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| A Day In Paradise; Open | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: May 15 2014, 11:14 PM (2,365 Views) | |
| Demoness | May 15 2014, 11:14 PM Post #1 |
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Feoras is a land of great beauty and great sorrow. In ancient times, the isolated island was its own world, warring, celebrating, and living by its own rules. Its first contact with the outside world was violent, but it resulted in the assimilation of the invader culture into its own. However, this would not be the trend and the next encounter ended with Feoras being the assimilated party. For centuries, it was subjugated by Demonessian masters until the modern age brought with it change: enormous destruction, followed by brief freedom and then patronizing stewardship. The island suffered from poverty, but there was still beauty to be found. While its five remaining ethnicities live in an enforced peace, the tourist areas benefit from the economic boon and generate a false sense of wealth. Tourists are attracted by Mauna Inaka, the volcanic center of the island, and the black sand beaches she generated. The gentle slope of the continental shelf allows swimmers to wade into a seemingly endless sea and walk up to boats parked in the shallows. Its coral reefs are untouched in certain parts of the island and the fauna found there are unmatched. With the economy centered around the tourism trade, it is hard to leave the main areas. However, the adventurous tourist may find other ways to pass the time. The Genfiotes in the south control the tourism areas, making sure they are clean and presentable, as do their neighbors in Ahi'iana. The Genfiotes, however, present a curiosity: their religious leaders, known as the Undying. These leaders dress entirely in grey and cover their faces with a mask and veil. When they speak, they speak as if they are not an individual; they speak as if they are from a collective consciousness, which can be unnerving for some. In Fuwoku, one can find the farmers, who toil away in the dirt and respect animals as much as humans. For the adventurous, there is Kain, a land of warriors where the leader is determined through battle prowess. While Mpali represents the industrialized portion of the island, Isis certainly fairs the best as the seat of the former colonial masters. Humanitarians may seek to provide relief from poverty and criminals may find a new foothold, but tourists, explorers, and travelers may find adventure. |
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| Demoness | Sep 26 2014, 07:10 PM Post #281 |
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"As you wish," Hana replied. Watching Vlad, she went to the bathroom door and knocked softly. "We need to talk. Are you almost finished?" she asked in Ni'ihau. There was a long pause before she answered. "It sounded like he told you mostly everything." Her voice was gruff, almost choked. "He told me his view. I want to know what really happened so I can make a plan," she replied reasonably. There was a deep sigh and then her sister's answering voice recalling the narrative clinically, as if they were writing a report; the method suited Hana as it made it easier to understand. She described her flight from the dock and her intention to stumble to their safe house after she hooked up with the Cetatsen brothers to camouflage herself. She didn't give many details of the confrontation with Polunu and focused instead on the loss of her weapon and the situation. Arashi said she recognized Andrei was a threat and took Vlad to cover her retreat since she could not provide the credentials he desired. Hana paused before replying. Arashi could have brought them both back to the hideout because Hana had a police badge. It wasn't even fake; she paid a corrupt officer to manufacture one for her. But there was no use in chastising her for the decision as Hana allowed she may have made the same decision in the situation; the problem had been Polunu and what he would tell his gang. She wished she hadn't shot Polunu as that destroyed any credibility she may have had with the Cetatsens and probably did nothing to cement a concrete story in Polunu's head. "Ebony, I think are holding a Cetatsen prince hostage. We need to move quickly to contain the situation and cover our withdrawal." She glanced at Vlad, making sure he was still in his seat. She doubted she would win any of his trust after Arashi's display, which meant she might have to change her approach with him. The silence had grown long. "Ebony?" she called and then pressed her ear to the door. She heard no movement beyond and called her name again, this time trying to door. It easily swung open to reveal the empty bathroom with its window open. Hana swore, fluently, in several languages. --- Andrei may have crossed into a new zone after following Polunu's directions for he saw what appeared to be an APC patrolling the street about a hundred yards ahead of him. It plodded along slowly, likely due to its antiquated age, and was moving way from them. Polunu did not seem happy as he swore. "We should avoid them," he said. |
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| Cetatsenia | Sep 26 2014, 08:13 PM Post #282 |
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Vlad waited patiently while Hana went over to talk to her sister. he couldn't understand what they were saying which suited him just fine. It gave him time to think about his situation. It was, admittedly, not a particularly good one but as time went on it seemed more and more likely that they weren't going to shoot him. So that was good at least. But he was definitely suspicious about the two of them being cops; the stories just didn't add up. Plus Arashi had shot that man and then left him to die, which didn't seem like the behaviour of a cop. Even allowing for the possibility that cops here weren't of the particularly nice sort, one would figure she'd try to take him into custody. Especially if she was undercover with him and he found out she was a cop. And then he heard Hana, or Kristall as he knew her, swearing. He looked over to see her in the room where her sister had been, but he couldn't quite see all the way in. He hadn't heard anything from her sister, so he didn't think it was because she had pissed Hana off with what she'd said. But he had to admit he wasn't quite paying attention and he may have just missed it. So he just stared at the doorway, not sure how to react. He wanted to know what had happened, but he remembered that he was being held hostage and as nice as she'd been, something had just angered the woman immensely. ------ Andrei thought about the Polunu's words for a moment before deciding to do as he said and ducked into a nearby alleyway. He was tempted to turn them in, but he wanted to turn him into the police. As a general rule of thumb, the police usually didn't use APCs unless something major was happening. And he'd rather not get involved in whatever was going on here too. It'd slow him down even more than he already was. "All right, so now which way do we go?" he asked the man in his arms, "And what exactly is up wiz ze APC?" |
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| Demoness | Sep 27 2014, 03:38 PM Post #283 |
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The empty room did not bode well. A few years ago they had identified by enemy intelligence and it had been Arashi's fault. It had been a minor mistake that had unfortunate repercussions, but her sister hadn't forgiven herself. She disappeared for several days, leaving Hana to contain the situation in the country and back home. Arashi resurfaced weeks later, having apparently "contained" the situation in her own way, and was taken into NDAISE custody shortly thereafter. The episode, known between them as the Dogstar Incident, was resolved through Hana's diplomatic skills with NDAISE and then never spoken of again, but she had to admit she did not know what had actually occurred during Arashi's disappearance. The incident report had been shielded behind classification firewalls and Hana hadn't want to tempt fate to try to crack into it. Hana sprinted to the window and looked around for a trace of her sister. When she saw none, she returned to the room with Vlad and paused for a very long time as she ran scenarios in her head. Her sister had given her no warning, nothing even in her body language, prior to the Dogstar Incident; Arashi had panicked now but she still had the presence of mind to control the situation. Their missions were also different; this was purely infiltration to find information and Arashi couldn't possibly try to finish that on her own. Those skills were Hana's, not her sister's. She grabbed her communicating device and keyed the mic before she remembered Arashi's had been damaged and she doubted she took it with her. She turned to Vlad and smiled reassuringly. "I'm sorry, but I am going to have to restrain you now," she said. "It will be uncomfortable and it will probably be for at least an hour." She retrieved from a nearby box some zip ties and narrated what she did as she did it. She restrained his hands separately and in a slightly uncomfortable position to the posts that made up the back of the chair. She also secured his feet together as further restraint, though she didn't believe it was actually necessary, and she didn't bother to blindfold him. With him secured, she began to search the apartment to inventory what Arashi could have taken. It wouldn't be a thorough inventory, but it would give her a general idea of what her sister had taken and therefore what she could be planning. Hana didn't care much if Arashi killed the Apostate groups from the docks, but it would set back any investigation into the bioweapons leak. After all, they came from an ultra secure facility and it was imperative that the international community never discovered Demoness' stash. The twins were even willing to kill one another to keep that secret if necessary as the repercussions of the release would probably destabilize the government for decades. After the inventory, Hana took her own. From her box of false identities, she retrieved her police badge and its complementary state idea, neither of which said Kristall but did have her appearance, and an ID that did have Kristall's name on it from a country in Vesturia; the rest would burn. She took her pistol, ammunition, and a handful of other gadgets, and then set about her final task. Part of her specialty was demolitions and she set incendiary charges that would gut their apartment and leave the structure weakened but relatively untouched. She moved more vital pieces near the charges and then turned her attention back to Vlad. --- "This way for a few blocks," Polunu answered, pointing the opposite way. "Then we can backtrack. I think the house is right over there." He pointed a block or so over, but there were tight fences draped with laundry and other stuff between the domiciles, making it difficult to transverse the areas between them without getting caught up in a yard or something. The city's appearance deteriorated in this area from the upscale areas in which he had been exploring with Kakia. These were not quite slums, as they appeared to be newly built, but they were not constructed from hardy materials either. It was possible these were the structures she had been telling them about during dinner. At this hour, however, no one was on the street despite lights being on in the houses. Some were strong and steady, like artificial light, but others flickered, indicating possible use of candles or alternate sources. Voices could be heard, some rowdy and others quiet depending on the houses Andrei passed. One was even angry, with an answering voice apparently trying to soothe the first, but it was impossible to know what they discussed since they weren't speaking in English. |
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| Cetatsenia | Sep 27 2014, 04:39 PM Post #284 |
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Vlad sat patiently as Hana restrained him, not bothering to say anything. After all, it probably wouldn't do any good. And he sat patiently in thought, watching her as she ransacked the room. And the longer he thought, the more he was convinced that these women were not members of the police. Which begged the question, who were they? Were they terrorists? It was entirely possible considering the trouble Demoness had with that one group, though he couldn't recall its name at the moment, just that it was a religious term. Once Hana turned her attention back to him, he spoke up, "So, you are going to untie me now, right?" ------ Andrei simply nodded when Polunu spoke and followed his directions. After all, he didn't have much other choice; he had no idea where any hospitals or doctors were. He was aware that the man could be directing hims somewhere other than where he wanted to go, but that was a risk he had to take. But Andrei made certain to keep his eyes and ears open, staying alert to what was going on around him. He didn't see anything suspicious, just the typical night-life of a city's poorer areas. "You know, if you are taking me somewhere besides a doctor, I will kill you," Andrei said, glancing down at the man in his arms, "And you ignored my question early. Do you have any idea why zere would be an APC patrolling ze streets? Ze police usually do not bring zose out for just anyzing." |
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| Demoness | Sep 27 2014, 11:24 PM Post #285 |
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Hana nodded. "Yes, I will," she replied. She retrieved a knife and cut the cords, starting with the one at his feet and then his hands. As she she did, she continued, "Vlad, you've remained calm throughout this whole ordeal and I'm very proud of you, but I'm afraid it will unfortunately last a little longer." She took out her Feorasi IDs and handed them to Vlad. Both identified her as Keli'i Kalili, though it took Vlad a moment to realize that her family name was first as in the Demonessian custom. "As I said, I am police, but my sister isn't. She has used my ID in the past. She discovered some pretty serious stuff going on and decided to take matters into her own hands. I came back to help her, but I'm afraid she might be doing something very rash right now, so you are going to stay with me for a while longer before I let you go so I know you'll be safe." While the last statement was sincere, she also needed time to think on how to extricate herself from the situation. --- Polunu scowled in disbelief. "Do foreigners really know so little about the island?" |
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| Cetatsenia | Sep 28 2014, 12:12 AM Post #286 |
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Vlad nodded his head at Hana's explanation, and while it did seem plausible he decided that it was best to stay skeptical. Not that it mattered either way, since he would just go along with what the woman said whether she was a cop or not. When she was finished talking, Vlad answered. "All right," he said, "It is not like I have much of a choice. And at least you have not zreatened to shoot me yet." ------ "Less back-talk and more answers," Andrei said, not even bothering to look down at Polunu, "If it were not for me you would still be bleeding out. Or dead." |
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| Demoness | Sep 28 2014, 04:45 PM Post #287 |
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"I could, but that really won't get us anywhere," Hana replied. She took his hand, regardless of how he reacted, and led him from the building. In a few minutes, the charges would ignite the safe house and destroy the evidence therein. She intended to minimize collateral damage, but she had little faith in the emergency services on the island. "You will go with me as far as Sedhleton and you can go your separate way if you like, but I am keeping your ID and passport. You do not want anyone in that area knowing you are a prince." She was heading away from the center of the city, further toward the bad side of town where their operation had taken place. It was the first place she wanted to look for her sister. It would also be an opportune moment to test Vlad's reactions to the events and how much energy she wanted to invest in him. She would keep him safe as far as Sedhleton Road, as she said, but she would probably be better off leaving him to draw his own conclusions about the events. --- "Or I could have killed her and be fine," Polunu grunted. "The island has been under martial law since it became a protectorate. Demoness lifts it every once in a while, especially around the tourist areas, but then some idiot usually ruins it. Usually a Kainic or Genfiote prick. Curfew is at 2000. That's why you see the APCs. So we play nice and go to bed and don't cause problems." He pointed. "That's the house there." Soft light was visible through the windows and the facade looked a little more presentable than its neighbors, as if upkeep was actually done on the structure. There were also markings on the wall next to the door, which must have made up a sign of some kind. |
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| Cetatsenia | Sep 28 2014, 10:23 PM Post #288 |
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Vlad followed Hana obediently, since he saw absolutely no reason to resist. He followed the woman silently, deciding that he didn't really have anything to say at the moment. But her words troubled him; he didn't want to stay a hostage any longer than he had to, but going separate ways once they arrived in this Sedhleton didn't sound appealing either. While he could easily get another passport and ID, he still didn't want this "cop" running around with his. Not to mention he could see that they weren't in the tourist part of the city anymore, and from her words it seemed like Sedhleton wasn't exactly the nice part of town. Certainly not somewhere he wanted walk around alone at night. ------ "Sounds like a waste of resources to me," Andrei replied, then looked at the house where Polunu was pointing. He noticed the markings too, assuming that it was either some graffiti or it meant something. Considering the more presentable appearance of the house he assumed the latter, though as to what it meant he had no idea. Nor did he particularly care. He looked around carefully to make sure there was nobody around before making his way up to the house. He shifted a little bit, doing his best not to hurt Polunu any further, and knocked softly on the door with his elbow. |
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| Demoness | Sep 28 2014, 11:00 PM Post #289 |
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It was after curfew at this point in time, so they should have been the only people on the street, but Hana knew better. There were people who skirted the patrols, which were fewer within the inner city, and she had been one of them. Before Sedhleton, it was simply the poor part of town where people would live on welfare in other countries, but after crossing the road it became actual criminal territory where one could find drugs, prostitution, smuggling, and the like. The tourists who knew about this side "attraction" did not come here themselves; the residents near Sedhleton would act as intermediaries and peddle the services for them. This was a hard, fast rule, but not definitive and it didn't stop rich criminals from trying to take control of this area. Hana and Arashi's gang was a startup created on the poor side of Sedhleton and nursed there; her base of operations was nearby. She stopped in an alleyway between two houses. "This is where we part company. If you want to go back to civilization, I suggest staying in the light and finding a store or something as soon as possible, but I would wait about four to six blocks before trying any. You are a tourist and you will not blend in here." She looked at her watch. "I think you missed the nightly patrol, but in case you didn't I would surrender yourself. It might get you back to a police station quicker. I would trust the SDF over any police you might encounter." She waited politely for his reply, watching street activity; she didn't want to leave him if he actually chose to stay with her, but she was not willing to risk her freedom to get him to one of the aforementioned safe zones. --- A man opened the door, eyeing the two suspiciously. Polunu spoke in Poi rather than Ni'ihau, a distinction that was difficult to make to the uneducated, and pointed to his ankle. The guard, a rather large man, pulled out his pistol and trained it on the two of them before rolling up the cuff where there was a tattoo of some kind. The large man shouted something and then nodded toward the hallway behind him. It was a long, narrow hallway, yet it was cluttered with items of little or moderate value, likely payment of some kind. An older woman greeted them, trailed by a younger one. It was difficult to tell how old the older woman was as her face was scarred by the ravages of cigarette smoke and harsh weather and her voice was rough. The younger girl, only identifiable as such by her stature, was also prematurely aged, yet certainly knew what she was doing despite her obvious apprenticeship. Not a word of English was spoken as the old woman directed Andrei to put Polunu on a bloodied table and the girl brought out instruments. If they were sterilized, it was likely only with alcohol, which was poured over them now, and she offered both of them a drink. Polunu screamed with the movement and the old woman scolded him for the noise as she and the girl worked on his leg. Over the next hour, the two of them removed the bullet from Polunu's leg and stitched up the wound with sewing thread. It was a decent operation, given the environment, and the woman worked with experience as she stopped the bleeding and repaired the severed veins. Polunu had passed into a drunken stupor at this point, having drunk an entire bottle to dull the pain, and did not react when she unceremoniously relocated his arm for him. With that done, the girl started bandaging the wounded arm so it would stay in place while the old woman walked up to Vlad. The large man, who had not moved from the doorway during the operation, translated for her. "What do you have for payment?" |
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| Cetatsenia | Sep 28 2014, 11:27 PM Post #290 |
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Vlad looked around at the city around him, and that sealed his decision. He'd been mulling it over for the entire walk here, and he'd finally come to his decision. "I zink I will stick wiz you for ze moment," he said, "I, uh, I really do not want to risk walking around here alone. Not wizout my brozer." ------ Andrei did as he was directed by the woman, thankfully they were simple directions so the language barrier didn't cause an issue. He politely declined the offer of a drink however, since he wanted to have his senses about him right now. During the operation Andrei didn't say a word, since he had nothing to say and it didn't seem like the women spoke English. He wanted to call the cops, but he wasn't sure they'd appreciate him doing so even if it had nothing to do with them. And their guard did have a gun, while Andre was unarmed. So that unfortunately had to wait. But thinking about it, it seemed obvious that the woman hadn't known who they were and only took Vlad to cover her escape. So there was always the possibility that Vlad was fine, in fact she may have released him already. But that wasn't a certainty, and it was the other possibilities that worried him. Worried him and angered him; he spent most of the hour sitting or standing around in thought with the anger clear in his eyes. But when the woman walked up to him and spoke, his demeanour changed to one that was calmer and not as angry. After all, he didn't wish to appear hostile to these people. But when the man translated, he inwardly cursed. He should've seen this coming; this type of thing wasn't free after all. But he stayed calm and simply motioned to the unconscious Polunu, "Ask him. All I did was carry him here." |
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