Katheeri

[Arkenova]

Simeon had arrived at the place but had quickly ditched the stolen bike somewhere. The sirens of CDF were heard in the distant background and that meant trouble; he's got a limited time before he would be overwhelmed. Sheesh, the things he does; no wonder why the others saw him as, what's the word, oh yeah, reckless. Though, the gates, well, not a fan of those, especially with those guards looking at him.

They did ask for his ID but the albino thought to just humor them. Of course, when they got close to him, that was when Simeon's own opportunity to act like a smug simian shone. Of course, he did had a nice chat with them but for some reason, their thoughts seem to had shifted unnoticably as there was a contributing factor: his telepathy or namely a branch of that power that was more manipulative.

The fact was that he chose to have a little fun before he was allowed inside the lofts near the apartments, where he would be looking around.

'412B, 412B, 412-' he thought before he turned around and sensed a format of distress from somewhere before he smirked. 'Oh, hello, what is going on here?'

He followed the trail of where the distress was coming from before he flew up to the window, levitating in place with his arms crossed with one of them across his face. Before long, he wonders, oh he wonders..he waited for awhile before he sighed and threw out all care before he went back as eventually, a subtle purple aura would surround him.

Inside the apartment 412B, there would be some cracks heard from one of the windows before momentarily it shattered however the debris was more controlled than of a fullout blast and the shards of glass surrounded the albino before it was carefully brought down. It wasn't long before he slipped inside and landed on the staircase inside the apartment with his visible aura receding, moments after someone had ran upstairs.

He wonders if this could be the right place..

[Naza Sutera]

Amanda hurriedly pulled a duffle bag down from the top shelf of the master bedroom's walk-in closet. She quickly slipped on a pair of red slip-on skate shoes. With the duffle bag slung over her shoulder, she grabbed her white cable-knit hoodie and purse off of the accent chair and bolted out of the room towards the guest suite.

Something caught her eye as she ran past the mezzanine. She backed up and looked over the railing to the staircase and a scream hitched in her throat. Someone was in her condo! She then scrambled towards Aura and Zefran.

"Guys," Amanda said as she burst into the room, closing the door and locking it, "We have to go, NOW!"

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Pawel started banging on the door, his patience wearing thin.

"CDF, open the door!" he yelled. Meanwhile, Sebastian unholstered his blaster, and set it to maximum stun.

"Set your blaster to stun," he said to the dragon.

"Dostovei blasters don't have a stun option," replied Pawel.

"What?! This is why you need to use standard-issue Cornerian sidearms, not foreign blasters."

"Sometimes I want to be exotic."

Sebastian shook his titanium head, and knocked hard on the door several times.

[Arkenova]

The albino heard several bangs on the door but he ignored it because of the coppers and with a roll of his eyes, he went towards the direction of the guest room and tried to turn the knob to notice it was locked.

"Aw, how nice of you to lock the door. You really sweat the small details, well, not like it'll matter." he spoke before the lock unclicked on its own to allow him to come inside to notice Amanda and her cohorts bundled in the room before the simian entered inside with the door shutting behind him. "If I were you, I'd avoid going downstairs. Couple of unhappy campers at the door if you ask me."

Of course, there was a kick of sarcasm in his tone but at the same time, he was being playful with the situation. However, he was calm and content despite the tense atmosphere.

"..and what do we have here? Guests? How nice. I enjoy meeting new people!" he mused as he crossed his arms with a smirk across his face. "I didn't expect anybody else. What a surprise, what a surprise. Now, if you would be so kind, what are their names and most importantly, WHO are they?"

[Naza Sutera]

A gun cocked.

Amanda was now holding an Antares A380 9mm handgun. She stood, holding the gun with technique, the way her father taught her. In all honestly, she was scared out of her wits, but she hoped that holding the handgun would imbue new-found confidence in her and ease the shakes. 

"Alright, asshole..." She began, trying to sound like serious business, despite her quavering voice, "I don't know who you are, where you come from, or who raised you. And to be frank, I don't give a shit. All I know is that you better get the fuck out of my house." Then she looked to Zefran and Aura, "Guys, take the duffle bag and go onto the sun deck." She motioned towards the sliding glass door behind her.

[Zaphyr Stone]

Everything had happened so quickly. Zefran resented that he never seemed to be at the same pace as everyone else. Even Aura seemed to have an idea of what to do next. He could see a plan formulating in her eyes.

He grabbed the bag as he was told. There was some strange kid threatening them and officials at the front door. What were they to do?

"You heard her, Zefran." Aura nodded sternly, slowly backing towards the sliding glass door, "We don't want trouble."

Zefran was ready to protest, but something knowing glinted in her eyes. Curiosity overwhelmed him as he obediently followed. What was she up to?

----

Sitka laughed out loud at this and sat back in his seat. "Well then, you'd better hop to it. You've got me. Unfortunately she's very good at hiding. I honestly don't know where she'll go, and I don't know a thing about Zefran other than his name."

[Tiger Carson]

Tiger gave Sitka a very droll expression at the laugh.  That was simply not something he wanted, and probably should have kept his mouth shut. "Just so long as she's of age...  Glad I could give you a laugh..." Tiger growled, his tone indicating a complete lack of amusement "Anyways, I know that Zef will be with the woman who absconded with him...  Whoever she was..."

Copper now chose to enter in. "Excuse me, but I think I have an idea of where he may go as well." Copper stated.

"Oh?  and what may this be?" Tiger asked, a little annoyed at Copper's barging right in.

"He seemed pretty upset about something while he was running." Copper then began to answer. "I could swear he was talking about something after running into a white wolf.  Given the existence of hologuises, I would assume that was you, our dear guest, that he ran into and was knocked down by?"

[Kurt]

Jess kept a cautious eye on the new Doberman, causualy opening her flight suit and pulling out a small metallic canister.  "Hey Schutz got a light?" she asked Sven elbowing him playfully. 

"Lemme check... " he began patting his pockets looking for his lighter, with no luck "I think I lost mine."

With a scoff Jess pushed herself off the railing and headed towards the bay to find one,  flicking the back of his head as she did. "You'd loose your head if it wasn't attached Sven I swear. "

She wandered for a bit,  finally after wandering the bay she bumped into who she assumed was a technician.

"Hey pussycat" she held out the fresh cigar "Got a light?"

[Renardfrost]

On 11/2/2017 at 6:20 PM, Tiger Carson said:

"Huh, interesting." Jeena said as she mused. "So you basically come from a somewhat different dimension then?"

"That might be a bit of a stretch." HAwk said to Jeena. "More than likely, he's from a pocket dimension by the sound of it.  Either way, pretty isolated.  I bet you don't get a lot of visitors, huh?"

Renard tilted his head at the inquiry.

" Actually every now and again some outsiders unlucky enough to stumble into a gate leading to my little slice of magic and monsters." He said to Hawk, leaning back into his chair. "Usually we just have an adventurer keep a close eye on them until we can send them back somehow. Usually teach them to handle themselves a bit. Matter of fact. it's where your legends of wizards and heroes come from. they're people who come back with a bit more knowledge than when they arrived."

He scratched at his chin. " As a matter of fact, Axian history notes that a subspecies of Vulpas tried settling out here, as a matter of fact. Known for their Azure coats, they took some Axian knowledge of magic with them, but the intervening millennia severed their ties with us. they kept the magic, but retained no knowledge of their home. So did we. Matter of fact it was only during a recent archaeological dig that we learned they had even been on Axia at all. It seems they were fleeing some calamity that their elders foresaw. Throw in a Ongoing conflict with some Crimson Hounds from the neighboring Island, and  the recipe was perfect for a massive and complete exodus. Although, I cannot help but feel that they did not fair much better out here given the fact they they are not very prevalent amidst your populations. A shame." He heaved a sigh and took a moment of their silence to direct his attention to Jeena.

"Well, You're half right." He explained. " While Axia definitely exists within the greater universe. it's star system is located in a unique place where space is rather.... warped. As such, reaching Axia via conventional means can be... difficult. it's much easier just to utilize high level magic and naturally occurring Aetheric gates."

He wondered how these soldiers who probably never had a brush with such things before would react.

[Tiger Carson]

Zera's ears perked when she was asked the question by the female doberman.  She had been working on the teams vehicles, and wasn't expecting to have someone start a conversation with her. "I vape, but I do keep a lighter handy." She said, "You never know when you may need one." She pulled it out of one of her belt pockets, and held it out to Jess.

----------------------------

"Huh, sounds like the Cerinians..." Hawk said, "It's rumored that Star Fox's new member, Krystal, is one.  Also intriguing, that you guys have had visitors..."

"Sounds like a challenge." Jeena said, taking some interest as she sat up and looked at Ren. "Maybe when this is over, I should try to see for myself how difficult it is, and if a skilled enough pilot can navigate it?" It was about this time that Kola came into the room.

"Sorry to interrupt the fascinating conversation, but, guys, I know where Zef is." She said.

"You do?!" Both Hawk and Jeena asked at the same time.

"Yep, the woman who absconded with him, turns out to be a social media starlet." Kola said, "Amanda Cimmaron, though I have no idea what possessed her to get involved with this thing."

"Well, if that's the case, we'd better get a move on." Hawk said, then turned to Jeena. "Get your uniform on, we're goin' for a run."

"What about Tiger?" Jeena asked, "Shouldn't he be told what's going on?"

"He's busy with our guest, we can handle a civilian though, and with mage boy on hand, ol' energy wings shouldn't be trouble." He then turned to Ren. "So, how'bout it?  Wanna come with us?"

[Arkenova]

Back at the apartment where Amanda and the now two escapees along with the CDF at the door, the albino chuckled at the threat before he smiled at Amanda. "A gun. How nice of you to remember in case someone shows up and threatening me while at it as well."

A snide remark but this was Simeon's nature and before long, he raised his arms in the air.

"Lady, Mademoiselle, I'm not here for a fight. I only want to talk with your friends; why do you have to make it so hard? No need to go violent on me, I want answers. No gun, no hostility, just answers for a cause. You're lucky that I'm not one of the cops that's been on your case and besides, I'm the guy you'll want to need around. I know I ain't much but you know, between me and the gun, I'd put that down before someone gets hurt. It's already a lost cause."

He didn't want to make enemies right away after all that mess especially with the CDF ready to bust in.

"I'm not a violent guy unless I'm pushed to my limits and besides, you are doing a horrible job at being confident if all you do is doubt yourself." he added. "That's okay, I can understand. The world out there's a cruel one and being alone in the mess of it is the hell we have to deal with everyday and you are trying to protect your friends from other people..but the fact is: what are you going to do once it's all over? I suggest thinking about it."

[Naza Sutera]

She couldn't stand this guy! Talking to her like some naive little kid! She ought to let him know that she is probably twice his age, and surely knows her way about the world much better than he does. She needed to let him know who was in control.
"Listen..." she began, drawling out the word so that he could hear her crisp and clear, "I am the one with the fire-arm pointed at you. What I'm going to need for YOU to do is to shut the fuck up talking to me. If you don't want any trou-ble like you say... Then, hit. The fucking. Streets." She then yelled to Zefran and Aura: "The condo next to mine is being renovated. Climb over the dividing wall and escape through there."

[Renardfrost]

Renard shrugged, then stretched his arms as he pulled himself to his feet.

" Closest thing I've gotten to a lead all week." He said with a smirk.

He Sighed in relief as he fell at ease. " And if you ever want to try your hand at piloting a small airship, Jeena, maybe i can put in a good word for you at the machinist's guild." I'm not sure we'd be able to get your bird onto my planet safe and sound.

" Since i'm already ready, I'll sortie out ahead of you guys, make sure there's no nasty surprises like a police blockade or something"

[Tiger Carson]

"That'd  be a good idea." Kola said, "Last thing we need is another surprise like what happened yesterday."

"No kidding." Jeena added, "We get another surprise like that, it'll be a disaster of a job." She then replied to Ren's offer. "I'll certainly be up for giving it a try, and I'm sure I can do it.  You make it sound more and more like a challenge."

"Just be careful." Hawk said to Ren before the vulpine's departure, "I'm sure you can handle yourself, but that female Katheeri is still at large.  I'm bettin' that she'll be tryin' to find Zef too.  And she got a drop on Tiger and Pawel, and managed to embarrass the both of them.  Let us know when you get there, but do not engage until we get there.  Unless they try to get away again, then do what you can.  No holdin' back."

[Sylono]

[-SHEPHERD & ALEK TIMESKIP-]

Perhaps Shepherd would have arrived at the space port earlier, had she requested Alek to drop her off a block or two closer. The walk to get there was time ill spent, the fact once again wafted into the vixen's mind, surely it was a matter of time before the officials found their mark.

However much of a setback it might seem, the two couldn't be seen entering together.

Shepherd was certain they were operating on borrowed time. One last time, she mentally glossed over the list of objectives she needed to complete: Infiltrate and plant the Rat king for superiority over the port's security, commandeer a handful of security bots for objective quarantine and finally, infiltrate and extract subject. It all sounded a lot less complicated on paper than they would be in practice, though, what mission didn't follow that trend?

Before entering the Space port, the clone put her comm's ear buds on and turned the device on before settling it in one of her pockets.

"Operation commencing, I hope you've taken the time to get yourself situated." She stated in a hushed tone, certain that if there was a need for contact, the dog on the other end was intelligent enough not to speak in a decibel louder than the example she set. "I'll need you to be my eyes, doctor, if I were to seem too cautious I could easily draw unneeded attention."

Without waiting for a response, she made her way inside, keeping a low profile (as low as a cerinian was able to keep) as she noted the port's security strength and bystander population. The former being not visibly tightened than the last time she'd come through here, she'd need to be in their camera network to confirm that, as for the latter, the people streaming through the port was sizable enough. To that observation, Shepherd tailed nearby what seemed to be a family of wolves, keeping in pace with them as she kept an an eye out for an "employees access only" door nearest to a security hub.

[Dr. Orange]

"Ready as I'll ever be." Alek said, whispering through slight static. He fidgeted at the earpiece as it was not sitting properly. He had also made his way into the port appearing as a bystander in plain clothing and a baseball cap. He kept a watchful eye out. A port is a port but the added sense of looking for a Katheeri made it the ever more unnerving. Granted it was not an unwelcome feeling, Alek had started getting back into the feeling of doing the footwork. It was a weird rush; the excitement and feeling of concern. He did not show any of it though and reminded himself he was there for one purpose: He wanted that Katheeri.

There was a nice crowd on this day. Security present but not of any great magnitude. There were some ships here and plenty of noise, nothing seemed too out of the ordinary. Yet.

Alek proceeded deeper into the crowd and port trying his best not to look out of place. "How far out are you?" He muffled into the comm. 

 

[Sylono]

"At this pace? Ten minutes from the nearest... point of interest." Shepherd finished vaguely, having noticed the youngest of the wolves she had been keeping pace with was eyeing her with interest. Inwardly, the vixen scolded herself for following a family of all groups as the kid looked like he was about to come out with a barrage of questions, now was certainly not the time for such a distraction.

"That sounded cool, are you in the army?" The boy spoke up finally, actually... she could make this line of inquiry work, it certainly beat a question about her fur.

"That I am, in fact, I'm being shipped out to basic right now." Shepherd placed a fist to her chest and gave the boy a smile filled with all the false pride she could muster in that moment, snatching up that cover story (keeping her line open as she lied, so to give Alek an update of her impromptu false background). Out of the corner of her eye, she could see apologetic looks she was getting from the boy's parents... She didn't know what to make of that.

-----

Ahead, at the vixen's desired destination, there were two members port security (What and who they were was irrelevant, just standard Cornerian Canines) standing guard. One was behind a kiosk working with a computer, the other is standing around, his attentiveness could be called into question.

Shepherd is minutes off and unaware of these guards having clear view of the employee access door.

[Dr. Orange]

Alek slightly chuckled to himself. "Sounds like you found yourself a pal." He quietly muttered having a wry expression. That was a pleasant thought; Children.

Pulling himself back into reality he stood distant from the cautionary words of "Employees Only." This must be the location that Shepherd had to get to. He stepped back to get a clear view of it all. There were still pedestrians but the two security guards became the focus of his attention.

He turned and discreetly whispered into the comm. "I found the room, but there's two guards." He looked back. One was typing and one was nonchalantly on guard. 'How can I make an opening?'

'Well ... I've never been here before...'

[Sylono]

An ear twitched out of slight irritation, but she bit down on a retort and focused on the kid's questions. As subtly as she could, Shepherd planted the idea of service to lylat in the boy's head, she was sure the parent's would appreciate that. The dog's voice cut in mid-sentence and the cerinian, having payed more attention to Alek's update, only heard part of what the wolf boy had said. She had gotten the gist of it, however, there were only so many ways a "when I grow up... etc." could go, especially when on the discussion of military service.

"I'm certain of your capabilities, you'll be fine." Shepherd chose her words so they'd apply to both the boy, and Alek.

"Really?" The boy asked, none the wiser of her ruse, if there was one thing about civilian children that put her at ease, was their lack of suspicion.

"A Cerinian has her ways of knowing." The vixen stated, tapping an index finger against her temple, leaning on the pseudo-misinformation of her species.

---

The security guard definitely seemed bored and desperately looking for a distraction from monotony, so much so that when he saw Alek stop and turn around, he couldn't.

"Ya' seem a touch lost, my friend." The guard spoke up, drawing the man's attention, "lookin' for some help gettin' where, yer goin'?"

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Pawel and Sebastian listened closely at the commotion behind the door and in the condo. They looked at each other.

"Sebastian," uttered Pawel, motioning his head towards the adjacent condo.

"Understood," answered the robot. Sebastian walked about a meter to the next door, with a caution sign and an additional sign saying "Under Renovation: Do Not Enter." Sebastian jostled the door knob, and upon finding that it was locked, he took out a small round device, placed it on the lock, and pressed a button. A few whirs and beeps later, and the door was unlocked. He detached the device from the door lock, and put it away. The robot entered the room, and closed the door behind him. He looked around the condo under renovation. The furniture was removed, placed elsewhere, and the floor was covered in plastic. The walls and ceiling were half-painted, and the countertop was removed, to be replaced with another. Sebastian saw a stool sat in front of a makeshift table with the condo plans on it. He sat down, faced the balcony door, and waited for visitors.

Pawel, meanwhile, continued to attempt to "peacefully" enter the condo of Amanda Cimmaron. He banged the door three times, and yelled "This is the CDF! Open the door or I will open it myself!"

[Renardfrost]

Renard sighed as he finally came to a stop  a good half block or so before the condominum in question. Thankfully, the directions that the Sanctuary's robot had given him were more than useful allowing him to find the much shorter path between the buildings.

Although.. what does he find? a suit and tie ghost like they have back on Avalon. Hell, he was even an Ape to boot. Racial charges aside, it was the rest of the peices in this little game that were more worrisome. he brought his wrist close to his mouth while putting two fingers of his free hand just behind his ear, right at the base

"Tiger. Frost Reporting. Small scale police response. looks like a burly blue and his shiny partner, and an odd man in a suit not meant to be worn before 3pm.  Targets believed to be inside. Recommended course of action?"

[Zaphyr Stone]

"What about you!?" Zefran's distress was clear.

"No time." Aura pushed him along, "Move!"

On the deck of the sun room, the adjacent condo's balcony was in leaping distance. If they were careful and deliberate, they could easily make it.

Zefran stared down at the street below, the height dizzying. He remembered all too clearly the crushing blow of the car that hit him only the day prior. It was hard to believe that was only yesterday, even more so that he had no wounds to show for it. He could only imagine what a fall from here would do. Aura likely couldn't do the same trick she used at the hospital to heal him.

"Don't look down." Aura's voice broke him out of his thoughts.

He looked up to see her stepping up onto the rail. He wished he could be that brave. What did she have to fear? She could fly.

"Be quick, be deliberate. But don't look down." She seemed to hop effortlessly to the other balcony and turned to face him, "You can do this."

With a gulp, Zefran nodded and shakily climbed onto the railing. She was right. Amanda could only hold them off so long. They needed to hurry.

He screwed his eyes shut a moment. Don't look down. Don't look down. Don't look down.

With a deep breath, he opened them and leaped before he could give himself a chance to think about it. His foot hit the railing and slipped. For a heartbeat, there was weightlessness, and for a second of panic he thought it was over.

Aura reached out, grabbed his arm and yanked him towards her. They fell onto the balcony together with a gasp.

"You're okay, I've got you." She said quickly, helping him stagger to his feet, "Now let's go!"

Feeling renewed that he wasn't about to die, he quickly fled with her.

----

"You've caught me." Sitka answered this new teammate dryly, "Not much of a disguise, I guess."

----

Antoine hardly heard the far off commotion of the spaceport as he was walked to a discreet location to board his transport. He knew what awaited him there. Macbeth officials would tear him to pieces. Many of his old cohorts had been silenced similarly. It was a bittersweet end for him. At least no one would know about Zefran. He worried about that boy still. What would he do on his own? He was still young. He realized bitterly that it was out of his hands now.

[Tiger Carson]

"Not when you go with the same color scheme as you naturally are." Copper said, "At any rate, did you hear him say any name before he ran into you?"

Wait... Tiger thought to himself as he began to piece it together. I think I get what he's thinking.  That criminal the police have been after...  IF that's that case... He decided to wait a moment though, as the second that Sitka said the name he suspected he might say, it would be prudent for him to run to the bridge to get in touch with General Pepper again.  If the news was right, the transfer would happen today, and that would be when Zef and his colleagues might make their move.  Their one and maybe only chance to get the kid and that female Katheeri under their custody.  He hoped Sitka wouldn't beat around the bush, or else it would slip through their fingers.

------------------------

Hawk had to hold his tongue back, as he was still unused to the call sign that Ren had come up with. "Why'd the kid have to use that name?.." He said to himself, making sure the mic wouldn't pick it up. "We'll talk about call signs later, and remind him to use Den Leader." He then spoke up into the mic when he heard what Ren had said. "If you can track the katheeri, should they bolt, do so.  We'll be there in T-minus ten minutes.  Do not engage the police or big blue, they're our friends and allies.  And try not to engage the new wrinkles without our back-up unless targets are in threat of being lost.  If you can otherwise assist big blue without being seen by anyone, do it.  But above all, do not lose the targets." He then quickly turned to Jeena and Kola, who were with him in the jeep they were using to get to the scene of the action. "Kola, punch it if you can."

"We're going as fast as we legally can." The squirrel said, "Someone got the police really riled up, and it's making it difficult to run through the short cuts.  Unless you want to drive?"

"And total the car as well as get arrested for driving without a license?" Hawk said, "I'll take the skies any day, thank you very much."

(OOC Note: I'm going with an assumed time skip that Renard did to keep up with him.)

[Dr. Orange]

On 12/30/2017 at 11:48 PM, Sylono said:

The security guard definitely seemed bored and desperately looking for a distraction from monotony, so much so that when he saw Alek stop and turn around, he couldn't.

"Ya' seem a touch lost, my friend." The guard spoke up, drawing the man's attention, "lookin' for some help gettin' where, yer goin'?"

Alek looked up at him. He planted that welcoming "yes I am in need of assistance" face that all clueless shoppers get now and then. 

"Oh yes, hallo." He put on the best accent he could. Most likely wasn't needed, but it was the spur of the moment. It'll help wit ha tourist vibe. "I'm looking für ein ship." He wove together a story. "It is mein fürst time here, can't find ze ship yard." The earpiece was on transmitting, hopefully Shepherd on the other end was receiving. Hopefully the other guard would be distracted enough to not notice and the other guard being kind enough to leave his post. 

 "Uhh yeah, I can give you a hand." 

The guard motioned up asking where he's going to which a story was crafted that he was leaving on a transport ship and would be glad if he could be shown the right direction.

[Arkenova]

Simeon turned his head as the cops were getting desperate, judging by the banging of the door from downstairs, and sighed. "Look, lady, let's just focus on leaving, so drop the gun and let's get you somewhere else that's safe. You gotta trust me or else we'll both get it."

..even though he doesn't want to help, he'll humor her, just this time. Who knows. Maybe he'll get a break this time with his luck.