Chapter 5 Home is where the Heart is (Ubberific) GMed by ranger

[Ubberific]

Re: Chapter 4 An Uncertain Future(Ubberific) GMed by ranger

Rikke raised an eyebrow at the picture "Wait so you mean we're constantly watched?!" she'd blink and look around the hallway, only to spy the small ocular device, just like at the museum in the very corner, monitoring whoever passed "Ick..." "No~ Rune sent it from your trip! Come on it's just up this way!"

The words relaxing the rogue visibly as she was lead onwards. Still why both Rhea and Rune plan for the rogue to be with this catgirl specifically? As they continued onwards Rikke would look to the girl curiously, trying to think of a reason, though the only one that came to my was just... to relax?

Both Rikkes odd armor and her absolutely exceptional looks quickly drew attention of pretty much everyone the duo passed by. The bombastic new arrival seemed to effectively end any activities as everyone turned to take just that one extra look at her, catching whatever angle they managed. Still only after they passed would Rikke hear echoes of some unknown comments, their contents muffled and unclear.

Soon enough they arrived at their room and well... it was hardly anything to look at "Not much for comfort is it." Rikke had slept in worse places, but at the very least the crude hotels and even hostels she rested at had their own... not-so-pleasant charm. This was just... lifeless. Clean, but lifeless...

Still at the very least it had a bed. Rikke approached the bed and jumped ontop of it relaxing briefly, her hands falling to either side as she sighed deeply "Ugh~ Kanna~~ What wouldn't I give for just a plain camp right about now." the simple pleasure of the stary sky and distant howls or chirps of life seemed absolutely dreamy by now.

 

[ranger]

Re: Chapter 4 An Uncertain Future(Ubberific) GMed by ranger

"Eh?" Turning quickly to her dresser Kanna rummaged around till she found what she was looking for. "Ah HA!" Moving quickly to the door Kanna turned off the lights putting the whole room into darkness. A thump and quick ouch later Rikke heard slight humm as their ceiling was bathed in the light of false stars. A moment later the sound of crickets could be heard. "Better?" With her night eyes Rikke could see Kana smile in her direction her own eyes gleaming slightly. It seemed her roommate could also see in the dark.

 

[Ubberific]

Re: Chapter 4 An Uncertain Future(Ubberific) GMed by ranger

"Yeah... You've ever been out there in the wilderness?" Rikke would look to the plain gray ceiling, though her gaze seemed to go right through them and into her memory landscape "A warm fireplace, the stary skies, the distant sound of whatever was skulking out there in the wilderness." the rogue turned around sadly "How do you people live... like... this?" the last few words had a short pauses between them as the catgirl seemingly sprung to life doing who knows what.

The rogue would only look curiously at the actions, before the lights disappeared. It would a take a few moments, but soon enough Rikkes night vision kicked in as she watched the catgirl 'act sneaky' as she moved across the room with a mischievious smile, before pulling out the oddest device.

In the next moment the dull ceiling light up, creating numerous stars all across the ceiling. Rikkes eyes seemingly light up at the sight her sadness, slowly replaced by a growing smile... only for the last final detail to echo out.. in a particulary fat frogs croak, before the sound seemingly continued with the sounds of the night.

Rikke looked to the catgirl briefly, her judgement of the girl seemingly changing just as quickly as her smile formed up "Hum not yet..." the rogue unclipped her belt, leaving both behind and got out of bed. The rogue quickly crawled closer to the catgirl in a giddy fashion, before adding "We still need to create a fireplace..." she'd smile brightly mirroring the catgirls previous mischievious spark all too well "Got anything in there for a substitute?"

 

[ranger]

Re: Chapter 4 An Uncertain Future(Ubberific) GMed by ranger

Kanna furrowed her brow a moment before the sudden I got an idea expression took hold. Turning to her cabinet she opened up revealing a military grade uniform though it was grey and black camo instead of the brown and greens she had seen with others. In a small sack she pulled about four sticks about a foot long. With a snap of her wrist the small stick light up an orange color. kneeling down she arranged them in a semblance of logs. "Its not the same but its the closest I can manage without setting the barracks on fire." Sitting back with the strange glowing sticks Kanna smiled. "I used to go camping all the time. Me and my six brothers and sisters. Mom and Dad enjoyed it to but ahh thats a long time ago."

 

[Ubberific]

Re: Chapter 4 An Uncertain Future(Ubberific) GMed by ranger

Rikke laughted merrily at the glow stick, though it;s glow had easily light up the whole room! "Let's do this.. and this..." with a few slightly adjustments soon enough the activated stick was buried beneath others with some cloth on top "There!" her slight adjustments done the rogue smiled widely as now the glow had been greatly diminished keeping the night time atmosphere.

"Alright now to complete it, we just need to set up a trap..." whether Kanna agreed to the plan or not, the rogue would kickoff a bit of learning about her 'roomy' "So~ What do you do here, Kanna?" she'd glance to the wardrobe "That an old uniform or are you from a different unit?"

 

[ranger]

Re: Chapter 4 An Uncertain Future(Ubberific) GMed by ranger

Kanna smiled as she caught on to what Rikke was doing but let the rogue make the final touches. Asking her question as Kanna got more comfortable the cat girl replied. "I specialise in urban assult. But I'm sure you don't want to know that. What do you do Rikke? Your not a soldier I can tell and your not from around these parts." Kanna giggled at Rikke's questioning look. "You have an old crolian accent. Either you grew up in northern regions of South Crolia or your from the Principality of Theron.

 

[Ubberific]

Re: Chapter 4 An Uncertain Future(Ubberific) GMed by ranger

The rogue set-up a barebones trip-wire trap, if only for nostalgic reasons, near the duos door and returned to their 'campfire' sitting near it comfortably "Hum?" at the mention of the rogue not seeming a soldier, the heroine would only give a sly sharp look at Kanna "Not a soldier eh?" she'd giggle and smile kindly not elaborating on it further. Perhaps in this realm she was indeed hardly fit for battle, the wars here seemed to be decided by who had the most advanced and destructive gun, instead of by might and magic "I'm working as a sort of antique collector at the moment. It's nothing too exciting, but I like to think it's an important little job."

"Actually I do hail from South Crolia. A little town by the name of 'Woodcrest'." Rikke smiled warmly to the catgirl, honestly it had been years since she's even uttered her hometown name... much less even seen it "And you?"

 

[ranger]

Re: Chapter 4 An Uncertain Future(Ubberific) GMed by ranger

"Oh me well Im from all over. My family traveled around a lot. Going from town to town. Not even sure I know where I was born. I put Endus down just for paperwork." Kanna looked at the fire and kicked her feet lightly in the air. "Antique collector.. OH! like Barla Tofft my favorite video game character! She travels the world and take stuff tombs and sometimes its magical. A very fun exploration and platformer." Kana smiled brightly before sitting up and digging threw her dresser and tossing Rikke a small wrapped sweet roll. "I usually save them for later but here have one." Looking at the package it seemed to be some sort of sweet roll.

 

[Ubberific]

Re: Chapter 4 An Uncertain Future(Ubberific) GMed by ranger

Rikke laughted lightly at the comment "Y-yeah something like that. Just throw in a few demons, a few heroic allies and a lot strange events." she'd smile happily "Though... probably with a lot less guns, warped and explosions." just recalling the 'game' Rhea had her play with her, the sounds of gunfire and groans of the warped still ringed in her ears.

Rikke caught the offer candy and glanced to it with a smile, not eating it just yet "So Urban combat? What does your squad specialise in?" the rogue gave the catgirl a sly look "Hey I shared about my job, it's fair you do the same."

 

[ranger]

Re: Chapter 4 An Uncertain Future(Ubberific) GMed by ranger

Kanna looked away a moment before turning to Rikke all smiles. "We used to be the guys that kicked in the doors and raided the enemy headquarters." Kanna would move to a crosslegged position. "More specifically I'm trained in hostage rescue and extractions." Kanna would smile sadly as her head turned to her wall slightly illuminated by the 'campfire'. "Its just me and Diana now I work mostly as her bodyguard and spotter."

 

[Ubberific]

Re: Chapter 4 An Uncertain Future(Ubberific) GMed by ranger

Rikke snickered happily and smiled brightly at Kanna "Hostage rescue eh?" she'd think briefly "Oh~ Then we're similar in that regard." she'd give the girl an encouraging look "Though my means were usually... more freestyled than militaristic." she'd look to catgirls slump, a bit saddened that she caused it. Nevertheless Rikke had seen hints at something just out of view again and again, if anyone was gonna tell her...

The rogue crawled to the catgirl and smiled "Kanna. I've heard Janets group was slowly being picked apart as well... whats going on out there?" she'd note the catgirls look, before adding "I've just... returned to Crolia. All I see are remnants of my friends battlegear or them in heavy pain or injuries. Who's doing all this?"

 

[ranger]

Re: Chapter 4 An Uncertain Future(Ubberific) GMed by ranger

"Some how the demons know what we are up to. Every mission as of late is ambushed or meets far more resistance than it ought to. Diana thinks we have a spy or traitor in our mix and keeps threatening to pop their head if she ever got em in her sights." Kanna would lean up to snag a picture to show to Rikke. In it was Kanna and five other people all in the same grey and black camo. Surprisingly Kanna had a large rifle slung over her shoulder holding it with ease. Next to her was a tall pale girl with deep blue hair. Something about her face called out to Rikke but she couldn't place it. "There's me and thats Diana." Kanna's delicate finger touched the spot with the blue haired girl. Max is the guy with the knives and next to him is Liz." Kanna pointed to a man in the middle of juggling some wicked looking knives and to a blonde girl holding a med kit with dual pistols on her hip. "The rumor was they were an item." Her finger than moved to a man with a small compact rifle and a pair of binoculars and a strange backpack with a long wire coming out of it. "Thats Phil he was Diana's spotter and our communications guy. Next to him is... " "Reginald" Rikke said the name before Kanna could mention it. "Oh wow good guess did you have a crush on him or something?" Kanna looked at Rikke eyes sparkling full of mischief and a desire to know a secret. Not offering any up Kanna pouted a little and set the photo aside. "They're all gone now well except me and Diana." Kanna's voice had lost a good deal of its mirth. "Its hard to be the first unit to have casualties everyone looks to you either as broken or bad luck. Then we lost 1st armor in an ambush all fifteen of those boys... good guys despite their unit name." Kanna wiped a tear from her eye. "Oh dear look at me getting all sappy. Im sure you don't want to know what happened to them. Just know Rikke that someone has our playbook and its hurting us bad."

 

[Ubberific]

Re: Chapter 4 An Uncertain Future(Ubberific) GMed by ranger

"More like the other way around." Rikke looked to the squads picture sharply as she listened out the rest of Kannas story "What happened to Regi?" the man was a truly dark presence from her time, the rogue just couldn't help but suspect him of foul play. Was he really dead?

The heroines smiled gently at the single tear "Hey... it's okay. You don't have to push yourself, just every detail you mention can help me piece together a kind of puzzle I'm working on." she'd grin encouragingly to the girl "Let's just say, I'm not just an antique collector. I may have a knack of ruining dark plans and uprooting evil."

While the rogues prime suspects were clear... there were so many new faces around, anyone could be the spy. Though Kanna definedly didn't seem like a suspect. Dark beings don't cry.

 

[ranger]

Re: Chapter 4 An Uncertain Future(Ubberific) GMed by ranger

"Regi..." Kanna's eyes got distant as she entered her own memory landscape. "We were deep in the deadlands setting up sensors to detect large troop movements. Diana and Phil had taken up a position that let them have overwatch of the whole town. At first it seemed to be a milk run and the team split into two groups. Reginald and myself took the east part of town while Max and Liz took the west. We were supposed to meet back in the center and call for our ride out. I'm not sure who's team got hit first mine or Max's. All I remember was a heavy weight striking me on the back and gunfire." Kanna pulled up her shirt and turned to Rikke showing off the tell tale marks of a hunter attack. Three long scars from shoulder to hip. "We didn't know the bastards can turn invisible. Anyway I woke up a later with Liz tending over me she was crying and Max was no where to be scene. Regi as still with us until the cultist came." Kanna stopped a moment taking a deep breath. "Not all the people in the Deadlands were killed or made slaves. Some joined the demons willingly their minds snapping or some such. Anyway they had some pretty heavy ordinance Bardian make if I remember correctly."Kanna wiped another tear away and coughed a little to clear her throat. "Regi took a position to intercept the oncoming wave of cultist sens I was in no condition to fight. Diana did her best to keep the enemies heads down but they didn't care how many of them she felled. Eventually she ran out of ammo. When that happened Regi got overrun. We never saw him again. Phil and Liz tried to push the horde back but they couldn't make head way. Neither of them made it back." Kanna's voice began to waver as the tears slide freely down. Phil got over run by the cultists to and liz got sniped.. that was the one Diana took the hardest. Thankfully the 1st Mech armored saved us. We where able to recover everyone except Regi.

 

[Ubberific]

Re: Chapter 4 An Uncertain Future(Ubberific) GMed by ranger

So Reginald died... a hero? Rikkes eyes widened listening to the tale "I'm... so sorry, Kanna." the rogue rested a hand on the girls shoulder, trying to give her support "You suspect this was all caused by a betrayal from within?" if this event had indeed marking of a trap laid out for the scouts... Reginald wouldn't go into his own trap willingly much less try and save his crew. That meant...

"Who could have access to such information. Surely the battleplans aren't accessible to anyone." Rikke looked to the catgirl firmly, slowly but surely a plan forming up in the rogues head.

 

[ranger]

Re: Chapter 4 An Uncertain Future(Ubberific) GMed by ranger

"Orders come from command. Its the most secure building in the whole nest." Kanna wiped her tears away. "If it was a traitor they would have to be high up." Kanna looked at their makeshift fire a moment before getting up. "Im kinda tired Rikke I think Ill go to bed now. turning away from Rikke she stripped almost completely only keeping panties on before slipping into her bed.

 

[Ubberific]

Re: Chapter 4 An Uncertain Future(Ubberific) GMed by ranger

"Hey!" Rikke called out to the girl with a smile "Sorry about spoiling the mood. Didn't mean to bring up such horrid memories." she'd look to the girl sheepishly "But I'll make it up to you. Promise."

The rogue placed a finger on her lips, clearly in thought before nodding to herself "I won't be coming to sleep tonight, Kanna." she'd grin happily see you in the morning! If asked where she was going the rogue would only answer "To investigate a potential lead towards the rat."

If not stopped the rogues first trip would take her to find Saul. She had some questions and the man was going to have to give her answers...

 

[ranger]

Re: Chapter 4 An Uncertain Future(Ubberific) GMed by ranger

Kanna didn't stop her and simply said be safe. It seemed her mood was truly in the dumps hopefully that energetic attitude from before would be back in the morning. Leaving the room and heading down stairs Rikke found the lobby almost empty. A few soldiers sat at the bar drinking something but it seemed the rest had retired for the evening. Heading out Rikke wasn't sure where to go. She had a few possibilities to explore. There was his office in the admin building, the command room at HQ, and she did see a group of buildings called officer quarters when she and Kanna took off for the barracks.

 

[Ubberific]

Re: Chapter 4 An Uncertain Future(Ubberific) GMed by ranger

Well the rogue would just ask if anyone knew where Saul was at the moment, this was no abbandoned manor afterall. Still if noone knew or she didn't encounter anyone that knew, her first check would be the mans office. Judging by the stack of papers he was given, Saul just might still be there.

 

[ranger]

Re: Chapter 4 An Uncertain Future(Ubberific) GMed by ranger

She had to ask a few people before someone said something about seeing him in the admin building going over paperwork. Heading that way she found it almost empty with the exception of the ever present guards. A single light was on down the hall and the calm voice of Ida spoke apparently getting dictated a letter of some sort. Heading down the hall she found saul his uniform open as he leaned back in his chair. "Ida what's the status of the reinforcement request?" Ida flickered a little. "Processing..... processing.... Information retrieved. Request denied." Saul leaned forward still oblivious to Rikke's presence. "Damn it don't they know what's at stake here. They are letting politics interfere with saving our nation let alone saving the world." Saul leaned forward and put his head on his desk. This prompted a strange movement from Ida where she tried to lean forward to comfort saul but flickered violently before resuming her previous position. Looking up Saul sighed "I wish I could release your full programming Ida but.... after what happened to Sophia.. you know I can't."