The Ward's Guard

"Unfortunately, it's just business in the eyes of those who follow the word of the law. Although I guess that the better question would be 'where else can I go?' The answer is not really anywhere else at this moment, considering I just knocked out two men who work directly for my boss."

The colonel walked aboard the boat standing incredibly close to Cruz, hand on his shoulder as he guided him onto the boat with him. Despite new orders coming down the pipe, Tulcam felt drained by the last few days; he never would show how drained he felt, but what had happened in that fight had taken its toll on him. He knew he couldn't let another episode happen again, and he wouldn't; at least, he hoped he wouldn't. Whatever his new orders were that awaited him, he would need to focus on them instead of this mess, this whole thing kept reminding him of them somehow. Hopefully he could find some comfort in knowing that he had Cruz on a leash, but with Trace and that masked creature still roaming free, Tulcam wasn't sure if he could. He watched the water from on top of the boat, as it ebbed and flowed back and forth, wondering what mess he had gotten himself into this time, as well as wondering if he would make it out of this one intact, and not just physically.

"Well, until recently my boss and I shared the same views when it came to The Counting and how contracts are used. Unfortunately for me, that boss was replaced with a new guy who disagrees with me and most of my choices to say the least. She sent these guys to watch over me so that she could get something to nail me with." Arthur then spoke under his breath, "counting worders."

"No, our own laws. I believe I've explained a bit about the Way of the Counting, right?"

"Great, this bodes well. So, the Parvis Dolor ira Populo, or the 'Mafia' as most people call it, is very well structured as I might have said in the past. Just because we don't follow the law as laid out by the government, doesn't mean we're lawless."

Arthur looked frustrated at first, but then calmed down. "Well, now that you might be targeted for being an accessory to uh . . . this," Arthur gestured towards the two unconscious men, "I guess you might as well know why. Before I get too far, how much do you actually know about the Mafia?"

"Well I thought that . . . huh." Arthur turned away, looking as if he were contemplating on the matter. "So, you didn't invite me to come along in order to help me?"

Oh I know that. Arthur looked confused. "Wait, you're actually camping?" Fadran be like:

"No, I didn't." Arthur looked at Melody with a strange look when she batted her eyelashes, he then shook his head as if to clear it. "Good call about taking us out to the middle of nowhere, that will make it easier to make this go unnoticed."

"I just gave them a little something that should keep them out of the picture for a long while." Arthur stepped away from their unconscious bodies towards the fire, "at least I hope so, it took a while for the stuff to actually work. Maybe I should've gotten them a double scoop?"

Arthur twiddled his thumbs, doing his best to blend in with the environment behind him before both of his handlers started to slowly sway before collapsing. Arthur jumped back, looking as if he were startled by their collapse. He then checked to see if they would wake up by gently smacking their faces. When he got no reaction from them, he straightened himself, looking satisfied before speaking in his characteristically squeaky voice, "I'll admit, that took way longer than I thought it would."

Kuno began to look slightly somber, "not much, I'm afraid. My contacts are telling me that much is changing, and that the enemy are preparing to make their move."

Kuno nodded, "if only everyone were as quick to understand the peril as you. There are most definitely other groups who either don't understand that we're trying to save us all, or they misunderstand our purposes. As of now, they haven't proven to be too much of a problem, as they suffer from the same issue that the rest of humanity does, a lack of unity."

Hmmm, you've acquired my curiosity, whatever you do with it is up to you. Any specifics on where this starts or takes place generally on the continent?

As the group talked amongst themselves, loud noises came from the distance. The noises were repetitive and slowly growing closer, creating a "chuff chuff chuff" sound as they continued to get louder and louder, coming from a southeast direction. Anyone who has experience with the technology of this world would recognize it fairly quickly as the distinctive noise of a helicopter, although there was definitely more than one approaching.

"That's easy my friend, they mean to kill all of humanity. Now if you're wondering how the amal, whom I assume you've never seen more than two or three at once, plan on killing all of humanity, then that's a better angle on the question. The amal are more numerous than we give the credit for, but more importantly, they are organized. If humanity wants to stand a chance, then we must organize as well. In total, we outnumber the amal; you wouldn't believe that because we're so disorganized and separated. My plan is to change that."

Nah, I'm just naturally indecisive.

That my friend, is why I'm posting here. I'll get back to y'all later about joining up.

Hmmm, how badly do I want to join another RP? On one hand, I can join another RP and experience all of the highs and lows that come with that, on the other hand, I have a lot on my plate already. Hmmmm, decisions decisions.

"On the way? Yes. My only hope is that it will be enough when they come for this town. As I said before, I used to be alone in my goal, but no longer." Kuno tilted his head curiously, "what other questions do you have?"

The colonel walked towards the boat without looking back, instead he turned to Maddy. "We're to report to the nearest city for more orders. I can't remember the name of the city, but I think that the ruling noble is named something like 'Lena.'" The colonel looked at his device, scrolling through it. He then spoke to Maddy without looking up, "uh, thanks by the way. I uh . . . don't know what came over me." The colonel was obviously lying, he had never been good at that.