old man moomba

"Everything's a game to me." Ashley said, closing her fist on the flames. "I haven't feared death for decades. I'm cursed. I'll never die, and I always come back." she looked at Alexander, "It's hard to take any threat seriously when you know you can come back from death." she grinned, "That's how they think, you know. Everything's a game to them. So when I hear real fear in a god's voice, then I start to pay attention. Because if a god fears something, then it's a real threat." Ashley sighed and met his eyes, "I couldn't care less about earning Baalhan's trust. Maybe that's why he sent me on this mission, but that's not why I'm here. I'm here because this a job. I was hired, more or less, by their alliance, and I intend to do as ordered until the job is done. There's little to be said for a mercenary who betrays her employer, after all."

Ashley was only a little surprised by their surroundings. "Why'd you bring us here? I'm assuming it's not because you want to waste time that we don't have." she sighed, absently summoning a small flame and making it dance across her hands, changing its color occasionally. After a minute, she summoned another flame, and sent it dancing around her as well. It was a concentration exercise, allowing her to focus her power for larger spells without actually using said power.

Ashley grinned, following Alexander. "Well it's not as if I was tricked into doing it. Firstly, as I said before, it's a very dangerous object, and secondly, I willingly took this job. The God Complex must be stopped before they kill off every god and humanity with them."

Ashley sighed. "The God Complex probably already have the gladius of Mars. That makes them all the more dangerous, as a weapon of that power is a serious threat to deities when wielded by a mortal. We need to get it from them as soon as possible. I don't have time to argue with you, and I'll need your help on this mission, so keep whatever comments you have until we've got the gladius."

Maggie laughed out loud. “I suppose I have.” she chuckled, pulling out her phone and calling Reamas. “I saw one of the fae you met earlier. The raven winged one.” On the other end of the phone, Reamas raised an eyebrow. “Really? Just by chance?” “Yeah, and she’s staying in the palace apparently.” “Ah, of course. With Ash most likely.” Reamas nodded as he factored the information into his plan. “Well that’ll make things interesting. Also, you’ll be happy to know we found a good apartment, so we don’t have to spend all our time in that warehouse.” “Thank the Elders.” Maggie breathed, “Can you give me an address? I’d like to check it out.” Reamas gave her the address and hung up the phone. Maggie nodded to the other girl. “See you around, I suppose.” she got in her car and drove away, wondering what Reamas meant by ‘interesting’. When he said ‘that’ll make things interesting’ it usually translated to ‘things just got a lot harder.’

“Baalhan sent me to ‘talk some sense’ into you, though from your reaction you were planning on coming anyway.” Ashley said, “That, and to bring you along on a mission. We’re supposed to retrive the weapon of a dead god.” she said all of this in an unconcerned tone of voice. She was somewhat impatient to begin the search, as she already had some idea of where the gladius could be.

“Well it's not necessarily a good thing, but it's not a bad thing either. I don’t have any specific orders other than to keep an eye out.” Maggie shrugged, glancing down the street as if Reamas could turn the corner any second. “I’ve never met a fairy before and...” she thought back to when she’d first learned about spirit bonding. She’d wanted to do magic so bad, and at the time, it seemed like the best way. Not that she regretted it. No, she wouldn’t trade it in for magic like most mortals did. That took years of learning and memorization, whereas spirit magic was instinctive. “It’s a long story, but I've always been interested in fae.”

Ashley looked at the arrow. It was beautiful, glowing slightly as it floated in the air. As she looked at it, she could see minute designs carved into the shaft. Tentatively, she reached out and grabbed it. With a flash, she disappeared, and felt as if she was traveling extremely fast. As she was pulled along, she caught glimpses of strange things, but they were gone before she really saw them. With another sudden flash, she appeared next to a large man, tall enough that she barely came up to his shoulder. "Alexander of Uruk?" she asked, still holding the arrow in one hand.

Ashley followed, glancing up at Baalhan now and then. "So, what've you got for me to do?" she asked, stopping on the landing.

Maggie sighed, extricating herself from the driver’s seat and getting out of the truck. Her nerves were still buzzing from the heist, and she needed to calm down. “I’m going out!” she called to the others, who were unloading the truck. Brandon nodded, watching Kevin and James toss the bags of cash out while he talked on his phone. “Alright got it, I’ll tell the others.” Brandon hung up and waved Maggie over. “Before you go, boss says he met some people today, and he wants us to keep a lookout for them.” Maggie nodded, and Brandon gave her several descriptions. “He said to call if you see any of them.” Maggie nodded again, already walking away. She grabbed her car keys off of a crate, spinning them around a finger. Three fae, all on the same day, all in the same place. And Reamas had met them all. She shook her head as she opened the warehouse door and walked out, where her car was parked. She drove off, nowhere in particular; she was just trying to clear her head. After maybe half an hour driving aimlessly around the city, taking in the people and buildings, she felt quite a bit better. As she was driving back to the warehouse, she spotted two girls talking, one with somewhat conspicuous raven wings, which matched Reamas’s description. “What’re the chances.” Maggie muttered, pulling over to the side of the road. Before she actually got out, she quickly checked the handguns she wore openly on her belt. Subtlety wasn’t worth anything when you were 5’6, and Maggie found people underestimating her boring. She got out of the car, walking around the hood slowly. “I know you. My boss gave me your description not half an hour ago.” she said in the winged one’s direction. She smirked almost wolfishly, then again, everything she did could have ‘wolfishly’ applied to it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Reamas poked his head into the main bedroom, looking at it for a few seconds before glancing back into the central living area. Yes, it would work. He’d known that the second he’d walked in, though he liked to put on a good show for Brandon’s friends. The penthouse was spacious, and had quite a few rooms, as well as a wonderful view of the downtown skyline. It was very similar to the one he had back in Columbia City. He returned to Brandon’s friend, who was standing somewhat awkwardly next to Sean. “Yes, this is quite nice.” Reamas pretended to think for a moment, “I’ll take it.” he handed the man an envelope. “Now that’s quite a bit more than the actual price for this place. I need to rent out a few apartments in certain neighborhoods, to use as safehouses. Take the extra and use it to rent those out. I took the liberty of doubling your commision for the trouble.” “Sure.” the man said, taking the envelope. “But which neighborhoods—” “There’s a map in the envelope. Send me a list of addresses when you’ve rented them all out.” “Uhh sure.” the man continued to stand there awkwardly until Sean grabbed him by the shoulder and steered him away. Sean returned a few minutes later with a bottle of whiskey. “You had that in the car?” Reamas asked his old friend, a slight smile playing across his lips. “Of course. I never leave Columbia without a good bottle of whiskey.” Sean said with a grin, popping the top off of this bottle and digging around for a tumbler. “And you couldn’t leave it in the warehouse because of the Wolves might find it.” Reamas said, rolling his eyes but smiling all the same. “You know me so well.” Sean said, placing a tumbler on the bar and filling it with amber liquid. He took a drink, swirling it around as he leaned back against the bar, looking out the window. “Well, things have gone well so far. We avoided having to extort that royal out of her tickets, luckily. That could have caused some problems.” Reamas nodded, walking out onto the balcony. “The first heist went well, it seems. I don’t think the police will be onto us for some time, and even then, they won’t catch us.”

Ashley followed Baalhan unhurriedly. She stepped up next to him, feeling like a child, both physically and in terms of skill. She was probably one of the world's most skilled warriors, but even her half century of training couldn't compare to an actual god.

"Sure. What is it you need me to do?" Ashley was glad for an opportunity to do go do something. It would give her some time to think, and to really consider what was happening here. It was something monumental, she was sure, something that would likely change the the very roots of humanity once again. War was a great bringer of change.

"Hiding small groups together will be a good idea." Sangus said, "As for safehouse locations, I believe my followers can help us in that area. In fact, I believe we can use my followers to recruit soldiers, as well as shelter them." Ashley nodded, "Spreading our troops out will also help us strategically, since we could strike all over the world without having to move troops around. It's a good plan, though I'd expect nothing less from Baalhan himself."

"There's no price that I would feel comfortable asking, at least right now. When I think of something suitable, I'll tell you all."

Brandon tied a bandana around his nose and mouth. That, along with his sunglasses, would hide his face from any cameras that caught him on film. The others were donning their masks of choice. Once James and Kevin were ready, he nodded to them and pushed the doors open. The three of them quickly ducked out of the rear of the armored truck, weapons tucked close to their bodies. Leading the way, Brandon shouldered the doors to the bank open, striding in. He fired a spray of rounds from his SMG, getting the attention of everyone in the bank. “Right, listen up!” he shouted, “Hopefully you all know what to do. If you don’t, well you’re about to learn.” A security guard drew his sidearm and fired a shot. Kevin shot him in the shoulder, knocking him to the floor. “Heads down, everyone!” Brandon shouted, firing another spray from his gun. He nodded to James and the two of them walked quickly downstairs, to the vault. Upon reaching the secondary security checkpoint, Brandon drew his revolver and shot the guard in the head. “Alright James, work your magic.” Brandon said with a slight grin. James placed a hand on the door, and Brandon could see a faint shimmer around it. After about a minute, James nodded and pushed the large door open. It swung easily. The two of them walked in, James pulling several bags out of his backpack and unrolling them. Brandon began to grab stacks of cash, quickly filling the bags. “Remember, cash only.” James nodded, and began to help. Soon they had several duffel bags full. “Right, that’s probably enough.” Brandon said, closing up the last bag and slinging it over his shoulder. Kevin was still standing in the lobby when they returned, his shotgun held almost casually in one hand. Brandon tossed him a duffel and the three of them walked out of the bank. Before they left, Brandon turned back to the people. “Remember, we were never here.” he said, and grinned underneath his mask. Maggie shifted so she was actually sitting in the seat as they tossed the cash in the armored truck and jumped in after it. Brandon banged on the side of the truck twice, signaling Maggie that they were all in. She shifted the car into gear just as the wail of police sirens echoed down the road. Brandon swore, putting a new magazine into his gun just in case. Luckily, they managed to evade the police without incident, and pulled into the warehouse maybe 20 minutes later.

"I see. That should help quite a bit." Ashley nodded, "Especially if they have experience commanding troops. I can if I have to, but having another to help would certainly make things easier."

Ashley shrugged, "Not much. I remember reading the epic, but that was some time ago. He was a hero, and a great warrior, from what I recall." Did Balhaan have some connection to the ancient king? And if he did, why bring it up now?

Ashley started to pace back and forth, weighing things in her head. "With help, probably a few months. I could cut it down quite a bit, though I'd need veterans, and any new recruits would need a good amount of military training before we even start training them. Who exactly would I have helping me?"

Ashley lined up her thoughts. She wasn't supprised by the entrance of yet another god. This was a meeting, after all. "If I wanted to kill a godkiller, I would use mortals. Blessed by gods, we can be very powerful, but our lives are far less important. Now, I'm not saying we should throw away the lives of mortals, but if we die, well, we're replaceable. You're not. Simple as that. I would say we should raise an army, but that could take some time. How long do we have to plan our offensive before we strike?"

Sangus watched Ku appear, nodding to himself. "I figured there was at least one other following us." he smiled, "Luna told me, after all." Luna nodded somewhat tersely. "Sorry for not mentioning him to you all. Didn't cross my mind."