Exigency: The Old Guard

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Mar 19, 2017 1:12 pm
"Just so we're clear: your financiers want to prevent the advent and implementation of the very thing that you're holding in your hand and currently using? Seems like you might be full of shit," Pudge intones nonchalantly.

"That doesn't mean I'm not willing to hear more of what you have to say. It just means that I already think you're full of shit, and, you're going to have to come up with something both impressive and appealing very quickly. And, if you've been watching us 'for some time' then you probably have a decent handle on the kinds of ideals we support and the kinds of ideals we oppose. So, if you know your offer isn't going to jive, save us all some time and keep your damn mouth shut."
Last edited March 19, 2017 1:17 pm
Mar 19, 2017 2:11 pm
Moller grimaces. "Like many in the Distant Order I believe that sometimes psi must be used to prevent psi dominating society, and I think of these artifacts in much the same way.

"I used it to prevent further bloodshed. In other hands, it might have been activated in the heart of a Worldcarrier halfway through a phaseshift, dooming millions of passengers. It is true that not everyone would abuse such a tool but I'm sure you understand why my backers are wary of such technology spreading throughout Alpha Sector."

He tosses the device to Pudge.

"Some might call you a hypocrite for killing people in the name of stopping people being killed. But they would be wrong. The only real hypocrisy is to sit idle and do nothing while your ideology is threatened."

Reave snorts, loudly, but doesn't say anything else. Moller ignores the interruption.

"My backers will grant you the freedom to operate as you choose. If you wish, you can destroy the artifacts you find. If you wish, you can renounce psi entirely while working in our name. Some of our operatives do just that. As long as the missions are completed, the details are irrelevant." Moller returns his hands to the sleeves of his robes. His stance is exactly the same as that of the two men who are flanking him. "You will have a ship. Weapons. Expenses. And, of course, powerful allies."
Mar 19, 2017 5:17 pm
Serana looks at Wilhelm and Pudge. And back to moller. "Still not interested. And I might be wrong but I'm sure I saw you die. Valon dropped your corpse at our feet! Merde.. am I the only one weirded out by this?"
Mar 20, 2017 1:13 pm
Wilhelm looks at Serana and grins slightly. He says to Moller, "I don't make deals with dead men. I want to talk to whoever is paying me directly. Just a private text comm is good enough so long as it's verified." He takes his comm pad from his belt and tosses it over.
Mar 22, 2017 3:00 pm
Moller sighs. His two comrades remove their hoods, revealing thin faces, receding hairlines... Moller's face. Faces. They're all Moller.

"I am very much alive. The 'man' you saw die was one of my proxies, an extension of my will. A sort of augmented clone, serving me in much the same way as a controller directs their drones."

"When one dies," says a clone, "the rest persist. I exist as an individual mind across multiple bodies."

"The loss of a body is more an inconvenience than a crisis," adds the other clone. "But I do benefit from the processing power of multiple minds, I must admit."

"Your request is difficult to fulfil, but not unreasonable," says the first Moller. He types something out on Wilhelm's pad. He waits a while, patient as the grave. Eventually he nods and passes it back:
Quote:
It is arrogant to demand my direct involvement, perhaps dangerously so.

I like that. Consider this message to be a personal invitation. We should meet posthaste.

-GCV
The text is encrypted and verified. Assuming no trickery is afoot, one of Moller's backers is Grand Councillor Valigael. One of the highest ranking (and richest) women in the whole of the High Council.
[ +- ] Pudge
[ +- ] Wilhelm
[ +- ] Serana

Rolls

Secret Roll

Mar 24, 2017 12:08 am
Seranas not sure what surprises her more. The freaky team of psiclones or Valigael being involved.
Mar 24, 2017 12:36 am
Wilhelm sighs after Moller's display. "Well, that's disappointing. You say all of your bodies are interchangeable?" At this point his attention focuses on the communicator and types away.
Quote:
Pleased to make your acquaintance once again Ma'am. I look forward to our meeting under more... festive circumstances. Tell me Madam Councilor, do you dance?
Mar 24, 2017 3:12 pm
"Honestly, the deeper we go into this damn fox hole, the weirder this shit gets. By the time we come to the end of this whole wild ride it's going to seem like we're all on the craziest psychedelic drug trip of all time. Whatever happened to just, you know, normal evil people?" Pudge asks of no one in particular.

"What's the situation, Wil?"
Mar 25, 2017 5:04 pm
"We've been personally invited to meet the Grand Councilor."
Mar 25, 2017 5:41 pm
"This mission is like a bad dream," Serana mutters. She glances at her sister.. who is still frozen. "You can all meet the Grand Councilor. I'm sure it'll make for a good story to tell. But I've had enough: I'm out."
OOC:
quick query: how high up in the council is grand councilor? Are there lots of them? just one?
Mar 25, 2017 6:59 pm
"That's one way of looking at it," says the centre Moller. "As long as a body survives, I can function. Additional units are a boon and not a necessity."
Quote:

You had better believe I dance, Falstaff.

I have a mountain-top arcology on Maladria. Attend at your convenience.

Please let the Margoyles sisters know that they are both invited. But I shall need to have words with the eldest.

-GCV
Reave drums her fingers on the hilt of her sword. "If the Grand Councillor is involved, this is far above even an Enforcer's pay-grade." She draws it, points it at the nearest Moller. "Lucky for you."

Moller is unmoved. "How interesting that you're suddenly loyal to the Enforcers again! As I recall you were quite happy to serve with Graves-Burton. Look how that worked out."

Reave shrugs, sheathing the weapon and turning away. "It wasn't my bizarre clone-body that woke up Valon. Keep that in mind when you report to your backers."
OOC:
Great question! And one I had to think about fast. I'm thinking the Grand Councillor is part of what's dubbed the Triumvirate, the three most powerful positions in the High Council. Grand Councillor, Archchancellor, High Arbiter. Always butting heads and jostling for power between themselves. And always insisting that they're the real leader, not the other two.
Mar 28, 2017 8:31 pm
Quote:
Wonderful, we'll be seeing each other soon.

From Valon with love,
Wilhelm Ezekiel Fallstaff
Wilhelm puts the comm pad back on his belt before waving at Moller with a dismissive gesture. "You can go now. I need to speak to the living."
Mar 28, 2017 9:15 pm
If Moller's offended, it doesn't show. The three of him step back into the shadow and evaporate, shrouding themselves with psi.

(By now the party's quite experienced with such trickery. With great effort, it's possible to make out the outlines of the three clones as they briskly walk out of the command room. It shatters any prior mystique Moller might've had.)
Mar 29, 2017 3:29 pm
When satisfied that Moller is gone, Wilhelm turns to Serana and says, "Why are you so opposed to this? We're going after Valon one way or another. Or is that not your intentions? The way I see it, I'm going to spend my life killing people who have forfeited their right to life by violating the right of others. I am a tool of Karma; my path has been chosen. They want to pay and supply me to do the thing I was going to anyway. That's a deal without price."
Mar 29, 2017 9:37 pm
Serana glowers. "We nearly had to kill my sister to stop that city being shelled, but then we decide to work with the man who planned it in the first place?" She shakes her head "Moller's lucky I didn't gut him. Multi bodied bastard started a war. Whose Plan A is starting a war?"

She rubs her eyes. Her hands are cold metal. Serana sighs staring at those hands. "I'll hear Valigael out. I owe this team that much.. I wouldn't have got this far alone. But I think we'll end up being used by these 'backers' more than we end up using them."

Her hands clench. Serana walks up to Epril and punches her out. "I can carry her. don't want her acting like an imbécile when she reactivates."
Mar 29, 2017 10:03 pm
"Then let's make it so we're their Plan A from now on. And if it makes you feel any better, I fully plan to cut them to pieces the second I catch wind of something I don't like."
Mar 30, 2017 4:02 pm
Pudge still has difficulty wrapping his mind around the political pieces in all this mayhem. But the Grand Councilor, well, he knows how significant it is that she is involved, even if he doesn't really understand what it means or what she intends to do.

He looks down at the scepter in his hand as he addresses the other two. "Listen, y'all are crazy. Whatever is going on here is WAY beyond me. There's a whole bunch that I don't understand, and, for probably the first time in my life, my curiosity is tempered by the sheer depth of this... mm... situation?" He stows the artifact in his pack, something to take a much closer look at later. "But, regardless of the shit-show that threw us together, y'all are the closest thing I've had to a family in a while. It's kind of nice to feel like my hacking has some kind of purpose other than just fun and chaos -- fun and chaos and stopping mass murders. So, I guess, I'm down for whatever. Although, to be fair, I'm not sure I was invited," he shrugs.

Pudge then turns to Lyra, "You okay? I saw you took a nasty slash from that vibro." A brief pause. "What are you gonna do?"
Mar 30, 2017 4:41 pm
Lyra has one gauntlet pressed to her shoulder. She looks zoned out. "I'll be fine. My armour's falling apart but the trauma response unit is working: sealant should stop me bleeding out until I get back to the High Council Embassy."

She steps out of the command room and onto the walkway. It's eerily quiet. The other members of Epril's band are nowhere to be seen.

"I think the fighting's stopped," Lyra says hesitantly, as if concerned she'll prompt it to start back up again. "I don't know what's going to happen next.

"The loyalist Mercenaries have won, whatever the hell that means. With the phase beacon back online they'll contact the Myrmidon and the rogues will have to scatter. Reave, wherever she's got to, will probably get the Enforcers involved.

"She said this was beyond her pay-grade, and it's beyond mine, but I can't just walk away from this. Graves-Burton is dead but an Arbiter is an Arbiter and there'll be work to do. And hard questions for all of us."

The light creeping through the open roof has started to dim. Valon's sun is setting.

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