#cs olaka

[chronostarsarchive]

Traveler's Log -- Olaka, Part IV: A Steel Barrel That Rusts in Time

Olaka: The Longest Journey!

Isaak's identity had been revealed to the rest of the group. Oscare, not wanting the shape-shifter to escape, had gotten some manacles and a chain specifically designed to conform to a shape-shifter's new form, should they change it. Now the two of them were with Doji near the outskirts of Talis, the city that had been burning on their arrival. The flames seemed to be quenched for now, and the townspeople were milling about to help out with cleaning up the remaining damage or to help people injured in the flames.

Jaspur was nowhere to be seen. Oscare remembered that Jaspur said he was going to talk with Ralaux Rombaferre, the shape-shifter man they met on the road to Talis who was carried off to a hospital shortly after their arrival.

Doji flitted back and forth nervously between the chained Isaak and Oscare. The very idea of her friends being enemies was concerning to her, and she wasn't quite sure what to do. "We should let Isaak go," Doji said to Oscare.

Isaak desperately pulled against his chains, his eyes bloodshot and panicked. If he did hear Doji, he didn't react to her. Instead, he began slamming against a tree, trying desperately to break the chain.

A nearby tiartzard rushed over at the sight of Isaak slamming himself against a tree. "Hey! Whoa! WHOA!" She tried to restrain Isaak to keep him from hurting himself anymore.

Isaak screamed in revulsion and did his best to try to escape his captor's grasp, but couldn't break free!

Doji paced back and forth near the tiartzard in concern. "Please don't hurt him!"

"Holy shit, what's going on here?!" the tiartzard grunted, fixing her grip tighter. "I'm not gonna hurt him, god, I'm trying to keep him from hurtin' hisself!"

"Oscare says that he hurt people, but I know it can't be true! Isaak is good and brave!" Doji continued to insist.

Isaak kicked against the tiartzard and screamed again, trying his hardest to pull away. Isaak's kick struck the tiartzard in the leg -- apparently there was an old wound of some sort there, for she fell to the ground and released Isaak. "God-fucking-dammit! Someone grab him!"

Doji loomed over Isaak, reaching out a wing towards him. "Isaak, it's okay!" She attempted to soothe him. "We're gonna get you out of there soon, okay? We just have to clear this up!"

Isaak ignored Doji and began to slam his chains into the tree again. Finally, he managed to produce a word with each swing. "Get. It. OFF!"

"Hey! Calm down!" the tiartzard yelled. She staggered to her feet with great effort. "You're going to hurt yourself! Calm down and we'll figure something out!"

Isaak smashed his chains into the tree again and his hair burst from black to red when he finally heard the tiartzard. He turned to her, tears now streaming down his face. "Just get them off," he mumbled, and began slamming into the tree again, but his energy was fading.

"Look, I can't do that unless you promise not to... go apeshit," the tiartzard said, gesturing to the tree that now bears a few marks from Isaak's rampage. "This city's got enough to deal with right now. Can't have someone runnin' around and causin' trouble, yeah?"

Isaak hit the tree one more time and fell over in a heap. His eyes were wide open, but he didn't seem like he would run any time soon.

The tiartzard let out a long sigh. She hefted one of his hands up and checked the make of the shackles. "Great, just hold still..." The tiartzard fished out a lockpick from her pockets and started to pick the lock, eventually managing to open it with a soft click. The handcuffs fell off.

"Right... So, what's going on here?"

Isaak sprang up and tried to scramble up the nearest tree, but the tiartzard moved too fast for Isaak and grabbed him by the leg, holding him in place. "Very funny."

Isaak screeched and blindly kicked back at the tiartzard.

Doji turned to Oscare as though it physically pained her to watch Isaak struggle with the tiartzard. "Oscare! Can't you clear this up? Isaak couldn't have done any of those things you said he did!"

"The sad truth is that he did do all those things I said he did. And I wasn't alone to witness it. Unfortunately, the only other living witness is.... not here." Oscare coughed. "Regardless, he's in shackles because otherwise he'd probably go berserk and kill anything that stands in his way."

"NO!" Isaak shouted back, and he slipped backward off the tree.

"What?" The tiartzard stared at Isaak. "I'm gonna put you back in chains if you don't stop this shit!" Roughly, she yanked him forward. "Hold still, and we can make this easy and nice for everyone. Keep this up, and I'll throw you in prison. Okay?"

Isaak scuttled backward until his back was leaning against the tree. He closed his eyes and put his hands on his head, breathing hard.

"You can do whatever you want with him, just don't kill him," said Oscare.

"God, I'm not gonna kill him! Do you think I got to be mayor by being a mass murderer?"

Oscare threw his arms up and shrugged. "Hey, I'm just saying I don't care."

"You're the mayor? Oh, good!" Doji seemed somewhat comforted by the fact there's an authority figure nearby. "Do you know where Jaspur went? Maybe he can help clear all this up!"

Isaak put his arms on his shoulders and kept breathing, saying nothing.

"Uh... I don't know anyone named Jaspur," said the mayor, bewildered.

"Doji, just because she's the mayor doesn't mean she knows everyone that comes in and out."

The mayor pulled Isaak to his feet. "Okay, what are you people doing here? You picked a bad time to show up in Talis, and like I said, I don't want to deal with any trouble I can avoid."

"Well... our original intention was to prevent trouble, but. That plan clearly didn't work," Oscare focused his look at the city. "We wanted to warn authorities here of an incoming army. But it seems like we were, as you said, badly timed."

Doji straightened up with a new sense of purpose! "Oh, that's right! I forgot when Isaak and Oscare started fighting!" She nodded at Oscare's words.

"Alamo. Alamo coming," Isaak managed to just barely sputter out.

"Oncoming Alamo army..? So you saw the people who did this?" the mayor asked.

Isaak frantically nodded over and over again. "C-Captives. They have captives. Veriol captives. Th-they're roaming a-around and attacking p-people."

The mayor's brow furrowed. "And you saw this?"

"Did we?" Doji sounded confused. "That other shape-shifter, he said..."

"S-some stragglers. W-we were attacked. R-remember? The ch-chronomancers that burned each other?"

"The bandits!" Doji exclaimed.

Oscare put a hand on his chin. "They acted more like bandits to me."

"Th-they told us about the army! H-how do you not remember!? Th-the army of blue soldiers! Alamo troops! There was a destroyed Veriol vehicle buried in the snow nearby!"

Oscare shrugged. "I vouch for that. We did see two of them."

"...Alright, I'll notify the police," said the mayor. "If you need anything else from me, ask around for where Mayor Perlais' office is."

Isaak nodded and closed his eyes again, curling up tight against the side of the tree.

Oscare nodded. "Right, we'll tell you anything we know immediately."

"Thank you!" Doji said to the mayor, before turning back to Isaak, looking concerned. "Are you hurt?" She asked, hovering near his side. As the tiartzard walked off, Doji thought that the name "Perlais" sounded familiar... She remembered that Zajcitos mentioned the name. Doji turned back to the mayor. "Wait!" she called to her. The mayor turned back. "Do you know Zajcitos, from Jerrau?"

"Zaj...citos--" The name was stammered a little. "Yeah, I know her. Did she send you here?"

"Sort of! We were going to investigate because a giant dreadhorn attacked Jerrau, and then we met the bandits and saw the wreck and the other shape-shifter on the way!"

"Other shape-shifter?" Mayor Perlais asked.

"Ralaux Rombaferre." Oscare added. Isaak sat quietly.

"Rombaferre?" Mayor Perlais repeated. "Never thought I'd hear that name for a while. But if he's in charge of the Alamo forces you mentioned, then they couldn't have been the ones to attack."

"Why's that?" Doji asked.

Isaak muttered, "He was scouting on his own. Nowhere near the forces. Maybe they sent him away, towards the bandits we found so they could waylay him while the rest of the forces attacked.”

"He's from around here. Whole family is," added Mayor Perlais with a slight growl to her voice. "He wouldn't have done this. If you find out anything, let me know. Good day."

"If you want, you can visit the hospital. He's probably there being tended to," suggested Oscare.

Mayor Perlais nodded in acknowledgment, but said nothing more as she left. Isaak once again scrambled up a tree.

"Oh, bye!" Doji turned to the others as Perlais departed. "Well, that settles that! No one would ever march against their own home!"

Isaak sat still in the tree and shuddered, still trying to regain his composure.

"What now?"

Isaak said nothing. Doji looked up at Isaak briefly before glancing around. "We should try to help anyone who was hurt by the fire!" Doji decided. She ambled off towards the town, looking around for anyone who might be in need of help.

Oscare nodded at Doji. "Good idea, the people in town might need a helping hand or two." Oscare faced upwards at Isaak. "You can stay up there forever if you want, just please avoid getting into trouble." Oscare marched over to town.

Isaak made no move to get down, instead attempting to determine if he could travel the way to where the fire was without leaving the treetops... but there weren't enough trees around for that. Isaak sighed, and he slid down the tree. He walked silently behind Doji and Oscare, checking over his shoulder and looking for anything out of the ordinary.

Oscare and Doji saw a pair of larephs sitting on the curb, ashes in their clothes and fur. Isaak also saw the larephs, but he also noticed a rago with bright blue eyes nearby. The rago met his gaze and turned away, slowly starting to walk down an alleyway. Isaak pointed out the rago to the others.

Doji approached the larephs. "Are you guys okay? Do you need help at all?"

One of the larephs shook his head. "Naw... We fine." His accent was thick and his grammar was poor, indicating that he wasn't used to speaking Standard Kylian.

"Jus' tryin' to catch our breath is all," added the other lareph.

"Oh, okay! If you're sure!" Doji turned away from them, then looked in the direction Isaak mentioned the rago."Oh! Maybe they need help?" She started after the rago. Oscare just followed Doji.

Isaak ran his hands through his hair until it turned back to black.

The two approached the rago, who turned around and growled. "Whaddya want? Busy here." She wore a brown cloak that covered most of her body, and it was lined with fur. Isaak recognized the patterns as being from a dreadhorn rather similar to the one that attacked Jerrau. Isaak whispered this information to Doji.

"We just wanted to make sure you were okay, after the fire," Doji explained. Doji glanced at Isaak as he whispered to her and inspected the rago's cloak curiously. "Nice cloak! Did you defeat a giant dreadhorn, too?"

The rago looked at her cloak as Doji mentioned it. "Bought it here."

"Where?" Oscare spoke up in interest.

The rago gestured vaguely. "Market district. East of here."

"Why don't we go check that out? Probably gonna need lots of help there," suggested Oscare.

"They're fine there," said the rago gruffly. "Didn't get hit."

"How fortunate. Do you think there's any area in particular that needs help?"

Doji peered. "Is that where you were? You don't look like you have any burns or anything, which is good!"

"No, they have it under control here." The rago shrugged. "They got warned in advance. Able to mobilize relief units and stuff."

"Oh, that's good!" Doji turned to the others. "Maybe we should look for Jaspur now, or the other shape-shifter to see if his leg is okay?"

The rago tilted her head. "Jaspur..? He speak Alamin?" Isaak nodded, remembering that Jaspur could read the the sword they found with Alamin lettering. "Weird. Don't get many Alamin-speakers 'round here."

"You know him?" asked Isaak, finally speaking up.

"No... Just recognized the name as Alamin."

"Oh! Speaking of names! What's your name?" Doji asked suddenly. "I'm Doji! We came here to warn Talis about a suspicious series of wrecks, and even an army marching here!"

"Call me Ironhide." The rago shrugged with indifference. "Right... if you got nothing to say, I'm out." Ironhide started to walk off again, apparently annoyed at being stopped to begin with.

"Goodbye!" Doji called as Ironhide left. She turned to the others. "Let's try to find Jaspur or Ralaux now!" She paused. "Do you think the mayor knows where the hospital is? That's where Ralaux would end up, with his leg, don't you think?"

Ironhide stopped. In a few large strides, she was back in front of Doji, practically staring up at the much-taller doeron. "What did you say?"

"Oh! Ralaux, the shape-shifter," Doji explained. "We met him on the way here. His leg got hurt, though, so we think he went to the hospital with our friend Jaspur."

"Ralaux... Rombaferre?"

Doji nodded. "Yeah! Do you know him?"

Ironhide said nothing at first and merely narrowed her eyes a little. "...He's injured? How?"

"Oh, he was running with a sword, as a wolf, and Isaak shot at him, I think on accident." Doji frowned slightly, remembering the sharp pain when Isaak had shot her in the back.

"...Who's Isaak?" asked Ironhide.

"Oh! This is Isaak," Doji said, nodding at him, "and this is Oscare." She gestured to the cainos. Isaak prepared to run, feeling the rago's piercing gaze on him.

"...Why?"

Oscare glared at Isaak, ready to bolt after him if need be.

"Why is he called Oscare? I'm not sure how cainos naming works," Doji admitted.

"No. Why did you shoot him?" Ironhide asked Isaak, apparently not bothered by Doji's pointless question.

"There... Alamo sword. He took it. It was evidence. I wanted us to have proof that Alamo troops were marching. Nobody would have believed us if we didn't have proof."

Ironhide was silent for a moment. She looked to the others, and then back to Isaak. "...I hate people like you," she said. "People who let their weapons think for them. I hate them. That's why this city got attacked. People got hurt. Innocent people. Because a weapon was thinking instead of a person."

Isaak sighed, and he said, "Yes."

Doji's eyes went wide. "Do you know many people like that?"

"Many. Too many." Ironhide's blue eyes narrowed again. "What do you say to a man whose house got burned to the ground? To an orphan whose only caretaker is in the hospital? To a freshly widowed woman whose husband is now a burnt corpse ten feet under..? What do you say when you know that all that happened for no reason? Nobody thinks about that anymore. All they want is quick solutions. Shoot first. Kill them before they kill us. So I hate them."

Floored, Oscare's jaw dropped. Isaak shuddered. He didn't want to stay any longer.

Doji's shoulders drooped and she looked down briefly before looking back up at Ironhide. "And you say the same thing happened here? You don't think the people who attacked here were thinking? Did you know the people who attacked here, too?"

Ironhide noticed Isaak's shudder. "Scare you? That means I'm right." She appraised the gun in its holster with a condescending glare. "That gun is the only brain you have. A steel barrel that rusts in time... but not before it's left a bloody stain on the world." Her gaze swept over the group before her. "Jaltur Ironhide. Former... Alamo officer. I was with Colonel Rombaferre when our ships all sank."

"Former?" Doji repeated.

Oscare bowed his head. "Jaltur Ironhide.? Could you tell us everything you know about what happened the time your ship sank?"

"Got hit. Bad storm," Ironhide said grimly. "Sank with a bunch of Veriols, too. But Colonel Rombaferre knew their commander. Struck a deal. Came here to find out what caused that storm. Tracked the culprit down. Colonel Rombaferre left to find his sword. And then we found the person who did it. Used a weapon to sink us. The Veriol colonel took it. Wasn't the same after. Panicked. City got torched. They ran... and so I left. Colonel Rombaferre is my only leader... but I'm not following him under the banner of the Alamo Empire. Not when my comrades would take orders from a Veriol man saying to burn everything."

"Wait, are you saying the Veriol colonel got the weapon that caused the storm and then changed enough that he torched the city with the rest of the Alamo crew?" Doji asked, shocked.

"R-really?" Isaak asked.

"A weapon was doing the thinking," intoned Ironhide.

Isaak nodded. "Wh-what weapon could do this?"

"Wait, that doesn't make sense. Why would he do that? Simply to kill the Alamo?" Oscare asked, trying to piece together this seemingly nonsensical situation.

"No... This is a Veriol city. But weapons don't discriminate between friend and foe. You point. You shoot. It won't stop just because the other guy's wearing the same colors as you."

"And people wonder why I don't trust Chrono." Jaspur emerged from a nearby alleyway then, shaking his head as he made himself known to the group and closing a small notebook with a quiet snap. "The colonel's been seen to. Any new developments here?"

Isaak took a shaky step backward.

Oscare explained, "We met the mayor. Otherwise... nothing. Besides Ironhide here."

"...Who's this..?" Ironhide asked, looking at Jaspur.

"This is our friend Jaspur!" Doji explained. "Jaspur, this is Ironhide. She's a former Alamo officer! She was with Ralaux when their ships sank!"

"Aha... stroke of luck there." Jaspur paused. "Your officer's currently recuperating. By the time I left, he was still cracking jokes, so I imagine he'll be fine with a bit of bed rest." He glanced to Isaak, gaze lingering for a second, before nodding back to Ironhide. "A pleasure, I'm sure."

"...Jaspur," Ironhide repeated. She nodded at his information. "Thank you." Ironhide looked over the group. "What are you doing here..? Do you mean to stop them? The ones who torched this city..?"

"We originally wanted the entire thing to be prevented in the first place, but that didn't go according to the plan. Right now we just want to do what we can to help," said Oscare.

Ironhide snorted with contempt. "There's nothing here for you. Unless that Veriol colonel returns for round two..."

"We were going to Suivre, to investigate the dreadhorn that attacked Jerrau, when all this stuff happened," Doji explained.

Jaspur cleared his throat. "This may be a related incident. I've acquired descriptions and names of most of the figures involved in the incident, so with luck, we'll be able to track some of the survivors down and root out the cause of this whole issue."

"They went east," said Ironhide. "All of them fled. Realized what they did. Didn't want retribution. I stayed... because I knew Colonel Rombaferre needed to know what happened."

"East? What's east of here?" asked Oscare.

"The Deadlands... They probably wanted to go where none would follow."

"I see." Jaspur paused, reflexively checking for any rank indication. However, Jaspur couldn't see any signs of Ironhide's rank. Her brown cloak covered the rest of her clothes, assuming she hadn't discarded her Alamo uniform entirely.

Doji seemed to be struggling with all the new information they've learned. "And the Veriol Colonel, the one with the weapon... they went to the Deadlands too?"

"...Weapon." Jaspur stopped, tilting his head. "That's... rather unspecific. What, precisely, is it?"

Ironhide nodded to Doji, then looked to Jaspur. "A crossbow. According to the man we took it from... it is called Nascimedo, Fear's Birth."

"So this crossbow is what's causing the storms?" confirmed Oscare.

"The man was a chronomancer... of sorts." Ironhide seemed uncertain of the specifics. "He used the weapon to channel a spell. Amplified it. Caused the storm like that."

Jaspur closed his eyes, reflecting on the name... wondering if he'd come across it before... and then it came to him. Jaspur remembered that dreadful name in a book he read on the pinnacles of Chrono-created weapons: The nine legendary godslaying weapons. Nascimedo, Fear's Birth, was the last one to be forged. He recalled that the book said Nascimedo, as its name indicates, had the power to induce terrifying hallucinations in its victims.

According to his knowledge of history, Nascimedo was said to have initiated the events that led to the Godbomb. Some claimed that Nascimedo was used to attack a god, or that its power was so great and dreadful that the gods themselves took notice, and that in turn caused the small war that ended with the Godbomb in 4100.

"That's--" Jaspur's eyes widened. "A..."

"Wh-what?" Isaak asked, uncertain if he wanted an answer.

Jaspur muttered, disbelieving. "...But... godslayers are..." He looked again at the officer's face, as if waiting for some kind of retraction or condition, but when none seemed forthcoming, he swallowed hard. "...Dire circumstances indeed."

Oscare's eyes widened at the mention of Godslayers. "Boy, does THAT take me back."

Isaak crossed his arms, saying nothing.

Doji looked around at the assembled group in confusion. "So, are we going after the Veriol Colonel? What's their name, anyways?"

Ironhide was mostly quiet at Jaspur's comment, but she barely suppressed a snort of contempt. To Doji, she said, "Ferries Parang."

"...Is he from around here?" asked Isaak.

Ironhide nodded. "Yeah. Colonel Rombaferre knew him as a kid."

"...Alright." Jaspur narrowed his eyes, staring east. "In that event... our task is perfectly clear." Still looking away, he spoke aloud to the officer. "You said the others were following him? Out of..?"

"Loyalty. Fear," suggested Ironhide.

"Hm. So, if their leader were to no longer be an issue, they would lay down their arms..." Jaspur's eyes gleamed briefly. He glanced to Isaak. "You. How good of a shot are you?"

"Do not shoot Colonel Parang," growled Ironhide.

"Not him." Jaspur stroked his chin, a grim smile on his face. "Can you shoot a weapon from a man's hand?"

"I would not trust a man who thinks with his gun to shoot the weapon and not the wielder," said Ironhide, her tail thrashing angrily behind her. "If you harm Colonel Parang, I will come after you. There isn't a man alive that Colonel Rombaferre cares for more... and for my commander, I will ensure that he remains unharmed."

"But like you said, Parang isn't thinking right! It's that weapon. Isaak would never hurt an innocent person on purpose!" Doji said.

Isaak said nothing, but was staring at his hands.

"I'm tired of explaining it to her," Oscare said wearily, throwing his arms up in defeat at Doji insisting Isaak's innocence.

"You said it yourself. He shot Colonel Rombaferre. Men like him do not change. You put them in any situation... and they react the same." Ironhide pointed with her clawed hand, mimicking a gun. "The adrenaline kicks in. They don't even think about it. That's how used to it they are. They cry it wasn't their fault. But who pulled the trigger..?"

Isaak looked up at Ironside. "It was my fault. I couldn't control myself. I shouldn't have put myself in that situation. I did shoot someone, Doji," Isaak said, and turned to her. "I had just gotten out of a prison... They were trying to sell me, like a piece of meat. And I did it... I was so angry and upset. I was beyond irrational. I wanted someone to suffer like I had suffered. It wasn't fair." Isaak wiped tears out of his eye. He pulled out his rifle, and held it out to Ironside. "I shot Rombaferre. It never occurred to me that it could have been a shapeshifter. I haven't been home in so long. The thought never crossed my mind. It was just another animal, another target, another thing. But I would have done it even if I knew. So, take this. I don't want it anymore," Isaak said, bitterly. "You think with your mind. You take the shot. Someone else do it. Give me time to recover my mind back." Isaak turned to Jaspur. "I know I promised I'd be here, and that I'd help. But I don't want to help. Not now, I can't now... I don't... I'd do my best, but something would go wrong, something always goes wrong."

Seeing Isaak sag, Jaspur rounded on Ironhide, turning to fully face her and meeting her gaze with a firm stare. "I do not claim to know this man better than you do, but from the testimony of his colleagues, I would presume that he would not abide the actions of his current madness. My aim is to devise a course of action in which as little harm comes to either side as possible. I have already promised Rombaferre that if any harm comes to Parang, through the actions of me or my colleagues, the responsibility is on my head. And rest assured I have the same faith in my team as this colonel doubtless has in his." Glancing back to Isaak, Jaspur hesitated, looking down at him. He seemed frozen for a moment, grasping for words as something flickers across his mind, then set his hand on Isaak's shoulder. He cleared his throat, somewhat uncomfortably, then simply said, "Good men may make mistakes."

"I can't remember the last time I was a good man," Isaak said, and he started walking away. Ironhide wordlessly snatched the offered rifle out of Isaak's hands before he left.

"I will agree to your plan," Ironhide said to Jaspur, roughly stowing away the gun, "but I will not have him be the keystone of it. You ask too much requiring me to trust in a man that shot Colonel Rombaferre."

Doji struggled with Isaak's monologue, her head swimming. She watched him go for a moment, frowning. "But, Isaak, you are a good man!" she insisted, trailing after him.

Noting Doji following Isaak, Jaspur briefly exhaled in relief. To Ironhide, he nodded. "...That is acceptable, then. I will find another capacity for him to assist that will satisfy both you and he. Regarding... him, I only ask that you are willing to be proven wrong, should circumstances allow it." His shoulders slumped slightly. "I don't suppose you have any estimate of the relative danger in a night of rest and preparation before we move to neutralize the situation?"

Ironhide's ears flicked, and she shook her head slightly at the notion of Isaak proving her wrong, but she said nothing about it.

"...We would have to be fast to catch up with them," said Ironhide. "But... they would have to rest as well. And they are moving a larger company across difficult terrain. It... is not unacceptable."

"So, they're traveling..." Jaspur made a soft tsk. "Their endgame, then? Where would they be heading?"

"East... to the Deadlands. If they are just running, they have no endgame other than escape."

"Dangerous." Jaspur shook his head grimly, lost in thought. "...but we can manage. The further out, the less risk of collateral damage, too. It seems to me as though we could all do with a moment to breathe before charging out, after all - and I might be able to track down some supplies in town that might help everyone come out of this unscathed. An ounce of prevention, and all that."

Ironhide stared at Jaspur. "You're making a great assumption there... That they'd even make it through the Deadlands. They aren't named that just for fun."

"I want to visit Perlais sometime before we leave, I feel like she could possibly lend us a hand. But I'm going to take a rest before that," said Oscare, jumping in.

Jaspur gave her a flat stare. "Well, you know the area -- and the relative strength of the group -- better than I. Your appraisal, then?"

Ironhide shrugged. "It'll give me time to talk to Colonel Rombaferre before we go. Go ahead and rest."

"Alright. I imagine you'd prefer to make that visit on your own?" Jaspur sniffed, massaging a temple. Ironhide nodded. "...Alright then." Jaspur gestured with his walking stick in the direction he came from. "He's being treated in a nearby hospital. They should be able to assist you at the front desk... If you'd prefer the rest of the day to yourself, we'll meet at the city's border tomorrow morning. Any requests in terms of supplies and preparation?"

"Be ready... to move fast," was all Ironhide said. With a curt nod, she left for the hospital.

Jaspur stared after her, then shook his head, sighing. "I can understand the reason for her emotional state, but... something about her... is concerning me."

Oscare looked at Jaspur. "What?"

Jaspur straightened, adjusting his collar. "It's been my experience that a soldier who is too set in their own way of thinking... might be no better than an unpredictable one." Glancing to Oscare, he nodded. "...My apologies. It's been a long day."

Oscare nodded to Jaspur, thinking on his words. "I'm... going to go rest." He wandered off to the nearest inn.

Jaspur turned towards the alley again, glancing back towards the commercial district. "Once more into the breach..." After a moment's pause, he glanced back towards the other two, standing quietly in the side street, watching.

Isaak had kept walking, Doji following after him. Not even glancing back, when Doji insisted he was a good person, he said, "No, Doji. Maybe I was once. Not anymore. I need some time before I could even come close again."

Doji continued after Isaak stubbornly. "You can't just stop being a good person," she argued. "It doesn't work like that."

"Doji. Enough. I don't want to hear it. I need time, okay? I didn't even come here to do any of this, but I jumped in immediately, guns blazing. Good people don't do that. I don't even know why I came along. I wasn't trying to help, I don't really need the money. I just... did. Just let me go, alright? Maybe I'll see you again someday."

"I came to look for my soul gem," Doji said, looking down at Isaak. "I didn't come to help people either. But I did. And so did you! You helped people in Mioura. Because that's what good people do."

Isaak shook his head. "Doji... I can't even remember the last thing I did that wasn't for me. Everything I've done was because I wanted something or didn't want it. I just... I don't want to keep telling myself I'm being roped into things. I want to know why I'm doing them, or who I'm doing them for. I want a reason, because it sure as hell isn't that I want to help."

Doji struggled with what to say. "There's nothing wrong with doing things for yourself sometimes," she said finally. Quietly. "Maybe... maybe you could help me. Help us. By doing something for you? Something you can be proud of later? Is that a... a good enough reason?"

"...What?"

"You'll know why you're helping us take back the weapon from Parang. You'll know who you're doing it for. You're doing it to help us. And you're doing it for you. To prove to yourself that you're a good person," Doji explained.

Isaak sighed. "I'll help. But don't expect me to fight. I'll run away. I just won't run away yet."

[chronostarsarchive]

Traveler's Log -- Olaka, Part III: The Alamo Colonel

Olaka: The Longest Journey!

A chill wind blew by; the four had been walking along the road for some time now, and Talis was still nowhere in sight. Then again, Zajcitos had warned them that it would take them all day to reach Talis if they didn't get delayed...

"Sooooooo." Oscare coughed in the silence. "How's everyone faring?"

Doji ambled along, humming happily to herself. She glanced at Oscare, smiling. "Great!" she answered with a nod. "We'll be there in no time!"

Oscare shrugged. "Remember what Zajcitos said -- it'd take a day to reach Talis without delays. And considering our weird luck, who knows what the heck will happen? I wouldn't be surprised if Queen Dokani showed up right now."

Doji stiffened at the mention of the Queen, glancing around wildly. "You think she'll come back?!"

"Let's pray that she doesn't. Note: do not camp by suspicious statues."

Isaak shuddered at the memory.

The sun seemed to be closer to the horizon now, approaching evening. The land around them appeared to be much flatter and with fewer places to hide, if they needed to camp out here.

Jaspur sighed, grumbling. "If anyone has second winds remaining, now would be a good time for them to manifest. I'd prefer we made it to some warm beds before we end up needing them."

As they continued along, they noticed a set of tracks that grew more obvious the farther along the road they went.

"Uh oh, we got tracks here." Oscare pointed out, just in case the other hadn't seen. "Someone beat us here."

"Tracks?" Doji peered down to where Oscare had pointed. "Do you think it's the Queen?"

Jaspur wrinkled his nose. "Is that unusual? This is the main inter-city road, if our guide's advice is to be believed."

Isaak nodded. "A bit. It's fuckin' cold. Plus, we haven't run into anybody yet."

"Jaspur has a point. I wouldn't say that Zajcitos lied to us. But it's something to think about."

Doji trudged forwards past the tracks. "Well, we have to warn the town," she said.

Jaspur took a closer look at the tracks, judging them to be from someone wearing shoes rather than some sort of beast.

"Indeed. Simple travelers." Jaspur sniffed.

"Could've been. Or it could've been the soldiers we're meant to warn the town about." Isaak sighed, but drew his rifle nonetheless. "I really cannot stand people who I can't see until the last minute."

Doji suddenly heard squeaking in the grass. Glancing around for the source of the noise, she spotted a small mouse crossing the path in front of her. She gave chase and tried to grab it, but the mouse ran off, avoiding her clumsy grasp. After watching it go for a second, she grinned and ambled along.

Jaspur watched the mouse go, pausing a moment. A mouse that small, he deduced, wouldn't be native to Olaka. It looked more like the kind of small mice on Sigzlor that eventually became an invasive species on Raljikka due to trade between the two planets.

Jaspur shook his head. "...Perhaps I'm imagining things."

Isaak, suddenly wary, looked around for a sign of anyone approaching.. He did see a large hawk soar through the sky, though. The bird let out a loud screech as it flew overhead. He recognized the species as a Leux's Hawk, easily recognizable by the bright red splotch on their chests and their crimson talons. The others saw the hawk as well, but didn't recognize the species.

Leux's Hawks were common around Hasse, though they weren't unheard of elsewhere in Olaka if it wasn't too cold. As an Olakan species, their feathers were sometimes used by locals in ornaments or decorations. Sometimes even armies would use the feathers as an emblem of sorts as a show of pride to their country.

"You alright, Jaspur?" Oscare asked, noticing Jaspur's wariness.

"Oh, mm... it's nothing." Jaspur shook his head again. "Overthinking. That mouse wasn't a variety commonly found here."

"Hm." Oscare nodded and continued to walk down the path, not thinking much of Jaspur's comment.

Isaak glanced up at the hawk again but continued to walk, occasionally looking up at the bird as he went. It reminded him a bit of when he lived around Hasse; those hawks would often try to steal food from anyone careless enough to leave their meals unattended.

Isaak wrinkled his nose. He mumbled, "Maybe..."

"Maybe what?" Oscare asked Isaak.

Isaak rolled his eyes. "See that hawk? It's a scavenger. If you're not careful when you're eating it'll eat the meal right out of your hands. Just the sort of creature who'd follow a big caravan of soldiers."

"You think that means they're ahead of us?" Doji asked, glancing up at the hawk.

"Maybe," said Oscare with a frown. "We'd better hurry."

Doji hurried along at Oscare's urging.

Closing his eyes, Jaspur tried to think of who the authority in such a city might be – the person they'd be warning of the potential attack. Although he couldn't think of any authority by name, he did know that such cities in Olakan provinces are run by mayors who in turn are part of and answer to a province-wide council.

As the group continued on, they noticed that the hawk above them seemed to be circling over them.

"You said they're scavengers?" Oscare questioned. "Do you think that bird wants food from us?"

"The only thing I have on me is whiskey." Jaspur eyed the bird warily. "Somehow I doubt that's to its tastes."

"I have a few good meals?" Doji piped up.

"If you've got food, be more careful with it than you're being right now. And whiskey is probably the only food the bird won't try to get at. I'm serious. Watch your stomachs, people." Isaak said. It had been too long since he was on Olaka. He couldn't even remember if that was closer to a joke or the truth.

Doji looked at her stomach in confusion.

Isaak looked at Doji. "You, uh... You do digest food in your stomach, right? It's not just some thing you have for breathing fire or anything? Like, that's where your food goes until you poop it out?"

"Yes?" Doji said, though she wasn't sure. "Let's keep going."

She trudged on, occasionally glancing at her stomach.

Isaak sighed. "Just mind the hawk, Doji, don't literally watch your own stomach. It was a joke that the hawk will disembowel you to get to the food inside it."

“Ooh, okay.”

The hawk abruptly swooped down and flew in front of Isaak, dropping a charred object in front of him.

Isaak hopped back, startled. He looked down at the charred object, trying to determine what it was before he picked it up.

The object seemed to be a charred piece of cloth wrapped around a pebble. The non-charred parts of the cloth were a vivid shade of green.

Isaak turned it over in his hand. "Green cloth. Veriol alliance. Charred pretty badly. Could be from the last wreck we found, or... there's another one somewhere." Isaak searched for signs of anything buried in the snow nearby. Seeing something sparkling, he ran over to it and uncovered it. It was a longsword with a blue Alamo Empire emblem on its hilt.

"Another wreck?" Doji inquired, glancing around as though searching for more charred wood and metal.

"Not a wreck, though there still may be one nearby. A sword," Isaak said, showing the sword to the others.

"Nice longsword." Oscare peered at the sword with a slow nod, admiring its quality.

Jaspur coughed meaningfully. "We should keep moving?"

They nodded at this and continued on, though the sword remained a subject of interest.

"Suspicions confirmed, I guess. I'd give it to you without a question, Oscare, if it didn't have this emblem on the hilt. It wouldn't really go over well to warn a town full of Veriols that an army's coming to rip them apart and then have something that identifies you, and consequently, us, as Alamo troops," Isaak reasoned.

Jaspur self-consciously pulled his coat further over his armor.

Oscare asked, "Can I see for a quick second? I want to check something on it."

Isaak sighed. "Fine, but get rid of it. Only keep it if you can get the emblem completely and totally off. No fucking around, alright?" He handed Oscare the sword.

Oscare took hold of the sword and started to look it over.

"Well, I suppose if we did bring it, then it'd serve as proof. Though in theory, we have that already. Jaspur, what do you think? Bring it or leave it?" asked Isaak.

"Should we just leave it here?" Oscare asked as he returned it to Isaak. “It's causing us some trouble already.”

Isaak shrugged and started to look over the sword once more, holding it up to the dwindling sunlight. He saw something written in Alamin on the hilt, but he couldn't read it.

Jaspur shook his head wearily. "It serves to prove the point of our deployment, doesn't it? We'll take it if we can conceal it appropriately, until a point at which we might need it."

"Fair point. You speak Alamin?" asked Isaak.

"Of course. Why?"

Isaak showed Jaspur the sword's hilt. "I'm not sure it's of much importance, but that's Alamin, right? What's it say?"

Curiously enough, the name wasn't a very Alamin name, despite being in Alamin. It said, "Ralaux Rombaferre". It seemed like a name more befitting an Olakan native.

Jaspur read it aloud, a little bemused. "Some manner of label of ownership, I would imagine. Keep an ear out for that name."

Isaak nodded.

"Gotcha."

The hawk divebombed Isaak again, knocking into his hands and causing him to drop the sword. The hawk's form shimmered, turning into a wolf. Before the group could react, the wolf grabbed the sword in its jaws and dashed off!

Doji watched as the wolf ran past with the sword before looking back to the group. "Whoa! Where'd that come from? Why did you give it the sword?"

"We didn't give it to him! He just went ahead and took it!" Oscare shouted back.

Isaak pulled his gun back out and shot twice at the wolf as fast as he could.

The bullet hit the wolf in the leg! The beast fell to the ground, the sword clattering to the ground. The creature's form morphed again, and a shape-shifter man was seen clutching his leg on the ground. Blood was pooling around his navy trousers where the bullet hit him.

"Goddammit, you fuck! It's my sword!" he spat at Isaak, struggling to crawl over to his sword despite his wounded leg.

Jaspur's eyes widened briefly, before he gritted his teeth, rushing over towards the man. Wordlessly, Oscare also ran over to aid the wounded man.

"Then don't try to steal it, you stupid fuck!" Isaak shouted back. "If you had asked, maybe I wouldn't have shot you! And what are you doing with a damned Alamo sword?!"

"Steal?! I came back to get it, shithead!" the shape-shifter hollered back. "Ow... Fuck! Fucking kids with goddamned guns!"

Gritting his teeth, his blond hair matted with sweat from the effort, he finally reached the sword and sheathed it. He glares at Jaspur, Oscare, and Doji, who also ran over to help.

"The hell is this maniac's problem?! Shooting the shit out of something that changed shape in front of him! Obviously it was a shape-shifter, shit-for-brains!"

"Hold still, I'll fix that up right now." Oscare attempted to get close to the man's leg to tend to the wound.

"So?! Being a shape-shifter doesn't make you any more trustworthy than anything else! Now, where'd you get the sword?!" Isaak demanded.

“Shooting a Kylian without provocation is a crime!" the shape-shifter shouted back. He hissed in pain as Oscare bandaged up his leg, but his grimace turned to one more of gratitude when the salve-coated bandages started to take effect. "Ugh... Thank the gods you guys are more sane..."

Isaak snorted. "You fucking provoked me! You snatched a sword out of my hand, asshole! How was I supposed to know the sword was yours? And quit fucking dodging the question! Where'd you get the sword?!" Isaak said, grabbing the man by the collar and yanking him away from Oscare.

"Get this fucker away from me!" the man shouted. "What the hell happened to arms laws on Olaka?! You used to have to get a fucking permit to have shit like that!"

"What's your name?! Where'd you get the sword?!" Isaak demanded again.

"Makhil, calm down. Yelling isn't obviously helping," Oscare said.

Doji looked between the two shape-shifters. "Makhil's a nice guy," she assured the bleeding shape-shifter. "We were just on our way to warn Talis about some sort of army that's marching on them!"

"The sword is mine!" spat back the shape-shifter. He pointed at the hilt as best he could from his current position. "It's got my name on it! Ralaux Rombaferre!"

Isaak sighed, and he let the man go. "Well, at least you're not lying. Sorry I shot you. But that still doesn't answer why you've got an Alamo longsword."

"Oh, I wonder," sneered Ralaux through gritted teeth. "Maybe... just maybe... it's because... I'm with the Alamo Empire? Holy shit. What a concept."

"Wonderful," Isaak said, reloading his rifle and pointing it point-blank at Ralaux. "I'm no longer sorry I shot you."

Doji looked at Isaak, alarmed.

"Enough." Jaspur walked forward, staring him down. "In that case, I would say you're in a position to provide us with some information, hm?"

“You're on his side?" Ralaux stared at Jaspur with disbelief. "C'mon! You're a sulevam!"

"I'd prefer if we put the whole concept of 'sides' aside, for now," Jaspur said smoothly. "Ralaux, was it?" He scanned him over, looking for some manner of rank identification, or somehow assessing his responsibility level.

Jaspur saw that on his coat was a mjolinnar: a special medal awarded to soldiers for outstanding heroism or actions. Aside from that, he also spied an emblem indicating that Ralaux was a colonel.

"Grew up in Olaka, before you ask why I'm a shape-shifter with a Rodol name," said Ralaux, narrowing his grey eyes. "But the Veriol Alliance just didn't do it for me."

"So you went to join the Alamo Empire? Interesting," Oscare mused.

"Grew up in Olaka? So you must know about dreadhorns, and that kind of thing! We fought a dreadhorn yesterday. A really big one," Doji said.

Jaspur raised an eyebrow. "An officer..."

"An officer, huh? How about something a little more interesting, sir?" Isaak demanded. "Like, where are your imperial buddies?"

"I'm sorry, I don't speak 'whiny bitch'. Mind translating for your buddy here?" Ralaux asked the rest of the group.

"I think he's asking where your king and queen friends are," Doji said, then she stiffened. "You know the Queen?" she whispered dangerously.

"The what?" Ralaux asked, frowning at the mention of a king and queen.

Isaak let out a long sigh. "No, Doji. That is not what I am asking."

Oscare quietly explained to Doji what Isaak was really trying to ask. Comprehension flickered over her face, and she nodded in understanding.

"We know there's a group of Alamos on this planet, getting dreadhorns to attack forts and capturing Veriol soldiers. Where are they?" Isaak demanded again.

Jaspur raised a hand briefly, giving Isaak a brief glance, as if to request patience. After a moment, he looked down at the wounded officer. "That's quite a recommendation you're wearing, Colonel."

His eyes flickered to the medal.

"I love it when asshats jump to conclusions based on probably nothing. Please, keep acting like the little shitstain you are and waste everyone's time." Ralaux rolled his eyes and leans his head back, but he seems to become more interested at Jaspur recognizing his rank. He sat up, careful not to agitate his leg. "Fuck yeah, it is! Got it from a land mission in Kes Joshawk during my training. Everything went to hell after our acting commander kicked the bucket, but I took charge and salvaged the whole operation like a fucking badass."

Isaak rolled his eyes, but managed to keep his trap shut. Jaspur glanced over him, attempting to estimate his age. Though he seemed a bit young to be an officer, he wasn't implausibly young for his rank.

"Wow! Good job!" Doji said earnestly. "I've been to Kes Joshawk," she commented. "There was a giant dragon robot. It was really fun!"

"And that elevated you a couple stations higher as well, I'd guess... Hm. You must have had some superiors. Field experience is not always respected as a proof of worth." Jaspur nodded approvingly. "But... why send you out here, then?"

"Nobody knows Olaka better than me," said Ralaux.

"Then I have a question for you. How close are we to Talis?" Oscare asked.

"Two, three hours," Ralaux estimated without skipping a beat.

"Two or three more hours? We're not too terribly far then. That's a relief." Oscare nodded.

"How close is the army to Talis, then?" Doji asked no one in particular, peering down the path.

"What army?" asked Ralaux.

"The army who sent you out here, dumbass, because you supposedly know the land better than anyone," jeered Isaak.

"Well, most of them are about several hundred feet under the ocean because we got hit by a storm," said Ralaux with another sneer. "Any other questions?"

"Fuck, you're stupid and out of the loop."

"Ghosts are going to attack Talis?" Doji asked in confusion.

"Maybe if you two stopped interrupting and insulting him." Oscare coughed. When he had silence from the others, he continued. "You guys were hit by a storm when?"

Ralaux shrugged. "A week ago, now."

"You and who else survived, if you happen to know?"

"Classified info."

Oscare sighed. He hoped that Jaspur would work his magic to get this guy to be more forthcoming with information.

Isaak grit his teeth and grabbed his rifle tighter. Leave it to Oscare to get a captive who was open and dripping with info to shut up entirely.

Doji peered down the path before looking back to Ralaux. "Hop on," she instructed the shape-shifter. "We can talk and move at the same time. If ghosts are attacking Talis, we have to help! And if you grew up in Olaka, wouldn't you want to help us save Talis, too?"

Jaspur cleared his throat. "...We'd rather minimize bad-feeling and casualties on all sides, to be quite clear. I'm sure you've spent enough time in the ranks to know that a lack of communication is the single source of most conflict, both internally and externally." He glanced across the white fields, then back to Ralaux. "Now, allow me to think aloud: If they needed someone with specialized interests... and expertise... then this is a special-interest mission. Someone has a goal here. One you agree with?"

"That's a loaded question," grunted Ralaux as he tried to maneuver himself onto Doji's back, mindful of her wings and his wounded leg.

Doji headed towards Talis as well as she could manage with the shape-shifter on her back. The others followed along, keeping up with her pace.

"It would be if it were your superiors asking." Jaspur smiled a little wearily, despite himself.

"Things have a way of getting back to them," said Ralaux. "Doesn't really matter what the goal was. Our ships sank. Most everyone died. I came back here to get my sword and got shot by an asswipe. I'd say that's a resounding failure no matter what the original goal was."

"How'd your sword run off without you?" Isaak asked innocuously. Well, as innocuous as he could be.

"Bandits."

Isaak snorted.

"Bandits! What did they look like?" Doji questioned, craning her neck to look at Ralaux, who shrugged in turn.

"I dunno. They got u-- me in the night."

Jaspur moved on, nodding quietly. "We dispatched some on the way. A couple of humans."

"Maybe it was them, then," said Ralaux with another shrug.

Jaspur nodded, sighing slightly. "...If you used to live around here, does that mean you'll be recognized once we reach civilization? Are there any precautions we should take?"

"Uh... I'm a shape-shifter," Ralaux said flatly, almost offended that Jaspur would seemingly insinuate he'd be so stupid.

"Ah." Jaspur nodded quietly, breathing out. "Forgive my ignorance. I'm not entirely familiar with the specifics and limitations of that particular... ability. I myself cannot."

Ralaux stared at Jaspur with a mix of curiosity and confusion, but he let it go.

"In that case -- may I ask what you intend to do once you're fit and able once more?" Jaspur continued.

"I can eliminate that possibility," Isaak offered.

“Ooh, look! The bitch speaks up again, trying to act tough." Ralaux craned his neck to look at Isaak. "You're not fooling anyone. I even saw your skin warp a few times when you were talking before. What're you trying to hide, huh? Is your real face so fucking ugly you need to shape-shift?"

"It isn't an act, retard. You were full on sprinting, totally fine, and I took you the fuck down. If you tried to run you'd be dead before you got thirty feet."

“Shooting someone in the back is real tough, yeah. You sure got me there." Ralaux rolled his shoulders, then turned back to face forward. "Hey -- what? What's..?"

There was rising smoke on the horizon -- and a lot of it.

"Again?" Jaspur wrinkled his nose. "I thought she said that was unusual."

"That'll be your asshole empire buddies, I imagine," Isaak said to Ralaux.

"Shove your gun down your fucking mouth and pull the trigger and do us all a favor, will you?!" Ralaux snapped at Isaak. "We're not--"

He yelped in surprise and hung on tighter as Doji bolted ahead.

Jaspur wobbled slightly at the sudden burst of speed, but attempted to catch up, using the cane to semi-skip as best he can. "...Dammit, dammit, dammit."

Without thinking, Isaak shot once at Ralaux. Isaak's bullet struck Doji in the back, narrowly missing Ralaux. Doji yelped in surprise as the bullet sunk into her thick hide, but she tried to hurry onwards and ignore the pain.

"What the fuck is your problem?!" Oscare shouted at Isaak.

Isaak, totally overwhelmed, suddenly reverted to his original form, and his original face.

"Hey -- what?!" Oscare's jaw dropped. "You're Isaak! I should've known!"

Completely lost, Jaspur glanced between them, wheezing as he tried to continue running. "What?"

Isaak could think of nothing to do but suddenly and abruptly shift into the owl that was all too familiar to Oscare, and he began to fly away.

"I know him!" Oscare shouted as Isaak changed shape. "He killed someone we were trying to help!"

Cursing to himself, he wished he had a bow or something that could potentially hit the owl attempting to fly off, but Isaak, probably out of nervousness of being discovered, couldn't take off into the sky fast enough! Oscare launched himself at the owl and grabbed him, not caring about being delicate with the bird's wings.

Upon hearing the name Isaak, Doji turned around to see the familiar face. She yelled out a happy and very confused greeting before seeing Oscare grab the shapeshifted Isaak. "Makhil-- er, Isaak? What's going on?"

Isaak slashed his talons and peckrf at Oscare, but Oscare hung on tight, gritting his teeth.

"He's not the Isaak you remember, Doji." Oscare narrowed his eyes. "He's practically insane."

"Whoa! Stop the presses! The little fucker who shoots random strangers is insane?!" Ralaux jeered from atop Doji's back.

Doji looked from the owl to Oscare, frowning. "I don't think he can move very well when you're holding him like that! You might be hurting him," she said in concern. "And of course he's the Isaak I remember! He helped us beat the Queen! You must be the one with memory problems, Oscare.”

Oscare shook his head.

"No -- he's acted differently, Doji. He shot someone over and over again, and he almost killed me and another man for getting in his way." Oscare closed his eyes and set his jaw, remembering the West Block Prison.

"Hey, this is nice and all, but can we just put a leash on him and keep going?" urged Ralaux. He seemed to feel bad for Doji, for he started bandaging her up around the bullet wound.

Doji frowned. "That doesn't sound like Isaak. You must be thinking of someone else." She glanced over her shoulder at Ralaux, smiling at him. "Thank you, that feels better! And I agree, we should keep moving. That smoke up ahead can't be good!"

Oscare got to his feet, still holding the struggling owl. Doji pushed on ahead, leaving Oscare with Isaak.

"Jaspur? Do you have any rope or anything?" he called out.

"N-No--" A little shaken, Jaspur shook his head. "I don't..." He looked back and forth between them, reaching a decision as quickly as he could, and moved towards Oscare to aid in holding Isaak. He stared at him, attempting to speak as calmly as he can. "Who are you?"

Isaak, still an owl, couldn't say much of anything other than a belligerent squawk.

Oscare belatedly remembered Doji had a number of random objects in her possession as she ran off. She could've had rope. With a sigh, he looked at Jaspur.

"Before I met you, I... traveled with him. His name is Isaak. Me, Doji, him, and some others got into some trouble on Mioura. A little after that, I met him again in Nicta. There were some... gang wars going on. Isaak shot one of the gangsters we were trying to help, and then he shot me and a man named Ezwell." Oscare furrowed his brow, hoping he got Ezwell's name right. "We woke up in the hospital, and I didn't think I'd see him again, but..."

Jaspur nodded, a little shakily, then exhaled. He looked to Isaak, hesitating. "I'd... I want to hear his side of the issue, but... if this is true, you know him best between us: would he simply attempt to flee if we gave him the chance?"

Oscare nodded. "He tried to run back in Nicta, too."

Jaspur shook his head. "...Then I suppose we have no choice... Can you hold him like that until we get to the city?"

"Probably." Oscare looked at Isaak for a moment, glaring. "If you run, that only makes it harder for you. We'll deal with you later."

Isaak's eyes burned with a fury that no animal could genuinely contain.

As Doji and Ralaux got closer, they could make out more details of what seemed to be a city that was recently torched. Even from afar, they could see people running around and trying to extinguish the remains of the flames.

"What the hell..?" Ralaux stared at Talis, his eyes wide.

"We have to help!" Doji yelped, dashing closer to the flames. She quickly reached into her Chrono Ring and pulled out a Wave Bomb II, chucking it at the largest concentration of flames she could find.

"Whoa!" Ralaux fell off Doji's back as she threw the bomb. "Fuck!"

The bomb detonated and put out some of the flames with a huge splash of water.

When Jaspur and Oscare arrived, they saw some of the locals putting out fires and Ralaux struggling to his feet, angrily cursing. They did notice that his face was much more different than it was before when they saw him last, but the rest of his body was still very much the same. He was likely struggling to change shape with the constant pain of the gunshot wound.

"Thank you!" shouted one of the Talis citizens, a lareph with scruffy fur, to Doji. "This was the last of them, I think... You came at just the right time!"

Jaspur panted, leaning on his axe. "Well... done there... m'gel..."

Doji glanced at Ralaux. "Oh, sorry! Are you okay?" she asks him, slightly confused by his face looking different. She turned to the citizen, her eyes wide with concern. "What happened?"

The lareph faltered before admitting, "I don't know. I think Mayor Perlais is gathering up people who were witnesses..."

"Where?" asked Doji.

The lareph gestured vaguely. "Probably at the police station. It's down a few blocks from here."

Doji nodded, glancing around at the others. "Let's go find out what happened!" she said, hurrying in the direction the lareph gestured without checking to see if anyone was following.

"Fuuuuuuuuck," Ralaux grumbled as he staggered to his feet. The lareph noticed and grabbed hold of him before he could fall over.

"I'll take your friend to the hospital," said the lareph. He gave Oscare a confused look at the owl held in his hands, then decided he was better off not knowing and started to walk down the road, Ralaux grumbling and complaining loudly the whole way.

"Tch..." Jaspur gritted his teeth, lowering his head and shutting his eyes tight for a moment as he tried to think. Still wheezing for breath, he looked badly thrown off by the whole situation, especially the revelation of Isaak. "Alright. First... order of business..." He nodded at Oscare, breathing out sharply. "You have the situation... er, in hand, so I'll make sure Ralaux doesn't slip away from us. If you see Doji, tell her we'll meet up in about two hours at the nearest standing inn or hostel to the station. Alright?"

Oscare nodded in understanding. "I'll go find a shop to get a cage or something until we can deal with him."

Isaak let out an indignant squawk at the prospect.

"Alright." Jaspur shot the owl a disappointed glance. "I'll hear your side of the story when you're prepared to give it, 'Makhil'." With that, he rushed off after the wounded militiaman.

[chronostarsarchive]

Alitaire Rombaferre's map of her expedition's route through the Deadlands, dated back to around 4096. Dark circles mark their campsites.

[chronostarsarchive]

Traveler's Log -- Olaka, Part II: Trouble on the Road

Olaka: The Longest Journey!

On their arrival in Jerrau, a reappropriated military fortress, Jaspur, Isaak (going under the pseudonym of Makhil), Oscare, and Doji found the city besieged by a huge horned beast known as a dreadhorn. They dispatched it, whereupon they encountered Zajcitos Tidefin. They -- sans Jaspur -- had met Zajcitos in Mioura, where she had been a mercenary; however, apparently in Jerrau, she served as a leader of sorts. After some investigation of the dreadhorn's body, Zajcitos suspected that some of the rumors of Alamo forces being nearby could have some truth to them. The group discussed the matter further, and they decided to head further inland towards the city of Suivre, where the Alamo Empire forces were supposedly found and where dreadhorns were more common.

Early in the morning, just as the sun was rising, a loud horn sounded throughout the main tower of Jerrau, rousing the people inside. The well-heated main hall was where the group had been sleeping along with some lower-ranked soldiers and other guests of Jerrau.

"Mn." Jaspur jolted up, blinking rapidly, having been slumped over a strategist's table. Gazing down at the map of the area, his eyes flickered over the T-shaped tokens and figures shoved aside by his slumber, and the slight crease where his face was resting. If he had devised anything last night, the details were no longer clear. "...Goddammit."

Grunting, Oscare slowly pushed himself up. "Isfhs breakfestfh ready..?" Oscare slurred his words, obviously still trying to mentally wake up.

Doji was startled awake by the horn and jumped up, glancing around the hall's interior. She let out a large yawn, revealing rows of sharp teeth. "Good morning!"

Jaspur nodded, rubbing his eyes wearily. "Mm. That remains to be seen."

"It better be if they're waking us up this early," grumbled Oscare.

A few of the lower-ranked soldiers groggily started filing out of the main hall, darkly muttering about how it's too early to be up.

Doji watched the soldiers leave for a moment before following them. "C'mon, guys!" she called over her shoulder. "Let's go find Zajcitos!"

Though a bit irritated or perhaps amused at Doji's energy, the rest of them followed after her. They found themselves in the corridor that connected most of the rooms on this floor. Just as some of the soldiers lumbered past the door of a room with a Veriol emblem on it, Zajcitos stepped out, closing the door behind her. She spotted the group and waved at them.

"'Hoy, sleep well?"

"Yeah!" Doji nodded eagerly, grinning. "It was fun! Like a sleepover!"

"Just dandy. What's with the crowd? Is something going on?" asked Oscare.

"Crowd?" Zajcitos looksedat the soldiers. "You call that a crowd? They're just rank-an'-file recruits. Prolly from Hasse, most of them."

"Are they coming with us?"

"No."

Oscare was a little disappointed they wouldn't get back-up, but Doji reminded him that they had taken out the Queen on their own. Isaak flinched a little at the mention of Mioura, but said nothing as Doji prattled on.

"Anyways," interruped Zajcitos. She took out a piece of paper with a map on it. "I spent yesterday figurin' out the best route to take. You see here..."

She pointed, mostly showing the map to Jaspur, as he was probably the most interested in their course of action.

"...We'll head north to Talis, stop there for some supplies an' information, continue onto Suivre. After we figure out what the hell's goin' on, I'll send Jaspur an' Makhil to Hasse. From there, Jaspur can get on a caravan t'Sonstre."

"...Fine, I suppose." Jaspur sighed. "I suppose Eralkk had better accompany us, then. Hopefully it won't be especially dangerous."

Oscare glanced at Jaspur, a small grin playing out on his muzzle. "Since when were you so afraid of danger? I thought that Kes Joshawk would teach you a thing or two about danger."

Jaspur wearily shook his head. "Hardly that. Eralkk is not a combat model. In the event of a volatile situation, it's important he keep out of the fray."

"I'm surprised none o' you asked why we aren't goin' through the middle o' Olaka and cuttin' through like that t'save time," said Zajcitos with a smirk. "I may as well tell ya if you're gonna be stayin' in Olaka at all, so you don't run into trouble later. It's the Deadlands. Nobody goes there. Bad luck, bad air, and it's a complete wasteland. Used to just be volcanoes, but now it's completely saturated with Chrono."

"When do we head out?" asked Doji.

Zajcitos rolled up the map and put it in the bag slung over her shoulder. "We leave as soon as you're ready. That robot is waitin' near the entrance o' the tower. Are you ready t'leave now, or do ya need more time?"

They all confirmed that they were ready to go, and Isaak asked how long their journey would take.

"We could make it t'Talis by nightfall if we don't get delayed." Zajcitos let out a sigh. Glancing around, she also lowered her voice. "I know I didn't arrange for a caravan or somethin' t'make the trip faster... I don't think it's a good idea t'let too many people know exactly where we're goin', yeah? An' there could be trouble if there really are Alamos out there. But if you guys think y'can handle any potential trouble an' think we need the extra speed..."

Again, they were all in agreement that Zajcitos' plan was best. Subtlety would be better if they were dealing with potential spies. The group filed out towards the entrance of the tower in Jerrau, where they found Eralkk with a pair of soldiers. One of them saluted Jaspur as Eralkk lumbered over towards him.

"We tuned him up, sir! Fresh oil and replaced a few rusting joints."

"Fuck you guys!" barked Zajcitos with a laugh. "Y'never show that much respect t'ME."

Despite her joking tone, the two soldiers seemed intimidated by her response, and they cringed.

"Oh! Hm." Bemused, Jaspur looeds him over. He was still a little antsy about the idea of other people messing too much with the construct, but it wouldn't do to be ungrateful. "Very good of you! Much obliged. Eralkk, feeling better?"

"THEY DID NOT TAMPER WITH MY PROCESSORS OR MEMORY BANKS, MR. QUELLSTONE, AND THEY SEEMED TO BE USING VERY OUTDATED TOOLS." Eralkk's gears made a whirring noise as it thinks. "NONETHELESS, I BELIEVE THE OIL THEY SUPPLIED ME WITH WILL BE SUPERIOR TO WHAT I HAD BEFORE, AS IT IS MORE SUITED FOR THE COLD CLIMATE."

"Ah, well then. Very good of you indeed." Jaspur scanned the soldiers' uniforms for any sort of name badge, finding their names to be Fals and Gerrier. Taking out his notebook, Jaspur carefully wrote their names in incongruously dainty handwriting.

Isaak smiled. "If they did tamper with your memory banks, you wouldn't remember that, would you? So can you be sure?"

"I AM SURE BECAUSE THERE IS A RECORD OF PERSONS WHO ACCESS MY SOFTWARE WHICH CANNOT BE MANIPULATED WITHOUT SUPPLYING THE PROPER PASSWORD, OR I WILL EXPLODE," Eralkk told Isaak.

"Huh. Never knew there are oils specifically for machines in the cold," commented Oscare.

"What, you never owned a car?" asked one of the soldiers incredulously. "Need t'swap out its oil in winter. Reacts different in the cold."

Jaspur nodded happily, though he hesitated at Eralkk's words. "Appending that last conditional is a surefire way to get someone's attention..." He inclined his head to the two. "In any case, your assistance is much appreciated. I would have been in rather a rough spot if the poor fellow had frozen up on me."

Oscare shook his head at the soldiers, who were listening more to him than Jaspur. "Never had a car. I walk everywhere. Healthier that way"

Fals snorted with contempt at Oscare. "Well, you're missin' out. Cars are the shit."

"...Assumin' it wasn't shit to begin with," Gerrier mumbled.

"Let's get goin'," said Zajcitos with a nod. She shuffled past the two soldiers and continued outside towards the gate. Bidding the soldiers farewell, the others followed after her.

The gate creaked open as they approached, and they found themselves outside Jerreu. Though there was a paved road before them, it didn't appear to be very taken care of. There were tire marks, cracks, and ice all over it. East of them, they could see a huge lake stretching onward, snowbanks surrounding it. Opposite of the lake seemed to be an entrance to a mine of some sort, though Zajcitos didn't seem to pay it any mind as she walked along the road.

Oscare pointed out the entrance as they walked. "Is that a mine? What resources can you even find on Olaka?"

"Gems. Nowadays that mine is mostly used fer coal t'heat Jerrau."

Jaspur glanced up, mildly interested. "That's a rather broad category."

"Wish I could tell y'more, but I'm not really interested in that sorta thing, yeah?" Zajcitos made a 'hmm' noise and scratched the front of her throat. "I think... someone mentioned that there's some amethysts down there..? Diamonds, too?"

Doji glanced at the mine, interested. "I'll have to come back here when we're done," she said,"to look for my soul gem."

"Well, I need t'go back to Jerrau once we drop off Makhil an' Jaspur, so you can hitch a ride back with me, yeah?" Zajcitos looked farther ahead. "Hey, y'see that..?"

Up ahead there was smoke trailing into the sky.

"Mhm." Jaspur nodded, brow furrowing. "Abnormal?"

"Great! Huh?" Doji stared at the smoke for a moment before rushing ahead to check it out.

"Abnormal is an--" Zajcitos sighed and furrowed her brow. She glanced around and noticed a large fallen log that has several boulders around it. "I'm takin' cover here while Doji does that... scout work."

She moved in to hide behind the obstruction, her hand on her throwing axe. Jaspur commanded Eralkk to stay behind while he, Isaak, and Oscare followed Doji, mostly out of concern that the clumsy doeron would land herself in trouble if left alone.

As Doji approached, she found the scorched remains of something wooden. She couldn't quite tell what it was, but she also saw a wheel untouched by the flames laying on the side of the road. Doji examined the wooden remains for a moment before moving to the wheel, trying to figure out what the wheel might have come from.

"What'd you find?" Oscare asked, peering at the burnt wood with a frown.

"No idea!" Doji admitted with a shrug. "Looks like this stuff was on fire, though. But this wheel avoided it somehow."

Curious, Jaspur also took a closer look, deducing that the fire was natural as opposed to being from a spell.

"Hrm." Jaspur straightened up. "Well, we can at least rule out errant Chrono. This looks like ordinary fire."

Doji shrugged. "Maybe someone was just cold."

Isaak blinked. "Why would they torch their whole wagon if they were just cold?"

Jaspur, as he searched through the wreckage, found a small section of a charred crate bearing a Veriol Alliance emblem on it. Before seeing the crate himself, Isaak suggested that perhaps it was the rogue Alamo forces that they'd heard rumors of.

"Well, if anyone, they'd be the likely culprit." Jaspur indicated the crate in question.

Just then, Oscare heard a rustling noise. Immediately on alert, the group turned to the source of the sound. Seeing nothing, Isaak cautiously crept forward and found the remains of a Veriol Alliance flag. He brought it back for the others to see. Jaspur's eyes narrowed, and he returned to Eralkk, ordering the robot to scan for anything in the area that they had missed.

Eralkk started to scan... and then its eyes turned red.

"ALERT! ALERT! HOSTILES!"

Just as the construct spoke, a magic blast struck all four of them! Isaak was able to move aside quickly to avoid the brunt of the Magic Missile, but the rest were caught in the attack. Atop the boulder Isaak was standing near, a human wearing a cloak could be seen, his hands pulsing with magic.

Jaspur grunted. "Of course." He drew his axe, shielding Eralkk with a scowl. "Get to safety. We'll deal with this."

Doji glanced around in alarm as Eralkk cries out its alert, then yelps in surprise as she is hit by the Chrono attack! While her allies were still grouped, she threw down a Shield Blast. The Chrono encased them in a soft glow, protecting them from future attacks.

Zajcitos rushed forward, only for a second blast of magic to catch her on the side. A second human had revealed himself from his hiding place, also having been invisible. Glancing at the one at the boulder, Zajcitos lunged at the second human, striking him in the leg with her axe to keep him from running. Desperate to keep his vantage point, the human still clung to his position atop the rock.

Isaak pulled out his rifle and shot twice at the second human that Zajcitos had trapped, knocking him off the boulder. Jaspur barked out Countering Tactics as he moved forward, bringing his axe to bear against the one still standing on the boulder.

Jaspur missed as the human jumped back and away from the attack. With a few swift movements, the human called forth a fiendish hawk! The beast swooped down on Oscare and slashed twice at his face with its talons!

The human near Zajcitos clutched at his arm where Isaak's bullet hit, then launched a Fireball over where Doji, Oscare, Isaak, and Jaspur were! The ball of flame detonated with a low roar, catching all four of them in the blast. It seemed it also hit the other human, though not as harshly.

"You shithead! Aim better!" he shouted at his companion.

While the human was being shouted at, Zajcitos lunged but missed him with her first strike. Snarling, she rounded on him again and struck him with a flurry of hacking slashes.

Isaak gritted his teeth, stepping back further, and fired twice at the human who launched the fireball, judging him to be the more powerful target. The human fell in a heap, and Jaspur charged at the remaining one. Jaspur's axe cleaved into the human across the chest, sending him flying from the force of the blow.

"Hold up! This one's still alive!" Zajcitos shouted. She pinned the human down with her foot, stepping on his back, and she yanked his head up by the hair. Holding her axe to his throat, she spat on him. "What the hell's goin' on here? Who are you two?"

The human yelped in fear, but he tried to regain his composure. "Just bandits! Robbed that caravan blind, set it on fire so we could get more people over here..."

"Bullshit," spat Isaak.

"Ha! Got proof?" the human taunted, though he gulped when Zajcitos drew her axe closer. "Uh, I..."

"Why would you be robbin' such a dead road? Isn't things better down south in Talis? That port's pretty damn lively, y'know..?" The lie was a transparent one to the group, as they had seen Zajcitos' map earlier. Not only was Talis not a port city, but it was north of them. The lie wouldn't be so obvious to someone unfamiliar with the region, though... like a rank-and-file Alamo Empire soldier.

"It's fine." Jaspur rose, face blank, covered in his own blood and the human's. "If he's simply a bandit, then clearly he bears no significance for us. We'll finish the job and be on our way." Carrying his axe, gaze matching the prisoner's, he advanced slowly, leisurely, with the stained weapon, almost strolling towards him - footsteps audible in the snow.

Doji glanced at Jaspur in alarm; Isaak was more intrigued and surprised, not having expected such an old man to be so calculating, and the human beneath Zajcitos' feet started to panic.

"A-Ah! No! No, wait! I'm a bandit, yeah, yeah! But! I can tell you some useful info! Yeah?! Can -- can we compromise?!"

Jaspur paused. "Oh? Splendid." He nodded cheerfully. "Quite a fortunate remembrance for both of us, no?" He glanced to Zajcitos. "Well then."

Zajcitos let the human's head drop on the ground. He hit his nose on the hard earth, but he didn't even seem to notice as blood trickled out of it, too relieved at being spared a grisly fate.

"There were -- these guys in blue! And some of them were in green! They were marching north! And they had a bunch of monsters with them! Huge ones! Dreadhorns, Olakan tigers... bigger than usual! HUGE!"

Zajcitos tilted her head, pressing harder on the human's back. "North? As in... followin' this road?"

The human desperately nodded, droplets of blood flying everywhere as he does.

"Let me tend to that." Oscare walked over and tried to patch up the human best he could.

Jaspur hesitated, the man's plight giving him pause - but Oscare's quick notice gave him a very brief expression of relief. "Good fellow, that."

"Dreadhorns and tigers? Oh my!" Doji glanced around at the others. "Maybe the one we fought came from this group?"

"Seems like just about all our suspicions were confirmed," said Isaak.

"Blue... and green." Jaspur closed his eyes. "It sounds like we may have double agents to consider."

"Or captives."

"Green could just mean they are of higher rank," suggested Oscare thoughtfully.

Isaak shook his head. "Doubtful. Blue is the color of the Alamo empire, and Green is the color of the Veriol alliance. Considering their relationship, I can't imagine either dressing their men in the other's colors."

Jaspur nodded absently to confirm Isaak's words. "No. Never in green. They'd be demoted on the spot." He stared at the captive for a brief moment and exhaled, his hot breath dissipating into the air. "Unfortunate implications, whichever way it may end up."

"If their relationship is that bad, it's hard to imagine they're collaborating... but... knowing our luck, anything could be happening," said Oscare.

"Whoever they are, I don't like the sound of 'em marchin' where we're headed," growled Zajcitos.

Jaspur nodded wearily. "Hopefully we can find a bit of relief before we run into anything else."

Oscare pats the human on the shoulder. "Now you keep yourself out of trouble, alright? Next time, we can't promise your life."

"Okay. Here's what I'm gonna do since I'm feeling generous today from your help, yeah?" Zajcitos stepped off the human's back. "I'll carry your buddy t'Jerrau an' get you both some medical aid."

She looked to the rest of the group, also in bad condition, and she grimaced.

"We don't have a hell of a lotta time... but someone's gotta get up ahead of that blue-an'-green group an' find out what the hell's goin' on and stop 'em if needed. Still... if you don't think y'can make it from the damage these two did..."

Jaspur sighed, straightening up. "If you have any contacts within the city, tell me and I'll find them. Ideally, we'll give ourselves a moment to recover and spruce up, then we move on to our infiltration."

Zajcitos reached into her pocket and pulled out a small insignia with a hook on it, handing it to Jaspur.

"Look for a girl named Emmitaire Perlais in Talis. Short, blue-grey skin, tiartzard like me. Show her that, an' she'll help you."

"Hrm." Jaspur nodded absently, examining the icon, then tucked it away. "Obliged."

Isaak, however, was determined to fly on ahead of the others and warn the city in advance. Zajcitos didn't seem to think it was a good idea, as the high altitude meant that Isaak would be flying in frigid temperatures on top of being wounded. Plus, he could be attacked on sight – someone could mistake him for a mere beast to be hunted, or they could intentionally try to hurt an animal they suspected was a shape-shifter. As a final threat, Zajcitos insisted that Isaak stay with the group, or he wouldn't get paid.

Jaspur coughed to get Zajcitos' attention. Having counted it out of his pocket, he passed twenty gold pieces to Zajcitos.

"What's this for?" She stared at the coins in her hand.

"Mm? Oh, it should cover a warm set of clothes and a hot meal each for these poor fellows." Jaspur nodded absentmindedly, glancing back down the road to their original destination. "We've little time to lose, at any rate. Shall we move?"

Zajcitos snorted at Jaspur. "Never woulda pegged y'for a softie."

There wasn't any malice in her words. Nonetheless, she lumbered over to the fallen human and hefted him onto her back.

Isaak followed her over, still angry. "What do you mean, I'm not getting paid? Are you really saying that if I don't do what you say, staying here and delay alerting Talis when they could be informed sooner, preparing more; if I don't do the job faster and more efficiently, you're really going to punish me? Gods. You belong in middle management."

"Real cute, asshole. I don't trust y'to not run off t'wherever you were headed before. On top of that, even if I could trust you, y'could end up fallin' outta the sky from the injuries you got in this fight an' end up in enemy hands. It's safer t'stick together. That's it, plain an' simple." Zajcitos stalked past him and smacked him with her tail for his impudence -- not too hard, but enough force to get her point across. "You don't survive in Olaka handin' out cookies for every smartass who questions every-fuckin'-thing. You survive by bein' smart and suspicious."

Isaak crossed his arms. "Fair enough."

After telling Jaspur that he expected him to keep an eye on Isaak and to monitor his behavior, Zajcitos grunted at the other human, who scrambled to his feet and followed after her, giving the group a fearful glance back as they left.

Jaspur strode forward along with the rest. After a moment, he glanced to Isaak. "I'd like to make something clear."

"What?" asked Isaak.

"I have no particular desire to be some kind of hunched, beady-eyed chaperone." Jaspur wrinkled his nose. "I won't begrudge you your solitude. Heavens know we all need some from time to time. If some kind of report is really necessary, you needn't worry about my response." A brief sigh escaped him. "However - I do ask that, when possible, you keep yourself out of more dangerous circumstances, as we're relying on your abilities and presence. Reasonable?"

"Look, dude, I fuckin' agreed to come. I like money, and I need money. You don't have to watch me because I'm not going anywhere. I might not be the least unscrupulous person on this planet, but most of the time, I follow through. I won't fuckin' run off just because things aren't moving as fast as I'd like. I've made that mistake before."

"Alright. Good to know." Jaspur nods, replacing his axe on his back and leaning on the walking stick. "Won't trouble you further about it."

"Somehow I doubt it. Things like this seem to never seem to leave me alone," Isaak grumbled. He didn't know why, but very abruptly he wished his jacket had a hood.

[chronostarsarchive]

Traveler's Log -- Olaka, Part I: The Calm Before the Storm

Olaka: The Longest Journey!

The northernmost nation in all of Estvoled, Olaka, was a popular destination for hunters especially. Due to the relative isolation of and excess Chrono in this nation, Olakan monsters and beasts numbered among some of the most ferocious and unusual in all the galaxy. Olaka was also a common point of interest for historians, as its libraries and archives were quite expansive, well-stocked, and, above all, well-protected.

A ship pulled into the harbor of Jerrau, a former military fortress that had been repurposed into a checkpoint of sorts for travelers hoping to go deeper into the arctic wilderness. The Jerrarian Plains were not quite icy and snowy like the rest of the area, especially not around this time of year, but they were still very chilly.

Jerrau was a huge, spiky tower that had a few buildings around its base and then a colossal wall surrounding its perimeter. The former purpose of this place was undeniable, and it hadn't been altered much due to how useful the walls were in keeping out unwanted beasts.

As the ship unloaded its passengers, Jaspur, Isaak, Doji, and Oscare all departed from the dock among a small motley crew of tiartzards and tumorians. Doji, of course, was the most easily noticeable among the crowd.

"Can ya believe we made it through that storm?" asked one tiartzard to another.

"No kiddin'! I was sure we were gonna sink... Weather's been actin' up more than it should... Never seen storms like this 'round this time o' year..."

Overhearing the conversation, Oscare asked more about the storms, the tiartzard sailor once again confirming that a storm of that intensity wasn't normal. However, she didn't have any ideas as to what could've caused it. A storm that monumental would be out of the league of a regular magic-user. Nodding in agreement, Oscare asked if they had any suggestions about where to visit in Olaka.

"What're you here for?" asked the tiartzard. "If yer a scholar-type, Sonstre's where you'll wanna go, yeah? If you're more into huntin' monsters, Hasse 'r Gelnois."

Oscare asked where Hasse was, to which the tiartzard said it was north of where they currently were. Just then, Doji bumped into Oscare and the tiartzard on account of not watching where she was going. Eagerly, she greeted her friend. The loud voice of the doeron carried across the crowd, and a disguised Isaak glanced back, immediately recognizing Doji from Mioura.

Further back along the dock, Jaspur tumped his axe handle on the ground lightly, glancing behind him for the ancient automaton. Hopefully a visit to historical archives would be a fine way to catch Eralkk up on the past millennium - simpler, at least, than him sitting around listening to the ship crews telling rambling stories. "Come on. I'd say it's time to broaden your horizons a bit."

"CONFIRMED," proclaimed Eralkk in a metallic voice, dutifully trailing behind Jaspur. Before long, he tapped his metallic hand on Jaspur's shoulder politely. "AH, A MOMENT, MR. QUELLSTONE -- I AM DETECTING FAMILIAR ALLIES. IT SEEMS TO BE THE DOERON AND CAINOS THAT YOU HAD WITH YOU IN THE VAULT..."

"Oh?" Jaspur glanced around. "...Heavens. Fates conspire, it seems." He sighed, shaking his head, anticipating the exasperation to come. "...While I'm sure it would save us a lot of trouble simply to avoid them..."

Jaspur ambled over towards them, quietly making his way through those disembarking. "Well. This is certainly a surprise."

Doji smiled at Jaspur. "Hi! It's great to have so many friends around!"

"Indeed." Jaspur glanced out to the city, absently adjusting the fur collar. "I've heard they've quite a store of academic works here, and a bit of history revision would no doubt catch our living relic here up to speed much better than anecdotes would." He looked back again at Eralkk, making sure nobody's giving him any grief. Noting that Eralkk wasn't being bothered, he asked Oscare and Doji what they were in Olaka for.

Oscare said he wanted to see the monsters near Hasse, though he was also interested in anything he could learn to augment his blacksmithing career. Doji was searching for her soul gem, unsurprisingly. As they conversed, Isaak drew a bit closer, trying to listen in. Eralkk started to beep.

"MR. QUELLSTONE, THAT SHAPE-SHIFTER IS EAVESDROPPING," he piped up, pointing at Isaak.

Jaspur glances up sharply, narrowing his eyes at the indicated figure. "You. State your business."

Oscare gritted his teeth. "Just ignore him, probably some lost child or something."

Isaak ran up and aggressively poked the cainos on the nose. "Ain't no child, mutt," he said, shifting his legs longer so that he stood a head higher than Oscare. He turned to the sulevam, suddenly shrinking back down to his four and a half foot stature. "You have a big robot. Why wouldn't I be staring? It's pretty fuckin' cool."

"Except that staring is hardly why you were called out." Jaspur tutted reprovingly, but nodded to Eralkk with a bit of pride. "He cuts a fine figure, eh?"

"It's a dragon robot. Of course I'd be interested. Where'd you get it? Are they cheap? I gotta know!" Isaak demanded, doing his best to keep the point of conversation off himself.

"UNLESS YOU ARE CAPABLE OF TRAVELING THROUGH TIME, I CONJECTURE THAT YOU WOULD BE UNABLE TO OBTAIN ONE OF MY MAKE, AS MY MODEL HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED," commented Eralkk.

"He was in a vault in Kes Joshawk!" Doji explained. "You should have seen the Emperorbot, though! That one had wings and sentience!"

Jaspur's smile thinned at the suggestion of purchasing a construct, but he nodded cordially, corroborating the others' words. "Indeed. I'm afraid he's unique among us in many respects. My apologies... though I'm sure if you wished to acquire the services of another such assistant, there'd be something in the area. Good day."

"I don't got the kind of money to get to Kes Joshawk. Too bad," Isaak said. "Where are you headed?"

Oscare, not interested in the conversation, drifted away from the rest of the group. He looked to the horizon, deciding he would head out for Hasse now. He bumped into the tiartzard from before. She seemed ready to run past him, but then recognized him.

"'Scuse m-- wait! You... You wanted to hunt stuff in Hasse, yeah? Yeah!" She grabbed his arm and started dragging him along. "C'mon! We need a hunter! An' fast! Call your friends to follow!"

Isaak, not waiting for an answer from the sulevam jumped ahead to the tiartizard, his hand finding his rifle, just in case. "I'm a hunter. Trained around Hasse for years. What's wrong?"

Oscare smiled and laughed. "Alright alright, don't have to rush too much!" He tried to whistle at Jaspur and co.. "Come on guys! We're heading off to Hasse! Let's get a move on!"

"I -- er--" Jaspur blinked, glancing helplessly from Oscare to the archives in the distance. "But--"

"Not Hasse! We're goin' to the wall," growled the tiartzard, still pulling.

"MR. QUELLSTONE, THE LOCALS APPEAR TO BE VERY PUSHY," remarked Eralkk. "I WILL ADD THIS TO MY DATABASE."

"It's important to account for individual variance, Eralkk. Books, covers, and all that." Jaspur muttered half-heartedly. "Mm... well, we can go where we're needed, I suppose, but you're to make sure to stay out of trouble..."

Doji ambled after Oscare, flicking her tail in a motion that suggests Jaspur should follow. "C'mon! It'll be fun," she said, grinning. "Maybe we'll have another adventure!"

Keeping up as best he can, Jaspur shuffled after them. Eralkk followed closely behind.

Isaak snapped his fingers above his head, waving them at the tiartizard. "Hello? I can actually help you?"

The tiartzard growled a warning at Isaak. "I heard you the first time! Don't have time to compliment your pale ass. This is an emergency!"

She continued to pull Oscare along until they reached the gates that led to the exit of Jerreu. The wooden gate occasionally creaked and groaned as something from the other side slammed into it. Here, she let go of Oscare.

"Need someone t' hold the beast's attention while we load up the anti-beast equipment! Good luck!" The tiartzard ran off before anyone could object, shouting, "We got a group here! Get ready to open the gate!"

As they readied themselves, Jaspur ordered Eralkk to stay well out of the way of combat. Isaak looked around for higher ground he could potentially stand on, spying a building that had a tree nearby it. Potentially, he could scramble up the tree and onto the building...

"Sergeant Tidefin'll back you guys up once we get the anti-beast machines up!" hollered a tumorian as he ran by. "Just hold off the monster until then!"

The gate thudded loudly once more, the wood and metal starting to break off from the unrelenting force.

"This beast must be strong if it can take out a gate by itself," said Oscare.

"Right." Jaspur sighed, bracing himself. "So much for a quiet visit to the library..."

"I'll escort you to a scholarly city after this."

"Escort? What, you two dating?" Isaak asked, before running to climb up the tree and onto the building's roof.

"I didn't know you had a boyfriend!" Doji said to Oscare.

"You're both idiots." Oscare sighed deeply.

The gate rumbled and creaked open. A colossal, fur-covered quadruped with huge horns stormed into the fortress. Its face wasn't entirely dissimilar to that of an ox, but the beast was far larger than any ox should be. Its clawed feet tore into the ground, and it reared up with an ear-splitting screech!

"THAT IS AN OLAKAN DREADHORN -- IT IS OMNIVOROUS AND GOUGES PREY WITH ITS HORNS AND CLAWS."

The Olakan dreadhorn charged at Doji, slashing at her with its claws in a flurry. Doji used a Bungle Bomb to disorient the Olakan dreadhorn as Jaspur and Oscare rushed in to attack it. From afar, Isaak shot a volley of bullets at the dreadhorn's head.

The rain of bullets caused the dreadhorn to snarl and claw at the ground. Blood seeped from its wounds. It attempted to charge at the building Isaak was on, but it missed entirely and struck the side of the gate instead. Doji, Jaspur, and Oscare took advantage of the beast's mistake and hurried to attack it again. A little shaken by the near-miss, Isaak once again took aim.

One of Isaak's bullets shot the dreadhorn right in the face! With an enraged roar, it crashed into the building, knocking it over and striking Isaak. Once he was on the ground, the beast ripped into him. His allies focused on one of the dreadhorn's legs, and Doji eventually hit it hard enough to make it fall over. Oscare plunged his sword deep into the dreadhorn's stomach, and it ceased struggling almost immediately.

There was the sound of footsteps, and a familiar tiartzard showed up with a crew behind her, all armed to the teeth with specialized rifles. They seemed surprised to see the dreadhorn on the ground dead already, but their leader appeared shocked at the people around its corpse.

"Wh-- shit, are you kiddin' me?"

Though there was a Veriol emblem on her dorsal fin and she had a different set of armor, Oscare, Doji, and Isaak recognized the tiartzard as Zajcitos, the mercenary from Mioura.

"What a small galaxy it is," she remarked, toting one of her battleaxes on her shoulder. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised you guys got rid of that thing so fast, yeah?"

Isaak emerged from the wreckage of the building, doing his best to heal himself as he walked towards Zajcitos. "Sorry about the building, there. Not as sturdy as it looked."

"...No way. Zajcitos?!" Oscare's eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped. "What're you doing here?"

"Zajcitos!" Doji greeted her friend joyously, grinning. "Hi!" She nodded at Oscare's question, adding, "Did Oscare forget to give you the second half of your payment?"

"She pardoned me for it... I hope," said Oscare.

She nodded at Isaak, apparently not angry and unaware of who he is. To Oscare, she chuckled.

"What'm I doing here? I'm from Olaka," she said with some amusement. "I should be asking..." She forced a grin and shook her head at Doji, then turned to the crew assembled behind her. "I escorted them on Mioura. You all can take a load off and rest -- if there's more trouble, they can handle it.

A few of the people behind her murmured but left anyway. Eventually, it was just Zajcitos and the dreadhorn's slayers assembled near the gate. When Zajcitos turned back to face them, she dropped back into her more informal tone.

"Don't go mentionin' that I was a merc on Mioura, yeah? I've got a rep around here to uphold." She crossed her arms. "Seein' as you got this dreadhorn all sorted out, yeah, I'll pardon your payment..." There was a grin as she spoke and regarded the fallen dreadhorn. "This'll be good eatin'. Nice of it to drop dead on our doorstep."

Isaak grinned lopsidedly, wiping his own blood off his face. "Yeah. Save me a cut from the sirloin."

Oscare stepped aside so Zajcitos could get to the dreadhorn's corpse if she needed to, belatedly introducing Jaspur to her as well.

"Pleasure," said Zajcitos to Jaspur. "An'... you?" she asked Isaak, her red eyes darting between him and the body of the dreadhorn.

Isaak sniffed, still cleaning himself off. "I'm a local boy. Well, almost. Moved here when I was young. ish. Around Hasse. Haven't been back in... too long."

"Do you have a name?" asked Oscare.

"Course I got a name. It's Makhil. After my uncle, if you're so curious," Isaak bluffed.

"Hasse's a good city. Met another shape-shifter from there once," Zajcitos remarked offhandedly, scratching the side of her neck. Zajcitos seemed to lose interest in Isaak and started to investigate the corpse of the dreadhorn.

Doji hummed happily, watching Zajcitos investigate the corpse. "It must have been pretty hungry, to break down the gate like that," she commented.

Oscare, however, thought there was something suspicious about “Makhil,” and he made it known. Isaak rolled his eyes and continued to argue with the cainos, causing Jaspur to politely step back from the fray, excusing himself and moving over to confer quietly with Eralkk.

"MR. QUELLSTONE, ARE YOU INJURED?" Eralkk started to scan Jaspur.

"Not at all. The newcomer over there took the worst of it, but he seems to have recovered rather gracefully..."

"Hey, that tag on its ear..." Zajcitos leaned down to look at the dreadhorn's jaws.

The beast had a strange white tag in its ear written in a language that, when Oscare glanced over, he couldn't recognize. However, Zajcitos seemed to have an idea...

She narrowed her eyes and prids open the dreadhorn's jaws with her axe's handle, ignoring the squabbling between Oscare and Isaak. Inside the beast's mouth was a torn piece of blue fabric. Reaching down, Zajcitos picked it up, looking it over without any apparent concern for how it was soaked in dreadhorn saliva.

"Thinkin' this wasn't just a random beast attack outta hunger," she murmured darkly.

Oscare called Jaspur over, asking if he was any good with languages.

Isaak also trotted over to the beast. "S'probably Morish. That's what's spoken around here. Unfortunately, I don't know it too well."

"That's not Morish," said Zajcitos grimly, waiting for Jaspur to translate the tag.

The tag was an identifier of sorts, reading as "390-DR" in Alamin. He narrowed his eyes.

"It's Alamin, and it's nothing terribly coherent," Jaspur murmured. "Just an alphanumeric string."

"Alamin?" Zajcitos repeated. "Wonder if some Alamos sent this thing here..."

"You been havin' problems with the Alamos here?" Isaak asked.

"Well," said Zajcitos, "I heard rumors that some o' their ships were spotted off the coast an' some others might be in the mainland... Kinda suspicious, yeah? But there wasn't really any proof that anyone really saw anythin'. You always get those kinda warmongerers who wanna turn everythin' into a fight, yeah?"

Isaak tilted his head. "Where in the mainland?"

"Near Suivre. You'd think they'd want somewhere a bit warmer, but assumin' it's really Alamos..." Zajcitos jabbed a finger at Jaspur. "Sulevams like 'im are real good at toughin' out winters. Even if Kes Joshawk winters ain't got nothin' on Olakan ones."

Jaspur blinked, muttering, "Well, I mean, the coat helps..."

Zajcitos chuckled. "I'm kinda interested in checkin' it out myself... Maybe I could take you guys on a little trip t'find out if there's Alamos hangin' around. We could either hit Suivre, or we could take a ship and investigate the waters."

Though Isaak and Jaspur were both hesitant to agree, the prospect of money and being brought to Hasse after their business was done enticed Isaak enough, and Jaspur decided to go along due to the encouragement from Oscare and Doji. Further discussion had them determine to go for Suivre rather than go to the oceans, as the storms they had just experienced on the ride to Jerrau was making them all too wary about returning to the turbulent waters.

Zajcitos nodded. "Right. Y'can go head inside the main tower an' get some rest. Tell 'em you're headed out with Sarge Tidefin tomorrow an' you shouldn't get any trouble." She tapped her axe against the side of the corpse. "Tonight, we're eatin' this thing up."

Isaak grinned excitedly. "Can't wait."

"Lovely." Jaspur managed dryly. "I'd appreciate any information you have on our quarry sent to my room."

"I'll make sure the chef gives y'a copy of the nutritional info," said Zajcitos with a laugh.

"No, the - I mean, for tomorrow. I've plans to make." Jaspur waved vaguely in the air. "The more we know about them, the easier it'll be to outwit them."

"I was kiddin'. Go get some sleep," Zajcitos said.

"Oh. Oh, of course. Yes. Er. Cheers." Jaspur nodded briskly, turning and heading back with the others to the tower fortress.

[chronostarsarchive]

Zajcitos' planned route for the group in the Olaka campaign.