Darkflare

As the night lingered on, there was another who was still awake. The bounty hunter known as Shrike watched the entrance to the slums from afar. It was the area where her targets were and she watched it carefully waiting for the perfect opportunity. As a former elite sharpshooter she was no stranger to waiting for long periods of time for that perfect shot. But she knew the perfect shot was never going to come from her position. Her target was deep within what was practically a fortress and it would be impossible for her to infiltrate it alone. There was the transmission from earlier. There was something...unusual about it. The thought of finding these "terrorists" was in her mind, perhaps they knew what was really going on and if so... had similar goals. She was looking around with her binoculars one last time for the night. She spotted the Robo-Ky coming back from the slums keeping her eye on him to track down where he was headed. "It seems he's headed for that large building there...." Once he was out of sight, Shrike looked around again spotting the girl in the bench. "Young lady, it isn't safe to be out here alone so late. You should be heading home..." For now, she would look around the girl trying to spot anyone she could be waiting for or anyone that could be dangerous.

Upon confirming that nothing was chasing down Robo-Ky's retreat, Flare leaned back in his chair and began to think. The meeting didn't provide much information as he had hoped. His attempt at recon ended up a bust due to the abundance of guards just near the entrance and he had no way of getting around it without risking lives. A direct assault was out of the question as while he knew where their leaders were, there were too many of them and the distance was too long to even get cloae before wiping out. The idea of using their reinforcements against then came to mind. If they just sent a group just to check that explosion with enough noise in one area they would certainly bring a lot of them to that area, allowing another group to slip by with less resistance. Of course, anyone doing said noise would have to have a death wish and he was certain everyone wanted to live. Alternatively, the plan could be adapted to multiple attacks from different angles. In doing so, their forces would spread out a lot making it easier to thin them out. Of course, that would mean having smaller groups each of them.not being able to support themselves as well. Regardless of what he could come up with, he would still need to discuss it with the others, perhaps they had a better plan to go with. Flare proceeded to exit out of the control room and proceed to his own personal quarters.

Flare continue to watch Robo-Ky's sights as he notes an interesting detail. "That's quite a lot of heat signatures in one spot. That's about where that sound came from as well so that.must be all the nearby guards that came to check it out." "Mission aborted. If you stay any longer, I'll definitely lose you. Come back home." "Understood." The head proceeded to turn around and leave, beginning to call back his body parts to reassemble on the way out.

Though he hasn't reached his destination, Robo-Ky could note the explosion. "THAT WAS QUITE AN EARTH SHATTERING KABOOM." "Was that really an explosion? What the hell are they doing in that place?" "I'M ALMOST THERE. BEGINNING TO SEPERATE." The robot's head detaches from it's body as the torso and the lower body begin to head in a different location. The head's top opens up to reveal rotors which it uses to fly. "Make a quick pass and map the lay out as you do. Don't head too deep. I hate to leave things incomplete, but we'll have to settle with just knowing their first line of defense."

"Repeat your mission objectives to me." Robo-Ky continued flying toward his destinations. "ARRIVE AT LOCATION AND ANALYZE ENEMY PATROL ROUTES AND BEHAVIOR WHILE MAPPING THE LAYOUT OF THE AREA." "State your mission conditions and restrictions." "AVOID BEING SEEN AT ALL COSTS AND IMMEDIATELY RETREAT ON SUSPICION OF BEING SPOTTED." "I know you hate following orders, but stick to the plan. You get blown into pieces because you wanted to get creative with it and I can't guarantee I can pick up your pieces and rebuild you." "I PROMISE NOT TO GOOF AROUND, GEEZE." "Given what you were originally built for, I imagine you have a way to detect magic, right?" "YES, I STILL HAVE SUCH FUNCTIONS, ALTHOUGH I'M CERTAIN MYCALE COULD DETECT MAGIC BETTER. WHY DO YOU ASK?" "I would like to keep it in mind. Start lowering your altitude, the mission is a bust if you get spotted before you arrive."

That's weird. I had Songfu's Senna work fine for me on 1.0. Didn't even do anything special to it.

I counter that statement by pointing out that chiku's Senna is pretty bad and poorly made. Now if you used Songfu's Senna, then maybe I'll be impressed, but I know someone that rocks that Senna pretty well so there's competition.

As the others picked and headed to their rooms, Flare himself headed to another one deeper into the base. While there was some good information obtained from the brief meeting, in the end, he felt they needed more. That's where his next move would come in. He sat down in a chair placed in front of various monitors hitting a few keystrokes to turn one of them on. "Good to see you not hitting on women for once." "I RESENT THAT. I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT MY HABIT HAS BEEN REDUCED SIGNIFICANTLY OVER TIME." "Fair enough. Regardless, time for you to pull your weight around here. I'm sending you on a recon mission." "RECON MISSION, EH? THAT MUST BE QUITE A CONTRACT FOR YOU TO SCOUT AHEAD FIRST." "Not a contract. But the situation in the slums has escalated. I need you to head over there and map out the area as well as see if you can note the guards patrol routes. I would also ask to see their combat methods, but I would prefer you stay out of sight. These guys are professionals. If you even suspect that you're spotted, you are to abort and come back immediately." "DON'T FORGET, THIS IS ONE OF THOSE THINGS I WAS BUILT FOR. I MAY NOT LOOK IT BUT I AM QUITE CAPABLE." "Right. I'll be monitoring you and watching your visuals from here. Try to get as much as you can, but don't go in too deep. Avoid engaging them." "UNDERSTOOD!" His order received, the Robo-Ky unit would proceed to fly over toward the slums. "Just in case I wasn't clear enough, avoid getting spotted as much as you can. Scout the area with just your head, it'll be harder to spot than your entire body." "DON'T NEED TO TELL ME HOW TO DO MY JOB!"

"Very well." The mecha maid unlocked the door. "We'll have a look to make sure." The woman simply did as told and followed.

Flare flipped the switch again. "There's one right outside the entrance of this room. Show it to her and she'll notify the others." "It's more like a clinic than a hospital. Is the injury serious?"

"Excellent." She summons a small portal and takes out a pouch from it. She begins to take out the gold, counting it as she does. "That should be enough for 5 rooms." She looked over to Idealis. "Before you ask, I prefer to have my own room. I'm sure your friends won't mind." One of the mecha maids could be seen approaching the door. "Please don't hit the door. We're closed early today." "Such a pain in the ass. Why couldn't you all come together as one? I suppose I could, but I would rather we don't waste too much time on this."

"Simple, you're going to Candor, right? Your group shall escort me there. I'll pay your rooms as payment. While I can take care of myself, I believe it's better to have close allies nearby. I believe it's a fair deal." The door is locked with a Closed sign. The Hangout had closed early today.

"Fraulein, anyone with working eyes could notice. Regardless, if you're willing to do a simple job for me, I believe I can assist you with your problem."

The woman from before entered the inn noting the group. "I wasn't so sure if I would see you again so quickly, fortunate that you decided against heading off to that forest so late." She approached Idealis. "I take it that you ran into a problem due to your poor planning, fraulein. Perhaps you would like to discuss it with me?"

The only other Birkin is a Haruhi spriteswap. That's really not saying much.

"There is no shame in choosing to play it safe. It would be hard to complete your errand if you're not among the living, after all. I trust then that your group will not be such dummkopfs as to head toward that forest until the sun rises again." The woman turned around to head back to the magical city. "You mentioned the oracle. From my studies, I've determined that it's impossible to see the future, at most what you could see is the most probable future, one that has already been altered just by your knowledge of its existence."

"I was planning to stay here for the night and head there myself tomorrow morning, but if I can get there earlier I wouldn't mind taking that opportunity. Although, I've been told something is happening over in that city. It might not be such a good idea to head there now."

"Your hasty actions tell me otherwise. Although, I suppose this group is sufficiently large enough to survive the dangers if you don't get too distracted. By chance, you wouldn't happen to be headong to Candor, would you?"

"Over here, fraulein." The owner of the voice made herself known to the group as she snuffed out the flame she created. "That forest is very dangerous as is. It's even more dangerous at night. It doesn't seem to me that you're in the proper mental condition to go through."

"I don't think that's how Alchemy works, Light. I would ask Mycale but she's in a place called Verve I believe." "Regardless, it does give us a new objective. These things have a source, find the source and cut it off. If it works, we could have a powerful ally with us." "I know what you're thinking. Unfortunately, as it has already been proven, these guys are shooting to kill. In a life and death situation like this, we can't afford to hold back. I don't like it either, but it's us or them." Her path would suddenly be blocked by a flame that would appear in front of her. "Do you wish to die, fraulein or are you incapable of realizing how dangerous it is to go out now?"

"Hang on one second, Light." He heads toward a corner and proceeds to open a hidden compartment on the wall. He flips a switch causing machinery sounds to be heard around the room. "Room's bug free. Transmissions can't get in or out right now."

"Do you all have problems with hearing? I said to remain accompanied by me or a staff member while in this area. Please don't run off ahead again." "Consider this your last warning." The trio finally arrive at the Hangout. Flare signals one of his mecha maids to come over. "Put the facility on Last Call. No more sessions for today, we're closing early. If Kiske and Tokinomiya are still around, tell them that something important came up." The mecha maid bowed before heading off to carry her orders. Flare proceeded to lead Hina and Yui to the underground further below the arenas towards the Meeting room. "This area is normally off limits so I need you to stick close to me and not wander off while we're here." After another minute, the trio would enter the meeting room.

"One of my Hisuis notified me that many members of your group were back in the Hangout. I had them taken to a meeting room so they can start planning the next move." "Going to be honest, I don't like the idea of bringing you guys into this mess. This is supposed to be our fight, not yours. I suppose it's too late for that since you've become targets for them." Provided there were no distractions or obstacles in the way, the trio would arrive in the Hangout in a few minutes.

"It would be much easier for all of us, if they didn't jump to conclusions so hastily..." "I must warn you that the meeting room is in an area that is normally off limits. As long as you're in that area, you are to always be accompanied by me or another staff member and you are to follow our instructions at all times." "Failure to comply will result in your forceful removal from the premises under any means necessary."