• Nobles of Null is a forum based roleplay site where sci-fi and magic collide. Here, Earth remains fractured and divided despite humanity reaching out to the stars. Worse still, the trans-human slaves of one major power have escaped, only to establish their own Empire, seething with resentment at abuses of the past. Even the discovery of aliens, though medieval in development, has failed to rally these squabbling children of Earth together with its far darker implications. Worse still, is the discovery of the impossible - magic. Practiced by the alien locals, nearly depleted and therefore rare, its reality warping abilities remains abstract and distant to the general populace. All the while, unseen in the darkness of space, forces from without threaten to press in. For those with eyes opened by insight, it is clear that an era is about to end, and that a new age will dawn.

[The Gentle Breeze] Chapter 4 - Unlimited MacGuffin Works!

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Imperial Cruiser Wéifēng,
Hangar Bay 2

"Welcome back everyone!" Sakamoto greeted them all. The ride back had been tense and silent despite the faceless Daqinese troopers demanding to open up 'the package' for them to place a helmet on top of the slightly toasted Koala's head. In the end of the day though, the shuttle did its job and brought them to where they needed to be, the hangar of the Imperial Cruiser Wéifēng. Coming down off the ramp, they found picnic tables and snacks laid out for them. "Come on over, it's alright! These little ones don't bite too much!" the rooster feathered woman reassured them. Clad in a frilly swimsuit, their commander was busily bathing several white furred fox-things. "I've reviewed your footage, and I have to say that things were looking pretty tough at times," she began, only to look at the soapy fox-thing wiggling in her hands. "Isn't that right? Isn't that right?" she cooed at it like it was a baby. Inflatable pool set up, the water recycling device at the end let her rinse off the kit once she was finished, placing it in a warm air dryer pen. "Still, you all did so well!" she congratulated them, picking up another kit from the group. "A rogue, malfunctioning Chongwu! And one that's gotten some strange powers - "

"Foxies!" Viz cooed, rushing over to start playing with the bathed and now extra-floofed ones. "They got weird, long, fluffy ear thingies that end in pink floof-hands made of fuzz!" she realized with delight.

" - how are you all feeling about all that?" Sakamoto asked.

"Uncertain as to our performance," Sif began, declining to take a seat and remain standing. She glanced at the rest of them. Despite the surreal informality, this was their debriefing.
 
"When I was told to come and assess this crew for citizenship, I never expected to be roped into this." A voice said to Sakamoto's left, it belonged to a woman with rolled sleeves helping dry the space foxes. She had short, stark white hair with jagged black stripes on it and Pale blue eyes as she fumbled around in the pool to grab one of the dry kits and turned to place it in an open pen for them to run and play without them getting loose. "You chickens are a persuasive bunch, I'll give you that." She mentioned as a white and black striped tail swung back and forth behind her.
 
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"I am no chicken, I am a Caelumar..." She huffed at the newcomer and narrowed her eyes before she crouched. She still felt out of place in just the hoodie and hugged the clothing tight to her, which showed off her body more than she would have liked, but thankfully she didn't notice. Instead she saw the small kits and smiled under the darkened part of the hood as she crouched down and held a hand out tentatively for one of the small creatures to come closer. But even as she waited, she spoke with icy blue eyes looking to the newcomer.

"Who said I ever wanted citizenship in this backwards kingdom? I am here to work out a mutual deal with her..." She nodded toward Sakamoto for a moment before she continued. "To contact other Pantheons at the behest of my own."
 
The stripe haired and tailed woman paused as she was reaching for a dried off kit and it scampered away from her, then the woman retracted her arms and rested them on her rather muscular thighs. After blinking in confusion for a second, the woman didn't raise her gaze to the Caelumar, instead tilting her head to the side as her rather triangular ears, also with the same black on white pattern as her hair, tail, and surprisingly a good portion of her exposed back, twitched a couple times.

"I apologize if I insulted whomever that was, I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to Sakamoto." She said, her eyes still not raising up to meet the person staring at her. "Though, bird will be birds I supposes." She said with a shrug, still in her squatting position.

"I was told to come here and assess the people who petitioned for advancement, if you're not one of them, don't worry, I won't vouch for you." She said, while still looking at the dryer pool and extended a hand out, "but, where are my manners, I'm Xiao Laohu. Second class citizen, Tiger form, and newest member of the crew."
 
Brigid was also unable to resist the adorable little foxes. Her eyes sparkled as she sauntered over and picked up one of the little dry floofy ones and hugged it to her chest, nuzzling her cheek against it. "So cute!" She gushed, loosening her hug and rubbing the kit behind the ears.

Hearing the newcomer's purpose, her face grew more serious. "I feel like there's something going on that we don't yet have all the pieces to." She said while petting the kit. It squirmed in her arms and she released it, watching it bound back or to Sakamoto. "I hope the Chongwu we captured will help figure out what happened."
 
Imperial Cruiser Wéifēng,
Hangar Bay 2

"Well, it's more like they're trying to gain more citizenship, on top of what they already have," Sakamoto replied to the new Tigress. As the kit she finished washing play-gnawed on her fingers, she placed it off into the dryer pen with the others. "And there most certainly is plenty going on," the feathered woman replied to Brigid first. Though she nodded towards Rikka, there was soon another kit in her soapy hands. "Besides testing the average third class citizen's mettle and seeing if they're worthy of more privileges, we're also working together to try and unravel the various mysteries in our little corner of the galaxy," Sakamoto explained, white, frothy foam splattering onto her bikini. Rinsing off the kit, she placed it in the pen with the others.

"It looks so lame all wet and - " The kit promptly shook itself off, spraying Viz in the face. "Don't bulli me!" she accusingly pointed a finger at the tiny thing.

"Our next mission, we'll be able to talk with a certain high-ranking Caelumar, but only provided we can find her safely," Sakamoto explained, brushing suds off her top. As she said this however, Viz had picked up the offending Kit and began to stare it down. "As for the Chongwu you had all done well to capture, it was presumed lost in a mining accident nearby and was replaced." With a shrug, she went on to add, "Apparently, some of the materials being mined had very strange effects. Mainly, granting it psionic powers." A loud slap announced the kit smacking Viz across the cheek with one of the strange hair extensions coming out of its ears. "Ara-ara."

"It hit me! It accumulated all its hateful evil into turning the end of its hair-thing into a hand and slapped me!" Viz cried.
 
Brigid tried to refrain from having lewd thoughts about Sakamoto, but the suds on her bikini made it difficult. She forced her gaze away from Sakamoto's curves. Her explanation of the Chongwu's behavior and abilities made a few things click in her head. Some kind of mental assault had erased their memories. Someone must have caught the Chongwu doing something weird and it freaked out. But could it have erased the security footage? She supposed the ppsionic attack could have interfered with the recording somehow.

"Psionic powers. I had thought those were only a myth." She admitted, rolling her eyes at Viz.
 
Imperial Cruiser Wéifēng,
Hangar Bay 2

"Ara-ara," the Daqinese woman began, surprised. "I had forgotten it seems! Considering how rare psionics are, it's only natural for people to think it's a hoax," Sakamoto realized, momentarily pressing a dry kit in between her breasts to dry herself before starting to wash it proper. "Especially since the circumstances that lead to them occurring are so dangerous to begin with. And now, we have a valuable sample to learn from thanks to your efforts," she added with an appreciative smile. "Naturally, a reward is in order for you all, especially due to the discovery of the bug planted in the system," the exotically feathered woman added. "That device stuck into the computer core was most likely presented to that defective unit by someone prior to it becoming so irreparably corrupted, and tracking down where it came from will be something I'll make sure to burden another group with instead," the woman offered. As she finished washing up this white furred kit and placed it in the dryer pen however, Viz had put back the one that had slapped her before sticking her tongue out at it. "Do any of you have something particular in mind for your reward?" Sakamoto asked, a finger on her lip in thought. A smile came across her lips as she clearly thought up a few amusing ones herself. "I hope it's something reasonable?"

"It - it made a rude gesture at me!' Viz gasped as the kit sat up on its behind and gave her the middle finger. Wildly gesticulating at a loss for more words, she tried to draw everyone's attention to this heinous act completely unfit for children. The creature itself quickly stopped the gesture in response and began pawing at the air instead.
 
Xiao raised both her hands in the air when Viz said the kit made a rude gesture.

"I didn't see anything." She said, smiling. Not really sure, or caring, if anyone knew about her disability.

"And it sounds like you've been having a lot of adventures out here, Sakamoto." She said, dropping her arms back onto her legs as she looked over in the Rooster Form's general direction. "I hope my time around you is as entertaining."
 
Brigid couldn't contain her laughter. Viz being tormented by the adorable little furball was the best thing she'd ever seen. She burst into a fit of laughter, letting out a loud snort. Her cheeks suddenly turned bright red, and her laughter died down. She looked around to see if anyone had noticed the sound she'd made. Looking at the kit more closely, she blinked. "Those kits... They look like Wu." She observed. "Are they hers?"

She thought about the reward Sakamoto mentioned. Her thoughts immediately turned to Sakamoto's lovely body. "I have heard of certain... temporary body modifications of a sort. I think you call them bionetics. I would like to experience that for myself." She suggested. "Preferably with an individual such as yourself that's skilled in their use."
 
Imperial Cruiser Wéifēng,
Hangar Bay 2

"You're assuming I go out into the field," the feathered woman replied to Xiao. "Unfortunately, I have to sit back and live vicariously through the rest of you and the footage you send over like a live-stream full of hijinks," she finished, finally drying off the last of the fluffy white kits. "And yes, these are Wu's kits, though they don't quite have their colors yet," the Daqinese rooster pointed out. Kneeling by the confinement, she tapped her fingers against the floor of the hangar, jostling about her feathers for the kits to chase. "You're all gonna grow up to be evil empresses, aren't you all? Aren't you all?" she cooed at the little ones, their fluff puffing up in excitement at the idea. "You're all going to put that Magical Girl Ayumu and her Mana Marines in their place, aren't you? Aren't you?" At that, the kits started to call out, their little raspy barks all to eager at the idea.

Despite this all, Viz could only bring herself to ask, "What's a Mana Marine?", hands on her hips as she looked on in confusion.

"Just make sure to watch the PG-13 version of the show," Sakamoto quickly replied, her gaze soon turning on Brigid. "Ara, ara." Leaning in, a sly little smile on her lips, she made an offer of her own. "And what if I asked you to help me in testing some of the latest, greatest products the empire has to offer? Naturally, I'd say yes, however," she then looked at the rest of the squad. "What do the rest of you want as your bonus?"

"Eye bleach," Sif replied, her voice a dull deadpan.
 
Xiao chuckled some as Sakamoto explained how she dealt with the adventures her and her crew went on. "Yeah, I know how you Rooster Forms work. I had one as a handler for a few months." She said. "He was a nice guy, but he never left the HQ when we were assigned missions, made handling logistics awkward." The tiger form alluded. "I tell ya, it's hard to hear things with an ear taken up with a comm."
 
Imperial Cruiser Wéifēng,
Hangar Bay 2

"Well, Roosters such as myself are not much for fighting," Sakamoto replied to Xiao, "And," she added with a hint of mischief, "I'm sure we've all been guilty or victims of 'backseat driving' in one way or another, so I can most certainly empathize," the woman pointed out. Taking in a deep breath, she sighed as the last kit was tucked away into the pen full of warm, flowing air. As she did this though, Sif's eyes glanced at the rest of the squad, perhaps partly daring them to ask for something as outrageous as Brigid had. More likely though, the cold, deadpan look was a veil over her own fear of more requests for debauchery. "Ara-ara," Sakamoto went back to addressing them with a hint of disappointment, her chore complete. "I admit, I'm a little sad there doesn't seem to be any other immediate takers, but I'll just let you all think about it," she winked, the gesture so quick that their minds would ponder if they even saw it at all. Even as the feathered woman said this though, the pool drained itself, and un-inflated, the water flowing away until the two became a pair of containers bound together.

"I guess I should begin the more formal debriefing then?" she offered, drones quietly floating by as she asked. Even before they could answer, the stowed away bathing set was scooted away as a screen was unrolled. Wrapping all around her in 360 degrees, she was was concealed from their view
by the opaque plastic as her dress proper was brought out of another container. Just as quickly as she was hidden though, her face and shoulders came into focus as the plastic phase-shifted so that they could talk. "I know you guys weren't trained for this, but it could have been both better and worse you know!" the Rooster pointed out, just as the drones slipped her scant clothing off for her, the task of undressing beneath her notice. "Do any of you want to talk about things in particular first, or should I just go at my own pace?" Sakamoto offered them, giving the squad members just a degree of control.

Never mind that Sakamoto wasn't wearing anything at all behind that opaque white screen.
 
"Yeah, lets talk about how long we were out, all i remeber is being in the breifing then waking up in those dorms" The infernumar stepped into the conversation with a frown, scratching his head as he tried his best to fill the gap in his memory.

"How do we, or maybe just i, not remember being there before i woke up"
 
Imperial Cruiser Wéifēng,
Hangar Bay 2

"Well, it's all a new scientific field of study, but we have a few guesses," the feathered woman admitted from behind the screen. Slipping into a cheongsam, she waved a hand across the air, an image appearing in the air as a pair of hologram floated into position. "Any of you recognize this?" Sakamoto asked. Fuzzy, pixelated and very low quality, they could roughly make out a scene that looked like it was taken straight out of a cartoon. The type where the main characters were all on one side, yelling at the top of their lungs to power up as energy swirled about for a good few episodes. They could vauglely recognize themselves in the security footage, all teeming with power, but the other side was definitely the rogue Chongwu given its size. Even so, the one person with huge, super-spiky blue hair standing amongst their ranks was somehow infuriating. Even Triggering, considering the flickers of memory that ran through their minds. Yes, there was the faint glimpses of spilled red paint, a ruined toy tossed in the trash, and someone having to do the laundry because of the mess, but there was one impression that was stronger than all the rest.

That SOMEONE had picked a fight they didn't need to.

"I'm guessing that somehow, you all had deduced that the Chongwu was a powerful, hostile entity early on," Sakamoto surmised, nodding with satisfaction at their early 'success'. "Naturally, the fight between magic and psionics had some unexpected consequences, but if we're lucky, your memories will return as you all recover!" the feathered woman smiled at them. Sif however, frowned at the thought, while Viz continued to poke and prod at the kits in their pen. "Unfortunately, there's no time for that," she lamented. "That Caelumar I mentioned earlier? One of my rivals had set up a base like mine, but they've been sloppy, and the things they were collecting got loose. This is a rescue mission, plain and simple! " the Daqinese Rooster form explained. "We're still a few days out, but are you all up for this?"

Tiāntáng (天堂 )
Three Days Later

The roar of a magma serpent the size of an eighteen wheeler pierced through the air as the dropship's bay doors swung open. Pulling down low, the star shaped walls of the smoking facility below looked all too familiar, much like the one that Ellie resided in. However, the screeching hiss and pop of water hitting molten rock made it clear that things were not as neat and tidy as Sakamoto kept them. And that was just one of the problems a stone's throw away from them! As the fire brigade battled the lava monster, another team of Daqinese soldiers deftly dodged and leaped away from what could only be a rotting carrion bird. Blasting it apart with a spray of bullets, they riddled it from head to claw, only for it to regenerate. But in between the two big fights was the main gate.

"Go, go, go!" Sif yelled at them. Despite screaming that she didn't want to, Viz was kicked out and down the dropship's ramp. "We have to get inside now, before one of the fights spill over and get us!" their squad leader yelled. Already, finned, fish-men things were emerging out of a hole in the facility wall. Their attention turning to the squad, their big, unblinking eyes stared at them as their mouths opened.
 
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Tiāntáng (天堂 )

Xiao was crouched down on her haunches as the bay door opened, all the while the cacophony with the drop crew was happening, the Tiger Form raised a hand to her left ear and cupped it around.

"You ready Chicken Breast?" She said aloud through the transceiver strapped around her neck. "You're my eyes so tell me where to jump from and how I'm landing." There was a curt, but playful reply from the Ear piece as the Tiger Form nodded along."Alright, got it. Preparing Infiltration." She said as she got up and walked to the back of the bay, making sure to raise a hand to tell where the wall was.

Turning back to face the open air, the catwoman leaned forward while placing a foot on the wall, and after a second to take a breath and make sure she was lined up, Xiao Laohu pushed off the back wall of the Wéifēng and cleared the deck in four massive strides, making a short hop as she reached the deployed deck, she planted both feet on the very edge of the door and squatted with her entire body before making a leaping swan five out the door.

As she fell through the air, Xiao nodded to Sakamoto again telling her important telemetry, and after 2 seconds of falling, the Tiger Form, leveled out and spread her arms and legs to affect drag. After another three and a half seconds of drag falling, she nodded again to the ear piece as she righted herself for a hard, but survivable landing.

After another 2.5 seconds, the Tiger Form landed on the roof of the Facility with an almost thunderous impact, which the experienced woman mitigated by immediately launching herself back into the air in a leap assisted by the kinetic momentum she built up by her sudden stop. Landing from this jump into a roll, she came to a halt and listened to more information being given by her handler back on the ship. "Ok, got it poppers." She said, then shook her head. "They're diced up, breaded, deep fried chicken breast chunks." The cat explained to the expensively dressed bird back on the ship. Thanks to the layout detailed by Sakamoto, Xiao quickly reached an external vent cover and with little effort, due to her enhanced strength, the Tiger Form pried it off the roof and slipped inside. "Heading inside, switching to subdermal communication device." She told the Rooster Form as she vanished inside.
 
Tiāntáng (天堂 )
Yánjiū Jīdì 002 (研究基地零零二 )

"Geeze, just flexing our racial superiority over the others," Sakamoto's voice playfully poked at Xiao from across their helmet speakers. Back on the ship, she lounged on a couch while eating some dried and salted sour plum as she watched. Unfortunately for the squad, they were not in a calm environment! Xiao had expertly realized that the courtyard was too hot to land in, and making the drop on the roof, the vent access opened for her, letting the tigress show off some more. Her sleek, womanly form suddenly distorted, muscles briefly bulging underneath her skin-tight bodysuit as she easily tore off the grate underneath the armored plate that had opened up.

However, the rest of the squad wasn't anywhere near as deft as she was.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Arms flailing about, Viz was accosted by a murder of undead crows, their skeletons still somehow flapping through the air. Worse, the Type 3 Assault Rifle that was wrapped around her arm might as well have been a club with how she was swinging it around!

"Toss her in the hole!" Sif yelled. With rifle in one hand and jian sword in the other, the other Tigress carefully blasted away the attacking skeletons one at a time while deftly slicing others apart. but despite her attempts at getting the flock off of the priestess, she was only barely holding them at bay!
 
Tiāntáng (天堂 )

Xiao was pulling herself through the vent as she Listened to the commotion that Sakamoto's crew were causing outside. She paused for a second. "I feel the higher ups assigned me to your crew because your merry band of screw-ups are loud enough for me to infiltrate with marching band behind me." She muttered through the comms with Sakamoto as she resumed pulling herself along, minimizing her sound profile by not crawling, like they depict in fiction.

Eventually the Tiger Form came to a cross intersection. "Ok, Which way Sako?"
 
Imperial Cruiser Wéifēng,
Hangar Bay 2

Rikka had fallen silent, listening to the others speak and just fidgeted for the time being. Words of rewards, of testing products of the empire and all other manner of items and nonsense, she just wanted her armor back. Eventually, they were released to do whatever until called again, which gave Rikka time to get back into her armor and comfortable again.

Tiāntáng (天堂 )
Three Days Later

The Angel let out a small huff as she felt enclosed in the ship. She hated the feeling, she hated not having control over her motions and movements and direction, but it was up to them to get them to the point they needed to be, and for now Rikka flexed a gauntlet clad hand a bit to find that familiar sensation of the pre-battle rush. She let out a small growl as she stood and waited, and as the door opened slowly to show the scene before them, blue eyes narrowed under the top of her cloak and as the madness began to descend around them, the cat girl sprinting out ahead of them and Viz flapping like an idiot, Rikka found her way out somewhere in between. While Xiao slammed into the ground with the grace of a bull, Rikka's wings materialized from their Ethereal form to their solid form and flowed her descent even as she pulled her sword free from its sheath and settled in with her shield.

This... This for once felt right. There was chaos around them, battles raged, enemies from all sides. This felt like the wars with the hells of her planet and she couldn't help but feel the familiar tingle of anticipation as she took a good swipe, her sword charged with a holy light that washed out from the tip as she swung at the skeletal murder of crows. Her eyes scanned the area as she looked for the next fight, the next combat that drew her mind and attention, and she craved it after the last mission and the down time they had recently.
 
Tiāntáng (天堂 )
Yánjiū Jīdì 002 (研究基地零零二 )

"Ara, ara. " The sensation of a certain Rooster's lips hovering by their ears was all too distinct. "So little faith in one another!" the unseen feathered woman chided them all, nevermind that it was just Xiao doubting them. As Viz continued to scream, arms flailing about, Rikka reached for the winds of mana flowing through her, and yet, the holy warrior couldn't help but feel like this world was diminished. "It's not like you won't potentially draw the hostiles away so that our VIPs can escape if you can't extract them!" the Rooster reminded the squad as the Caelumar attacked. Slicing through the undead mockeries, bones shattered as her weapon simply obliterated the frail bodies, the holy wake of her blade banishing their evil as it passed. Even so however, the effects were...acceptable. But only just, the bones merely falling silent as they clattered to the ground. To Rikka, something simply felt off somehow, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"In! Now!" Sif ordered Viz about, the snowy-white Tigress's voice cutting across the thoughts. Finger pointed at the open vent, she stomped her foot for emphasis. But Viz wasn't budging.

"But I don't wanna!" the priestess whined. "There's more monsters down there, I feel it!" she pointed her own finger at the vent. They could all see Sif was either dying from loss of faith in humanity, or about to explode on the childish woman as she began to tremble in what was either a nervous breakdown or pure, unadulterated rage. Except for Xiao. Having leaped into the vents first, she quickly descended down past a bloody kill-zone made specifically for anything getting in or out this way, and landed in behind the counter of what had to be a cafeteria thanks to her credentials. The suit feed her data, and the scents of food spilled and tossed about was pungent to her receptors. The place was more quiet, with the bark of guns and roars of monsters off in the background or through walls. But more importantly, there were was an entrance or exit on either end, however, the question was which way to go.

"The exit by the drink dispensers will lead you to the ground-floor elevators and the main stairwell, but I don't like the look of that one," Sakamoto remarked. "The other way has the emergency stairs, but it's tight quarters." The cafeteria was littered with broken tables, strewn chairs and food splattered about. However, a single Daqinese soldier simply sat on a chair at the far end where Sakamoto had suggested she go. Or not. There wasn't a table, or even anything in their hands. She simply sat there, the light overhead flickering. The other way seemed safe, but the silly cackle and honk of a horn told Xiao that a clown lay somewhere around the corner in the other direction.
 
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