In Negav

Once Geeran had put some distance bitween himself and Horamsus's store, he pulled out his phone, and dialled.

"Put me through to Sargeant Hue Loche of the Investigators, Public security immediately please, this is Hunter #434786, Geeran Holden with an urgent report." Geeran said in a low voice.

"Sargeant, Geeran here. Listen, I've got some information you may find.... rather very interesting. It has something to do with the renegade you where chasing yesterday, Nagi, along with the vampire Samiel, and Horasmus, the neko who owns the Exotic Fruits shop in the lower tier. They are planning to enter the underground labyrinth sometime today. I don't know who else or how many others will be in the group, but if you want your chance to catch Nagi, and possibly Samiel, then I would suggest you wait for them there. I'm going to get saddled up in one of my machines that can maneuver underground to intercept them if they get past... You know my comm frequencies so if you want help, let me know."

During the conversation, geeran was cycling through all of his machines capable of tunneling and underground movement, before settling on one...

Thane stepped away from the woman, an expression of disgust on his face. He might as well follow her, he thought. Those drunks were locals and he wasn’t. It wasn’t hard to imagine what the general mood towards him would be if he tried to simply walk back in and buy another drink. Sighing to himself, Thane picked up his pack from where he had left it by the tavern door and jogged after the naga.
"I’m Thane" he introduced himself as he caught up to her in the alley.
"...You’re bleeding." He motioned for her to stop then pulled out a bandage.
"You had a glass bottle broken over your skull, at least let me put this on, if only to prevent the motion from pushing any glass that may be left in there further in."

Hue marched through the corridoor, the rest of his squad behind him, they all wore the same mask of fatigue and tiredness having been kept on duty all night; and now this.

"Sir susspects are still in the Lit-ciggy tavern area, one human one naga." One of his men called from behind.

"Right, standard procedure men, we break it up and find out what happened, any resistance is to be crushed." Hue barked, as they headed for the portal chamber. "No rest for the wicked..." he muttered under his breath; this was typical for Hue, and probably helped explained this agressive attitude, the ISD were still stretched for personnel not having fully recovered form events past, and Magiocrat decree prevented them form fielding their more heavily armed units for policing duty. Yet what annoyed Hue the most was the ineptness or laziness of the Negav Police; this call was transfered to Public Security only because a naga was involved.

Suddenly a loud beep came from Hue's coms system, he rasised his left hand, ordering his men to stop.

"A-4-5-G-H-8."

"Message for you Sargent, code Hunter GH 434786"

"Geeran... Ok patch it through."

*Static... "Sargeant, Geeran here. Listen, I've got some information you may find.... rather very interesting. It has something to do with the renegade you where chasing yesterday, Nagi, along with the vampire Samiel, and Horasmus, the neko who owns the Exotic Fruits shop in the lower tier. They are planning to enter the underground labyrinth sometime today. I don;t know who else or how many others will be in the group, but if you want your chance to catch Nagi, and possibly Samiel, then I would suggest you wait for them there. I'm going to get saddled up in one of my machines that can maneuver underground to intercept them if they get past... You know my comm frequencies so if you want help, let me know." ...Static.*

Hue sighed at hearing what Geeran had to say.

"Mr. Holden this is Sargent Loche, stay away from Nagi. The Seventh Platoon of the Intelligence Division have taken the reigns for this one and I have no idea what they are going to do, warn the others if you can. I repeat stay away from Nagi at all costs."

Hue ended the conversation as he headed towards the Portal Chamber. The enterance was guarded by two of the ISD's golem troops, rather than the standard humanoid apperance these magical constructs were in the form of a white pillar, golden pyramid studs covered each angular pannel which made up their sides. Their 'head' was a small dome a small red lense at its centre. A mage who controled the Chamber appeared, her white unifrom and armour matching the type worn by Hue and his squad.

"Referance number and location please." The woman asked politely.

"A-4-5-G-H-8, Lit-ciggy Tavern." Hue answered formally.

"Wait you're the sargent who had to deal with that Nagi, last I heard the Kenshas put a bounty on him and a big one, looks like they aren't directly involving themselves yet." The mage said as she disappered back into the chamber; the small talk catching Hue off guard.

"Oh really? I think one of my clients would be interested to hear that." Hue said with some satisfaction, however he needed to focus on what was it hand first. "Right is the portal ready?"

"You may enter." she replied. Hue and his squad walked int ot chamber, yet having entered the chamber they immedetly emerged outside of the bar, the bright sunlight reflecting off their white armour. Hue looked anround before spotting Thane and Neia, we removed his skokat as he advanced on them. He noticed that the naga was wounded and relaxed his stance slightly.

"Alright, I'm no mood for trouble, what happned?"

"Mr. Holden this is Sargent Loche, stay away from Nagi. The Seventh Platoon of the Intelligence Division have taken the reigns for this one and I have no idea what they are going to do, warn the others if you can. I repeat stay away from Nagi at all costs."

After that, Geeran's line went silent.

His face went hard as steel.

"The Kenshas..... Damn it.... Intelligence division..... What the hell do they have to do with this?" Geeran thought as he picked up the pace, he had to get to his machines fast, if the Kenshas made a move now, they may end up killing the entire group and be done with it, his friend Horasmus included.

A plan began to form in his mind... He would need one of his mechs, one capable of underground movement and combat....

A warping effect rippled the air in front of the bar, and humanoid shapes stretched reality only to pull back like water depositing ISD officers onto the street near by. Thane could see panic show in Neia’s face, her mind was nearing fight or flight.

Neia did a faceplant into the ground her hands going street behind her hands putting themselves behind her head, “Neia, 986-255Na, I have my pappers in my satchel!” she surpising blurted out.

This naga had gone very passive very fast, from Hue’s perspective he could see no large bulges, that at least was a good sign. There was a red skinned human that was standing right beside her, it looked like he has be trying to clean an abrasian on her face. Two men were collecting themselves, and a rather large and well known amazon trouble maker was puking in the street.

Hue looked at Neia then at Thane, from his experience in policing he could tell that they were the victims. The rest of his squad surrounded the three perpetrators, their skokats at the ready in case they tried to put of a fight.

"Neia, 986-255Na" The Sargent repeated to himself quietly as he stopped just a few feet from the pair. "A naga in Negav... you know that's against the law." He paused as he activated the comms device in his bevor.

“This is A-4-5-G-H-8 send me what you can on 986-255Na, I’m sure we have some common history.”

“986-255Na, known as Neia, active member of the Adventures Guild, known links with Education and Research Division. She’s not a threat.”

“Education and Research? Understood.”

Hue had already figured that the reason behind this whole incident was a result of Negavian xenophobia, but that didn’t answer everything. He turned towards Thane noticing the strange tone of his skin as well as the large mechanical gloves.

“So what’s your story in all this?” He asked.

“Sir! What should we do about the rest of them?” One of his squad mates asked.

“Take them back inside, let them drink themselves to death for all I care, no point in pressing charges.” Hue answered as he looked back at Thane.

Thane finished tending to Neia’s wound then watched passively as what he assumed were officers of the local police emerged from the portal. their rapid response wasn’t quite what he expected, but then, this world seemed to be made of unexpected things. There’s no point antagonising them, Thane thought.
“I was drinking at the bar, when that trio over there started making hate toned noise. I don’t like that kind of noise, so I stepped outside just in time to see one of the men break a bottle over the head of Neia here.” Thane explained. “A broken bottle is a potentially deadly weapon. A fight that starts with a deadly weapon usually ends with someone dead. So I decided to pacify them.”

Nina smiled at Sean, saying, "You hinted that we came from a 'Earth', plus I was merely taking a guess, and you smell of Cherry Blossoms, ginger and another earthly smell that is not present within the city."

She looked over at Samiel and bowed. "It is an honor to meet one of Breida's companions. I hope my presence is not a cause for mistrust and chaos. I am Nina Xi Lin, small time poet, Shaolin Monk, and probably a future student at the magi university sometime this summer." Taking a small canteen from her pack, she popped the lid opened and drank from it before closing the lid.

"Oh, right. I mentioned China."

Sean took another deep breath. He needed to keep his focus, even if certain... events or encounters pushed the limits of his patience. He was missing very obvious, if very minor, details. The young human looked back at the large salamander.

"So why are you tagging along with us?"

(Edit: Sorry about that.)

Nagi walked up to the group. "You might want to get moving. C.V. told me that the Investigators have caught wind of us. I doubt any of us really want to deal with them. In addition, I'm getting the feeling that things are going to get nasty if we decide to stand around. Therefore, I recommend we get going soon. Until we actually go, I'm going to wait op here," he said, jumping up a large rock in two jumps with a strange amount of agility. He crouched on top of it and seemed to be watching the area around him.

Samiel glared at Nagi.

"The only one who has to worry about the law here is you. That's your fault. So stop whining. And get off that rock. You're just drawing more attention to yourself."

He sighed, looking around. Breida, Sean, Horasmus, this Nina person and... him.

"Well, sorry folks, but thanks to Nagi here we may have more trouble than we anticipated. So, let's get this done quickly."

He pointed to a downward spiraling staircase. "This will take us down to the lowest maintenance levels. After that I'll find the breach, we get our gear ready, and we can head down to where the loot is. Let's get this done this."

And with that, he started to lead the way down.

"I came because I accepted the offer from breida, is that not wrong?" Nina asked, looking at Nagi as he jumped onto the rock. "Why is strange man acting like a monkey on tea leaves?"

She looked over at Samiel, saying, "If it any condolences, I could be of assistance in finding said breach. I may be a flame salamander, but sensing weak points in rock and earth is a trait of mine." She smiled, walking towards the staircase, her scaled like skin gleaming in the sunlight. She turned to everyone, pointing down the stairs. "Shall we get going before our young friend that may be part monkey gets us into trouble with the law?"

Sean stepped alongside Nina, as he is a fighter like her, thus he must protect his weaker teammates from the front. He took out his hooded lantern and turned the flame on, then attached it to a hook on his brand new backpack. The human smiled as he could light his surroundings with his hands free and without needing to cast a lighting spell. He then turned to Nina and made a motion with his finger to lean her ear closer down.

"The reason I'm here is to keep an eye on him." He briefly glanced at Nagi, then whispered back at the large humanoid reptile. "He's apparently a wanted criminal and apparently aware that the police is coming this way."

Nagi jumped down and quickly walked to the stairs. "You know, I'll bet they'd just LOVE to run back into you Samiel," Nagi said coldly. He quickly reached the stairs and took them two at a time down.

"This could get complicated... " Breida murmured at the announcement that law personnel were already going for Nagi. Shaking her head, she hesitated and pondered what to do. She did NOT want to be on unfriendly terms with the law of Negav. Especially now that the Investigators were involved, and apparently already on their way to do...what? Apprehend him? Take him out? Question him? Breida didn't know what their intentions were. She was worried about being guilty by association. Let alone the possibility of obstructing justice by helping him navigate the tunnels, which could be seen as an attempt to hide Nagi from the authority. She didn't have any friends among the higher ups of Negav, nor did she have any money to purchase the services of a law scholar to help her out.

Several options presented themselves to her. One, she could simply wait for the Investigators. She might miss out on the chance to loot out on the artifacts, but she was pretty sure she could form another group on her own, now that she knew where to find them. And she could explain things to the investigators if they really were coming. Two, simply strike off on her own in the tunnels, with whoever she could convince to follow her. Nina probably would come, maybe Sean, perhaps Samiel himself. She was the expert on the underground. And she wouldn't be anywhere near when the Investigators when they came for Nagi. Three, continue the plan. That was risky, but she had invested much of what she had so far. This option depended on the investigators not pursuing them underground. She didn't know enough about them to guess if they would or not, this struck her as too much of a risk. Even if they didn't, someone could see her going with him.

She quickly strode up to where Nina and Sean were. "Guys, wait a minute," Breida said softly, catching up to the two. "I've got a bad feeling about this. I don't know about traveling with Nagi, if the law is after him. I don't know what the Investigators are after him for, but I don't want to be caught up in whatever it is."

sparkythechu wrote:

Meawhile, C.V. had been preparing the currently unknown to the Investigators evidence which negated the charges that had be placed on Nagi in the official Negav legal-ese. The simple version of it stated that no action could be taken about the destruction of personal property because the man who's bar had been destroyed had signed a legal contract for Nagi's services tat stated that until the full amount was payed through a carefully monitered method, Nagi legally had the right to collect the money still owed by almost any means he wanted. C.V. had also attached a copy of said contract to the document as well as a copy of all payments. C.V. walked to the building where the person over the Investigators worked. He talked to the secretary and, after a few minutes of arguing over legal pathways, was admitted into the room the person he was searching for's room. He greeted his old friend and handed them the report.

Ok this is something I'm going to make clear to everyone: One does not simply walk into the Investigators' Building.

Negav landmarks thread* wrote:

The Investigator's Building appears to be an oversized slab of smooth white marble. While large in size, the building is extremely bland; its only external features are a polished silver door and a glowing red orb which hangs above it. The door is the building's only entrance and exit, while the orb above acts as a security device; reading the minds of those who stand beneath it, allowing access only to the Investigators and the Magiocrats. Others may entre but only if they are summoned by a Magiocrat. The marble walls are charged with different layers of protective magics, making the building highly resistant to damage. Those who attempt to storm the door will be forcibly repulsed by the orb which is capable of emitting arcs of lightening, these security measures make the Investigator's building one of the most fortified in all of Negav.

Also there is no secretary.

Resurrection** wrote:

Ybgur stepped through the doorway rather reluctantly, the lobby she walked into was made entirely of black marble; columns seamlessly rose up out of the floor, arching outwards as they hit the high ceiling, two white globes hung form metal chains bathed the dark interior with a soft light. At the far end of the lobby was another set of silver doors leading to the building’s elevator. Ybgur looked around the large hallway nervously; the lobby always made her feel uneasy no matter how many times she came here; the echo of her footsteps didn’t help either amplifying her feeling of loneliness. In many ways the lobby was a physical reminder of the oppression the Investigators used to represent; the dark and imposing architecture injecting a feeling of fear and insignificance in all those who passed through it.

Now, then there is the case regarding the Investigators, mainly the ISD, and Negavian law; in short they are the law, the Intelligence Division is a law unto itself. Hue's reasons for wanting to take Nagi down were personal, I thought I made that quite apprent. As for why the Kenshas are now involved, well that was to get Hue off Nagi's back, that and they have a personal intrest in Nagi. Next time consult me via PM or another medium when dealing with an organisation of my own design.

*Negav Landmarks thread

**Ybgur walking into the Investigators' Building; Chapter I Resurrection.

--

Ok. Not to make this a complete waste:

Hue looked down at Thane as he analyised what the newcomer told him, his eyes then shifted to his men dragging the three trouble makers back into the Lit-ciggy.

"Well at least you left them alive, that's less paperwork for me and less trouble for you." Hue said half laughing before turning back towards Neia. "Well, you best be one your way, if you want we will provide esscort. You can thank your friends in Education and Research, usually I don't do such favours for hybrids such as yourself." Hue's tone was harsh and bitter; helping a hybrid such as Neia was in many ways against Negavian law, however she was registared with the Adventures Guild and had contacts within the Investigator's own Education and Research Division.

Hue then looked back at Thane; "You best come with us, I don't think you're going to be very welcome in there from now on."

"Comms hack in process... Message recording sent to all registered bounty hunters":

Sean looked in Breida's googles. His default scowl intensified at the mention of having second thoughts about Nagi being part of the expedition.

"We should just drag him to those Investigators and spare them a long trip. If he's a wanted criminal, chances are good that he'll backstab us at the most inconvenient moment or lead us in some kind of trap."

(Ok. My bad. Fixed it.)

Nagi had been growing more and more restless as he had been walking. He was getting to the point of just cutting and running. After all, the fewer and fewer messages he had been getting were becoming worse signs. He had actually picked up the widely sent message and was really getting tired of this reception. "Know to be heavily armed and dangerous"? He hadn't actually gotten into a fight in almost 2 weeks, and that had been while he had been on security and he had left that guy in one piece. He sighed as he walked, deciding not to get anyone else involved. He may me able to get away, but he doubted anyone else could. He sprinted to reach the bottom and took off on several different paths. After a bit, he remembered the area. It was an old escape passage from quite some time ago. He opened the hidden entrance and walked in, closing it behind him. He carefully but calmly walked to the end of the passage, trying to decide what to do. He decided he was going to just wait things out for a few days outside of Negav. He had spent quite a bit of time out there anyway, and was looking forward to not having to watch out for someone who apparently was holding a grudge against him. As he walked, he sent a single message to Horamus which stated he was going to stay hidden for a few days and see if this started to blow over. He also sent a message to C.V. stating he was going to be out of Negav for a few days through his own untrackable methods.

"Hmm..." Horamus noted, his brow furrowing as Nagi angrily ran down the tunnel. He had originally thought that Nagi had only been causing small amounts of trouble and had only been a general nuisance. Hearing that he was apparently wanted enough to be taken in for more than just a slap on the wrist, however, made the neko realize that this was a much more serious matter than he thought. He wanted to believe that Nagi wasn't a bad person. He seemed nice enough, but...even then, he still seemed a bit unstable. He was starting to question whether or not Geeran's observation on the young man was accurate, after all.

He still trusted Samiel, though. After all, he had saved his life when that mugster had tried to rob him, and he knew that the vampire wouldn't willingly lead them into danger. He noticed the terra elf murmuring something to the salamander person and the human, assuming that they were discussing what to do about Nagi, starting to notice that the group was starting to be in disagreement.

Suddenly, he felt the small device that Nagi had given him slightly tremble, the neko having set it to silent mode so he wouldn't disturb anyone while he had been running the store or some other scenario where a silent device was preferable. He took the device out of his pocket, reading the message that he had left for him onto the screen, then looking to Samiel. "Hm...interesting turn of events. Apparently, Nagi's going to be in hiding for awhile until things die down. ...Did you still want to do this expedition, or...?" he asked, not sure if they were still going through with the underground quest after the news of Nagi being in trouble with the law.

Samiel scowled. Nagi was ruining everything and the group was disintigrating.

And not for a bad reason - he totally understood not wanting Nagi around at all. There was no reason to keep him. No reason, whatsoever, to keep him arou...

At that moment, he got a message on his messenger. He looked it over, then looked at Nagi, then at the rest.

"Okay, shut up everyone." he hissed. "Regardless of how stupid Nagi is, we'll need all the help we can get. The Investigators are his problem, not ours. No one is going to get arrested. So don't go shooting him or anything."

With that he called out to Nagi, who had been running in the wrong direction, and set out.

He traveled down in grim, stoic silence. The few habited places they passed soon ended. Then they were among dimly lit, rarely used passages, going deeper into the nearly never visited parts of the underground.

Finally, he came to the last light fixture. Ahead there was a sign, simply reading. "WARNING." It looked to have been over a grate at one point, but the grate had rusted with age and been torn off. Beyond, was a passage going down, into blackness.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the end of Negav." he said. "Let's get this done with."

Sean looked around the underground portion of Negav. A city underneath another city that was mostly inhabited by the poor. Somehow, this knowledge was both good and bad. He was conscious of the existence of a subterranean slum, but at the same time, knowing there was such a thing was none too pleasant. He stopped to the edge of the end of Negav Underground, then took a deep breath to stop his hands from twitching. That was it; his first assignment without his master among complete strangers. That was like a doctor's final practical exam before being allowed to operate on a patient without a supervision. The human fighter turned to Samiel.

"I'll take point along with Nina since we're fighters. That okay with you?"

Nagi turned in the middle of the passage, entering a passage way made by a much earlier cave in into the area below it. He walked into the place and began calmly and carefully walking in the pitch black darkness. It wasn't the safest way to hide, but that was the double edges sword of his plan. Even if someone managed to track him to that passage, which he had only discovered by accident, very few people would be willing to look around in a place like that, especially considering how big the area he was in was. He followed a simple path through the collapsed area, snapping his fingers to create an eerie blue flame to light his way. He held the flame in his left hand and continued down the passage way. "Honestly, I think that was a bit overkill. Not just putting a putting on my head, but putting such a huge one for doing so little. I may just want to completely get out of this place for a while. Based on the "Dead or Alive", I'd say they have some rather nasty plans," he thought, walking through the steadily dropping tunnels which, by this point, seemed to have actually been designed to be there, as opposed to the entrance he had used. He continued to walk though the tunnels, looking, listening, and checking for anything that could even remotely be a threat.

Nina walked along with the group, making her body glow to produce a a good enough light source. "I hope my presence hasn't caused all this trouble, I hope my service may prove useful in this endeavor," she stated, walking behind Breida, looking around at the old structural passages, wondering just how old they were. "Are you sure that these passages are safe to journey through for this expedition. I'm not entirely sure that we would come out of this will out being harmed."

Hue still stood by Neia and Thane as the rest of his squad formed up outside of the Lit-ciggy, due to their reputation not even the toughest drunkards would dare start anying with an ISD agent; something Hue felt most new recruits took for granted. No matter, the less public dissorder the better Hue thought. Yet after finding some peace at mind, he was then interrupted by another incoming signal on his comms system.

"Sargent Loche, this is Inspector Malicat."

"Sir."

"I thouhgt I best tell you the current situation concerning our mutual friend Nagi."

"Forgive me for speaking out of line Sir, but what in Visaria's name are you doing?"

"I can understand your fustration Sargent, but do not speak to your superiors in such a manner, also never use our leader's name in such a way, do I make myself clear!?"

"Yes Sir..."

"As you may or not be aware, we recently dispatched a bounty for Nagi, the Seventh are incharge, however we're trying to stay clean on this one."

"Letting the bounty hunters do the dirty work, yes I know, it's an old trick. But why?"

"We believe him to be a useful asset, not in his current form no, but someone of his potential would come in handy. Afterall if we wnated him eliminated we'ed have just used a Seeker on him and be done with the matter."

"Yet you were perfectly prepared to let me kill him before, why the change of heart?"

"At least you would have left something to study."

"Indeed, well whatever your plan setting half of Negav on the little bastard will just drive him into hiding."

"He can run but he can't hide, even if he leaves the city he will need to come back. I know how dangerous this game is Loche, but we always play by our own rules. Madicat out."

No of this seemed to fit well with Hue however he could see the benifit of having an agent with Nagi's registered abilities. Saying that he was unsure why Malicat would tell him his plans, prehaps the man was feeling guilty about hijacking his own mission, or maybe it was that human instinct to tell someone a secret. Either way to Hue it was unnacceptable behavior for a man of Malicat's rank and position.

Neia put one hand on the ground, then another and hush her way up slowly her panic at some expected malign fate fading. Righting herself, almost, she maintains a fairly submissive posture.

“I have my papers” Neia pulls her satchel around and digs in it for some pieces of paper she brings out to show to Hue “See, stamped and everything for free movement in the lower tier and underground.” The papers looked proper, they even had limited access to higher tiers so long as she was escorted, clearly this naga had a few friends with political power. That or some one who was good at forging papers. They also showed that Neia was licenced too act as guild, and had a high rating in the guild.

As Hue riffled through them she continued. “Thank you officer, I-I try to avoid trouble, but you understand yes? Its kinda hard when you have a tail,” Neia indicated her slick looking black tail. While saying this she fidgeted with her braid, dusting dirt out of her hair. As it stood she seemed overly shy for some one who had been in the guild for... and as Hue check, it looked like over 70 YEARS!