Vescrutia: Legacy

The fields bustled quietly while the quiet whine of the compound's machinery droned in the background. David and Lana waited quietly, knowing how unlikely their plan to meet with the leadership would have been. Still, they'd rather have an awkward parlay than lay siege to the base with the two of them. Ultimately, they wanted to gain the lay of the land and work to free the slaves here and put a damper on the sky polluting factories that marred the horizon on the golden Tarkan Plains. But the reality of the facility's sprawling campus frim within its walls unsettled them. They infiltrated astride a vehicle that didn't miss a beat, none of the workers even looked up to gauge their presence. Lana, looking out at the fields while David waited for a response at the receiver, shivered at the sight of the droning workers moving with a methodical grace, a steady pace indicative of the compound's rock solid regimen.

"How are they working without any kind of masks?" she asked, only halfway to David, but mostly to herself. The Arc Tek they brought with them was the pinnacle of its kind, not too expensive, but would definitely be winthin the budget for a large operation like this. Even slaves needed to breathe well, she thought before her eye caught a flatbed transport moving merchandise different from the harvested and baled vegetation. Her optimism recognized a row of bodies lined up one by one next to one another, hopefully heading back to the shantytown where their unfortunate colleagues were kept. The reality took her breath away when she realized how sloppily the bodies piled onto one another, limbs thrown every way but right, eyes and mouths laid open gazing and gaping at nothing. Her skin crawled, but her constitution left her speechless.

David gave a sigh and scanned around, taking his own assessment of the latent carnage around them. Without a response from upstairs and the state of the compound around them, he gleaned enough information to report back, satisfied with the opportunity to mark their exit.

"I guess a mutually beneficial partnership isn't in your strategy at this time," David said with his most official voice on. "We'll take our leave and hope you reach out to us soon, there's much opportunity for us to discuss. We take our leave."

He confidently turned away from the door and tapped Lana, beckoning her down the field lined road out of the way of the cargo vehicles coming and going. Hopefully far enough away from the receiver, he whispered to her "This isn't even remotely what I expected. Let's head back and regroup."

"They're working them to death, David. We have to do something."

"We will, but not like this. We'll work something out when we're not stretched so thin."

The wind around the north gate shifted, carrying with it the scent of artificial oxygen and scorched soil.

From the dense treeline beyond the compound’s secondary ridge, Captain Yensu emerged.

He didn’t walk like a soldier on patrol—he sauntered, each step laced with the kind of casual menace that came from surviving too many firefights and liking it. Arrogance clung to him like a second skin, radiating off his frame like heat simmering on asphalt.

He was tall, clad in matte-black adaptive armor, its surface laced with faint pulsing veins of violet light. The suit was heavy duty–designed for high octane threat zones. It was resistant to fire, ballistics, pressure, and bore magical dampeners, yet he wore it like a tailored coat.

His face was hidden beneath his standard issue gas mask.

He carried a javelin of condensed energy slung along his back, and a compact plasma rifle hung low against his thigh– magnetically holstered but already halfway in his grip.

He stopped precisely twelve feet away. Not a step more.

“So.. You the ones I’m looking for?” His voice was coarse through the filters of his mask.

He didn’t wait for a response. The plasma rifle was already up, sighting down the bridge of its barrel toward the figure before him.

“Tell me who sent you,” he said, calm and cold, “and I promise I’ll make this quick, son.”

Hitomi Yaarou wrote: Mon Apr 07, 2025 12:22 am Rii’yuu let the silence stretch for a moment longer than necessary.

Then, coolly he responded to Avon.

“Don't get ahead of yourself.”

He finally turned toward the liaison, his crimson eyes flicking past the tech teams and researchers cluttering his office like scavengers circling opportunity. “Your shielding package was designed to prevent this. Your harmonics, your failsafes—your signature technology. And yet here they are.”

Avon did nothing but raise an eyebrow at the unprovoked hostility, but then looked at his team of scientists before letting go a sigh of forfeiture. He could risk neither his team's safety nor discretion. Without knowledge of this companies sect he could not risk knowledge spreading or being further gleaned from outside the perimeter, which if they left there would no guarantee of finding them again, corporation affiliation or not.

Hitomi Yaarou wrote: Mon Apr 07, 2025 12:22 am He glanced at Avon, voice even.

“There will be no craters today. Just corpses.”

A long pause, and another glance at the screen. The lone trespasser still hadn’t moved.

"You have one hour."

He said as he turned and made his way to his team, not giving a second thought to the empty gaze that he had returned the man. It wasn't about his pride or even the Xhi'on's approval. With this kind of exposure further business was null and void, the other plantations would eventually follow suit and the name of the Gekudo would have to be expunged from their ledgers. Thankfully the enterprise had enough of the products necessary to provide a temporary complete lockdown imposed by their standard Aphosin Generator, unfortunately the backup Fulgos they had was only built to maintain the subjugation of their permanent employees by fertilizing the soil and completing the cycle of pollination.

There were better options for their equipment of course but Avon wasn't in the business of making unnecessary sales with companies that would potentially pay them inevitably. Reaching his team half holding out his hand half demanding the nearest tablet he could find and began to get busy immediately on rerouting energy priorities and overriding safety protocols in order to get the job done.

Almost immediately a subtle shuttering affect rippled down from across the force field, only shimmering the outside world for a second before it became a few degrees more obscure to anyone looking out towards it.

"Any longer than that and you're risking a lapse in fertilization that would render the next harvest completely useless, and possibly complete rebellion."

Finishing up all he could on the tablet he swiftly handed it back to it's owner and deftly raised his wrist, sliding across panels to monitor projected ectoplasm levels and setting alarms for the drop in qualitative production. There was nothing else he could offer the man without further confirmation from either his Xh'ion or his higher ups. He pursed his lips as he walked to the floor to ceiling windows so he could monitor the situation phonetically, hoping the situation wouldn't turn into a lesson in humility for the rising administrator. Avon's assistance did not come cheap and it was much more telling that man not only shirked his suggestion but also didn't even ask for his help.

"Guns again?" Lana asked, immediately reminiscing on their last excursion together to Uran. The Arceneaux Corporation unloaded a whole artillery in an open lobby with innocent civilians and David had the rare chance to get filled with lead in a public setting. Lana never had much luck with guns, but didn't shy away from a fight, ever. Her luck tended to work in her favor, they didnt' call her Lady Luck for nothing. David waved her back, and she backed away from their welcoming party, keeping them squarely in view.

"Oh, so you do have a real person working this facility," David said, taking visual note of the rifle pointed at them, but keeping his composure tight. The person clearly worked the fields as security, not as a greeting company for guests. He safely wagered the plantation rarely had them and he and Lana did arrive unannounced. But, what might still work in their favor is the hopes of a business proposition to move some of their product to new frontiers, possibly beyond their current reach. Any organization that had access to the types of resources to produce this elaborate facility in the relatively short amount of time as they did could benefit from a partnership or just a proposal, something just enough for them to glean a bit of information and escape without casualty.

"We're here from the Arceneaux Corporation R & D, just over the mountains in the Hyperion Backcountry. We're in the business of knowing a little about our neighbors and you've built quite the compound pretty quickly. From our CEO, we come offering a business proposal for you in light of the current... Climate... of things." David took his index finger and tapped the side of his facemask twice, a much more sleek and slender tool than the industrial strength gasmask adorning the face of the man standing before them. He clearly wasn't in charge of making decisions about anything more than disciplining personnel and visitors, but could possibly make a case for a meeting with someone who had a bit more sway in their uniforms. "Your operation here has done quite a bit of damage to the air quality in the region and your workers seem to be without any protection from the acrid exhaust. The Arceneaux Corporation offers state of the art filtering technology that can be customized to this biome and ensure a sleek, uninvasive solution to your problem and a possible new market for your product."

Lana gave David a curious side eye, like she didn't expect him to have such an elaborate cover story made up, but she trusted he could talk them through this situation, if she were in charge of security, she might have lowered her guard to see what they could offer to the boss. But her assumption hinged on the pragmatic nature of the man pointing a gun directly at them, already sure to pull the trigger, just wondering when. David didn't relax in the face of this threat, no matter how calmly he made his proposal. He gently slid one hand into his pocket and continued.

"Although you already have an adequate solution, it seems like a pretty bulky piece of equipment. We offer a tool that's just as useful and magnitudes less cumbersome for your staff. Do you think your team has five minutes to hear more details?" Lana didn't let down her guard, but David definitely caught her off guard with his sound proposal. She though they were going to be fighting their way in and out, but his idea proved to be a lot better than her assumptions. Maybe they could actually complete their recon mission with little mishap.

Yensu didn’t blink.

He listened—if it could be called that—with the cold tolerance of a man humoring a story he already planned to burn to ash. His grip didn’t shift from the rifle. His eyes never left David’s face, even as the pitch wound itself up like some glossy, corporate plea for mercy.

"Business proposal..." Yensu repeated, rolling the words around in his mouth like they tasted sour. He chuckled once—dry and mean. “You think fancy words and soundbites are going to save you? You show up uninvited, skirt our defense grid like it was a game of hopscotch, then try to sell me air filters like that’s not a declaration of war in a zip tie?”

His boot scraped the earth as he took a slow, deliberate step forward.

“Our masks work fine.." He said, tapping the glass on his mask. "Besides, look around kid. This ain't exactly a boardroom. And I'm not someone in a suit trying to conduct business.”

Then came the shift. Subtle. Lethal.

Yensu raised the rifle one inch higher—not aiming now, but deciding.

“You know what’s funny?” he muttered. “You're the first to break in this place.. It's been so fuckinf quiet and I've been so fuckin' bored I was practicality begging for something to happen, ya know?”

He thumbed the rifle’s safety off with a soft click that sounded like a judge’s gavel.

“You came here in the nick of time. So, thanks for this son..” He paused, tilting his head as if savoring the moment. “I'll probably get a bonus for something I'd be willing to do for free.”

And with that, he fired.

As Director of Personnel, Lana easily read the malice in their welcome's demeanor. There was no concern, no consideration, he was just looking for a reason to pull the trigger and he would have done so regardless of their answer. David did well to try to defuse the situation, but the click of the safety ended what little negotiation the captain entertained. They both knew a firefight behind enemy lines held the worst possible outcome, but didn't expect it to come so quickly, so they cut and run at the first opportunity.

David slipped to the side like flowing water splashed on the side of a bottle, just narrowly dodging the heated beam of the plasma rifle whisking past his face, singing his cheek but leaving him intact. Lana, out of the line of fire, dashed forward with a burst of searing heat shot from her heels, cooking the earth beneath them. David quickly reached into his satchel crafting an Ava away from sight and crushed a carved blue marble in his fingers, igniting a plume of thick mist around him hiding him and the door from sight.

Silently coordinated, Lana dashed into the nearby fields behind the captain and David slipped out of sight, but assumed the well equipped captain had more than a few ways to track his prey in his playground. Unfortunately, the captain had the first move when diplomacy failed and Diamond Dust was on the back foot, but they had more than enough tools and expertise to hold their own in unknown territory. David definitely had the disadvantage of being the marked prey, but Lana's mobility gave her a heightened edge as their offensive tool, they just needed an opening.