[The Gentle Breeze] Chapter 3 - Psychadellic Boogaloo

[Sageshooter]

"Wi-Without my armor?!" Rikka looked horrified at the thought of going out without her armor and took a step back from the others. Her hands seemed to cross over her body in protection and she clutched at her armor. They wouldn't see it underneath, but she frowned as she stared at Sif.

"Can I at least keep my hood? I don't need to take that off right?" There was a hint of hope in her voice as her hands tugged at the edges of the cloth to tighten it against the back of her head. She ignored the others for the time being, the comments of the peanut gallery was far less of a concern for her than Sif's answer.

 

[ArsenicJohn]

Brigid was more intrigued by Viz's statement about not being able to resurrect the witch than by the next mission. Disappearing citizens didn't sound very exciting. Witches that somehow couldn't be revived were another matter. She deflected Dante's flame, accidentally bouncing the magical fire towards Jayden. Brigid moved closer to Viz.

"What do you mean you couldn't bring her back? Do you have any idea what would cause something like that?" She asked excitedly. Brigid had some suspicions that the lady had been performing a ritual, though she was pretty sure it had failed. No spellcaster she knew of would use magic that resulted in exploding from the inside. There was simply no benefit to a ritual like that.

 

[TheFirstOne]

Jayden was about to say something, when Brigid swatted fire at her. The big cat stepped out of the way, baring her teeth at the demon with a loud growl. "Watch where you're throwing that shit!" She snapped after composing herself a little, then looking back at Sif. "But seriously?! Fuck if you're going to make me pretend to be something, at least let me pretend to be something I'm good at so if anyone asks me questions I can, you know, sorta talk about it and sound like I know what I'm talking about," She added, crossing her arms.

 

[CadetNewb]

"Pfft!" Viz began to smirk at Dante. "You mean I'll be rezzing some college girl you've sunk your blade into!" She couldn't help but smugly grin at the young man, knowing what he did. Still, bit by bit, she was starting to paint the piece she was working with, which was beginning to do wonders to the appearance, making it look glossy and hard like a car body.

"You'll have our armor, but I can understand your concern," Sif admitted to Rikka Despite her drab tone, it seemed she had some understanding. Still, in their squad leader's background, Viz's smug air of superiority quickly shattered with a cry of panic as Dante tossed flame at the mini giant mecha leg she was working with. Sif ignored this however, and waved a hand through the air, procuring a hooded jacket with the words 'Security' written on it. "Would a soft and warm 'hoodie' work for the time being?" Sif offered.

"My baby!" Viz sniffled, eyeballing her creation from heel to kneepad for damage. Satisfied that it wasn't damaged thanks to Brigid's quick thinking though, she glanced at the succubus and let out a sigh. "Well, people always have this thingy that hangs around for a while after they die, and I stuff that back in while I'm fixing up the bod," the priestess began. "But it wasn't around this time. It's like something blew that necromancer's soul away," Viz offhandedly remarked.

The priestess narrowed her eyes at Dante as though to say she was watching him.

"You'll be fine Jayden," Sif's monotone words tried to reassure the Chongwu. "You shouldn't run into actual bombs. however, if it helps, I can teach you some of my magic to deal with any bombs you find," Sif offered, doing her best to ignore the chatter about one of her underlings sending some woman to heaven.

 

[ArsenicJohn]

Brigid ignored the conversation between Sif and Jayden. She chewed on her lip thoughtfully, thinking out loud. "There are a number of reasons the soul might have been absent..." She said, tapping her fingernails on the table absently. "A summoning, perhaps? No, that doesn't require intercourse. She used Dante's baby batter for something, I'm sure."

She remembered what little she knew of the witch, trying to put the details together. Her eyes widened. "That clever bitch totally played us. She isn't dead, she's riding around in a brand new half-Infernumar body." Brigid said, glancing over at Dante. "She'll be more powerful now. If I ever see her again I gotta give her props for coming up with that scheme." She finished, voice filled with admiration.

Brigid realized the necromancer could even be a man now. She would enjoy having someone clever like that impregnate her. Their offspring would be something to fear.

 

[Sageshooter]

Rikka frowned a little as she saw the hoodie and looked it over. Her eyes searched the material and tested just how magically inclined it was, but realized she had little recourse.

"I suppose... It will do. I-I will return..." The Angel seemed nervous quite frankly at the prospect of being without any of her armor or her enchanted hood. Even in the heavens had she rarely lowered it, and yet now she would have to go into public without it on. She felt like an errant breeze would blow it away.With a sigh she headed into a secluded area, back into the showers and began to change. It would take her some time, the armor she wore cumbersome to remove quickly and the others would hear the clang of metal as she dropped pieces to the floor as carefully as she could. Eventually she was devoid of armor, just her hood now and the clothing she wore underneath. She peeled back her hood and removed the entire piece as her face burned into existence, like fire across a page. Pale skin, golden freckles, bright blue eyes, a shock of red hair done into a braid that hung over her shoulder, she was gorgeous as expected.

Quickly though, she threw the hoodie over her face, praying no one had seen her in her state of reveal and returned to the group. She was unaware of the braid that stuck out from under her hood as she tried to keep it covering her face as much as possible. Regardless, the group would see the bottom part of her face, the cute pale pink lips and the pale skinned chin just illuminated by the light. The group would also see, Rikka had a pretty good body under all that armor. Ample chest and a flare in the hips that without the sway of armor on her actually swayed, defined tight legs that showed definition through the riding pants, she quickly stuffed her hands into the pocket on the front of the hoodie and tried to act inconspicuous as much as possible.

 

[Helios]

Dante rolled his eyes and stopped trying to set viz and her milk carton crafts on fire, not at all because he didn't want to but because he was too afraid of setting jayden on fire in the process. He narrowed his eyes back at the bluenette just make sure she got the message that he saw her keeping her eye on him, and that it wouldn't change what he did.

"She was like three HUNDRED years old or something, brigid, that's probably just what happens when demon magic and hot necromancer magic mixes" Dante explained pointedly, slightly annoyed at the groups insensitivity over such a traumatic first time "anyway, she lost her soul to 'defile'that church, so she was probably doing something to give her old crew new lives. That's who the fancy zombies were" he said as the fact dawned on him later than anyone else "she played me!"

His shocking revelation lasted as long as it took rikka to return, at which point the demon became far more concerned with his squad mate than his fuck up "did we get a new recruit?" He asked, awe evident in his voice while he realised what had been under the armor the whole time. Whatever dante had expected out an angel it wasn't a red head.

 

[TheFirstOne]

Jayden snorted at Sif's offer to learn magic, looking at Rikka as she muttered about having to not wear her armour. A large part of her wanted to steal Rikka's armour. Show little miss "Too good to show my face" a thing or two about being a decent fucking person. All in all, Jayden realized she was a very angry person right about now, and she was trying to figure out a way to stop herself from snapping at someone. All things considered, this day was not going exactly how she would like. At all.

Then Rikka came back out of the bathroom, still hiding her face, and Dante was making a right ass of himself. "It's Rikka you idiot, put your eyes back in your head and pay attention so we can get a move on with this breifing. Feels like it's been months since it started," She growled, looking at Sif. "Not like there is anything special about her..."

 

[CadetNewb]

Imperial Cruiser Wéifēng,
Recreation Area 1

"Pffft-hahahahahaha!" Viz burst out into laughter. "That's silly! Who would turn themselves into a filthy half-breed? If she was dumb enough to, she'd be no match for me then!" the priestess crowed, boasting about her holy magic. However, a mischievousness crept into her smile, turning it into a wicked grin as her blue eyes turned onto the male Infernumar. "Hey, you might have to pay her child support," Viz teased the young man. "If Brigid's right, she's not even a year old!" she snickered at Dante. "She'd have totally played you then!"

As they talked about what had happened last mission though, Sif couldn't help but sigh. "You look fine," she tried to reassure the Angel with her flat, emotionless voice. "The hoodie covers you up, and so do the pants. And under that, you're wearing the combat suit," the 2nd Class tigress tried to remind Rikka. Sif's ears soon drooped at Jayden's response though. "....I really wanted to show off that spell," she muttered, the words easily mistaken for a trick of the mind. Clearing her throat, she continued the briefing. "As for our armaments, we will be using projectile weapons rather than the special-forces lasers that we had been granted before." Producing a hologram in the palm of her hand, the image of a handgun appeared. "It fires little rockets that fragment inside the target," she explained. "We won't be issuing the smart rounds however," Sif added. "Do we have any other questions?"

*****

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"I have so many questions," Sif remarked. Like a veil that was lifted, they all woke, taking a good blink as reality hit them. At a glance, it seemed that they were all in the middle of a dormitory reception or lounge area. Dressed in their security team outfits, the squad all had their pistols strapped to their thighs, however, they were all in various states of waking, either standing, sitting or even lying down. Viz was, of course, the latter. The woman was entirely asleep behind the receptionist desk, gently snoring away with a flask in hand. It wasn't too much to say that she was sleeping for other reasons however. Looking around, they noticed that the place was immaculately clean save for tiny little things, such as a coffee cup and some chips and the like laid out on one of the tables. Overall, the place was a little on the small side, with a hallway to either side behind the reception desk. They could see that the twelve rooms down each black, shiny, austere hall were arranged on one side entirely, with the opposite being relatively bare save for the entrances into the shower rooms, laundry room, and all the way in the back, the electrical area.

"Comms are down. I cannot contact the other squads patrolling their own sections," the tigress realized, pressing a pair of fingers to her ear. "Everyone. We need to find out what happened." Reaching over the edge of the reception desk, Sif pressed a button, blast doors sealing them into the dormitory. "And fast."

 

[Sageshooter]

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Rikka had been left on one of the couches, zoned out or asleep or whatever state she had been in. Her head leaned back, it showed far more of her face than she had been comfortable with, something that she barely recognized as she slowly woke up. Blinking a bit she lifted her head from where it had rested on the back of the chair, she looked around and felt a bit of cool air on her ears. Blinking, she fumbled around her head to feel for her hood, only to realize the lack of anything that would cover her head. A yelp and sudden jerk had the hood back up and over her head, eyes wide. She quickly tightened the strings to keep the hood up and secured as she saw Sif start to panic a little. She stood and looked up and down the halls, curious from her spot in the main lobby. She spared a glance at the doors as they slammed shut and reached for her sword, only to realize it wasn't there.

She panicked again, only until she realized like her armor, she had been forced to leave it behind. She sighed and instead felt around herself for the weapon she had been given. The grip in her hand awkwardly now, she walked to one of the halls and peered down it to keep a close watch, her wings the smoky ethereal form instead of their full brilliance.

 

[Khamnin]

Slumped up against one of the walls of the room was a mysterious, unknown figure. She wore the uniform they all had on, and had the same weapon- but no one knew her. If one would look closer they would see pointed ears buried beneath pure white curly hair that reached slightly below her shoulders. She was seemingly an Aos Si, but any typical one. Her skin was almost as pale as her hair, being just a shade off from white as snow. She was average height but had very noticeable muscles that were the woman's uniform wrapped neatly around.

Her eyes opened slowly and closed. She was having a hard time keeping her eyes open, but the sudden voice in her head pushed her to waken. It was an unknown voice. Her eyes opened fully for the first time to observe her new surroundings. The gaze darted from person to person, her eyes being a shockingly red coloration.

A loud grumble could be heard to come from the woman as she pushed herself to her feet. As she began to speak, others would instantly recognize that she had quite the accent, though many may not know where exactly from. To those knowledgeable, she has a very thick Russian accent. She spoke with authority and assertiveness, despite not knowing a single person in the room.

"svolach’! Who are you?!" She said with contempt as she tried to reach for her typical weapon- but found only a strange projectile weapon on her side. She held the weapon out, holding it entirely wrong as she waited for these strangers to respond to her.

 

[ArsenicJohn]

Brigid blinked her eyes slowly. As her awareness returned, she recalled only the mission briefing and getting into the atrocious security uniform. The second thing she noticed was that Rikka's face was exposed, and she was sexy. She stored that information away and stood up from the chair she had been sitting in. That's when she heard a shout, drawing her attention to the unknown person pointed a gun at herself. The accent was obviously Soyuz, and she looked like an elf, so probably snow elf. That's as far as her knowledge of the Soyuz went. "Hmm, never had one of you before, love." She said mischievously.

"You look delicious. I would come closer, but I'm afraid you would shoot yourself. It goes the other way, hon." Brigid said, smiling. She drew her own sidearm quickly, aiming it at the new person. "You should really put that down and kick it to me. You're the only one here that isn't part of the squad. It stands to reason that you could be responsible."

The possibility that someone who could pull this off would be ignorant of the proper way to hold a firearm was slim. Still, better to be safe than sorry. Sif seemed worried and she had never seen Sif worry about anything.

 

[TheFirstOne]

"WHAT THE FUCK!" Jayden screamed, looking down at herself. "Where the fuck are we, How the fuck did we get here, and where the fuck are my clothes!" She asked, looking around, covering her chest with her arms. She was only wearing her boyshort panties as she looked around the room for her clothes. "This isn't fucking funny guys!" She grumbled, looking around, oblivious to the fact that Sif was concerned. Honestly, it didn't seem like she cared about anyone's discomfort at the moment. "Oh yeah, lets just fuck with the Chongwu," She muttered, more to herself. "Not like her feelings matter, just a stupid fucking pet..."

 

[Helios]

Dante yawned as he awoke, cracking his neck from left to right while he caught a grasp of his surroundings. After a moment He pushed himself up from the same chair Brigid had seconds earlier.
"My lord woman, you couldn't find a different seat?" Dante groaned, playing at his new Firearm with an absent minded smile, happy to stand around in a half dazed state.

The devil stood there until sif spoke, breaking his trance and causing a frown to grow across his features as he realised their situation. Rushing himself over to the hallway of the dorm and taking a defensive position he looked back to the group, not panicked but quite concerned "Does anybody remember how we got here? Or actually anything?" He stuttered out, even looking to the Aos si to see if she had an answer. Maybe he actually was a little panicked, but he tried to excuse it because he just woke up.

 

[CadetNewb]

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Like a cat, Sif's eyes peered over them all from behind the counter as Viz snoozed away in her security uniform. "I had...received notice that we may get another team member, but do not recall whether or not that was finalized, or receiving any details," she offered, watching the awkward Mexican standoff between Brigid and the snow elf. "Brigid, since you have taken the initiative, please verify her identity. As for you," the squad leader looked at the newcomer. "Holster your weapon and prepare for inspection." However, that wasn't the only thing that had demanded the Tigress's attention. "Rikka. Dante. Stay on overwatch please." Stepping out from behind the reception counter, the snowy haired woman stepped up to their Chongwu teammate. "I am guessing you are feeling scared and humiliated right now, but we are in danger," she spoke to the saber toothed liger, voice plain and emotionless like it always was. "I need you to be brave," Sif added stretching her arms out. "Would a hug help you get ready? We need to find your equipment."

Within the dormitory lobby, they could see that there were plenty of frivolous things out and about, such as snack, drink and meal vending machines along with various tables, couches and the like to sit at. However, behind the reception desk and in front of Viz, the rather minimalist computer terminal and its projector system continued to run. There were also several filing cabinets or what doubled as those for the Daqin, alongside a locked storage unit too. However, Viz was in the way. At the same time, a tiny chime down Rikka's hallway could be heard, a happy little jingle that played out at the far end, only to soon stop. Down Dante's however, was the faintest of snoring at the far end. He wasn't supposed to be hearing any snoring, was he? But perhaps more importantly, those of them that were attuned to magic could feel it ,and the rest of them could see it. Rikka's wings solidified into their tiny, convenient forms, the magic in the air too insubstantial to support her or anyone else from producing or doing much else.

Their magic was weak here.

 

[Khamnin]

Zeyrila narrowed her eyes as she listened to the others, her eyes darting back and forth between Brigid and Sif. Although she did not let her stance though as she looked at the group, she was screaming at herself on the inside. Mudak, she said to herself again and again in her head as she realized she held the gun wrong, as Brigid pointed out. Just previously she had completed her boot camp, but she honestly did not recall much of it.

"Take pathetic thing, no need," She grunted as she tossed the handgun onto the floor then gave it a good kick over to Brigid.

"I can just burn you," Zeyrila added, speaking fluent Russian so that no one would understand her- or she hoped that no one here could understand Russian. The snow elf held out her palm. A crackling ember suddenly started to appear before vanishing just as quickly. She just felt how limited the magic was in this area...she couldn't waste it now.

"Suka!" The elf muttered angrily.

 

[ArsenicJohn]

Brigid had no idea what the elf was saying but the intent behind it was clear. She had seen enough spells cast to understand that the elf was threatening her. If the elf had been paying attention though, she would've known it was pointless. She deployed her helmet and the smart polymers formed up and hardened, bringing up the armor plates.

"Now let's see if you're the newbie." She said, keeping her gun leveled at the mysterious person.

Her HUD popped up and she navigated through the menus to scan the elf and determine if she was one of them. Judging from the vibe of ineptitude she was getting, the elf definitely belonged with them. The helmet quickly confirmed her suspicions, displaying the elf's name and telling Brigid she was a member of the squad. She lowered her handgun and holstered it.

"Welcome to the C team Zeyrila. You'll fit right in." She said, walking over to the elf and patting her on the shoulder.

 

[Weeping_Angel]

Mac Awoke on one of the reception tables. "mmmmm five more minutes ma'am." he said groggily as he stretched sitting up noticing the lack of his shirt as he went around the room to look for it. "uhhh Jayden why are you naked.....not that im complaining but its a bit unprofessional." he jested as he looked around for the top to his security uniform.

 

[TheFirstOne]

When Sif dryly offered a hug, Jayden visibly stiffened up. "Not from you," She growled, looking down at Sif. "You probably had something to do with this. Leave it to the DaQin," She muttered, continuing along her search for something to put on. She walked right past Dante, unconcerned for what might be down the hallway, stopping at Mac's comment. "I'm glad you're enjoying my misery as usual Mac. Good to see some things never change," She sighed, walking into the Laundry room.

 

[Weeping_Angel]

Sighing and looking down as he just realized that Jayden doesn't exactly take things like that as complements MAC thoughts argued a bit. **Great job idiot you made the situation worse. I should apologies.

MAC turned around to call out "Sorry Jayden I didn't mean to offend you, would you like help in looking for your clothes?"