Hellsquad: The Threat from the Past

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The rest of the crew seemed to be filing in at long last.

Qingshe gave a small chuckle at the sight of Clarissa, the ship's resident "tech whizz" and mechanic, who had arrived burdened by a rather egregious amount of food and was now busying herself stuffing her face with not a single bit of grace or subtlety. Qingshe briefly expanded her shadow across the table to pass her a glass of wine to wash all that down with. She grinned at the biological wonder of a girl, as usual feeling a strange sort of... kinship with her as a fellow pursuer of evolution.

The ship's weapon specialist, Azeal, also finally deigned to arrive, and Qingshe felt that now familiar part of herself perk up internally at his presence. Even aside from his fascinating status as a peak specimen of demon-kind, his mystical presence was rather strangely nostalgic to be around. Strange, in a homely sort of way, but of course, Qingshe was certain she'd never met him in her life prior to joining this crew. She could only assume this had something to do with their demonic blood creating a sort of natural kinship between them, but digging deeper into that phenomenon required far more magical acumen than she possessed. That aside, she appreciated Azeal's skills and wide breadth of knowledge. Truly, it never got boring speaking to someone that had lived for so long.

She grinned at his warning look to the twins and passed him an offering of a wine glass with her shadow.

The seat creaking next to her heralded the arrival of her fellow doctor, Alice Nerocristus, who was the ship's official doctor overall. At the redhead's preemptive denial of her offer of a cup of wine, Qingshe merely nodded and tucked her shadow away, the lips of the cups that had been sprouting going with it. She gave a titter at Alice's mention of her rather infamous drinking habits. "I wonder just how many new rumors I'll be hearing of your escapades now." The humor in her tone was accompanied by the pleasant squint of her eyes, as she giggled.

Alice was certainly a comrade she could say she wished she'd known long before joining the crew. While they were both doctors of no small ability, she wasn't afraid to admit that in the magical arts, Alice surpassed her in nearly every way conceivable. Oh sure, Qingshe had raw power, but what was that worth, really, if you couldn't control it? That she surpassed Alice by nearly the same metric technologically was no matter. She was always happy to bounce ideas with the mage, knowing that they both covered the other's lackings, there was never any shortage of learning to be had on both sides.

The man of the hour, their Captain, Mike, finally arrived. Being perfectly honest, Qingshe could say her opinion of him was... incomplete. He seemed a man of vast contrasts, caring and kind with one hand... yet willing to wipe out an entire race with the other. While normally, Qingshe wasn't typically one to much care about a couple lives being lost, the sheer scale of that feat, of what had been done to the Sattolions, strangely unnerved her. Or maybe disappointed her? She couldn't help but find the whole thing... so very wasteful. Lives. Culture. History. Technology. All of it burned. To kill them all, to not consider that the race could be reformed, it offended her sensibilities. That was an entire branch of genetics purged from the galaxy for... what? A lack of patience? Revenge? Was she supposed to believe the race was somehow genetically predisposed towards evil? That sounded a little ridiculous, and it was on that basis that she couldn't help but feel the result of that conflict was nowhere near ideal.

And really, what did it say about the person responsible for it all?

She wasn't sure if that was a question she wanted to contemplate at length.

Regardless, the Captain finally spoke on the matter of "The Message", revealing far more than Qingshe had honestly though they would have to go on. On the bright side, this certainly soothed some measure of her skepticism. On the other hand, now she was starting to get a little worried. As much as her fascination was thoroughly roused, her trepidation rose in nearly equal measure at the idea of genuine wish-granting artifacts existing out in the galaxy. If the legends about them were as real as the Captain and High Priestess of Vijolavij seemed to believe, then this was a... very dangerous situation.

Leaning forward at the images of the Gems of Desire, Qingshe frowned at Mike. "You said the High Priestess of Vijolavij told you this? If she is aware of the Gem being on Fubakfen, then who else is aware? How sure are you that her communications to you weren't intercepted?" She rapped her false claws on the table. "More to the point, how long has the High Priestess's religious order been aware of this? You would think they'd have tried to collect the Gem already if they were aware of it for any significant period of time, given what a major artifact it is. Why aren't they doing so now? How come they're hiring mercenaries for something like this, and what exactly do they expect us to do with it once we actually have it?"

Rolling her jaw, she clicked her tongue. "Why should we hand it over anyway, assuming that is what we are supposed to do? Wouldn't it be better to hide it away ourselves in the darkest corner of the galaxy we can find? If all five gems are needed to make a wish, then just making sure at least one is out of the picture is all we need to do, rather than gambling on the religious order's security to be up to snuff." She chuckled grimly. "Vijolavij might have its mysterious ward against violence, but nothing stops someone from just stealing the gem. And because the effect of that non-violence field is indiscriminate, they won't be able to stop them properly, will they?"

Glancing around the table, she nodded with conviction. "I say if we're going to collect this so-called 'Gem of Desire', we should pretend we failed and get rid of it. Or at the very least, we shouldn't just hand it over." Her eyes narrowed. "Unless you're trying to tell me that they actually want us to have it for some reason. Because that raises even more questions." Because she most certainly didn't trust any religious order with that much potential power. Fact was, she didn't want the threat of anyone with that much power to alter the universe hanging over her head, no matter who they were or what their intentions might be. Even if all they ostensibly intended to do was hide the Gems away, you couldn't trust anyone not to give into that kind of temptation. It just wasn't rational.
 
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Fenrir's Maw - Meeting Room

Gems of desire... Azeal never heard of such objects, but from his experience, anything with a name that ends with "of Desire" is always bad news. Usually they're scam objects - snake oil sold to poor fools looking for easy miracles - or they're objects of temptation or perhaps even mentally corrosive things that seduce people to committing sin and blasphemy. For demons, there's no greater element to fear and respect than the force of will that'd give birth to sin. The Religious Order of Vijolavij is afraid of them? Good. Tells him they haven't lost their morals as a religion...yet. If what Navir said is true, than this could get ugly real fast. Having gems that could literally manifest desire, and alter the reality of the universe to bring them into existence?

"If she gets her hands on those gems..." The thought was enough to take the glass Qingshe offered and drink it down like a shot of whiskey. Despite the potential danger these gems pose - the fact the Sattolions of all things knew about them makes said potential even larger - they need to get these gems before anyone else. Especially "her".

"Thanks." He said to Qingshe afterwards. It was indeed some strong stuff even for a demon like him, but frankly, he needed it right now.

Alice gave a big smile in response to Qingshe's playful question.

"Ohh...Maybe about a dozen...or two." She said, sticking her tongue out of that cat-like smile.

She then listened Mike and Navir explain the situation, particularly about these Gems of Desire. Immediately after hearing the name, something felt off, something really was itching in the back of her mind now, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.

She did recognize the name of the High Priestess though. "Vivian Aerouant"...or "Vivi" as Alice came to know her as. As the Sorceress Ruler of Utwoxalra, she's met with Vivian plenty of times before, both officially as Sorceress Alice when she needed to see the Grand Cardinal, and unofficially as simply Alice. "Vivi" has a great wellspring of knowledge about magic much like Alice, and a kind heart to match. It was always strange to Alice that she doesn't aim to just flat-out be Grand Cardinal of Vijolavij, considering she more then meets the qualifications. In a sense, Alice sees Vivi as a friendly rival with which to compare herself to.

It seems their first destination's the Jungle planet of Fubakfem. Azeal vaguely remembers that planet during the holy war, one filled with animals both beastly and sapient and everything in between, and trees and plants unique to its rather exotic ecosystem. He's been there before a few times both during the war and during his time as a mercenary, often to hunt for someone else's food via the wildlife. Alice never actually went to Fubakfem before, but knows about its jungle like aesthetic. More importantly to her, Vivi gave them that info of where the first gem was? ...Does she know where all of them are?

Izaroth spoke out and frankly, he raised a good point. Azeal doesn't recall if there were any ancient ruins there during his trips. No civilization has lived on that planet as far as he knew, not even during the holy war. It is possible there was one that was wiped out before the war, but given how it looked back then and now, it would have had to have been centuries before then, maybe even a millennia or two. At the very least, if there are any ancient ruins on Fubakfem, there's no doubt the plantlife would have grown over them.

On the other hand...

"There's a good chance these ruins are camouflaged by the plants of that world, so we may not be able to see them. But that said, If we're talking ruins, they had to have been built by someone, and buildings tend to stick out in regard of their shape. An area scan should point out any unusual shapes easily enough. ...But there's also another problem. Fubakfem's a Class-X planet, you'd have to have special permission usually to land, and that means we'll have the S.P.A. on our asses the whole time." Azeal commented.

The "Safari Protection Agency" or "SPA" was the closest thing Fubakfem had to a government. Since it's a class-X planet, there were no sense of civilization residing on that planet save for the intellectual beasts that were born and raised there. Because of the exotic ecosystem of the planet and the nature of its animals and flora that you wouldn't find anywhere else, hunters and poachers from the stars were a very common thing to find before the SPA was formed. The sapient denizens of the planets organized and founded SPA as protection against those people; their authority is recognized by the Federation and the Director serves on their congress. As such, Farmers of Gafbar who need to bring some animals with them, or Mercenaries like themselves, would often need special permission from the SPA to even land on the planet, and any unsavory activity can lead to trouble, both physically and legally.

---

As Navir explained what these Gems supposedly could do - especially together - ...needless to say, it made Alice interested.

Magic and Sorcery was Alice's Forte, and the kind of wish-granting reality-warping magic that's being described is accurate to what she's learned from her mother.

You often hear of such artifacts from ancient times long ago, people back then often attributed this kind of ability with a shooting star, a coin tossed in a magic fountain, a spirit-containing lamp, even something as simple as a monkey's hand...that one in particular no one likes to talk about though. While she's never seen such objects in action, nor has she witnessed such wish-granting abilities first hand, the concept is something studied and recognized in the magic community.

Only problem is...

"...Wait, that's illegal!" She blurted out when Navir made her statement about what these gems could do. Illegal is probably not the best word for it, but she wanted to say it fast, and that was the closest thing to what she meant that could be said so fast.

Magic is not as limitless as people believe it to be. It has rules and boundaries that it simply could not cross. It was not a matter of power or strength or wisdom, it wasn't something one could just break if they tried hard enough, there were just thing in the universe magic simply couldn't do. Needless to say, changing the whole entirety of reality and overriding all its laws in order to grant one's wish is definitely one of these things.

One would think this means wish-granting jewels such as these Gems should be impossible to exist or at least impossible to work. However, she remembers her mother telling her of certain exceptions to these rules, impossible events that no wizard or witch has yet to replicate has happened before after all. Whether those were made by those who managed to break those rules at a price, or if they were simply coincidental acts of god, was unclear.

All that to say, If what Navir and the Sattolions were saying was true, then whatever these gems were, they certainly weren't made with Mana or magic. If Alice had to guess, these gems would had to have been deifacted...Wait...Didn't that message say these gems were made by the power of the King of the Forgotten's people...Who were kin of Gods and Monsters? Were his people some kind of Pantheon or something? If so...What was this "Great Darkness" that was capable of wiping them all out? How did the Sattolions know about these gems? Moreover, repeating the question in her mind, What does Vivi have to do with any of this?

Qingshe stepped into the conversation and asked some very decent questions about these gems. Some of which echoed Alice's own concerns about all of this.

"I don't think the whole of the Order of Sahlyncirle knows about this. Knowing the Grand Cardinal, if the order did know about these gems, they'd drop everything and outright crusade for them. I bet they'd even turn against the Federation at that point. If they knew these things existed, my Utwoxalrans be the first to know...whether they want to or not. ...Speaking of which, the Utwoxalrans had no idea about these Gems either. I think Vivi's acting alone here. She may be High Priestess, but she tends to walk to the beat of her own drum. Knowing how she is and how the Order might react, I think she wants it to stay that way, which could be why she's hiring a third party like us for the job. ...No idea why she'd hire us specifically though, I doubt she knows I'm a merc right now. ...Also, Izzy has a point. A "ruin in Fubakfem's" pretty vague, even for her. I don't think she actually knows exactly where the gem is. This is just a guess, but I think she's hiring us in secret, trying to have us find the gem so she can keep up appearances in the Order, making sure no one else catches on. ...But as for what she wants us to do with them after we get them...Hmm....I'm stumped." Alice explained to Qingshe. Most of this was admittedly conjecture based on what she knew about the Religion and Vivi herself, but for the moment, she can't think of why she'd even want these gems in the first place. Sure she had (peaceful) ambition, but she seemed content with helping the galaxy as is. ...She never did mention much about her past, maybe that has something to do with it?

"Moreover, I don't know about this priestess, but the Order has more than just a ward against violence. They got access to angelic power as a blessing for their part in the holy war and their loyalty to them. It's far from an impregnable defense, but it's also not to be taken lightly either." Azeal added.

Qingshe then thought up what they should do afterwards instead. Honestly, it was hard to argue against it, she raised some very good points. They were talking about five gems capable of altering the whole of existence to the selfish whims of whoever was lucky enough to have all five of them. It was hard to believe anyone wouldn't have the urge to use them once they have them.

"...Better yet: How about we just destroy them?" Azeal asked. To which Alice waved her arms into an X-position in front of her chest.

"Uh-uh, Bad idea! ...These Gems have to be vessels for some kind of energy, something powerful enough to alter reality if all five are in the same place. Whatever that energy is, we destroy even one of them, there's a good chance it'll explode and take everyone and everything with it, likely within a radius of meters, maybe even miles. Worse case scenario: Might devastate a whole planet. That's all assuming it's even destructible to begin with." She explained to him. Azeal scratched the back of his head and lit up a cigarette.

"...Fair enough. Still, I gotta agree with Qingshe. Only consequence I see is not getting paid. Even so, not sure if there's a price one would give away wish-granting jewels for." He said, blowing out smoke as he did.
 
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Lloyd sighed at what Holly said for that jab, but its obviously hardly anything abnormal for her to say. Her jabs are light compared to how he insults her, but it’s not time to argue with his sister right now since they’re waiting for the others to arrive, including the Captain. ‘I suppose I deserve that jab from my sister occasionally. It’s probably because you hold no grudges against me for beating you at the Herald Academy in the Enigmatic Sect Dimension. Those were the days. The Talent took much effort to overcome after all.’ Lloyd thought to himself, with a slight smile. Herald Academy was one of the most enjoyable places to be at, but then everything was permanently annihilated by their grandparents. It was a bit nostalgic to remember those aspects of his life there.

In addition, Lloyd remembered his words to his sister, Your talent is impressive sister, but you just aimlessly and carelessly live life your own way without a care. However, I can help you improve if I didn’t train all this time to win against you in this Herald Academy Tournament. You would never be able to realize the truth that against all odds, it’s better to be prepared instead of not. He sipped more of his wine glass since that was the realization that his sister needed to become better at her spearmanship, and he trained her with the help that she would learn lessons from it that would help her to become less naive. It is what their parents had said or mentioned. They want their daughter not to be so careless or reckless like she was in that Herald Academy Tournament against her brother or against others.

Holly noticed her brother’s smile on his face, but that smile was basically admittance to wanting to create a weapon out of those gems. However, that smile also reminded her of a single instance of him smiling showing his effort overwhelmed her overwhelming talent at the Herald Academy. Holly didn’t want to coast on her talent alone anymore, which is why she never held a grudge against her twin brother showing her a thing or two. She took much from that tournament, but her parents were worried for her life, in it since Holly’s Reckless was at an all time high in the Enigmatic Sect Dimension.

Holly took Lloyd’s advice that he said, only after Amaryl and Ernest intervened and yelled at her for trying to take her anger at Lloyd. Her parents said the reason why Lloyd said those words to her exacting was that it was from both of them. They didn’t want either of their children to die even if they bicker a bit too much and Lloyd is so frustrated with having to train with his sword to defeat a spear wielder like, Holly. She sipped at her wine glass, sighing since she was so angry at her brother for her reaction for her loss at the Herald Academy Tournament. However, Clarissa walked into the meeting room, interrupting her thought processes and how she wanted to apologize to her brother. “Hi Clarissa!” Holly exclaimed. Her opinion of Clarissa is enjoyable since she likes talking to everyone and she hopes that she gets along with most of the crew.

Lloyd had noticed Holly’s look on her face like as she wanted to say something to him, but he raised his eyebrow because he doesn’t precisely know what it could be. He didn’t realize it was involved with the Herald Academy Tournament and what precisely she said to him, because Lloyd takes what Amaryl and Ernest said to them very seriously instead of his older sister that was quite emotional. ‘I wonder why Holly want to say to me? Hmm. Hopefully, that’s not been eating her up for what she said all those years ago. It’s been years since that Herald Academy Tournament.’ Lloyd thought to himself. He liked Clarissa’s job position on the ship, but other than that he doesn’t have much of an opinion of her. It isn’t neither bad or good, it’s just good that she deals with tech. However, Holly on the other hand enjoys talking to everyone no matter if they don’t want to talk or not.

Obviously, out of everyone in Fenrir’s Maw that can get the Enigmatic Twins of Light and Darkness to shut up and act right since he does fondly towards them was Azeal Crystalis. He did clear his throat to get their attention and glared at them with his piercing fiery glare. Holly was already sitting down, but she was talking. Lloyd quickly got to his seat but sat close enough to his sister instead.

Holly looked towards her brother Lloyd, which would probably shock everyone with what precisely Lloyd would say next. “Lloyd, I am sorry for my past actions.” Holly said, mentioning something that happened in the long past. She only said this loud enough to have everyone hear but, when Alice Nerocristus and Mike Fertar. It would mean the meeting would officially get started.

Lloyd blinked at Holly when she spoke to him saying sorry, which he then remembered precisely what she said to him after the Herald Academy Tournament, and sighed. He twitched heavily but he must say this truthfully since they both agreed to certain things, or reasoning why they do bicker frequently in front of everyone they meet including Mike Fertar and others. “Ah, so that was eating at your psyche all this time? Holly we will always be siblings, no matter how much we bicker or fight among ourselves. Our parents made that abundantly clear when they yelled at the both of us for that display a long time ago. I could apologize, but the meeting is about to start when this is all over, we should probably have another conversation sister, isn’t that alright?” Lloyd asked, curiously. It is juxtaposed to what he usually would say but he wasn’t enjoying telling the truth but it was something he wanted to get off his chest. He had a feeling that everyone was gobbed smacked by what he had said to Holly, and it was like he was apologizing to his sister too. Because the two of them when they were growing up had a good childhood but they didn’t much like each other as siblings, fighting and causing their parents grief for their heavy handed approaches. “Would you like us go back to our normal routine of bickering in front of you or not?” Lloyd asked. He looked directly at Azeal Crystalis and everyone else that was in the meeting room at the time, specifically since he usually is the one that causes them to shut up and get back to work anyways.

Holly blinked at what he said, and honestly didn’t suspect him to say those words, and they were truthfully apologizing. She didn’t know what to say, but Holly nodded having another conversation with Lloyd. Two things happened at this point, Alice Nerocristus walked in and mentioned that Mike Fertar would be coming to the meeting soon and that Alice drank too much yesterday. However, Holly heard Navir say nothing important about clicking her tongue, and she nodded. “I wonder what Mr. Fertar got as information!” Holly said.



Fenrir’s Maw Meeting Room – The Meeting Starts

Holly saw Mr. Fertar walk into the meeting room, wearing his combat gear and with a serious look on his face. She heard of what the Ashen Demon had done, but he didn’t look as what the legends surrounding Mike, a la, thought he would be taller. He had a normal family, created mercenaries to do jobs so his family could stay going, and he hired a crew for his starship, the Fenrir’s Maw. Holly was so grateful that Mike Fertar hired her and Lloyd, despite their bickering and arguing problems. She only wanted access to a spa and a wonderfully made Ship’s cafeteria so that she could make whatever the crew wanted when it was her turn fixing food. She loved the dishes that the others created too, always increasing her palate for any need is better since having a smile on someone’s face is much better than not.

Lloyd had wondered why he had a serious look on his face, but it must mean a job came up, surrounding these gems. He was the complete opposite of Holly, which is being paid very little even on this starship since all she wanted was access to the spa, and cafeteria access to cook her meals for the crew. Lloyd had a similar impression of the captain as his sister. Still, differently, since he thought he would be much more in line with a ravenous monster that murders anyone that looks at him funny, but it was primarily if you ever enslaved another race which would cause him to do that quite literally annihilation on that race that is hated across the Reskhold Galaxy. However, he was quite nice compared even he was quite surprised with how much Holly wanted to be paid, underneath the normal price of a cook on a Mercenary vessel. At the same time, he bargained with Mike to have slightly higher pay, but it depended on the mission and its danger. If it is a cake run, those cake runs are quite easy.

The Twins nodded to Mike Fertar’s morning and thank you, but Lloyd raised his eyebrow when he said that the gems were the opposite of the King of the Forgotten, very much real. Lloyd couldn’t help but feel like that this felt a bit convenient that the King of the Forgotten message and seeing the gems on the computer that Mike Fertar typed in a code to show. The Empire that the Ashen Demon destroyed knew about the Gems of Desire. Also, the High Priestess of Vijolavij to do this mission. Lloyd has heard of that priestess before because she’s an important figure in that religion. He had to think about it, but everything he heard from Mike was a bit too convenient. What if the High Priestess wants these gems for herself, but her entirety as a High Priestess and everyone that gives her high praise like her immensely? “Convenient, I must say. An entire planet of Fubakfen to search for a Gem of Desire is a bit suspicious. However, I have heard of Vivian, and everyone gives her so much high praise for her magic prowess and kindness to the less fortunate. However, I don’t trust these gems that can be giving wishes and cause your internal desire to come to fruition.” Lloyd said. He heard what the others said before he spoke since it would be dangerous case of an idea to turn them into a weapon or anything.

Holly gasped heavily at the conversation about these gems of desire, and her brother even interjected and said that it was too convenient and felt suspicious. She thought hard about what was going on around her, but a Gem that grants a single wish or whatever they do probably means terrible things. Which Qingshe and Azeal argued about in terms of destroying them instead. Qingshe disagreed with his idea and those gems could alter the very fabric of reality. “The Gems of Desire feel too good to be true. Why would anyone want to use them? What would they gain by using them? What kind of wish would cause someone to alter the order in the Reskhold Galaxy forever? I think my desire to turn them into jewelry was too quick of an idea and they should be kept safe from anyone that would use them for ill. But, I don’t think Vivian would be that type of person to use them for ill.” Holly said.

Lloyd looked at Holly and sighed. “I know you like those stories about Vivian helping people like you help people, but this isn’t the time to be blinded by what I feel is a darker motive. You asked these questions. Why else? Power. Unless there is a better explanation, Captain Fertar what do you think? We had to walk a thin line from not being spotted by those Angels and Demons who eradicated the Enigmatic Sect Dimension because of their defiance in the Holy War. They only wanted to live in peace, and they were killed for that desire of not being involved with the conflict.” Lloyd said. He wanted an honest answer from Captain Fertar about what he thought about this job of all the conversations in the meeting. However, as a Demon of Injustice, he always sees the negative side of the people he lived with because of his eyes, and every time his sister was involved, they went power hungry since they could take out people that deserved it. If it wasn’t for him being overprotective, Holly could be fighting for a cause that isn’t virtuous until the people tell her the truth of what she’s been doing and that would break her even more than what had happened to the Enigmatic Sect Dimension.

Holly got heavily emotional when Lloyd mentioned the Enigmatic Sect Dimension and teared up because she misses the Dimension much. She desires to Rebuild the entire Dimension without using their necklaces. However, everyone living there would be entirely different from those who came before since when demons and angels lose their lives, their previous lives are wiped out. “Brother, I thought we agreed not to talk about what happened to it? But I suppose Azeal knows of what happened there. He is a full demon, besides.” Holly said.

Lloyd sighed at his sister’s crying at what was lost since it won’t be the same if they did rebuild it by any means necessary those people are gone as they once were. He was honestly truthful, but he did twitch from telling the truth as an Injustice Demon would. “Sister, I know how much you loved it originally, but we’ve moved on from it. We live in Reskhold Galaxy and must protect our new home as much as we protect all the memories from our previous home. And these Gems of Desire would destroy our new home as much as our old home. But only now we have to collect them. It is why I asked for an answer from Mike.” Lloyd said. He knows how much of a flicker of a dream of trying to desire back the Enigmatic Sect Dimension when they need to keep moving on even if they are hurting with their survivor’s guilt and everything else that happened to them.
 
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Mike listain to each of his crew members as everyone gave their opinion/view on the matter. Honestly, Mike had to agree with Azeal on destroying them though when Alice revealed how badly that could affect things, he had to push that idea out of his head. The Sattolion clearly believed in the dangers of these gem though, otherwise, they would have never did there research into this.

When Lloyd asked Mike for his opinion, Mike took a few minutes to think about it before he said "I don't believe Vivian doing this for power, as I'm sure Alice and Navir could tell you, Vivian is already considered one of the most powerful magical wielders in the Reshkold Galaxy. Honestly, she could be Grand Cardinal as many in that order already put her view and opinion ahead of the actual Grand Cardinal. But, she ether has no intrest or there something more to this move."
Mike took a moment to have a drink before he went on "I agree with Alice that Vivian is acting on her own, remember that Vivian also has the Reginae Cohortis, so why would we need to be hired when she had a force of her own?. So she must be hiding something, anything beyond that though I couldn't tell you. I reckon our best case scenario is to go along with this plan but keep everything peeled and alerted, if there is truly foul play at work, we need to be ready to act at a moment notice".

E.D.I the ship artificial intelligence then spoke up, "To answer Weapon Engineer Azeal question about the S.P.A, I thought about it and did some upgrades during shore leave, though the captain had already ask me to do it before the message appeared, so i did some quick calculations to recalibrate" Edi said, her voice a robotic monotoned feminine voice before bringing the ship diagram which zoomed in on the stealth drive and then onto the ground ship.
"While the S.P.A would detect our large ship during entry, it would not detect a small more nimble ship, epically if its stealth drive is as powerful as the one the ship uses. This ship was originally built as a Sattolion infiltration ship being ranked at Apex Prime, the only ship given that title as all other Sattolion ship only went to prime which was considered the strongest of the ships and old data suggests that this ship was almost fully operational before the empire fell. I modified the ground ship stealth drive, so that we can drop it in any territory undetected, allow us to freely enter even the most well guarded of plants without rousing anyone, though even I can't say if it 100% acute or not"
 
Izaroth would quietly listen to the rest of the crew as they voiced their misgivings and concerns, collating the key points of each member's opinions and archiving them for later comparing and contrasting. Azeal's off-the-cuff remark about destroying the orbs and Alice's swift rebuttal of the idea, Holly and Lloyd's understandable suspicion and worry over misuse of said orbs, Qingshe's concern that they might not be the only ones who know of the orbs' location somewhere on the planet, Navir's obvious distrust of Vivian... The general consensus is that the orbs can't be allowed to fall into unsavoury hands, and might need to be kept out of Vivian's too. The whereabouts of Azeal's wayward son was a concern for Izaroth, sure, but without a trail to follow, he could but only wait for information about the matter to be relayed to him by the Crystalia Knights' detachment operating in the area. In the meantime, he could but only carry on with the task at hand.

He mulled over the ship's AI's proposal, namely the initiative taken in modifying the far smaller drop ship for stealth missions, like the one they were about to embark on whether they liked it or not. Admittedly the AI was not 100% certain whether or not the notion would work, but at least being able to make it planet side and back again was a step in the right direction, but that still doesn't address the core problem in the android's mind about the whole situation before the crew.

"Even though we've got a target and a means to get in and get out without attracting more attention than is necessary... It still doesn't address the fact there's still a whole planet to search. Being able to make it down to the ground in one piece doesn't change the fact we're likely on a world inhabited by all manner of unknown, likely hostile predators and a local force intended to make sure the world remains undisturbed by unwanted outsiders, looking for something we have no idea where to establish a starting point for. But the general idea I'm getting is we should not stay on the surface any longer than we have to. The longer we remain, the more likely it is something or someone is going to realize somethings' up. Scanning for it might work, but there's a possibility the SPA might detect the scanner's signature and send a team to investigate." The android would say his piece before falling silent again.
 
E.D.I was about to answer Izaroth question only for Mike to instead add more to his previous statement. "The Sattolion empire were able to find one of the gems of desire, the head scientist reported hearing a song whenever the gem called out or so she claimed. She used that to see if she could pull a siren song upon myself and others that were imprisoned abroad that ship" Mike told the crew, reviling a scarring on his arm that was clearly caused by claws.

"I don't remember what happened, but I remember being surrounded by the dead bodies of my fellow Rawreth, and of the other scientist on that ship. The only surviver apart from me, was the head scientist herself who had an smile on her face, though her project was quickly shut down and the gem was immediately jettisoned away" Mike told them, shedding a tear for his fellow people.

"The only clear thing I remember was a song that could only be picked up by those with enhanced hearing or something built to track those signals, probes that will track these unique signals. E.D.I plans to use this once we are in Fubakfen space to track it down, then we can drop the ground vehicle while we still in space and cloaked, making things a lot easier and we won't have to search the entire planet on ground then" Mike told them.

Mike then cleared his throat and sung the song to everyone there, it was a rather low volume song that not everyone would hear. Those who would hear it clearest would ether have very strong desires or enhanced hearing like Mike did.

"No meis oblivie
Mi restia asi pur eternia
Qon todu decriesu a freia
Todu vie a mortus"
 
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Qingshe chuckled quietly at Alice's outburst. Not that she wasn't just as concerned with all the ways these gems supposedly could take the laws of magic out back and shoot them, but it was just funny to see the studious ship's doctor up in arms. "My dear, as unfortunate as it is to contemplate, I wouldn't be so surprised. There are many things across history that have been called unreachable until someone did them." She cupped her chin in thought. "So many things people thought couldn't be done, considered absolute impossibilities. You're a great teacher, an exemplary academic of the highest order, but never for a single second have I doubted that the 'laws of magic' were anything other than another hurdle for someone to overcome. They are far from as absolute as many of us would like. Of that, I am certain."

She would admit that some part of her completely cast fear to the side to practically salivate at the potential before them. Even more than actually using the gems, she was far more interested in dissecting them, figuring out how they worked, how they ticked, because once she knew that... Well, if she could do that, then the wondrous scientific process would take over, of course. If she could understand them enough to replicate them, or at least their functions...

Admittedly, she had the sense to understand that even if she could succeed, having that sort of power, that temptation... She wasn't entirely sure how she would handle it, how it might change her. She didn't necessarily want to use it, of course; she just wanted to prove that she could if she wanted to. That, to Qingshe, was the ultimate triumph, to acquire any and all knowledge just for the sake of having it. Even if she never used it, it was now something she craved, a mystery she wanted to peel open and spread across her lab table so she could drink in its innards all at once.

Eyeing Azeal, she hummed quietly. "I've never gone there, but I admit to some curiosity over Vijolavij's so-called 'peace barrier'." The mystery was deliciously enticing. So little was known about that phenomenon. Was it a compulsion? Mind control? If so, that sounded avoidable. Was it some form of retaliation that eliminated trespassers in an instant? Did it only extend to the planet's surface, or could someone bombard them to get around it? Was it just a straight-up ward against injury? Healing? That didn't seem quite right. After all, if it warded against death, then everyone would live forever there. Or maybe it was more choosy? There was so little people knew, and that lack of knowing was the most dangerous part of all. "If we are to consider giving over the Gem -even should we find it, we should be certain it will be secure." As wary as that planet made her, she was very tempted to test it. Maybe, she could arrange a patsy to record?

Thoughts for later.

Qingshe had to restrain an eye twitch and tried to avoid her gaze glazing over at the back and forth between Holly and Lloyd. Again, they -as usual- went off on sudden tangents about unrelated subjects to the matter at hand. Most of it was nonsense that all but gave her headache, but sometimes, if she picked through the trash, some nuggets of gold stood out. "I wholly agree that the Gems of Desire sound too good to be true. As do the altruistic claims of any that would wish to possess them."

Addressing the room, she said. "That is why, for my own part, I cannot fathom a reason to let the Gem leave our possession should we acquire it. We know too little about Vivian and the Order as a whole to truly say how the introduction of such power into their hands could change them." She huffed. "If not for the fact that allowing a known Gem to fall into unknown hands weren't a horrific idea on every conceivable level, I would motion we also avoid acquiring the Gem for ourselves as well. Such a thing should be left lost and buried." Folding her arms, her fingers rapped upon her elbows. "Unfortunately, that is an ideal world with an ideal solution that we don't have the luxury of possessing. So, we have no choice but to retrieve the Gem first and foremost. What we should do with it past that... I struggle to conceive an acceptable conclusion, but I still do not think it should go to the Order."

She listened, as the Captain gave his own opinion on the matter and pursed her lips, restraining a frown. "In some ways, the fact that High Priestess Vivian is acting on her own is even more suspicious," she posited. Certainly, it could be interpreted as rightful caution... but the secrecy could also be rooted in a dangerous self-interest. Rapping her fingers on the table, she hummed. "I would say... if at all possible, we should try to acquire a second Gem of Desire, and we should do it without relying on information from Vivian or the Order. OPSEC, as it were." She glanced around the room. "The greatest threat of these Gems of Desire, regardless of whatever independent abilities they might have, is the wish. As long as we have one of them -just one- we can deny anyone else from using them to their most cataclysmic potential." She smiled. "If we could somehow acquire a second Gem, unbeknownst to Vivian and the Order -or anyone else for that matter, I would feel secure in giving her the one she has tasked us with retrieving."

Listening to talk of the group's "landing strategy", Qingshe nodded, getting down to business. Prevarication aside, their course was clear. Before they could truly decide what to do with the Gem, they would need to actually acquire it. And for that, they would need to go to Fubakfen. "Unless we have any reason to leave our ship in the open, once we land on the planet's surface, I can store it inside my shadow until we need it again. After that, we should be able to take off from anywhere." She tilted her head. "Alternatively, I could merely briefly absorb and blueprint it, before putting it back. Rather than leaving myself as a single point of failure, we will not only have our original landing site, but if either myself or the ship is compromised, we can resort to the other option." If the ship was captured or destroyed, she could create a new one. If she was out of commission, they could naturally just return to the ship. "After all, as much as getting in is a problem solved, we shouldn't neglect to consider how we're going to get out with our prize."

Izaroth, of course, made a very good point. How the hell were they supposed to actually find the Gem? It would basically be a needle in a haystack to the infinite degree. Fortunately, Captain Mike seemed to have an... interestingly convenient and strange solution to that. "The Sattolions found the Gems, and even they didn't want to mess with them?" Qingshe's eyes widened minutely. In so many ways, that was a red flag beyond imagining.

Then she frowned. "A song as a signal?" Something about that statement made her skin crawl, but she sighed in a mix of relief and other cocktail of feelings. "I suppose if we can at least narrow down the general area, have the ability to detect that signal, that makes things... easier..." She trailed off, when Mike began to... abruptly sing. It was a... low, haunting melody, a thing that seemed to ring in her ears, thrum in her chest, shooting chills up her spine in a way she couldn't quite describe. There was... a strange pull there, ephemeral and lacking discernable direction. The Captain had said.... that this could supposedly only be heard by those with either extremely acute hearing or extremely strong desires, and Qingshe most certainly didn't lack for either. Both hearing and ambition... To her, the melody was practically as clear as if it was resonating around within the confines of an opera house.

By the time Mike had stopped singing, she had frozen in place, eyes minutely wider and pupils narrowed to sharp slits. Finally, she released a breath she didn't know she was holding and leaned back in her chair again, perhaps edged slightly away from the Captain, as she digested the phenomenon that had just occurred, running a number of self-diagnostics to double, triple and quadruple check that it hadn't had any strange effects on her. She resisted the urge to cringe and roll her shoulders, as if trying to slough off the remnants of the sensation that had just washed over her.

"What... was that," her voice eventually uttered. She had to ask, even though she was far from confident that the Captain could answer. It was just a song, right? Just... mere words? But, no. She was studying magic, after all, so that wasn't so strange. She knew intimately that words could have power. She just prayed that these words didn't have any power over her. "That language, I don't recognize it..." Which was honestly saying something, yet somehow failed to surprise her. Glancing around the room, her lips pursed tightly. "Do any of you?"
 
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Navir felt a nagging sense of dread, an icy chill that pooled in her stomach, as the crewmates continued to discuss the gems, how to find them and what to do with them once they did. In truth, she would prefer staying away from this mission in its entirety. Dealing with matters such as these, should it turn out to be true, were ill-advised for any being, including herself. Every party made some good points to think about.

Azael's suggestion to simply destroy the gems was wishful thinking, and Alice's explanation overlapped with Navir's own opinion. If these objects were indeed as powerful as they would appear, then destroying one could prove devastating. If these gems could alter the fabric of reality, that power had to be immense to say the least, possibly at the same level or even more so than the power exerted to create a universe if they were unlucky.

She cocked her head when Mike interjected, objecting to the idea of Vivian doing this for power. 'You speak hopefully, Mike, but there are many that would crave power, even one as powerful as she. I would say the Sattolian empire would be enough of an example for that.' she responded to his claim. 'Even if the retrieval of this gem is successful, I would not feel comfortable to hand over such an object to a woman who has made it quite obvious she wants it, no matter what her reasoning or intent for it is.'

She continued listening to the rest of the crew as they stated their piece while downing her wine, placing the glass on the table in front of her. Slowly her mind drifted, mulling over the gems, the truth behind their existence and what they should do next. The icy chill remained pooled in her stomach, prompting her to chew on the nail of her thumb as she continued pondering whether to put her foot down and keep them from going.

Concern was the main thing on her mind. Concern about this being a trap, about what could go wrong during the mission, and most of all about what this gem could and would do once they found it.
Still, despite all that, there was also her curiosity playing in the back of her mind. Navir was powerful without a doubt, but even she had her limits. Reshaping the fabric of reality was far beyond the scope of her abilities and the closest she had come to anything even considered close to it was the birth of her Hell Butterflies, so laying eyes on an object capable of doing exactly that made her mouth water.

Aside from the unlimited potential of such an object, a dark corner in Navir's brain called out to her. If the power of these gems was truly limitless, what could she do with them? Could she even bring her little sister back to life? Logic dictated she pushed this thought down as soon as it appeared. She was a reaper, a death god. The passing of souls was sacred to her, yet the idea of pulling her loved one back from the hereafter was so, so tempting.

Just then, Mike started singing, and a chill ran up her spine as her mind went all but blank. An otherworldly sound, it was as if she could hear it, yet not hear it at the same time. Whatever words the song spoke of were washed away, and the dark corner that had been nagging in the back of her mind took over in an instant. Her body tensed up, and her hand dropped onto the armrest of her chair, gripping it with such force that the material was crushed between her fingers and crumbled, falling to the floor. In an instant a voice seemed to whisper in her head, words she could not understand, yet its meaning translated itself into the very fabric of her being. A single word etched itself into the forefront of her mind; Mesildelan… Mesildelan… Mesildelan… Mesildelan… Mesildelan… Mesildelan…

Not a moment too soon, Mike's song ended, and the whispers cut off abruptly, causing Navir to shoot out of her chair while sucking in air, gasping heavily. The force of her standing up send the chair flying backwards and slam into the wall behind her, where it dropped to the ground with a heavy thud. She took a few moments to catch her breath, before looking at Mike with a ferocious, almost frantic look in her eyes. In a split second, her hand had connected to his face with a surprising amount of force, the sharp sound of flesh hitting flesh echoing across the meeting room. In her uncharacteristically shaken state, Navir didn't think to hold back and the hit was sure to do a considerable amount of damage, but she didn't feel any guilt after doing so. 'Don't ever dare do that again, Mike Fertar.' she panted, straightening herself out before putting one hand on her forehead to soothe the piercing headache that erupted.

After a short moment, she grabbed herself a new chair and unceremoniously dropped onto it. 'A glass of water, please, E.D.I.' she spoke softly, having recomposed herself after her outburst.
 
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Fenrir's Maw - Meeting Room

Azeal and Alice watched as Holly and Lloyd were clearly having a moment you would often find on a cheesy TV drama right there in front of everyone. "Cute" was the word that popped into Alice's mind as she sees the siblings makeup with each other. "Irritating" was the word Azeal would use for it. Not that he minded these two starting to get along, but did they really have to do it in that odd way of speaking in front of fucking everyone? There's a time and a place for this kind of thing, and this was neither. At the same time, this was still a necessary thing these two had to do for their own sake and the sake of everyone else, so he tolerated it.

Truth be told, on the outside he was annoyed, rhythmically tapping his fingers on the table as if in waiting for the two to get done so they can get on topic with everyone else. But on the inside, it reminded him of days long past...Siblings they may be, but they bickered like a married couple and made up with each other like one as well. It took him back to simpler times with his own wife, arguments and disagreements that were just as annoying, now like the bells of their wedding in his ears.

"Would you like us go back to our normal routine of bickering in front of you or not?"

And just like that, the Nostalgia disappeared in the blink of an eye, replaced with a mental steam and an urge to jump out of his chair, grab Lloyd by the throat and toss his ass out into space. His eyes giving a death glare straight into Lloyd's soul as the hand tapping on the table clenched into a fist, unwittingly scratching the surface of the table clean off as though it was butter, a record scratch to his earlier tapping.

The BALLS on this boy... Some demons may have respect for that rebellious nature, but if there was one thing his mother taught him, it's that insolence to one's better should be respected with pain. Were they in hell and Lloyd one of his soldiers, that comment would have earned him a month on the rack at least.

Still, Lloyd should count himself fortunate that Azeal is fully aware of his current position. This is the mortal realm, and this is another's ship. The only thing Azeal did was sit there, his hand still at the end of the marks he made on the table, giving Lloyd a look that could mutilate the bastard. The air around his head became heated to the point where if one looked hard enough, they could see it ripple.

"Sit down; Shut up." He simply said in a calm but seething tone of voice, as if trying his damnedest not to stain Mike's ship with Lloyd's blood.

...It surely deserved a paint job of higher quality if it came to that.

Alice simply gave a nervous laugh as she extended her hands to wave them at Azeal, trying to cool the air and calm him down.

"Eh...hehe, Uh, Lloyd, you might want to can it with the quips right now. The captain needs our undivided attention, and not much else." She said to Lloyd, essentially using kinder and more polite words to tell Lloyd to shut up as well. A nervous smile on her face as if she was in front of a nuclear bomb and poorly convincing everyone she can disarm it, while screaming on the inside.

--------------

Once that interruption was settled, Azeal cooled down and the Captain once again was at the focus of attention, as he and EDI explained the situation. Around that time, Qingshe made her reply to Alice regarding how impossible the Gems' ability was.

"My dear, as unfortunate as it is to contemplate, I wouldn't be so surprised. There are many things across history that have been called unreachable until someone did them. So many things people thought couldn't be done, considered absolute impossibilities. You're a great teacher, an exemplary academic of the highest order, but never for a single second have I doubted that the 'laws of magic' were anything other than another hurdle for someone to overcome. They are far from as absolute as many of us would like. Of that, I am certain."

There was something Alice recalled her mother saying... That Magic was simply another form of science yet undiscovered by the greater whole of life. Qingshe's statements essentially sum up to the same thing. She couldn't do much but respond with a smile. It's true that there have been a handful of cases throughout time and space that come to mind. Alice could only of two - maybe three or four - phenomenon that has resulted in outright miracles happening.

But there's good reason why they don't step over that line. Power, especially of that magnitude, has a price. In that respect, these gems are probably no different...

Holly and Lloyd were once again conversing with each other. But at least they were on point this time around, much to Azeal's relief. Then they brought up what happened to what Alice correctly assumes was their home...

Holly brought up that Azeal is a full demon, and while that's not necessarily true, Azeal said nothing. Best for everyone's sake if Lloyd does not have any more reasons to be a headache than he already had. Speaking of...

"Moved on from it? Asshole, YOU brought it up!" He thought when Lloyd tried to justify saying something that they apparently promised not to talk about, pretending to be cool about it.

Azeal does recall what they were talking about though. Apparently a Demon Noble and one of the seraphs ran away from the Holy War into a pocket dimension of their own making, leading several hundred deserters from both sides to live in peace outside of it. He remembers that Eron Victis - Lloyd and Holly's Grandfather - wouldn't shut up about it; the demon commanders and Demon Lord were discussing strategies against the angels and mortals - who had the upper hand during that phase of the war - and Eron would just be constantly ranting over how his son deserted the troops and how he's eloping with the enemy. At the time, Azeal ignored the self-proclaimed "demon king of injustice", his focus being on turning the tides back in their favor. Eron must have taken matter into his own hands and apparently annihilated said deserters alongside - ironically enough - another seraph who had the same idea, apparently the twins' Grandmother. As someone higher on the chain of command in the Demon Lord's army, Azeal felt just as responsible for not pulling on Eron's leash when he had the chance. It may not have saved them - that seraph Fiona was going to do the same whether Eron was there or not - but it would have given the deserters a better chance to save themselves.

Azeal shook off the thought, there was no time for reliving guilt, focusing on the here and now was what was important.

Alice listened to the Twins talk about the gems and Vivian herself. Power? She can't blame him for thinking that, it's a logical conclusion to draw on without proper knowledge of the person, but as someone who knew her and her position, "power" alone wasn't enough reason to make Vivian want these things. If it was simply power she wanted, she had plenty of it already and she wasn't the gluttonous type who'd want more for the sake of having it. No, Vivian must have another reason, something more important to her personally...though hell if she knows what that could be. In any case, there was also Holly's frankly naive questions to consider. The poor thing doesn't seem to realize how obvious the answer to her questions truly were. She'll have to explain it to her later.

Meanwhile, Qingshe once again said her piece on the matter. It's true that Vivian's acting alone does look suspicious from where they stand. While Alice believes it's simply to keep the more aggressive crusaders of Vijolavij, it's not a stretch to assume there's an ulterior motive to be had here. Furthermore, ideally indeed these Gems should be lost and buried somewhere when found. If they truly have the capacity to basically invoke miracles, that's too much power for just anyone to have. Her idea of procuring a second stone and then simply giving her the one they were assigned to give her, was a good one, but it would mean making Vivian an enemy sooner or later.

"Well...on the one hand, Vivi's a smart cookie. She might not figure it out immediately, but as more and more of the gems get found, process of elimination's all she'd need to figure out we have another one in our possession. If she's really after the power of the gems, we could wind up with having a crusade against us, or worse, her Reginae Cohortis unit. ...On the other hand, it would be a nice test of character for her. After all, we do what's asked of us, what's wrong with getting a little extra outside our task?" Alice said with a smile.

Mike and EDI spoke up, with EDI in particular giving info on the ship they'll be using for the infiltration, a former Sattolion ship with a stealth drive apparently. For Azeal in particular, the ship WAS intriguing. He then listened to Izaroth state a fair point regarding this. There was another issue itching in the back of Azeal's mind. Fact is, they're not the only ones who have reason to go to Fubakfem. Every day Poachers try to get around the SPA to illegally secure flora and fauna from that planet, and that's without the ultra-valuable magic gem that's supposedly there attracting even more attention. Even if they land on the planet safely, they eventually have to get out of the ship and onto the planet's surface, and the SPA is sure to have traps and a radar on their orbital station at the ready to detect anyone who may have gave them the slip.

That said, if this stealth drive is as good as the AI boasted it is...

It was around that time that Mike explained how they were going to find it...A siren song that the Sattolions tried to use via an experiment on Mike, and how it resulted, with the project being shut down...Odd that, for a race like the Sattolions, especially since by the sound of it the experiment went exactly the way the scientist wanted.

That said, it sounded...Familiar for him, a song that only those of enhanced hearing could hear serving as a siren song of desire? Well firstly, that seems odd that they'd pick and choose like that, since things of desire tend to want as many people to find it as possible but more importantly, it sounded...like something he's heard about before. Something his mother told him about many years ago. If this was that song...

Mike then proceeded to clear his throat, and immediately, Azeal noticed why, if Mike was about to do what he thinks...

"...Wait, wha-Mike Wait NO!" He said, but it was too late, and he, along with the rest of the crew, heard the song being played. Despite who was singing it, it sounded more...melancholy than one would think, but there was something about the song, a prescence to the words, an aura within the sound that was all too familiar for him.

Desire, the corrosion of the soul, for others it was as though there would be a devil on their shoulder reminding them what they want in life, and drives it home as though that want was an invaluable need. For something like the Gems of Desire, it was just the catalyst they needed to be used. For a demon, however, this feeling is something more... A feeling of tranquility and sound mind, this melody was relaxation for them, and so Azeal staggered about, his vision blurry before sitting back down, as if fighting the urge to just sleep, yet he couldn't help but smile at how good it felt. He couldn't imagine how Lloyd and Holly must have felt, their angel blood should not be exposed to the influence of this song.

While the singing was happening, his vision was blurred, he couldn't see much of what was going on around him, how the others were reacting to it, before seemingly going to sleep. The moment the song stopped though, his eyes snapped open and he shot out of his chair, holding his head, his mind still somewhat dazed. But he did notice everyone's reactions to it. Navir uncharacteristically panicked and smacking Mike in the face - good, he wasn't feeling up to it himself. Qingshe was also affected by the looks of it as she asked about what that song was.

"...Hymn of the lost....The Hymn of the Lost Beast. It's a folklore song in hell. ...My mother used to sing that to me as a lullaby before bed, a common thing down there... I heard it was used as a siren's song the lure potential sinners into temptation, but I never actually saw it in action like that. Mike, I concur with Navir, that song was NOT meant for the tongues of anyone in this universe." He said, sitting back down, trying to wake up fully from his daze, hoping he'll at least feel good by the end of it.

He looked around to see who among them was affected. It seems most of them were, and Clarissa he couldn't see real well, so he had no idea how it effected her.

But interestingly enough, Alice was sitting there unfazed by the song. She didn't have a bad reaction to it...in fact, she had no reaction, it was as if she was simply hearing a song, and nothing more.

Alice looked at everyone, confused by their reactions to it. It didn't feel like any spell she's ever seen, but she's all too familiar with the power of music when it came to magic. There was...something in the notes, but she couldn't quite tell what it was. Whatever it was, it didn't seem to create any effects on her like it did to anyone else. When it was over, she looked over to Qingshe and kept close for support while she was self-diagnosing herself and asked her questions.

"The language was...familiar, I feel like I've may have heard it somewhere before... I think I heard something similar while mom was teaching me magic. But as to their meaning, I have no idea. I mean, I can guess at a couple of words, but that's about it." She answered Qingshe.
 
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Fenrir’s Maw – Meeting Room

Outwardly speaking, Holly was a slight bit nostalgic over hearing her brother was happy to move on from their bickering. Holly got terrified when those words came out of Lloyd’s mouth. Only because Lloyd did stand up when saying them towards Azeal specifically, and that was too freaking close to seeing her brother killed by another crew member. Holly was shivering down her spine and hopefully, Lloyd would do the right thing. However, Holly didn’t want to add to the generally horrible position that had happened because she didn’t want to have her neck on the line like it was with Lloyd’s. She saw the heat coming off of Azeal's head as Holly saw a ripple.

Inwardly speaking, Lloyd should’ve suspected that his words would have pushed Azeal’s buttons enormously. He’s one of the few people you shouldn’t piss off. Especially, Azeal’s look in his eyes towards Lloyd this time around and it was I’m going to fucking kill you and he saw the ripple around Azeal's head like he was freaking done with his shit. Lloyd decidedly not to get argumentative since life flashed before his eyes, and it would be better to sit down and shut up. Azeal clearly ordered him to do so and Alice was trying to defuse the situation by telling Lloyd nicely to shut up. Lloyd smiled slightly, and nodded towards Alice as he sat in his chair silently thinking about the past some more. ‘I’m not going to do that again. I should’ve not pushed his buttons more, but I have throughout my life have done so, but it was a coping mechanism to wanting what we both had in the Enigmatic Sect Dimension. Amaryl and Ernest were one of a kind parents, I miss them but the one that missed them the most is Holly. I slightly could understand why they coddled us, they didn’t like what happened during the Holy War. Protect the new generation from conflict, its one of the guiding principles of the Dimension we lived in.’ Lloyd thought to himself with a significant understanding about the Enigmatic Sect Dimension. He looked towards Holly, which looked nervous and scared from what just happened. ‘I should’ve probably kept that aspect of what I said out but I didn’t.’ Lloyd thought to himself. Therefore, he kept listening to the meeting as everyone else had a voice to what precisely they are going to do.

Holly was nervously smiling trying to get over the fear of what almost happened to her twin younger brother, Lloyd with almost dying to Azeal of all things. It was a different feeling to being grounded by Amaryl and Ernest, their parents for pushing their buttons, basically both of them got a reality check today, that the Enigmatic Sect Dimension had a different feel to other realms. She sensed her brother wasn’t going to try that again, only because she saw him look at her, but in response Holly gave him a look of Please, no more of this seriously? Holly realized one of the important things, the older sibling has to be responsible for the younger one. ‘Everyone, I am sorry for my brother’s actions. I should’ve been more responsible for his actions, but I didn’t.’ Holly thought to herself. She was tearing up but cleared her tears and listening to the conversation after being inside of her head. They were both had incredible survivor’s guilt is hardest on her the most, even more so than Lloyd since he grew up enormously in a short span of time as they lived. All the while, Holly has been living based on her want and desire of wanting to take it slow and lived like they lived in the Enigmatic Sect Dimension.

Lloyd saw Holly cry a bit but it’s mainly because she should’ve probably diffused the situation before it got that bad, but with how much bad luck they have it could have gotten worse. He did see his sister’s look on her face and knew how naive his sister is all because she wants what they had in the past living in the Enigmatic Sect Dimension. However, it’s simply put that her not giving in what was his fault was the best course of action. ‘I feel like she gotten a reality check finally. Our parents were trying to teach us that outside of the Enigmatic Sect Dimension was much different than inside of it. Reality is dependent on understanding, hopefully she learns quicker than staying naive as she has. Though all her experiences are based around I protecting her from those evils that would want to use her for her kindness.’ Lloyd thought in his head. It seemed like their little agreement backfired in his own face, which is a bummer. However, the others in this meeting’s ideas and concerns were more wanting of his attention.



As all things happen, the conversation and the opinions of everyone else wrapped around Holly’s head as something as that everyone doesn’t trust Vivian or the Gems themselves. Specifically, with how Navir mentioned that she doesn’t trust Vivian, and that ideally specific of talk between Alice and Qingshe with what she mentioned. The biggest dead giveaway was how Mike Fertar, the captain of the ship answered her brother’s question on his opinion. Even though, it did cause a bit of a scene with the mentioning of the Enigmatic Sect Dimension and how it was annihilated by their grandparents. Qingshe even agreed to Holly’s statement of the Gems of Desire being too good to be true. It caused her to smile somewhat, but the greater demeanor was that Vivian was acting alone and the words for that was taken out of her lips by Qingshe. Suspicious, indeed, that is.

As the time progressed, Lloyd came upon two interesting inquiries since he asked his question towards Mike Fertar. Specifically, that Vivian has more power than the Grand Cardinal and doesn’t choose to become that level of power in the church and that she’s utterly acting on her own, with her Reginae Cohortis, the bodyguards that protect the High Priestess. However, as much as he would want to add to it others already mentioned that her acting alone was suspicious, like Qingshe spoke. Additionally, the EDI the Ship’s Artificial Intelligence mentioned particularly a great piece of hardware, the Stealth Systems of the Sattolion Empire, and this ship was used as an Infiltration Ship. Even though, he was working on world on his shore leave. Lloyd did mention the Enigmatic Sect Dimension, but it was obviously annihilated by their grandparents since they had to face demons and angels with the precisely same weapons against them. He felt moving off that topic was a bit better, but many people looked slightly annoyed at him trying to move off it.

Also, Alice mentioned how smart Vivian is, and the process of elimination would be the likelihood that they would become a target if they had a Gem of Desire. Holly was a bit terrified at the aspect of that point coming back to bite them, but Alice did say to test Vivian’s character. Then it was Izaroth’s good point on how to find the Gems of Desire, which caused Holly to blink slightly. Her questioning was mainly towards the use of said gems and not to find them only because she would rather not find them. However, Captain Mike started talking about how the Sattolion Empire found one of the gems of desire and reported hearing a song. That little tidbit of information caused Qingshe and most people to be disappointed, except for Holly since she was more confused than anything.

Lloyd had a similar reaction to what Captain Mike said about a song finding one of the Gems of Desire as if it was beyond stupid to believe that load of bologna. He knew his father knew a song but never sung it inside of the Enigmatic Sect Dimension, because of the pact between the demons and angels. Obviously, the song of the Enigmatic Sect Dimension was overly kind to both demons and angels as a motto towards the beliefs of those who abandoned the Holy War. It was slight confusion, nonetheless because it was nonsense.

Holly heard Mike clear his throat as he was about to sing, the song in question that found the Gem of Desire that the Sattolion Empire sought. She heard Azeal yell at Mike not to sing the song, but it was too little too late. As the song was being sung by Mike, it caused her intense feeling of irritation, and as a war was forming within her own being between her blood which is mixed of demon and angel. Her angelic blood was rejecting everything of the song that is being sung and it was causing an enormous brain-splitting migraine and wasn’t moving while the song was sung. However, there was a slight humming sound within her psyche of her mother singing her a lullaby trying to get her to sleep, but it was only because she was experiencing pain on a level greater than what had happened to the Enigmatic Sect Dimension.

Lloyd heard Mike clear his throat and even heard Azeal yell at Mike not to sing the song, but it was too late. As the song was being sung by Mike, Lloyd had the same feeling of irritation but not to the same level as Holly, but it still was a fight between the two blood within his body. His angelic blood fought heavily to reject the song even more so than the Demon blood that wanted the song’s tranquility and he was having a similar migraine form because of the blood fighting each other while the song was ongoing.

The Twins could barely think properly with the song, as it felt like they were in a daze of seeing their eyes flash before themselves. As the song ended, they both moved their Millennium Wine away that Qingshe gave them, and laid their head on the table. They slowly moved their hands on their head and looked directly at Mike with a bit of disdain on their face. Holly was the next to speak, since Navir slapped Mike, and everyone else was a tidbit angry at him. “As everyone else said, Please for the love of Reskhold don’t ever sing that song again, I felt like I was seeing my mother sing to me a gentle lullaby. Lloyd, is this why Father never sang lullabies?” Holly asked confused and her head hurt heavily as the migraine was still there. She also heard Azeal mention the folklore song of hell, which his mother sang to him as a lullaby.

Lloyd heard what Azeal said and then his sister’s question towards him rang true, but he was still hurting from the song to begin with. “One point, interesting tidbit of data. I had a feeling my father knew a song from hell, but he never sang it. But as my twin sister said please don’t sing it ever again, my blood was fighting itself from the inside. Yes, sister, I miss Mother’s lullaby over the Hymn of the Lost Beast that was just sung by Mike.” Lloyd said, in agreement with what was said by Azeal and everyone else. He wasn’t happy one bit about having a migraine from a song since the songs that he listened to are in the Mortal plane or from the Enigmatic Sect Dimension, as much as he could recreate it.

Holly had a look of confusion when she looked towards Alice, as she was entirely unaffected by the song. She didn’t understand why but it wouldn’t be too much of trying to bring up right now since she wasn’t in the mood to drink her wine glass that held the Millennium Wine since she never had a migraine while drinking alcohol. “Is there a such of a migraine medicine that can stop the internal war between blood? Unless that would be too much to ask.” Holly said, a bit nervously since she remembered how many times she got her brother irritated by her questions like this.

Lloyd wasn’t in the mood to fight with his sister let alone be irritated at her question, but her naive question wasn’t one of those things to ask in front of someone that would love to dissect you to find out how you ticked, and that was Qingshe. “Holly, it would be better to ask for regular migraine medicine instead. Because god, my head felt like I was hit by a baseball bat or running into a wall a few times. Don’t know which is worse though.” Lloyd said, irritated at how much his head hurt. Seems like the migraine was as bad as Holly’s but it seems like no matter their blood quality, being a hybrid of an Angel and Demon would still do this type of thing. ‘One of the worst days of my life it seems, should’ve asked the consequences for listening to a song like this as a Hybrid of Angel and Demon to my father if that song he didn’t sing, and what would be its effects… but I didn’t ask that did I? No, he asked me to protect Holly after learning the Enigmatic Sect Dimension was doomed from myself.’ Lloyd thought to himself.

Holly blinked at what her brother said and went a bit white at the realization at what she said, since her brother was hinting basically at Qingshe. “Okay, yeah regular migraine medicine. I feel the same way brother, never had that intense of a migraine ever.” Holly said, irritated and still holding her head and feeling like she should keep her head on the table until someone else would interject in all of this but it seems like Navir hitting Mike across the face with a slap must’ve hurt.
 
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Clarissa
Fenrir´s Maw Meeting Room

Outwardly, Clarissa was following along the meeting as Mike arrived and informed the crew about these Gems of Desire. Inwardly, something about the rest of the message had resonated with her. It was a fathers message to his daughter. "So why have you not done A SINGLE THING TO FIND HIM!" As the others discuss the potential politics behind the priestess' decision to ask for the Hellsquads help, the tech fixer was releasing more and more sedatives into her system. "ANSWER ME SISTER!" Her AR indicates the bioregulator has used all sedatives. She looks across the room to a dark corner, someone mentions how Fubakfem is an X-class Jungle planet. "I DON'T WANT TO!" -The forest is all around them as their father teaches them to hunt, to track, ambush and kill, slaughter, their prey. They try to ambush him as he comes back a year later, like beasts...-

She rolls her shoulders as Izaroth and Qingshe discuss how to find the Gem on Fubakfem without being found themselves and leaving unmolested, if the plan of their captain and the ship AI succeded in getting them down. Mike recounts an encounter with the supposed effects of a Gem, that could be used to locate it. And then he starts singing.


As the first few syllables rolled out across the meeting room a sense of deja vu hit her, but it wasn't the words, it was something deeper, something that tugged at more than her body and mind. "BUT I DO!" -Two bodies lay beside eachother, one broken, the other in despair.-

As Navir bolted up and then punched Mike like a freightrain, mucus started pouring out of Clarissa's every pore. A ghost image flashes across her AR as something makes her psychic signature fluctuate. The mucus quickly hardened and caked off, falling as evaporating dust, leaving something different, inverted.
Looking over at their captain she stands up before walking over to the twins. Pulling out two injection vials. "I think this will do for you two, both as a pain nullifier, and possibly for the spiritual backlash of magically charged opposite bloods. I use it for... similar reasons" she says, smiling.
Looking over at Alice and Qingshe she almost says something but stops herself, instead looking at Azeal and starting over.
"I haven't heard this "hymn of the lost beast" before, but if this is the power of simply tributing the experience of actually having heard it. I could hopefully solve a personal problem hearing the actual thing. This was..." she trails off, her eyes widening as a spasm goes through her neck. A spiritual static, like a lightbulb flickering from the current reversing goes through her aura, and she blinks away mucus turned to dust from her eyes. A practised movement refills her bioregulator with a few vials from her kit and her biorythm slowes down.
"Not something that we should repeat without warning. Captain, if we can be dropped in the general area of this Gem, I can likely track it on the surface without alerting anyone to our presence."Clarissa says as mucus starts to form on the back of her hands, this time building until it is an inch thick, something moving inside.
 
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Izaroth would listen to Mike's intended workaround to be able to locate the gems, namely in the form of a song they passively emit, to which Azeal would attempt to interject before he sang it, but the damage had already been done once the first words left his lips, Izaroth passively noting the reactions of the crew as Mike sang. Qingshe had briefly frozen up while the words washed over her, uncharacteristic silence from her resulting from the song in question. Navir on the other hand had the inverse reaction, having clearly felt something akin to shock, and made her annoyance known about it when she smacked Mike in the face. Azeal's reaction was as if someone had sang a childhood lullaby to him, the man falling asleep for a brief moment on the table.

Alice, curiously, remained unaffected by it all, as if she was just listening to a song she'd heard so many times to the point she'd grown numb to it. It was a language she was largely unable to interpret in her follow-up musings on the song. Perhaps the most curious, and problematic, reaction though would be the twins' seemingly conflicting effects, as their physiology seemed to both accept and reject the song as though it was a painful game of tug of war. An effect that would likely result in problematic consequences if a certain wayward son was exposed to it, especially if his mind was already unsound. Lastly, Clarissa would visibly excrete mucus from every possible pore, which would swiftly harden and turn to dust almost as quickly as it emerged, the mechanic promptly taking steps to regulate herself, as well as easing the twins' migraines.

For Izaroth himself, however, it was as if the song was being sang at the lowest possible volume, bordering on outright silence, the android having to silently play back the song in his own mind, replaying it several times and attempting to make it loud enough to hear, eventually managing to catch the words, though much like Alice it was one he was unfamiliar with. "I'll have to cross-reference that across the Crystalis' known languages database later, I think." He thought to himself before turning back to the rest of the crew, namely making note of Azeal's remark on how the song in question wasn't meant for mortal ears.

"For me, the song was not even a whisper. I had to replay it in my mind, and slowly increase the volume just to be able to make out the words. I doubt I'll be able to accurately track it's source once we make planet fall, but by that same token, I should be able to transport the gem with no ill effects." The android would say as he remained seated once the rest of the crew had said their pieces, having seemingly been untouched by the songs' effects all throughout Mike's impromptu singing session.
 
It was pretty obvious to Mike that he had made a horrible mistake singing the Hymn as after the song, he witness the reaction of each of his crew mates. He had not expected Navir to stand up and slap him without holding back, though the damage was lessened as Black fur went up his face and breifly to his eyes making his eyes a mixture of Red and blue.
But even worse was his reaction to the slap, when he couldn't hold back a low threatening growl and a intense spike to his aura, his Ashen Demon aura appearing if breifly before Mike regained his composer and the black fur dissappear with his eyes return to their nature blue.

"I'm sorry everyone, I didn't think before I acted. It won't happen again, I assure you" Mike said to his crew with a bow, epically noticing Holy, Lloyd and Azeal reaction to it, it seemed the demons knew more about it then he first though.
E.D.I decide to take the control of the speech for a bit after giving Navir her drink as well as making sure all the demon members of the crew were ok, helping out Clarissa where she needed her. "It seems that everyone apart from the individual known as Alice and Izaroth had a reaction to the song, that is a troubling though. Luckily, I believe I can lessen the effect on all of you when we get to Fubakfen" E.D.I told the crew, sounding confident for an A.I, Mike once more spoke up "The Hymn of the lost beast is it?, makes sense why the Sattolion were so obsessed with using beasts in their experiments with it, but I feel like there a blank spot in my mind"

Maybe as a benefit to a few of them, suddenly a beeping noise happen and the pilot voice come over the intercoms. "Captain Fertar and crew, we are approaching Fubakfen now. I'll activate the stealth drive and I'll drop you off as close to mission location as I can"

Mike nodded and said "Meeting adjourned for now, we'll get this first Gem and decided on our action afterwards". He looked to Alice and then Izaroth, before adding "when we find this gem, since Alice and Izaroth were unaffected by it, I want them to hold onto it as a safety precaution. After my time with the gems, I want to ensure that we keep them as secure as possible. I don't need more pointless deaths and seeing that smirking bitch again"
He then stood up and said "E.D.I activate the scanners and let's see if we can find this gem". "Yes Captain" E.D.I said as the AI vanished from the meeting room.
 
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Lei Qingshe Name Header.png

Location: Fenrir's Maw, Meeting Room

The other reactions to the "Hymn of the Lost Beast" were... varied, but it was Navir's in particular that nearly had Qingshe snap out of her seat. If she hadn't been so lost in thought, she would have intervened. Yet, genuine surprise too played no small factor in her abstinence, and she could only watch with wide eyes, as Navir actually struck the Captain, hard enough that Qingshe was fairly confident it would have rag-dolled someone of any lesser physical integrity... if not killed them outright.

"Navir," she couldn't help but bite out, swallowing the rest of the words that wanted to escape her, as her nostrils flared in a calming inhale. The light scraping noise of claws on the table sounded out, as her fingertips drew over it, thankfully with enough restraint to cause no damage. Yet, the scent of ozone briefly tickled the air, a sign of her genuine ire. Considering her words, Qingshe frowned in a manner that bespoke of disappointment, as the buzz of static across nearby surfaces retreated. "There's no call for such behavior. We're chasing down what will surely be a much stronger source of that 'Hymn' that you should expect to be exposed to in some capacity. If anything, surely you could see the value of 'exposure therapy', rather than ducking your head in the sand until you have nowhere to run?" She shook her head, chuckling with a tone of apparent amusement. "Isn't that a rather unbecoming look on a Grim Reaper?"

Honestly, Qingshe knew that -being in a mercenary band- she should expect some level of informality, but coming from a military background as she did, seeing this sort of sight was... shocking. Even knowing the offence was being committed by the crew's SIC, surely, there were limits? After all, that informality went both ways, and you couldn't count on a mercenary captain to be constrained by piddly things like "legal protocol" against uppity crew members. Yet... in the moments that followed, despite her concerns, Mike actually seemed contrite. Well, personally, Qingshe wouldn't have let that slide, but she supposed being in a mercenary crew also afforded him the leniency of mercy. Though, realistically, she wasn't actually sure what Mike could even do to an entity of Navir's caliber if she weren't willing to humor him. One of them was basically immortal, and the other wasn't. It was simple math, really.

On the other hand, Azeal at least seemed to be actually willing to enforce some discipline around here. Lloyd's impudence was returned with a seething command to desist, which was thankfully heeded, since the Wrath Demon looked to be about two seconds from doing some enthusiastic redecorating. Yet, for all his restraint, it seemed that the rowdy twins would be inadvertently punished regardless, the "Hymn of the Lost Beast" apparently resonating inversely with their mixed blood in an incredibly painful manner from all outwards accounts. Azeal, by contrast... only seemed to be... pacified.

Interesting... how very... interesting.

Now that she had some data points to work with, Qingshe could look back on the warnings blared by her internal defenses with new eyes. She could see the chemical alterations that were being halted in their tracks and reverted under a clearer light. So, demons are given a sense of tranquility and passivity... I wonder, to what degree does that extend? One hand rose to cup her chin in thought, eyes becoming half-lidded, as she resisted the urge to lick her lips. If I were to project the Hymn myself, would that make it an effective anti-demon measure in combat, or would the adrenaline and rushing blood in the heat of battle counteract it? Certainly... that would be something worth exploring if the opportunity arose. Unlike some of the other members of the crew, Qingshe was... eager to experiment with this song. It was fascinating the sort of effect it provoked, and while subjecting herself to it by extension was hardly her favorite idea in the world, since when had she ever allowed a little discomfort to waylay the march of progress?

Izaroth, by contrast, seemed to have shrugged off the Hymn's effects, as had Alice. The former made enough sense, but the latter was a rather curious thing to consider the implications of. Qingshe watched with half an eye, as Clarissa offered the Twins some sort of pain reliever, one with spiritual applications, earning an appreciative hum from the greenette.

Yet, all this time, most of her attention was on Captain Mike. Despite his recalcitrant words, the serpentine woman's slitted eyes did not miss the way his temper flared. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, the proof was in the way his body had nearly transformed into the beastly form bristling underneath right before their eyes, a low, rumbling growl vibrating the air before he could stop it. It made her wary. Not particularly in a personal "afraid for her life" sense, but perhaps for other members of the crew by proxy... and for the integrity of the Fenrir's Maw if a serious battle broke out aboard it between the many powerhouses it carried. Qingshe knew all too well about animalistic instincts. After all, in her pursuit of evolution, she had needed to carefully prune many from the DNA she was about to incorporate into her body, so as to not threaten her intellect and rationality. Yet, she knew the Sattolions would have had no such restraint in their atrocities, which meant that Mike was ultimately a being possessed of several forms of competing instincts, worrying ones at that. Oh, sure, Qingshe wasn't afraid of him flying off the handle at the drop of a hat, but if someone actually provoked him the way Navir just had? Well... all bets were off.

Regardless... he seemed to be in control... so she'd leave the matter unaddressed. For now.

As Mike took note aloud of who the Hymn had seemingly affected, Qingshe cleared her throat in mild protest, giggling in mock offense. "Why, Captain~, so little faith in me~? I'll have you know you may safely include me in the number of those unaffected by the song. I was merely distracted for a moment by the reaction my defenses threw up." Leaning her cheek on her right knuckle and setting her elbow on the table, she smiled. "Now that I've gathered data on the phenomenon, I should have no trouble acting without pause in its presence again... Nor would I be opposed to further exposure, so please, don't feel compelled to extend any of that potential 'protection' to myself. Never let it be said I turned down more data on the unknown~."

She folded her left arm under her chest and straightened her posture. "Don't worry, I'm a big girl~," she teased. "I can handle myself." Of course, to any that knew her as well as most of the crew did by this point, the shameless flirt was hardly a genuine attempt at attraction, just a casual jibe. Qingshe's sexuality had always been a tool and trophy to her, never an instrument of genuine seduction, especially not towards a very married man that also happened to be her effective superior. It was merely a point of pride that she simply loved to lord herself over others as an unreachable object of attraction, a magnum opus that was hers alone to savor and only for others to envy and covet fruitlessly.

She perked up to attention, as a familiar noise sounded out overhead, blinking in mild surprise. She actually hadn't been aware that they'd already been enroute, but it seemed the Captain wasn't wasting a single second in this venture. Qingshe clicked her tongue in irritation. She'd honestly been under the impression that whether they went or not was still actively in question, but it seemed Mike had never intended to entertain an alternative.

Frowning, Qingshe listened to Mike and E.D.I., before connecting herself wirelessly to the ship's systems, something she now realized she should have been observing long before this. She hadn't seen the need before, but if she'd known they had already left for Fubakfen, that might have changed the way she approached this meeting. She forced her expression to shift to neutrality, as she heard Mike declare Alice and Izaroth as potential safekeepers of the Gem... Well, that wouldn't do; that wouldn't do at all, especially not the latter. At least if it was Alice, Qingshe could probably have access to it for study, but she wasn't close enough to the android to predict how flexible he'd be.

For now, however, she would merely focus on observing the ship's systems and making note of which sensors in particular could pick up on the Gem... if any could at all. Given that the song was a phenomenon that seemed to require a degree of sentience to perceive, Qingshe wasn't quite confident the ship was capable of detecting it. But then again, this was all new to her, so what did she know, really? As they made their approach, all she could do for now was watch, listen and wait for the golden shine of opportunity to present itself.
 
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Mike’s brief, yet entirely unsubtle response to her slap had not eluded Navir, yet she paid it no mind. She knew Mike was powerful, but doubted he would be able to take her down if push came to shove. With how her body and mind responded to the effect of the song, she was more afraid of what she was about to do if the song had gone on any longer. In the forefront of her mind was the name of her adopted sister, still lingering in her head. She could almost feel her greed bubbling and burning under her skin, like lava under a thin layer of earth. It had been centuries since she had last felt like this, so out of control, it was a frightening sensation to say the least.

Her clenched muscles relaxed after she was given the glass of water she had requested, and she eagerly emptied her glass, only to glance at Qingshe and placing her glass down just a tad too hard. The woman’s outburst, although held back, stung as if she was stabbed by a knife. On one hand she felt an immature impulse to bite back, to exclaim how close she had been to sucking every single one of the people in this room into the void, to keep them from taking the gem that had captured her mind.
On the other… she begrudgingly had to admit her fault. She had underestimated her own greed, and the power the gem would have over her lingering attachment to her sister. This was one of the reasons she had decided to keep herself from growing too close to others, and this event was a not too subtle reminder of why she had decided to do so.

After composing herself, and taking a deep breath, she brushed her hair back and rose to her feet calmly. ‘You’re right Qingshe, my response was indeed unbecoming of myself and my race, my apologies to you Captain, and the rest of you as well.’ she stated, before pausing. ‘However… I believe my response, although harsh, was not entirely incorrect either. I was very close to doing something I would regret immensely, due to the hymn that was sung. If any ‘exposure therapy’ would take place, I believe it would be best to do so in a controlled environment. You of all people should know that best of all, Qingshe.’ she stated with a glance at the serpentine woman, before turning away from the table when E.D.I. announced their arrival to Fubakfen.

Although disappointing, it was no surprise when they arrived to the planet without any further discussion. In his explanation, Mike seemed more than determined that they needed to find this gem for the priestess, despite their wariness. ‘It seems there is no time for any therapy right now, although I may ask for your help with that later, Qingshe, if you don’t mind. Seeing as how our captain seems sure about this course, I would think it best if we get ready.’ she stated plainly.

‘Obviously, I will be removing myself from any task regarding the gem, captain. I do think you understand, right?’
 
Fenrir's Maw - Meeting Room

The first thing Azeal looked towards after the fact was the Twins. As expected, their nephilim blood doesn't know how to properly respond to the tune of desire, but the angelic side was definitely rejecting it. In a way, the two Nephilim were lucky their demonic blood cushioned the blow; save the most powerful of them, full-blooded angels listening to the hymn would be agonizing, as if the whole of their beings were lit on fire.

But what was more curious was Alice. Izaroth is an android, it makes sense that the hymn wouldn't effect him. But as far as Azeal knew - beyond her amazing magical capability - Alice was still human, and all humans are mortal creatures of desire at the end of the day. Even the reaper herself had succumbed to the influence of the hymn. Yet, it's like she never heard the hymn, and he knows she has the hearing to properly hear it like the others. All Azeal could think of to rationalize this was that either she was so content with her existence that she simply has no desires that the hymn - and by proxy the gem - could call to, or maybe it had something to do with that magic of hers. Qingshe and Clarissa's reactions were also interesting, with the former having a slight reaction from the look of it and then practically asking for more, and the latter... He can't even begin to describe what happened there, as it seemed like Clarissa for a moment became a completely different person, erupting from a coccoon of mucus, before seemingly reverting back to herself. Oh, but not before giving a Painkiller to the twins - one that by the sound of things was specifically designed for nephilims like them. No... By her words, it seems more like it was created for a less specific area of spiritual and genetic division, before implying that she seems to be in a similar predicament. ...Then again, in a way, so was he, so he supposes it can't be THAT rare.

Even so, Alice, Qingshe, and Clarissa... without a doubt they're the greatest enigma aboard this ship, barring perhaps the Captain himself. He's traveled with Alice before, but even with that in mind, he still feels he knows very little about her and what she can truly do, and her seeming immunity to the effects of the Hymn proved that more than anything.

Alice, meanwhile, was taking note of everyone effect as well, taking out her guitar and gently touching the strings, mentally remembering the notes of the Hymn. She then listened to Qingshe not only state that she's alright from the influence of the Hymn, but would want to be exposed to it even further. She knows it's purely for her own personal sense of research regarding the effects of the Gems, but she was akin to a sailor hearing a Siren's song, and wanted an encore, despite knowing it lured the whole ship to crash on rocks. A scary thought to be sure. Still...

"I'm with Qing on this. We'll have to sound proof the lab, but if I can figure out the magic behind the notes the gem emits, we might be able to generate some kind of protection spell against it." She said. It was easy enough a concept for her, the fact that the gem's magic is in the form of a song is half the battle already won. If they keep it in a place away from Mike and the others who might be effected, she can study the magical side of this gem to her heart's content; there were various factors now that peaked her curiosity.

Speaking of Mike, Both he and Alice were quick to notice the aura around him, as his fur became as black as the feeling around him before it immediately calmed itself down and the fur returned to its normal blue. Both essentially prepared to defend themselves and the crew should Mike have lost it, but for Azeal's part, he was confident Navir would be able to handle herself fine if Mike did lash out at her. Still, that power and darkness within Mike was a reason they both came onto this ship in the first place, and while they didn't see the spike in power as what they expected for Mike's reputation, it's possible that it would have spiked further if he hadn't immediately composed himself.

He apologized for his actions, and Navir apologized in turn while also defending her stance on the matter. Then EDI chimed in stating they were on their way to Fubakfem already... while also suggesting it has a way to lessen the effect of the Gems...Needless to say, this made Azeal raise an eyebrow, and even Alice tilted her head in confusion at the AI's statement.

"...Do you need any help with that?" Alice asked the AI. Frankly, while she couldn't really understand the ramifications of the song herself like the others apparently could, it was still hard to believe something with the kind of potent enchantments to make even a Reaper go on edge would be remedied by whatever technological or scientific plan EDI may have had in mind. She was sure Azeal thought the same thing; being a demon, there was a good chance he knew how powerful these enchantments could be more than anyone. On the other hand, her mother always said to her that magic, in itself, was another aspect of science that was simply unexplained. Maybe EDI was an AI that acknowledged that? Either way, it's certainly possible she can aid in whatever relief it's considering.

Around that time, Mike called the meeting adjourned and was about to get ready to land. Azeal looked down at the table. He was on a train of thought about the landing on Fubakfem right before Mike decided to give out his little concert. Remembering what this was, and having now an idea on how to deal with it, he stands up.

"One more thing before we land, actually, Captain. Even if we land on the planet, SPA's main facility is a space station orbiting around Fubakfem, and we're not the first ones to attempt to land on that planet on a stealth ship. The jungles of Fubakfem are littered with sensors created by SPA for the event of a poacher entering the planet. Even if they don't detect our ship, they might detect us the moment we set our foot on the soil." He said, activating some buttons on the table and bringing up a hologram of the planet in question, with a decently sized space station orbiting around it.

"Hmm...I could make some enchantments to get past the sensors, but I'd need to know what kind of sensors we're dealing with." Alice said in response. Azeal then zoomed in on the space station itself.

"Heat, Motion, sound, you name it. There may even be some they added that I'm not familiar with; they're always updating their security. Which is why I have a much simpler idea of how to get around it. We go straight to the source. ...It's clear most of us are effected by the Gem's influence in one way or another. Until something is done about that, we're a liability the moment we get close to the gem without some kind of way to contain it proper. That in mind, I propose we split into two groups. Izaroth, Alice, Clarissa, and Qingshe go with the Captain to find and secure the Gem on the planet's surface aboard the Stealth Ship EDI prepared. Meanwhile, Holly, Lloyd, Navir, and I will infiltrate the Space station orbiting the planet and distract SPA's attention via sabotage. You'll still have to worry about any SPA members actually on the planet, but at least if we do this, they won't be on high alert and gaining cavalry from above." He said, picking the ground team based on their response and reaction to the gem's Hymn. Those least effected by the Gem's power should be the safest people to collect it, and while Clarissa did have a rather strange response to the Hymn's influence, it didn't seem to cause any real threat to occur. It wasn't perfect, there were plenty of potential for this plan to go wrong, but this should make getting the gem somewhat easier given they'll have to spend some time figuring out where exactly the gem was, and at the very least, it provides the B team something to do other than sit and wait for the A team to collect the Gem.
 
In the aftermath of everyone's recovery from the hymn, Izaroth would listen intently as the various crew members detailed their thoughts on the coming mission. At this point with the ship in motion, there was no backing out. From exposure therapy to the ship's AI shielding the more susceptible crew from the hymn's effects, through an as-yet undisclosed means. Azeal's mentioning of the various sensor arrays the SPA had put into place would certainly have his attention in short order though.

"So even if I deployed planet-side without my externally mounted thruster units, it still wouldn't guarantee I wouldn't trip some sensors. So we'd have to be in and out as quickly as possible. And that's not factoring the possibility of automated defenses on the world with highly aggressive IFF systems; If you're not authorized to be there on the SPA's systems, or a recognized species of native wildlife, odds are good you're getting shot at." Izaroth would say in response to Azeal as he detailed possibilities.

Azeal's point about splitting the team in two to keep the bulk of the SPA's members busy while the less susceptible members of the team which included himself and Alice, however, made the most sense to the android, though not without consequence, which the Android had took note of quickly.

"The only problem with that plan is if the SPA manage to identify us, that's going to paint a massive target on our backs when they inevitably report us to the authorities. So whether we all make planetfall, or half our number goes to run diversionary tactics, we're still in trouble if they realize who we are." Izaroth would say, looking somewhat concerned by the prospect.
 
Lei Qingshe Name Header.png


Location: Fenrir's Maw, Meeting Room

Qingshe resisted the urge to sigh at Navir's half apology. She smiled mildly in outward acceptance of the Reaper's reasoning but couldn't help but shake her head slightly. Though she'd allow that Mike was unwise -or at least discourteous- to spring the Hymn’s phenomenon upon the crew without warning or permission, letting fear control them wouldn't get anyone anywhere. Still, she pursued the topic no further; it would only incite needless conflict at this critical time. The last thing the crew needed was to be disunited in this mission. So, as long as Navir at least made half an effort to seem contrite and didn't make a habit of a repeat performance... well, Qingshe would just have to let this go.

For now.

Regardless, if Navir was unwilling to make even a calculated risk in regard to further exposure to the Hymn, that was fine too. Playing it safe was admittedly a valid response. Not everyone could be like Qingshe, willing to take the plunge in the face of the frightening unknown. It was worrisome that an ancient being like a Reaper would display such a lack of trust in themselves... such a lack of control. Though, on the other hand, perhaps that was only further proof that the so-called "Death Gods" were as flawed and "human" as any other entity. If anything, that almost made them more terrifying, knowing such beings arbitrarily administrated a fundamental force of the life cycle. That even beings purported to be the embodiment of impartiality in life and death were vulnerable to something like the Gems... What a frightening concept.

Qingshe sent a wide grin Alice's way at the open proposal to study the Gem and develop countermeasures once they had acquired it. "Mmm~," she purred in anticipation, cupping her right cheek with one hand, "now you're speaking my language, darling~. I'll look forward to it~!" She side-eyed Alice's offer to aid EDI in counteracting the Hymn, making sure to dedicate at least one thought partition to observing any arrangements they might make, as a kernel of skepticism continued to persist in her mind over what the AI might be able to do.

She smiled in further contentment at the plan Azeal was proposing. His suggestions for the team compositions were well chosen in her opinion, even if the reasoning was largely out of presumed necessity than any tactical balance of individual capabilities.

That smile dipped into a small frown of contemplation, however, as Azeal and Izaroth laid out a few more pertinent issues. Perhaps it went without saying, but Fubakfem's security as an X-Class nature reserve planet was nothing to sneeze at. Given all the myriad of ways people had surely attempted to infiltrate the planet over the years -successfully or otherwise, it wasn't unreasonable to be a little presumptuous about what kind of detection measures the SPA had on hand, technological or mystical.

"Hrmm... It is a good plan, but -if I might be so bold- I can't help but notice a bit of an insufficiency in the distraction team's assets," the serpentine woman finally added her two credits, rapping her fingers atop the table in thought, before her lips upturned ever so-slightly, as a potential solution occurred to her.

Unseen, for a moment that was much longer for her than most anyone else at the table, code writhed and churned within her shadow, before her bubbling shadow manifested and spread out a couple inches from beneath the arm resting atop the table. From the shadow, a small device was ejected, what most present might be able to easily identify as a data chip. Well, if a normal data chip had been jacked up to 11, possessing multiple port variants to allow for as much universal capacity to be interfaced with as possible. Plucking the device from the humming ooze, Qingshe palmed it with a smile, waggling it in the air.

"With such an allocation of personnel, it would seem that the majority of our... shall we say, ‘tech savvy’ crew will be allocated to Gem hunting, leaving none for the infiltration. Izaroth raises a good point: even if we escape with our prize, if we are recorded, I imagine we can expect to become very high profile criminals for the offense... especially if they have any conception of what we were after." She set the data chip on the table, sliding it across the surface towards Izaroth. A second chip was ejected and slid Clarissa's way as well. "Therefore, I propose this: a virus to infect their systems with that should cripple or otherwise distract them nicely." She gestured broadly. "Rather, to be more specific, it is a pair of viruses, one designed to cripple their systems loudly and draw attention with general chaos and the other to act far more subtly, slinking under notice to sabotage their records, corrupting systems related to detection and data storage. Whatever damage the first might get away with, it's merely a red herring to let the true attack run its course. If you can find a way to infect their systems with this, no matter what you do, you should be able to leave no digital record of your presence."

She paused and shrugged with a wry grin. "Of course, it won't do much for eye-witness statements, I'm afraid, but I doubt we'll be able to do much about that anyway without good old fashioned stealth... and/or perception or memory alteration." She cocked a brow leadingly at the spellcasters amongst the crew for any hints that they might have such a card in their decks. Glancing at Izaroth and Clarissa, her fellow tech experts, she gestured to the data chips. "Each of those has a safely inert blueprint of the viruses. I've covered what I feel are the important bits, but please, if you have anything else you believe they should do, I'd certainly welcome further tweaks. Both are designed with a certain level of learning and adaptation capacity, not enough to be anything like a true AI, but enough to handle defenses run by one. They are also both designed to self-destruct after a set time or if successfully contained, so no matter what, there shouldn't be any lasting damage to the SPA systems... aside from the data loss of course." She smirked at that.

Leaning back in her seat, Qingshe hummed. "As for those of us planetside... While I doubt we will have the convenience of a central system we can sabotage to cover our tracks, between myself, Izaroth and Clarissa, I'm sure we can whip up some solutions to any pesky recording devices opposition might have on hand." She chuckled, one faux-clawed hand curling up as if cupping an imaginary wineglass. "EMPs anyone?" She let out a small sigh, shaking her head. "Beyond that, I suppose it will simply be up to personal discretion how well we obscure ourselves. Whether it be by magic or other capabilities, I don't think I'm incorrect to say we have plentiful options for disguises and misdirection if need be."
 
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Fenrir’s Maw – Meeting Room

The Twins had a chill down their spine that caused them both to look around slightly but they kept their heads down. Slowly they felt it pass, but that was after Qingshe spoke to Navir about acting like her race or something to that effect. Holly had a singular point that she felt adversely afraid of whatever that was. Lloyd had a different reaction, but he was quite pacified from no longer trying to be on anyone’s bad side since he spoke enormously disrespectfully towards the meeting. All the while, they don’t know who caused them to have the chill down their spines but it was scary or disturbing nonetheless.

Holly kept her head down on the table by still holding her head since she still has an enormous migraine. In addition, Holly noticed that Mike responded to Navir’s strike by turning into a black-furred creature, like a werewolf or something close resembling something like that. ‘What’s that all about?’ Holly thought to herself. She required some relief from it by whatever medication is on hand by any of the others that wasn’t Qingshe. Holly turned her head and noticed something off with Clarissa in how she reacted to the song that is. She was utterly confused about what was happening to her, but what happened afterwards was like Clarissa put herself back together or whatever that slime was. Therefore, Clarissa approached her and her brother and pulling out two injection vials. Holly blinked slightly for a second, until Clarissa mentioned precisely what it is used for. A Pain nullifier and possibly for the spiritual backlash of magically charged opposite bloods. “T-Thank you, Clarissa, you are such a life savor.” Holly said, smiling. She graciously took one of the two injection vials and followed the instructions that were on the vial to inject it into herself. It worked quickly in helping give her the relief she required since it was heavily jarring on her entirely.

Lloyd was thinking internally while keeping his head down on the table, but he wasn’t happy with the predicament with being in so much pain. He didn’t even have any energy to argue with his sister since they’ve do that much of the time as it is. It didn’t take too long for him to recognize the same thing that Holly saw with Clarissa in how she reacted to the song. Lloyd didn’t pay it too much mind since it was strange but Clarissa was strange, generally. He noticed when Clarissa approach them and pulling out two injection vials and could tell from a glance it was to help with pain and something else, but didn’t quite get it what the other thing was. Until Clarissa mentioned it was for spiritual backlash and he smiled slightly since they needed relief from the backlash. “I agree with my sister. Thank you, Clarissa.” Lloyd said. He hardly ever agrees with his sister but this is one of the few times he is 100% in agreement since a pain nullifier and a spiritual backlash reducer is a medical wonder of anything and incredibly rare. As such, he injected himself with the other vial to feel much better than he had felt when the song was sung by Micheal.

Holly recognized Alice’s Guitar, which she was gently touching the string. She always was fascinated with what kind of music Alice played but she didn’t understand musical genres, but Alice’s take on magic is musical in nature. All the while, her magic is based on education by knowing the differences between what’s taught in the Enigmatic Sect Dimension and what’s on the outside. She does like some musical soundtracks when she is cooking in the Fenrir’s Dining Hall, but some of them are lighter tunes that are upbeat since her brother puts on songs that feel quite how he truly feels. It’s odd, that his musical choices are between rock or metal bands that interest him more, but all those musical bands have something in common, they have an edge to them.

Lloyd always is amazed to see Alice’s Metal Rock Guitar and is a bit awed to see the touching of the strings. He enjoys metal bands but he doesn’t remember much of that being done in the Enigmatic Sect Dimension. His favorite genres are the rock genre or metal, but that’s when they started to move around in reality after escaping the Enigmatic Sect Dimension. However, his sister’s taste in music is uplifting and has no edge to them. Lloyd isn’t going to try to lecture Holly on the fundamentals of music, someone who is more knowledgeable in that field would be better. He does know that in a private setting, Holly does listen to some music that contrasts with how she usually is, but it’s usually music that heavily inspires her to create or heavily inspires to ensure she’s always smiling. He goes with the flow of music, but that’s about it. He doesn’t feel anything but that’s how he’s able to complete his contract work on time since it gives him something to do while working.

Holly slowly rose her head off the table and sat down more comfortably with the correct posture, but looked slightly around. She listened to what Clarissa had to say to the others, the captain, etc. It didn’t take to long for Izaroth to put his cents in since he reacted similarly to Alice, it seemed. However, the difference between the two is one is a cyborg and the other is a human. Izaroth basically mentioned that the song was not even a whisper, but it made her feel relieved that she won’t have to be the one to carry the Gem of Desire. She wanted to say something on that subject but she would rather not speak right now. ‘I’ll just sit here and listen to everyone chat among themselves. Unless I am spoken too.’ Holly thought to herself. She wanted to get passed that her brother almost died to pissing off Azeal, since if he got him anymore angrier it would be a literal bloodbath in Fenrir’s Maw’s Meeting Room.

Lloyd did much the same as his sister but more slowly since he didn’t much look around, because he’s on thin ice as it is. He listened to everyone talking about certain things, including how only two people didn’t react at all to the song. Those were Izaroth and Alice, but a human should’ve possibly reacted Lloyd wondered about that but understood that Izaroth was a Cyborg. Izaroth’s input on he didn’t even hear it as a whisper meant something good for him and his sister. They have more people that could hold the Gem of Desire without having any ill effects. Lloyd looked towards his sister and noticed that she wasn’t adding onto the conversation, probably slightly scared he wouldn’t blame her. ‘Hmm, I wonder when this is going to get a bit more interesting than what’s happening now.’ Lloyd thought to himself. He wondered when the captain would speak about certain things.

Holly heard the Captain’s apology towards everyone and gently smiled towards him. She than heard the EDI, the AI of the Fenrir’s Maw speak in concert, mentioning what everyone knew. Holly registered Qingshe protesting a bit towards Micheal and adding on a thick tease towards him too. It felt correctly but it confused her slightly more about what Qingshe meant. However, it mentioned how to lessen the effects of the Gems of Desire on the entire crew that had adverse effects. Holly was a slightly bit like confused in what that precisely meant, but the more tech savvy crew probably knew what that meant, like her brother for instance. She went with the flow but if there was a counter or a lessening of those effects in mean easier transporting of the Gem of Desire. Especially, if the real thing would be ten times worse. It terrified her what that would mean for her Nephilim blood or mental state. ‘If the AI got it covered and everyone else, like Alice and others that would mean the best case.’ Holly thought to herself. She had a smile on her face to have something good come from the meeting, despite the song’s potency on her and her twin brother. Also, another voice entered the room, which was the Fenrir’s Maw’s Pilot saying they were approaching Fubakfen. Holly gasped slightly at hearing that, it means the meeting went on far longer than usual.

Lloyd felt a genuine feeling of wanting to apology by Micheal for singing that song and how he reacted towards Navir. He made a mental note of what he looked like since probably earlier his sister took note and was confused to what Micheal was. In addition, Qingshe decidedly spoke towards the Captain giggling in mock offense and it seems as if Qingshe is additionally another to the immunity team or something to that affect. Lloyd felt like Qingshe enjoys teasing others, since she did tease Micheal too. Including the confidence that the Artificial Intelligence had a solution on lessening the effects of the Gem of Desire. Lloyd felt the confidence in what the AI was speaking about but the Gems of Desire was too dangerous to go near if it’s much worse than just a song. He knew that certain people would volunteer the chance to properly help combat the song, if it means a safer journey. ‘I’m quite impressed with the AI’s Confidence. Though I think this was a top-of-a-line ship once upon a time.’ Lloyd thought to himself. He didn’t know how much time passed but the intercoms turned on and the spaceship’s pilot mentioned that they were approaching the destination. He heard his sister gasp at hearing the intercoms and shrugged his shoulders. It has been a long meeting despite everything else.

Internally, Holly felt relief when she heard the words of meeting adjourned from Micheal and about on how to decide the action after retrieving it. Holly heard him mention that she wants Izaroth and Alice to hold the Gems since they are unaffected by it. She shivered down her spine when he said pointless deaths and seeing that smirking bitch again and that means that scientist was a mega bitch or something towards Micheal. It didn’t take long for him to stand up from his seat and then ask the AI to scan for the location of the Gem and EDI vanished from the meeting room. She stayed in her seat even if the meeting was adjourned there were going to be some people against entirely adjourning the meeting or adding onto the parameters of the severity of the planet in question. Also, she noticed Qingshe had a frown, unlike herself who was smiling happily about having the meeting adjourned.

Internally, Lloyd took note of hearing Micheal mention that the meeting adjourned and that they needed to prepare to finally take action. Especially, since Izaroth and Alice were unaffected by the song or the gems. He couldn’t help but feel some resentment in Micheal’s voice when he said, smirking bitch again. Taking mental notes to ensure that his sister lives if someone suggests something about the surveillance for the planet as a whole. Also, Micheal stood up and asked the AI to scan for the gem. He stayed in his seat like his sister, since it wouldn’t be wise to get up right now. As anything of note, Navir mentioned that she’ll be removing herself from any task that involves the gems. Understandable, since he would probably say the same thing but better not to add onto the entirety, since Azeal hasn’t said anything yet or Alice. ‘Hmm.’ Lloyd thought to himself.

Speak of the Devil, Azeal was deep in thought until he stood up and mentioned a specific problem. The Spacestation Orbiting Fubakfen, the SPA’s Spacestation. He mentioned the problems of said feat of getting past the station if they can’t detect them, but they will 100% detect them when they set foot on the planet. Everyone was even involved in what he mentioned, Izaroth, Alice, and Qingshe put their two cents in on how to bypass or disable their security. Even the Spacestation was pretty big in orbit of the planet, according to the Hologram that Azeal showed. The twins had a feeling that Azeal was going to split the Fenrir’s Maw into two groups, one to infiltrate the station and the other to retrieve the gem on the planet’s surface. However, Qingshe had a genius way of mentioning and showing data chips specifically for Izaroth and Clarissa. It was to spread viruses in SPA Systems to confuse and distract from what they are doing on the planet. Also, mentioning EMPs, since would be useful to disable things too.

It didn’t take too long for Holly to realize that her name was mentioned by Azeal the part of the infiltrate team for the Spacestation. Holly gasped slightly but separating the tasks will make it much easier for the ground-based team to have an easier time. “How long do we have to prepare for the infiltration of the space station, Azeal?” Holly asked, curiously towards him. She wanted to be absolutely prepared for this mission since she wouldn’t want to fail Micheal’s crew since they didn’t have that many hard missions lined up, unlike this one. It would be absolutely tough since it seems like Azeal would be doing this to keep an eye on them as much as keeping them away from the Gem’s actual influence. Holly felt it was the case since who else was going to help her from making any reckless decisions besides her brother? She always had been slightly reckless even if she was trying to change her bad habits. “Also, I suppose it means we have a timetable of getting out while we hold the SPA at bay too? The Calvary you so said, Azeal.” Holly said.

Lloyd instantly knew what this is about since Azeal probably wanted to speak to him in a mutual understanding type of way. He would probably be slightly punished for his outright disrespect in the meeting because of this but he and his sister are vulnerable to the Gem of Desire as much as the other two. He sighed when Holly asked her questions about Azeal. She only asks questions when she knows there’s combat involved, her brain switches to combat-focused all the time and it is slightly irritating. “Alright, I understand why you would split up everyone. Since it’s easier to have a smaller team infiltrating a space station and having the larger one dealing with the ground landing mission and retrieving the gem.” Lloyd said, in agreement with the splitting up of the forces. He looked directly at his sister and sighed. “Holly, I know you want the timetables, but it would be better to figure out, which roles we are going to have on the infiltration team for the Spacestation. Instead of going for broke and trying to gun hoe on the SPA within the Spacestation. Since I feel like killing SPA members would cause problems as much as getting caught.” Lloyd said. He saw simplistic problems with how Holly works, but to ensure not to cause any harm since it would be better to simply knock out the SPA and make them unable to remember they were there would help much.

Holly gasped to hear her brother speak soundly since yeah, that would be a problem and unironically was in agreement with her brother mentioning that precise thing. “Yeah, it would be nice to know that too. Supposedly, we are meant to knock out any SPA we find on the Spacestation without killing them. Okay, I got my idea of what I am supposed to do even though I trust that you’ll support me brother, Azeal, and Navir?” Holly asked, smiling. She was grateful that her brother put her in the right direction on precisely what to do on the space station. In all honesty, the infiltration mission means so much for this retrieval job, even if she doesn’t trust the one that put them on this mission, Vivian specifically. It’s too good to be true and that’s what she feels in her bones.

Lloyd smiled at Holly understanding what he meant without any jabs at each other since they’ve been getting chased down by those who absolutely wrecked the Enigmatic Sect Dimension, the Seraph Angel of Justice, their grandmother, and the so-called Demonic King of Injustice, which is their grandfather. At least, not by bounty hunters more like spies since those two want to finish those who know of the massacre at their hands. “Yes, why wouldn’t I? It was my sight that saved you after all during that unwinnable scenario. Even though, this is a different scenario. Might as well ask, do the SPA have anything of note in terms of weapons that are particularly dangerous, Azeal?” Lloyd asked. He didn’t quite read up on the weapons that the SPA usually deploy on hunting for poachers that try to poach creatures on it. Though it is an X-Class Planet nonetheless, they would probably have to have some heavy hardware to keep the planet protected from poachers.

Holly was happy to hear her brother’s support on the space station, but the mention of weapons meant something to her. If it wasn’t for Lloyd’s sight of the Ethereal weapons, she would be in so much more pain and suffering, and those weapons that the angels and demons used on her with her armor were quite dangerous. She waited for a response from Azeal on the weapons, hopefully, she won’t have to face anti-angelic weapons, but the weapons in Reskhold Galaxy are terrifying nonetheless, Plasma-Based weapons, etc. It caused her to gulp slightly meaning she’ll have to be careful on that space station and not get too over her head. Holly did see a Plasma-Based Shotgun in action when there was a stand-off on the world previously they visited, before Micheal’s home.
 
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Clarissa
Fenrir's Maw meeting room
Finding out that Mike had already set the course and the ship AI was redying systems for stealth and later scanning was impressive, it at least hurried the mission along. "You missed your captains aura spiking... father would be disappointed." Like Qingshe Clarissa connected her AR to the ships systems to get the same sensor feed, it looked boring until Azeal spoke up about the safeties and securities the SPA potentially utilized. "Why aren't you prepared yet." The mucus on the back of her hands broke and tiny spiderlike drones climped out. And kept climbing out, far exceeding the volume of the womans body. Due to the spiderlings size however, they would have gone unnoticed unless someone actively noticed them, that and the fact they pooled at her feet underneath the meeting table.

She nodded approvingly when Azeal mentioned her among the group attacking, no "infiltrating", planetside "these children need to be fed, soon." That personel-choice seems wise Azeal. And like Qingshe says, Im confident we will be able to whip up some sufficient subterfuge" She says before mucus covers her face and dries of to reveal a completely different face. "A simple illusion spell as well and, well, Ha'as Glamour obscuro Illumina, it will be difficult for them, won't it?" Clarissa says with a voice that sounds nothing like herself, even the psychic echo of her thoughts changed from the spell.

Taking the data chip Qingshe sent over to her and Izaroth she plugs it in a dataport on her suit. A bigger spiderling crawls up from underneath the table and stands at attention before her as her eyes refocus from using her AR to do something with the computer virus.
"I've added a subroutine that will spread down to their hidden surveilance systems planetside, and make all tech of theirs emit a sound my little friends here can follow, and destroy. As long as I can get a few minutes to get them out of... well where they are stored. Back with you now." The drone walks down underneath the table again and seconds later a veritable horde of the smaller things cover Clarissa until they melt back into her.
 
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