A Time for Secrets

"I can't do it." The medic-spirit says, while it starts to fade from view. It's time remaining in this world would now be measured in seconds - just long enough to attempt to renew the Magical Link helping the Spirit to stay here, or to say goodbye.

Ashe, finally having regained a bit of her balance, pushed off the tree and lowered her other hand from her head, attempting again to look around. This time she seemed to be somewhat more successful. She noted the boat, as it was certainly the largest thing in their immediate vicinity. She also noted the now-three small groups of her team. She was standing with Viking, along with her spirit and his. Darkon, a spirit, and Alexia (whom Ashe had not yet been introduced to) were speaking, and it seemed as though Eleanor was there as well. And then there was Kesslan, LT, and Greifer inspecting the boat and the (barely) survivors.
"Thank you, ughhhhh" Ashe started to Viking, before pausing her statement with a long groan.
"For your assistance." She finished after a few moments of collecting herself again.

Alexia notes Ashe getting up, as well as the excitement seems to be leaving her and she starts to calm down into what might be her "Normal" attitude My, don't you two look the worse for ware? she comments to Ashe and Viking Its probably best you both sit down and recover, I'm not skilled in medical treatment. Or at least not yet, it just hasn't interested me much. However i would think that rest is your best friend right now, no sence pushing yourselves. You two might as well just sit down, you can work better at the moment from a seated position than you can by trying to "show off" as it were she walks over to Ashe and Viking

Assensing test on Ashe
Assensing + Intuition (7d6.hits(5)=5)(Nice)
Assensing test on Viking
Assensing + Intuition (7d6.hits(5)=2)(Nit as nice)

Oh by the way, I'm Alexia, I guess I'm a little late in arriving but, better late than never. And it seems like late right now is just on time she places a hand gently onto Ashe's shoulder and presses down gently, not to force her down but to reaffirm to her that she feels that they can best serve by sitting down and recovering after a moment (After Ashe either sits down or states that she wont) Well as it were, i believe formal introductions should be saved for a later point, i see that I'm needed for my current skill set right now. And with recent turn of events its probably best i start on it right away. with that she turns and heads off towards Kesslan

"Pleasure to meet you." Ashe responds to Alexia, smiling. Her smile is clearly and obviously pinched, though it is unlikely in this current circumstance that anyone would mistake the pinched look for anything other than what it obviously is: she is in severe pain.
"You may call me Ashe; and if you don't mind, I would rather you not touch me right now." Ashe says, attempting to verbally intercept Alexia's hand before it reaches Ashe's shoulder. The bullet wound in her shoulder was glaringly obvious due to the blood stain, despite that she was just healed. Just to be sure her message got across, however, Ashe waved the hand off. She clearly didn't look like she needed any physical pressure being applied to her body at the moment.
"I will be fine, eventually. The healing has closed the wounds and stopped any potential infection. For now, though, I need to remain standing so that I can get somewhere more comfortable than here. You're all quite busy and don't have time to carry me." Ashe said reinforcing her choice to stand.

"Kesslan, it looks like Alexia is coming over to introduce herself now. If you're dead set on "having words" with me; you'd best carefully interview her before you decide I didn't do my job right." Eleanor sent to Kesslan directly to his commlink. Her tone suggested that this was a test for him, or perhaps that she was annoyed at having to "defend" her choice. It's sometimes hard to tell what her tone is saying, specifically, as the multitonal voice she chose as her representation was difficult to effectively decipher given normal metahuman speech patterns.

Specter silently thanked the GI Spirit as he departed. After the second that took, she listened to Ashe, and how she tried to be brave. "I can carry you. And I am not too busy to spare two minutes to get you into one of the hammocks." She said it with maybe a bit more passion that would have been necessary. And just because the universe loves a sarcastic comment, it emphasized Specters point with a wave of headache when she stood up a little too quickly.

Maybe I should treat a bit lighter on the magic. But Curses. I can not back down now. She overplayed the moment of pain by crossing her arms. "We need to get you into top shape as soon as possible."

She reached into the mana and, like she had done with Alexia only moments ago, concentrated it around Ashe in a pillowy, puffy cloud that could lift the woman up without any physical pressure that would cause her pain. So Specter could help her get to wherever she wanted.

Levitation spell force 3 Magic5+ Sorcery4 -stun2=7d (7d6. hits(5)=1) One success.

Drain of levitation spell f/2+1, rounded down =2 Will5+ Cha6= 11d (11d6. hits(5)=2)

She managed to keep upright, fortunately not adding any additional pain into her buzzing skull.

Gala wrote:

"Thank you, ughhhhh" Ashe started to Viking, before pausing her statement with a long groan.
"For your assistance." She finished after a few moments of collecting herself again.

"For you anywhere and any time, but let's just not make it a habit, OK?" Viking said half joking. He breathed hard, but time seemed to heal his state and now he could balance himself and Ashe better then the first time she had leaned on him, might be that Ashe had gotten better and more stable byherself too.

When Alexia Arrived Viking felt a bit emmberesed by her presence, even more for daubting his resolve to stay up.
Just as Ash had finnished to to talk to Alexia viking wanted to say somthing "Ashe ..." but he was interupted by Ash Flaying upwards, he really did not understand the neccecity for that, as the Medical assistance was still not on scene, but it was done. He hoped that this being levitated would not mean her wounds would open, as he knew very well how badly she was injured.
He got back to his normal self "You OK up there?"

"Yeah. I'm completely in agreement with that..." Ashe said in response to Viking's request not to make this a habit. She seemed to appreciate the humor of the statement, though was obviously unable to add her laughter.

"Oh!" Ashe exclaimed as her feet lifted off the ground.
"I suppose you can carry me..." She giggle slightly as she became entirely weightless, and she was no longer directly responsible for holding herself up. As soon as she started moving, Ashe clutched at her skirt to be absolutely certain that it would not flap any in the wind.
"Umm, yeah. Actually. I'm better up here..." She responded to Viking. The look of pain had eased slightly from her face, though it was still clearly there. Ashe took a slightly deeper breath, no longer the shallow almost panting that she had been doing before. She winced slightly as her ribs had to expand to accomodate the air, but seemed satisfied enough with that level of pain, as she continued breathing that deeply. In comparison, it would likely have been just as deep a breath as a normal breath would be; but in this situation, it looked like she was really testing her limits.

Specter giggled too, when Ashe did. But she concentrated on keeping the woman stable. "Welcome to Specter air. Where would you like to land?" She grinned amused and let Ashe float a small distance along. Then she asked: "I hope this is comfortable? The magic should be gentle enough as not to hurt you."

Gala wrote:

[b]"Kesslan, it looks like Alexia is coming over to introduce herself now. If you're dead set on "having words" with me; you'd best carefully interview her before you decide I didn't do my job right."

"It has nothing to do with her skill set Elanore" Kesslan responded calmly over the private channel as he seemed to casually pick his way along the boat, paying only brief attention to the survivors at first before finally starting to turn his attention to to them as well in an attempt to initially assess their situation, and see if they were even in any state to be interrogated at the moment. Conscious would do, as he wasn't terribly skilled in the art to say the least and doubted he'd get much out of them regardless. "It has everything to do with what she is." he continued speaking to Elanore as he otherwise quietly took the scene in. "Shifters often don't get along with each other. I'll leave it at that as getting more into the subject is.. complicated." of course on the Astral Kesslan still appeared to be a perfectly normal human, the reality of the matter was entirely different and it was that difference that he knew he'd have to work out, one way or another. The only upside to the whole matter was that at least where he was concerned, he'd spend more time growing up around metas than many of his kind. That had helped curb instinct to a degree, but only to a degree.

IC rolls (4 Perception rolls made to cover observe in detail actions)
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3316908/

Astral Perception rolls:
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3316909/

"Well! You should have put that on the list then! You wanted an expert. You gave me a list of qualifications. This is what you got!" Eleanor responded, her multitonal voice clearly sounding exasperated this time.
"What do you think I am? A psychic?!" She continued and finished her little righteous tirade before going completely silent. Eleanor must have been satisfied that she'd made her point.

"It's not as if it's bands of air wrapped around me and lifting me, physically, off the ground. Some of the old science fiction books from before Magic resurged have the strangest ideas of how Magic actually works... Levitate, as you know, is more like I simply stop having weight. It's, literally, a weight being lifted from my shoulders!" Ashe responded calmly while pointing with her still-good arm in the direction she wanted to float. Specter had been there long enough to know where to find the Hammocks; but not long enough to know which one Ashe generally claimed as hers.
Once she was comfortably (or as comfortably as possible) settled in to her hammock, Ashe reclined backward, crossing her legs and using her good arm to smooth her skirt down over her leg. Despite the bullet holes in her blouse, and the blood stains that only magic would be able to remove, Ashe was simply unable to overcome her reflexive actions in seeing to her appearance. At least, as much as possible. She then tugged her shirt down a bit, straightening it out and removing any visible wrinkles, before picking a visible leaf off the hem and gently dropping it to the ground. Then Ashe pulled out a kerchief from her handbag and draped it over her eyes, reclining fully in to the Hammock.
"Ok. Rest time for me." She said, reaching up to her earbuds and turning them off. Ashe likely didn't stay awake even long enough for her good arm to lightly lay across her face, holding the kerchief in place over her eyes. Her other arm was carefully lain across her abdomen.

Perception results
There are 5 bodies in the boat, and one which has fallen out (it was the one which was shot at the end). Of the 5 bodies in the boat, 2 retain life, and one is conscious, though just barely. He (it is obviously a man from this distance) looks severely injured, and will likely die, soon, from his wounds; but he is only moaning lightly. Perhaps delerium. The final body, which has fallen out of the boat, is obviously not living.
The boat, despite the incredible beating it has taken, seems to be potentially serviceable. There is no evidence of any of the shots having penetrated the armor, so any and all damage done to the mechanics of the boat were a result of Magical secondary damage. The passenger area is scorched, as though there was a brief but powerful explosion. 2 of the bodies have bullet holes through their heads. The rest of them are comfortably peppered with bullets, including the 2 living ones.

Specter chuckled as she let Ashe down gently. "Yes I know. I just wanted to make sure you know that also. It's as good a diet for losing weight long term than any other though." She hid her relief well when the spell ended.

She snuck away from the sleeping woman and got back to the others, examining the wreck herself now. "Ugh. What a mess." Just good we're not part of it. She nudged Viking. "Anyone in there still alive? We might find out who the underworld sent them." And make them pay for the attempt to geek us. The elf girl kept an eye on the boat, in case soeone was stupid ennough to start shooting again, despite contrary evidence.

Kesslan paid little attention to the dead, beyond establishing that they were actually dead. With the one assailant unconscious and the other bleeding out, he focused his attention on the one who at least seemed somewhat still here. He knelt down beside the man and checked his wounds a little more closely before snapping his fingers before the man's eyes. "Hey. Listen up." he says in a no nonsense tone. "Now here's the thing, I gather you probably don't want to die here like the rest of your friends. By the looks of you, if something isn't done very soon, you will." as he spoke he tried to keep the man's attention throughout. "So here's the thing, we can save your life. In exchange, you tell us everything you know." his expression grew grim. "Or, I can just rip your heart out of your chest right here and now and eat it in front of you before it finishes beating." Kesslan slips his glasses down to make sure the other man could clearly see his slitted eyes. "Believe me when I say I'm not one of your kind. I am however a man of my word."

@Kesslan >Just leave me some of them alive so can drain them of any informations them magic way, but for now I am in no condition to cast anything, sorry.<
Viking typed up while slowly moving toward the group.

Lil'Tiamet looked around... Everybody was busy. Kess was interrogating from what he could tell... Ashe resting after her wound and heal episode... A new member just Joined, that was getting old quick... New members every time he looked up there was some one else he had to get to know... This made him uncomfortable, but he was not paying the bills Watashi was, and that was all he needed to know... He would watch their backs in the field, he was capable and trust worthy, and that's what he signed up for in the beginning. So that thought passed... LT gave everyone a once over looking at the team to see if he was needed... When it was obvious he was not needed he headed back to camp waving hello to Alexia whom had just gotten there and apologized to her for firing on her while she was in the boat. It was a halfhearted apology but not rude by any means. He smiled to her and patted his cornrow hairstyle gently and licked the left most prominent tusk protruding from his mouth... and kept it moving... It was apparent that LT moved different then most of his lumbering brethren... It could not nearly be called grace as he was bigger and heavier then most meta humans, but being smaller then the average troll allowed him a more fluent and practiced while blatant swagger about him... He walked slowly and deliberately... it was quite obvious also that if he wanted to he could be smoother and quicker...

When he got back to the camp site he went back to putting up the tents. He made sure they were not around his tent as his snoring would likely keep up the whole of the team for nites on end... That and the need for privacy during sleep LT was concerned about the nightmares, and not yet willing to share with anyone other then Ashe... He'd not spoken to kess or driver about it, and there was no way he was telling the others about the beast that swallows him whole every nite... Or how regardless of his big size & strength as he was... He was afraid to sleep...

Just as Viking Joined the bulk of the group at the boat and Waved goodbye to LT, who left a bit unexpected the Group, His Valkyrie spirit returned.
Valkyrie still standing next to Viking and Ashe Reported "all known sources that might harm you are either Killed or just about dead, but there might be a source we are unaware of, as the air spirits got help from a spell, so I think you might still be in danger, Honey."
Valkyrie - "No can do, the signature to me is like breathing water to you."
Viking - "Why so?"
Valkyrie - "I do not know, if i knew i would tell you, but it's your own fault really, tasking a worrier with the task of a bloodhound. I take my leave now if you do not mind. Consider yourself Lucky that i came to you in the first place, you haven't build a Hörgr yet, and no sacrifices. Next time i might just ignore your call, Hon."
Viking - "I am sorry, next time It will be ready, I promise. Have a good rest until then, Dear."
"I think i join Ashe on the Rack Ops assignment in a few hours i will dig their brains up like they never had any resistance, but for now i am no good casting i am sorry." Closing his eyes was enough to be asleep there in the sand.

"Hungh.." The nearly-dead tough responded, not even bothering to attempt to control his eyes. They were rolling about in his head with little evidence of control, and Kesslan's finger snapping didn't seem to make the least bit of difference.
"Death... Would... Be... Better..." He managed to squeeze out between wheezes. This tough was clearly not well accustomed to the agony of his current situation, and was poorly equipped to be responsive at the moment. He coughed weakly a few times, and the blood that had already soaked his clothing started to froth out of his mouth. It didn't take a medical expert to know that he needed to be healed immediately, or his remaining life could be measured in seconds.
"Will this help? Eleanor's voice asked audibly, the voice emerging from the Autodoc which had just pulled up next to the boat. Kesslan briefly recalled that it had been dispatched to assist with Ashe, but due to Viking's heal spell, she had not needed it. It was apparent that Eleanor had realized that it might be useful despite that Ashe didn't need it any longer.

"You'd be surprised at how wrong you are about that. Did you know I was raised and trained by Aztechnology?" Kesslan asks the dying man in a casual tone. He knew Aztechnology had something of a... special (And not in the good way) reputation in the shadows. He also knew, all too well that it was more than likely earned right to the last nuyen. Certainly the things he'd done for them, the things he'd been put through were sign enough, and most of the rumours he'd heard were generally more than likely based on truth in his experience. He moved to start stripping away the armour and clothes covering the dying man's chest. "Still, as you don't take me seriously I'll give you one last chance. Blood magic is a rather interesting art by the way..." he said, still speaking calmly as he worked. This part was pure bluff of course, for the shifter had never learned, nor really had much desire to actually learn blood magic. He had however grown up in the shadow of the mega, he'd seen many of the trids.. and better still, his native language really was Aztec. He used the man's own blood from his wounds to start drawing Aztec symbols on the man's chest. "The heart has a rather special place in human sacrifice, which is why I mentioned it earlier. What few know however is that it's connected to one's soul, and thus why you can be forced to linger in agony for a very, very long time." As he worked he drew out the symbols for sun, moon and death. By the same token of course, anyone viewing the astral wouldn't likely see a lick of anything magical going on at all, but then few in this world were awakened. "Still, as you can see we have an autodoc, and you can stop this at almost any time. Of course once I cut you open here..." he motioned in a half triangular pattern beneath the man's rib cage "It won't take me long to rip your heart out with my bare hands. I'm a bit of a traditionalist you see, though unfortunately I don't have an obsidian knife to use. That's less important though as that's purely symbolic." he didn't even wait for the man to respond as he started to chant lowly in the Aztec tongue, making things up as he went he none the less did his best to make what he was saying sound like it was part of some ritual sacrifice, just in case the man before him happened to know the language.

It was a last ditch effort, but he had no qualms about killing the man, even intended to infact. For as he started he set his comlink to record. If this one didn't talk, the video would be shown, in all it's gory detail to the other, presently unconscious survivor once they woke that one up.

Blood magic? Sacrifice? What the underworld is he doing there? The guy deserves it anyway. But... this is cattles excrement, there's no magic in this. Specter watched the threat and the show confused, until she got it finally. She almost slapped her forehead, only barely conceiling her reaction by running the hand through her hair instead. He's bluffing! I don't believe it, he's tricking that fellow. Outward, Specter showed no reaction to the show. But her mind giggled. But then... He's going through with it. He really does it? The amusement faded, leaving a cold feeling. But it was a good cold. It was the typical freezing anger she felt whenever her revenge was being served. Even by someone else. They dared to attack us. He deserves this. It's a mock ritual, but I think that makes it even sweeter. With a cold stare from her icy blue eyes, she observed Kesslan, even stepping closer to see better.

The added threat seemed to momentarily give the man pause. In the end however his response, other than a few wheezing coughs is to choke up a big bloody bit of phlegm and spit it at Kesslan with a choking laugh "Your.. full of drek. Ain't got the balls omae." It was a response that earned a hard look from Kesslan, but the shifter hardly apparently left much of an impression on the man before him apparently. Maybe the man had just seen too much, or Kesslan was just off his game. On the whole it seemed to be a bit of the latter as Kesslan's aura seemed to slowly light up with magical activity. Here, there was definitely something going on, but this time he wasn't talking, wasn't chanting. He was simply staying perfectly still staring unceasingly at the man before him with an impassive and rather cold, predatory gaze. The magical signature fluttered out before fading away and then returned anew, faint and solidified into some sort of magical energy before fading again. The shifter momentarily closed his eyes. "Shame you do not believe me. But as death is what you seek, you shall find it." he says softly before his eyes snap open and as they do the astral lights up brightly with a flare of energy. With that flare came a sudden snap of almost lightning quick movement as Kesslan drew his blade and drove it into the dying man with a deft flash of his blade making a ^ shaped incision just below the man's rib cage, just as he'd said he would. There was barely a chance for his victim's eyes to widen before the shifter dropped to one knee and drove his right arm into the wound at full force, reaching for the heart with his bare hand as he did so.

Odds were good that the blade itself had finished the man off, if not the shock of the shifter's fist plunging into the open wound with full force. The shifter kept forcing his arm deeper and deeper seeking out the man's heart, and once found grasped it firmly in fingers who's strength was magically boosted to slowly rip and pull the heart free. It wasn't easy, and it was messy, but by the time Kesslan had finally pulled the heart free the man was long dead, eyes glassed over. That didn't stop the supposed human man that was not the least bit human from starting to eat the heart raw in an act that most would assume was flat out cannibalism as he remained kneeling before the corpse, drenched in blood that still pulsed, spurted and spilled from the heart with every bite.

"I told you I would." Kesslan calmly said after the first large bite tot he corpse before him as if the man were still alive. "And I always keep my word."

Unless anyone dared to interfere the shifter simply stayed that way, eating the raw heart until there wasn't a scrap left. In that time, no one could mistake him for being human dispute his all too human appearance, nor the appearance of his aura. For all that showed was the pure, deadly predator hidden beneath the skin and the carefully woven lie that was his aura. It wasn't even just the act, it was the appearance, the eyes, the movement... the noises that rose from his throat.

(OOC:
Using Boost Strength. Lost the link to the first roll but it was 0 hits, second attempt was 1 hit. Dropped it and tried again, 3rd attempt 3 hits boosting strength to 3.
First test: Fail (No successes)
Second Test: http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3319779/
Third Test: http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3319791/

Attribute boost drain is Boost value Stun damage. As no hits were gained on the first attempt, apparently there is no drain. For the 2nd attempt drain value is 1S. Drain for the 3rd attempt will be 3S. Present boost will last for 6 combat turns.

Drain resist:
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3319815/

Kess will suffer 2 points of stun from drain when the boost wears off.)

What IS he? For a moment, shock split the cold hatred in her guts, and it showed on her face while Specter took a step back. Kesslan was a somewhat messy eater and she didn't want blood stains on her, if she could avoid it. Although after the first shock ran through her mind, she calmed down again, and the coldness crept back. He died too quick. But the show is kind of entertaining. I only wish he could have watched it to the end.

She shifted her vision back and forth a few times during the performance.

He's no pure human. He can't be. Maybe a Wolf shaman? Tiger? Shark? Or an adept with one of these totems? No, unlikely, I'd have seen. But what if he's initiated and can conceal himself? I wonder...

"Ok! Got it!" Eleanor's voice announced several seconds after Kesslan had completed consuming the heart. She had given the tape just enough time so that watching it would show Kesslan settling down slightly after his meal; the mark of having truly enjoyed it (or, at least, not having been revolted).
"It's going to be great too! Do you want me to do a bit of editing, make it look like the guy survived long enough to see his heart in your hands?" She asked. Eleanor's callous response to the situation simply underscored the lack of metahumanity in her. She likely knew that cannibalism is considered "bad", but there's a difference between knowing it, and feeling it. As an AI, she can't really feel it. What's the difference between eating the flesh of one animal and another. Why is it ok to eat Cows, but not human? Other than cultural repercussions, the AI doesn't have any reason to care one way or another. And, clearly, neither does Kesslan.

LT stood holding some of the metal rods, and some wire for putting the tents together. The tarps that were to be said tents were spread out before him and he also had managed to get his stubby fingers around some of the metal pins that go into the ground, even pushed them in... It was all very frustrating to him and he could not figure out why Kess had tasked him with doing it "This obviously was not thought threw" he thought to himself...

The truth was LT never so much as went on a camping trip. Inner city camps for troubled youth, don't use tents. They don't have camping in the budget. Well at least not the ones that he went too... When Job was out on missions, during summers in the barrens. LT had run from most of those camps. They were like kiddy concentration camps... LT went hang with the hoods then. Learning the basics chemistry essentially as they cooked and per-pared drugs for sale in Redmond district. LT would keep watch at the doors, and windows. They let him hang cause he was big, and for him it was better then waiting on the corner for the polyclubers to come womp!! you on the head for being alive... So that was why he did not have the current situation in hand. It was a long long time ago and in a far far away place... He dropped the tent rods and wire... and stood there a moment longer "I hate this" he thought...

He tapped his com it cam to life in AR and he sent a message to Kess

Kess:

"I Don't know why you chose me to get the shelters up... But it ain't workken so yeah im outta here. If you need me for mission stuff or practice fine. But this, this you can get a drone to do... I'm on my way somewhere to do something... catcha Lata Omae!" he grumbled in the mic...

End message

there was no anger really in his voice message. Just frustration he'd been on the job just as long as kess and and before Ashe for that matter but he'd been playing the background why... why not take a spot Watashi had not diminished his position but had not given him much of a title... like he'd given ashe and kess was he being cut out oooor... He heard laughter in his head. Monstrous laughter it was loud! Then it faded quickly he was confused... What was happening to him. Such anger so easily P.O.'d... He moved away from the droned duty to his gear...

In truth he did not know what he was going to do... But something told him grab his focus before he left. He'd still not bonded with it. So why not get to know it better. Strapping it to his back, he left the compound for the surrounding jungle... "Maybe there's a beast or something wants a piece O' me..." finally a smile cracked on the trolls disgruntle face... It was obvious LT's lack of sleep was affecting his attitude, and far worse... his judgement...

"Would be a good idea. Just be careful where you keep the footage though. Wouldn't look too good on us if it leaked out to the general public. We'll show it to the last one once he regains consciousness though and see if they are more co-operative." Kesslan responded rather calmly to Elanore, not even seemingly bothered by all the blood. "Maybe that one will see I'm being serious and talk. If not, well.. at this point what's another dead body?" he paused to regard the one unconcious being a moment longer before he moved to start stripping off all the gear, comlinks. Anything that looked like it could remotely be a weapon or a tool to be used in escape. No sense in making things easy once the guy woke up after all. "Anyone got any restraints handy?" He asked over general chat on the comlink. "Going to dump em in the autodoc to patch em up but I want to make sure they can't cause more trouble for us in the mean time. And this one I intend to dig every last bit of information out, so you slingers can take all the time you need with em if it comes to that. See what they willingly tell us first though. At least that way people can't say we didn't give them a fair chance."

"Oh, don't you worry that dirty little head of yours. I'm keeping this in my back pocket. It's not going anywhere without my express permission!" Eleanor responded, sending out a quick holovid of some random woman putting a folded envelope in her back pocket, and patting it once.
"In fact, this one never even went in to temp-storage on the camcorder. I streamed it directly in to my personal memory." Eleanor added as the short holovid disappeared.
"Yeah, the Autodoc will help. It won't save this guy, but it should keep him alive long enough for a heal spell to save him." Eleanor said. Clearly she had spent a few minutes running the "Diagnosis" tool on the Autodoc already, just to see what it could do for him. Autodocs were astounding tools, which could do "Field Medic" work like a pro, only faster. But, they weren't a portal surgery room, and simply didn't have the available storage tanks for the required nanotechnology, nor the memory banks to be able to use it.
"The Autodoc should be able to buy us a day with this guy. Without a heal spell, though, he won't last much longer. And he won't wake up at all. At least, that's what the "Prelim Analysis" says, it can do a more detailed job once he's inside." She added, as she maneuvered the Autodoc right up to the side of the boat, as close as she could get it without getting lifted in to the bed of the boat.

Just as Kesslan finished his "Meal" and his short conversation with Eleanor Alexia walked up close to one of the sides of Kesslan but staying well enought out of arms reach to be casution but not impolite she puts her best smile on and greets the ones around that area well hello there, I'm Alexia Moi Voss aparently as im hoping you have been told i am the security specialist that you have been looking for. A short rundown of my capabilities is providing security in the aspects of Physical Magical and Matrix. However i specialize more in the Physical security realm at the moment.

she takes a quick look around not seeming phased by the display of gore around he, as for those who know what she is can most assuredly assume that she has seen worse and done worse to her meals in the past My, you sure have a flare for the showmanship. a little more gruesome and drawn out i would have expected you to be Azie. well anyway that's not what i'm here to discuss. With the current situation i assume that my skills are needed as paramount and wanted to know where to start and what information you have that could be of use for mounting proper defenses around this place and the scope that they should be at She stood upright rolling her shoulders back a bit and swung her arms behind her, she smiled politely and expectantly at kesslan waiting for a response radiating an eagerness to get started, as if all of this was just some big game to her

Kesslan had started mentally debating his next move as he debated if he should put the last surviving attacker in the Autodoc, or clean all the blood off himself. It was.. sticky and well.. dirty and unclean. Oddly getting dirty didn't really bother him much but he liked maintaining a clean, respectable appearance and that he most certainly was not doing at the moment. The slowly drying blood of course made it even more apparent and irked him only ever so slightly. When Alexia came forward however that tiny irk became a full blown annoyance. It hadn't helped that he was put off by her mere presence to begin with, though not perhaps for the reasons that most present would have ever suspected. While he'd told everyone he'd had a direct hand in hiring that he wasn't human, so far only a few of the original members had actually seen what he really was.

Astrally the effect was almost instant. One moment he was a 'mundane' human some how using magical abilities and presently sustaining a spell of sorts, the next he was a very much awakened, fully matured jaguar. Physically however he remained unchanged. "I AM Azzie." he responds quite bluntly with a curl of his lips that revealed his teeth on the physical. In the astral it came across as a low, toothy growl. His movements instantly turned to the aggressive side of things and any concept of 'personal space' went with it. "Fox." he growled lowly in tone and spoke with destain, visibly sniffing at the other shifter before him as if sizing up a meal. "And you. Are in MY territory." the last bit stated in a tone of a threat to human ears. To others who knew how to listen there was a bit of a threat, tinged with warning and a simple statement of fact. His astral form bristled slightly. "The only reason at all that I tolerate your presence now is that Elanore hired you." the interesting thing on the physical world is that while he was clearly moving in a way intended to intimidate some one, it was as if Alexia were much smaller than he, rather than likely about the same size. Kesslan's human form wasn't actually all that tall, standing barely over 5ft. Astrally was another story however. The Jaguar was as large to the fox before him as any other would be, even though the both of them were larger than the average for their non awakened kind. Shifters had always been unusually large members of their species for what ever reason, and Kesslan was certainly no exception in that department. He was also equally as territorial as any of his kind. The only reason that he was showing any restraint at all at the moment was primarily two fold. One, Alexia was not of his own species, and two, she was female. It wasn't that that some how made her 'weaker', far from. It was simply that as a female she was quite simply far less of a 'threat' to his claim to territory than another male would be. As he spoke he began to slowly circle the other shifter before suddenly walking away a short distance and turning to face her again. "Are we clear?" he asked with a challenging tone.