2024-08-14: Beginning Underground War
- Cast: Sousuke Sagara, Asciel Colette, Kaname Chidori
- Where: A secret arena on Huffman Island
- Date: U.C. 0099 08 14
- Summary: The trap is sprung.
<Pose Tracker> Asciel Colette has posed.
While Asciel Colette's incursion into Huffman Island's underground battle arena was largely just a side hustle while monitoring Galactron...
It's since proven a handy source of revenue and intel in its own right - and its useful to seize whatever power she can where it's stable away from the law. It's not like she needs a bunch of hired thugs in pro-wrestling Arm Slaves to help her if it ever comes to that, but having that on the table is better than not!
Besides, it's a lucrative draw to have a high energy idol riling up the crowds. And lately, one contestant's been an interesting problem...
"Hoh hoh hoh...some call him a specter of agony, out for the blood of the cursed valiants that took his former life! Others claim that he may well be the Undefeated of the East in disguise, wandering the land looking for worthy foes! But all that can be said for sure is that his name..."
Up on a little stage that serves at the announcers' booth, Asciel's set up plenty of lighting to converge on her - she's not content to just be an invisible voice, she yearns to be seen in her own right! (It vexes her that working this gig has the attention largely on the arena battlers...)
"His name is Sosky Seagull, and his humble yet fearsome Crossbow's been crushing goes left and right! Will tonight be his last victory? We have a surprise combatant who may well finally prove capable of opposing him, ufufu...but first, a few words from the man himself - now that he's reached such notoriety, perhaps he'll proclaim just why he fights with such warring spirit here in our arena!"
The stage lights converge on...a comically oversized mic stand in the center of the arena's pit, waiting for the guest of honor to emerge...
<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.
This...is not what he expected.
Sousuke knew, SOMEWHERE on Huffman, there was an Amalgam-backed bloodsport arena. The Huffman Arenas are already quasi-legal on their best day, but he'd heard tales of life-or-death battles, even wildly rigged matches. But also, matches that world elites would watch and even attend in person.
An opening to get his hands on one of Leonard's lieutenants. Would it achieve anything? He couldn't say. But it was his only plan, with Mithril destroyed. Maybe, if they would be left alone, he could have convinced himself to abandon it all. But Leonard needed Kaname. The hunt would never end unless Sousuke ended it.
On a more day to day level, Sousuke generally just hits people with hammers around here. He was still busy working up what he'd say to Nami when the directive came down. Next match...here, in an arena quite unlike the one at Freedom City.
In the cockpit, Sousuke feels resoundingly alone. He should have communication. A full support team at hand. He should have an AI highlighting escape routes, priority targets, precalculating firing lines on Asciel Colette's little platform or the VIP booths. Nothing.
She gives him a cue, of all things. Tcheh. His fingers curl against the firm grip of the control lever, and Crossbow's diesel engine rumbles as the machine steps toward the mic stand. Crossbow is an almost comical machine, an RK-91 Savage; an outdated model of an outdated model. The fact they can still get parts for the thing speaks more to how absurdly many Savages they made than anything else. But it is now sleakly painted in white and navy, with the logos of corporate sponsors splashed across it. Crossbow Team has come far. Is this the top of the Arena? Is this the entrance to the underworld? Or is it an execution stand?
Crossbow steps up to the mic. It has a black bow tie tied around its neck, somehow. Nami found it at the market. Trust the manager...
Big, segmented fingers rise up to the mic. Sousuke's transmitter turns on. No feedback; truly, Black Technology. He stands. Nami had a whole speech written for him.
"...I've come to demonstrate my abilities. That's all," he says, instead, and his eyes bore toward Asciel.
<Pose Tracker> Kaname Chidori has posed.
Kaname frowns at the sound of that voice. "... GOD DAMMIT!" comes a yell from her desk in the garage, alarming the rest of the team--who figure it's because of the comms and telemetry failure that's happening.
"That Super-AI working for Amalgam..." she mutters, keying the radio a few times. Nothing.
... Things just got very bad, very quickly. Swallowing hard, she looks up, calling out, "Nami! I need a hand over here!"
<Pose Tracker> Asciel Colette has posed.
Ah, how Asciel had hoped for a rousing speech of defiance - a cool and powerful one-liner of his purpose before going on the attack. -Anything-. Alas. The sheer rote militarism in Sousuke's voice elicits a big, dramatic sigh from Asciel up there on the stage, arms raised up before widening to gesture towards the stands. This is definitely a rowdier, more rogueish bunch than the bigger arena in Freedom City - in bleachers clearly made to be easily moved as venues change.
"Ho~nest~ly - it's like you're completely unaware of what this even is, Mr. Crossbow. It's one thing to be a novice to the Arena - it's another thing to seemingly have no conception of what you're even doing here." Her hand raises up to stifle a little laughter, glaring through the Savage's optics with a manic grin.
"I'm -sure- some of the audience likes seeing efficient displays of Wanzer martial artistry or whatever they'd say to justify how you fight - but surely you've noticed the biggest champions are the ones who dress up their machines brightly and finish the fight with something memorable, yes? I'm a pragmatic type - " (since when?) " - but even I haven't been able to hold back my weariness at your lackluster performance. Why bother practicing your so-called abilities on theatrical fighters? Why master the blade against those who merely perform a play?"
...It's not like Team Crossbow is particularly unpopular, of course. Even here, the crowds have signs rooting for Sosky Seagull in equal measure to those cheering his downfall.
"...Do you -really- mean what you say, Mr. Crossbow? Because if so...I know where you can find the true 'strongest' to match against." A little trailing of Asciel's false tongue across her lips...
...she's surely just talking about herself, isn't she.
<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.
Riley, the big pale man with the Zeon accent, starts a little at Kaname's shout. Nami leans out from where she's trying to figure out why Crossbow's big event isn't on ANY of the usual feeds. "Whoa, something up?" she calls, and leaves figuring the original mystery to their benefactor Michel Lemon (Lemon is useless for this purpose and will achieve nothing, as usual.)
The redhead comes over, crossing her arms over her her tanktop. "Oh, you've got his camera feeds up? Nice. Wow, is that the MC for the top division? She's...." ....She purses her lips, considering the next word. "Characterful?"
*
Sousuke breathes carefully. Just him and her. "The decorations? It just shows their inexperience," he says instead, eyes drilled in. "Combat isn't a game," he says, unwittingly adopting a note-perfect heel position. "But if it gets me a roof and a meal, I'll play along."
His fingers clench unconsciously, Crossbow's doing the same around the microphone. Focus, Sousuke. Focus. Her strongest...what's this going to be. "And where's that?"
<Pose Tracker> Kaname Chidori has posed.
"...'s one word for it," Kaname mutters in reply. "She's the one who's cut us off... and it's worse than that." She takes in a deep breath, preparing herself. "We haven't been telling you the whole truth, Nami. Before we came to Huffman, he and I were being hunted by an organization called Amalgam. They want Sousuke dead, and me for..." She shudders. "God fucking knows. And they're not gonna stop." Her heart's racing.
She brings up a terminal window and starts probing the network, fingers flying as she looks for a gap in Asciel's armor. She doesn't miss a beat, though, continuing, "We came here to lay low, and chase down a rumor that Amalgam was organizing an illegal underground arena. He figured they'd show themselves soon, but not THIS soon. We were gonna tell you before then, but-- ugh, that bitch has the WORST goddamn timing."
<Pose Tracker> Asciel Colette has posed.
"I honestly have to wonder what 'combat' you've seen, if what we prepare in our Arenas doesn't look like a game to you~" Asciel snickers, giving a big, festive twirl on her podium. "While I personally make sure everywhere I've fought has my ~voice laced throughout, I more than recognize that I'm out of the ordinary. But perhaps you're not thinking about that! Maybe when it comes time for you to do combat, there's only your enemy and the result."
"Lucky for you, that's -exactly- the type we're scouting for our most -special- event, where only our most illustrious guests gather.~"
Asciel snaps her fingers, pointing towards the Crossbow - and in its terminal, a set of coordinates and a time are sent over. Of course, since doing that on its own would be a strange gesture, its timed with fireworks cascading up into the sky.
Nobody has ever once openly announced it - but the rumors of the secret underground arena being heralded this way abound - and the location Asciel's given Sousuke do correspond to a strange, out of the way locale. The ruins of an old Britannian manor then seized by OCU forces during the war...
"Do we consider this a 'graduation' of our dear Crossbow? Who can say!~ I'm sure he'll be back in the ring with no time with those talents of his. After all, I-"
...A profound amount of chatter, interference, and intrusion halts Asciel in her tracks. A sudden, yet familiar pang striking her heart once Kaname begins rooting through the PA networks that she's interfaced her body with. Her lips fall into a grimace - isn't this exactly like...
...it feels -so much- like that time Teletha Testarossa etched that scar that still lingers in her voice, the occasional hiccup of hers that proves troublesome given how very much she loves to hear herself speak.
Rapidly, Asciel begins disconnecting herself from those networks - if she could sweat, she would. "...Thaaat will have to be all for our presentation tonight! I'll let my associates handle the after-rounds, for those of you who still desire more carnage~ Until next time, may my voice ever guide you onward!!~" She's trying to sound cheery, amidst the desperate survival urge to isolate all of her interfaces, to slam shut most of her senses...
...at the least, Asciel will always have her sight, hearing, and voice. Once, those could have been taken from her, but now they are entirely hers, entirely self-contained.
<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.
Nami blinks once, and then twice, and then looks over at Kaname. "Huh?" she asks, blank for a moment. Nami's a girl from a ruined village just trying to make enough money to make it. She's cunning, and crafty, and if you tell her something like THAT out of the blue...
The redhead coils backwards slowly. "Huh?" she repeats. "What, were you two using me?? And now he's taken MY Crossbow off to get his head blown off!? What!?"
*
The terminal blinks twice. Sousuke finds himself trying to do old muscle memory to force it over to his side screen, only to realize he doesn't even have one. He hopes Kaname gets the signal, at least. "...fine. I'll take your challenge," he says, long habits the only thing keeping his pulse from drowning his hears. But--then she retreats!?
"Wait-!?" Sousuke yelps, but Asciel...vanishes. "Get back here!" Oh, NOW he wants to talk to her.
A few seconds pass...and then the other combatant's door starts to open.
Oh. Her 'associates'. Got it. Sousuke turns around, unarmed. Before he can even get to the underground fights, he has to get to through an unfair one?
"Not a problem," Sousuke breathes to himself, and charges.
<Pose Tracker> Kaname Chidori has posed.
Kaname slumps a little at Nami's reaction, but shakes her head. "You've seen how he fights. He--and the Crossbow--are coming out alive." She's reassuring herself just as much as she is Nami. "And if we were just using you, I wouldn't be telling you this right now. What we wanted to do--before Asciel here decided to do this *today*--was to give you an out! *Before* something like this happened! Let you take your shit and go if you wanted to."
Her typing slows a moment, as Asciel retreats from the network. She moves over to bring telemetry back online as she continues, spotting Sousuke's signal. "But I'm *really* hoping you don't. Because..." She looks up at Nami, stone-faced and serious. "You were born on December 24th, 0079, at exactly midnight. And you know things you shouldn't. Things you never learned. Things you just *know*, things you hear in wordless whispers, things that come to you in dreams. Things that are impossible--but they work anyway."
"Am I right, Nami?"
<Pose Tracker> Sousuke Sagara has posed.
Nami listens, anger and frustration and panic slowly fading into *something else*, as Kaname's words go on, her eyes slowly widening.
https://youtu.be/yjZPws_xs4c?si=riraonUM-3wV7U2o - Tamaru Yamada, 'yes'
<Pose Tracker> Kaname Chidori has posed.
"Thought so," Kaname says quietly. "I'm the same way. They call us the Whispered. And it's why Amalgam's after me. If they ever figured out like I have, they'd want you, too." She looks at the video feed briefly, watching Sousuke fight. "I met Sousuke because he used to belong to an organization that was protecting people like us from people like them. MITHRIL. It's gone now... but if it wasn't for Sousuke Sagara, I'd be dead right now."
She crosses her arms, looking up at Nami again. "The offer still stands. We'll be out the door and out of your life if that's what you really want. Or... you could help us. We'll be safer together, and if we play our cards right, we might even be able to help people like us again."