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Blaguarro Town Terminal Two Main Floor

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Jackie Cat

Jackie Cat

A cat who writes stories.
Heartache staff
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they or she
The construction of a place told you about its builders, and its purpose. A fortress, a prison, a laboratory... all were austere and secure in their own way, and this place was exemplary of austerity and security. Cold, uncompromising, and grey – the perfect place to bury all memory of warmth and joy. This was a place whose masters valued power, control, and nothing else.

Cipher's underground base in Blaguarro, Terminal Two. Carved out of the rock beneath the town, it felt more like a space station than a building – a sealed habitat, its air filtered and its light artificial. Every wall and floor was reinforced metal or polished synthetics, and such furnishings as were kept there were spartan and without frills or decoration. Its hard-edged functionality and machine-worked surfaces were alien to those who'd grown accustomed to Forlas' barely-industrialised, hand-carpented towns and hand-sewn coverings.

This was the beachhead of an incursion from another world. This was where captives were taken to have their hearts darkened. This was where Shadow pokémon were made.

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[Ch04] ~ Finale ~ Heartless Ambition
  • Threadmarks
    • The Wayfarers entered the main floor of the Cipher base without crude explosive force. The bulkhead at its mouth opened to subtle trickery, and allowed them through and into its steel-and-glass innards. The base's first room was a security station staffed by a pair of inattentive Nuzleaf goons, who Seth dispatched in a dark flash before they could raise the alarm. He glanced at the control terminals they'd been staffing without interest, before pressing on. Nothing useful.

    "This is the place," muttered the Lycanroc, breathing audibly. "They'll realise we're here soon enough. Let's move."

    Mhynt went ahead, Teleporting through the hallways to give advance warning of any Cipher personnel. By this method, and with the forward wing of the base being scarcely patrolled, the offworlders reached the heart of the facility before they knew it.

    The next room Mhynt entered was a lobby – in which collected Cipher personnel were taking an address from their presumable superiors. The Grovyle ducked back into cover, but could she have been seen? This was the party's last chance to potentially take Cipher's footsoldiers by surprise, incredible as it seeemd that they'd not been ambushed themselves already...

    Seth sniffed the air, his eyes twitching as he recognised a scent.

    "It's her," he whispered, his voice dripping hatred.

    He stepped forward. Then he began to run...
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Mhynt abruptly appeared in front of Seth with her arms outstretched, Leaf Blades even further out to extend her stop.

    Rather than give a protest on being reckless, or some other platitude, she knew Seth would be too impatient for anything but practical statements.

    So she asked, in a quiet voice and with a flat tone, "Tell us what to do for support. Then you can jump in."
     
    Bellatrix was following behind closely, aiding the group's efforts at stealth through her illusionary abilities. "Run too far and we forgo any chance we have at a surprise attack once we see who we need to see," she mildly reprimanded. She gave Mhynt a nod of approval "A sloppy opener will give them more advantage in a fight, so keep it clean."
     
    This was it, the raid was truly happening now. No turning back. He was reminded of his attack on Blackout, except this was more serious, and dangerous. Almost on instinct he wanted to rush after Seth, either to back him up or stop him, but he was relieved that Mhynt did. He didn't feel keen on getting in Seth's way.

    "We could distract them," Koa murmured. "An illusion or attack. I can use Flash," he offered. "Or if anyone knows Confuse Ray or something..." He flexed his paws, his anger flaring at the thought of who they were about to face.
     
    Seth met Mhynt's eye with a manic glare.

    "There's no way we made it this far without being detected," he hissed through his teeth. "The whole front of the base was a ghost town. They got cameras all over. They have to know we're here."

    "And your reaction to figurin' we're walkin' into a trap... is to rush headlong into it?" asked Sonora, keeping her voice down.

    Seth's face contorted, but he couldn't argue with that. "Your lot are going for the holding cells, right?" he growled, instead. "Those are east wing. Head that way."

    The Lycanroc pointed the 'prison break' crew in the direction of their target, and with a tip of her hat, Sonora rushed off that way, quiet as a maus, along with the Blaguarro locals and a squad of offworlders.

    "Still need a plan," said Laura, quietly. Her ears pricked. She could hear some ranking Cipher agent giving orders in the lobby that Mhynt had checked just round the corner. "Quick."

    Seth scratched restlessly at his cheek. "Never made plans with allies before now," he muttered. "What're you askin' me about 'support' for? I was just gonna storm in there and start cracking heads."

    Laura bit her lip. "Okay – if you head in first, we can form up and hit them with everything we've got while you have their attention. Can you be distracting?"

    Seth's muzzle quivered with a barely-held snarl. "You have no idea."
     
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    "A distraction, huh?" Ghaspius muttered to himself before turning his head to a certain Mawile. "You still got that 'gunpowder'? I could toss in some of this oil—" he shook his glowstick — "mixed with the powder and light it up. You in?"
     
    "—the project complete, we no longer have to bide our time in secret! Those pesky spies at our front door are in for a rude awakening... Help me, everyone! Help me squash them like the mice they are! Squash them all if you like! Only leave me that naughty wolf pup alive, so I can punish him properly for all the trouble he's put us through—"

    Seth's face cracked into a mask of anguished fury.

    "Fuck this," he seethed. "If I never have to listen to another god damn word outta any of those bastards, it'll be too soon."

    Even if the squad had enough time to talk out clever plans (which was doubtful at best) Seth was about two seconds from running in there himself...
     
    MintyMimix said:
    "A distraction, huh?" Ghaspius muttered to himself before turning his head to a certain Mawile. "You still got that 'gunpowder'? I could toss in some of this oil—" he shook his glowstick — "mixed with the powder and light it up. You in?"
    Click to expand...
    Odette had been keeping on high alert. Eyes peeled, ears sharp, no details missed. Her gun was practically burning through the leather strap of her garter, and Jawile’s stem was twitching quite a bit to boot. The air was thick with a tension that could only be found right before a battle.

    She turned her head just in time to lock eyes with a certain misdreavus. Good timing, too, because he had something to say. Her eyes widened into a dubious look, but she wasn’t as hesitant in her movements to fish the derringer out from under her skirt.

    “I should…” she said. She appeared to examine the gun, and was quite careful with her movements as she pulled and clicked around its few parts. However, with a few rehearsed and meticulous pulls at the weapon, she gathered a small pile of black dust into her palm, and held it out to Ghaspius.

    “This enough?”
     
    "Wait."

    Archie’s paw shot out, grabbing the red Lycanroc by the wrist. There was no way there was any stopping Seth from rushing in now that he was starting to get worked up. All there was to be done now was to try and mitigate the danger.

    "Let me come with. I'll watch your back," he grinned up at the Lycanroc. At the very least, if there were two of them running the distraction game, the odds they'd get overwhelmed seemed much lower.
     
    Koa supressed a growl, his anger rising as he heard them. "Shield your eyes once you go in," he whispered to the group. He was going to enjoy this fight, enjoy driving out these scum.

    Everything else fell away and he felt a spike of adrenaline surge through him. He tensed, waiting until Seth moved, until the team was ready, ready to charge. Electricity flared around his pelt. Once they moved he would be ready. The energy of Flash tingled in his pawtips and he was ready to run in and strike as many grunts as he could with a Thunder Wave.
     
    The aesthetics of Cipher's base were deeply confusing and unsettling to Isidora. Human technology, she figured, but she never thought she'd see it for herself like this. With how sterile the place felt, she got the impression Cipher must've been powerful back on their home world, to build and maintain something like this. She made sure to keep her hat and sandals in her bag for this, only wearing her belt and her icy blue scarf for mobility.

    Isidora glared at Seth's impatience: they were lucky the peons around the corner were too distracted to notice right now. But fine. We can use that energy.

    She brought her voice to a low hiss. "Whatever you do, just make it as disorienting as possible. We need to secure room exits to cover lab squad's advance and prepare for possible backup."
     
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    Odette! said:
    “I should…” she said. She appeared to examine the gun, and was quite careful with her movements as she pulled and clicked around its few parts. However, with a few rehearsed and meticulous pulls at the weapon, she gathered a small pile of black dust into her palm, and held it out to Ghaspius.

    “This enough?”
    Click to expand...

    "Plenty," the Mismagius let out a haunting chuckle as he gladly popped up the glowstick and poured the dust in. Before the abhorrent stentch could waft in the air, he quickly sealed it.

    "And don't worry Isidora, it'll be a flashier than even the festival. Here goes..."

    Ghaspius rolled the gunpowder-infused glowstick with one tassel as his other prepped a Will-o-Wisp. As soon as the glowstick got close enough to the group, he sent the spooky flames to light it up.
     
    "We strike in the moment," whispered, Bellatrix, her gems flashed as she prepared an illusion to aid in the distraction, trying to shape the produced flash of light into something even brighter to disorient whoever waited behind the corner. "Be fast, precise and do not underestimate."
     
    "Whatever," growled Seth, which was as close to agreement as Archie was gonna get. It wasn't a refusal, at least!

    The Lycanroc cracked his knuckles, and charged ahead with the Oshawott at his side.

    The lobby was a pristine white square, with minimalist seating at its edges and a small raised platform in its centre. On this platform stood a pair of pokémon – a Milotic wearing a rose veil, and a Darmanitan of unusual size and bulk, both facing a small crowd of various species.

    "—and I, your Venus," the Milotic was saying.

    Her eyes flicked to Seth as he turned the corner. The eyes of her peons followed.

    "Miss me?" asked Seth, spreading his arms wide, like a showboating League heel.

    The Darmanitan slammed a fist on the ground. "I missed the opportunity to beat the truth of your failure into your flesh and bones," he declared.

    "You'll miss it again, Dakim," spat Seth, before charging in, fists clenched around familiar Shadow.

    Behind Seth, the Wayfarers stepped into range to make their supporting attacks – Flash, Thunder Wave, and more besides.

    Behind Dakim, Venus smiled.

    Something was wrong.

    Protected!
    Protected!
    Protected!
    Protected!
    Click to expand...

    Seth's claws bounced off a crackling field of energy surrounding the room's central platform, with an electric thrum punctuating each futile blow. He swore bitterly, looking around him for an explanation.

    The intercom crackled to life with a cold chuckle.

    "Oh, my dear Seth Lycas," came a voice that enunciated each syllable as if rehearsed. "Did you genuinely expect that you could simply waltz back into this facility without me detecting you? This gaggle of lackeys you've acquainted yourself with shall make no difference. Have you also become acquainted with their noble ideals? I expect not. You are, as always... merely a kicked dog. Allow me to ensure you perish like one."

    "Ein, you bastard," snarled Seth.

    The voice called Ein did not reply with words, but by rerouting the base's power from the energy shield that had protected the Cipher personnel – bait, they'd been bait – to security doors throughout the base, closing them, barring any way out.

    "It doesn't matter," Seth spat. "We're strong enough to beat you."

    "Oh, 'we'?" trilled Venus, mockingly. "That's new from you, pup. What next, will you spare us? Show mercy?"

    "I'll show none," boomed Dakim. "This is the day I put you down, dog."

    Seth looked over his shoulders at the Wayfarers at his back.

    "We can beat them," he said, simply. And then he launched himself into combat.

    Cipher Syndicate attacked!

    [ ] Objective: Defeat Cipher Admin Ein
    [ ] Objective: Defeat Cipher Admin Dakim
    [ ] Objective: Defeat Cipher Admin Venus
    Click to expand...
     
    Jade waited, crouched out of sight along with the rest of her squad, heart pounding in her ears. She'd gone over the plan with Laura what felt like a hundred times, knew that all hell was about to break loose once the main squad caught heat from Cipher's forces. If anything, it was incredible that it hadn't happened yet.

    Of course, it probably meant that Cipher had the Wayfarers right where they wanted them. But there wasn't much of a way to get around that kind of home field advantage.

    And with the flash of a Thunder Wave, all hell had indeed broken loose.

    "Alright, that's our cue," Jade whispered, leaping to her feet.

    While half the Wayfarers rushed forward into a clash with the Cipher admins in the lobby, the remainder made a beeline for the elevator, sticking close to the walls to avoid drawing unwanted attention while everyone was focused on the sudden explosion of movement in the opposite direction. In what felt like no time at all, Laura had slipped into the crowd, her Sneak Scarf making it hard to follow the silver Meowth’s movements, and returned with a key card in her paw, swiped from some unwary Kadabra in a lab coat. She slapped it against the card reader, and for a moment Jade wasn’t sure if it was going to work, but then the reader lit up green.

    Jade quickly took stock of who all was with her--Laura, Nova, Gladion, Dave, and Odette--before the elevator door shut and the descent began. Down into the depths of the base, in search of the shadow lab.
     
    "In a game of pure numbers, you are outclassed," Bellatrix said simply. A look of disgust flashed across her features. "And hiding behind an intercom as you levy taunts is nothing short of cowardly." She drew her blade from its hilt and pointed it to the two admins on the dais, pulling her lips apart to flash her fangs at them. "Now will you prove valour by bearing your fangs to fight, or will you sit behind behind that barrier to bore us with your vapid blathering?"
     
    "Don't get distracted," Mhynt commanded, blipping until she was right next to the others, blade at the ready. "Take them out! Any that's vulnerable... and otherwise, find what's creating that barrier!"
     
    It was a typical kind of response for Seth, and could've meant anything from 'I don't care enough to fight you on this' to 'I don't want to say I appreciate the assistance.' But, Archie didn't let it bother him. He was well used to the Lycas brand of spice after having befriended two of them, though to be fair to Wes, the blue Lycanroc wasn't nearly as emotionally constipated as his red counterpart. Regardless, Archie would be there to keep his friend safe.

    Their opening salvo of attacks fizzled out against a barrier of some kind, but that didn't matter so much. What mattered was that they'd made an entrance, and now all eyes in the building - from the peons gathered before them, to the Admins lording over them, to the man in the control room - were on them. Hopefully, that would give the other groups the opening they needed to do their own missions. Now they just needed to keep it that way.

    The Oshawott twirled his scalchop, and leaned in towards the red Lycanroc.

    "They sure do like to talk," he said, before adding with a smirk, " So, are we going for the eel or the ape first?"
     
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