EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

At first, the soldier started to reflexively turn his spear towards Gallus, but the warrior next to him grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. Although this was all happening rather suddenly, no one, not even the Cathay woman, wanted to interfere with the Champion, whoever she might be. With Meesei's reputation, it was possible that they simply expected that the real Champion would be the one to emerge victorious.

As for the fight, Meesei intended to end it quickly. She jerked the impostor's wrist towards her, then slashed her claws across her face. The woman attempted to retain her momentum and tackle Meesei, but against the power of Meesei's lycan form, she might as well have been pushing against a wall. With her height advantage, Meesei was able to strike the back of her opponent's head hard enough to knock her to the floor. The impostor's claws did make a few cuts down Meesei's side as she was forced downwards, but they were rather minor wounds.

Once her opponent was on the ground, Meesei reached down with one hand, grabbed the top of her head, and started pushing it into the floor to help keep her down. At the same time, she stomped on one of the impostor's hands and kept her foot pressing it into the ground, while stabbing her claws into her shoulder. The impostor tried flailing around with her free arm, but with the angle Meesei was standing at, she could hardly reach her.

"You are the one that the enemy sent to impersonate me? Your appearance is the only trait you share with me. Your control over your beast is that of a novice, and your strength barely more than a pup." Meesei growled. She was normally not one to boast in any way, but in this moment, she needed to make it abundantly clear which of them was superior. She dug her claws deeper into the impostor's shoulder, which produced a pained growl. "Surrender yourself, and any knowledge you might have, and you may yet live."

"No...never! I will not give myself up to a...mongrel like you!" The impostor shouted. Again, she tried to struggle, but again, Meesei pushed her claws deeper into her shoulder.

"Surrender, now!" Meesei demanded, tightening her grip even further.

"Aaaarrrh...I...can't!" The woman shouted in a voice as close to a scream as a werewolf was capable of producing.

Meesei's response was simple, and unmistakably threatening. "Then I shall make you." She declared before pushing her claws as deeply as she could into her victim's shoulder, while also pulling outwards. Bones were crushed from the force, and tendons snapped from the strain until Meesei finally ripped the arm clean from her body. The impostor let out a roar of pure agony as the blood poured from her wound, forming a pool beneath her almost immediately.

Instantly, Meesei began her transformation back to Argonian form. Just as she had told Gallus, she did not necessarily want the impostor to die just yet, and if that was to be the case, she would need immediate attention. Of course, the type of aid Meesei intended to give was no more pleasant than the initial injury. As soon as she was back to normal, Meesei extended her hand down towards her opponent and let loose a stream of fire directly onto the wound to burn it closed and stop the bleeding.

Between the dismemberment and cauterization, the impostor fell unconscious from shock. It remained to be seen whether she would survive at all, but it was still a possibility at this point. The one certainty at the moment was that Meesei had made the undeniable impression that she was not a woman to be trifled with.

---

"M'ibasa wants to rest." He said, hanging his head low. "Walking, walking, more walking. It's all we've been doing for weeks. He wants to just...go to sleep for a few days, then have all the time he wants to play with his friends. Inside, out of the sun."

Ma'tanza smiled at M'ibasa. "Brother, Ma'tanza thinks that is something all of us can agree with.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

With both of the potential Champions transformed, many of the soldiers around them showed their first real signs of doubt in what they had been told. Meesei was very obviously the superior werewolf, and much more in line with her reputation. Some of them began pulling their weapons back and giving each other questioning looks. Meanwhile, Meesei took a few more steps towards the imposter.

"You are small, weak, and far from being anyone's Champion, impostor. This ploy you and your masters have constructed is clever, I shall admit, but you are nothing next to me. Come, the Champion of Hircine is meant to be the strongest lycan in Tamriel. If that is you, then prove it!" Meesei shouted, punctuating her challenge with a loud growl.

Meesei had expected the impostor to back down once she had a good look at who exactly she was facing, but too her surprise, she still stood firm. Or at least, she had a certain frightened determination. Perhaps she was too afraid of punishment to even consider failing her mission, or her beast spirit was driving her anger, but instead of backing down, the impostor rushed forward, likely in the hopes of landing a surprise strike. Meesei, however, had much finer control over her beast than her opponent, and was able to catch her arm by the wrist with little effort. It appeared as if this was going to be a fight, though it did not look like it would be a difficult one.

Just to the right of Gallus, one of the soldiers was holding his weapon forward nervously. He was just as clueless about what he should be doing as his fellow warriors around him, but he looked as if he was inching his way forwards, and could possibly interfere.

---

Ma'tanza chuckled lightly. "Oh please, don't talk about that. You're making Ma'tanza thirsty just thinking about it. She tends to like meat more than fruit, but this one would just love to get her hands on something nice and juicy. Though, meat can be juicy as well. Imagine a nice, bloody cut of mutton, or pork. Something freshly killed and unpreserved. That would be great.

Bheja groaned. "Yeah...can we not talk about this? I have been craving real food for...well essentially the last few weeks. I'd rather not think about what I'm missing out on."

Ma'tanza crossed her arms and huffed. "Oh, so now it's you who wants to stop talking?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Though they had already spoken, Meesei felt the need to hold out her hand briefly to Gallus to hold him back. His mind was far from being in a rational state at the moment. Nevertheless, Meesei had to focus on dealing with this impostor. The Cathay woman seemed just as surprised as the Argonian herself, and looked at her with worry. "What is the meaning of this, Champion?"

To her credit, the Argonian woman was able to reign in her initial surprise enough that the Cathay woman did not notice it, but her response was unmistakably emotional. "Impersonating? You expect these people to believe such...obvious lies? I am the Champion of Hircine, and you are the impostor. I will not have my authority challenged by this liar. Kill her! Kill them all!" She commanded. However, the soldiers around them were far from resolute on the order. Many looked around in confusion, particularly towards the Cathay woman. A few of them raised their weapons, but hesitated when the order was not confirmed.

Meesei, meanwhile, maintained perfect composure. "You are panicking; I can see it in your eyes. I do not panic." Meesei declared, shifting her gaze to the Cathay who she assumed to be the clan leader. "Has she even transformed for you yet? That forgery on her finger has impressive craftsmanship, but she is not the Champion."

"I...will not be challenged by you! Not only am I a lycan, but I am the alpha of all lycans." The impostor shouted. As she spoke, she threw off her satchel, then closed her eyes and allowed her body to shift its form. Her bones broke and reformed, molding her body into the form of a werewolf. This impostor did indeed have lycanthropy, but her werewolf form was of average size at best. Even so, her transformation, followed by the growl she gave once it was complete, did prompt some more of the soldiers to raise their weapons towards Meesei.

Meesei retained her calm and did not react to the threatening stances of some of the warriors. "So you are a lycan? Impressive dedication, but..." She began as she too as she allowed her beast free from the confines of her mind. Her body twisted itself into her more bestial form, which was, of course, far more intimidating than the impostor's comparatively pathetic display. Her werewolf form was larger, stronger, and overall more imposing than even Gallus, and certainly more than the impostor, by a rather significant degree. "...so am I."

---

Bheja was hardly holding back his laughter by the end of his explanation. S'nishi was laying down next to him, though she was much harder to read. Her face was not as expressive as a Suthay, so it was difficult to tell just by looking how she felt about the situation. Although, she clearly did not seem to want to interrupt Bheja.

When Tzirret attempted to change the subject, Bheja leaned over and nudged S'nishi. "Well, I know what we will be doing."

Ignoring Bheja's comment, Ma'tanza readily embraced Tzirret's suggestion. "Yes, let's talk about something else. Ma'tanza hopes they have enough water to swim in. This is the desert, so she isn't too hopeful, but it would be nice."

Coruscant Sacked: Aftermath

~|Day 3, 20:45-20:46 GST|~

~|Fa-Val-Kuul, Location: Mos Eisley, Docking Area|~

Walking around the docks without suspicion was a bit more difficult than Fa had hoped, mostly because it seemed like everyone she encountered regarded everyone else with suspicion. Although, she supposed that meant that she did not have any specific suspicion on her. However, she had experience in such places as well. Tracking a target could take her through a city just as easily as the wilds, so she had to be adaptable. After observing the people around her, she did what she could to match her mannerisms to their own. But, at that point, she had already attracted some attention.

Fa stopped in her tracks and sniffed the air when she caught a familiar scent. It was the one she had been tracking, and it was close, very close. It was that scent that alerted her to the pickpocket at her side, and she might have been angry had the child actually been in a position to take anything. Her valuables were in the pouches on her armor, not the cloak she was wearing over it, so the pocket he had reached into was empty.

Without making too many sudden movements, and without looking directly at the children, Fa spoke up just loudly enough for them to hear. “If it is credits you want, I have a job for you.” She offered, directly and calmly.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

With Gallus at least mostly under control, it was only a few silent, tense minutes more of waiting before the Suthay-raht warrior returned. During that time, some of the clan’s members passing through the chamber gave strange glances to the group under guard near the entrance, but none paid close enough attention to recognize Meesei.

From the passageway to their left, three people entered the chamber. The first was the Suthay-raht who led the group currently guarding them. The second was a large Cathay woman, likely a warrior, though it was difficult to judge her build at the moment, since the cloak she wore draped over her shoulders was rather loose fitting. It was made of simple brown fabric, and looked as if it would easily fall off without so much as tearing in the event of a transformation. The last individual was an Argonian woman. She had light green scales, red feathers atop her head, and two prominent curved horns. Meesei kept her hood up and allowed herself to blend in among her group as they drew closer, so that this impostor would not spot her too soon.

As the three drew closer, Meesei could see that, while this Argonian had the same prominent features, her face had an entirely different structure to Meesei’s own. She was obviously a different individual, but if one was just going off of a description, then she could see how it would be easy for the clan to have been fooled by her.

When the trio reached the group, the impostor was the first to speak. “Now, what is this that requires my attention? I do not recognize any of these people.” Evidently, the warrior had not given the full explanation of the problem at hand.

Meesei stepped forward in front of the group, lowering her hood to reveal her face. “Is that so? Perhaps you should, for you are impersonating one of them.” She said, being sure that her ring was clearly visible on her hand.

While most of those in the clan were focusing on Meesei, anyone who was paying close attention to the impostor might notice her eyes widen, and a tinge of worry appear in her expression.

---

Ma’tanza lowered her head meekly. “This one did not ask anything wrong. We were all talking and laughing together, and Ma’tanza ending up asking how Bheja’s relationship with her sister even works.”

”Which means: ‘how do we mate?’” Bheja added.

Ma’tanza practically growled at Bheja. ”No it doesn’t, Bheja! There is a lot more to a relationship than mating, and there is a lot more Ma’tanza could have been talking about.”

Bheja chuckled. ”Could have, but not actually were. Anyway, it seems like Tzirret here is pretty interested, seeing how he keeps asking about it. I think I’ll tell him as well. First we…”

”Bheja! M’ibasa is far too young for this kind of talk!” Ma’tanza shouted, this time with an undeniably serious expression.

Bheja nodded apologetically. ”Of course, of course. You’re right; your brother shouldn’t hear this.” He said, but predictably, he put on a grin as he continued. “So, I’ll just switch to Cyrodilic.” He said. What followed was a rather lengthy and detailed explanation to Tzirret of his and S’nishi’s mating habits, regardless of how much anyone protested.

Star Wars: Coruscant Underworld [Always accepting!]

Tir had both her datapad and the replacement disassembled on the floor of her apartment. Each part was laid out in a perfect, organized order based on how they all fit together. Unfortunately, she had encountered one obstacle in that the replacement screen’s connectors were too corroded to be useful, but that was something she could work around. Taking out her knife, she cut the wire leading to the connector on both screens, then paused briefly to gather what she would need to splice them back together from her reserve of parts.

Once the new connector was attached, Tir was able to reassemble her datapad with its new screen, then store away the remainder of the useful parts she had been working with for later use. Afterwards, she powered up the datapad, which, to her relief, powered up just as normal. The screen seemed to be in fine condition, though she could only guess when the next part would need replacing. Regardless, it could once more connect to the holonet, and of course the moment it did, she received multiple alerts of messages she had missed. The first was a message from the Stars, trying to recruit her into their gang as they always did after she returned a bounty to them. The next two were spam messages offering various bodily enhancements from questionably companies, while the last two were job offers from a contact she knew to be a member of the Sirens. In general, she did not accept jobs that were offered to her, and instead sought out bounties on her own. But, if the job was not something she found objectionable, she sometimes made exceptions. By 3030 standards, the Sirens were an organization she could consider acceptable, so it was possible she might take one of the offers. She would need time to think on the matter, since she was not exactly in need of credits at the moment.

After a glance down at the tools she still needed to put away, she looked to her prosthetic for a moment. She rotated its joints and flexed out the artificial muscles while listening closely at the faint sounds it produced. She was getting a small amount of resistance in the movements, so it was likely that its inner workings required another good cleaning. While it offered some advantages over a biological limb, it did require occasional maintenance. The present was as good of a time as any, so she collected her cleaning solution, deactivated the limb’s pain receptors, then set to work opening up its outer plating.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Good. Be alert, in case the impostor has allies, but do not act with aggression, even towards the impostor. I will challenge her if she does not surrender immediately, but I would still prefer to keep her alive for questioning." Meesei commented. The spearmen and other warriors around them were of course listening to the conversation, but none of them made any comment. They were almost all carrying looks of confusion and uncertainty. As stressful as this was for Meesei and her group, these warriors were faced with the knowledge that one of those claiming to be Champion in the clan was an impostor, and as of yet had no way to know which was the liar.

Ra'kalesh looked towards the tree at the center of the chamber, then to the streams surrounding it. "Well, this one does not know of course, but it could be like a fountain. It could use magic, or something else to push water up from below. Once it's up here, it can flow back down."

---

Ma'tanza raised up her hands and shook her head. "Oh, no no, that isn't necessary. This one is sure you don't want to hear..."

Before Ma'tanza could finish her statement, Bheja spoke up through his laughter. "Ma'tanza here, in her endless curiosity, decided to ask how I, at my size, could possibly give S'nishi the more...carnal pleasures of our relationship."

Ma'tanza glared at Bheja angrily. "Ma'tanza did NOT ask that, and you know it Bheja!"

Bheja shrugged his shoulders. "Eh, maybe, but that's what you meant. Well, let's just say I answered." He said with a grin.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Goodnight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei, while she understood Gallus' anger, had little patience for it. The situation they were in at the moment was a delicate one, and she could not afford to allow his temperament to compromise their safety. She turned to him and stared into his eyes sternly. "Gallus, calm yourself, immediately. This is neither the time nor place for any outbursts. These people do not know who you are, and may not care. But, when this is over, there will be no denying who I am. This impostor will not make it past this day, but I will be the one to deal with her. Understood?"

Near to Uthri, Ra'kalesh appeared equally as impressed with the chamber. He still had all of his belongings, as he had not been armed with any conventional weapons when they entered. All he was carrying, aside from the scraps of clothing he was wearing and a few pouches, were two steel bracers that covered his forearms. "This place does feel...alive. It is far different from the barren wasteland surrounding this place. It reminds Ra'kalesh of the forests he calls home. And all of this water...this one doubts it is being wasted. Even in the most fertile of Oases, it is best to save water. These streams probably flow in a a loop through the ruin, though for what purpose this one cannot say. Hopefully, we will be able to enjoy it all as guests soon."

---

"Nothing...important. Nothing important." Ma'tanza repeated with surprise and nervousness upon hearing Tzirret's voice. "Bheja...just told a joke, but only he finds it funny."

Bheja began to laugh even louder. "Yeah, that's what happened. No question. Nothing at all happened; nothing at all." He said with a voice that practically oozed sarcasm.

Throughout the exchange, M'ibasa was looking around in confusion. "M'ibasa doesn't understand what Bheja meant. Why would sister want to..."

Before M'ibasa could finish his sentence, Ma'tanza quickly leaned over and covered his mouth with her hand. "Those were words not meant for you, little brother. Just...forget he said them."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As soon as Gallus started to transform, the warriors went even more on guard, and two of the unarmored warriors in the back of their line started to transform as well. What Gallus intended as a proof of identity, the warriors took as a threat.

"Stay back! We have you surrounded, and won't hesitate to kill you." The warrior threatened. "There is definitely an impostor here, but...how does this one know it isn't you?"

Meesei held up her hand to Gallus and the others. "Be calm, we will bring to light whatever deception is occurring here." She said before turning back to the warriors with her still-calm expression. "Regardless of whether you think that I, or the other, is the impostor, I am sure that your clan leader would want to see us both, yes? We are unarmed, and you can escort us. I too would like to see this impostor."

There was a pause from the warriors, one that hung in the air for what seemed like minutes, though it was only seconds. The same Ohmes that spoke before turned nervously to his superior. “Sir?” He asked, unsure what to do.

“Yes, yes, I am sure she would. Move slowly, leave your weapons behind, and don’t try getting close to us.” The Suthay-raht instructed.

Meesei complied and followed the lead of the warriors ahead of them. As the group moved forward, the warriors behind them collected their weapons, while making sure that none in the group moved too slowly forward. It was not far until they reached the main chamber, and under any other circumstances, it would have been quite the sight to behold. The main chamber was not under the largest of the hills, it was inside of it. The entirety of the hill was hollow, with a sizable hole at the top that let sunlight into the chamber. The floor and walls were made of carved sandstone, though all of the carvings on them were too worn to be recognizable. To the left and right of them, on the far sides of the room, there were small waterfalls flowing down from the walls on either side of the passageways that appeared to lead down deeper into the ruin. The waters flowed into small streams of water that ran towards the center of the room, then in a circle around it. The water drained into openings around the outside of the central island, on which there was a decently sized tree with bright blue blossums. Indeed, all around the chamber were various flowers, bushes, and vines running up the sides of the walls. It had more plant life in one room than the clan had seen for weeks. Above them, there was wooden scaffolding leading all the way up to the hole in the top of the hill.

“Stay here, and keep them under guard. This one will go find Ri’vashi and the Champion…or whoever she is.” The Suthay-raht commanded to one of his subordinates before setting off down one of the passageways.

----

As usual, Ma’tanza was with her friends, as well as S’nishi and M’ibasa. To protect themselves from the sun, they had arranged their tents in a circle, and were all, apart from S’nishi, sitting underneath them with their entrances untied. Ma’tanza had not yet seen Tzirret, but she had a rather obviously embarrassed expression, while Bheja was laughing.