armor. lol
You guys are killing me. Lol
Seriously though, their clothing *would* pretty much be a dead give away.
Seriously though, their clothing *would* pretty much be a dead give away.
(A Monks x Spleen collab)
"This is odd." Cordelia said for the third time since they had arrived at their destination. The building that ARC commando Lyssa had been sent to investigate was there. A small rectangular structure that looked more like a bunker than anything else. Cordelia wouldn't have believed that it stretched underground except for the fifteen cars parked nearby; the passengers were no where to be found.
Cordelia and Oscar had found Lyssa's dust jumper hoverbike nearby; it had been utterly destroyed and almost thrashed beyond recognition. What had prompted Cordelia's first statement of "odd" was that every single one of the cars had themselves been sabotaged. Stranger still had been the fact that all of the supplies in these very cars had also been sabotaged. This had elicited Cordelia's second statement about the situation being odd.
The third one had come when the pair approached the building. It was there that they found two bandits sitting on either side of the entrance. They had bled to death after their throats had been cleanly cut.
"Think they're killing each other off?" Cordelia asked as she knelt next to one of the bodies.
Oscar shook his head, "No, this isn't the work of a Vagrant." He knelt down and ran his finger across the now dried wound. "Some one skilled pulled this one off, and seeing as the person we're looking for fits that skill set. It's safe to say Lyssa was here." He stood up and pushed the body over with his boot.
"We need to be careful, I'd hate to end up like them." Oscar continued while slowly unbuttoning the guard on his handgun's holster. His gaze turned towards the bunker and then at the rapidly approaching dust storm. It's swirling storm of sound and fury quickly barreled upon them, it's imposing figure was flanked by rapid flashes of silent lightning that illuminated the edges of the turbulent desert typhoon.
"It's time to move." Oscar said, motioning towards the bunker.
"Ok." Cordelia said as she pulled a tiny pistol out from where it had been concealed in her boot. The thing looked small even in her hands. She peered inside of the bunker, her eyes immediately drawn to the flight of stairs that headed down. "So you're saying Lyssa snuck past the two hundred or so men that drove here, slit the throat of these two men, sabotaged all these vehicles out here and the supplies they carried, and then what? Go back into this bunker? Unless I miscounted there are still fifteen cars out here plus her thrashed dust jumper, so its not like she drove away."
Finding the interior too dark to navigate by, Cordelia pulled a flashlight out of her pack and turned it on. The beam of light revealed a rather long flight of stairs. She looked at Oscar, her expression all but asking "who first."
"Well, judging by the fifteen vehicles, there has to be at least seven thousand men inside, and I'm the best arm wrestler here, I'll go first." Oscar said with a sarcastic smirk. He gazed about the interior and then focused on the steps, "Be sure to watch for anything suspicious, place could have traps." he said quietly before taking the first step.
"Suspicious" Cordelia muttered as the pair reached the bottom of the stairs. The somewhat tight stairway opened up into a large room. Perhaps at one time it had been a reception hall, with a large front desk still standing. Most of the doors and hallways that led out of the reception hall had caved in, although there where still several options to choose from.
"Such as this?" She indicated another pair of dead raiders who had apparently been standing guard in this room. "Is it just me or are these guys oddly organized for 'simple' bandits?"
Oscar looked around before holstering his pistol, "I agree." He simply stated before walking towards one of the few remaining hallways. He took a few cautious steps through yet another doorway. The innards were filled with high tech equipment, though mostly in the form of computer displays that had long since faded to black. There were no bodies to be seen in the room. "Cordelia, Take a look in here. You think any of these still work?"
Cordelia let out a whistle when she stepped next to Oscar. She peered around the room for a moment before commenting. "Hard to say. You'd definitely have to bring your own power source. Of course the fact that that computer has had the dust wiped away from its screen implies someone thought they might be able to use it." Cordelia pointed towards one of the computers in the back. "Maybe they were kind enough to leave their power source behind."
The two moved through the room towards the computer, which Oscar being the first to notice what looked like a large worn backpack with a strange orange canister barely visible inside. From it were a few wires. "This must be the power cell who ever used. Strange for someone to leave a powerful device like this just sitting here." He knelt down and plugged the cell into the computers outlet. It took a few seconds but the screen eventually flickered to life.
"Strange indeed" Cordelia muttered as she typed a few commands into the computer. She was half guessing as to what to actually do. Despite this she still managed to pull up some data onto the screen. "I think..." Cordelia said, "that this was the last thing viewed. I just have no idea what I'm looking at. Some sort of technical data for sure."
Oscar pointed at what looked like a engine of sorts. "This doesn't look like your typical jet engine." He said, outlining its much larger size. Next to it was what looked like a dotted line protruding from a very rough looking sphere. "I wonder what that is supposed to mean."
"Do you have anything to copy this data to?" he asked.
"Of course." Cordelia said as she reached into her pack and pulled out a small tub-like object no larger than her pinky finger. "Though I think I'm just going to pull out all of these hard drives and take them with me on the way out." She attached the device to one of the computer's ports as she spoke. "Still... it wouldn't be funny if all of this data was lost cause some raider lobbed a grenade in here before we returned."
After a minute she withdrew the device and returned it to her pack. "So..." She said as she turned to Oscar. "Are you as clueless about all of this stuff as I am?"
Oscar nodded in agreement before noticing the ground gently trembling from the storm that had finally reached the facility. Loud howls of wind echoed from the outside, amplified by the narrow corridors. "We need to find a place to hole up." he said before starting towards the door. He peered out into the hallway only to be pushed back by a powerful gust of sandy wind. The screeching from bending metal kept the two off balance before a loud crash returned stability to the room.
"Guess we are stuck here. I hope my car is ok." he said grimly as the staircase had been destroyed and blocked off by a cave in.
"I hope that wasn't the only exit." Cordelia added grimly. "Want to head in deeper or...?" She sort of just shrugged.
"Only one way to find out." Oscar said, looking down the hallway. "I'm always ok going deeper." he added, winking at Cordelia.
Cordelia simply rolled her eyes, picked one of the halls at random, and started walking. She was pretty sure if she said anything he'd turn it into an innuendo, so she didn't. At least until they reached their first intersection of hallways which came with its own body. Just one this time. The raider, like the previous ones, had a slit throat.
"O!" Cordelia didn't so much speak a word as make a sound as she looked over the body. "I think she booby trapped this one."
"Maybe its best if we skip this'n then." Oscar said. He examined the area around the dead body, noticing it seemed to be a more fresh kill than the others. "Strange." he said, noting the lack of any weapons on the raider.
He piqued his brow as he noticed a grenade tucked neatly in the bandits arm pit. It was barely visible to even the trained eye. "We really need to be careful here."
"Yup." Cordelia agreed as she rose to her feet. She started down the hall again. The faint sound of a boot stepping on something like glass drifted from the direction she was headed, though Cordelia seemed to have not heard it.
Oscar quickly moved to Cordelia and grasped her upper arms. As he pulled her aside, "Shh" he said while gazing over her shoulder towards the hallway. "Don't make a sound. Something is down there." he whispered while expecting the worst.
The scuffing of more than one pair of boots emitted from around a nearby corner. Cordelia's eyes widened slightly as she knelt down and pointed her pistol towards the corner. She had definitely heard it this time.
"Careful." Oscar whispered while readying himself. The first figure walked around the corner, oblivious to the two operatives. There was no way this was a ARC commando or any special force at all. It was the most savage of all crazed men, a damned raider. Oscar furrowed his brow and lunged at the first, pushing him into the man behind him, knocking the second raider to the ground. He quickly pushed his fist deep into the first raiders gut before looking to Cordelia. "Shoot him!" he shouted, pointing at a third Raider quickly moving towards them.
Cordelia pulled the trigger without a moment's hesitation. Her shot went wide and to the right, almost hitting Oscar in the head. Thankfully his head was just an inch lower than the bullet's path. Her second shot was right on the mark, striking the third raider right in the side of the head.
Oscar dodged a wide swing from the first Raider while the second had finally regained his balance, who then grasped his submachine gun and pointed it towards Cordelia. The Raider pulled the trigger but his rifle was slapped away by Oscar. This gave the first raider took advantage of Oscars rush to protect Cordelia and kicked him hard in the gut.
Cordelia flinched as the submachine gun's burst of bullets struck the wall next to her. She took a deep breath and pointed her tiny pistol at the second raider, trying to aim despite the intense way her hands were now shaking. She fired twice, both rounds missing by feet.
Even as her shots did not hit a mark, they did assist by keeping the first raiders head down, giving Oscar the chance to reveal an unnecessarily large handgun. Two blasts were sent into the second raider, both splattering his head. Before the body could even hit the floor, the first raider rushed at Oscar, knocking his hand cannon towards Cordelia.
"Dont... Touch." he strained to Cordelia, trying to keep the raiders hands away from his neck. "my gun." Oscar said before gathering his strength and planting his knee directly into the Raiders groin. The man let out a yelp and rose up, granting Oscar a clear shot into the Raiders neck. It was a simple, yet hard strike that collapsed his throat.
The Raider fell to his side, while gripping his own neck and gasping for air. Oscar walked up to him and smirked before stomping his head twice. "Whew." he said simply, walking towards Cordelia.
Cordelia rose to her feet, her hands shaking so hard she almost dropped her tiny pistol. "We got them." It was as much a question as a statement. She offered Oscar an unsure smile.
"You ok?" Oscar said, leaning over to pick both her and his weapons from the floor. "You did good." he stated in an attempt to calm her down.
"Yea. Yea." The slight waver in her voice implied otherwise. "I'm... just not used to this." She gestured towards the fallen bodies. She took a few calming breaths before adding "Usually I just run and leave behind a few nasty present."
Oscar knelt over to examine the first raiders body. "Well, we can still leave behind a surprise." he said, pulling a bandolier from the raider Hanging from it were two grenades, "If you want to set a trap, this would be a good chance. It's not like anyone nearby wouldn't have heard that gunfire."
"That's a-" Her eyes widened as she heard something from the direction they had come from. She spun in place, bringing her pistol to bare. The raider, who had just stepped into view seemed just as startled as she was and hesitated. She fired first. Her shot hit his shoulder and bounced off of the metal armor plate he had covering it. When she pulled the trigger a second time nothing happened.
The raider put his rifle to his shoulder and fired. The round struck Cordelia in the shoulder. She spun once before dropping to the ground like a rock.
Oscar's eyes opened wide as the event unfolded, and him being helpless to stop it. The initial shock rapidly wore off as he dashed at the raider with a furious cry. The rifle was knocked from his left hand by a swift palm strike and then firmly gripped the Raider's face with his left, pushing the back of his head into the wall repeatedly. The Raider tried fighting back but he was powerless against his foe who had now broken the Raider's head open against the wall. As the red splatter grew larger and larger, the Raider grew limper before finally succumbing to gravity. The now lifeless body lay at Oscars feet.
His angry snarl finally faded as he rushed to Cordelia. Oscar knelt by her, checking the wound to see if it went through or was lodged inside her body, all the while applying pressure to her wound.
"We... need to... move" Cordelia managed to say between gasps of pain. Her face, now pale, grimaced in pain as she forced herself into a sitting position. "Others... must have... heard that." The thudding of boots in the distance punctuated her point. "Help me up."
Oscar didn't waste any time in helping her up. He did her best to keep her propped up as they rushed into a nearby room. It was dimly lit and rather bare compared to the others they had passed before. The center was a large square machine of sorts that did provide the necessary cover to catch their breath.
"We're safe for now." he assured her while peeking occasionally behind them towards the door. "They're going to come looking so just stay down."
Cordelia simply gave him a small nod of her head, keeping a hand pressed against the bleeding hole in her shoulder. Her eyes widened slightly as the soft thuds of a large man walking sounded in the hall outside. She moved behind the large machine and bit her lower lip. The man, clearly a raider, stepped into view, gazed into the room for a moment and simply kept walking.
Letting out a soft sigh in relief Cordelia poked her head out from behind the machine, only to take a sharp gasp as she saw the form of someone rush past their room. "Did you see that?" She whispered, not entirely sure she wasn't seeing hallucinations of blonde women wearing form fitting clothes.
Her words fell upon deaf ears as Oscar had already moved to the door way. He did however see the blur before he pressed himself against the wall. His figure nearly blending in with the shadows of the room. Oscar checked his handgun before weighing the options to strike the Raider or not. His eyes did shift to Cordelia and decided it best not to move, instead, he took aim towards the door, and further disappeared from Cordelia's view.
The only sound from the hall was the large man's foots steps. Then there was a grunt, followed by the muffled cry. The thud of a body hitting the floor soon followed. And then nothing.
Dead silence piqued Oscar's ears but his training urged caution. He looked to Cordelia once more before deciding to edge as close to the door as possible without stepping from it. With just enough room to see the Raiders body without exposing his entire head, he examined the situation.
The hall was occupied by two bodies. One, the raider, lay bleeding on the floor. The other, a blonde woman wearing what could only be called a catsuit, stood over the raider. The woman had her back to Oscar, her attention on the hallway he and Cordelia had been in just a minute ago. The blonde seemed to be listening to something based off of the way her head was cocked slightly to the side. After a moment she knelt next to the raider a wiped the knife she had in her hand on the man's clothes.
She was certainly a sight to take in. Her long blonde hair, tied into a loose braid, did little to hide the two kukri blades sheathed on the small of her back or the rather large revolver resting on her thigh. A belt on her waist carried several objects, two of which were clearly grenades.
"Alright Lady." Oscar said as he emerged slowly from the door. His gun aimed directly at her center figure. "I aint no backwastes raider so don't make a move you're gonna regret."
The woman turned her head ever so slightly so she could look at Oscar at of the corner of her eye. Now that Oscar could see her face a bit she had a haggard look to her, as if she hadn't slept for a week or two. Even with bags under them, her eyes darted about, taking Oscar and all of his surroundings in in a moment before focusing on his eyes.
"You are, forsooth, more disciplined than these louts." She agreed after a moment. Her enunciation was near perfect.
"Forsooth?" Cordelia asked from where she rested by the machine. "Did she just say forsooth?" The blonde woman either didn't hear Cordelia or chose to ignore her.
Oscar wasn't impressed by her figure at all, "Yeah, what the hell is forsooth." he asked, while still perfectly fixated on the woman.
The woman let out a long sigh before saying "You need not worry about it." She tilted her head away from Oscar for a moment, possibly hearing something down the hall, before returning her attention to him.
He rose his pistol to her head, "So who are you?" he said plainly.
"How dreadful." The woman didn't look the least bit fazed by Oscar's pistol. "Why don't you point that puissant firearm elsewhere and introduce yourself first?" She gave Oscar a winning smile.
Oscar gave a smile in kind before slowly lowering his gun, but still obviously keeping it ready. "I asked first, Who are you?"
The woman regarded Oscar for a moment before inclining her head ever so slightly. "Lyssa." She said. "Of Bastion Atheneum. And you are?"
Oscar rested his hand at those words, "I am Oscar." he said simply.
"And may I inquire as to who your companion is?" Lyssa asked.
Oscar stepped closer to the door, as if to block it. "That's my partner, Dead eye."
"I see." Lyssa said as she took a step away from Oscar. The motion shifted her stance so the side of her body was pointed towards Oscar instead of her back. It also conveniently hide her left hand from view. "Well then Mr Oscar and Miss Dead Eye," Lyssa said. "I shall leave the two of you to whatever activity you were previously engaged in."
"Lyssa, hold up. We have been sent to retrieve you." Oscar said, in a tone unlike him.
"Forsooth?" Lyssa asked.
"What does that even mean?" Cordelia asked, having moved from behind the machinery to the entry to the hall.
"In truth. Indeed." Lyssa answered.
"Ok. That's cool." Cordelia said. "Oscar. Why don't we stop playing this game and just say the phrases the Librarium gave us? I'd really hate for the two of you to be gunned downed by some raiders cause you were too busy comparing the size of your dicks."
"Miss Dead Eye is quite... quaint." Lyssa said, a frown on her face.
"Oh, right." Oscar said towards Cordelia. He turned his attention back to Lyssa, "Alright. So your Uncle Chris wants to tell you about the project. then when we get back to town, I'm gonna buy you a drink."
"Drinks!" Cordelia said. "We'll buy you multiple drinks!"
Lyssa gave Oscar a once over before nodding. "Very well. I recognize that you were sent here on behalf of the Librarium." She shifted her stance again, this time so she faced Oscar fully, both of her hands now fully in view. "Shall we leave this place before more of our foes come upon us?"
"Yeah, we need to get outta here quick." He motioned towards Cordelia, "You've been hit pretty bad and the nearest way out is blocked in. Not to mention that raging dust storm up top."
"Excellent. That means I need not fear them fleeing." Lyssa said as she took a few steps in the direction she had originally came from. "I'll show you were I've stashed some of my supplies. I should have something to deal with that gunshot."
"Wait. You intend to fight them all?" Cordelia asked.
"Verily" Lyssa answered. "We wouldn't want to risk one of them returning with reinforcements."
Oscar cracked his knuckles, "Shouldn't be too difficult." he said before looking to Cordelia, "But first things first, lets get her patched up."
"This way." Lyssa took the lead. She led the group through a variety of hallways, her head always on a swivel. A few times she paused mid-step, only to have the whole group backtrack and choose an alternative route. After about ten minutes, though to Cordelia it felt like ten hours, the group reached their destination.
The room, unlike the rest of the facility, had not a speck of dust in it. A bed with clean sheets had been set up, as well as a few other pieces of furniture. There were also no fewer than five booby traps that Lyssa disabled before allowing her two guests in.
"Could I bother you to stand guard in the hallway while I tend to your companion?" Lyssa asked.
"Sure thing." Oscar said before looking to Cordelia once more. He gave no words of comfort but merely a simple wink before stepping outside the room. He found cover behind a large piece of ceiling that had collapsed long ago.
"This will only take a minute." Lyssa spoke loud enough for Oscar to hear from the hallway. "Now would you be so kind as to remove your top?" Cordelia complied, allowing Lyssa to get a good look at the injury. "Hmm... I suppose it would be prudent to stitch your wounds."
By this point Cordelia had decided that Lyssa spoke in a very proper fashion. It was odd, to say the least. Especially when compared to Oscar's more slang prone speech. She was also not sure if Lyssa simply spoke in a weird way or was somehow insane. Given that she had trapped all those raiders with her Cordelia was inclined to think the later.
"Looks like it went straight through. Thankfully nothing vital was hit." By this point Lyssa was finishing up with the stitching, something Cordelia was quite happy about, and covering the shoulder with some bandages. "You should be fit to move." Lyssa added. "Moving on to our next topic: did the Librarium send you two to take charge of the mission or are you reporting to me?"
Did Cordelia really want to follow the orders of a woman she thought insane? The thought made her hesitate.
Oscar wasn't in the room but was able to hear the two clear as day, he replied quickly, "We are here to help you complete it." he said, "But he didn't let us know what the mission was, fear of compromise and such."
"Excellent." Lyssa said, a hint of relief in her voice. "All patched up." Cordelia put her shirt back on before Lyssa said "You may return now Mr Oscar."
After one last scan of the hallway, Oscar fell back into the room. "So, Lyssa, what's so important about this mission."
"More than we had believed initially." Lyssa said without specifying who 'we' entailed. "Forsooth, this will change everything."
"But what is the mission?" Cordelia asked.
"It has been our long standing goal, nay our dream, to reach the great expanse of space once again." Lyssa said. "For decades we, Librarios, has been laboring to make this dream a reality."
"What do you mean the 'great expanse of space'?" Cordelia asked.
"I mean the void in which our home planet rests in." Lyssa answered. "This facility," She continued, "served as a sort of terminal for craft bound for space. Once we had learned of its existence, the Librarium dispatched me in the hopes that I might find something useful here. Even a badly corrupted data storage device would have been a great boon."
"The Elevator back at bastion was used for that. And lets not forget the space port where the military found its super fighter planes." Oscar said sarcastically, "So what makes this place any different?"
"This facility was built before the elevator. At least that is what I believe." Lyssa said. "As it was initially used to propel satellites into orbit via rockets."
"A... satellite?" Coredelia prompted.
"Small, man-made devices that could do everything from acting like radio towers to spying on people. Given their size they had very limited propulsion systems."
"Uh... then what kept them from simply falling back down?" Cordelia asked.
"They moved faster than they fell." Lyssa answered.
"That doesn't make sense." Cordelia said. She looked at Oscar, then back at Lyssa. The expression on her face made it clear she was sure Lyssa was trying to pull a prank.
"Cordelia." Oscar said, trying to figure out a way to simply explain it, "You know how a plane works, right? how if it stops thrusting it will fall? It's the same thing." he shrugged, "Never thought I'd see anything like this in person though. I wonder what it'd be like trapped in a rocket with you, Cordelia. Bet it'd be fun." he said with a mischievous smirk.
"Don't rockets explode?" Cordelia asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Not necessarily." Lyssa commented.
"Huh..." Cordelia said. "Ok. So this facility is more than you expected. I don't see why you didn't just grab as much data as possible and fled once those raiders arrived."
"As much as I would have loved to" Lyssa said, "I would have had to leave far too much behind. The information here will advance our timeline by decades." By this point she had begun to fiddle with Cordelia's outfit, brushing off some dust from her shoulder. Her hands moved to rearrange some things on the woman's belt, but stopped when Cordelia gave her an odd look. Lyssa gave a sheepish smile in return before adding "And I'm fairly certain these raiders were expecting me to be here."
Oscar nodded, "Yeah, that's what it looks like. So whats the plan, stay here and wait for raiders to finish us off? or get the hell outta' here, cause I think your intel mission is over."
"Unfortunately it is not that simple." Lyssa said. "We will have to kill them. All of them."
"Uh... what?" Cordelia asked. "Aren't there at least fifty of them roaming these halls?"
"Thankfully that is not the case." Lyssa said. "While I must admit that I never had the chance to do a head count with them all in one place, I strongly suspect that they numbered only thirty upon their arrival."
"Only thirty?" Cordelia asked with a cocked eyebrow.
"I have killed ten of them thus far." Lyssa ignored Cordelia. "The rest are becoming more and more erratic with each passing day, despite the small amount of formal training they have received. It will be a simple matter for the three of us to rid this place of those louts."
"Yeah, Deadeye here was convinced there were at least two thousand. give or take a hundred." Oscar readied his weapon, "Lets get to it."
"I beseech you, give me the opportunity to catch some much needed rest." Lyssa said. "I haven't had the luxury of a good night's sleep for a week now."
Oscar sighed, "Guess I'll keep watch then. You got any weapons stashed here? I'm confident in my gun here but more could never hurt."
"I've stored the raiders' weapons in that chest over there." Lyssa indicated a chest in the far corner of the room with a hand.
"Wait. You said these raiders had some formal training." Cordelia said.
"Yes." Lyssa agreed.
"Are you saying they were trained by someone from the Union or Yandran army?" Cordelia asked.
"Someone from Librarios could have trained them as well." Lyssa said, neither agreeing or disagreeing with Cordelia. "Whoever trained them clearly lacked the time or incentive to do a good job. I suspect they were trained by only a week. Perhaps two. Long enough to instill the degree of discipline they have displayed, but not the level one would expect from a professional army."
"Any way it goes, I doubt they'd notice some well placed grenade traps and certainly aren't prepared for me." Oscar said, now rummaging through the chest. "Ah, and here we go. These guys certainly packed some serious hardware." He said, pulling a belt-fed light machinegun from the chest, "I'm starting to think they were out just for you." he said with a grin.
"We are of like mind then." Lyssa said. "Given their timing, determination, and equipment I believe it is highly likely they are here to end me and this very facility. The jamming device and plastic explosives are items I have found especially alarming."
Oscar turned to the chest again, seeing the explosives further in, "Damn, we got lucky they didn't get a chance to set them." He left for the door, stopping just before the doorway "Lets just hope they don't have any more."
"I assure you, luck had nothing to do with it." Lyss said as she walked over to the bed she had set up in the room. "And I am fairly confident that they do not have the amount of explosives necessary to complete their objective. At least not without those bricks. I would also hope they would be wise enough to realize that detonating explosives would not be healthy for them while they are still trapped inside here."
"Now if you don't mind," Lyssa continued, "I'll rest my eyes for an hour and then we can rid this place of those louts." She didn't wait for a reply, simply closing her eyes as she laid down.
Cordelia stepped next to Oscar and whispered "Am I alone in thinking she's crazy?"
"Heh, My kind of crazy." Oscar nodded before gazing into Cordelia's eyes. "But you'll always be mine." His perky attitude seemed to instantly turn grim, "You think we will make it outta here? I've heard of these ancient buried places having more horrors than just idiot raiders."
"Honestly? I think we're fine so long as our forsoothing ARC commando is on our side." Cordelia said. "I'm just not confident she won't flip out on us. I mean seriously. Forsooth? Who says that?" She frowned before adding. "Let's not mention her sister until after we are out of this mess."
Oscar didn't seem pleased with her initial comments, "So you didn't think we were fine when it was just you and me?" he broke it up with a half hearted chuckle, "I met her sister, wasn't a big fan but If they have anything in common it's that they were both strong willed."
"Didn't this sister never mention Lyssa to her fiancee?" Cordelia asked. "I would think that means she either hated her or was embarassed to be related."
"Few people knew of her sister, Gibson was not one of them." Oscar replied, "And maybe Marissa never mentioned Lyssa due to separate missions or some such. It's why the NIS won't let family members work near each other knowingly. There's always exceptions like in a crisis, but people are more likely to talk to people they know well."
"Maybe..." Cordelia didn't sound convinced, but was ready to let the topic go. "Let's just keep an eye on her and be wary of whatever else is in here." After a moment she added "And I'll grant you the honor of arm wrestling any rust monsters we find into submission."
Oscar moved a little closer, sneaking his arm behind her, "But I think you'd do so well under pressure, like if a creature began crawling up your back." He said playfully, crawling his fingers up her back.
Cordelia jumped in surprise and then winced. "Oh that hurts." She reached towards her wounded shoulder and then thought better of it. "Yea, you are definitely going to have to do the arm wrestling."
The Middle of the Desert
"This is odd." Cordelia said for the third time since they had arrived at their destination. The building that ARC commando Lyssa had been sent to investigate was there. A small rectangular structure that looked more like a bunker than anything else. Cordelia wouldn't have believed that it stretched underground except for the fifteen cars parked nearby; the passengers were no where to be found.
Cordelia and Oscar had found Lyssa's dust jumper hoverbike nearby; it had been utterly destroyed and almost thrashed beyond recognition. What had prompted Cordelia's first statement of "odd" was that every single one of the cars had themselves been sabotaged. Stranger still had been the fact that all of the supplies in these very cars had also been sabotaged. This had elicited Cordelia's second statement about the situation being odd.
The third one had come when the pair approached the building. It was there that they found two bandits sitting on either side of the entrance. They had bled to death after their throats had been cleanly cut.
"Think they're killing each other off?" Cordelia asked as she knelt next to one of the bodies.
Oscar shook his head, "No, this isn't the work of a Vagrant." He knelt down and ran his finger across the now dried wound. "Some one skilled pulled this one off, and seeing as the person we're looking for fits that skill set. It's safe to say Lyssa was here." He stood up and pushed the body over with his boot.
"We need to be careful, I'd hate to end up like them." Oscar continued while slowly unbuttoning the guard on his handgun's holster. His gaze turned towards the bunker and then at the rapidly approaching dust storm. It's swirling storm of sound and fury quickly barreled upon them, it's imposing figure was flanked by rapid flashes of silent lightning that illuminated the edges of the turbulent desert typhoon.
"It's time to move." Oscar said, motioning towards the bunker.
"Ok." Cordelia said as she pulled a tiny pistol out from where it had been concealed in her boot. The thing looked small even in her hands. She peered inside of the bunker, her eyes immediately drawn to the flight of stairs that headed down. "So you're saying Lyssa snuck past the two hundred or so men that drove here, slit the throat of these two men, sabotaged all these vehicles out here and the supplies they carried, and then what? Go back into this bunker? Unless I miscounted there are still fifteen cars out here plus her thrashed dust jumper, so its not like she drove away."
Finding the interior too dark to navigate by, Cordelia pulled a flashlight out of her pack and turned it on. The beam of light revealed a rather long flight of stairs. She looked at Oscar, her expression all but asking "who first."
"Well, judging by the fifteen vehicles, there has to be at least seven thousand men inside, and I'm the best arm wrestler here, I'll go first." Oscar said with a sarcastic smirk. He gazed about the interior and then focused on the steps, "Be sure to watch for anything suspicious, place could have traps." he said quietly before taking the first step.
"Suspicious" Cordelia muttered as the pair reached the bottom of the stairs. The somewhat tight stairway opened up into a large room. Perhaps at one time it had been a reception hall, with a large front desk still standing. Most of the doors and hallways that led out of the reception hall had caved in, although there where still several options to choose from.
"Such as this?" She indicated another pair of dead raiders who had apparently been standing guard in this room. "Is it just me or are these guys oddly organized for 'simple' bandits?"
Oscar looked around before holstering his pistol, "I agree." He simply stated before walking towards one of the few remaining hallways. He took a few cautious steps through yet another doorway. The innards were filled with high tech equipment, though mostly in the form of computer displays that had long since faded to black. There were no bodies to be seen in the room. "Cordelia, Take a look in here. You think any of these still work?"
Cordelia let out a whistle when she stepped next to Oscar. She peered around the room for a moment before commenting. "Hard to say. You'd definitely have to bring your own power source. Of course the fact that that computer has had the dust wiped away from its screen implies someone thought they might be able to use it." Cordelia pointed towards one of the computers in the back. "Maybe they were kind enough to leave their power source behind."
The two moved through the room towards the computer, which Oscar being the first to notice what looked like a large worn backpack with a strange orange canister barely visible inside. From it were a few wires. "This must be the power cell who ever used. Strange for someone to leave a powerful device like this just sitting here." He knelt down and plugged the cell into the computers outlet. It took a few seconds but the screen eventually flickered to life.
"Strange indeed" Cordelia muttered as she typed a few commands into the computer. She was half guessing as to what to actually do. Despite this she still managed to pull up some data onto the screen. "I think..." Cordelia said, "that this was the last thing viewed. I just have no idea what I'm looking at. Some sort of technical data for sure."
Oscar pointed at what looked like a engine of sorts. "This doesn't look like your typical jet engine." He said, outlining its much larger size. Next to it was what looked like a dotted line protruding from a very rough looking sphere. "I wonder what that is supposed to mean."
"Do you have anything to copy this data to?" he asked.
"Of course." Cordelia said as she reached into her pack and pulled out a small tub-like object no larger than her pinky finger. "Though I think I'm just going to pull out all of these hard drives and take them with me on the way out." She attached the device to one of the computer's ports as she spoke. "Still... it wouldn't be funny if all of this data was lost cause some raider lobbed a grenade in here before we returned."
After a minute she withdrew the device and returned it to her pack. "So..." She said as she turned to Oscar. "Are you as clueless about all of this stuff as I am?"
Oscar nodded in agreement before noticing the ground gently trembling from the storm that had finally reached the facility. Loud howls of wind echoed from the outside, amplified by the narrow corridors. "We need to find a place to hole up." he said before starting towards the door. He peered out into the hallway only to be pushed back by a powerful gust of sandy wind. The screeching from bending metal kept the two off balance before a loud crash returned stability to the room.
"Guess we are stuck here. I hope my car is ok." he said grimly as the staircase had been destroyed and blocked off by a cave in.
"I hope that wasn't the only exit." Cordelia added grimly. "Want to head in deeper or...?" She sort of just shrugged.
"Only one way to find out." Oscar said, looking down the hallway. "I'm always ok going deeper." he added, winking at Cordelia.
Cordelia simply rolled her eyes, picked one of the halls at random, and started walking. She was pretty sure if she said anything he'd turn it into an innuendo, so she didn't. At least until they reached their first intersection of hallways which came with its own body. Just one this time. The raider, like the previous ones, had a slit throat.
"O!" Cordelia didn't so much speak a word as make a sound as she looked over the body. "I think she booby trapped this one."
"Maybe its best if we skip this'n then." Oscar said. He examined the area around the dead body, noticing it seemed to be a more fresh kill than the others. "Strange." he said, noting the lack of any weapons on the raider.
He piqued his brow as he noticed a grenade tucked neatly in the bandits arm pit. It was barely visible to even the trained eye. "We really need to be careful here."
"Yup." Cordelia agreed as she rose to her feet. She started down the hall again. The faint sound of a boot stepping on something like glass drifted from the direction she was headed, though Cordelia seemed to have not heard it.
Oscar quickly moved to Cordelia and grasped her upper arms. As he pulled her aside, "Shh" he said while gazing over her shoulder towards the hallway. "Don't make a sound. Something is down there." he whispered while expecting the worst.
The scuffing of more than one pair of boots emitted from around a nearby corner. Cordelia's eyes widened slightly as she knelt down and pointed her pistol towards the corner. She had definitely heard it this time.
"Careful." Oscar whispered while readying himself. The first figure walked around the corner, oblivious to the two operatives. There was no way this was a ARC commando or any special force at all. It was the most savage of all crazed men, a damned raider. Oscar furrowed his brow and lunged at the first, pushing him into the man behind him, knocking the second raider to the ground. He quickly pushed his fist deep into the first raiders gut before looking to Cordelia. "Shoot him!" he shouted, pointing at a third Raider quickly moving towards them.
Cordelia pulled the trigger without a moment's hesitation. Her shot went wide and to the right, almost hitting Oscar in the head. Thankfully his head was just an inch lower than the bullet's path. Her second shot was right on the mark, striking the third raider right in the side of the head.
Oscar dodged a wide swing from the first Raider while the second had finally regained his balance, who then grasped his submachine gun and pointed it towards Cordelia. The Raider pulled the trigger but his rifle was slapped away by Oscar. This gave the first raider took advantage of Oscars rush to protect Cordelia and kicked him hard in the gut.
Cordelia flinched as the submachine gun's burst of bullets struck the wall next to her. She took a deep breath and pointed her tiny pistol at the second raider, trying to aim despite the intense way her hands were now shaking. She fired twice, both rounds missing by feet.
Even as her shots did not hit a mark, they did assist by keeping the first raiders head down, giving Oscar the chance to reveal an unnecessarily large handgun. Two blasts were sent into the second raider, both splattering his head. Before the body could even hit the floor, the first raider rushed at Oscar, knocking his hand cannon towards Cordelia.
"Dont... Touch." he strained to Cordelia, trying to keep the raiders hands away from his neck. "my gun." Oscar said before gathering his strength and planting his knee directly into the Raiders groin. The man let out a yelp and rose up, granting Oscar a clear shot into the Raiders neck. It was a simple, yet hard strike that collapsed his throat.
The Raider fell to his side, while gripping his own neck and gasping for air. Oscar walked up to him and smirked before stomping his head twice. "Whew." he said simply, walking towards Cordelia.
Cordelia rose to her feet, her hands shaking so hard she almost dropped her tiny pistol. "We got them." It was as much a question as a statement. She offered Oscar an unsure smile.
"You ok?" Oscar said, leaning over to pick both her and his weapons from the floor. "You did good." he stated in an attempt to calm her down.
"Yea. Yea." The slight waver in her voice implied otherwise. "I'm... just not used to this." She gestured towards the fallen bodies. She took a few calming breaths before adding "Usually I just run and leave behind a few nasty present."
Oscar knelt over to examine the first raiders body. "Well, we can still leave behind a surprise." he said, pulling a bandolier from the raider Hanging from it were two grenades, "If you want to set a trap, this would be a good chance. It's not like anyone nearby wouldn't have heard that gunfire."
"That's a-" Her eyes widened as she heard something from the direction they had come from. She spun in place, bringing her pistol to bare. The raider, who had just stepped into view seemed just as startled as she was and hesitated. She fired first. Her shot hit his shoulder and bounced off of the metal armor plate he had covering it. When she pulled the trigger a second time nothing happened.
The raider put his rifle to his shoulder and fired. The round struck Cordelia in the shoulder. She spun once before dropping to the ground like a rock.
Oscar's eyes opened wide as the event unfolded, and him being helpless to stop it. The initial shock rapidly wore off as he dashed at the raider with a furious cry. The rifle was knocked from his left hand by a swift palm strike and then firmly gripped the Raider's face with his left, pushing the back of his head into the wall repeatedly. The Raider tried fighting back but he was powerless against his foe who had now broken the Raider's head open against the wall. As the red splatter grew larger and larger, the Raider grew limper before finally succumbing to gravity. The now lifeless body lay at Oscars feet.
His angry snarl finally faded as he rushed to Cordelia. Oscar knelt by her, checking the wound to see if it went through or was lodged inside her body, all the while applying pressure to her wound.
"We... need to... move" Cordelia managed to say between gasps of pain. Her face, now pale, grimaced in pain as she forced herself into a sitting position. "Others... must have... heard that." The thudding of boots in the distance punctuated her point. "Help me up."
Oscar didn't waste any time in helping her up. He did her best to keep her propped up as they rushed into a nearby room. It was dimly lit and rather bare compared to the others they had passed before. The center was a large square machine of sorts that did provide the necessary cover to catch their breath.
"We're safe for now." he assured her while peeking occasionally behind them towards the door. "They're going to come looking so just stay down."
Cordelia simply gave him a small nod of her head, keeping a hand pressed against the bleeding hole in her shoulder. Her eyes widened slightly as the soft thuds of a large man walking sounded in the hall outside. She moved behind the large machine and bit her lower lip. The man, clearly a raider, stepped into view, gazed into the room for a moment and simply kept walking.
Letting out a soft sigh in relief Cordelia poked her head out from behind the machine, only to take a sharp gasp as she saw the form of someone rush past their room. "Did you see that?" She whispered, not entirely sure she wasn't seeing hallucinations of blonde women wearing form fitting clothes.
Her words fell upon deaf ears as Oscar had already moved to the door way. He did however see the blur before he pressed himself against the wall. His figure nearly blending in with the shadows of the room. Oscar checked his handgun before weighing the options to strike the Raider or not. His eyes did shift to Cordelia and decided it best not to move, instead, he took aim towards the door, and further disappeared from Cordelia's view.
The only sound from the hall was the large man's foots steps. Then there was a grunt, followed by the muffled cry. The thud of a body hitting the floor soon followed. And then nothing.
Dead silence piqued Oscar's ears but his training urged caution. He looked to Cordelia once more before deciding to edge as close to the door as possible without stepping from it. With just enough room to see the Raiders body without exposing his entire head, he examined the situation.
The hall was occupied by two bodies. One, the raider, lay bleeding on the floor. The other, a blonde woman wearing what could only be called a catsuit, stood over the raider. The woman had her back to Oscar, her attention on the hallway he and Cordelia had been in just a minute ago. The blonde seemed to be listening to something based off of the way her head was cocked slightly to the side. After a moment she knelt next to the raider a wiped the knife she had in her hand on the man's clothes.
She was certainly a sight to take in. Her long blonde hair, tied into a loose braid, did little to hide the two kukri blades sheathed on the small of her back or the rather large revolver resting on her thigh. A belt on her waist carried several objects, two of which were clearly grenades.
"Alright Lady." Oscar said as he emerged slowly from the door. His gun aimed directly at her center figure. "I aint no backwastes raider so don't make a move you're gonna regret."
The woman turned her head ever so slightly so she could look at Oscar at of the corner of her eye. Now that Oscar could see her face a bit she had a haggard look to her, as if she hadn't slept for a week or two. Even with bags under them, her eyes darted about, taking Oscar and all of his surroundings in in a moment before focusing on his eyes.
"You are, forsooth, more disciplined than these louts." She agreed after a moment. Her enunciation was near perfect.
"Forsooth?" Cordelia asked from where she rested by the machine. "Did she just say forsooth?" The blonde woman either didn't hear Cordelia or chose to ignore her.
Oscar wasn't impressed by her figure at all, "Yeah, what the hell is forsooth." he asked, while still perfectly fixated on the woman.
The woman let out a long sigh before saying "You need not worry about it." She tilted her head away from Oscar for a moment, possibly hearing something down the hall, before returning her attention to him.
He rose his pistol to her head, "So who are you?" he said plainly.
"How dreadful." The woman didn't look the least bit fazed by Oscar's pistol. "Why don't you point that puissant firearm elsewhere and introduce yourself first?" She gave Oscar a winning smile.
Oscar gave a smile in kind before slowly lowering his gun, but still obviously keeping it ready. "I asked first, Who are you?"
The woman regarded Oscar for a moment before inclining her head ever so slightly. "Lyssa." She said. "Of Bastion Atheneum. And you are?"
Oscar rested his hand at those words, "I am Oscar." he said simply.
"And may I inquire as to who your companion is?" Lyssa asked.
Oscar stepped closer to the door, as if to block it. "That's my partner, Dead eye."
"I see." Lyssa said as she took a step away from Oscar. The motion shifted her stance so the side of her body was pointed towards Oscar instead of her back. It also conveniently hide her left hand from view. "Well then Mr Oscar and Miss Dead Eye," Lyssa said. "I shall leave the two of you to whatever activity you were previously engaged in."
"Lyssa, hold up. We have been sent to retrieve you." Oscar said, in a tone unlike him.
"Forsooth?" Lyssa asked.
"What does that even mean?" Cordelia asked, having moved from behind the machinery to the entry to the hall.
"In truth. Indeed." Lyssa answered.
"Ok. That's cool." Cordelia said. "Oscar. Why don't we stop playing this game and just say the phrases the Librarium gave us? I'd really hate for the two of you to be gunned downed by some raiders cause you were too busy comparing the size of your dicks."
"Miss Dead Eye is quite... quaint." Lyssa said, a frown on her face.
"Oh, right." Oscar said towards Cordelia. He turned his attention back to Lyssa, "Alright. So your Uncle Chris wants to tell you about the project. then when we get back to town, I'm gonna buy you a drink."
"Drinks!" Cordelia said. "We'll buy you multiple drinks!"
Lyssa gave Oscar a once over before nodding. "Very well. I recognize that you were sent here on behalf of the Librarium." She shifted her stance again, this time so she faced Oscar fully, both of her hands now fully in view. "Shall we leave this place before more of our foes come upon us?"
"Yeah, we need to get outta here quick." He motioned towards Cordelia, "You've been hit pretty bad and the nearest way out is blocked in. Not to mention that raging dust storm up top."
"Excellent. That means I need not fear them fleeing." Lyssa said as she took a few steps in the direction she had originally came from. "I'll show you were I've stashed some of my supplies. I should have something to deal with that gunshot."
"Wait. You intend to fight them all?" Cordelia asked.
"Verily" Lyssa answered. "We wouldn't want to risk one of them returning with reinforcements."
Oscar cracked his knuckles, "Shouldn't be too difficult." he said before looking to Cordelia, "But first things first, lets get her patched up."
"This way." Lyssa took the lead. She led the group through a variety of hallways, her head always on a swivel. A few times she paused mid-step, only to have the whole group backtrack and choose an alternative route. After about ten minutes, though to Cordelia it felt like ten hours, the group reached their destination.
The room, unlike the rest of the facility, had not a speck of dust in it. A bed with clean sheets had been set up, as well as a few other pieces of furniture. There were also no fewer than five booby traps that Lyssa disabled before allowing her two guests in.
"Could I bother you to stand guard in the hallway while I tend to your companion?" Lyssa asked.
"Sure thing." Oscar said before looking to Cordelia once more. He gave no words of comfort but merely a simple wink before stepping outside the room. He found cover behind a large piece of ceiling that had collapsed long ago.
"This will only take a minute." Lyssa spoke loud enough for Oscar to hear from the hallway. "Now would you be so kind as to remove your top?" Cordelia complied, allowing Lyssa to get a good look at the injury. "Hmm... I suppose it would be prudent to stitch your wounds."
By this point Cordelia had decided that Lyssa spoke in a very proper fashion. It was odd, to say the least. Especially when compared to Oscar's more slang prone speech. She was also not sure if Lyssa simply spoke in a weird way or was somehow insane. Given that she had trapped all those raiders with her Cordelia was inclined to think the later.
"Looks like it went straight through. Thankfully nothing vital was hit." By this point Lyssa was finishing up with the stitching, something Cordelia was quite happy about, and covering the shoulder with some bandages. "You should be fit to move." Lyssa added. "Moving on to our next topic: did the Librarium send you two to take charge of the mission or are you reporting to me?"
Did Cordelia really want to follow the orders of a woman she thought insane? The thought made her hesitate.
Oscar wasn't in the room but was able to hear the two clear as day, he replied quickly, "We are here to help you complete it." he said, "But he didn't let us know what the mission was, fear of compromise and such."
"Excellent." Lyssa said, a hint of relief in her voice. "All patched up." Cordelia put her shirt back on before Lyssa said "You may return now Mr Oscar."
After one last scan of the hallway, Oscar fell back into the room. "So, Lyssa, what's so important about this mission."
"More than we had believed initially." Lyssa said without specifying who 'we' entailed. "Forsooth, this will change everything."
"But what is the mission?" Cordelia asked.
"It has been our long standing goal, nay our dream, to reach the great expanse of space once again." Lyssa said. "For decades we, Librarios, has been laboring to make this dream a reality."
"What do you mean the 'great expanse of space'?" Cordelia asked.
"I mean the void in which our home planet rests in." Lyssa answered. "This facility," She continued, "served as a sort of terminal for craft bound for space. Once we had learned of its existence, the Librarium dispatched me in the hopes that I might find something useful here. Even a badly corrupted data storage device would have been a great boon."
"The Elevator back at bastion was used for that. And lets not forget the space port where the military found its super fighter planes." Oscar said sarcastically, "So what makes this place any different?"
"This facility was built before the elevator. At least that is what I believe." Lyssa said. "As it was initially used to propel satellites into orbit via rockets."
"A... satellite?" Coredelia prompted.
"Small, man-made devices that could do everything from acting like radio towers to spying on people. Given their size they had very limited propulsion systems."
"Uh... then what kept them from simply falling back down?" Cordelia asked.
"They moved faster than they fell." Lyssa answered.
"That doesn't make sense." Cordelia said. She looked at Oscar, then back at Lyssa. The expression on her face made it clear she was sure Lyssa was trying to pull a prank.
"Cordelia." Oscar said, trying to figure out a way to simply explain it, "You know how a plane works, right? how if it stops thrusting it will fall? It's the same thing." he shrugged, "Never thought I'd see anything like this in person though. I wonder what it'd be like trapped in a rocket with you, Cordelia. Bet it'd be fun." he said with a mischievous smirk.
"Don't rockets explode?" Cordelia asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Not necessarily." Lyssa commented.
"Huh..." Cordelia said. "Ok. So this facility is more than you expected. I don't see why you didn't just grab as much data as possible and fled once those raiders arrived."
"As much as I would have loved to" Lyssa said, "I would have had to leave far too much behind. The information here will advance our timeline by decades." By this point she had begun to fiddle with Cordelia's outfit, brushing off some dust from her shoulder. Her hands moved to rearrange some things on the woman's belt, but stopped when Cordelia gave her an odd look. Lyssa gave a sheepish smile in return before adding "And I'm fairly certain these raiders were expecting me to be here."
Oscar nodded, "Yeah, that's what it looks like. So whats the plan, stay here and wait for raiders to finish us off? or get the hell outta' here, cause I think your intel mission is over."
"Unfortunately it is not that simple." Lyssa said. "We will have to kill them. All of them."
"Uh... what?" Cordelia asked. "Aren't there at least fifty of them roaming these halls?"
"Thankfully that is not the case." Lyssa said. "While I must admit that I never had the chance to do a head count with them all in one place, I strongly suspect that they numbered only thirty upon their arrival."
"Only thirty?" Cordelia asked with a cocked eyebrow.
"I have killed ten of them thus far." Lyssa ignored Cordelia. "The rest are becoming more and more erratic with each passing day, despite the small amount of formal training they have received. It will be a simple matter for the three of us to rid this place of those louts."
"Yeah, Deadeye here was convinced there were at least two thousand. give or take a hundred." Oscar readied his weapon, "Lets get to it."
"I beseech you, give me the opportunity to catch some much needed rest." Lyssa said. "I haven't had the luxury of a good night's sleep for a week now."
Oscar sighed, "Guess I'll keep watch then. You got any weapons stashed here? I'm confident in my gun here but more could never hurt."
"I've stored the raiders' weapons in that chest over there." Lyssa indicated a chest in the far corner of the room with a hand.
"Wait. You said these raiders had some formal training." Cordelia said.
"Yes." Lyssa agreed.
"Are you saying they were trained by someone from the Union or Yandran army?" Cordelia asked.
"Someone from Librarios could have trained them as well." Lyssa said, neither agreeing or disagreeing with Cordelia. "Whoever trained them clearly lacked the time or incentive to do a good job. I suspect they were trained by only a week. Perhaps two. Long enough to instill the degree of discipline they have displayed, but not the level one would expect from a professional army."
"Any way it goes, I doubt they'd notice some well placed grenade traps and certainly aren't prepared for me." Oscar said, now rummaging through the chest. "Ah, and here we go. These guys certainly packed some serious hardware." He said, pulling a belt-fed light machinegun from the chest, "I'm starting to think they were out just for you." he said with a grin.
"We are of like mind then." Lyssa said. "Given their timing, determination, and equipment I believe it is highly likely they are here to end me and this very facility. The jamming device and plastic explosives are items I have found especially alarming."
Oscar turned to the chest again, seeing the explosives further in, "Damn, we got lucky they didn't get a chance to set them." He left for the door, stopping just before the doorway "Lets just hope they don't have any more."
"I assure you, luck had nothing to do with it." Lyss said as she walked over to the bed she had set up in the room. "And I am fairly confident that they do not have the amount of explosives necessary to complete their objective. At least not without those bricks. I would also hope they would be wise enough to realize that detonating explosives would not be healthy for them while they are still trapped inside here."
"Now if you don't mind," Lyssa continued, "I'll rest my eyes for an hour and then we can rid this place of those louts." She didn't wait for a reply, simply closing her eyes as she laid down.
Cordelia stepped next to Oscar and whispered "Am I alone in thinking she's crazy?"
"Heh, My kind of crazy." Oscar nodded before gazing into Cordelia's eyes. "But you'll always be mine." His perky attitude seemed to instantly turn grim, "You think we will make it outta here? I've heard of these ancient buried places having more horrors than just idiot raiders."
"Honestly? I think we're fine so long as our forsoothing ARC commando is on our side." Cordelia said. "I'm just not confident she won't flip out on us. I mean seriously. Forsooth? Who says that?" She frowned before adding. "Let's not mention her sister until after we are out of this mess."
Oscar didn't seem pleased with her initial comments, "So you didn't think we were fine when it was just you and me?" he broke it up with a half hearted chuckle, "I met her sister, wasn't a big fan but If they have anything in common it's that they were both strong willed."
"Didn't this sister never mention Lyssa to her fiancee?" Cordelia asked. "I would think that means she either hated her or was embarassed to be related."
"Few people knew of her sister, Gibson was not one of them." Oscar replied, "And maybe Marissa never mentioned Lyssa due to separate missions or some such. It's why the NIS won't let family members work near each other knowingly. There's always exceptions like in a crisis, but people are more likely to talk to people they know well."
"Maybe..." Cordelia didn't sound convinced, but was ready to let the topic go. "Let's just keep an eye on her and be wary of whatever else is in here." After a moment she added "And I'll grant you the honor of arm wrestling any rust monsters we find into submission."
Oscar moved a little closer, sneaking his arm behind her, "But I think you'd do so well under pressure, like if a creature began crawling up your back." He said playfully, crawling his fingers up her back.
Cordelia jumped in surprise and then winced. "Oh that hurts." She reached towards her wounded shoulder and then thought better of it. "Yea, you are definitely going to have to do the arm wrestling."
@Klomster A very interesting theory. Monks and I already have the 2nd post done and are working on the third, so you won't have to wait too long before getting the next part of the story. You got any idea of what you want to do yourself?
(A Spleen x Monkey collab)
"Oh shit." Seeker Cordelia couldn't help but mutter as she and her companion, Keeper Fytch, entered the small meeting room. Normally the room wouldn't possess anything interesting. The square shaped, thirty square foot room, was dominated by a large round table. Biege colored walls and carpets were sure to be quickly forgotten once out of sight. There were a few windows that granted the room's occupants a rather unremarkable view of the capital city of the Union. Oh and there was the body of a young woman lying on the table.
One might say it wasn't exactly rare for a Seeker agent to be found dead. It was a dangerous job after all. What was strange was that the body was inside the Capitol building of the Union. The state of the body was also far from what one would consider normal.
"Let's see here" Fytch commented with a casual tone as he approached the table. He pointedly ignored everyone else in the room as he gazed at the body. "This..." He glanced at a photo in his hand before looking back at the body, "definitely looks like Seeker Marissa."
Even in death Marissa was a beauty, the likes of which few others could match. Cordelia found that her beauty was perhaps enhanced further by the serene expression on her now lifeless face. In stark contrast to her unmared face was the grutesque state of her body. Her body rested on the table spread eagle, all of her clothes removed. Someone had taken the time to carefully remove the skin from her breasts, shoulders, and the bottoms of her feet. Her stomach had been torn open, her guts ripped out and left only partially removed from her body. Cordelia struggled to keep a wave of bile from forcefully exiting from her mouth.
"Who... would do something like this?" Cordelia muttered. "Its like someone... staged her."
"Probably some spurned lover." Fytch sounded like he blamed the woman for her own death.
"I don't see any signs of a struggle" Cordelia commented as she looked around. "Perhaps she was killed elsewhere and-"
Fytch made a loud snorting sound. "There's blood in the back corner over there." He gestured toward the corner with his chin before turning his attention back to Marissa's corpse. "Now why don't you be a good girl, stay out of my way, and not blow anything important up."
Cordelia shot Fytch a scowl before heading towards the corner, immediately noticing a small spatching of blood. The stain had an unusual straight edge to it, as if something square, that was no longer present, had been placed on the floor. Noticing another stain, this one definitely not blood, Cordelia knelt down.
Outside the room was a gathering crowd of senators, all formulating rumors as to the cause. Keeping them from the scene were the guards, whos now tarnished reputation of keeping peace was drawing increased scrutiny. They continued to weather the onslaught of insults until a loud voice sounded, burning silence into the minds of the mob.
"Where is Marissa!" a masculine voice sounded, prompting many to turn towards it. From a small set of steps rushed President Gibson.
"Where is she!" he shouted as the crowd made room for him. It seemed in an instant their cries of anger had turned to sorrow as the President forced his way into the room.
His initial reaction to this horrid sight was fury, his demands towards the Seeker and Keeper were unobtainable, but expected from a man in love. "Who did this!" His mind was racing from the sight. His thoughts turned from anger to sorrow as he sat heavily in one of the chairs.
"We are investigating the scene now" Keeper Fytch sounded entirely unimpressed by the President's display of emotion. Cordelia bowed her head for a moment before rising from her crouch and walking towards him.
"Mister President" The Seeker said as she approached. She positioned herself so she at least partially obscured his view of Marissa's corpse with her body. "You... shouldn't have to see this." Cordelia looked like she was fighting to keep the contents of her stomach inside and was just barely winning the battle. "Would you be willing to answer a few questions for me? Um... maybe someplace else?"
Gibson shot Fytch a dirty look before clinching his fists. "Fine." he said simply before standing up. He closed his eyes hard in an attempt to hide his tears but his face was turning slight shades a red. After taking one last look upon Marissa he made his way out of the room. Guards outside made room for the President and Seeker, pointing towards a small empty room across the hall.
It was a dimly lit room, dominated by two brightly lit vending machines. Gibson gazed about the room, finding memories in every corner which only worsened his state. He bagan to feel light headed so quickly took a seat. "Please." he said breathing audibly, "Please tell me what happened."
Cordelia made a face that was a mix of distress and uncertainty before opening her mouth to respond. "As we had only arrived at the scene moments before you we are still putting the pieces together. It is clear, however, that she was killed in that room. Great effort was put into moving her onto the table and... mutilating her body, presumibly in an effort to stage it. At this time I can not speculate on the reason for either the murder or staging of the body."
Gibson leaned back in his seat before leaning over to bury his face in his hands. "She didn't have any enemies I knew of." He paused, taking a breath. "I don't know what to do." he said softly.
"I suspect the intent behind her murder was less to end her and more to send a message to someone else." Cordelia said after a moment. "Despite the state of the body I am fairly confident that she had passed away before her body had been cut. I'm quite certain, in fact, that a test will show she was either drugged or poisoned. I... found a stain on the floor that might have been made by wine. That might be how the drugs or poison was delivered."
"Ah yes," Fytch's voice dripped with sarcasm as he entered the room, "because you have so much experience investigating murders that you can deduce that from thirty seconds of observation."
Cordelia was only partially sucessful in not scowling at the Keeper. "Did you find any evidence that she fought back? Any skin under her nails or bruises on her wrists? Any trauma that would suggest how she died?" Fytch simply shrugged. "See? She must have been poisoned. And it was probably by someone she knew."
"You Seekers always believe that you can't lose a fight." Fytch stated. "She probably got careless and allowed someone to sneak up behind her. It matters not." He held his hand up, revealing the journal and data storage device it held. "I found these placed on top of her rather neatly folded clothing. Whoever murdered her wanted to make it clear that he - or she - has no beef with our organization."
"And?" Cordelia prompted after a moment.
"And so my role here is done. This was not an attack on our organization and the perpatrator did not destroy or steal any information that Seeker Marissa had gathered."
Gibson looked up to Fytch, "How can you be sure?!" he said before pointing at the storage device, "How do you know there isn't information pertinent to this attrocity in there?"
"We'll go over all of this" Fytch patted the device with his other hand "when we put it into our library. If I'm proven wrong we'll reopen the case. Until then I'm closing it."
"We need to find out who did this?" Cordelia said.
"Well you are free to do so Seeker." Fytch said. "That is your job after all. I won't stop you. Know if you'll excuse me I have more important matters to see to." He slipped back out the door before either Cordelia or the President could respond.
"Go get kicked by a horse and die" Cordelia muttered just loud enough for the president to hear.
"So that's it then? How can he just abandon his-" Gibson bit his lip and shook his head, "What can we do from here. I loved her and who ever did this will pay."
"We need to find out who did this and why." Cordelia answered. She bit the inside of her cheek as she considered her options. "Ok, let's see if there was anything unusual in her reports." Cordelia said as she pulled out her comlink, switching it on to speaker mode as she set it down on the table.
"Keeper Walker here, what can I help you with Cordelia?" Came a moment later.
"I was hoping you could look into some of Seeker Marissa's reports for me. Does anything seem... odd to you?"
There was a long pause before Keeper Walker answered "I'd love to help you, but those records have been sealed for twenty years as per her agreement with President Gibson."
Gibson sighed before looking towards the comlink, "I could authorize unsealing this." He said aloud, as if weighing his options. A quick moment passed, "Alright, If I can amend that agreement, I'd like to have those opened if it will help me get justice."
"Is that President Gibson" Keeper Walker asked after a moment.
"It is" Cordelia answered.
"Shit. Sorry for your lose Mister President. I'll do what I can to help. Wait one." A few moments later Walker spoke up again. "Aaaalright. There's nothing here that is jumping out at me or has been flagged in any way. That doesn't mean there isn't anything pertinent here though. Shit. Seeker Marissa was meticulous in her record keeping. Almost as much as her sister." That last part came out half mumbled. "I'll go over her reports with a fine tooth comb, but it'll definitely take me a while."
"Copy that, can you focus on the last week or so?" Cordelia asked.
"Anything for the President. Anything else I can help you with?" Cordelia opened her mouth to answer, but shifted her gaze to Gibson before speaking.
"I do appreciate everything that the Librarios is doing to solve this situation. However, I will not lie and state that I am leaving the inquiry entirely up to the Atheneum. I would understand this to be purely an internal matter on your behalf under normal circumstances but we cannot rule out the possibility that this may only be a prelude to more devious actions, such as attacking either of our sovereign governments directly." Gibson replied calmly.
He stood up and leaned towards the comlink, "Please inform Librarium Rylan Cameron that my investigation will not involve probing into your internal workings and people, as I believe that is solely your responsibility. And by saying that, I would very much appreciate being afforded that same liberty."
Gibson leaned back and crossed his arms and shifted his gaze to Seeker Cordelia, "I was not aware Marissa had a sister. She failed to mention that fact."
"Maybe they didn't get along" Cordelia speculated with a shrug. "Walker, what can you tell me about this sister?"
"Well... Her name is Lyssa. She's Marissa's older twin sister. She's currently serving Librarios as an ARC commando." Cordelia's brows shot up at that last part.
"Interesting. Is there anything in her record about her relationship with Marissa. Also.... where is she now?"
"Interesting, Is there anything in her record about being available?" a gruff voice sounded from outside the room. Gibson watched as a figure walked casually into the room. He recieved a cross look from the President.
"Now is not the time for games, Oscar."
The gruff man made his way behind Cordelia in an attempt to examine her figure before looking to Gibson. "I do not believe we have met." Oscar said smoothly before looking back to Cordelia. "I am Oscar West of the Union NIS."
'"Seeker Cordelia of Bastion Atheneum" Cordelia said with a curt nod.
"Before anyone asks" Walker said, "If you saw Marissa when she was alive you probably have a good idea of what Lyssa looks like."
"Twins?" Cordelia asked, her brows shooting up for the second time.
"Identical twins." Walker specified. "I've met her a few times actually. I can personally confirm that the two women where almost identical in appearance, at least as of three years ago. I wouldn't be surprised if Lyssa has gotten a few scars or changed her hairstyle since then." He almost sounded wistful.
Oscar shook his head. "Guess she is off the table. I wasn't a big fan of Marissa. No offense."
Gibson wasn't amused whatsoever, "There is a time and place for those sentiments." Gibson furrowed his brow, "This is not the time and place for that."
"Sorry boss." Oscar replied.
"Your job is to assist with this investigation. I need your focus. What do you make of this." Gibson replied, looking at him directly.
"Well. I'm fairly certain this isn't political, at least in the traditional sense. It's plausible that there's some relation to her heritage, being the daughter of the previous Librarium." He gazed about the room. "And it's a sick fuck for sure."
"I believe looking in to this 'Lyssa' will yield some information." Gibson said Walker. "Is she accessable?"
"Give me a moment to look it up." Walker answered.
"What can you tell me about her relationship with Marissa?" Coredelia asked. "Given that Marissa has never even spoken about her to the President..."
"You can't possibly think she was behind this?!" Walker sounded legimitately distressed at the thought.
"I'm grasping at straws here, I know." Cordelia said. "But she's an ARC commando. If anyone could have snuck into this building, killed Marissa without a struggle, and escaped with no one being the wiser it would have been her."
"Eh... well I can tell you that it probably wasn't Lyssa." Walker said. "Her last known position has her out in the middle of the desert about three days' drive from here."
"And it's not like the bo-. Marissa had been in that room for days. There is sessions in these rooms nearly every day." Oscar said, further reassuring Lyssa's innocence.
"Well that's odd" Walker seemed to mumble to himself.
"What?!" Cordelia demanded.
"Ah... well Lyssa hasn't reported in for over a week. As I mentioned before, she's incredibly meticulous. I don't think she's missed a single scheduled report in over three years." There was a moment's pause before walker corrected himself "Actually she has never missed a report, until now."
"That... is concerning." Cordelia said with a frown. She turned her attention to Oscar, interested in how he'd assess that bit of info.
"I'll tell you, this sure does feel like a family affair. Strange that one sister suddenly goes missing and then Marissa gets murdered shortly thereafter." He smiled, "Only one way to solve this. Cordelia and I goes in a dark room and examines the evidence together." He said with a toothy grin.
Gibson rose his hand slightly to pause the conversation. "Alright, I am inclined to agree with Oscar on this one. It does seem like a potential family affair. Is Marissa's father still alive?"
"He passed away five years ago" Cordelia said. "Their mother passed away.... ten years ago I think."
"Seventeen years ago" Walker corrected. "No other living relatives that I'm aware of."
"Guess that narrows our options. What do ya'll think. Should we go hunting for some of the Librarios most illusive prey?" Oscar said.
"We need to find Lyssa" Cordelia agreed. "Either she was involved with Marissa's murder or she'll be in need of our assistence."
Gibson nodded, "Then that is the mission. I am curious though, Did the sisters keep contact the entire time? Marissa and I have been romantically involved for nearly three years and not once did she mention Lyssa nor arouse suspicion by leaving in the middle of the night or what not. I am not implying that she was kept on a leash, but Marissa was usually straight forward."
"Its hard to say" Walker admitted. "They seemed to have some minor correspondence over the past few years, but the amount shown on our records for the past three years can be counted on one hand. Not that that doesn't mean they didn't communicate more. Something of particular interest, however, is that apparently Marissa tried to send a message to Lyssa six days ago, but there is no sign that Lyssa recieved the message. And before you ask, no I can not tell you what the message was about."
"Because you don't know or...?" Cordelia began.
"Its not in our records." Walker stated firmly.
"It's Wheeler right? So what was your ARC commando doing in the middle of the desert anyway?" Oscar asked.
"Its Walker" Walker snapped. "And I honestly shouldn't have even told you she was in the desert. I'm getting hit with 'Top Secret' warnings just for pulling her file up."
"I need to know where she is exactly" Cordelia said. "Come on. You owe me."
Gibson furthered the plea, "Mr Walker, I implore you. I need justice for Marissa. If there is anything more you can do."
Walker let out a long sigh before saying "Look, I'll ping your comlink with where Lyssa is supposed to be. But you owe me Cordelia. Like you really owe me."
"What is she doing out there?" Cordelia pressed.
"I can't say." Was all Walker responded with.
"Alright wheels, Thank you for the info." Oscar said clearly on purpose. "I think it's time we got a move on. The longer we wait, the further she could get from the location wheels didn't give us." He paused and looked to Cordelia, "You know, I'd consider deploying a couple fighters for routine patrol. Maybe get a few airial pictures of the area. And with how common our flights are I'm sure she wouldn't think nothing of it."
"I'm glad you Unioners love your planes." Cordelia answered with a smile.
"Cordelia" Walker said. "Watch your back. Whatever Lyssa is... or was... doing in the desert must have been important. Her records were marked top secret by the very top."
"The Librarium?" Cordelia half asked.
"Yup. Try not to get yourself killed. Ok? Walker out."
Before the two could leave the room, President Gibson was issuing the order for a flight to take high altitude images of the area pinged. "By the time you reach Reiters army base, pictures will be available."
"That is the base north of town." Oscar said to Cordelia.
"And you two be careful. The stakes are high, I would expect nothing but the best from each of you." Gibson said before turning away from the two, giving back in to his sorrows.
Bastion, The Union
"Oh shit." Seeker Cordelia couldn't help but mutter as she and her companion, Keeper Fytch, entered the small meeting room. Normally the room wouldn't possess anything interesting. The square shaped, thirty square foot room, was dominated by a large round table. Biege colored walls and carpets were sure to be quickly forgotten once out of sight. There were a few windows that granted the room's occupants a rather unremarkable view of the capital city of the Union. Oh and there was the body of a young woman lying on the table.
One might say it wasn't exactly rare for a Seeker agent to be found dead. It was a dangerous job after all. What was strange was that the body was inside the Capitol building of the Union. The state of the body was also far from what one would consider normal.
"Let's see here" Fytch commented with a casual tone as he approached the table. He pointedly ignored everyone else in the room as he gazed at the body. "This..." He glanced at a photo in his hand before looking back at the body, "definitely looks like Seeker Marissa."
Even in death Marissa was a beauty, the likes of which few others could match. Cordelia found that her beauty was perhaps enhanced further by the serene expression on her now lifeless face. In stark contrast to her unmared face was the grutesque state of her body. Her body rested on the table spread eagle, all of her clothes removed. Someone had taken the time to carefully remove the skin from her breasts, shoulders, and the bottoms of her feet. Her stomach had been torn open, her guts ripped out and left only partially removed from her body. Cordelia struggled to keep a wave of bile from forcefully exiting from her mouth.
"Who... would do something like this?" Cordelia muttered. "Its like someone... staged her."
"Probably some spurned lover." Fytch sounded like he blamed the woman for her own death.
"I don't see any signs of a struggle" Cordelia commented as she looked around. "Perhaps she was killed elsewhere and-"
Fytch made a loud snorting sound. "There's blood in the back corner over there." He gestured toward the corner with his chin before turning his attention back to Marissa's corpse. "Now why don't you be a good girl, stay out of my way, and not blow anything important up."
Cordelia shot Fytch a scowl before heading towards the corner, immediately noticing a small spatching of blood. The stain had an unusual straight edge to it, as if something square, that was no longer present, had been placed on the floor. Noticing another stain, this one definitely not blood, Cordelia knelt down.
Outside the room was a gathering crowd of senators, all formulating rumors as to the cause. Keeping them from the scene were the guards, whos now tarnished reputation of keeping peace was drawing increased scrutiny. They continued to weather the onslaught of insults until a loud voice sounded, burning silence into the minds of the mob.
"Where is Marissa!" a masculine voice sounded, prompting many to turn towards it. From a small set of steps rushed President Gibson.
"Where is she!" he shouted as the crowd made room for him. It seemed in an instant their cries of anger had turned to sorrow as the President forced his way into the room.
His initial reaction to this horrid sight was fury, his demands towards the Seeker and Keeper were unobtainable, but expected from a man in love. "Who did this!" His mind was racing from the sight. His thoughts turned from anger to sorrow as he sat heavily in one of the chairs.
"We are investigating the scene now" Keeper Fytch sounded entirely unimpressed by the President's display of emotion. Cordelia bowed her head for a moment before rising from her crouch and walking towards him.
"Mister President" The Seeker said as she approached. She positioned herself so she at least partially obscured his view of Marissa's corpse with her body. "You... shouldn't have to see this." Cordelia looked like she was fighting to keep the contents of her stomach inside and was just barely winning the battle. "Would you be willing to answer a few questions for me? Um... maybe someplace else?"
Gibson shot Fytch a dirty look before clinching his fists. "Fine." he said simply before standing up. He closed his eyes hard in an attempt to hide his tears but his face was turning slight shades a red. After taking one last look upon Marissa he made his way out of the room. Guards outside made room for the President and Seeker, pointing towards a small empty room across the hall.
It was a dimly lit room, dominated by two brightly lit vending machines. Gibson gazed about the room, finding memories in every corner which only worsened his state. He bagan to feel light headed so quickly took a seat. "Please." he said breathing audibly, "Please tell me what happened."
Cordelia made a face that was a mix of distress and uncertainty before opening her mouth to respond. "As we had only arrived at the scene moments before you we are still putting the pieces together. It is clear, however, that she was killed in that room. Great effort was put into moving her onto the table and... mutilating her body, presumibly in an effort to stage it. At this time I can not speculate on the reason for either the murder or staging of the body."
Gibson leaned back in his seat before leaning over to bury his face in his hands. "She didn't have any enemies I knew of." He paused, taking a breath. "I don't know what to do." he said softly.
"I suspect the intent behind her murder was less to end her and more to send a message to someone else." Cordelia said after a moment. "Despite the state of the body I am fairly confident that she had passed away before her body had been cut. I'm quite certain, in fact, that a test will show she was either drugged or poisoned. I... found a stain on the floor that might have been made by wine. That might be how the drugs or poison was delivered."
"Ah yes," Fytch's voice dripped with sarcasm as he entered the room, "because you have so much experience investigating murders that you can deduce that from thirty seconds of observation."
Cordelia was only partially sucessful in not scowling at the Keeper. "Did you find any evidence that she fought back? Any skin under her nails or bruises on her wrists? Any trauma that would suggest how she died?" Fytch simply shrugged. "See? She must have been poisoned. And it was probably by someone she knew."
"You Seekers always believe that you can't lose a fight." Fytch stated. "She probably got careless and allowed someone to sneak up behind her. It matters not." He held his hand up, revealing the journal and data storage device it held. "I found these placed on top of her rather neatly folded clothing. Whoever murdered her wanted to make it clear that he - or she - has no beef with our organization."
"And?" Cordelia prompted after a moment.
"And so my role here is done. This was not an attack on our organization and the perpatrator did not destroy or steal any information that Seeker Marissa had gathered."
Gibson looked up to Fytch, "How can you be sure?!" he said before pointing at the storage device, "How do you know there isn't information pertinent to this attrocity in there?"
"We'll go over all of this" Fytch patted the device with his other hand "when we put it into our library. If I'm proven wrong we'll reopen the case. Until then I'm closing it."
"We need to find out who did this?" Cordelia said.
"Well you are free to do so Seeker." Fytch said. "That is your job after all. I won't stop you. Know if you'll excuse me I have more important matters to see to." He slipped back out the door before either Cordelia or the President could respond.
"Go get kicked by a horse and die" Cordelia muttered just loud enough for the president to hear.
"So that's it then? How can he just abandon his-" Gibson bit his lip and shook his head, "What can we do from here. I loved her and who ever did this will pay."
"We need to find out who did this and why." Cordelia answered. She bit the inside of her cheek as she considered her options. "Ok, let's see if there was anything unusual in her reports." Cordelia said as she pulled out her comlink, switching it on to speaker mode as she set it down on the table.
"Keeper Walker here, what can I help you with Cordelia?" Came a moment later.
"I was hoping you could look into some of Seeker Marissa's reports for me. Does anything seem... odd to you?"
There was a long pause before Keeper Walker answered "I'd love to help you, but those records have been sealed for twenty years as per her agreement with President Gibson."
Gibson sighed before looking towards the comlink, "I could authorize unsealing this." He said aloud, as if weighing his options. A quick moment passed, "Alright, If I can amend that agreement, I'd like to have those opened if it will help me get justice."
"Is that President Gibson" Keeper Walker asked after a moment.
"It is" Cordelia answered.
"Shit. Sorry for your lose Mister President. I'll do what I can to help. Wait one." A few moments later Walker spoke up again. "Aaaalright. There's nothing here that is jumping out at me or has been flagged in any way. That doesn't mean there isn't anything pertinent here though. Shit. Seeker Marissa was meticulous in her record keeping. Almost as much as her sister." That last part came out half mumbled. "I'll go over her reports with a fine tooth comb, but it'll definitely take me a while."
"Copy that, can you focus on the last week or so?" Cordelia asked.
"Anything for the President. Anything else I can help you with?" Cordelia opened her mouth to answer, but shifted her gaze to Gibson before speaking.
"I do appreciate everything that the Librarios is doing to solve this situation. However, I will not lie and state that I am leaving the inquiry entirely up to the Atheneum. I would understand this to be purely an internal matter on your behalf under normal circumstances but we cannot rule out the possibility that this may only be a prelude to more devious actions, such as attacking either of our sovereign governments directly." Gibson replied calmly.
He stood up and leaned towards the comlink, "Please inform Librarium Rylan Cameron that my investigation will not involve probing into your internal workings and people, as I believe that is solely your responsibility. And by saying that, I would very much appreciate being afforded that same liberty."
Gibson leaned back and crossed his arms and shifted his gaze to Seeker Cordelia, "I was not aware Marissa had a sister. She failed to mention that fact."
"Maybe they didn't get along" Cordelia speculated with a shrug. "Walker, what can you tell me about this sister?"
"Well... Her name is Lyssa. She's Marissa's older twin sister. She's currently serving Librarios as an ARC commando." Cordelia's brows shot up at that last part.
"Interesting. Is there anything in her record about her relationship with Marissa. Also.... where is she now?"
"Interesting, Is there anything in her record about being available?" a gruff voice sounded from outside the room. Gibson watched as a figure walked casually into the room. He recieved a cross look from the President.
"Now is not the time for games, Oscar."
The gruff man made his way behind Cordelia in an attempt to examine her figure before looking to Gibson. "I do not believe we have met." Oscar said smoothly before looking back to Cordelia. "I am Oscar West of the Union NIS."
'"Seeker Cordelia of Bastion Atheneum" Cordelia said with a curt nod.
"Before anyone asks" Walker said, "If you saw Marissa when she was alive you probably have a good idea of what Lyssa looks like."
"Twins?" Cordelia asked, her brows shooting up for the second time.
"Identical twins." Walker specified. "I've met her a few times actually. I can personally confirm that the two women where almost identical in appearance, at least as of three years ago. I wouldn't be surprised if Lyssa has gotten a few scars or changed her hairstyle since then." He almost sounded wistful.
Oscar shook his head. "Guess she is off the table. I wasn't a big fan of Marissa. No offense."
Gibson wasn't amused whatsoever, "There is a time and place for those sentiments." Gibson furrowed his brow, "This is not the time and place for that."
"Sorry boss." Oscar replied.
"Your job is to assist with this investigation. I need your focus. What do you make of this." Gibson replied, looking at him directly.
"Well. I'm fairly certain this isn't political, at least in the traditional sense. It's plausible that there's some relation to her heritage, being the daughter of the previous Librarium." He gazed about the room. "And it's a sick fuck for sure."
"I believe looking in to this 'Lyssa' will yield some information." Gibson said Walker. "Is she accessable?"
"Give me a moment to look it up." Walker answered.
"What can you tell me about her relationship with Marissa?" Coredelia asked. "Given that Marissa has never even spoken about her to the President..."
"You can't possibly think she was behind this?!" Walker sounded legimitately distressed at the thought.
"I'm grasping at straws here, I know." Cordelia said. "But she's an ARC commando. If anyone could have snuck into this building, killed Marissa without a struggle, and escaped with no one being the wiser it would have been her."
"Eh... well I can tell you that it probably wasn't Lyssa." Walker said. "Her last known position has her out in the middle of the desert about three days' drive from here."
"And it's not like the bo-. Marissa had been in that room for days. There is sessions in these rooms nearly every day." Oscar said, further reassuring Lyssa's innocence.
"Well that's odd" Walker seemed to mumble to himself.
"What?!" Cordelia demanded.
"Ah... well Lyssa hasn't reported in for over a week. As I mentioned before, she's incredibly meticulous. I don't think she's missed a single scheduled report in over three years." There was a moment's pause before walker corrected himself "Actually she has never missed a report, until now."
"That... is concerning." Cordelia said with a frown. She turned her attention to Oscar, interested in how he'd assess that bit of info.
"I'll tell you, this sure does feel like a family affair. Strange that one sister suddenly goes missing and then Marissa gets murdered shortly thereafter." He smiled, "Only one way to solve this. Cordelia and I goes in a dark room and examines the evidence together." He said with a toothy grin.
Gibson rose his hand slightly to pause the conversation. "Alright, I am inclined to agree with Oscar on this one. It does seem like a potential family affair. Is Marissa's father still alive?"
"He passed away five years ago" Cordelia said. "Their mother passed away.... ten years ago I think."
"Seventeen years ago" Walker corrected. "No other living relatives that I'm aware of."
"Guess that narrows our options. What do ya'll think. Should we go hunting for some of the Librarios most illusive prey?" Oscar said.
"We need to find Lyssa" Cordelia agreed. "Either she was involved with Marissa's murder or she'll be in need of our assistence."
Gibson nodded, "Then that is the mission. I am curious though, Did the sisters keep contact the entire time? Marissa and I have been romantically involved for nearly three years and not once did she mention Lyssa nor arouse suspicion by leaving in the middle of the night or what not. I am not implying that she was kept on a leash, but Marissa was usually straight forward."
"Its hard to say" Walker admitted. "They seemed to have some minor correspondence over the past few years, but the amount shown on our records for the past three years can be counted on one hand. Not that that doesn't mean they didn't communicate more. Something of particular interest, however, is that apparently Marissa tried to send a message to Lyssa six days ago, but there is no sign that Lyssa recieved the message. And before you ask, no I can not tell you what the message was about."
"Because you don't know or...?" Cordelia began.
"Its not in our records." Walker stated firmly.
"It's Wheeler right? So what was your ARC commando doing in the middle of the desert anyway?" Oscar asked.
"Its Walker" Walker snapped. "And I honestly shouldn't have even told you she was in the desert. I'm getting hit with 'Top Secret' warnings just for pulling her file up."
"I need to know where she is exactly" Cordelia said. "Come on. You owe me."
Gibson furthered the plea, "Mr Walker, I implore you. I need justice for Marissa. If there is anything more you can do."
Walker let out a long sigh before saying "Look, I'll ping your comlink with where Lyssa is supposed to be. But you owe me Cordelia. Like you really owe me."
"What is she doing out there?" Cordelia pressed.
"I can't say." Was all Walker responded with.
"Alright wheels, Thank you for the info." Oscar said clearly on purpose. "I think it's time we got a move on. The longer we wait, the further she could get from the location wheels didn't give us." He paused and looked to Cordelia, "You know, I'd consider deploying a couple fighters for routine patrol. Maybe get a few airial pictures of the area. And with how common our flights are I'm sure she wouldn't think nothing of it."
"I'm glad you Unioners love your planes." Cordelia answered with a smile.
"Cordelia" Walker said. "Watch your back. Whatever Lyssa is... or was... doing in the desert must have been important. Her records were marked top secret by the very top."
"The Librarium?" Cordelia half asked.
"Yup. Try not to get yourself killed. Ok? Walker out."
Before the two could leave the room, President Gibson was issuing the order for a flight to take high altitude images of the area pinged. "By the time you reach Reiters army base, pictures will be available."
"That is the base north of town." Oscar said to Cordelia.
"And you two be careful. The stakes are high, I would expect nothing but the best from each of you." Gibson said before turning away from the two, giving back in to his sorrows.
Here's what I've got.
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