victory_road | 1st Ω [Action for New Bark Town/Video]

[Action; New Bark Town]

[Fresh green grass. A breeze that carries no hint of smog or pollution or any other manner of nastiness in the air. People happily walking around unarmed and seemingly unworried over the potential of being jumped or mugged even in broad daylight.

This was not Pandora.

Not that it took any of these observations for Athena to conclude that something was very wrong. Just the feeling of the sun on her face as she drowsily awoke earlier (ugh, Janey was right, she was starting to lose her edge) was enough to send alarm bells blaring through her head. After all, her and Janey's place in Hollow Point wasn't the worst, but it was far enough away from the cave entrance that they don't really get much sun. That put Athena instantly on alert, and she practically bowled "mom" over before she could even open her mouth and instinctively grabbing the pack - she didn't even care whose it was - by the door and heading outside.

So here she was now, pacing in the middle of town like an angry kraggon, looking for anything familiar... but there was nothing. She couldn't even see Elpis's broken surface in the sky, so there was no way this was Pandora. One of the Edens, maybe...? But which one, they were all better than Pandora, so she couldn't tell by just one glance in one town...

Okay... okay. She had to find her bearings. She could do that. First, check the pack for anything that could be of use. Pulling it off her shoulder and tugging it open, Athena began sifting through the contents; food, a change of clothes (pfft, like hell she was going to get rid of her armor in an unknown location), what looked like some basic medical supplies, a... red and white ball? That catches her attention.

She set her bag down so she could examine the ball more closely. Round, one button on the middle... some kind of robot? At first glance, it reminded her of Gortys before she had been activated, so maybe if she pushed the button...

And then she promptly dropped it as the ball burst into light, every one of her battle instincts flaring to life as her brain screamed grenade! But damnit, she had no guns, no shield or sword....

Wait.

Sword?

Okay... yeah. That was definitely a sword floating in front of Athena. Staring at her.]

What the...

[She reached out to grab it by the hilt, but surprisingly enough, it dodged out of the way of her hand! Frowning, Athena tried to grab it again. And again it dodged. Her frown then morphs into a full-blown scowl, and she lunges for the thing.]

Argh-- get back here!

[Video]

[OKAY EVERYTHING'S UNDER CONTROL, EVERYTHING'S COOL. Except... not. So when the video flickers on, the rather annoyed, severe face of a young woman can be seen front and center.]

I'll give whatever dirty lowlife responsible for this ten seconds to identify themselves before I start hunting them down. Believe me, you don't want that.

[There's a pause, and her frown deepens if that's even possible. This... kidnapping, or whatever it was, had happened in her home. Said home was crappy, sure, but it had been damn secure. Athena herself had made sure of it. So if whoever-it-was had been able to get her without a problem, then the other occupant of the house could possibly be...]

Springs. As soon as you see this, echo me.

[She doesn't sound worried, but the edge in her eyes fades a little, and she reaches up to run a finger along a gleaming silver ring hanging from a chain around her neck. She blinks, realizing what she just did, before she practically shoves the ring under her shirt and out of view.]

If anyone can direct me to the nearest fast-travel station, the information will be much appreciated. [There's a pause, and the curious eye of a Honedge peeks on-screen with a gleam of curiosity. The woman glances at it, scowls, and pushes it away from the camera.] Also, the nearest gun vendor.

[Because this isn't the first odd creature she's seen so far, so she's not taking any chances. If she can't have Xiphos and Aspis, or at the very least any of her more advanced guns, she'll have to make due.]

Finally, if anyone familiar to me is viewing this, I will update my status as soon as I find my bearings in this bizarre town, and we can arrange a meetup then. Until then:

Athena, out.

[Click. The video finishes.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Employees. Plural. Wow, so you've managed to sweet-talk that many people, huh?

.... Jack, since when have I been known for my sense of humor? Do you really think I can joke about something like Helios falling from the sky and crash-landing on Pandora?

I'm a businessman, cupcake, and even you can't deny that I make good on my business deals. Sorry to burst your ridiculously warped bubble that contains all the things you think you know about me, but I don't actually need a space ship full of money for people to like me. I'm just a likable guy!

...Wow. See, now I know you're just employing some psychological warfare. Did you really think I'd buy that? It hasn't even been two months, holy crap!

Do kinda wonder how my horse is doing, though...

... Right.

[She still doesn't buy it. She can buy people appreciating him from a business sense, in a way, but everything else...]

Oh, please. I prefer to wage war with guns and swords, not words. An assassin can't exactly talk someone to death.

Look, I don't know what happened, or why, but I'm telling you, Helios fell. I saw the ruins with my own eyes.

None of which even exist here, so....yeah.

Telling me my home fell out of the sky is about all you've got.

I don't need them. Bare hands work just as well.

[Pfft, subtle threats? She's not even trying to be subtle. SHE'S NEVER TRULY WITHOUT A PAIR OF DEADLY GUNS.]

What do you want me to say? That I saw a Vault Monster burst out of Pandora's surface and pull it out of the sky? There was fire and there were explosions, and it crashed. I didn't exactly have time to ask the survivors what happened when I was passing through.

[Because hey, Priorities! She had a Vault Monster to kill, and plotting a plan of attack was more important than asking for details of what happened on Helios!]

You seriously gonna just beat me in the street? That's your plan?

....right.

[He'll put a pin in that. Because up until 'Vault Monster pulled it out of the sky', he was sure she was bullshitting him to make him lose his cool.]

[The Key hadn't come here with him. It had been left behind. With the Crimson Raiders.]

[Those assholes would sic a Vault Monster on his space station. Just because. He hopes they do show up here. Even Roland. He'll gladly kill the murdering bastard again. Slowly, this time. So he can watch the light leave the other man's eyes.]

Some plans don't need to be fancy as long as they get the job done.

[She, too, will be putting a pin in that one. Now all she needs to know is where he's holing up....]

.... I can see the gears turning in your head, you know.

[Jack finally initiates a lock on their conversation, taking it private.]

Uh, yeah. I've got a crazy lady threatening to beat me up. Let's knock off this shouting over each other like a couple of kids on the schoolyard.

Be logical, Athena. I've been here. People know me. They like me. They don't know you. You? You're the unfamiliar nutbag demanding weapons and threatening people publicly.

Is this really how you want to make your debut on the least violent planet in existence?

Right. You're the guy who wanted to scorch Pandora in fire, and I'm the nutbag.

Why should I care what your people think of me? They can think whatever they want, I don't care.

You can't build anything on a broken foundation.

I'm not talking about my people. Over half the people here in general? They're some kind of pacifist. The natives? Definitely pacifists. There's police here. There's actual laws that people are expected to follow. We're not in the frontier anymore, sweetheart.

And again. I'm a law abiding, respected businessman with ties to the community. You're the one screaming about weapons and beating people up.

I'm giving you a chance here, Athena. Be a smart girl, take it.

[Yeah she's not even going to break a sweat around this law talk. If they really are pacifists, then it's not like she's in danger of getting strung up in the village square like she heard Nisha did to the people in Lynchwood.]

... Respected businessman. Right. What exactly do you do?

And I really don't care at all whether these people think I'm going to kill them or not. It's not something I ever really bothered worrying about before.

Same as everybody else! Pokemon things.

Fine. Sure. Go ahead, treat this place like Pandora. See how far that gets ya.

[He's done with this. She's not gonna listen, he needs to warn Mafuyu and deal with the Rhys Situation. He's wasted enough time on Athena as it is.]

I'm done trying to reason with you. I tried. I really tried! Bent over backwards, gave you every chance in the world to be peaceful about this. But you're insane, and I've got things to do.

Jack out!

Classy. Very classy.

1st Ω [Action for New Bark Town/Video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

Private Video

Private Video

Private Video

Private Video

Private Video

Private Video