Inside the garage of the ranch style house, the door to the kitchen swings open, and Cideeda swiftly descends the few wooden stairs to the concrete floor. Curling her fingers tighter she secures her grip on two metal boxes by their handles and carries them at her sides. Standing next to the humvee, Dretphi inspects the contents currently in the open rear cargo area and checks off items on a paper list. Cideeda stops next to Dretphi, hoists up the painted steel containers briefly into view, and quizzically furrows her brow. "Ammo and batteries. In the back, or the cab?"

Dretphi examines the dimensions of the boxes, glances over to the cargo area, and motions towards the front of the vehicle. "Cab. Keep it easy to access."

With an agreeable smile, Cideeda nods and swings her momentum forward around the back of the vehicle. "Sounds good to me."

She skillfully balances herself along with the mass of the metal boxes, lifts them up through the open back passenger's door, and lands them upon the cab floor. Turning his upper body around to the noise, Bach scoots over from the aisle and meets Cideeda's gaze. "So, where do you want them?"

Cideeda points a claw tip towards the aisle area behind the front center console and swings her attention over to the front of the far back bench seat, circling out another area with a finger. "One in the front, and one in the back. I packed equal amounts of shells, bullets, and batteries in both. That way there's something we can use in either."

Slowly stepping down the garage steps, Sotalia shrugs both her shoulders and slides the straps of satchels at her sides. She steps over to the back of the humvee and rests the bags upon the lip of the hatchway. "Here's the magical detection and test equipment."

Dretphi glances over, nods, and marks down another note on the notepad in her hands. "Good. Should be room in the corner."

With Sebastian floating behind, Aristespha walks down the stairs and quickly covers the distance between the kitchen door and garage opening, narrowing her eyes towards the back of the humvee. She moves to the other side of Sotalia under the humvee's heavy hatch, removes an emergency medical box off the inside side wall, and opens it up for inspection. "Let us see what is still good..."

Sifting through the contents, she counts the number of items in the sections and studies the quality of the supplies. "Okay. Not that terrible. But..."

Furrowing her brow, she squints her violet eyes at a vial of a faded blue solution. "These potions are looking quite old. Sotalia?"

She shifts her gaze over and perks an eyebrow. "Do you remember when we made this last batch?"

Waiting a few seconds for an answer, Aristespha turns her head towards Sotalia and cocks her head to the side, confused. In the noon sun, Sotalia brushes her hands through her fiery orange, wavy hair and twirls the ends between her long nailed fingers with an indecisive sigh. Aristespha stands up, smirks at the distracted Sotalia, and chuckles lightly. "So, are you going to dye it back?"

Blinking back to awareness, Sotalia pivots and meets the curious gazes of Aristespha, Dretphi, and Sebastian. She visibly mulls the idea over between grimaces. "Oh. I don't know. I'm so used to it being dark red..."

She rolls her golden eyes and grumbles. "But, now that the secret is out... The allure feels all gone. I think I'll keep it, but that means I'll need to get my guild ID updated here soon."

Aristespha slowly nods understandingly and sighs. "Yet another thing I need to update, BEFORE they send me a sternly worded warning notice."

Stepping around from the side of the humvee, Cideeda joins the gathering with Bach trailing behind. She reaches into her shorts pocket, retrieves her wallet, and parts it open, gazing at her ID picture. "Yeah... I'm not far behind you. Gods. I've been meaning to get THIS picture redone."

Bach glances down to the image in Cideeda's wallet, stifles a snort, and attempts to play it off nonchalantly. "Hey, that's not THAT bad of a picture."

A pair of emerald green eyes stare up at Bach, and Cideeda lifts an eyebrow with a toothy grin. "OH, just YOU wait. They were really nice to you with your intern ID.

Curling the corner of her mouth, she chuckles faintly. "But, I want to see what picture they take for your full guild ID. Is it going to be a bad angle, washed out colors, bad lighting, or all of the above?"

Bach smiles awkwardly and shrugs his shoulders. "I mean... They can't ALL be THAT bad."

Shaking her head fighting a frown, Dretphi retrieves her guild ID from her pocket and presents it to Bach. "Beg to differ."

Aristespha smirks in amusement, pulling out a lanyard of various official cards and badges, and flips to her guild ID card. Sotalia rolls her golden eyes, bites her lip, and playfully resigns to the ambient social pressure. Retrieving her aetherphone from her yoga pants pocket, she flips it over to the backside of the case and slides out her guild ID, joining the group presentation. Bach surveys the different pictures on the cards and slowly drops his jaw at the bad poses, terrible timing, and poor photography overall. "Wow... Uh... Yeah, um... I just... Gods..."

Tilting his head to the side, he blinks dumbfounded and wanders his glances between the team. "Do they contract the same people who do the driver's licenses in High Alton? This all looks painfully similar to their work."

Sebastian remains quiet and idly floats nearby Aristespha, feigning interest elsewhere. An amused smile graces Aristespha, and she winks at Sebastian and aims her voice over to Bach. "Of course, if you want to see a real masterpiece of photography, I think I might be able to bring up the digital copy of Sebastian's guild ID photo..."

Starting to shift his interest away, Bach notices a particular number on Sotalia's guild card. Below a finger conveniently hiding the birth date field on the ID, he snaps his focus fully upon a measurement. "One hundred eighty three centimeters tall?"

Narrowing his incredulous stare upon Sotalia, his blue eyes shift between the top of her head and points of comparison from others in the surrounding group. Sotalia grins slyly with the attention, raises a hand well over her head, and slowly lowers a level palm downwards, just barely off to the side of her head. Gradually resting her fingers upon the tallest crest of one of her horns, she smiles proudly with her other hand on her hip. "Guild rules state that horns count for the purposes of your profile height as they are inflexible structures that are typically affixed to your person."

Bach blinks, puzzling, and processes the stipulation, furrows of his brow. Aristespha rolls her violet eyes dramatically, steps away towards the kitchen door, and shakes her head with a twisting smirk. "Still such a shameless abuse of the definition of profile height."

Sotalia scoffs jokingly at Aristespha and winks at Bach with a humored tone. "OH, is someone still sore they started disqualifying ear tips above the head for height purposes?"

----

In the main kitchen galley, Bach and Aristespha stand on either side of the large double basin sink. Aristespha carefully arranges a number of vials, tubes, and containers into particular groups and sorts through reagents and materials upon piles of paper. Flipping through a well worn book, she stops at a particular page and hands the tome over to Bach, a finger resting upon a particular section of text. "After checking through our supplies, we need more stamina potions. If you could start prepping this one part, I will work on the other part of the first stage. Consider it a refresher course in alchemy."

Grasping hold of the book, Bach scans over the text and nods slowly, resting the aged leather binding upon the counter top nearby. "Okay. Sounds good to me."

Minutes passing by, the two meticulously go through the intricate processes, cutting, slicing, and dicing the ingredients. Each takes turns getting vials and tubes and using the basins of the sink to fill and wash. Occasionally, Bach tilts the page of the book into view of Aristespha and points to a few lines, Aristespha calmly instructing clarifications. With assistance from Bach, Aristespha lifts up a large copper, green speckled cauldron from the ground, and the two rest it upon a large electric hotplate on a floor stand. Eying the large pot, Bach glances over to Aristespha with a humored smirk. "Nothing like the classics, eh?"

Rolling her violet eyes, Aristespha twists the corner of her mouth and sighs humored with a shake of her head. "It was my great grandmother's before she gave it to me as an excuse to upgrade her home lab. As cliché as it is, it works wonderfully for cooking large volumes. For consistency, it is surprisingly hard to beat."

She kneels down, adjusts the knobs on the hotplate controls, and stands back up, smiling smugly at Bach. "Though, the electric hotplate is my addition."

Nodding at the configuration, Bach turns his attention over to Aristespha with a quizzical lift of an eyebrow. "Induction or radiant?"

A confident grin graces Aristespha, and she briefly assumes a proud stance. "Oh. Both."

With a momentarily impressed smirk, Bach tilts his head to the side, watching indicator lights illuminate the surface of the hotplate and information text updates upon a control display. Under guidance from Aristespha, Bach repeats filling a large measuring cup from the sink faucet and emptying out into the cauldron. Between additions of water, Aristespha introduces scoops of reagents, constantly stirring the heating mixture. With the last pour of water and sprinkling of ingredients, Aristespha and Bach stand back, idly observing the slow bubbling and gradual changes in the concoction. A quiet minute later, Aristespha's posture shifts slightly, and she flexes the fingers at her sides. She slides her gaze over at Bach with an astute tone. "I have been thinking... We should start investigating your abilities regarding your use of Elder energy and-"

A stern, sharp voice resonates out from Bach, matching his resolute stare at Aristespha. "NO."

Blinking blankly, Aristespha gawks bewildered and stumbles over her sentence. "Oh- Um... I know you have been... hesitant to use it before, but there could be great potential. I am certain with time and careful practice we might be able to-"

A stronger tone rises up from Bach, and he narrows down a determined glare at Aristespha. "NO."

Processing the refusal between twitches of her ivory face, Aristespha suppresses the flits of emotion playing out on her face, struggling with maintaining her composure. Stiffening her posture, she crosses her arms tightly. Her violet eyes focus into a cold stare. Her mouth twists and face contorts, containing flares of frustration and irritation. Bach briefly holds up a hand, getting Aristespha's attention, lowers it down, exhaling calmly, and adopts a careful, purposeful voice. "LISTEN... It's been a real crazy ride so far. And, despite how imposed upon me A LOT of this has been..."

Furrowing his brow, he draws in a long breath and fights down a grimace. "I've actually found quite a bit to have been extremely helpful. And, a lot of it, I've needed to do anyway but always found excuses to avoid doing it."

His stare meets Aristespha's demanding glare, motion towards himself. "BUT... For THIS, I've thought about it A LOT longer than you've even had a chance to consider doing."

Narrowing his blue eyes right at Aristespha's violet eyes, he sighs firmly, with an apologetic tinge rising over the frustrated grumble. "THIS is nothing I'm going to explore. I had really hoped to have never used it ever again. UNDERSTAND, I was prepared to live my life as a lame mage just to never risk tapping into THIS again.

With a slow tilt of the head to a shoulder, he focuses his cooling stare upon Aristespha's waning stern demeanor. "Given what I've learned recently and what I've learned before... I think we're both thinking about the same possibilities. The same things that THIS could be used for."

Leaning in close, his tone darkens, and Bach solemnly punctuates. "BUT, given what you've seen... How DANGEROUS it was... How UNCONTROLLABLE it was... How UNPREDICTABLE it was..."

He hisses in a long breath. "Do you honestly think that THIS is anything we should RISK, right now?"

Cracks of terror slip out onto Bach's light tan face, and trembles of fear infiltrate his tone. "Let's be honest with ourselves... Whatever control I TRIED, BARELY WORKED. And quickly fell apart!"

Searching Aristespha's gaze, he shakily sighs out, briefly averting his gaze. "It took EVERYTHING I had to push it back. It was a STUPID risk to use it. But... I just didn't want to find out what would happen if I didn't use it right then."

Aristespha blankly stares back at Bach, revealing a torrent of emotions upon her face. A minute of tense silence stifles both. Dropping her head down in a wince of pain, Aristespha relaxes her arms, exhales her unease, and wipes the damp corners of her eyes. "You... You are right. Oh gods..."

She lifts her head back up and guides her silvery blue hair back over her shoulders and her long, pointed ears. Drawing a long, remorseful breath in through her nose, she softens her gaze with a frown. "I... I sincerely apologize, Bach. I am truly sorry. I just..."

Furrowing her brow, she wrestles down a saddened grimace and sighs. "I have been in this mindset... This, worst case of tunnel vision. Gods. I have been so oblivious. Just so single minded in..."

A genuine smile forms from the corner of Bach's mouth, and he chuckles lightly. "Been trying to find any other answer than the one you got?"

Rolls her eyes at herself, Aristespha nods and smirks weakly. "Yes. I keep trying to figure out the quickest, most efficient, easiest solution and... I keep on finding out that there just are not... any. I keep on hitting the same brick wall and trying everything against it."

She pinches the bridge of her nose, resting her free hand upon her hip. "BUT, this whole situation has changed so much. I am not remotely certain about what to do anymore."

She glances at Bach, a hint of unease coloring her face. "I am obviously well outside the familiar at this point."

Standing back up straight, Bach grins nonchalantly and shrugs his shoulders with his hands out to the side. "Well, welcome to the club. Sometimes life scares you silly, drags you out of your comfort zone, and pushes you into a whole new situation."

Briefly opening her eyes wide, Aristespha bites her lower lip uncomfortably and averts her gaze briefly away from Bach, struggling with the sharp surge of embarrassment and shame. "YES... THAT is another thing I have been thinking about, too. If it is of any value from me, I do truly appreciate how cooperative and helpful you have been to everyone. Despite how insistent and demanding we..."

She pauses a moment and sighs. "I... especially have been. I am sorry beyond my words for our initial meeting and how we handled it. We were not right, in general."

Nodding with an amused smile, Bach laughs. "Well, it does have value to me. I mean, I'm mostly over it by now. But, I still think I'm allowed a few more snide remarks about it all."

He rocks his head from shoulder to shoulder and grumbles slightly. "Not that it excuses anything, but I'm better off now than I was expecting to be."

With a brief squint, he twists out a grimace. "BUT... I would REALLY appreciate future efforts for my betterment to NOT involve kidnapping. I'm actually pretty open to entertaining most suggestions otherwise."

Pondering quietly upon a few thoughts, Aristespha quirks an inquiring eyebrow and rests her hands on her sides, stretching her back slightly. "On a related note, I am kind of curious now. If we decided to not bring you along, what would you have done? It did not seem like you were in a good situation."

With a long trailing sigh, Bach grits his teeth and thinks aloud. "Gods, I don't quite know. I guess... Sell off the furniture for another month's rent? Pawn off magic trinkets at that bar for food? But, that would have only gotten so far..."

Cringing, he grumbles sadly and slacks his shoulders. "Eventually, probably move back in with my parents?"

Aristespha briefly twists her mouth into a frown and sighs understandingly. "That is never the option you want to undertake, especially after being on your own for so long. I have sacrificed much to avoid that myself. So many minimum wage jobs."

Turning his attention to the rolling boil of the cauldron, Bach awkwardly grins. "Yeah. So, oddly, being abducted was kind of a rough step in the right direction. I mean, even if I had gotten away, I had NO IDEA what I was going to do next. Running only works so long as you have a place to run to."

With a slow nod, Aristespha stirs a glass rod in the bubbling mixture and genuine smiles. "Well, I do hope things are still taking steps in the right direction, despite the rough appearances."

She squints at the darkening color of the brew and points over towards the countertop, keeping a constant stir. "Okay. I think we are getting close. Could you help handle everything on the countertop, please? It really helps having someone else sort through and pass things along."

Stepping over at the ready, Bach hovers his hands over the collection of alchemical instruments and glances over expectantly. "Okay. What do I do?"

----

A glint of morning light reflects off the Flames of the Phoenix logo upon the black sports utility vehicle rolling into a large clearing off the highway. In the open area of short grass and old packed gravel, light military vehicles parked around large support vehicles warm in the rising sunlight. Inside the encampment, uniformed personnel wander about, tending to their duties. Chad steers the vehicle closer to the core of the camp and searches the vicinity, bouncing his stare between prominent pieces of machinery, tents, and gatherings of people. Veevi, Tassilda, Deedri, Trakenthin, and Modoran peer out the windows at the mercenary forces, noticing the common themes of iconography. A logo of a medieval helm upon a gear background and crossed swords with the words "Chrome Crusaders" shines upon vehicles, uniforms, and the powered armor suits. Slowing the sports utility vehicle down, Chad navigates into an area that an officer designates with waving motions. Seconds later, other vans for the Next Adventurers of Nexus crew pull into other spots under the direction of the uniformed man. Chad glances over at everyone in the cab and grins proudly. "Well, I think it's time we make our presence."

The group exits the vehicle and forms roughly behind Chad, walking forward towards the main part of the encampment. Veevi quickly assumes a spot right next to Chad, briefly sneaking a shy glance behind at Deedri. Moments later, she resumes her normal outgoing attitude towards Chad. Deedri and Tassilda amble behind, surveying the busy areas surrounding. Trakenthin and Modoran trail long behind and gawk at the impressive equipment and vehicles. The Next Adventurers of Nexus crews attempt to disperse out, seeking the most ideal filming positions. Most retreat back to less desirable positions under the unamused eyes of a few uniformed personnel and the cold stare of the helmet visor worn by power armored troopers. The groups funnel into a central core of the camp. The aroma of breakfast food fills the air, and the peaceful drone of casual conversation radiates over the small mess area. Searching around, Chad squints towards a number of armored mech troopers. "Okay. So, where is the CO?"

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Deedri's furry tufted ears twitch, flick towards a direction, and guide her head towards a noise. "Those are some really heavy footsteps."

From behind a long, tall utility truck, an imposing metal figure leans around the corner with the momentum. With each step forward, thickly layered, plated boots sink firmly under the weight into the mix of gravel and dirt below. The heavy form moves with purposeful motion. Different sections of the technological suit work in unison and follow the will of the wearer within. In stark contrast to the well-maintained sheen and superficial blemishes of the knightly metal body, a boldly grinning man's head sticks out of the top of the breastplate. A breeze glides along the campgrounds and blows the tips of graying, short black hair, and the man narrows a brown eyed, curious gaze at Chad, stopping in front of the team. "Chad Bosch, I assume?"

Tilting his head slightly up, Chad meets the eyes of the power armored man and puts forth his hand to shake. "Senior Paladin Maxon, I assume?"

With an amused smile, Senior Paladin Maxon nods. "Unfortunately for some."

He glances down at Chad's outstretched hand, smirks, and grasps it, a powered gauntlet hydraulically sounding out. "Interesting. Most hesitate shaking our hands when we’re suited up."

Chad smiles with a confident, bright white smile, and shakes Maxon's hand firmly. "Well, I just know your particular model of suit has a limiter in the gauntlet to prevent accidental crushing of equipment... and personnel."

Maxon tightly grips Chad's hand, and Chad responds in kind with a determined stare at Maxon. Seconds later, both release their hands, and a loud fit of laughter escapes Maxon. Shaking his head with a brilliant smile, Maxon snorts. "HA! I wondered if you were THAT Bosch's son. Know your father all too well. Could never get that man to ever join us on a mission, though. But, to his credit he always loved hearing about it afterwards."

A frown sneaks out from the corners of Chad's mouth, and he maintains a neutral expression against growing dissatisfaction. Lifting an eyebrow at Chad, Maxon grins slyly and chuckles lightly. "But... Since YOU are out adventuring, I think I'm going to assume you take more after that grandfather of yours."

Chad's brown eyes spring wide, and his mood brightens back into a confident smile. "I'd like to think so, sir."

Maxon swings his armored arm out towards the tables, chairs, and huge tents in the core of the camp. "If you haven't had breakfast yet, please enjoy. We'll discuss our current mission and the most important details to you and your group. Everyone, make yourself at home."

Chad and Maxon walk towards a very prominent, decorated table under the largest, most elaborate tent in the middle of a modest mess area. Veevi attempts to keep up with Chad and grace his side and falls back, trailing behind him in the narrow aisles between tables and chairs. Modoran, Deedri, and Trakenthin follow the wafting aromas of food towards a line of people and the looming mist of cooking food. Pausing in thought, Tassilda observes the activities of nearby mages applying enchantments upon equipment and armor.

From behind, an eloquent, pleasantly flowing pronunciation of a particular dialect of Emin emerges from a calm male voice. In genuine surprise, Tassilda flutters her light blue on black eyes, momentarily blushing. With a slow pivot towards the source and a flattered smile growing on her gray face, she faces a light power armored form standing at attention. Her eyes quickly scan the suited figure, slowing her study upon the excellent points of physique peeking through the softer, flexible parts of the outfit. Gradually shifting her attention upwards towards the helm, Tassilda gawks at the prominent, black horns on the fully helmed head of the man. Moments pass, the man pauses in thought with a slight cock of the head, nods down at Tassilda, and gently asks. "My most sincere apologies, dear lady. I may have guessed the wrong Emin dialect and did not properly relay my intentions correctly. Do you require any assistance?"

Tassilda flutters her eyes and grins with an enamored hint. "Oh, you certainly guessed wrong. But, I pleasantly understood. It is very surprising to hear that lovely dialect all the way out here. As for assistance..."

A sly curl appears in the corner of her mouth, her pose slides towards enticing, and she motions towards the group lead by Chad and Maxon. "I would not mind if someone knowledgeable could explain the layout of the camp as they escorted me towards my group."

Lifting a quizzical eyebrow, she points a curious hand towards the light power armored man. "Would you be able to assist me...?"

The light armored man gradually straightens his posture and nods respectfully. "My apologies again, my lady. I am Junior Paladin Daedrican. At your service."

Tassilda smiles contentedly and awaits expectantly. Junior Paladin Daedrican bows slightly, swinging his arm out slowly towards the nearby aisle. "Your lead, my lady. I will be happy to answer all your questions that I am able."

Nodding graciously, Tassilda turns away, stepping forward past Junior Paladin Daedrican. Suppresses a flash of giddiness on her face, she mutes a spring in her step and hides a near reflexive bite of her lower lip.

----

The thick, forest canopy shields the overhead sun from fully reaching the mossy, vegetation covered floor. Underneath the perimeter of old, tall trees, evuukians walk upon worn paths between ancient stonework structures. Buildings barely reveal themselves between breaks in the thick plant cover cultivated over time from persistent nature. In front of key entry points throughout the area, guards adorned in fanciful, nature inspired attire stand at attention. Evuukians dutifully travel towards destinations out beyond the clearing into the underbrush, foliage intricately woven into their clothing. With bows hanging from their shoulders, they inspect their quivers of arrows and depart stealthily from view. An evuukian woman purposefully steps across the open passages between the overgrown structures, approaching an isolated building far from the center of the encampment. Keeping a covered tray level in front of her, she studies the pair of guards outside the only entry leading in the lone structure. She stops and stares between both the stoic guardians with stern, turquoise eyes. Furrowing the brow of her dark tan face, she throws her head back, shifting her dark green braids. She squints into the darkness past the doorway and questions the two guards in evuukian with a curious, concerned tone.

The two sentries glance to each other and shake their heads at the woman. One inspects around the corner into the space inside, and the other shrugs with a long sigh. Shaking his head, he relays a few answers back in evuukian, hints of concern rising out of the stoic front that wanes in the moments. The woman nods and steps through the doorway. Past the contrast of outside light, dimly glowing crystals illuminate the interior of the ancient stonework hallway. The woman slowly moves to the end of the passage, stopping at a solitary metal door. Balancing the covered tray on one hand, she slides over the small steel cover of a rectangular window. Her eyes search the dark void inside, and she gently calls out into the area. "Faelatelia?"

From one side of the small cell, a thin figure stirs, and a pair of vibrant sky blue eyes reflect back the traces of light slipping into the room. A weak, meek voice barely peeps. "C-c-chelind-d-dia?"

Chelindia's eyes widen, a frown forming around her gritting teeth. Glancing over her shoulder, she checks the path behind her, nothing residing in the hallway. Past the doorway into the bright outside, Chelindia spots only the outlines of guard shoulders and arms on either side of the exit. Returning her attention back ahead, she quietly undoes the large lock and carefully opens the heavy metal door. The ambient hallway light reveals the stonework details of the small windowless enclosure, the crude bathroom facilities, and a thin evuukian teenager shielding her eyes from the sudden change of brightness. Chelindia kneels down next to the rough cot with a shaky Faelatelia. Gazing upon Faelatelia's unkempt chestnut hair and blue hinted face, Chelindia softly speaks with encouraging evuukian phrases against tints of concern and straightens up the teenager's worn clothing.

Faelatelia gradually draws in a long breath, releases a shaky sigh, and musters her strength. Searching around the area, Chelindia finds an uncovered tray of barely eaten food. She gently places her hands upon the young evuukian's shoulders and cranes her head, gazing into Faelatelia's eyes. In between sentences of comforting evuukian, Chelindia directs Faelatelia's attention to the old tray of food and uncovers the fresh food brought in on the new tray. Faelatelia lowers her head down, averting her eyes from Chelindia, and defiantly spits out a series of evuukian curses. Waiting patiently, Chelindia meets the teary face of Faelatelia's and lifts her head back up. A fit of sniffles and sobs prompts Chelindia, and she embraces the scared teenager. Faelatelia hugs as tightly as she can manage in return. Chelindia whispers her concern and passes along hopeful words. Minutes of encouragement later, the two release each other. Faelatelia slowly breathes in, exhales out her nerves, and stares at Chelindia with reservation mixing in renewed faith. Presenting a warm smile, Chelindia hoists the new tray of food and water upon Faelatelia's lap and gently pats her shoulder.

She grasps onto the old tray, stands up straight, and walks out the doorway. Quickly searching the area just outside the cell, she spots an illumination crystal in a nearby sconce, plucks it off the platform, and resettles it into a similar holder within the confines of the cell. With a smile and nod to an appreciative, hungry Faelatelia, she slowly closes the metal cell door, engages the locking, leaves the small window open.

With a nod to both guards, Chelindia exits the prison building, strides out across the area along a path, and travels towards the largest structure in the vicinity. Nearing the structure, her posture straightens, her demeanor stiffens, and her stare develops a cold calculated exterior. A young evuukian man crosses in front of her, notices Chelindia's direction, and promptly stands clear out of the way. He greets Chelindia with a salute and waits patiently, rigidly. Chelindia stops in front of the man, examines him briefly, and holds the old food tray to him. The young man promptly grabs hold of the tray. Chelindia points out another overgrown building, barks out a stern order, and departs without another word. The evuukian man swiftly rushes off without a further question.

Stepping through the main entryway of the largest ancient structure, Chelindia passes a small squad in nature themed outfits reviewing written instructions and exchanging other relevant information. She navigates down the tall, wide hallways of activity and catches glimpses into the many rooms that branch off. Her turquoise eyes squint at the small makeshift armory of swords, bows, arrows, and light armor. Pausing briefly, she watches a few mages apply their craft to wands, staffs, and other magical implements. She walks past the improvised barracks of bunk beds and a few idling evuukians. Entertaining a number of similar diversions along the way, she arrives at the end of the hallway and steps through a towering, open double door. Entering into the cavernous room, she surveys a gathering of evuukians reading materials, sorting through paperwork, studying maps, and writing notes, approaching a raised platform at the center of the room.

An evuukian woman with long, flowing, gray hair, and ivory skin struts proudly along the perimeter of the central platform. Slowing her gait, she pauses occasionally and observes the progress of the diligent evuukians, resuming her plotting pace to the next part of patrol. Chelindia stops at the steps leading to the rostrum, and the woman pivots, facing Chelindia with dark crimson eyes. "Chelindia."

Chelindia bows, stands back up straight, and greets the woman respectfully. "Meredosia."

Meredosia smiles confidently and inquires in evuukian, lifting a curious eyebrow. Chelindia nods and carefully follows up with a simple, quick explanation, shifting gradually into a pleading tone. She calmly elaborates a series of points with hand motions, mentioning Faelatelia by name in the proposal. Finishing her statement, she waits patiently, expectantly. Meredosia narrows her stare at Chelindia, ponders dramatically in thought between rocks of her head, and swiftly spins away. She ambles along the platform, loudly retorts with a stern tone, and glances over her shoulder at Chelindia with a sly grin. Planting her feet exactly upon the central point of the platform, she grips a finely gloved hand around an ornate amulet and proudly smiles. She pivots and stares at Chelindia. With a bold tone, she adopts an explanatory cadence, articulates her thoughts out with a free hand, and quirks her smug brow. Chelindia sighs respectfully, bows her head down, and submits a tenuous agreement. Meredosia nods respectfully to Chelindia, softens her focused gaze, and speaks calmly, sincerity in her evuukian words.

Standing back up straight, Chelindia presents a smile and recites a few requests. Meredosia thinks for a moment, relays her acceptance, and presents a genuine smile. Chelindia respectfully turns away and walks towards the exit. Gripping her amulet tightly, Meredosia aims her focus towards the center of the platform and eyes the faint outlines of ancient script forming a faded circle below her. At the precipice to the hall, Chelindia glances briefly over her shoulder and watches Meredosia. A few fine, barely visible threads of white magical energy drift lightly around the elegant attire and ivory skin of the evuukian woman above the central point of the platform. The strands of magic converge into the crystalline center of the amulet. Returning her attention toward the hallway ahead, a frown creeps from the corners of Chelindia's mouth, and her eyes search inside her mind. Uncertainty taints her grimace despite and wins against her attempts for a stoic exterior.

Behind her, Meredosia pridefully grins, the white light inside the amulet increasing in brightness ever so faintly.

----

Cideeda wraps her claw tipped fingers around the steering wheel of the humvee, twisting her grip, and grits her sharp teeth. "What the fuck is the hold up?! How long does it take to mobilize a convoy?! It's not THAT big of one."

Flipping through the holographic menus of the holoplayer, Sotalia sifts through the different musical track listings and curls an intrigued eyebrow at a particular band name. She peeks over her seat and narrows her golden eyes at Bach with a sly smirk, giggling amused. "Oh. My. Gods. You have THEIR entire discography?"

Bach leans over into the aisle, squints ahead at the mid-air projections, and rolls his blue eyes dismissively away from embarrassment. "Well... You know... They had a few good hits. And their album stuff isn't all THAT bad. I mean, there's a few songs I like to listen to when the right mood hits."

He shrugs and averts his gaze from the scrutiny. "What else can I say? Some days, it just fits. You know?"

Studying Bach's honest review, Sotalia twists a smile on her light tan face and sighs out her genuine agreement. "Oh, don't get me wrong. I like them, too."

She furrows her brow and slides a smirk over. "I just never run into anyone else who has anything beyond their hits."

Sebastian's ghostly form hovers in the middle of the aisle of the cab, exuding boredom through from his far off stare out the windshield. Aristespha flips through menus on the tablet upon her lap and taps the sword at her side. "Sebastian, you should probably return to the sword, for now. Avoid any unwanted attention."

With an ethereal sigh, Sebastian shrugs his shoulders and continues floating in the aisle nonchalantly. "I don't think it really matters right now, dear. The guy they have watching the rear hasn't looked over towards us for the past fifteen minutes or so."

Dretphi squints her steely gray eyes, searches through a side window, and scans the surfaces of the vehicles ahead. A minute later, she spots a small logo on the side of a vehicle a few spots in the convoy ahead. "See a Chrome Crusader emblem. On the side of that truck ahead."

Blinking back the awareness, Sebastian traces the path Dretphi's arm points out and notices the same marking. "Huh. I wonder what they are doing around here. I thought they usually stuck to larger jobs."

An alert chime rings out from Aristespha's pocket. She retrieves her aetherphone, enters a security code, and swipes through the on-screen interface. Tapping on a new entry in the message list, her interest piques, and an intrigued smile grows on her face. "Kaleb and Lagi just got into aether tower range. They are transmitting the high resolution pictures of their early morning fly over."

Lifting her tablet up, she rests her phone on her lap and presses a few prompts upon the large screen of the device. An overhead view of a heavily forested area appears on the display. Sebastian, Bach, and Dretphi position themselves in the cab, getting the best view. Dretphi's eyes spring wide open, and she traces out curious areas with her finger. "Strange. Old trees in a circular perimeter. Canopy gaps in the center of the grouping. Right angle shape?"

She leans closer and narrows her studious stare. "THAT is not natural. Something is there."

Aristespha, Bach, and Sebastian investigate the details closer and arrive at similar suspicions about the imagery. Sebastian grins proudly to Dretphi and nods. "Oh yeah. I definitely agree. Think that's a spot Kaleb and Lagi should fly over a little closer later on tonight."

Returning her gaze forward from the discussion, Cideeda flexes her grip on the humvee's steering wheel and grumbles, meanly furrowing her light brown brow. "OKAY. I'm about ready to drive through the median. I'm sure we can get really close to where we need to be before nightfall..."

Straightening her back in the driver's seat, she flexes her clawed fingers, wrestles down a snarl, and flicks her tufted tail tip. "BUT... I'm not so sure we will, IF we have to wait for these IDIOTS to MOVE."

Her emerald green eyes shift to the rear view mirror. "SO... Any objections?"

Aristespha perks her brow, twists a sly smirk, and shrugs her shoulders. "They are not highway police or military authority. It is not like they can legally stop us. And, I will be happy to file a few complaints to the guild."

Sotalia's head snaps and focuses upon the closest uniformed convoy guard, finally turning around to face the humvee behind the stalled convoy. "Give me a second. I'm going to get this guy's attention and see what the hell the holdup is."

Quickly opening her door, she stands up on the humvee cab floor and waves energetically to the lone rear guard. "HEY! You!"

The man blinks to attention, and Sotalia shouts out. "YES, YOU! Come over here!"

Quickly walks over towards the humvee, the man furrows his brow and cocks his head curiously. Sebastian's ethereal visage fades back into the sword at Aristespha's side. "Finally. See if we can get a hold of whoever is organizing this circus."

With a mix of hand motions and verbal encouragement, Sotalia gets the man to speed up the pace and arrive next to her door. Sitting on the side of her seat, she addresses the man through the open door with a charming lift in her tone. "Thank you so much for coming over here. I just have to ask, what exactly is the hold up?"

In an official enough tone, the man attempts to stoically stand at attention. "We are preparing a sweep down the southern route past the upcoming intersection. There's been some unfortunate delays-"

Cideeda quickly glances back over to Dretphi. After a silent conversation of expressions, Dretphi perks up and recounts an important piece of information. "We take the eastern route at this intersection."

Nodding in agreement, Cideeda flashes a determined toothy grin to the man with an assertive stare right through him. "Well! That just works out. We're not going your way after the intersection, so we can just go around you, then."

The man awkwardly pauses his explanation, his mouth hanging open, and glances over to the convoy. "Uh. Um, I don't know about THAT. I'd have to check with my superior first..."

Flashing a sly grin, Sotalia guides her fiery orange, wavy hair back, adjusts her posture towards alluring, and aims her eager golden eyes upon the man. "Oh? May I ask who your superior is?"

With a brief fit of hesitation, the rear guard regathers enough of his wits. "Uh... Yes... It's Sergeant Matterhorn."

Sotalia blinks in thought, furrowing her brow, and curiously quizzes, searching her mind. "Quincy Matterhorn?"

The man nods slowly in recognition and slight confusion. "Uh. Yes, ma'am."

Sebastian's ghostly voice sounds out from the sword. "Oh. No way..."

Widening a grin on her light tan and dark gray edged face, Sotalia concentrates her golden eyes upon the man in front of her with playfully evil amusement. "REALLY. Could you ask him if he knows anything about a... Duck in Knox?"

The guard cocks his head uncertainly to the side and glances to either side of himself. Reaching for the radio attached to his shirt pocket, he steps away apprehensively. "Yeah.. I'll... See about that..."

The man walks a few meters away and keys up into a conversation on his radio. After a hushed exchange with the person on the other side, he pauses a moment, briefly eyes Sotalia, and clearly states. "Something about a... Duck in Knox?"

The radio falls silent for seconds. The rear guard furrows his brow and stares at the quiet device. A new voice sounds out and surprises the man. Between over the shoulder glances, the rear guard studies the awaiting Sotalia and nods to barely audible prompts. Pivoting around fully, the man approaches Sotalia's side of the humvee and gazes at her, visibly puzzling. "Um... Your group is cleared to travel along the left shoulder past the convoy. And... I've been informed to give you Sergeant Matterhorn's direct contact information."

Settling back into her seat, Sotalia slowly closes the door and smiles graciously with a flattering tinge in her tone. "OH! Thank you, so much. We won't keep you any longer from your work and will be on our way."

Furrowing his brow, the man nods and suspiciously eyes his radio. Cideeda promptly puts the humvee into gear, and the ancient military machine rolls off towards the left shoulder of the road. Idly scanning the area, the read guard turns his attention towards his thoughts. Seconds later, he walks back to his post at the rear of the convoy, keying up the radio. "Uh, sir? Is there something I should know about... Uh... that Duck in Kno-"

The voice on the other end of the radio surges over the static. "Not if you ever want to do anything besides rear guarding the scrap trucks in the foreseeable future."

With a wide-eyed, distant stare, the rear guard nods slowly and promptly drops the mystery. "Understood, sir."

----

People idle around the front of the convoy between the camera crews vans, Chrome Crusader vehicles, and the Flames of the Phoenix black sports utility vehicle. Senior Paladin Maxon stands with Chad and enthusiastically explains the plan with exaggerated arm motions. Chad responds and demonstrates his own understanding with elaborate hand gestures. Veevi attempts to gain the attention of Chad, maintaining a spot at his side, and occasionally glances over to Deedri. Modoran nonchalantly suns himself upon the rear seat of the Flames of the Phoenix ride via the sun roof. Leaning upon the side of the vehicle, Trakenthin awaits outside and keeps a watch over the area. Deedri converses with a few Chrome Crusader medical mages. Tassilda stands near Junior Paladin Daedrican, and the two talk, sections of the conversation switching into different emin dialects.

Along the left shoulder of the highway, a humvee quickly rolls by the standing convoy. The Next Adventurers of Nexus crew aim recording equipment over to the activity. Chrome Crusaders personnel briefly inspect the vehicle. A few glance towards one specific officer in the area. After a signal from him, they allow it through and promptly return to their duties. Spotting the humvee, Deedri happily waves towards the familiar faces of the group and keeps mindful of who else may be watching. With a competitive bright white smile obscuring his lack of amusement, Chad eyes the team. Maxon boldly greets the passing vehicle. Pulling any attention possible, Veevi energetically waves at the group and calls out to them. Squinting through windows of the moving humvee, Trakenthin meets a steely gray glare at him and narrows his sneering stare right back. Modoran lifts himself up from the way back seat, notices the humvee, and returns back to sunbathing.

Pausing her conversation with Daedrican, Tassilda casually pivots around and immediately spots the fiery orange, wavy hair of Sotalia. Her light blue on black eyes widen in surprise, and she parts a sly smile of sheer satisfaction. Sotalia focuses her full attention upon Tassilda and studies her every motion. At the closest to each other in passing, Tassilda flashes a sinister grin, slides her long nailed fingers under her long, raven hair, and fluffs it back dramatically over her shoulders. She reaches into her pocket, lifts up a small vial with a milky fluid inside, and waves towards Sotalia between her thumb and index finger with a smug wink. A hard cringe of recognition nearly closes Sotalia's eye. She frowns into a harsh grimace, individually pops her knuckles on a hand, and mouths silent swears.

The humvee passes the convoy and rides off back on the main part of the road. Observing the exchange, Daedrican tilts his helmet-covered head at Tassilda, a hint of squint slipping out from underneath his obscuring visor. Inside a Next Adventurers of Nexus van, Samantha grins nearly manic, leans out the passenger's window, and calls out to Gerald. "Gods almighty, please tell me you got shots of that!"

Gerald lifts his arm up and gives a solid thumbs up, still recording.