OwO

SPIRITUM

Justice

Thankfully, the truck didn't require an engine rebuild--something that would have taken days if not weeks. Just some realignment and resealing. What tubes had exploded and bolts had been shorn across the rest of the truck were replaced. Additional parts that had given out were--with enough looking--swapped out with scrapyard equivalents.

What Justice had been doing while everyone was conversing was mudding up the burn marks, kicking out some dents, and patching the canvas cover. Of course, the patches were noticeable. But it was certainly less attention grabbing. She'd rather the truck look like it was damaged long ago rather than recently. If that were the case, someone uninterested in it would simply think of the vehicle as old surplus that found its way to a private buyer.

Though, that didn't mean she wasn't listening to the group.

"If that thing came back, it'd probably not care what we're driving barring a bigger, stronger airship." Justice said over the noise of her kicking out dents from the inside of the cab. "I'm more worried about the hicks. We have a bad track record with them already."

The final kick was significantly louder than the last few as her annoyance finally boiled over. The dent popped as it somewhat returned to its proper form, though the metal still had a warped outline where the dent once was.

"With our luck?" Justice replied to Gerard. She didn't elaborate further.

SPIRITUM

Justice

"I like fighting." Justice said plainly. "But I'm also the one who has to write reports and do paperwork." Justice paused carving the details on the bullet shark. "And I prefer not having to spend time trying to figure out what's true and what's bullshit."

Then came the topic of how they were to continue their road trip.

"We probably salvage a less damaged gasket from somewhere. Fix the fuel lines and injectors. Pray that none of the important bits were damaged."

---

Justice never actually slept in the RV. Instead, she had been sleeping in a chair adjacent.

She no longer wore the outfit of someone who just screamed "I'm in the military and this is my day off." Of course, her current outfit wasn't good. It was built from the scraps of middle of nowhere gift shop/gas station clothing. If anything, it screamed "I forgot to do my laundry and I'm wearing what I'm wearing." Graphic design t-shirt of some bizarrely local reference, hoodie that was a size too small with a local business' logo printed above the breast, stretchy pants without pockets, and a bulk-made cap of a different but equally local business.

Of course, Morden's attempt at secret communications wasn't as hidden as he would of liked. Unfortunately for him, Justice had honed senses and specialized in the covert. Doubly so, she was now walking towards him and Veld like a raging hellion. Fortunately for him, Valerie had already stepped in and put what she was about to say... very politely. Justice was about to obliterate this man for assuming in a direct report.

Fortunately for him, his chewing out would wait. But Morden could definitely see the veins in Justice's neck bulging.

When Silje gave descriptions of the mist, Justice just nodded in affirmation. She couldn't put it in a better way. The changes in mist felt gross, alien, and were rather indescribable.

"Sir." Justice said to conclude their little meeting. At the very least, she wouldn't have to write a direct report about this incident. That was the one silver lining.

SPIRITUM

Justice

It was better than having to camp outside of a crashed ship. That's all Justice could think about their current arrangement. She hated sleeping in anything stopped with a suspension. At least when a vehicle was moving, the movements blended together when she tried to sleep. When it was stopped? She could feel every single small adjustment in the vehicle. Truly, it was a miserable experience. She'd rather sleep outside under a bit of tarp.

Of course, Gerard didn't volunteer to take the first shift, nor did he request a specific time zone. That means he gets voluntold to take the worst shift.

Justice didn't blame Val for immediately going to bed. If Justice had to exfil the princess alone, she'd probably be in a similar position. However, she couldn't just let Val go like this. Moving in front of the entrance of the RV, Justice stopped Val from entering. "Aegis." She bluntly said. Placing her hand over Val's device, she repaired the damage. The mist shifted and aligned to form an orderly lattice: dozens of straight prismatic rivers that flowed above, below, and besides each other. The order would soon fade to a homogeneous store of magic as the damage was repaired. Without saying another word, Justice walked back towards the fire pit.

Of course, Silje running off was expected. At the very least, whoever was on watch duty wouldn't fall asleep with her around. Though, she'd probably have to give Silje a juice box and some crackers when she woke up. Something like that.

Kalina asking for Justice's opinion on the matter had the latter form an annoyed expression for a brief moment. Though, it vanished as quickly as it came when Justice.

"Convenient if your only goal is to fight. A civil war maybe causes a dozen micronations to try to claim some power. And that's if one of the sides doesn't crush the other. If that's the case, then we have to deal with robots too. And thinking about that gives me a headache. So right now, I think it's better if we treat this like it never happened for tonight. Get rest. Deal with it tomorrow."

Her hammer had been replaced by a familiar knife. In the other hand, she held a thick wooden stick she had broken off a tree earlier. Perhaps this time she'd carve a nice bullet shark.

"I'll take first watch with Kali." Justice announced. "Then Kali will swap with Gerard. Then Gerard and I will swap with Morden and Silje."

She gave a brief pause as she felt an absence around them.

"And charge your Aegis before you go to bed."

SPIRITUM

Justice

The princess's etiquette was lost on Justice. While she would have begrudgingly saluted someone of higher rank, "Princess" was not a military title. Add in the fact that she was from an enemy nation and the most that Justice could muster was an inattentive nod.

"We'll try to get some rest. Get up the road to somewhere safe, then take it in shifts. Wait for further orders and all that." She announced the plan. They were basic, but basic was what they needed--especially after everything that just happened.

Kalina's aside certainly got Justice thinking. Kalina's view of war was a bit expected. Though, Justice wasn't personally sure if it was an adherence to numbers or an instilled jingoism that most WARDENs had.

"It's better to be soft than cause a diplomatic crisis. Even nations at war have basic decorum when it comes to that kind of shit. It's part of the reason why prisoners of war aren't summarily executed. Neither nation wants to cross the Stygian river and they certainly don't want a bunch of rookies to do it. Plus, if we push things too far, it's our asses being court martialled. If they tell us to do something, we do it. If they don't we just make sure we don't do something irreversible."

Revue of Annihilation

🎕 Talia of Roses 🎕

//A11 - Market Plaza

The adventurer's distract was certainly more pleasant than the outer districts. While it still had the classic failings of a city, it also had a kind of exuberance that the dirtied cobblestone and dirt streets didn't. More importantly, she could practically smell the coins sitting around in people's pockets. Though, that could have just been all the metal that adventurers carried on them. Still, good quality weapons were a sign of wealth.

With coinage collected from their slim pickpocket pickings, she had enough to equip her merry men with basic tools. Though, the only weapons that were affordable weren't exactly that good. Still, her beguiling words and quick fingers might be of good service, so long as she didn't choose the wrong mark.

For now, she went from stall to stall to look for some decent equipment for both herself and her merry men. She would strike up conversations with each merchant, even if it was a mixture of pleasantries and disinterested haggling. Daggers and short swords for her men would make for great tools for exploring the abyss.

SPIRITUM

Justice

It was heavy. Even for a single deflection, it felt as though her blood vessels would shred and pop. Still, she was nowhere near as brutalized as Val, who was out of commission after fuelling their getaway. The worst that Justice had was a buzzing feeling on her arms, something that she could minimize by clenching her fists in response.

Morden was left to look after Val. "Good job." She flatly said to the two of them as she finished her cursory status check.

Meanwhile, Silje had immediately pulled out her phone the millisecond there wasn't something interesting happening and said a cursed phrase. She half expected the truck to immediately kick it and any cell service to die once again. But she was right. It could have gone worse. They could have had to actually fight the birthing of all of those robots, or she could have been forced to write eulogies in her report.

"Not a prisoner." Justice replied to Kalina. "That applies to enemy combatants, not diplomats. As fun as it sounds, I'd rather not deal with creating a diplomatic crisis just yet."

Justice ran her hands through her hair. Really, she just had to be the one to deal with a scenario where so many things went wrong, huh? Some vacation.

"That mess is one of three things. First is a third party that managed to sneak through our airspace undetected, but that doesn't explain why they stopped at a border. The second is seditious, so I'll skip that one. The third is that something kicked off an ancient civilization's security alarm centred directly on that preserve, but I'm just making shit up at that point."

She weighed her options and the probabilities of each scenario. Really, she just had to avoid an immediate court marshalling, didn't she? That would be more troublesome than anything else. And for that, she'd need to call in what just happened and who they were with now.

"Gerard, call it in. Attacked by unknown entity. Diplomatic vessel destroyed, diplomat found and secured."

Revue of Annihilation

🎕 Talia of Roses 🎕

//O11 - Communal Well

Well, conversations were easy. Talia certainly got a good amount of value from what she heard. The basics of the abyss and the current rumours and troubles of the city gave some insight. Though, how much Talia could be involved in them was the question.

However, today Talia was blessed with something she didn't have yesterday: a paltry amount of capital. With some guesstimates, she could presume that venturing into the abyss with her men would cost most of it. Knives and short spears would take a little over half. Supplies would take up the rest. But it was an intriguing option: one that would get her closer to filling the void in her heart.

On the other hand, she could have investigated why a precocious girl was fighting with gangsters. Though, that felt a little too similar to herself. The murders? Well, maybe if she had a little more power, she'd investigate those. As it stood, it would just be like a mouse pondering upon a corpse. And the drugs, she'd be getting way over her head immediately. Or more likely, she'd just find nothing but people who were strung out.

That settled it. She and her thieves would buy up some gear and dive into the abyss. The greed stemming from the mystery box called adventuring loot was too much to ignore.

SPIRITUM

Justice

"Robots." Justice had replied with the obvious to the princess without an ounce of further thought.

Their escape wouldn't be smooth. It never would be. Just her luck, huh? The princess, the robots, and now an unidentified enemy airship. An airship that haunted the air with shrieks and groans as if an otherworldly beast. As if an empty void of mist--a cold and brutal absence of feeling above them. Really, for a soldier who specialized in detection and melee, there wasn't much she could do besides firing a few rounds from her emergency gun. But that gun was for emergencies.

Instead, she just held on to both the truck and the princess. At the very least, she could prevent the princess from flying out of the truck or slamming her skull against the bed. Kalina's driving would do that to someone, especially a princess who was unprepared. Especially when the vehicle was being pushed even further by Val.

She didn't have much faith in Morden's shotgun, though. There were only so many rounds. He was already aiming at their eyes, so there wasn't much she could direct him to do instead. Silje's magic could do a little more, maybe. But she'd have to wait and see if it would really do more.

In an emergency, she'd try to deflect a round with one of her barriers. Though, the prospect of even deflecting a round from gunfire support wasn't something Justice had any faith in doing. The difference between small arms and a gunnery was like the difference between a squirrel and an elephant.

"So," Justice said in the middle of the blitz with little emotion, "would it be safe to assume that all of this shit is a third party to this war?"

Revue of Annihilation

🎕 Talia of Roses 🎕

//O11 - Communal Well

While it wasn't drinkable, the water was--at the very least--not completely foul. It let her wash away the lingering smell of the city and the oil that clung to her skin, at least.

Of course, Talia hadn't merely come to the well to wash up (though it was a large component). Information was as good as gold. Well, it wasn't--it was about as good as the gold you could make off of it. When it came to information, prostitutes were often a core source. While the workers didn't serve a high class clientele, both rich and poor often had loose lips when it came to alcohol.

So she made conversation with those who would listen.

To the adventurers, she spoke about the labyrinth. She had quite a talent for both showing interest in a conversation and playing dumb. In fact, it was quite difficult to tell whether she was playing dumb or actually airheaded. Her bubbly words would disarm any adventurer. Though, perhaps they just took pity on her.

To the prostitutes, she was much more familiar. She spoke more generally about the happenings around the city and the outskirts. What the prostitutes could have heard. It was friendly small talk that was much less dopey--as if to reassure them that she did not wish to encroach on their clientele.

SPIRITUM

Justice

"Then keep firing," Justice unceremoniously replied to the princess. "I'm steering clear of any pockets of mist."

Of course, she didn't fear the bolts that were fired at her. They kicked up dirt and dust as they barely missed, but Justice was confident that she could block any shock that would otherwise strike her. However, it was apparent that the princess' talents were not sufficient to fully stop it; the shocks still came, despite the audible crack of two arrows meeting metal.

So she ran even faster. Really, the princess was nothing. Out of all of the Barghests, she probably put in the most effort into the basics. And a sprint while carrying extra weight? That was the most basic of basics. Justice had always carried extra weight during boot--even when she'd get punished for it. Though, those punishments usually were more weight and longer runs. They could hardly be called punishments.

Fortunately, her companions had listened to her advice to retreat. As she crested the craters and hills, she saw the rest of the Barghests running back to the truck. Though, she could infer that they were probably overwhelmed. Thankfully, Kalina had already started preparing their escape. With a great leap, she hopped onto the back of the truck with the princess. Of course, she unceremoniously rolled the princess onto the rough floor bed before turning around. What she saw was lightning. But that didn't mean that it was the only trick that the robots had. If their truck was damaged, then that would complicate things. Even though she wasn't a defensive specialist like a mage who specialized in barriers, she was confident in being able to divert any shot the robots could take.