Michael Samuelle's Story

A normal human's knee would have broken on contact with the Rebar, and also would have gone limp or moved with the force of the impact. Demor's knee however bucked in pain, but did not break. If anything he'd bruise, and he'd inhale sharply. "Rude..." He grumbled, suppressing the pain before he was spun around and shown the pictures of Montrose. He tilted his head, tail moving upwards to scratch at his chin like a hand in thought before moving away to evade capture, if they tried anyway.

"She looks familiar..." he looked up, using his feet to lean back in the chair, the front legs of it coming off he floor as he then used his tail as a kick-stand, rocking back and forth while thinking. "I've definitely seen her... her name is escaping me though... and where I saw her." He sighed, his eyes moving back to Kathryn. It was clear that the threat of painful execution really didn't intimidate him. Even without his magic, he was a sight more durable than a human.

"Has something happened to her?" he asked in reply.

"I don't know." Kathryn said flatly, as she leaned forward. "Has it?" She asked, before she pulled away. This guy seemed pretty stout, and wasn't reacting in fear like the rest of her subjects, that was something she would have to remedy, and remedy quickly.

She waited for his next answer.

"I wouldn't know. I haven't seen her since we met..." He answered flatly. He leaned forward and looked through the photos again, biting his lower lip in thought and admiration for the woman he was looking at. Certainly still a beauty. Something licked in his head and he blinked. "Oooohhhh the bath-house! That's where I met her! Tried hitting on her but she wasn't having any of it." he explained. He leaned back again and used his tail to pick himself up and turn his chair towards Kathryn.

"Why do you think I know what happened to her? I left her alone after she told me to go away." he said, pouting slightly - he still wanted to get to know her better, but wasn't getting a chance he felt. Idly, his tail moved to try and consolidate the photos neatly into a pile on the table, a subtle hope of being able to keep the pictures fluttering inside him.

"She turned you down, so you drugged, and kidnapped her!" The woman called out, slamming her fists on the table. "So help me I should cut that damn tail off!" She shouted, pointing angrily at the tail, and how he was able to manipulate his surroundings despite being bound to the chair.

"You drugged, kidnapped, and had your way with her!" Kathryn called out, getting back in Demor's face. "You will be charged, in accordance with Imperial Law, where you will face the same fate as all enemies of the state that have come before you!"

"You were the last... thing seen with her; it's a damn convenient coincidence that she failed to report shortly after meeting you." Kathryn accused. "The Aschen Empire doesn't tolerate those who would seek to do their people harm, and so help me if i so much as find the slightest linking you to her disappearance, I'll see to it you're hanged in victory square!"

Demor blinked at her outburst, furrowing his eyebrows at the threat to his tail, twitching angrily. "Don't these type of interviews have like lie detectors or something?" he growled in response, only annoyed at her outburst, using his tail to turn around and face the table again. "Hook me up." he said.

He shook his head. "I would never drug or kidnap anyone. Rescue someone who has been drugged and kidnapped, yes, but never do it myself." he said. As she got in his face his eyes only narrowed and his lip twitched. "If I was the last person seen with her, then it is especially inconvenient she didn't make her report." he replied.

"If you want me to help find her, then I'll help you, but can I at least put some pants on?" he yelled back at her finally.

"Are you getting smart with me!?" Kathryn barked, pulling out her disruptor pistol, and pointing it to Demor's head, while Michael stood there in silence.

"She saw you, and then failed to make her report, you're suspect." She said flatly, casting a sidelong glance at the device resting on the table. They had nothing, and without any way to take him back, they couldn't make it stick.

They were on foreign ground, and a disruptor discharge would likely get local authorities involved.

She briefly looked up to Michael, whom slowly shook his head.

Kathryn then looked back to Demor. "Why would you want to help us?"

Demor only glared past the pistol and at his head, and at Kathryn. He didn't blink, and his resolve was stronger than iron. As she broke eye-contact to look at Michael, he used his tail to raise himself to eye-level with the woman, narrowing his Draconian eyes. "If helping you means my name is cleared of this accusation, and proves that you're wrong to accuse me of doing something I'd never do, then I'm all for it. Seeing her again and maybe getting a second chance to flirt would be a good bonus too." He answered dryly. He set himself down, and in the blink of an eye, his seven-foot-long tail lashed out to smack the disruptor pistol from her hand, or perhaps coil tightly around her head to prevent her from squeezing the trigger. Whether or not he made contact, his point was that he didn't like the thing being pointed at his head.

"Can I put on pants yet?" he asked again.

"You have seventy two hours." The IIA operative retorted. "To bring me actionable intelligence as to her whereabouts." The Woman said, pulling the disruptor pistol away to keep the Tail from swatting it.

She slid the weapon firmly into it's holster, and it seated with an audible click.

With a nod, Michael began to gather their tools. "You won't need to find us, we'll be tracking your movements." He said coldly.

Demor sighed and moved his tail to the knots securing him to the chair again, trying to undo them once more as they started to pack up their things. "Not like I'd want to find you anyway... wouldn't even let me put on pants...." he grumbled, as after a few attempts, he was able to loose himself from the rope, and stand from his chair. "Uh... can I keep one of these? To ask around town if anyone's seen her?" he asked, holding up one of the pictures of Montrose. Despite his obvious sexual attraction to her, he chose the picture with the most clothes on to hold onto.

Guess one could say he liked a lady in uniform.

The pair of IIA Agents simply shrugged, Michael was the one to exit first, taking the duffel bags with him, leaving Kathryn and Demor alone in the apartment.

She didn't bother to take any of the photos off the table, but she kept her gaze affixed to Demor.

"Seventy two hours." She warned, and then started out the door, closing it silently behind her, leaving Demor to his thoughts.

With everything in place; walking back to the briefing would be rather uneventful for Demor, and Ivera. The Marines stationed outside their door would escort them back the way they came to the briefing room.

Inside, Kathryn was going over a three-dimensional holographic projection of Origin, zooming into the planet to reveal a three-dimensional holographic projection of Questrios City.

Shimmering blue lines were displayed all throughout the city projection, landing calculations for the missile deployed drop pods. They had been chosen at random, but close enough together to where everyone could meet.

The Marines ushered the two into the room, while Kathryn was busy looking over the projection, breaking her concentration for just a moment to look up at Ivera. “So you think she was taken to this casino?” The IIA Operative asked, zooming in on the New Directions casino building.

“The nature of this world makes long range scans difficult, so our intelligence is limited, which means we’ll have to go in and scout the place out before we make a move.”

“Demor you’re with me. We’ll be posing as a couple to infiltrate the casino, so I trust you’ll act the part. Once we’ve ascertained positive confirmation that Montrose is being held there, a rescue plan will go into immediate effect.”

Gesturing to the door on the opposite side of the room, which chimed, and slid open to reveal three new faces. Kathryn waited for them to enter before introducing them.

The first one was a woman, raven black hair, and a stark complexion, dressed in a black great coat. Slowly she moved to take a seat at the briefing table. The second was a man, easily six hundred pounds of solid muscle, and almost eight feet tall. His footfalls made an audible thunk as he walked across the room, a lit cigar perched between his lips as he sneered at Demor, and Ivera. Moving towards one of the chairs, he sat down. The chair creaked, and groaned in protest, but held fast as the man slammed a meaty fist on the table, ashing his cigar onto the console.

The third man Demor would recognize as the agent that was working with Kathryn in the beginning, when they confronted him in his apartment.

Gesturing to them, Kathryn spoke up. “This is Special Agent Erin Solis, She’ll be working support, EOD, and will provide counter sniper, marksman , and augmented support through a combat skin in case we run into any trouble. She is very good at what she does, and will provide valuable assistance.”

She gestured to the second man, and continued her introduction. “This is Khaine, an adept of war. He’ll be providing heavy weapons support.”

She then gestured to Michael. “This is Special Agent Samuelle, he’ll be providing tactical support, and will be in charge of Team Beta, who will move in and extract us if we run into any trouble.

“If we get a confirmed ID, we’ll book a room in the hotel with a balcony, where additional supplies will be dropped in via UAV, I’ll suit up in a combat skin, and we’ll do a smash and grab hopefully get out before the authorities know we’re here.”

Focusing her attention on Demor, and Ivera, Kathryn continued. “Once we’ve extracted safely, you two will be compensated for your assistance, and released from service, and hopefully we can leave this gods forsaken star system.”

“Any questions?” Kathryn asked.

When it came time for the mission briefing, Demor sat in a chair around the table and waited for everything to begin. Once the briefing started, he listened with interest, raising his eyebrows when Kathryn noted that he and her were to be posing as a couple to gain entry into the Casino. He tilted his head, looking at her with inquisitive eyes from that point forward. Three others who walked into the room looked to Demor with varying looks on their faces. The woman looked serious and interesting. The first man looked a bit intimidating, but also didn't look like anything Demor couldn't handle if things got out of hand between them - he saw that look of displeasure - and this man seemed like the kind of person to act upon it without hesitation. The third man, Michael, made Demor smirk. They'd met before, albeit under less formal circumstances.

At the question as to whether or not there were any questions, Demor opened his mouth before closing it, pouting for a second before speaking. "I have one for you in private after this..." he said to Kathryn.

Once given the opportunity, Demor would be off to the side, waiting for Kathryn, once she found him, he'd ask his question. "I know you said to act the part... but just how into it are you willing to reciprocate without killing me?" he asked. "Or better yet, how far is too far before other Aschen step in to kill me after this mission is over?" he asked. He wasn't denying his part in the plan or even the execution of it, but he was far from stupid. A slip up could mean the Aschen killing him or at the least hurting him beyond a point he could heal.

Put plain, their innate xenophobia had him worried.

"Based on the clues gathered, and the evidence, yes. She was taken here without a doubt" he said, confident in his answer given the amount of double checks he did. Plus, he had asked some people to watch the front of the casino before they left, so if anything had changed, he would be notified quickly. However...

From what he saw on first glance, he felt the security seemed strange. He doubted this place was some normal criminal group or so on, especially given some of the stories he heard.

That said, he wondered how estimated these scans actually were, given that it still seemed too detailed for long range scanning and such.

Still, he didn't want to say anything too much further, not until he was on the ground and could collect more information and make more deductions. Too much was an unknown from this point out.

After all, anything could happen.

"Based on the clues gathered, and the evidence, yes. She was taken here without a doubt" he said, confident in his answer given the amount of double checks he did. Plus, he had asked some people to watch the front of the casino before they left, so if anything had changed, he would be notified quickly. However...

From what he saw on first glance, he felt the security seemed strange. He doubted this place was some normal criminal group or so on, especially given some of the stories he heard.

That said, he wondered how estimated these scans actually were, given that it still seemed too detailed for long range scanning and such.

Still, he didn't want to say anything too much further, not until he was on the ground and could collect more information and make more deductions. Too much was an unknown from this point out.

After all, anything could happen.

Once the briefing had been finished, Demor had asked to meet with Kathryn in private so he could ask her a question. This opportunity was afforded, and Kathryn pulled Demor to the far corner of the room where he could be afforded his inquiry.

"You won't be the first alien i've slept with." Kathryn said rather flatly, letting Demor use his imagination, but the IIA operative decided to qualify the statement, and she took a breath to speak once more. "But if I think you're milking it. I like to use my teeth." She said, offering a wink before she turned back to the briefing table. Everyone was assembled, and ready to depart.

"Then we make our move."

"Ivera, you'll be our eyes and ears, and you'll be coordinating with EVE, and special agent Birkhoff via the datalink. I'll give you limited access to the Aschen Datalink, and you can use it to coordinate our efforts."

"You'll take position with Michael inside one of our safe-houses on the surface." Kathryn explained.

"Demor, you'll be dropping in with me, Solis, Khaine, and Samuelle will drop in, there will be supply drops, and decoys. Once we're in the hotel room we'll arm up, and start looking for Montrose."

"We'll be inserting via Thunderbolt Missile, it's the most direct way to get back to Origin since it's finicky magical nature interferes with the Bifrost."

Moving to the door of the briefing room, she gestured for Demor, and Ivera to follow. "Follow me to the armory; we'll suit up, and then head to the primary missile bay."

Demor seemed surprised at her statement, and offered a smirk in return to to her wink. He understood. He doubted they'd need to "prove" their relationship to anyone beyond a kiss, but either way he now knew what limits he could operate within. "Got it. Do what I need to to sell the point, but don't get too carried away." he nodded.

With that he followed Kathryn to the armory, idly taking another moment to examine her, familiarize his eyes with her form and figure. She was beautiful and he was attracted to her. He could play this part well. He chuckled to himself at her earlier statement of using teeth. That was a fine threat veiled as a joke. He liked her, and it was a pity that he couldn't traditionally court her as he had tried with Montrose or many other women.

Maybe if there was a regime change in the Aschen society they'd be less xenophobic? There were any number of ways for him to do that. One was simply wait and watch. Another was to wiggle his way into the bed of some high-ranking Aschen Officials, change their minds, sway the balance of power. Clearly the latter was the more fun option, but at the same time, was all the more dangerous because of the innate Xenophobia. He'd be likely killed, or enslaved. Or both, somewhere down the line.

His tail twitched idly under his cloak, and he tilted his head quickly to either side, his neck popping audibly. He was ready. He was ready to finish this job.

A cacophany of bat screeches came from Casren as he fluttered beyond the Gollum and in to the next chamber. On his way he was sure to grab the little bundle of darberries, glowing an unusual color, on his way. He was screaming to run from the hoodied-hoard!

Southpaw Sentry shifted forward, maneuvering his body slowly over the rest of the group as they passed through the tunnel, positioning himself beyond them, but facing them as they left. The party was trapped by him again, this time prevented from returning from whence they came.

There was a great rumble from within his belly. Would the hoodied-men again invoke the gas of the gollum?

"Guys! I think I figured something out...whoa!"

And like that, the living titan of snow and ice followed Casren. Clearly he had discovered something...and the portal's protector was properly pissed.

The door heralded her arrival with a hiss, Appollonia's purposeful steps propelled into the room. Passing by everyone without any verbal or gestures of greeting she briefly begun to look over the 3-D holographic projection of the city and zoomed out to see the planet, Origin. The stoic professionalism expressed on her face broke for a moment as she smiled briefly, her mind wondering to delusions of violence in the name of the Aschen Empire. She came back to and executed a swift about face, allowing the room to see her face. Just another Aschen beauty though this one had tattoos, most of which were covered by her uniform. Those that were visible were those of on her ungloved hands, her neck and the one on her left cheek. In order they were:

Hands:A very graphic and realistic rendering of surgical instruments peeling away flesh which was being replaced with circuitry and metal. Over this art in the Aschen written language was a section of a poem about a man who drowned crossing the river during a storm to reach his lover on the other side.

Neck: Hands, both man and beastlike, twisted by the corruption of chaos, tearing away at the flesh as they gripped tightly. A reference to her previous temptation by the God Khorne to betray her people.

Face, left cheek: Caressing her cheek, the hand of Athena herself and an Owl carrying a spear in one leg and a shield in the other, symbols of the Lord of Kobol that saved her from the temptation and now inspired her to greater heights.

She cleared her throat and spoke saying. "I, Appollonia, will be partaking in this operation. There is no need to brief me."

“That’s fine with me” Ivera replies. While he did have combat abilities and the ability to act covertly, he figured Demor was the better choice this time around. After all, Ivera could clearly tell what his mind was thinking when he looked at the women, especially the Aschen women.

He did have some concerns about mood sensors and body language identifiers. It was entirely possible this casino would be able to pick real emotions from fake ones, so Kathryn might really have to feel attraction towards Demor. However...it seemed she had experience, so maybe she could make herself feel it if needed.

That was when this new person came in, and instantly proclaimed she would take part in the operation, without explaining what her role would be or what she had planned. And things were going so nicely too, since everyone seemed to be on the same page.

That said, he had no intention of irritating this dangerous person and getting into a fight, at least not here.

“Well Demor, I’d say the only thing left to ask is how your gambling skill is, given its possible you might need to actually gamble to get up there” Ivera mentioned, ready to head to the armory and wherever else they needed to go already.