Expanse: The City Reboot (Dark Fantasy Epic) Main Thread (Open, Started)

[Evrant-Knight]

Vergil Crawford - Morning Light Inn - Tinsdal

*Before The Bang*

"I don't know Julie, I think for the moment, we should just, sit back and wait." Vergil replied, sounding unsure about what he just said.

*Just After The Bang Happened*

Vergil had been sitting at the table, drinking his coffee, and generally feeling relaxed, when a loud bang could be heard; coming from the room in which the Vessel had being going over the notes. He quickly rose up from his seat, and called out to the Vessel.

"Vessel, what the hell happened in there?" Vergil asked, sounding deeply worried, noticing that the light in the room had gone out, and smoke was spilling out underneath. He quickly rushed to the door, pushing it open, which let out more smoke, making him cough a little. Upon entering the room, to help rid it of the smoke, he opened the window, which let a cold air in.

Vergil quickly turned round, and saw the Vessel, cowering in fear, and huddled up on the floor, as if she had seen a ghost.

"My god Vessel, you alright. What the bloody hell happened? I was so worried about you there for a moment, you had me actually quite scared." He then knelt down, and hugged the quivering Vessel, almost shedding a tear in the process, not that she noticed. From the corner of his eye, he noticed a piece of slightly L shaped wood, which had small pieces of metal built into it. Upon further inspection, he realised what he was holding.

"Well I never, a flintlock pistol. Truly an advancement in warfare. More powerful than a bow, and more concealable than a sword. With one shot, you can kill a man instantly. This reminds me of something in the journal, never mind that though, the lady comes first." Vergil thought to himself, as he shoved the intriguing weapon into one of his coat pockets, before picking up the distressed maiden that was the Vessel, carrying her out into the main foyer in his arms. He noticed a note had been planted on the back of the door, being held in place with a dagger. It read:

"Give my love to Julie and that other *****."​

.

A disgusted look appeared on his face, as he shook his head. Vergil then turned to the bar woman.

"Excuse me miss, could you get me some water, and a few towels please; my friend has just got into a terrible accident." He then looked into the Vessel's face, tears rolling down here eyes.

"Don't worry, Vergil is here, Scarlett is here, the **** is here, and your safe now." He then gave a quick kiss to her cheek, hoping it would cheer her up, knowing that she was with friends. Vergil carried her over the the table, and sat down with her.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Vergil Crawford - Morning Light Inn - Tinsdal

"Couldn't make out a body Vessel, too much damn smoke in the way. Whoever it was though, they obtained the formula notes, and ran off in the confusion. Seems as though what advantage we could of had though, is now lost for the time being." Vergil remarked, disappointed by the loss, but not upset by it like the Vessel was. He then leaned in close, saying something confidential between them.

"Judging by the look on your face, you had to surrender the formula, or your life would have been in jeopardy. Don't worry, I would of done the same thing. There is nothing to be ashamed of." It was then that a man carrying a jug of water arrived, along with several towels, and a couple of glasses. Vergil poured some water into a glass, and offered it to the Vessel.

"Here, drink this, it'll help you relax, and cool off." He then removed the flintlock from earlier, placing it on a table.

"From the looks of it, our perpetrator was carrying this. Flintlock pistol, think of it like a miniature version of that miniature cannon that the Oncoming Storm wielded. It also appears to be loaded with a single shot. Found it underneath the table you was working it." Vergil then grabbed one of the towels, submerging a corner in some water, and ringing out the excess .

"Here, let me clean off some of this powder that is on you. I promise to be gentle."

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Vergil Crawford - Morning Light Inn - Tinsdal

"Anything for a lady as beautiful as you." Vergil remarked with a warm, caring smile, as he managed to clean off some of the black powder that was on the Vessel's face. Her cheeks seemed to turn a faint shade of red, almost as if she was blushing. He chuckled slightly.

"Now that's what I like to see, a smile on that pretty face of yours. I'm not looking for anything in return because of this. Just showing that I care. Well, thats all the powder off your face, little bit on the arm, and you should be all nice and clean." He added, as he turned a corner on the towel, and submerging it the water again. This time, Vergil started wiping off he blackpowder that covered the Vessel's right arm up to the elbow.

Without looking on her direction, he asked Julie a few questions.

"Julie, how did you recover that vault, and where there any others like it? I have a feeling, that we may find some answers to what just occurred, if we head towards a Champions base."

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Vergil Crawford - Morning Light Inn - Tinsdal

After clearing off the remaining blackpowder, Vergil gave a friendly smile.

"There, pretty as a picture, and a very pretty one at that." He remarked, before standing up to acknowledge the **** suggestion.

"Your right Julie, a mission like this, could help uncover some valuable secrets, and possibly help understand who our mystery perpetrator is; unless of course, if the base was evacuated, they took stuff with them. Unlikely though, but it is something to consider at least." Commenting on the potential usefulness of this mission. Vergil then helped the Vessel up, before giving her a hug.

"Don't worry Vessel, I'll come back. Just take it easy though, you've been through alot." He then turned to the ****.

"Alright then, lets get going."

 

[FinalDream]

Scarlett Verneer - The morning light inn - Tinsdal


Scarlett slammed the glass a little too hard on the table, she moved a hand to her head and felt the sudden rush of fatigue. She blinked. It seemed a struggle to remain awake. Was she that tired? Scarlett moved her left hand in front of her face and watched as it broke apart in double vision with world behind blurring. Turning her hand over she cursed out loud and recognised the symptoms of the sleeping agent. After all she had used it many times before. Was this, another, careless mistake of old age or was she stupid enough to think that she was safe here in the north? Whatever the answer it did not matter now. Her head hit the table with a thud as the approaching darkness swallowed her alive.

?Seems to me like someone has had enough.?

He emerged from the darkness in the corner of the tavern with a drink in hand and a faded green cloak hiding the features of his face. He watched the commotion at the bar with interest. A woman was arguing with the barmaid about guards. It had caught most of the attention of the patrons around the girl. Placing the drink on the table next to Scarlett?s head the man picked her up and propped her against his side. He looked down at the old man turning to see what was going on.

?It?s all right. She?s with me. I?ll take her home now.?

It seemed the patron had no real interest in the matter and turned back around without a word or look of cation about the situation. He smiled to himself. This had been the easiest kidnapping of a high profile target ever. The man walked out of the inn with Scarlett completely unobserved. And this girl was supposed to be some big shot Red Stain. He scoffed at the idea.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Vergil Crawford - Local Champions Base - Tinsdal

Vergil looked upon the building that was the target for their reconnaissance mission. Whilst it was a rather grand building, like much in the district, it had certainly seen better days. The fact that it was still standing, was a testament to its construction. He began analyzing the front, so spot any potential openings. Going over the walls were out of the question, due to them leaning forwards towards them, even he would have significant difficulty in climbing up it. It seems their only main point of entrance, was the door, which had a large lock on it.

"You'd think breaking into an abandoned falling down building wouldn't be so much of a challenge. Did you bring whatever it was our mystery man dropped? Sorry if I talk to much, I have this thing where I do random characterisation when I'm bored."

"In my line of work Julie, everything is a challenge, you never know what kind of security the enemy has in place. As for the flintlock, I certainly did, although, I plan to use it for intimidation purposes only. Since we only have a single shot, I'd rather save for something important. Its okay to talk Julie, certainly has been awhile, since I had company on one of these kinds of missions. Just keep it to a minimum whilst we're inside, we don't know who could be lurking about." Vergil then went up to the door, and examined the large metal lock. He began examining its structure, occasionally muttering something that was understandable. He then made notes on his findings to Julie.

"Its a 'Kerrigan and O'Malley' made lock, a quality lock for this kind of building. Cylindrical barrel, with a set of five teeth, equally spread out along its length. Have to have all the teeth facing the same way for the lock to disengage. Fortunately, I have such a tool in mind." He then pulled out his multiple lock pick, and inserted it into the lock, and slowly began to work at it. It took him a few minutes to align the teeth perfectly, but the lock soon fell, Vergil being able to catch it with his spare hand.

 

[FinalDream]

Captain Felicia Jones - The Warfleet - Interceptor Class Vessel ?The Electra?

The previous night...


She could not sleep tonight. Instead Felicia remained awake and listening to the sound of the gentle ocean outside. The cabin was cold and she could see her breath rising upwards to vanish in the dark. Felicia could not stand the north, the chill of the winds, the ice that formed on the sea at night and wished more than most to be back in the south. She smiled at the thought of drinking wine in the warm southern night air. Right on time the sound of footsteps approached on the creaking floorboards outside. The light from a lantern crept under the door and illuminated the room. The shadows it cast seemed like monsters moving in to devour her alive with only the glint of her cutlass on the wall as a comfort. Another hour had passed and still she could not sleep. Felicia marked time with the changing of the night watch and in a few minutes more slower footsteps would return in the other direction. Tired from the long hours on patrol on the frozen deck. She felt safe in the familiar sound and watched the light from another lantern dance across the room. Felicia turned her head into the pillow and pulled the stiff bedsheets to the edge of her chin closing her eyes in anticipation of dropping off to sleep. She tried to imagine the sight on deck. All one hundred ships silhouetted in the night. Sailing slow to the northern shore.

 

[FinalDream]

Katelyn Verneer - Tinsdal Temporary Holding Prison - Tinsdal

She was running and she was running fast. The screaming guard charged through the gate drawing his sword in anticipation of meeting the escaped prisoner but never expected to find her sweeping low and aiming for the legs. He crashed to the ground and rolled across the cobbled stone. Sword clattering behind. She never looked back and picked herself up to regain momentum despite still been chained with iron at the hands. With the original trip to the cell as her guide back to the main entrance Katelyn sprinted through the iron gate and found the stairs to the ground floor. Pushing open the door she peered around and found the corridor to the courtyard.

The adrenaline flowing through her veins was beginning to wear thin and Katelyn began to realise how much of this impromptu plan could go wrong. One over zealous guard and she would find herself bleeding out a slow death. With all the confusion of the distraction provided a few minutes ago Katelyn had taken the opportunity to overpower the single guard watching her cell and make a break for the exit. She still needed to find her mechanical bow stored somewhere in a room at the front gate. There was so much to think about it almost became overwhelming.

Running as fast as she could Katelyn broke out into the courtyard and looked up at the rising smoke. The thick tower of dark smoke rose high into the sky and the guards rushed to assist in putting out the flames. She smiled musing about the risks of wooden roofs. More smoke and screaming came from around the corner. She stepped forward but found herself before a tall guard looking stern at the iron around her hands. He nodded in recognition. It was one of her friends back from starting the fires around the prison. She sighed and followed him towards the main gate without a word as instructed. The large iron gate was open allowing the guards to come and go with buckets of water and Katelyn walked behind the man keeping her head down until she saw the mechanical bow leaning against the stone wall. The guard effortlessly bent down and picked it up leading Katelyn into the streets outside. Once safe in a short space behind a house he produced an iron key and unlocked the bindings around Katelyn?s hands. She rubbed the marks and took her bow. The man nodded and walked back to the prison. He would erase her records and allow her a small head start to escape the district. She wondered for a moment what the guild had to hang over his head and force him to break free a notorious prisoner. For this kind of job it must have been something quite bad.

Walking casually down the street she looked around and found what she was looking for. The Morning Light Inn. A known drop point for her contacts. There was a part of her mind that thought better of just walking in and dropping the key words to the bar staff but right now she had no choice. It would not be long before someone back at the prison noticed her absence, or the unconscious guard, or the dead guard who helped her once the group removed him from their employment. She stepped inside and was about to head to the bar when she noticed someone she would rather have not have met.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Vergil Crawford - Local Champions Base - Tinsdal

"Your dragon flame may provide some light, depends on how wide an area you can cast it in." Vergil responded with, as he stared into the pitch black room. He tried using his enhanced vision ability, and was able to make out a few details, one of which being, what he thought looked like a torch.

"Hang on a sec, think I can see something that may provide us with some light." He then went over to the torch, and began striking it with some flint. After a few unsuccessful attempts, a orange glow could be seen, brightening up the room some more. Vergil then removed the torch, and began carrying it.

"Here we go, this should help. But by all means, use your dragon flame. Now then, which way do we go?"

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Vergil Crawford - Local Champions Base - Tinsdal

The pair had been walking around the abandoned base, for what could of been hours, but was more likely to be only a few minutes. He had been coughing every so often, because of the copious amounts of dust that hanged in the air. It was at that moment, that Julie asked something.

"Vergil? Can you hear voices? You remember how to get back out right?" She asked, sounding slightly scared of the situation they were in.

"Hmm, thought I could hear something earlier. Might of just been the wind. Or maybe, this 'abandoned base', isn't so empty as we first thought. As for getting back out, don't worry, you could say that our auras, having been leaving me a trail to follow. At any rate, what precisely are we looking for? More vaults like the one you showed us at the inn? Or something else entirely?" As a precaution, he removed one of his swords, in case someone else was in the base.

 

[FinalDream]

Katelyn Verneer - The Morning Light Inn - Tinsdal

She remained still and muted in the sight of the rather strange woman talking to her. She gave no look, or made no remark, that would appear to the room that she was not a friend of this girl. Was it then good fortune that she had been mistaken for her sister? She recognised the girl from before but could not place a name to the face and decided, after some thought, to act the part of Scarlett until she was far from this inn. The last thing she needed was some drunk local pointing her out to a guard. After all, the escaped assassin of the beloved Kalyn Vaalender would no doubt be worth a few Kiel in reward. The trouble was that this girl wanted to return to the palace. The heart of the lions den. She swallowed the concern rising in the back of her mind and adopted a warm smile.

?Come. We should return.?

She knew that the friends of this shaken girl would immediately identify her as someone else but where better to hide than the estate of the dean. The last place anyone would look for her.

?Just give me a minute to change.?

She disappeared behind the bar to a small room full of shelving. A store house of goods for the use of such characters as her. A fresh set of armour consisting of faintly decorated tanned leather, leather leggings and warm boots. She grabbed a small curved knife and a quiver of arrows for her bow. And last but not least a brown hood that attached to her armour. The barman made a not of the items and added it to the tab of her crew. She nodded in thanks and took a small pouch of Kiel too. Better to be prepared. She returned to the girl and smiled once more. How on earth did her sister act? She had no clue and decided to be as nice as possible.

?Ready??

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Vergil Crawford - Local Champions Base - Tinsdal

Vergil could hear the sound of armour clanking around the house, and many voices, more than those that could be counted. He quickly put out the torch, and placed it in a nearby holder, and then sheathed his sword. Julie then spoke in a hush, but rather insistent tone.

"Get in? We don't know how many of them are here." Gesturing towards a nearby closet.

"Right." Vergil responded rather quietly, as he dashed into the nearby closet, and hurriedly shut the door. From what he could tell, the small room was essentially pitch black, unable to see anything in front of his face. He could feel one of his hands on his hip, at least, he thought it was his hand. It certainly felt different at least.

"Well, this is certainly comfortable." Vergil joked in a sarcastic manner, speaking rather quietly, so is to not blow their cover.