Event: Day 336 [open]

[bastionpc]

Who: NPCs! and you guys
Open: Open
When: Day 336
Where: in the Bastion
What: A plan is made, a letter is mailed, an enemy is cracked, a thief is caught
Format: action
Warnings: none




[Lots of things are happening today. See the individual threads in the post to find out what is going on.]

Comments

[daughterofursa]

Don't scare her. She's just a kid.

[She spares a cautious glance for Stewart--did he really not know anything about this or is he just pretending? She never took him for someone dishonest.

Then in a few quick motions she's vaulted herself up onto the roof of the storehouse, trying to see if she can spot Anna from the better vantage point.]

[freedom_engineer]

Zuko's absolutely right. We don't need to terrify her, we just need to TALK to her.

[And yes, he's cranking up his bio-scanners. You can run, but you can't hide. What did we just say about terrifying the child?]

[amnesiadragon]

[Ryu runs over towards Rob, holding the letter. ... The knife is safely tucked into the belt of his pants. No sense in wasting a knife, but running with one is a bad idea.]

Rob, I found something I can't read. Can you read it?

[windgod]

Right!

[He wanted to believe there was a reasonable explanation for all of this, that maybe it was just something simple, especially if a child was involved. He was light on his feet, so he was going to move off and about, making sure to listen for Zuko or Colin in case they shouted directions to him.

He'd help find the truth about all this!]

[freedom_engineer]

[Colin's shown up too, but he's only here for information. The odds of him speaking up are very low unless something monumentally bad is brought up.]

[darkshooter]

[Directions received. Shield the entrance.]

[Almost immediately after Colin gives the order, she breaks away and runs for the Bastion ingress, as fast as if she were heading out to battle.]


[Full alertness once she's within sight of that entryway, keeping all senses keen and open for any approach.]

[bastionpc]

[Yep he's looking for his kid too.

Anna can be found over on the north-west side of the Bastion, arms full of compasses, running to the edge of the Bastion itself. Zuko can see her from her vantage point, and Colin would be able to pick her up on the bio-scans, and anyone who heads in that direction will see her too.]

[daughterofursa]

She's headed for the edge of the Bastion, the northwest side!

[Zuko doesn't raise her voice that often anymore, but she can definitely still get some volume here so everyone can hear her.

She jumps down from the roof and takes off in that direction herself, even if she may not be the first one to reach Anna.]

[freedom_engineer]

Got it! Ippo, head north and hook west! I'll go west and hook north! Zuko's got the direct approach, we'll cover all avenues this way!

Stewart, you okay with this??

[He's already moving west, but he's looking in Stewart and Zuko's direction before he takes off...]

[gianthobo]

[Oh? What's all this? Playing? She can play, too! Umbreon isn't the fastest of Pokemon, but she can see people running towards a girl, and chasing is fun! She's been playing near the ranch anyway, so she slinks into the shadows, prowling, until she jumps out with her yellow rings flashing.]

[... Hopefully Anna will be okay with a sixty pound Pokemon jumping at her back?]

just in case anyone's waitin'

[darkshooter]

[!]

[None of that goes unnoticed - but she was directed to guard the entryway, to keep the target from access, and so she'll keep doing just that.]

[There's some pressure, mind. Her body tensed as if to run, part of her even braced for it, but- through choice and will, she's held in place. You might need to issue a new order to move her.]

[Like Otoha was saying...stick to the job.]

[windgod]

Got it!

[And like a bullet, he was off following Colin's directions. With eyes all over, he figured it wouldn't be hard to put an end to this chase quickly. He just hoped it would be pulled off without incident.]

[dragonsorcsandwolves]

[But you run faster with a knife!

Rob jumps slightly at the sudden Ryu, having not been paying much attention to his surroundings.]

Dunno. I can only read English, and maybe muddle my way through a couple of other languages, so there's a good chance I won't be able to, but I'll take a look if you want. I might be able to at least identify the language so we know who to ask.

[bastionpc]

That's the problem I'm talking about, Anya. The two options we have now both have huge pros and cons, but nobody can agree on which of the two would be better. But I think I found something that might work.

Basically, we can't stay here in the Bastion forever. At some point we're going to run out of cores and shards, and this place will drop out of the sky. But I was looking into the various functions within the Bastion, and I had an idea. The Bastion has a function where it pulls in land from the surrounding Skyway to make the Bastion bigger, we've already been using that. But I think I can alter that function a bit, and if we dump a bunch of power into it at once, then with the right modifications I could probably get the Bastion to form a new planet. Maybe.

[bastionpc]

[Red gives no fucks and doesn't even bother paying attention to River. She's busy with her own thoughts, though she is present.

Grey, however, is watching her curiously.]

Hey, did you hurt yourself?

[bastionpc]

[Red is watching Megaera carefully, not yet betraying any emotion other than caution. Meg cannot yet tell if her charm worked or not.]

...as well as I can be. Why are you here?

[bastionpc]

[Zuko reaches Anna just as Umbreon decides to play. Anna falls to the ground, squished by Umbreon, and the compasses spill everywhere.]

Aaaaaaaah!

[She's not hurt, but that scream is a surprised one. But still, a small child has been caught!]

[countingthunder]

[River pauses and turns back to look at Grey, just staring at him for a solid minute.]

That's why you're here.

[daughterofursa]

[Well, that was the last... something that Zuko expected to reach Anna first.]

Good... rabbit dog.

[Zuko crouches down near the pair. She's not about to let Anna go but she is going to check to make sure that tackle didn't hurt her any.]

Are you all right?

[amnesiadragon]

Okay!

[He hands the envelope over, looking at him expectantly.]

There's nothing else in the envelope aside from the note. I checked it. ... It was held to a tree with this knife.

[He gestures to the one on his belt.]

... You can have it if you want.

[gianthobo]

[Umbreon nuzzles at Anna. Did she win? Does she get pets now? Are they going to play again?]

Umbree?

[Her ears and tail twitch as she looks up at Zuko. Are you the one in charge of the game?]

[freedom_engineer]

[There's Colin, coming in from the south... he's also paying close attention to the store house's vicinity on his sensors.]

[After all, they just cleared out a lot of their top number to catch one thief, another could get in very easily...]

Good girl, Umbreon! Come here, lemme give you some pets for that.

Is she okay?

[dragonsorcsandwolves]

[Rob raises an eyebrow upon hearing about the knife, but he'll ask after he looks at the letter. He takes the envelope from Ryu, opens it, and starts reading. By the way his brow quickly furrows it's probably obvious that it isn't good news. After a moment he remembers that Ryu has no idea what it says so he reads it aloud.]

"Bring the two you have captured to the lagoon in seven days.

If you comply, we will not harm you.

If you do not, we will burn the camp to the ground."

We need to show this to Colin.

[He's already starting to head towards Collin's workshop.]

[amnesiadragon]

[That? That kind of language puts him instantly on guard. It makes him think of the abandoned village, and what happened to the children, and -]

[No. He has to stay calm. He nods at Rob's words and tries to focus on them. They make sense.]

Maybe Paarthurnax, too. He might know, too.

[Grandpa Paarthurnax knows everything, after all.]

[freedom_engineer]

[Colin is wide awake and at work in the workshop. Plenty of stuff that needs building these days, he's barely had the time to go out to the scrap yard these last few days.]

[If Rob and Ryu come to see him, he'll glance up once they cross the threshold of the workshop.]