First Blood Shed

OOC: Continued from "Looming Shadows."

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Binah<It may be possible to locate the Organization's secret headquarters via the signal that Avici used to communicate with it.>

*As they enter the computer room, the lights come back on & the music changes. They can see Vincent standing behind the controls, looking as if nothing ever happened to him, as well as a blond man in a pilot's jacket in the seat. Neither turns around, but the man removes a cigarette from his mouth & blows some smoke.*

Man<Don't think so. The signal just bounces offa buncha satellites from here ta deep space. Good luck finding where it ends up.>

Th"I don't suppose that you plan to introduce yourself?"

Man<Name's Cid.>

Vincent<He has been a mechanic working in this city since before I began my slumber.>

Cid<Musta been some nap.>

Vincent<I brought him here to help me override Avici's modifications to the system. Others repaired the electrical grid that you destroyed.>
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*Artexi, Roatha, Vega, & Nero all wake up to find themselves strapped to beds in the castle infirmary. Luxord & Zexion are also in beds, but not strapped down. They are turned away, & appear to be sleeping. Other than the Moogles floating around in Organization cloaks with lab coats over them, the only other occupant is Xigbar, having an eye patch fitted. He glances at them with his good eye & forces a grin. He sounds much more bitter than usual.*

Xigbar<Oh, hey, the kiddos are awake. Whoop-de-doo.>

*Ira immediately begins thrashing around & snarling, shaking the bed.*

R"Why do you have me strapped down?!"

Xigbar<...You're answering your own question, idiot. And nobody's exactly forgotten that time Nero started firing on Senthose. Now you've all been seen with him, & nobody's quite sure what's goin' on.>
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*Meanwhile, there comes a knock on the door to Eve's lab.*

S"There has been a major defeat at the Radiant Garden. Most of the members there have been recovered, including Nero. From what I can gather, Xaldin, Saix, & Axel were all destroyed, but they were all Nobodies, so they should reappear sooner or later. Avici...is not so easily replaced. Lexeaus, Demyx, & Vexen were uninjured, so I sent them back, hoping that they can prevent the Order from gaining control of the Gummi Mine."

Azuma: "Can't just follow the trail of satellites?"

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Not being psychotic, Vega doesn't squirm or do anything that says he should be strapped down.

Admittedly, Hinode was just glad that the crystals were dissolving for the time being, even though it was difficult to get rid of them if they had been there for a while. Attentively he had listened to Lilith, figuring that he now had a better understanding of what it was going on with Thiera. For that matter, at this point he understood what was wrong with 'Mom.'

Eventually, though, Hinode's area of expertise - getting into places that he didn't belong in a digital world - eased its way back up into the conversation once again.

"Tracking satellites? That's kids' stuff." He grinned, looking over as though he were suggesting he could have done it quite easily.

*Safian goes up and starts sniffing a computer. Monu hangs back, looking a little intimidated, since he's from the Middle Ages and thus not as used to all this technology. He looks over at Hinode*

Monu:<If you think you can, it might be worth an attempt.>
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*Artexi opens her eyes, then blinks while her eyes adjust to the light. She strains to look at Ira*

<You belong in a straight jacket.>

*Artexi looks over at Xigbar*

<Yeah, but he showed up to help us fight the Order. We probably couldn't have rescued everyone without him.>
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*Eve had gone to open the door, then listened intently to Senthose. She looks startled at the news*

<I'm surprised the Order managed to over power Avici and the rest of the Organization members there. Do you think that the Gummy mine can be held?>

Cid<You can try if ya want, but I don't think you're gonna get anything. After a while, the damn thing just up & disappears.>

*Cid waves his cigarette in Safian's face.*

Cid<Shoo! Mangey animal!>
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Xigbar<Yeah, well, we'll see what the boss man says when he gets here.>
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"I do not know. It took all of their trainees & Binah's magic, & even then, I suspect they had inside help. Perhaps the infamous ghost in the dungeons. But I'm not sure how he would have known to delete Avici's back-up files from this world's server."

*Safian snarls at Cid*

<I'm not mangey!>
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<Neither do I.>

*Eve sweeps some hair anyway from her face*

<What of Nero? What do you plan to do with him?>

Azuma: "It's a start, isn't it?"

The fact that Monu was showing a little promise in him actually ended up pleasing Kyohaku. Looking up slowly, he smirked a bit and nodded to indicate that he was going to give it a try. While it didn't seem that his enthusiasm was necessarily universal, considering Cid's point of view, he walked over to take a look. "Satellites can't just disappear. It's probably being blocked by something like solar activity."

Binah<That block could be magical in nature. If it were put in place by a Keyblade, even I would not be able to unseal it at this distance.>

Cid<Shit, he coulda just smashed the fuckin' thing, not like he needs it anymore.>

*As they say, the communication just stops in deep space somewhere. There doesn't appear to be anything pinging signals back, not even space dust.*
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S"I don't see the need to 'do' anything. He now knows that if he tries to cross me openly, he will do so without the support of the vast majority of the Organization. Their suspicions will keep him in line. And he won't try to leave for the Order, because he knows that Binah won't give him the dark powers that he needs to control the darkness in the hearts of others, such as his hapless friend. By the time he no longer feels compelled to do as we say, it will already be too late."

*Eve nods*

<I understand. Even so, I think we should keep Nero and his friends away from my laboratory. I donot want any possibility of Binah getting wind of what we've been working on. Oh, that reminds me...>

*Eve looks away, rather embarrassed*

<Dr. Mushroom stole some equipment out of my lab while I was away. If you see it, please let me know.>

Azuma: "Then we start with the nearest one?"

By this point Kyohaku was looking over all the controls, "Hum, maybe you're right about that. Maybe the block is magical." He frowned when he couldn't even seem to detect space dust or junk. "I know one thing - if he blew it outta the sky, there should be debris everywhere to trace it, unless that's all being blocked off from me too." He frowned, but at least Hinode didn't look like he was going to break anything.

...yet, anyway.

Binah<Then we will need to find the information another way.>

L"There's a canyon south of this city. There seems to be some kind of mining operation going on there. It could be connected to the Organization."

Binah<We could attack it, but we don't yet have the resources to keep them from building another. And I don't believe we can count on the possibility of capturing 1 of their members. We will have to search for information the old fashioned way. But some of us should enter the digital world to search for this enemy of Avici's that is still inside.>

*Euryale starts jumping up & down, waving her hand.*

E"Ooh! Ooh! I wanna see the inside of the computer!"
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S"They are becoming a nuisance. We may have to spray them."

Having paused for a few minutes, Kyohaku was subtly and non-verbally stating that he was not used to not finding out what he wanted. After having sighed for a few moments, it seemed that Euryale's new-found enthusiasm might have perked him up a bit. "You know, if anyone is going in there, then its gonna be me. I'm coming too. Keep in mind that we're talking about my home turf after all!" If nothing else he was happy to be going back home in a way. He'd been looking forward to this for a while, and he wanted to beat their enemies on their own turf.

*Safian looks excited as well, tail squishing back and forth. Monu is still hanging back*

Safian:<I've never been either! Can I go?!>
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*Eve shifts uncomfortably*

<I hope that doesn't become necessary. I find them quite endearing...most of the time.>

Azuma: "I wouldn't reccomend it."

Hitomi nods in agreement. Because being locked in a hole sucks.

OOC: I've posted prototypical ideas for Euryale's & Thiera's Grid outfits on their sign-up forms. People should tell me what they think.

E"Oh, come on, what's the worst that could happen?"
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S"Yes, well, I have to make a stop at the infirmary now."

Eve:<Do you mind if I accompany you? I'm interested to hear what they have to say.>
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*Safian looks at Euryale, ears twitching*

<Ooooh, now something really bad's going to happen!>

OOC: I remember talking to you about them in the past. The new designs should look fine I think. They both show off the character's personalities.

While he wasn't originally expecting Safian to have expressed any interest in coming along, Kyohaku wasn't going to say no by any means. He shrugged with a bit of a grin. To be perfectly honest, Kyohaku was just glad to be going home. "I guess this means that I'll have a few friends comin' along to see my old home turf, eh?" He didn't mind either way, and he was honestly looking forward to reclaiming something that he felt was taken from him.

Azuma: "You could fall through a hole in the ground and be stuck there until one of the other captives goes bananas. Or worse."

E"You guys got out of it somehow, I'll just do what you did. What was that again?"

*Lilith glances at Thiera, who is still looking pointedly away from everyone & crossing her arms.*

Th"Roatha went berserk for the 1st time. He broke the prison wall."

E"Well, there you have it. I'm clearly stronger than Dark Roatha or whatever he calls himself."

*She thumps her chest for emphasis.*

Th"Yes. As long as you've told us everything that we need to know about your last visit, we should be fine."
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S"Suit yourself."

*He turns to walk down the rampart.*

Azuma: "Fought some bad guys, met Tron, Avici did bad things to him and he's now a bad guy, should probably undo that while whoever's going is there."

"Remember that from my point of view I'm currently on my first visit -out- of the world that we're about to go into. I haven't died..." Kyohaku allowed his words to roll off for a moment or two. "...yet anyway." Eventually he blinked, though, and turned toward Azuma. "You have met Tron?"

*Eve follows, walking slightly behind Senthose*
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*Monu coughs awkwardly*

Safian:<Plus, we have Hinode now! We'll be fine.>

*And so Senthose & Eve enter the infirmary, Xigbar glaring at him with his remaining eye.*

Xigbar<So what now, Boss-Man?>

S"I think you should return to the Radiant Garden to defend the Gummi Mine. Oh, & wake Xyukuse to take him with you."

Xigbar<Why? Do I still have too many eyes?>

*He points unnecessarily to his unpatched eye.*

S"I'm not asking you to attack the Order, or even sacrifice yourselves should you be unable to fend them off. We can always build a Gummi Mine. But I'd rather we didn't have to."
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E"Yeah, who is Tron? How will I recognize him?"

*Euryale turns towards Azuma as Vincent begins to leave, but Cid grabs his arm.*

Cid<Hold it, Count Dracula-->

V<I am not a vampire.>

Cid<Whatever. Point is, we still need you to help get the castle up & runnin' again. Oh, & we'll need a new security staff. You don't want these Organization shits comin' back in here & makin' a mess out of things, do ya?>

*Meanwhile, Binah takes Lilith to the corner of the room.*

Binah<Thiera will probably want to enter The Grid to search for any files that Avici might have left behind, & I have to return to The Land of Departure as soon as possible. So I need you to lead the rest of your fellow students to the Olympus Coliseum.>