[animated] Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/04/03(Sat)16:09 No. 159102 ID: 12084d
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Oh, fuck this.

"Burns, help me with this truck."

>>159102

Well...

...that's ONE way of doing it.

Okay then! Let's check the back of robotit's truck, it's not like she can stop us.

We need to find out if there was an evac point or something and just drive there instead of waiting around for whatever the fuck to happen. Everything apparently all went to shit. We also need to make damn sure that our ticket out got to safety. Oh, and tell Burns what we've learned.

Go and check on Ruby, see if you can wake her. If not, carry her to the meet with Haywood. Regardless of how you go about it, you should probably leave before someone with authority or more assassins show up.

>>159102
Sweet, couldn't have given better advice myself.

Ok, see if you can't get Ruby up. If not then load her into the truck she's sitting by and then drive it over to Haywood. Tell him that these people were hired by the coalition and they had a weapon that took Ruby out of the fight almost immediatly.

Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/04/05(Mon)22:56 No. 160271 ID: aa5284
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"Phew."

"Yeah.
"...You know, you smell like - "

"Don't."

Okay... Burns apparently needs some hands-on lessons in how to handle being shot.

Haywood's people should be here soon. It's easy to make out the sound of their engines, a mile or so off. They can take care of this, I suppose.

"InSIde."

That... was Ruby? She's grappling at the bumper of her truck. And her voice sounds... peculiar.

"BEfore THEY come. INside!"

Her inflection is all messed up. You can tell there's a feminine voice there. But it's cloudy... breathy and heaving.

Why would she want us to help her when Haywood's people are about to show up? She doesn't even know us.

I can tell Burns about everything once we head back to fetch Tannon and the SPT. Before then, we need to decide what to do about Ruby.

The Coalition is apparently after her. I wonder if this has something to do with what Tannon mentioned, when we first met? Something about the war spilling over into other countries because the Coalition was after one person?

I look to Burns for answers. He has none.

"Did whatever hit her get you, at all?"

"A little. Felt... sharp? Like I was being stabbed, all over. Then, nothing."

Hm.

What now?

Go inside. Also if you can help the lady out.

>>160271

Go with Ruby. Help Ruby.

Find Tom.

[animated] Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/04/05(Mon)23:53 No. 160278 ID: aa5284
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I take hold of the truck's back gate. It's very cold to the touch. I hear a soft click as I tug on the latch.

The shutter flies free.

Huh...

You don't see that everyday.

>>160278

"Uh, Ruby? What the hell is that?!"

>>160278
Well that's interesting. Looks like a headless torso with it's skin pulled back to expose the ribs and guts. On a table with restraints on it.

Ask Ruby what it is.

>>160291
Don't be surprised if it's an amortal.

Physically put her in the back of the truck. Support her so she can point at what she wants to do in there. Maybe she can heal or something?

>>160278
OH FUCK! THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED TO TOM!...

but honestly... what is that corpse... thing...

Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/04/08(Thu)00:33 No. 161189 ID: 212869
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We help her into the truck, to where she silently directs us. She motions for us to stay out.

Awkwardly, she takes a vial, or a syringe or some manner of device, and places it to the back of her neck. There's a quick thumping sound, followed by the fading hiss of something being evacuated into her body. Or out of it, perhaps.

I don't recognize what she's doing. Or much of anything in this vehicle. Liquid nitrogen... a headless corpse... surgical equipment... basic tools for vehicle repair. It looks like all of this stuff is made to be moved around, quickly and easily.

"Ruby, what is all this?"

She reacts to her name, as she seems to sway as whatever she's done takes affect. She must be surprised we know so much about her... amongst other things. It takes her a moment.

"SeCRETs."

Her peculiar inflection remains.

"Whose corpse?" Burns asks, beating me to the punch.

"No ONE'S busIness BUT my own.
"You see MY seCRET. I SEE yours, aMORTals.
"YOU know the VALue of SEcrets. HayWOOD, perHAPS not. You keep MINE, I KEEP yours.
"We are DONE. For now. They COME. LEAVE me."

She rises rather quickly, and slams the truck door down our faces. The welcome mat was not offered long.

>>161189

I guess that's that.

Wait for Haywood to show up, I guess.

>>161189
I think we found another one who doesn't belong to this world.

Wonder if that body is another amortal. Maybe Muerto Jack relly was one, or it's someone else. Seems important to her anyway. Lets keep the secret for now.

Time to ask Haywood to set up transportation and ask him where to bring your ride.

Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/04/08(Thu)01:25 No. 161196 ID: 212869
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Things hurry on, quickly.

Later the next day, we finalize a formal agreement with Haywood.

We share a rather lengthy conversation, as Haywood enjoys our company a little too much. Burns wasn't kidding when he said the Poilenese hated one another but loved foreigners. "Free Exchange."

Burns is happy to get a contract in his hands. It must feel like we're finally making some real headway. I'm happy for him, I think.

It turned out that things had gone according to plan, aside from the assassination attempt on Haywood. The way he had organized things, it was easy to track back who had access to the right information. It's been dealt with.

One of Haywood's subordinates had taken the information on the fake assassination attempt to the Coalition, in exchange for political favor, down the road. According to Haywood, the person responsible didn't stop to wonder why the Coalition would waste their time on such a minor "crime lord." Small minds making big deals.

The operation was entirely successful, otherwise. The death of the reporter, while unfortunate, ended up being an even stronger trigger piece for television audiences.

North Poilen has basically been sent to a standstill, under the impression that the Coalition just staged a massive coup attempt. The military is already being mobilized across the nation's borders.

Although this is all a lie, it has served to unite the people as a nation for the first time that Haywood can recall.

Why the Coalition is after Ruby, he doesn't know. I have an idea it has something to do with that body she's carrying around, although we promised to say nothing about it.

As for Ruby herself, she apparently is already on her way out of the country, to parts unknown.

As for us, we have a similar trip lined up. All we have to do now is return to Tannon and the SPT with Haywood's men.

Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/04/08(Thu)01:30 No. 161197 ID: 212869
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Tannon greets us as warmly as we might expect.

"Welcome back, animals."

Somehow, I missed that.

"We love you, too, Tannon."

It's been several days since we've been gone. What's he been doing all this time?

"What have you been doing this whole time?"

"Sleeping. Eating ham. Making plans."

"I bet you're great at parties, Tannon."

"If I need to be."

Wow.

We head back into the SPT and follow Haywood's men, through secluded areas, and into sectioned areas of the city. On the way, we explain to Tannon all that's transpired.

He almost seems impressed.

We need to ask him where to go next. Is there anything else we should find out from him?

It might be fruitful to bring up Ruby just to see if he knows what she is. We should keep the information as vauge as possible. Tannon seems to know an awful lot, and it could be important.

>>161197
Ask him if he knows of any other Amortals on this world.

Ask him if the ham was any good. Then ask him if its possible to surgically replace amortal parts and organs with a normal's body for similar benefits.

Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/04/08(Thu)15:16 No. 161392 ID: 17e2b5
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Questions, questions. Haywood's men continue leading us, as Tannon drives on.

>Ruby

Earlier, when we explained what had happened, he didn't seem to think anything of it, although you can never be too sure.

Burns seems pretty anxious to get on with things, and has been hanging off the front paneling for the past twenty minutes.

"What do you think of this Ruby person, Tannon?"

"Inconsequential. As of now, little else factors into our plans, other than what is most obvious.
"If it will sate your animal curiosity, she may be one of any number of species, artificial lifeforms or cultural artifacts. There are quite literally thousands upon thousands of creatures cataloged in Acruen science that might fit the description you have given me.

He's such a joy to be around.

>Ask him if he knows of any other Amortals on this world.

"Do you know of any others like us? Or any kind of off-worlders?"

"No."

I almost wonder if he's lying, but knowing him, he's probably just being blunt.

"I lived here my entire life, obviously," Burns speaks up, "and I've seen more weird shit in the past week than the rest put together. I take it this doesn't happen much? Things like this?"

"A vague question. No, if I understand your beastly parlance, correctly. To have even one off-world influence is a rare historical item, barring common culling events by the Vomiciles, or the Acruen eugenic worlds.
"For so many aliens to be operating within one world - especially such a small and unimportant one as this - is unusual, if not altogether insulting. Obviously, something greater has been at work throughout your history to provoke this culmination of events."

"Culmination" doesn't sound so great. I wonder if this has anything to do with the Tear? Still, this is all speculation.

>Then ask him if its possible to surgically replace amortal parts and organs with a normal's body for similar benefits.

You think this is what Ruby was doing? Harvesting amortal body parts for herself?

"Random question, Tannon... what would happen if an organ was transplanted from an amortal to a normal person?"

"[i]You believe this involves the bodyguard you encountered."

Clever little bastard.

"It does not. Amortals, digens and those of that line have long been scrutinized by the Acruen, with little success. They do not operate under conventional physical law. Despite millenia of research, we are no closer to understanding the science behind such things as we ever were. Much of Nahala, itself, is similar. If it were exposed to the reality of itself for even a fraction of a second, the chain of events that would unfold across all of the infinite worlds would be cataclysmic.
"In the case of your question, when limbs or organs are removed from the main body of an amortal, they operate as they normally would. It makes analyzing amortal bodies very difficult."

I sort of wonder what would happen to someone who was walking around with an amortal organ in their body, if the amortal's body was destroyed, and the best thing to regenerate from was that donated part. Maybe nothing at all. Creepy to think about.

Well, on to business. We need to figure out where to head to, now that we can get off the continent, and Tannon's the man to ask.

Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/04/08(Thu)15:45 No. 161406 ID: 17e2b5
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"All right, Tannon. We've got you off the continent, essentially. But we need to know where to go."

"Retrieve your human map."

Burns wearily gets the ragged old map he's been drawing on, since day one. Tannon is unimpressed.

The good doctor darts a finger into South Taesen.

"This is our next stop."

"Is that where the Unopened Vault is?" Burns asks.

"It is our next stop," Tannon repeats. He's not going to completely reveal our final destination until he's certain we're not going to betray him. Just as much as we're still certain he won't betray us. This was expected, though.

"Where is it?"

"Right in the heart of the damned Empire," Burns answers, taking a closer look at the map. "The least habitated part, granted... but for a good reason."

"Which is?"

"It's the coldest place in the world: the center of the Listless Range, the world's longest mountain range. No one lives there. No one can live there. Except us, I suppose."

"Or anyone with the proper knowledge of how to traverse it," Tannon interrupts. "The area is exposed to the Center's Ocean, near Empire's Channel. It will take us very close to the Empire's capitol, but not close enough to present a Poilen vessel to any danger. A merchant vessel to the capital will serve as enough cover for us to use a life boat to move on to the coast. This way, we can avoid detection of any kind. Once on the shore, I will call for transport."

"A fine idea," I say, "but not your decision to make.
"We can do it that way, and separate from the ship early. Or, we can avoid freezing to death if our boat capsizes and just take our chances entering the capitol."

"We could also just commandeer the whole ship and ram it into the shoreline," Burns adds. I assume he's kidding.

"Yes, Burns, we could kill even more people!" I give him a thumbs up and a dumb grin. He doesn't seem to appreciate it.

What say you, witless voices from beyond?

>witless voices from beyond

Yeah. Thanks. Just keep insulting the voices who just want to help. Ass.

Anyways, let's go with Tannon's idea; it's at least solid in theory.

As long as Tannon's idea of calling for transport doesn't include genocide, I suppose it's worth playing along. As he's said, he won't betray us until he has no further use for us. It might be worth going over whatever he provides, though, given his tendency towards excess.

>>161413
Oh, grow up, both of you. Witless or no, we've still managed to at least carry our own slight weight.

Haha, get it?

Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/04/08(Thu)23:06 No. 161729 ID: 65a023
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We go with Tannon's original idea. We always to be careful about placing control into his hands, but it sounds like this is a contingency plan he's always had in mind. There's no reason to overly complicate it. At least, not for the time being. He has no reason to betray us, yet. It would only disservice him.

The SPT is loaded on board a large cargo freighter during early morning. Haywood is there to bid us farewell. The trade went through. All of the Coalition gear we picked up, in addition to the service we provided to him over the past couple of days. He seems to have taken an especial liking to us.

"Be careful out there," he says, as we shake hands.

"Something worrying you?"

"Just some unsettling reports. An official statement of hostile intolerance is supposed to be released to the press, later today. North Poilen will go to war with the Coalition, if they step out of line.
"But that may come sooner than I expected."

"How so?"

"The reports I've been getting seem to suggest the Coalition began attacking trading lanes, yesterday. They're hijacking ships, and seizing planes out of Poilen, once they land."

"That could complicate things."

"It's not too late to change things. We could find you another means of travel, if it concerns you that much."

"Thank you, but we can't delay. With the Coalition spreading like it is, it's best that we move, quickly, and take our chances."

"Yes... I agree, I suppose.
"Once again, thank you for your help. I don't believe I ever got your name? Isn't that strange?"

"Name's aren't as important as identities, Haywood."

"Call me Alex."

I nod.

"...Cynthia."

We part ways. Our travel, the Lady Gray, departs later that day.

If the Coalition is attacking ships escaping Poilen, they're probably looking for Ruby, for whatever reason they have. They know she'll try to escape the country, quickly. Once again, we're caught in the crossfire.

We'll be on the open ocean for a few days. Is there anything you'd like to have done before then?

Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/04/09(Fri)00:17 No. 161753 ID: 65a023
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Voices, I don't know if you're there, but I could use another set of eyes. You've been out like a light for the past couple of days.

The closer we got to the Coalition-Empire border, the more of these Coalition patrol vessels we've run into. We've managed to evade them, for the most part, but it looks like we're finally going to have a fight on our hands.

Got any ordinance that could sink a vessel like that?

swim under their ship and punch a few holes in the hull.

>>161753
It looks like they'll be more interested in that other smaller boat.

Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/04/09(Fri)00:44 No. 161771 ID: 65a023
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There's no way I could take out a ship like that on my own. But maybe with Burns' help, we can repel the attackers long enough to make into into the Empire's borders.

We've been skirting the borders of the two nations for the past few hours, trying to evade ships. We're almost through. We made some bad decisions, earlier, as far as where to go, and how to evade these ships. For whatever reason, I couldn't seem to reach you.

We just need to buy a little more time.

>>161753
Amortals can hold their breath for an hour and you still have your demo charges right?

Tell Burns to stay on this ship, he is to deal with the boarding party. You get to swim again, please don't kill us for that part. Swim underwater over to their ship. Attach one set of explosives near the rudder/propulsion. When you have set the explosives then climb up onto the ship and plant some explosives at their communications, make sure they can't radio for help. Time the explosives so they go off at the same time. Then make sure they can't use their main armament, just go over to it, kill anyone there and then keep them from it. When the explosions go off Burns and Tannon is to take care of the boarding part. Tannon provides long range sniper support while Burns gets into the water and joins you on their ship. Clean it out and make sure it sinks. Then be on your merry way.

>>161771
Oh shit, scratch the old plan. The TAV is right on top of you. Shit is about to go bad real quick. Prepare to repel airborne boarders.

>>161771

Does the Empire likely have any forces in the area? If so, you might be able to lead the Coalition patrol toward them and then slip away.

Is that the TAV? Or a storm?

At any rate look at that giant shadow in the sky and get a better idea of what it is. If it's a storm, then driving into it could maybe let you get away. Dunno.

Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/04/09(Fri)00:57 No. 161782 ID: 65a023
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All right, I think we can -

"KITTY!"

ohhhhh, fuck. it's the TAV. unless burns can throw you up to it i don't think you can fight it at all.

>>161782

Oh DAMMIT.

Perhaps we can re-hijack that ship?

I don't suppose you'd survive the forces involved in being shot out of an artillery cannon would you? Not sure if that would even get you high enough though, or if you could even board it. Whatever kind of energy keeps it aloft might also wind up destroying your body.

Wait, are there even guns like that on this ship?

At any rate, it's a pretty crazy and stupid plan but I thought I'd mention it anyway. Because at this point, all plans start looking good.

[animated] Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/04/09(Fri)01:25 No. 161792 ID: 23ba2a
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I... I can't think of a way out of this. If they board, then maybe we can... but then -

"Kitty!"

"Burns?"

"Kitty, swallow the Tear!"

I don't have time to question it. For once, his head is on straighter than my own.

The last thing I see is the flash of one of the TAV's weapons, and the deafening crack of the ship, being torn in two.

It all goes white. It all -

>>161792
Hello?

>>161792
Ouch, that looks like it fucking hurt. Or well not the getting shot part, that should be over pretty quick. Getting slowly rebuilt is the part that might fucking hurt.

See you on the other side Kitty.

ARGH KITTY WHAT DID YOU EAT IT SMELLS LIKE BAD HAM IN HERE.

What happened to Kitty and Burns? Will they wake up together in the far future? Is the Tear at the bottom of the ocean? Will Tannon ever get his groove back?

Find out next time on TALES OF THE TEAR!

Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/04/09(Fri)02:07 No. 161802 ID: 65a023
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"No, ma'am. These are the only bodies we recovered. The only ones that were intact in the least, I mean."

"Hmm? Ohh. It's too bad. This one was so handsome, before he passed, yes."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Do you like handsome men, Sam?"

"No, Exarch, ma'am."

"So rare. So rare, hmm."

"Some escaped when the Sunrisen vessels arrived, and we were forced to -

"Don't depress me today, Sammy."

"No, ma'am."

"Hmm. A shame, a shame."

"Should... should we pursue the survivors to -

"No, Sammy. The King is so fussy in his old age. I won't bother the poor dear in the dark winter of his long years. If Miss Ruby was with them, I can wait a little longer.
"Did they pick up the poor dears?"

"No, ma'am. It was peculiar. They avoided the Empire's ships and headed for the coast on the short haulers, with some covered equipment on board."

"To the mountains, hmm. I hate the cold, my Sammy."

"Yes, ma'am."

>>161802
Keep playing dead. Don't go up and get moving until you're sure that you're alone.

[end of chapter 6] Plague!!NkAwOzZ2H0 2010/04/09(Fri)02:16 No. 161804 ID: 65a023
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"Send these back to their friends, Sammy."

"Ma'am?"

"Dump the corpses into the sea, Sam. We have no use for them, now."

"Very good, ma'am. We should be on our way to the next freighter, Exarch, ma'am."

"You treat me so respectfully, Sammy."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Such a shame about this one. Such a handsome man. Such a handsome man."

"The girl is beautiful, as well."

"Nobody asked for your damned opinion, Sam."

"No, ma'am."

"It's no matter. They say those who die in war, bloodied themselves by their own hands. He was likely a naughty boy."

"And a naughty girl?"

"I'm the only naughty girl here, Sammy.
"And unless we find Miss Ruby, I may have to bloody my own hands. And that would be a naughty shame, Sammy."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Such a shame. Bloody hands never come clean, my Sammy."

"No, ma'am."

...

>>161804
Kill the fuckers when they try to dump you into the sea. Atleast if you can do that.