NationStates Jolt Archive

Natalie... Natalie... A voice called to her... Natalie. It is time to wake up.

She was in darkness, and a state of nothingness that enveloped her entire sense of self. Yet, she did not fret. She felt warm and safe here in her sea of infinite nothing. Yet, the voice that spoke to her now, it was familiar. Young sounding, like that of a child. In her never-ending dream world, there was never anyone else but herself. Why now did the voice choose to intrude? Perhaps she would never know.

Her sea of nothingness suddenly gave way, collapsing and churning as new, forgotten senses came flooding back to her. She was becoming aware, of herself once more, of her surroundings. Smells assaulted her nostrils, and her ears... They felt cramped, like they were being forced against her head. None of her muscles responded, it was as if they were... Bound.

With the senses came conscious thought. I am Natalie... Came first to her. Beyond that, she drew a blank. Why am I Natalie? What is a Natalie? and other such thoughts assaulted her. Pushing aside her thoughts, Natalie concentrated on the matter at hand. Freeing herself from the rest of this darkness and discovering where, and possibly, who she is.

Basic instinct kicked in. What works and what doesn’t... The thoughts came with such sharp fluidness that she didn’t think to wonder why. First, she tried to wiggle her fingers and toes, and was overwhelmed with joy when she found that each did function as she commanded.

Yet, that joy was soon crushed when she discovered that the rest of her body couldn’t respond. She twitched her head, trying to determine the use of her neck, then. She became aware of voices which weren’t her own...

~~~~~~~~~~~

Moments earlier...

Far to the north and east of Mount Ulver in North Fenris, the secret facility lay. On the surface, it was sparsely noticeable, hidden by camouflaged netting and surrounded by natural vegetation. The mere location of the facility itself was a secret known to only the upper-most levels of the government. A very simplistic keycard reader was built next to the door of the bunker, which revealed a single elevator with one button.

The very top most floor was the administration sector, where all aspects of the base could be monitored. It was here that Director Captain Nikoli Genoff watched the inner workings of the base. The base, for the most part, ran itself. Still, reports of the daily activites had to be filled out and filed, with the camera logs shipped away to both the government as well as Krowemoh once every week. This floor consisted of the monitor room, sleeping quarters for the various administrators, and two elevators, one to the surface, and another down to the barrecks level...

Another couple hundred feet below this was the guards barracks. At all times a minimum of thirty guards were posted all throughout the facility. Weapons and personal belongings were stored here. Assignment here was usually permanent. This floor consisted of a weapons cache, a rec room, sleeping quarters for the soldiers, and two elevators, one to the admin level, and one to 'The Cell.'

And finally, five hundred feet below the second floor, was the ‘Cell.’ The third floor consisted of only one room and a long corridor. The sole room was the containment chamber, and within it was the reason behind the need for the guards. Known only as ‘The Prisoner’ to those who guarded it, very few knew exactly what it is, and even they were vague on the details, not knowing even the gender.

Flanked on both sides by two guards, a team of experts made their way into the Cell. The massive Five-Stage blast door was all that stood between them and ‘The Prisoner.’ It was time for the annual check-up, to ensure that everything was functioning properly.

As each expert input one form of the five stages needed to unlock the blast door, the two guards quietly gossiped back and forth to each other. “Hey, you hear brass denied Private Barclove’s transfer request? Seems he doesn’t quite realize what permanent assignment means.” The first said, his uniform a clean and crisp light blue, the dark blue beret on his head slightly sloped. His rank insignia on his sleeve showed him to be a Corporal.

The other shook his head, he wore his uniform much the same as the good Corporal, except he was a Private. “Speaking of denials. I was speaking with Director Genoff the other day. Seems like this Krowemoh place denied his request for more information on ‘The Prisoner.’ I swear he’s tried at least twice every month since he came here to get more information on this person. They keep feeding him the same line.” He got a faraway look as he quoted what the Director had told him, “The Prisoner is an undesirable persona to keep within our territory. Information beyond that is classified.” He shook his head slowly. “They don’t even use gender specific terms. It’s like they wanna forget about this person.”

“Information? Blah. I just do my job. The less you know, the better. That’s the way the world works.”

The Private was about to speak, but silenced himself as the door finally began to part, rumbling as they opened to reveal the chamber within.

One finds it hard to get used to the sight of ‘The Prisoner’ in her Cell. ‘The Prisoner’ was suspended from the ceiling, covered in a full sized cocoon shaped straightjacket. She was strapped to a padded cross, which was too suspended from the ceiling. No part of the Prisoner or the pad she lay against touched the floor. Not one but two separate rings surrounded her, glowing with a mysterious purpose and energy. The rings constantly shifted around her, always moving, never slowing nor speeding up.

For now, the experts ignored this, moving instead of the wall of monitors and terminals. Most of the monitors were blank, and all but a few of the terminals showed signs of absolutely no use. The ones who originally built this place trained the experts themselves, and even they weren’t sure how to use any of the terminals they weren’t shown to use. One went to work on checking the Constant Sedative Drip, while another checked overall status of the IV system, which feed the Prisoner just enough to keep her living.

As the Experts did their jobs, the two guards milled about. The Private’s eye happened to cross the prisoner’s body, and he gave a yelp, going for his gun...

The Corporal rushed over to him, “What is it?”

“The head! It just moved!” He said, pointing to the now still body.

The Corporal looked, but saw nothing. “Are you sure?”

One of the experts who had nothing to do wondered over, and reassuringly patted the Private on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. It was probably nothing more then a random twitch... It isn’t dead, you know...”

Natalie could hear and understand their words. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Her throat was dry and scratchy, and disuse had long since put a temporary stop to her speech. I... I want to be free. She desperately wanted to yell. Yet she couldn’t.

Then she became aware of her powers. I can bring one of them to me, and make him free me! She wasn’t able to see them, but she could sense their presence. One was walking closer to her now...

As the second expert moved away, the Private holstered his pistol, but moved closer to the Prisoner.

“Stupid! Don’t get too close. That ring thing could kill ya.” His Corporal called out to him.

“Yeah ye-AAAHHHH!” He started to scream as he was suddenly suspended in the air by an invisible force, then dragged through the spinning rings to the Prisoner. This time the head definitely moved, as if it were looking at him through the helmet. He kept screaming.

The man’s screaming hurt Natalie’s ears, No! That isn’t want I wanted! Make him stop! She thought. With that thought alone, the screaming stopped. Hmm... That’s odd, I can’t sense him anymore...

The Private struggled, and squirmed as if he were being choked, then suddenly with a sickening snap, his neck was bent backwards at a 90-degree angle. His body went limp, his half-draw gun falling to the ground.

Immediately, the Corporal drew his gun, and started firing at her. Most of his shots hit the Private, whom Natalie was still holding with her Vector.

Natalie! The voice came to her again. He’s trying to hurt you! It informed her.

What do I do? She thought back to it.

Kill him. Was the reply.

With a thought, the corpse was dropped, and the Corporal began to scream, a pair of invisible hands tearing his gun arm from his shoulder. Ohhh... I was aiming for his head. It’s this field... It’s making it harder to think. I have to destroy it.

The hands left the soldier alone as he fell to the ground, and began to work tearing the spinning rings apart. With a satisfying crash and buzz, the rings were destroyed, falling to the floor. Next came the pad. It began to sway as the invisible hands gripped hold of the chains, before it came crashing down to the ground as the chains were ripped apart.

By now the experts had fled, and were attempting to close the blast doors. The now one-armed Corporal was still inside the chamber, laying in a pool of his own blood, but his pleas for help went unnoticed by the others.

Working next on her constraints, Natalie used her vectors to tear the cocoon apart, freeing herself. She was naked, yet this didn’t bother her. Her tail is by now visible and free. She tries to stand, but finds that her legs aren’t yet strong enough to support her weight. She uses her Vectors to hold her legs in place, and finds that standing with the help of the Vectors isn’t that difficult. The most basic movement came back to her: Walking...

It took an effort, but she was able to force herself to move via her Vectors, moving up to the rapidly closing blast doors.

With a thought, one of her vectors reached out and seized hold of the blast door. It was followed by her fourth, and began to force the blast doors back open. The doors came to a grinding halt, yet did not retract. Dropping to sit on her bottom, she used her other two ‘arms’ to grab hold of the door. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead as she concentrated on forcing the doors to open. Finally the stress gave way, and the doors were slammed apart, the closing mechanism destroyed in the process.

Ahead of her was the long corridor, and at it’s end, an elevator. She couldn’t see that the doors were already closing, the terrified ‘experts’ fleeing to the safety of the upper floors. But she could sense that they were leaving.

Behind her came a noise. It was the soldier she had maimed but meant to kill. She doubles back to him, her walking a very mechanical and jerky motion, as her knees did not bend, only her ankles.

She picked him up with her Vector, turning him around so he would face her. “Wait! Don’t kill me! I... I can help you get out of here. The elevator, it needs a passcode. I know it. Just don’t kill me.”

There was terror in his face as he beheld the helmet she wore. This close, he noticed that the way it was built, one could easily imagine it as being the face of a demon, more so now then ever.

Natalie said nothing, instead turning and walking with the Corporal to the elevator, and putting him up to it. Hurriedly, he tapped in the code to call the elevator back. His head swam, the constant loss of blood affecting him finally. By pure luck alone he didn’t mess up the code.

With a satisfying ding, the elevator returned. Natalie dropped the Corporal, and stepped into the elevator. There was only one choice from here, the second floor. She didn’t even have to push the button.

“Wait! Don’t leave me he-“ Anything more he said was cut short by the elevator doors closing. The car began to rise...



((OOC: This is a closed RP. Please direct all questions and join-up requests to the OOC Thread, HERE (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=10017589#post10017589). Let the posting begin. :D))

South Fenris, North Fenris, Earth

The golden-skinned man watched the building from an alley. In his mind, diagrams and speculatory blueprints were mapped into the Cerebrarchive. A primitive design, thrown together with an eye toward keeping cost to the minimum with no expectation that the structure would ever situate a person with significant wealth or concern for the particulars of their home. A structure for the poor, flats designed to house the desperate and disgraced, dwelling places for criminals and their victims.

Nonetheless, it was a matter of interest for the man with golden hair to match the tint of his pale skin. Mirror shades helped to mask the golden glow of his eyes, a long trenchcoat hid the autoprosthesis, and the suit underneath covered his augmentations. A suit such as his was out of place in this area of South Fenris, but the man had never been good at identifying appropriate garb in other nations.

His gaze turned to the next building along, mentally postulating internal structure and sketching the facade in his mind, unconciously indicating the things he would change had he ownership of the structure. Such buildings interested him in a peculiar way, curiosity of structure and design in other nations, buildings designed for an underclass that none but the naive cared for.

A faint splash behind him, detected only due to aural augmentations. His head turned to see four examples of said underclass attempting to sneak up on him. He ignored them and returned to his blueprinting. He was uninterested in individual people, it was the society and architecture that interested him.

The golden-eyed man's augmented hearing heard the club swishing through the air toward his head and sidestepped neatly, turning to face the assailants.

Why do people always insist on interrupting my pleasures?

The four shifted around, blocking one of the ways down the alley. One carried a gun, two held makeshift clubs and the third a knife. Petty criminals, normally the kind of person that the golden man would not have noticed.

The three with melee weapons pushed forward, the one bearing a firearm standing back and obviously hesitant of using such a loud device in the kind of area where everyone went armed, and where the sound of a gun firing brought the fire of anyone near toward it - each person assuming the shot was directed at themselves.

The golden-skinned man shrugged off his coat, autoprosthesis arms hissing into action, while one hand removed his meltacutter from its sheath. If the criminals noticed the autoprosthesis they did not show it, desperation in their faces suggested a need for something, probably a drug of some kind - the golden-haired man did not care much for such details.

The first assailant's broken body smacked into a wall, while autoprosthesis neatly snapped the neck of the second. A gesture with the meltacutter sliced the third neatly in half. The thug with a gun turned and ran for it, making it only a metre or two before his companion's knife, hurled by one of the autoprosthetic arms, slammed into the back of his head.

Lord Technologist Tyranos Voraan turned back to the buildings, autoprosthesis retrieving his coat and replacing it over his shoulders. His golden eyes moved to the next building along, Cerebrarchive eagerly receiving the additional information.

Almost two years ago
Yuri was in the middle of a pick-up game of basketball with the other kids at the orphanage when he began spazing, similar to that of Jimmy the epileptic. As another kid ran to get the matron, Ramirez collapsed as his body entered into a coma.

The staff shook their heads as Yuri was carted off to the extensive care center.

One year earlier
Yuri awoke form his coma in a body foreign to him as he'd grown a great deal in the last year while he was dead to the world. He was now at the age of fifteen, almost sixteen, a thin and gangly young man. He also thought didn't realize it, was beginning to exhibit psychic abilities. He could tell that the nurses and attendents felt pity and occasionally made comments to similar effect because of his necessity of his remaining at the facility, surrounded by burn victems, those completely paralzyed and others in similar condition, yet they denied it when he asked them.

Present Day
Yuri had been released from the institute, fully recovered after almost a year of physical therapy. He had finally managed to be able to regain full use of his body after the time it had laid and atrophied. He'd also learnt of, and managed to gain some measure of control of his burgoning psionic abilities.
As he travelled to Iso City he heard and felt something that gave him a bit of a chill but wasn't quite sure what it was.

A young boy's head peaked into the alley from around the corner of a building. He watched the man kill four thugs, but that kind of violence no longer bothered the boy of seven years.

As the man left their bodies and continued on, Liam appeared at the other end of the alley. His face was dirty and cut in several places, but he walked with an unknown confidence. He wore a small brown robe that seemed worn and stained by the dityness and ruggedness of the city. It had an occasional hole in it here and there but the boy did not seem to notice. On his side, hidden by the cloak, he had a small metal device that seemed to swing gently in his stride.

He scampered down the alley to where the bodies of the dead lay. He moved from one to the other, going through their clothes and pockets. He found small amounts of money and objects as well as the knife and gun he picked up. He checked their bodies one last time before he left them where they lay.

A small ship, cloaked as to prevent attacks from antiaircraft weaponry, descends onto a forest away from civilization. Landing on a clearing, a young man, eighteen years of age, steps out of the ship before it shimmers and disappears in the cloak. Jacen Masaki, clad in a brown cloak over a green shirt with a blue water drop on the front and brown pants, headed through the forest and into the city. His orders from the Council were clear: Find a girl found to have psychic powers in North Fenris, Earth and protect her long enough to bring her before the Council for potential training.

Captain Nikoli Genoff was a handsome man, clean cut, and with an aura of strength. If he was worried, which he was, his face did not betray it. If his thoughts were conflicted, which they were, his steady actions didn't show it. He looked over the five scientists as he placed on the headset that would allow him to talk directly to his three sergeants. The code red alarm had already been activated, and the intermittent siren blasts sounded throughout the facility.

"Is there anything else you need to tell me." Genoff asked the scientists.

They shuffled their feet. "umm...she has a tail," one of them hesitantly offered.

"A tail? Nevermind." Protocol stated that he was to kill his expert scientists now. Protocol aslo dictated that if his soldiers in the barracks were overcome he was to activate a self destruct. Genoff did not believe he would do either. "Go into administration room three. Don't come out unless I say to."

"But aministration room three is a supply closet."

Genoff stared at the expert while he activated the headset, maybe he would kill them after all. The scientist swallowed, "Sorry Captain Genoff, right away sir." Genoff began to ignore the scientists as they scampered away.

"Sammael, Tawa, Gild you read me?"

"Yes, sir"

"Gild: I want your team to head to surface level, bring Stem with you, he's our best sniper. If the prisoner should leave the facility, shoot to kill. Spread out and use evasion tactics also. Tawa: your team was on escort duty today, correct?" -"Yes, Captain." - "Roger. Bring your team up to administration level with me. Now Sammael you're going to have to hurry she's already gained access to the elevator and his heading your way. Your orders are to remove any and all obstacles from between you and the elevator doors. I repeat remove all items from the area around the elevator doors. Try to talk the prisoner down non-violently. Get her to surrender. If she becomes to great of a threat take her down. Understood?"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

Genoff watched the video feeds with an apprehension that was not visible. He nodded calmly to Tawa as the sergeant joined him with his team.

~~~~~~~~
Sammael watched the elevator doors, waiting for the ding of arrival. The large room was efficiently emptied of all cover. No barricades for his men, highly against procedure. His troops made a horse-shoe shape around the elevator, with himself at the center. Sammael glanced to his left at Private Barclove, the young soldier was sweating and mumbling to himself.

Sergeant Sammael lit a cigarette, and let out a long satisfying sigh. "All will be well boys, just be alert." He saw several of the men smile, but Barclove did not seem to relax at all.

Sammael returned his attention to the elevator doors, waiting for the ding of arrival.

The Golden Man frowned as he heard noises behind him. He continued his blueprinting for a moment, but the noise persisted. A few footfalls, that was fine, but the rustling of cloth and the sound of rummaging was proving to be irritating. He turned from his watchpoint at the corner of the alley to regard a small boy, who had apparently just finished looting the corpses.

A slender, golden-tinted hand removed the mirrored shades to reveal eyes that bore gold iris, and from which a golden glow emanated, lightly illuminating the alleyway. He took a couple of steps forward before crouching slightly, bringing his eye level down.

"Good day, child. Should you not be in education, or with a protector of some kind?"

The Technologist's knowledge of children was hazy at best - he knew his relative's children well - they had entire sections of the Cerebrarchive dedicated to them - but of children in general he knew little. It had been over three hundred years since he was around that age, and his childhood had not exactly been typical. He sponsored and constructed organisations to look after children, of course, but he rarely had anything to do with the children directly, except as related to Novitiates of the Tech-Citadel and those were certainly not "normal" children.

Liam looked up to see the golden man approaching him. He was frozen in place as the man bent down in front of him and spoke. But when Liam saw the man's golden eyes he became frightened. He remained silent and did not answer the man's question as he stared at his face. He started backing up slowly, one step at a time.

When he got a few steps back from the scary man, he moved his hand to his side under the robe. He clutched the metal object that had been swining there and was ready to defend himself if need be.

His eyes were not those of a normal seven year old boy. They were not innocent with the joys of childhoos. No... they were filled with experience and horrors beyond his days. His eyes had a piercing feeling as they stared at the golden man.

With a ding, the elevator arried on the barrecks level. The doors slid open, revealing the nude catgirl, wearing nothing save her Psi-Supppression helmet. The fact that her Vectors worked was evidence that the helmet was malfunctioning.

Sammael began to speak to her. "Now miss. We have you out-numbered. Lay down on the ground and put your hands on your head. There's no way you can escape..."

Natalie stared at the man who spoke, then used her vectors to move herself. The soldiers readied their weapons. "I said stop. Don't come any closer..."

Natalie stopped. They were within range now. She dropped to sit on her bottom, tilting her head to one side, she finally spoke, "Are you going to hurt me now?" Her voice was dry and raspy, barely human sounding.

With a thought, her Vectors were sent out, each taking on a single soldier. One hand went though the speaker's waist, gripping hold of his spine. A second seized hold of another's shoulder, ready to tear his arm off. Her third and forth each took on a individual neck...

The Golden Man straightened slowly, seeing the boy's fear, but also the experience of uncounted horrors in an unforgiving world that was more eager to be cruel than kind. The boy's piercing look was felt and noted, recorded with interest by the stranger. His shining eyes caught the hand movement toward the robe.

A weapon? No matter.

Hidden beneath the trench coat, one of the autoprosthesis gripped the meltacutter - although the Technologist possessed a laspistol, three centuries of practise with the engineering tool had proved a hard habit to break.

Casually hoping that he would not have to use the device, the man with golden eyes spoke in a calm, authoritive voice. A voice that somehow managed to sound full of authority, yet at the same time benign and reassuring. Ventuusi politics taught its students that being able to influence a crowd was a useful skill, and the Golden Man chose to use that particular weapon in his arsenal. It was the kind of voice that was used to persuade people to vote for something they were uncertain of, certain that the speaker could keep it on track, that nothing would go wrong.

"There is no need to be afraid, child, those growing cold at our feet lie there for their crimes, for attacking me. I would not harm you. Who are you, child?"

Liam had learned the ways of the streets - the ways that said trust noone. Though he could see no harm in telling him his name. With his hand still clutching the metal device, Liam spoke in an innocent voice that seemed to represent his childhood that had longed past, "Liam."

He still didn't trust the man as he had just killed four people.

A thug is a thug - no matter the skin.

The Golden Man nodded slowly. The child's voice did not deceive - the Technologist had been on the receiving end of the carefully taught vocal skills of the Senate and Liam's eyes gave away the deceptions of his innocent voice.

Either that, or the boy's voicebox had not suffered with his mind.

"Well, Liam, I am pleased to meet you. I am Tyranos Voraan."

The Technologist looked the boy over, logging everything. The child was an interesting specimen of an entire subculture, and from an example a great deal could be extrapolated about a society.

"You appear to be half-starved, Liam, have you eaten recently?"

Still slightly unsure about how to approach such a creature as a small boy, the Technologist simply returned to one of the basics of humanity - the desire to feed. There was a reasonable chance that it would not work, but with luck the child's stomach would overcome his suspicion.

Liam thought about the man's words briefly before responding. After carefully measuring his options, Liam decided to trust the man... for now.

Liam showed his trust by releasing his grip on the weapon and moving his hand away from his waist, out of his robe. He shook his head in response to Tyranos' question.

At the same moment his stomach growled as if to confirm Liam's statement. He looked down briefly at his stomach before looking back at Tyranos. He smiled an uncomfrotable smile, as if he had not done so in many years.

Jacen slipped into the city by way of back alleyways and continued walking casually.

OOC: Someone meet up with him please.

The young Water Jedi then spotted something odd as he passed by an alley and stopped to take a closer look. There appeared to be a golden man (or droid?) talking to a small street urchin. Jacen decided to come into the alley and see what's up. "Hello there."

Liam felt someone's presence coming up from behind him. As the being got closer, Liam became even more nervous. He didn't like being in dark alley in between two people that he didn't know.

Even closer it came. Liam jumped to the side and again gripped the metal device under his robe. He was prepared to lash out as the being spoke.

Jacen sensed the Force sensitivity roll off the little kid like a beacon. He's nervous too, and what's this? His stance is much like one preparing to activate a lightsaber. Jacen has to disarm the kid before a fight breaks out. "Now, now. I mean you no harm. I'm Jacen Masaki, Jedi Knight. You are?"

Jedi Knight

He said the words over and over again in his mind. It had been a while since he had heard those words - not once had they been uttered in a city like this.

Jedi Knight...

He said the words again in his mind. This was someone he could trust - he felt it somehow.

Letting go of his saber and relaxing his body again, he looked at the man. He studied him briefly to be sure that he was a Jedi Knight and when he was sure he had told the truth, Liam felt comfortable. "My name is Liam."

"Liam. A nice name." Jacen nodded. "So what are you doing in a back alley like this?"

Liam opened his pocket to show all the objects he had looted from the dead thugs.

Jacen nodded approvingly. "Never can have enough weapons on you. But what I really meant was why are you on the streets?"

ooc: I am to lazy to write out Liam telling his story so... (I just copyed it from my factbook)

Liam sighed slightly as he remembered his story, his past, and the path that led him here. He began telling it from the beginning, as it had been told to him by various people. He explain:

Liam (http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b360/DMG2005/Liam.jpg) was born to his parents on his homeworld of Kuat. His father was a mechanic at the Kuat Driveyards and his mother who had been in an administration role, had quit in order to take care of him. He grew up a normal kid, though he had a fond affinity for anything mechanical. He began taking after his father at a very early age, and was fixing small machines and such by age five. Unfortunately, he didn’t get to explore his mechanical skills until he was older because of a terrible event that changed his life for ever.

On his fifth birthday, he and his parents had been celebrating quietly in their home, when three cloaked figures knocked on their door. When his father opened the door, one of the cloaked figures ignited its red Lightsaber and cut his head clean off. Then the other two ignited their Lightsabers and headed in the door towards Liam’s mother. She bid him to hide, and he did. She told him that mommy and daddy had to go somewhere now but they would be back - within a minute the cloaked figures had entered the room and killed her too. After a few minutes of pillaging the house and retrieving what they had come for, they left. A frightened five year old Liam came out of the floor board he had hidden under, not knowing what had just taken place. A family friend, a pilot, came over shortly later and noticed Liam’s dead parents. He took him in his care, saying that his parents said he could stay with him until they returned, and Liam went along pleasantly.

For the next few months Liam traveled the galaxy with the man he had begun calling uncle. When they landed on each planet, his “Uncle” would unload the goods he was transporting and then take Liam to see the sights if there were any. However, when they reached the planet of Ftang – a planet with no sights to be seen – Liam snuck off the ship unbeknownst to the crew. He entered the Jedi Academy there as the ship took off without him. A short time after he had begun exploring the halls, a Jedi master by the name of Del-Han-Skeel found him and took him under his wing. It is there at the Academy that he learned that he was a force sensitive. It is there where he studied the ways of the Jedi. It is also there where he learned that his parents had been murdered. After studying and training in the ways of the Jedi for nearly two years, Liam set out from the Academy in pursuit of revenge.

His revenge dragged him across the galaxy and often bordered on the Darkside of the force. He traveled to hundreds of planets during his journeys and encountered many evil people on his adventures. When he was seven, nearing eight, he found himself living on the streets of North Fenris.

Wow, he's so young and yet he has more experience than most ordinary Jedi, even ninjas... Jacen assessed the boy's story. "Such a harsh life for a kid like you. But you know what? You're turning out ok, all things considered. How much training do you know so far?"

Liam shrugged. It had only been about two years since he even found out that he was a force sensitive, but all things considered he knew a good amount. His masters had called him a "fast learner" and a "natural" but what helped most was his style of life. Living ruggedly on the streets where he had to fend for himself helped him become stronger.

"They taught me a couple things," he said refering to the Jedi Academy on Ftang. "Couple of lightsaber forms like Ataru and Soresu as well as some basic force moves."

"I see." Jacen nodded. Then he had a thought. He'd be a good addition to the Order...if he wants to. "I'm trying to track down someone. Think you could come along for the ride?"

Liam looked from Jacen to Tyranos and then back to Jacen. His stomach growled again as it wanted food, "You have food, yes?" Liam said as he was willing to go if he got the same thing the golden man promised.

Something about Jacen was more reassuring than Tyranos - erhaps it was because he was a Jedi.

"Yeah, here." Jacen opened an item pocket of his belt and tossed an MRE to Liam. It's a very nutritious and filling granola bar with a biodegradable plastic covering it to preserve it. Everyone who goes out in the field carries a few day's worth in case of going to wilderness. Or to get orphaned little Force sensitive kids like Liam to trust them. A common tactic to bolster the Order's ranks.

"Thanks," Liam said as he greatfully took the MRE. He quickly unwrapped it and began eating.

"I am ready to go whenever," he said as he finished off the last mouthful and his stomach was filled.

"Hmm. Now how to find that girl..." Jacen asked himself, now that he has help on his side.

General Sergei sat at his desk looking over recent recruitment numbers, when the aide cam in and saluted sharply.

"Sir, code 648 anomally report."

"Proceed Major Kins," The esteemed and elderly general replied.

"It appears an unidentified craft of foreign make was discoverd in the forests several miles from the city of South Fenris. Initial observations lead us to believe the craft is capable of interstellar travel. Your orders General?"

Sergei sighed and reflected for a moment. Times in Fenris were becoming interesting of late, and maybe he was too old for it. "Issue orders to apprehend the the vessle and transport it to the Theoretical Science Lab in Mount Ulver. Have Clara bring in the official paperwork, also tell her to establish a connection to Councilman Henksmith so he can appoint officials to be in charge of the project. Keep the press guessing, let it be leaked that it was one of our own prototype fighter jets that was found to be faulty. Top secret, yada, yada, yada."

"Yes, General." replied Kins. He saluted smartly and left the old General in his thoughts.

Unfortunately for them, the ship is one of those that is DNA-coded to a member of the Masaki Clan and only a member can open it (easily, at least). If anyone else tries to open the door, they're in for a very nasty shock. Even if one manages to get it open, the controls and computer would be locked down, and a 'Captured' tracking signal will be sent to Coredia, the earthbound territory of Coreworlds. It would take hours, if not days to break the lock.

Of course, Grand Admiral Easton, in command of all things Coredian on Earth, will not issue any orders to do anything about it, as it's likely that Jacen would find a way to steal it back. If he doesn't, remote-detonation can be easily done.

A little beep sounded on Jacen and he lifted from his belt an extremely sophisticated pager. Shp cptrd. dtnt? was the words. He pressed 'no' and the screen showed the current location of the ship. He nodded and closed down the pager. Bound to happen some time.

The Golden Man raised an eyebrow. The last time he had been this thoroughly ignored was when he had been working on a public construction project, and then it had more been a matter of his being so engrossed in his work that he didn't notice the others present.

He had listened to the Jedi's introduction, and also to the story of the child, Liam. Jedi. He knew about the Jedi Temples - could map many of them out into perfect blueprints if he desired - but of those that inhabited them he knew relatively little. The Republic of Ventuus did of course know of the Jedi in more details, but the Technologist was unaware of many of the finer points.

He decided that the polite thing would be introduce himself, as the Jedi Knight had introduced himself - however accidentally it was done to the Ventuusi. The knowledge that the child had begun training as a mechanic was also interesting, and possibly worth pursuing - as well as possibility of more information on the Jedi themselves, both the child and the Knight being examples of different subcultures that might prove interesting to study.

"Well, Jedi Knight Jacen Masaki, I am Lord Technologist Tyranos Voraan, High Servant to the Senate, and Lord Aedile of Losan Three, currently on sabbatical.
"I would suggest that the child has something heated to consume, as opposed to a standard ration bar, if he is to follow you around in search of one woman in a nation of millions."

As the Golden Man looked at Jacen, Liam might, from his lower viewpoint, see the wires that ran from under the collar of the suit into the skin of his neck, something which he would previously have been unable to see.

"No, its fine," Liam said as he brushed the crumbs away from his finished meal, "I don't need warm food - this will do."

Woman? What woman?

"Who are you lookin-?" Liam was about to finish asking when he saw the wires running into the skin on Tyranos' neck. He froze mid sentence and continued staring.

Sgt. Sammael felt ice in his stomache and a chill running up and down his spine. He chalked it up to the tension of the situation. "No Lass' we're not going to hurt you, just stay as you are." Looking at her is heart filled with compassion. She can't be any older than my own daughter. Ah, Lisa, haven't seen you in over a year now. "Corporal Singer, go into the barracks and get a blanket and some fatigues."

"Sir," replied the soldier as he left the large ante-room. There were now nine men in military uniforms with the 'prisoner.'

"It will all be alright Lass', no one has to hurt anyone else now," Sammael said soothingly as he approached the sitting catgirl, hands held out empty and open in front of him. "It will all be alright."

Barclove felt his heart beating faster and faster as his sergeant approached the monster. His throat felt tight and cold, constircting, he panted. Can't breathe, can't breathe. Can't breaaaathe!!! It's doing it, need air. Make it all go away. Barclove saw the tail twitch and with a cry his trigger finger responded in kind. The bullet was ill aimed and barely grazed Natalie's arm.

The sound of the gunshot had not yet died when Barclove's neck exploded in a shower of blood. "Sarge!" Cried a soldier as Sammael's back arched in an impossible fassion. Another soldier kicked and gurgled on the ground, his jaw ripped from his face. The crack of assault rifle fire resounded in the room. A bullet slammed into Natalie's shoulder and blood blossomed from a wound to her leg.

Focus Natalie, said the voice in her head. The vectors moved at the speed of wishes, attacking and defending in a blur. In seconds the battle was over. Crumpled and torn bodies of soldiers littered the ground, some were lucky and had not suffered mortal wounds, others were luckier having only recieved a glancing blow delivering them to unconsciousness.

Singer looked at the room in horror. He dropped the blanket and clothes and brought up his rifle. Natalie brought up her vectors in turn: two crumpled the gun now known as a severe threat, and two gently lifted Singer from the ground by his head.

"Take me away now . . .passcode," she said uncertainly, the young girl's voice painfully raspy.

"Y-yeah, s-s-sure." Said the levitated soldier.

Natalie picked herself up and made her way toward the elevators, taking Singer with her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Genoff watched the massacre in the monitors with growing horror. "Tawa, I want your men out of sight. Wait for the 'prisoner' to leave for the surface then bring medical aid down to Sammael's team. We'll leave it to Gild."

He limped quickly to the elevators, going through a mental exercise. He relaxed himself as he waited infront of the door. His mind slowly emptied of all but the image of a red rose blooming in a field of snow and then slowly wilting, only to bloom again.

Natalie came upon the Barracks elevator, putting the one called Corporal Singer up to the elevator. He hurriedly inputed the code, and as the door opens, she drops Singer, and steps into the facility.

Singer scampered away from her, the elevator doors closing. Hurredly, he pulls out his radio, and thumbs it. "This is Corporal Singer. The Prisoner has just gained access to the Admin levels. What are my orders?"

Genoff's voice came back over the radio, "Seperate those who need medical attention from those that are beyond it. Help is on the way."

Singer nodded. "Affirmative."

He quickly doubles back to the rest of his team, setting about fulfilling his orders...



Natalie sat inside the elevator, massaging her calves, and speaking. "My name is Natalie... My name is Natalie..." It was the only thing she knew. Her voice wasn't so raspy now, and she found that speaking didn't hurt her throat anymore.

She put a hand to her helmet, feeling it over. "This... This isn't my face..." I should remov.... Almost as quickly as the thought formed, it was suppressed. She suddenly lost the desire to remove the Psi-Suppression Helmet. While it was malfunctioning, it still worked enough to prevent her from removing it...

With a ding, the elevator opened, and Natalie tried to stand under her own strength, using the wall for support. She stumbled through the doors, managed to walk a full step, before crashing to the ground. She curled up for a moment, whimpering softly. Help me walk. she thought. Her vectors came out, and she used them to hold her legs, pushing herself up to a kneeling position, then pushing up with her other two vectors to stand.

Determine to learn to walk on her own eventually, she uses a wall for support, using less of her Vectors to walk and pushing herself along. She feels out with her senses, trying to find her way. A path travelled often... I can still smell the sweat of the men from that room... And... That of another...

She follows the unknown scent, a mildly arousing aroma, like an exotic fruit. She could feel the stirrings of a memory, but before it became fully realized, it was gone.

Pushing on, she eventually comes to where the scent trail ends, and feels the presense of just one man. She doesn't sit down, insteads she leans against the wall, facing the man. All of her vectors are free to use as she needs. "Are you going to hurt me?" She asks simply. She was still bleeding from her wounds from the barracks, a trail of blood tracing the path she took to end up here...

Genoff did not asnwer her question. He enterd the passcode for the elevator and then stepped aside.

"This is the way out."

He moved aside, keeping his mind blank. The ridiculousness of so much destruction coming from one who looked so lost and helpless kept on encroaching on the serenity of the snowfield and the rose, but Genoff maintained his discipline.

As Yuri relieved himself, he felt the start of a throbbing pain in both his shoulder and leg. As he finished up, he rubbed his shoulder and wondered what was causing this as he knew he'd never been hurt in either place.

He stopped by the dining cart and got something to eat before returning to his seat sandwiched between a smelly fat man and a woman who appeared to be surgically welded to her cellphone. With a muttered curse, he slid into his unpleasent seat to wait till they arrived, but the pulsing pain continued inexplicably.

"This is the way out." The man said. Natalie nearly fell, but didn't. She merely nods, and begins to walk.

She pauses as she comes alongside the man. She turns her head to look at him. "Th... Thank you." With that, she continues, entering the elevator and pressing the sole button. The doors close, and the elevator rises.

Arriving at the surface, Natalie steps out, and feels the cold air against her skin. She shivers, and wraps her arms around herself. I... I have to get away from here. Without the support of the equipment within the facility, the Psi-Suppression Helmet begins to rapidly degrade, failing. More and more free thought came easily to her.

She begins to move away from the facility, not sure where she is going, but hoping for the best. She's never aware of the soldier sighting in on her...

As the 'prisoner' cruised towards the surface in the elevator, Captain Nikoli Genoff doubted himself. Did I do the right thing? The 'prisoner' was clearly dangerous, yet he could not rid himself of a nagging feeling. A feeling that the strange girl meant no harm. With his decision he had either signed the death warrant of the girl or more of his soldiers.

"Gild, the prisoner is on way to surface. Remain hidden and keep distance. Be advised the prisoner has exhibited enormous telekenetic powers and may be packing other unkowns. Have Stem make sure she's a ways off and that he's positive of the shot," - "Roger, Sir." - "Tawa, it's clear, join Singer at B-level to administer aid and give me a casaulty report." - "Affrimitive," Tawa's response crackled in Genoff's ear. Genoff hobbled back to the monitors to view the conflict above.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gild silently signed his orders to his nine soldiers. They seperated from eachother more, disappearing into the foliage and underbrush.

Stem was layed down flat on his stomache, on a thick redwood branch twenty feet in the air. He watched through his scope as the 'prisoner' wandered through the woods, shivering in the cold autumn air. He breathed easy, waiting for his shot, he had decided to take her in the neck. Fifty meters. Still he waited. Natalie neared a cliff's edge. Seventy meters. Stem exhaled slowly and squeezed the trigger. He watched as the figure in his scope almost seemed to clip it moved so fast. His shot missed instead sparking off the helmet and sending the 'prisoner' off the cliff face.

"What the-" He cutoff as he became aware of an indescribable rending noise. Dirt and other debris flittered through the air, sent in their trajectories by the uprooting of two huge oak trees. The trees flew towards Stem's perch, with a horrifying whistle that grew louder to Stem's ears. "By the All-Father!" Stem cursed as he rolled from the branch. The oaks collided with the redwood with a deafening crack, and an exposion of wood shards and branches.

Stem fell silently with the tree parts, his body being battered by the natural shrapnel. Then the ground met him. Air left his body with a whuff, but he rolled as trained, nothing felt broken, but trees were still falling about him. Stem curled, protecting his head, and hoped he would not be crushed.

Sgt. Gild's jaw dropped. His troops ran from their cover, awe in all their eyes. He signed for Denley and Yamaguchi, his two best and most experienced, to locate the prisoner. He and the rest than began searching for Stem and Canlon, who was also missing. Gild began his report to Genoff.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Genoff walked towards a red phone as he partially listened to Gild. He was about to make a call that he had thought would never be made.

A loud gunshot rang out, Natalie's acute hearing just able to dertermine the direction it came from. Something slammed into her head, a loud reverbing ringing sounding in her ears. The helmet split open, and fell apart as she fell over the cliff. Make them pay! She thought. All of her vectors came out, moving at the speed of light, tearing up the trees that were littered around the cliff edge and throwing in the direction she guessed the shot had come from.

She fell away to the ground, the helmet slipping apart, the crack from the shot expanding, running up the width of the helmet. The two halves fell apart, free falling with Natalie to the forest below...

I'm falling... I'm falling... It hurts... It hurts! The pain from the gunshot finally hit her. All she could think about was the pain. Tears fell from her eyes, flowing down into her matted brunette hair.

She landed in the branches of a pine tree, the tiny needles of the tree cutting at her nude body as she fell. It hurts! Save me! Don't let me die!

Following her orders, her Vectors came out, grapping hold of anything within reach. Several trees bent, bending over fully.

With a jerk she came to a halt, dangling a few hundred feet off the ground. Natalie panted, hanging from a tree by one of her invisible arms. Her hair was coated with tears, sweat and blood.

Catching her breath, Natalie looked around. This was her first time seeing the world with her own eyes in over four years. Glancing down, she panicked at the distance. Looking back up, she inhales and exhales several times, then forms a plan. "I'll climb my way down..."

Reaching out with another of her vectors, she climbs down the tree, finally coming to the ground.

Ahead of her was a clearing, and Natalie wondered towards it.

On the ground were two sets of two metal rails. Tilting her head, Natalie approaches one set, kneels next to it and runs a hand over it, feeling the metal. "What is this?" The ground begins to tremble. Natalie puzzles over the metal rail some more, before a bright light shines on her. She shrieks and throws up her hands.

She didn't know what the train was, but she threw up her vectors, using them to shield herself.

The train slams into the vectors, and the force of the impact sends her flying and the train careening off its track. The train engines drives past her, kicking up dirt and rocks and debris. She briefly hears the screams of the people on the train as they slide past her, but the noises of the crash drown out their screams.

Finally, it all ends, as the train loses its momentum. Natalie sits up, covered in dirt and blood and scratches. She begins to cry uncontrollably...

Yuri was walking back to the dining car, as he was both hungry and he had to get away from his seatmates as neither seemed to have any cares but their own pleasure. The aching pains were worse but he still had no idea as to the cause. As the train lurched and then went flying, he focused all his telekinetic and telepyronic skills on busting and burning a hole into the side of the car. As the car he was in swung off to the side he was thrown out of the train but one of the jagged edges caught his back and slashed open a large but shallow cut across his shoulderblades. As he crashed hard into the ground, he felt his left shoulder give way as his arm dislocated. Crashing into a tree he felt at the bones in at least two fingers crack.

At this final pain, he let out a tortured scream along the verbal and telepathic wavelengths before temporarily passing out.

"Huh?" Jacen asked, sensing something to the north. When Natalie had her helmet shot off, she was suddenly opened to any psychics within range...including Force-Sensitives. Jacen sensed a strong signature coming from the North, from the girl, and though he didn't exactly know who it was, he suspected. "Guys. I think I found a lead. To the north. I say we check it out."

Jacen began walking out of the alley way, hopefully followed by the kid and the Golden Man.

OOC:
And don't forget to note what happens to the ship, NF. Remember, defenses include powerful electric shocks if DNA key isn't right and once your people break in, lockdowns are on all controls and the computers until someone manages to break them, which will take hours, if not days. And then, I can be given a final choice to detonate the thing. *evil smile*

It felt good to breathe clean country air for once, it had certainly been a while since Jimmy had experienced such simple pleasures. The air back in his underground home was alway stagnant despite the ventilation and other pieces of technology, there was no fresh air under the earth. Of course he didn't spend all his time inside but the air in the cities of Assington was reasonably polluted, even the smaller 'country towns' were pretty much cities these days due to Assington being a nation of over five billion citizens.

With that and other issues in mind, Jimmy had decided it was time for a holiday overseas, somewhere new and interesting that he'd never heard of. After a few days of looking around he'd found an add for the nation of North Fenris. Seemed just as good as any other place in the world.

And so Jimmy found himself cruising along a country road, passing the calm forests as he headed towards Mount Ulver in a car that wasn't his, wearing a relatively nice looking shirt, pants and coat that wasn't his and a trunk full of other gear that also wasn't his.

Despite being a very old man in age, Jimmy certainly hadn't lost his old childhood habits of being a thief and had simply become even better at what he did as his powers grew and became more refined. Jimmy couldn't think of another person that went pick-pocketing without ever using his hands. Besides his obvious telekinetic skills, Jimmy was also a very powerful telepath, strong enough to convince others to believe what Jimmy wanted them to believe, not necessarily what the truth was.

Admiring the car he drove, Jimmy grinned to himself and was about to release a self satisfied chuckle when the wrenching and smashing of metal reached his ears. Whilst that was surprising in itself, Jimmy was more interested in what he sensed just before those sounds. There was a huge psychic discharge as something obviously quite strong had used it's powers, most likely connected to the metal sounds.

Skidding to a stopm Jimmy leapt out of the convertable car and began a quick sprint up a grassy hill, through a patch of trees. Another psychic presence cried out in the area, obviously in pain yet this one was different and not as strong. Continuing his run, Jimmy's jaw almost dropped as he came across a train wreck.

The train was scattered all over the place, as were many people some injured badly and other more shocked and confused than hurt. Not far from the crash was a young looking girl, lacking in any clothing as she lay upon the ground crying. She was the one, Jimmy's psychic sense could feel the aura of strength around the girl. A few more steps revealed something Jimmy hadn't seen on a young woman for over a two hundred years. A tail. She was a Neko.

Overcoming his surprise, Jimmy rushed forward and immediately removed his jacket, ready to place it over the young girl.

"Hey, are you alright there?"

Yuri awoke and groaned in pain. As he mentally surveyed his body he realize nothing was too badly damaged, and gritting his teeth he rose to his feet. As he put pressure on his bad arm he felt a stab of pain, but pain was something he'd had to deal with the entire time of his rehab.

Looking around at the wreck, he wondered what happened when he saw a man taking off his coat and approaching an odd looking girl who incidentally happened to be nude. As his body naturally reacted, thought he wasn't aware of the fact as socially he was far younger than his age.

"Sir, do you know what happened?" He asked as he took in the man and the girl, then proceeded to do a double-take as he saw the tail and ears.

Natalie wept, not noticing the man coming up to her until he dropped the jacket on her.

Natalie gave a yelp, trying to scamper away, yet as she moved, she gave another yelp. This time of pain. Her leg had been impaled by a thin sliver of metal, and moving had caused her brain to finally acknowledge it.

She looked at the man, two of her vectors deploying, moving around him on either side. "Are you... Going to hurt me?" She asked, speaking through gritted teeth.

Jimmy watched as the young girl yelped, he attention being drawn to blood oozing down her leg. It was really quite remarkable that after derailing an entire train, that was the extent of her injuries. As she turned around to face him, Jimmy immediately sensed her powers, her psychic force surrounding him. Almost as instinct, telekinetic energy swarmed to life around Jimmy, prepared to deflect any attack if it were to come.

Looking down at Natalie, Jimmy shook his head at her question and offered a soft smile.

"No, of course not. I just heard the commotion around here and came to see what happened. You looked like you might be hurt so I came to help you out. I'm not really a medic but the least I could do was give you some clothes."

At that point Jimmy's ears directed him to look straight ahead at another young man, this one seemed to be alright and confused as to what happened.

"I'm not really sure mate. Something caused the train to derail."

Jimmy figured it would be best not to point fingers quite yet, it was no use getting people worked up and blaming others whilst there was still work to be done.

Natalie recalled the man at the exit of the facility, and as soon as the man here had said he wasn't going to hurt her, she recalled her Vectors. "Train? What's a train?" She looked at both of them. She felt something different about the two. She folded her hands around her wound, blowing on it. "It hurts..."

Besides the metal shard, she also had three or four bullet wounds on her arms and legs. They weren't nothing serious, mere graze wounds. But they were destinctively caused by bullets, not by the wreck.

And the impact of the sniper's bullet had caused her head to bleed, covering her face with some blood. Her catears twitched, and she sneezed.

Yuri nodded, his left arm hanging loosely with both the pinky and ring fingers having a somewhat squashed look to them. As he looked between the two he saw what appeared to be a something surrounding the man, and 'arms' composed of the same something emenating from the cat-girl surrounding the man but then retreating.

While addled, he knew enought to distinguish between reality and fantasy and asked as well as gesturing with his good right arm, "What is that stuff around you?" As he waited for the answer to turned to cat-girl and said, "If you'll let me, I think I could get that out without causing any more damage and possibly help with those other injuries."

Yamaguchi and Denley quietly and slowly made their way down the steep cliff face. They had spotted signs of destrucion amongst the trees below, but no visiual of the "prisoner's" body. Then the sound of wrenching metal reached their ears. The two soldiers made eye contact for a moment, and then silently agreed upon a course of action. Denley made his way back up the cliff to obtain a better vantage point. Yamaguchi doubled his pace determined to reach the bottom with all due haste, and investigate the crashing noise.

~~~~~~~~~~~

General Sergei read his secretary's notes regarding the 648 anomally. The craft was currently enroute to Mount Ulver. It had been alloted sub-terranean hangar 33, and a Level 9 security clearance. This meant it was in the highly secured and maintained military facility, known as Red Pine, on the western outskirts of Mount Ulver proper. Councilman Henksmith had, with approval of the Council, appointed Dr. Melissa Atakawa, to head the project. She would arrive from Iso City in three days and was to be given proper codes and clearance. Budget attribution had been given a green-light special, no monetary cost was too great to discover the secrets of the craft. Furthermore, investigation to the former owner of the craft and the craft's communication capabilities should have man power allotted to it.

The old man sighed and ran a hand through his thinning hair. How was he supposed to find the former owner? There was no information, period, on the matter. He began drafting two forms. The first was an order to refurbish and inspect the security detail at the Red Pine facility. The second was a letter to Councilman Scan, whom always had a finger in the Black Ops.

After identifying himself as a friend, Jimmy noted the girl's own power was recalled, moving away from him. Now not under any direct threat, Jimmy allowed his own defences to subside yet kept his power on standby. It was obvious the girl had taken other injuries not related to the crash, causing Jimmy to ponder the situation a little carefully.

She has bullet wounds, some sort of blow to the head, no clothes and doesn't even know what a train is... something weird is going on.

"A train is that thing over there on the ground. Let's worry about getting you fixed up first though..."

Before he could get another word out, the other man directed a question towards Jimmy, regarding the telekinetic energy surrounding him. Jimmy paused. He was a psychic as well, or at least sensitive to psychic energies. This was getting odder by the minute.

"Nothing really, we don't need to worry about it at the moment. If you can help her, I suggest you do so."

Turning back to the young girl, Jimmy bent down next to her to get a closer look at her injuries whilst also preserving her dignity by adjusting the coat.

"So what's your name?"

"So what's your name?" The man had asked, adjusting the jacket so it covered her better. Krowemohians naturally had little need for dignity, but the warmth it gave her was comfortable and soothing. My name...? My name is Natalie. "My name is Natalie."

She looked up at the second man as he nears her. She points to her leg. "You can make the pain stop? Please make it stop." The metal shard looked like it was once part of the train, but in the crash it had hurled itself into her thigh. It was roughly three inches in length, but no thicker then a half-inch at its thickest point.

Jimmy, if he had an eye for such things, would note she was almost unnaturally thin, with no muscles on her legs and arms. As if she hasn't used her arms and legs in a very long time, and was feed just enough to keep her alive. Which was actually, the truth....

She looked at the man. "What is... Your name?" She asked the man who had given her the coat.

Jimmy examined the girl as she gave him her name and spoke to the other man. Natalie, a pretty name. Besides her injuries, Natalie was a good looking girl yet she appeared to be paper thin, just as bad if not worse than some of the models you see in magazines and the sort. Somehow he doubted that had anything to do with the vanity of young women.

"My name is Jimmy."

There was no doubt Natalie was a Neko and Jimmy couldn't help but wonder if she knew his old friend.

"You wouldn't happen to be from Krowemoh would you?"

By now many others had begun to stumble out of the train wreck whilst the cries of those too injured to move filled the air. Whether she realised it or not, Natalie had caused a big mess that was bound to attract the attention of various authorities.

"Hmmm, it may be best if we leave soon."

Yuri was a relieved that she'd given him permission. He'd learnt the hard way that this particular ability need it's receipent's permission to work properly, as well as the fact he couldn't use it on himself.

Crouching down beside cat-girl who'd identified herself as Natalia, he brushed his broken finger against the ground and winced. He then reached out and positioned his right hand so that the palm was just touching the tip of the shard. He slowly lifted his hand, the shard coming with it. As it exited the flesh, the gush of blood that should normally be coming out of the wound was only a faint trickle. The wound was closing but at a rate that if you watched it wouldn't appear as anything but if you glanced away for a second you'd see a difference.

Once he finished with the shard that had been lodged in her leg, he moved his hand over the grazed bullet wounds and did the same thing. "Is that better?" He asked of Natalia.

Yuri worked on her wounds, and Natalie was overwhlemed with joy to see he had healed her. She favors him with a smile, throwing her arms around him. "Thank you!" She releases hm as Jimmy speaks...

Natalie blinked at Jimmy. "Crow... Moe? Ahhhh..." She puts a hand to her head, a painful memory stirring...


~~~~~~~
The Past

Natalie was staring at the body of her father. He wasn't moving. A destroyed birthday cake was behind her, as well as the table and furiture, all ripped to shreds. Handprints were everywhere, but they weren't caused by any physical hand. "Papa! Please wake up. Please say something. I'm sorry papa, I'm sorry. Please wake up." She was in tears.

The door to her house was kicked in, two heavily armored men rushing in, both decked out in full Anti-Psi gear. "Corporate Purifaction Squad! Don't move!" One shouted, brandishing a glowing weapon. The memory ended with one of the officers tackling her...
~~~~~~~~

She hadn't realized she had started crying, shaking her head no. "What's a Crow Moe?" She said through tears. Those bad men from that place would be near. She nodded her head, wiping her eyes. "Yes, please take me with you." She held up her arms towards the man.


((OOC: Note, she does pronounce it (Krowemoh) as two seperate words, rather then one whole word. :D))

Satisfied that Natalia was better, though in pain from her hug as she'd wrenched his dislocated arm about, he turned to Jimmy and asked a question that would aid in getting his arm back where it belonged, "Sir, could you pop my arm back into it's socket?" As the arm was it was just hanging loose from his shoulder, "And if you would, please just do it quick."

Jimmy watched with interest as Yuri began healing Natalie. Sure he could remove the piece of metal but Jimmy had no idea how this guy was healing Natalie's flesh, he'd never heard of psychics being able to do such. Within a few minutes she was healed enough to spring forward and hug Yuri in thanks.

About to correct Natalie's pronounciation, Jimmy stopped as he watched a pained expression cast over her face. It wasn't one of physical anguish yet unpleasant nonetheless. A memory perhaps?

"Krowemoh is a nation, it's full of people like you. Cat people."

Evidently Natalie was running from something as she seemed so eager to go, reaching up towards Jimmy.

"Alright, let me just help out this guy."

Jimmy had seen many dislocated shoulders in his day as a thief, most of them being his own as running from this or jumping from that caused him multiple injuries. Moving behind Yuri, he placed one hand on the front of his shoulder and the other on his back, feeling for the joint and out of place bone. Seconds passed before he finally located what he was looking for and a sudden thump later resulted in the bone shifting back into its socket with a sickening crack.

"There you go."

With that done, Jimmy helped Natalie to his feet.

"I've got a car not far from here if you guys wanna split..."

Yuri rubbed his arm as well as rotating it to loosen up the muscles after it had been popped back in it's socket. Having the arm re-located hurt but having full use of it again would enable him to prevent bashing his fingers again. "Sure, and you still have to answer my question about what that stuff was." Yuri said to Jimmy

"Huh?" Jacen asked, sensing something to the north. When Natalie had her helmet shot off, she was suddenly opened to any psychics within range...including Force-Sensitives. Jacen sensed a strong signature coming from the North, from the girl, and though he didn't exactly know who it was, he suspected. "Guys. I think I found a lead. To the north. I say we check it out."

Jacen began walking out of the alley way, hopefully followed by the kid and the Golden Man.

ooc: sorry, missed your post.

Liam continued to stare at the odd wires that were running into Tyrano's neck. What are those? Why does he have metal going into him?

He had been locked in a stare at Tyranons and hadn't noticed Jacen walking away until he was almost out of the alley. "Hey... wait up," Liam said as he began running after him. His short legs didn't carry him very fast but he was gaining distance, "Where are you going?"

"North." Was all Jacen said before he decided to find a train station and head to North Fenris.

"Why!?" Liam asked like the curious child he was. "What is up north?"

"Why!?" Liam asked like the curious child he was. "What is up north?"
"A friend." Jacen said.

"I come with?" he asked innocently as he stared up at Jason with his mystery filled eyes.

Tyranos Vanaan was being constantly surprised, or at least, as close to surprise as his now largely mechanical brain could be, by this Jedi Knight. Perhaps the Jedi were simply practised at following their own beliefs and attitudes to the point of ignorance of all other things, including people.

The child's piercing eyes, on the other hand, were definately the opposite of Jacen''s almost aggressive innatention and so he found his hand gently touching the place on his neck where Liam had been staring.

Ah, of course, the boy has probably not seen Augmentation links before.

One golden eye winked at Liam, and the Technologist's soft voice spoke.

"They're something I had done to make me better. I'll explain in more detail later."

Tyanos listened to Jacen's comment about "having a lead", whatever that meant. Presumably something to with the woman he was looking for - interesting, a comment that followed shortly on the heals of a minute depression in his Null Field. A power Psyker somewhere to the north.

Powerful Psykers could mean any number of things, and in particular the opportunity to see the treatment of this particular subculture and the operating methods of North Fenris' government as concerned them.

Never one to pass up the oppotunity for study, the Aedile made up his mind to accompany the Jedi and Liam. A thought later brought up the slightly out-of-date city plans downloaded as habit by any in the Aedile offices. It is always easier to study architecture when it is combiend with the plans of the city that the buildings are in.

One hand reached down to collect a small matt black case previously unnoticed in the shadows of the alley - a Lord of Ventuus will never be long parted from his possessions and garments, force of habit in the multicultural Republic forcing a standardised set of clothing for certain ranks, such as the Senators, Servants or Tech-Adepts.

"I would suggest either transit by rail or the motor infrastructure. Either method offers a number of options as regards mobility for a suitably efficient course toward the supposed location of this female you are looking for. Air travel would not be advised due to a lack of civilian landing strips in the general vicinity that we would be looking for."

If the Ventuusi Lord noticed any peculiarity in his speech modes, he did not show it.

"I'm way ahead of you." Jacen smirked to the Techpriest. "And yes, Liam, you're coming. I suggest we take the trains. I have a feeling that we'll meet our unknown friend around the railway systems."

The Technologist nodded slightly, bringing his mirrored shades back up to cover the conspicuous glow of his eyes.

"I see, what other details do you know of this woman?"

Tyanos considered something for a moment, looking down at Liam.

"I will pay for the child's ticket, as I doubt that he would be eager to spend his hard-collected currency on something that woudl not appear to directly benefit him - nor should he."

His golden head turned this way and that briefly, hidden eyes recording building details to examine on the journey north.

Liam just continued to stare up that the two men as they talked about "this woman."

Who is she? Why are they going to see her? Where is she?

"The Council didn't know all that much, only that she's about a couple years younger than me." Jacen said, coming up to a train station.

The Technologist nodded slightly.

"And you would be, how old, exactly?
"Do you know what she looks like, any distinguishing features?"

He caught Liam's confused expression and smiled slightly. He really knew little more than the child, and that mostly due to the impact upon his Null Field.

"Relax, Liam, no doubt soon everything will be explained. Judging by the comment from our friend here, none of us know much more than either of the others."

A thought struck Tyranos' aged mind, something that seemed like it might be vaguely useful knowledge.

"Who are this Council of yours, Jacen, and under what rulership do they serve?"

The cant of the Golden Man's head would suggest a mild curiosity about the matter, his psychic signiature hidden by the Null Field.

"I've just turned nineteen." Jacen confirmed. "And the Jedi Council rules our nation of Coreworlds and affects all matters Jedi."

The Golden Man's expression became genuinely confused at Jacen's answer.

"Nineteen? Less than two decades and you're out of education?"

There is a tone of surprise in the Technologist's voice - something very rare indeed among the those who bore the Cog-and-Crescent symbol. A faint sigh, as one consistantly bemused by other cultures.

"And Coreworlds? Can you describe your nation?"

Curious to know more, and after recovering a bare couple of seconds after his increduluous outburst, the man with golden eyes followed his curiosity as they walked into the train station.

As Liam entered the train station behind the two conversing men, he watched all the people whisking by and the metal tubesentering and leaving.

What are those? Liam stared at the trains trying to remember them from his childhood or brief education, but did not recall ever seeing them or learning about them. Are those trains?

The thought passed him by as he observed all the people there. It was quite different from his memories of what his home looked like. Home... The thought was so close to him and yet the term was so unfamiliar to him anymore. I once had a home... Again the thought left him as a loud whistle blew to signify a train incoming on the closest track. As the train came to a stop the doors opened and hundreds of people began pouring out. They are all different from me... Liam noticed as the people walked about the platform on their way to and fro. They know where they are going... they know where the home is...

The Golden Man's expression became genuinely confused at Jacen's answer.

"Nineteen? Less than two decades and you're out of education?"
"Hey, I'm average. My cousin Daniel made Jedi Knight at sixteen." Jacen grinned. "We go by ability, rather than age. Besides, we're quick learners."

There is a tone of surprise in the Technologist's voice - something very rare indeed among the those who bore the Cog-and-Crescent symbol. A faint sigh, as one consistantly bemused by other cultures.

"And Coreworlds? Can you describe your nation?"

Curious to know more, and after recovering a bare couple of seconds after his increduluous outburst, the man with golden eyes followed his curiosity as they walked into the train station.
"Ah. Coreworlds. Probably the only place where you can see dinosaurs running around." Jacen grinned as he waited in line to buy a ticket. "It has quite a mix of forest, jungle and plains, with a smattering of mountain ranges and deserts in some places. There's a lot of old-style magic running wild, giving rise to our resident Coredian Dragons and your usual so-called 'fantasy' stuff. Elves, dwarves, demons, etcetera."

"It merely seems peculiar. Within the Tech-Citadel the average training completion in a given subject is approxomately fifty years, with the aid of neural Augmentations, although some subject areas can require a minimum of a century of training.
"However, it is likely that the detail of a particular subject trained with the Citadel itself requires a more prolonged training than many other trades or interests. I understand that the Skandi system has an education system of an average of twenty years, and the Ventuusi Equestrian families average twenty-three years."

One golden hand removed a clip of high denomination notes from a hidden pocket. There are definate perks to Lordship in Ventuus, including the taxation of personal estates.

"My own education period took seventy-one years, beginning at the age of four years, across the full political and socio-economic sections, in addition to the architectural and construction knowledge of the past three thousand years of the Republic's development. "

The Technologist makes no mention of his apparently young phyiscal form, nor of the anti-agathic drugs used to prolonge aging. He spends a moment estimating the pricing of tickets before removing a note from his clip, and returning the folded money to secure autostorage unit.

"Of those races the Republic has encountered all but the specific dragonian species you mentioned, although Daemonic activity is outlawed, as are certain forms of magick due to previous attempts to form a dictatorial or imperial regime, replacing the Senate.
"The crimes for practising either alliance with Subastral entities or intent to form an autocratic state by use of non-sanctioned arcane means are particularly severe, and required reading for all intending to enter political or military office."

As the Golden Man spoke, he continued looking around at the architecture, just noticing Liam's expression and attitude. One golden hand gently touched his shoulder, Tyranos' intended this to prevent the child running after something that seemed interesting to him, but turned into a reassuring gesture almost subconsiously.

Liam continued to look around at the people walking on the platform. I used to be like that... There were children laughing and playing games with each other as they ran around their parents. I used to have a have... Liam watched as a boy was chasing a girl in circle around two adults, most likely their parents. The girl tripped as she was running and scraped her knee - as she began to whimper in pain, he mother bent down and comforted her. I used to have family... Liam flashed back to when he was just a baby; no more than a few months old. His mother cradled him in her arms as his father stood over proudly. Lost...

Everyone seemed so happy with their lives, no matter what they were. I used to be like that... There was something missing in Liam's life. Something that had been taken from him abruptly. Something he could never regain - Something that was lost to the world forever. My childhood... He watched as they enjoyed their lives as kids with no responsibility. He watched as they lived his dream - his dream that had been lost; taken; brutally killed. He had lost all that was important to him in the world: his chilhood, his mother, his father, his normal life, his dreams, his goals, his...

Innocence...

Yuri rubbed his arm as well as rotating it to loosen up the muscles after it had been popped back in it's socket. Having the arm re-located hurt but having full use of it again would enable him to prevent bashing his fingers again. "Sure, and you still have to answer my question about what that stuff was." Yuri said to Jimmy

With Yuri healed and Natalie supported by his arms, Jimmy began guiding the pair back towards his car. Obviously Natalie was feeling a fair bit better as she did most of the walking herself and only occassionally really needed Jimmy's support. The trio managed to escape into the trees with ease, not drawing any attention to themselves as they headed towards the road.

Within minutes they approached Jimmy's rather expensive looking convertable and he helped Natalie into the front seat whilst indicating Yuri should jump in the back.

"Yeh, that stuff was something not many can see. Call it psychic energy or whatever you want..."

Then the call to board the train for North Fenris came over the PA and Jacen, Tyranos and Liam boarded said train. It shortly left the station, zooming towards the city.

"Do you mind getting a bit of blood on your car's upholstry?" Yuri asked as he gestured toward the still seeping gash along his back and the fact that the back of his shirt was sticky with congealing blood. "I see, I was wondering as it was the first time I've ever seen that something before. If you're a psychic, what can you do?" He asked

Then the call to board the train for North Fenris came over the PA and Jacen, Tyranos and Liam boarded said train. It shortly left the station, zooming towards the city.

Liam had never been on a train before and soon his thoughts of despair had left him, replaced by exhileration and anticipation. He had his forehead pressed up against the window as his eyes carefully watched the scenery begin to pass by faster and faster. Soon it was all a blur as the train began moving so fast that has soon as a tree had entered view, it had also left it.

No longer content to stare out the window, Liam needed to find something else to occupy his wandering seven year old mind.

Jimmy couldn't help but grin at Yuri's question, considering it wasn't his car he didn't particularly care what happened to it. Although he did decide to keep that part a secret.

"No, it's no trouble."

Getting into the driver seat, Jimmy searched his pockets and found the keys, resulting in the engine roaring to life. At that point Yuri posed another question.

"Well, I can do all sorts of things."

Extending his own powers on a whim, Jimmy watched as Yuri was suddenly levitated into the air and gently placed within the back seat of his car.

"And..."

Reaching out with his conscious mind, Jimmy plucked a single piece of information from Yuri. A single word.

"And I know your name is Yuri now. I'm Jimmy. What about yourself, you've obviously got some ability?"

With everyone aboard and the engine roaring, Jimmy hit the accelerator and shifted into second gear, building up speed as the trio escaped the train wreck scene.

"So where are we going?"

"Well I'm not really sure everything I can do." Yuri replied, "I know I'm telepathic, thought how far in I can get I'm not sure, I can heal if I can get permission from the person injured, except myself, also I'm telepyronic and kinetic." He proceeded to wrap a splint around each of his fingers making sure the bones were set properly. "I've only been consiously aware of the abilities for about six months, but I'm pretty sure they've been active for about a year. As to where we're going, I was headed to Iso city."

There wasn't another single life form within sight as the stolen car sped down one a windy country road within North Fenris. Jimmy decided to have the roof extend so the trio could hear eachother speak and to hide their identities from anyone looking from afar.

"Ah, so you're only relatively new to this. It certainly takes a while to get used to your powers, I knew it took me many decades to really get a feel for what I could do."

Allowing a glance at Natalie, Jimmy noticed she appeared to be rather concerned.

"So what's your story? I can drop you guys off anywhere as I don't have to be anywhere, although I was going to pass through North Fenris."

Natalie blinked, turning her head to look at Jimmy. "My story?" She blushed, folding her hands in her lap. "I don't have a story..."

She leaned back into the carseat. Thanks to Yuri, her wounds had stopped bleeding and she didn't feel so much pain. They're nice people. Not at all like those other people...

Jimmy looked a little puzzled when Natalie explained she had no story. Everyone had a story, some sort of explanation as to why they were doing what they were doing, what had happened to get them in said situation. Unless... they couldn't remember.

Obviously Natalie was a psychic of some power, maybe they were restraining her? If you're going to restrain a psychic then wiping memory would certainly be a good idea.

"Right. Well, where are you heading then?"

The trio was now quite a distance away from the train crash and joining onto a main highway heading north. They still had a while before picking which direction to take exactly and hopefully there would be a petrol station on the way somewhere, Jimmy doubted this car would take them down the entire nation.

Natalie shrugged. "Away from here." Was all she said. She looked at Jimmy. "Are you from Crow Moe?" She asked him, recalling him asking her if she was from Krowemoh.

"I agree with Natalia, we should go somewhere away from here so we could get everything all sorted out." Yuri commented

Jimmy acknowledged both passengers and made his decision.

"Alright, we'll go to Iso city then."

There was a sign ahead giving a rough distance to Iso city and warning of an exit that would need to be taken in the next few kimometers if they wished to make it to the city.

Taking another glance at Natalie, Jimmy smiled and shook his head.

"No, I'm not from Krowemoh. Krowemoh is a nation of Nekos, cat people like yourself. That's why I asked."

"Like me...?" Natalie leaned back into the carseat, becoming very quiet. There are others like me? She put her hands up to her ears, feeling them. They were still sore from being forced against her head, but now that they were free, her ears were constantly moving, twitching, swivaling slightly to register new noises as they were heard.

"Umh... So, this isn't Crow Moe then?" She finally asked, putting two and two together. None of the people from that place are like me. "Where are we then?"

"This is a land known as North Fenris." Yuri replied and as he noticed her ears twitching he asked, "Would you like a massage?"

NAtalie blinked several times, turning in her seat to look at Yuri, Jimmy's jacket slipping off her shoulder to reveal some of her chest. "A massage? Umh... What's that?" She asked...

"It is where I rub your shoulders, back and other parts to relax you and ease tension and stress." He replied

Jimmy nodded at Natalie's question.

"Yeh, I'd say you're definitely a Neko. You could certainly be from Krowemoh as well as it seems you have psychic powers and I know for sure that Nekos from Krowemoh can have such abilities. I used to know a young lady that could do such things."

Taking the right turnoff, they were now heading in the right direction and it was simply a matter of time. The journey was certainly a few hours but nothing they couldn't handle.

"Yeh, I don't believe North Fenris is a Neko nation."

Jimmy's last sentence was heavily laced with sarcasm.

Natalie blinks once again, shrugging. "Umh, is that safe here?" She looks to Jimmy. "Is it okay?"

"Yes it's safe, thought it won't be a full massage, closer to a shoulder rub." Yuri replied

Natalie again look back at Yuri, shrugging and leaning forward, giving him more of her back. "Umh. Okay. I'm trusting you..."

Yuri nodded and leaned forward to give Natalia a back and shoulder rub. While techniquewise and skillwise he wasn't up to the level of a professional massuse, the skill and technique he did have, coupled with his healing ability could put all but the best massuse to shame.

Genoff watched the vid screen connected to the phone. He did not have to dial. It was the only phone on the base and meant for contacting only one person. The receiving line picked up and the screen activated. The image displayed was that of a stern faced man in his late fifties.

"Your report and transfer of the security vids was yesterday Nikoli. If this is a request for more specifics it is denied, I'm tired of formally rejecting them," the voice barked through the speakers as the man shuffled through some papers.

"Councilman Scan, sir, the prisoner has escaped."

The vid relay showed Scan pause staring down. "You did not just say what I think you did Genoff," Scan said as he looked up, light green eyes blazing with the fires of anger, "How? And what are you doing about the situation?" Scan's voice was cold and quiet.

Captain Genoff swallowed. "It appears the equipment had a breakdown, and that the prisoner has certain powerful psychic abilities. We suffered seven dead, including Sergeant Sammael, and three wounded badly enough to be inactive, durring her break out. Oh, the prisoner is both a she and some form of feline-human hybrid," Genoff paused in his speach.

"Continue."

Genoff sighed, "Councilman, we believe she was the cause of the derailing of the North Fenris to Iso City local. My men report that she was at said crash being helped by two men, currently unidentified, a lone automobile was seen leaving the crash site heading north. Make and license plate and conformation of whether or not our escapee was within were unnable to be ubtained. However, if I were to venture a guess, I would say yes she was, and she is going to Iso City."

"Captain, have your men enter in civilian clothes when the emergency response teams arrive. Plant evidence that suggest terrorist action, I'll issue orders to close the borders momentarily until said terrorists are identified. I'm sending passcodes to your terminal that will allow you access to all monitoring databases in the police forces, military, and press. You will do all in your power to obtain information as to her location and then you will upload all said information to this IP. Nikoli you are to tell no one of our situation. And Nikoli if I hear an inkling in the papers or in the halls of the government of what is really going on here; I will have the families of your men killed, I will have your men killed, I will have all those you consider yourself close to slowly tortured to they die, and lastly I will have you locked up somewhere nice and safe where you can reflect 'till you die from old age. Do not let others discover this, and she best be apprehended by the end of the week."

Genoff's last visual of Scan was of him calmly typing into a palm-pilot before the vid screen went blank. He walked stiffly to a computer terminal, issuing his orders over the headset, and waiting for his experts to return.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After terminating the connection to Genoff, Scan slammed his fist hard against the desk several times. First the report of an intersteller craft from Sergei and now this from Genoff! Henksmith is a good and wise man. I will have to kill him before he makes the connection to the craft and the terrorist attacks. With Sergei I can alter enough papers to assume control of the project without the others of the Council discovering its existance.

For Scan it was obvious that an enemy of the Krowemoh government had broken the prisoner free. He had not been unprepared for such a contigency. In fact the revelation of the prisoners psychic abilities had not been a surprise to Scan. After his black ops team had managed to decrypt and track the original Krowemoh message, he had used their own communication technology to discover more of their culture before accepting the offer. You did not stay in power as long as Scan had in a democratically free nation without being resourceful. Furthermore he had nine replacement psy-supression helmets lined up, and a team he thought would be perfect to confront and re-capture his little money maker without killing her. After all, her death would void his contract with Krowemoh. His one problem: he had six days to recapture her before the security feeds were transmitted to his counterpart in Krowemoh.

Scan cursed Odenn's good eye as he sent his messages to his aces up the sleave.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wanda Wilson read the message and smiled. A job! And the one with the psychic. Hi, pretty goldfish. Lots of money for this one. I wonder whats on TV tonight. Hey I can use that new taser! Damn swiss and their fancy banks. She was covered in scar tissue and tumours, her mind was a tumult of chaotic and barely coherent thought. All the result of the ever prevailent mutated cancer that was now her. Both her doom and her salvation, the persistance of the cancerous cells had kept her alive and healed her most greivous wounds.

Wanda Wilson a.k.a. Deadloop, geared up: sleak black kevlar; knives; tazers; guns; grenades, EMP, flashbangs, and fragmentation; and extra ammo. All in proper sheaths. Last went on the black mask with red goggles, covering her bald and horrid visage. She smiled and put on a leather trench-coat and tinted motorcylce helmet. Leaving her house, Wanda thought, Germans love David Hasslehoff!

Jacen, Liam and Tyranos shortly hopped out of the train at the North Fenris station, and soon heard news that a train had just derailed slightly north of here.

Liam looked up at the two wondering where they would be heading next.

Jacen had enough information to get a rough idea of where the crash was, and decided to make it a fast trip. He grabbed the shoulders of the Golden Man and the kid lightly and entered an alleyway...

*crack* They disappeared.

*crack* They reappeared about a couple hundred meters from the train crash site, behind a broken-down boxcar. Liam and Golden One will be a little dizzy from the teleport.

"Gahh!" Liam screamed as they disappeared and then reappeared. His head began spinning and blurry as his eyes could no longer focus. A pounding headache erupted as Liam wailed in pain. Suddenly, he dropped to the ground and fainted...

Crack

The Golden Man shook slightly, wavering at the dizziness affecting the human portions of his brain. Only a second or two later the Machine took over, stilling the fluid that dictates balance in the human body, and removing the dizziness.

Hidden eyes look around briefly, the Technologist examining the figures moving nearby.

"Interesting method of transportation, although we do now appear to be in great proximity to the law enforcement and medical teams dealing with the train crash. Unless you plan to instigate a killing spree, I would suggest we find somewhere a little more subtle to stand and talk."

The Golden Man knelt down to pick up Liam, only mildly curious about the fainting. The weaknesses of humanity were well known in the Tech-Citadel of Ventuus, and the fraillties of non-Augmented humans rarely surprised the enhanced Technologists.

"You ok, kid?" Jacen looked worried. "I didn't think teleportation could affect someone like him...it shouldn't, really. Oh yeah..."

And as for the Golden Man, Jacen subtly used the Force to change his appearance to something approaching normal, if tall, human. "Won't be able to sustain that forever, but for now, should be enough."

"Huh?" Liam said as he regained consciousness. He sat up momentarily before getting to his feet and straightening out his head. "Oh yeh.. I am fine now... I think."

That wasn't fun... lets not do that again for a while...

"Guess we shouldn't try teleporting any time soon..." Jacen smiled in relief. Then he turned his attention to the scene. "Ok. Looks like we've got a train crash here." He then frowned. "Look at the way it crashed. Something stopped it then forced it off the tracks. And the engine looks a little smashed..."

He had a suspicion that it was the unknown girl. There was a psychic aura around, but with all the people around, he couldn't pinpoint it out.

Liam took a few steps forward so he could see better. "I can't see," he said when at last he had given up his efforts to get a better spot. There were lots of things blocking his view and the commotion that the derailed train had caused, drew a large crowd that blocked Liam's view. "What happened? Why are we here?"

"I'll help you." Jacen lifted Liam and had him sit on his shoulders. "Now you can see."

In the meantime, he reached out into the Force, wondering where the girl is...and found her heading northeast with two other psychic signatures. Interesting...

OOC:
After further consideration, you'll be happy to know that Jacen now bears an uncanny resemblence to young Kohta of Elfen Lied (:D), right down to the blue shirt, although Jacen has a water droplet on his. The only difference is brown hair.

Jimmy didn't know why Yrui was giving Natalie a shoulder rub and thought it was kinda odd considering the circumstances yet he didn't say anything, there were more important issues at hand such as fuel. As the dial seemed to be at its lowest point, Jimmy spotted exactly what he'd been looking for, a gas station.

Pulling over and stopping next to a pump, Jimmy turned to face the others.

"I'll fill it up, why don't you guys get some food or something? We've got enough money to keep us going for a while."

Hopefully there was enough distance between the station and those after Natalie that a quick stop wouldn't jeopridise anything, Jimmy had noted one man in a military uniform helping other people. In his opinion the military were never friends, in any nation.
__________________

Encrypted email recieved...
Originates from North Fenris, Scan...
Accept or Decline?
Task accepted...

Joshua Blanch, better known as Hades in his line of work sat still as the computer screen went blank. He had a mission involving a psychic brat running around North Fenris. That suited him fine, Hades had mild psychic powers himself and better yet, the technology to deal with such people.

Similar to the vampire situation, the nation of Assington had gone overboard in developing anti-psychic technology upon realising a large portion of the population had certain abilities and it was simply a matter of time before one of them did something stupid.

After spending some time in the underground crime world of Assington, Hades found himself without a job once the police broke it up and so he answered his second calling. Mercenary. Hades' ruthless deeds in the crime world made him reasonably well known in the world of mercenaries immediately and so work wasn't too difficult to find.

Standing at his full six feet, six inches, the hulking mass of muscle and flesh that was Hades moved forward a few steps and tapped the side of his bookshelf repeatedly. In response it swung open, revealing a small stash of weaponry. Standard gear such as blades, pistols, semi autos and other such guns sat comfortably upon wall mounts yet what stood out were the shining silver weapons upon the floor.

These silver weapons were specially designed anti-psychic and psychic complementing weapons. The pistols didn't fire bullets, the fired telekinetic blasts that could be adjusted from mild to intense. Of course it took someone with psychic ability to use the weapon yet their skill didn't matter, the gun would amplify their powers.

Several grenades sat idly, primed and ready to unleash their high pitched whines specifically designed to interfere with the concentration of a psychic, rendering their abilities unusable.

Smiling to himself, Hades began picking out bits and pieces as he gathered together all necessary items for his 'holiday' to North Fenris.

"Yay!" Liam said excitedly as Jacen lifted him onto his shoulders. He was now high in the air and could see all around. He noticed the crashed train and the injured people being taken away. It was not a happy scene that he looked upon.

"Train... crash..."

"Yeah, not a pretty sight." Jacen said grimly. "Lets get away from here and find a vehicle. Our quarry is moving northeast."

Quarry? "Ok..." Liam responded as he sat atop Jacen's shoulders. "Lets go then..."

Natalie let out a squel of delight as Yuri finished her back rub. "Oooo. That's really really good!"

Jimmy pulls into a gas station then, and turning to the two says "I'll fill it up, why don't you guys get some food or something? We've got enough money to keep us going for a while."

With that, he hands Natalie a wad of cash. Seeming to know what to do, Yuri hops out, as does Jimmy, while Natalie stares at the money dumbfounded. "Huh? Oi! Wait for me!" She cries, opening the door and hopping out, leaving the money on the carseat. She hurries to catch up to Yuri, still wearing only the jacket Jimmy had given her. "You're name is Yuri, right?" She says, smiling warmly...

Yuri smiled at the reaction he got from Natalie as he finished her backrub.
"Gotcha Jimmy." He said as he hopped out of the car. As she hurries over and he realizes she is lacking leg garments, he pulls off his own jacket and proceeds to wrap it around her legs. "Yes, my name is Yuri, Yuri Ramirez and we should really see about getting you some clothes as well some food." He replied to her question, and he blushed a bit at her warm smile.

Natalie shrugged as Yuri mentioned getting her clothes. "What's wrong with what I have on?" She asked as they entered the food mart. People inside the store seemed to regard her wearily, barefooted and wearing a only a pair of jackets to cover herself. Although it might have also been the feline ears and tail that weirded them out.

Natalie was oblivious to it all, smiling proudly that she was walking by herself, with minimal support from her Vectors. She looked around and immediately found herself being... 'drawn' to the chocolate candy aisle. "Oooo... It all smells so good." She picks up a candy bar, and puzzles over it, looking which way for Yuri, waving the candy bar in the air as she spots him. "What is this?"

"Nothing's wrong with what you have on." He replied as they entered the store, "It's just you don't have much on." As he went to look for some clothes for Natalie, she went to look at the foodstuffs.

Seeing her wave a chocolate bar, he walked over with a could t-shirts, a black, and a white one as well as a couple of pairs of sweats. "That is a chocolate bar. Which of these do you like best?" He ask, holding up the shirts and pants.

Natalie looked between the two, blinking her eyes. "Umh... They're both... Okay, I guess. What do you think?" She puts the candy bar in the jacket pocket, and promtply forgets about it. One of her Vectors deploys from her back, and she uses it to pick up the white shirt. "It seems to like that one..."

"Then shall we go buy them?" He asked as he returned the other shirt and it's complimentry pair of sweats back to the rack. He also made a mental note about the chocolate bar that was in her pocket. Whatever happened, getting picked up for shop-lifting wasn't on his gameplan.

With the tank now completely full, Jimmy closed up the car and locked it as he made his way towards the counter. Being a thief, Jimmy realised the importance of securing ones belongings as it only took a few moments to steal something.

Moving inside, Jimmy noted Yuri and Natalie deciding over some clothes to get her as well as some food. Jimmy left them be as he arrived at the counter and caught the clerk's attention.

"Pump 5."

The clerk nodded and brought up the relevant data from pump five upon his computer monitor.

"Right, that will be fifty-five dollars and thirty-six cents."

Jimmy nodded and paid the man before turning around and heading down an aisle in search of Yuri and Natalie.

Natalie and Yuri got to the counter shortly after Jimmy left, in fact just missing him.

"Hello, we'd like to get these." He lays a few snacks he picked up, the clothes, and with a quick snag, the chocolate bar that Natalie had put in her pocket. The clerk, a pimply faced youth, grinned at Yuri, "Cute girlfriend, love the cat-girl theme."
Yuri promptly blushed scarlet, and muttered, "She's not my girlfriend."
After the clerk gave the price of all the goods, he turned to Natalie, "could you giv me the money Jimmy gave you?"

Jacen moved on towards the northeast, heading towards another train station, still carrying the little boy Liam on his neck. He figured that he would be able to find the girl if he took the train to...Iso City, he glanced at a map on his pager, which also niftily opens up to reveal a GPS map.

Liam enjoyed riding on Jacen's shoulders much more than walking. As they went he got a new view of the world from up high and became very interested about how different everything looked from his new perspective. Occasionally he wouldn't point out the obvious, though it was knew to him because of his new found height, as they walked along towards their destination. But as he was a kid, Liam became bored and restless, "Are we there yet?"

"Just a couple of blocks." Jacen smiled and a half an hour or so later, the two (with Golden Man somewhat in tow) were at the train station. He headed to the ticket counter. "Two, please."

Ticket and money exchanged hands and then Tyranos bought his. After that, Jacen decided to get something nice to eat at a burger joint while they waited. "Hey, Liam. What would you like?"

"Anything!" Liam said excitedly as he sensed they were about to eat. "Hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, chicken, beef, fish, lobster, sandwhiches, fruit, vegetables, eggs... anything at all."

Natalie blinked rapidly, "then began to search the jacket pockets, coming up nil. "Umh... Money...? Oh, that paper stuff Jimmy-sama gave me was money, right? I think..." She got a far away look on her face, putting one finger to her chin as she thought about it. "Oh, I put it down, in the car... I think?" She shrugs hopelessly. Then another thought struck her, she already completely forgetting about the money, "Umh, why am I not your girlfriend?"

"Anything!" Liam said excitedly as he sensed they were about to eat. "Hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, chicken, beef, fish, lobster, sandwhiches, fruit, vegetables, eggs... anything at all."
"Ha ha!" Jacen chuckled as he set the boy down. "Grab a table, but don't stray from my sight. I'll get some good stuff."

Jacen waited in line for a few moments, then bought a pepperoni pizza for lunch, a couple of hot dogs and hamburgers for the trip and soft drinks.

"I'll be right back." He said before pausing at the more important question. "We'll your my friend that's a girl, but girlfriend has a few connotations I'm not sure you're aware of and I didn't want to be presumptous." He replied

He knew that nine times out of ten, that comment lead whatever guy uttered it into girl trouble and hoped he'd be the one out of ten. He also reached out and discreetly picked up the money and caused it to zoom along the floor to his foot and into his pocket. He hoped if anyone saw a wad of money zooming across the floor they'd just think they were seeing things.

After promptly searching the aisles, Jimmy discovered that Yuri and Natalie were nowhere to be seen. Looking out the window he checked the car, nobody there and he doubted they would have run off without informing him. Deciding he needed to get things done quickly, Jimmy focused as his conciousness expanded around the store, searching for the familiar presence of his companions.

Within seconds Jimmy came across the minds of Natalie and Yuri at the front counter, making their purchases. Now content with the situation, Jimmy relaxed his mind and began to wander towards the pair, picking up bits of their conversation as he neared.

"Girlfriend? It seems you two have become friendly in the last few hours..."

Jimmy now stood behind the pair, a sly grin upon his face as he attempted to get a response out of them.

"Ha ha!" Jacen chuckled as he set the boy down. "Grab a table, but don't stray from my sight. I'll get some good stuff."

Jacen waited in line for a few moments, then bought a pepperoni pizza for lunch, a couple of hot dogs and hamburgers for the trip and soft drinks.

Liam had sat down in a booth and waited patiently for the food. "Yay!" Liam said as Jacen brought the food over. "Pizza is my favorite," he smiled. he took a piece of pizza from the pie and put it on his plate. Grabbing the front end of it, he brought his head close and bit it. "Ow... hot hot hot," he said as the pizza nearly burned his tongue. Liam blew on the pizza and waited impatiently for a moment before eating again. This is fun... much better than it has been.

Liam had sat down in a booth and waited patiently for the food. "Yay!" Liam said as Jacen brought the food over. "Pizza is my favorite," he smiled. he took a piece of pizza from the pie and put it on his plate. Grabbing the front end of it, he brought his head close and bit it. "Ow... hot hot hot," he said as the pizza nearly burned his tongue. Liam blew on the pizza and waited impatiently for a moment before eating again. This is fun... much better than it has been.
Cute kid... Jacen thought as he began eating his own pizza and drinking down his soda. Soon enough, the pizza was gone and they were full. On cue, the train for Ico City was announced ready for boarding.

"Alright, kid. Let's go catch the train!" Jacen grinned.

"Okay!" Liam said as he jumped down from the booth seat. "Where are we going?" he asked as they ran towards the train.

"A place called Ico City. Have a feeling we'll meet up with our unknown friend there." Jacen replied as they boarded the train after the conductor checked the tickets. They went to their seats and after all the passengers were on the train, it started moving again.

Yuri's face turned a bright flaming(faintly literally) red. He didn't say anything as he was still unsure how Natalie would respond and he didn't want to dig an even deeper hole for himself.

"Why are you looking for an unknown friend?" Liam asked as he eyed the scenery changing fast again.

"Why are you looking for an unknown friend?" Liam asked as he eyed the scenery changing fast again.
"My masters, the Jedi Council, said that she was in danger." Jacen explained. "So they sent me to help her."

"Oh..." Liam said as he returned his gaze to the passing scenery. Jedi Council...

Natalie shrugs, seemingly unphazed. "Oh, okay."

"Girlfriend? It seems you two have become friendly in the last few hours..." Jimmy said as he came up behind them.

Yuri pays for their goods, and Natalie shows off the sweats she just got. "Cute, nya?" She smiles, then tilts her head. "Am I not your girlfriend also?"

As the trio walked away from the counter, leaving the clerk and his puzzled expression behind, Jimmy shook his head with a grin.

"Girlfriend as a different meaning than what you think it does. We are certainly friends but not in the sense of being in a binding relationship. It's kind of hard to explain..."

Soon enough they were all back in the car with Natalie now clothed to some extent and devouring some chocolate bars.

"Perhaps not the best food to start off on but it will do until we reach Iso city. So are we all ready to go?"

"Oh..." Liam said as he returned his gaze to the passing scenery. Jedi Council...
As it would be a long trip to Iso City, Jacen decided to doze off a little bit.

Liam was full of restless energy and despite his best efforts, he could not manage to fall asleep. He decided to go explore the 'train' so he hopped off his seat and exited their compartment (ooc: european style). He began wandering down the aisles and looked into the different compartments.

Yuri wondered how long Natalie had been in a coma or unconsious or whatever, as she was a bit clueless about certain things.

"Leave her alone, it's new and she obviously really likes them, so what's the harm." He commented about Jimmy's warning about chocolate bars. "Would you like me to explain, as best I can, what's meant by girlfriend?" He asked Natalie.

Jacen dozed off for about forty-five minutes until he noticed a presence not with him. He snorted himself awake and looked around. "Huh? Where's Liam?"

After much wandering and exploring, Liam had made his way completely to the opposite end of the train. In fact he had made it to the engine car and was standing next to the conductor.

After much wandering and exploring, Liam had made his way completely to the opposite end of the train. In fact he had made it to the engine car and was standing next to the conductor.
The conductor wasn't all that busy, so he spotted the kid easily. "Hey, kid! What are you doing here?"

Meanwhile, Jacen began looking for Liam.

"I don't know," Liam replied, "Just looking at..."

He was fascinated by all the machinery and controls that were located in the engine car. He eyed all of the buttons and levers with a curious eye.

"I don't know," Liam replied, "Just looking at..."

He was fascinated by all the machinery and controls that were located in the engine car. He eyed all of the buttons and levers with a curious eye.
"Heh. Don't touch anything. Important buttons, you see?" The conductor smiled a little.

Jacen began heading towards the front, looking for Liam.

"Yeh... I know," Liam replied to the old conductor.

He had never seen this sort of equipment before - it seemed so old compared to the stuff he was used to. "Does this 'train' have a hyper-drive?" he asked innocently.

"Yeh... I know," Liam replied to the old conductor.

He had never seen this sort of equipment before - it seemed so old compared to the stuff he was used to. "Does this 'train' have a hyper-drive?" he asked innocently.
"Hahaha! No, sorry." The conductor laughed. "We don't need a hyperdrive on the land!"

Jacen soon sensed Liam and headed towards the engine room. "Oh, there you are...c'mon Liam, let's head back."

"Heh. Little kid's cute." The conductor smiled. "Go with your friend now."

"Ahh..." Liam wailed as he was led away with Jacen. There was nothing in the world that fascinated him more than machinery and engines - ever since he was born, Liam loved to play with and explore how things worked.

Jacen led the boy back to their seats and then pulled out a graphic novel from his backpack to read, while keeping one eye on Liam.

An aerodynamic, red motorcycle flew along the tracks of the Iso - North line. The vehicle vibrated fiercely as it rapidly sped across the tie-boards. The rider listened to the odd noises going over the bumps caused her voice to make, "eh-eh-eh-eh-eh-oh-oh-oh-oh-ee-ee-ee-ee-ah-ah-ah-ah." A recording in her own voice began to speak inside the black tinted helmet she was wearing.

"Just a navigational reminder Deadloop, you are now approaching the crash site and EMTs should have arrived by now. Aslo, you forgot to tip the pizza guy yesterday."

Deadloop wheelied the motorcycle off the tracks and drove into the thick woods. She stopped the bike and lept off leaving helmet on the handlebars. Sneaking throught the tops of the trees, she came to the crash site and surveyed the area. With a crack and a flash there appeared new spectators. Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore. The little boy who feinted and the lithe young man glowed faintly in her red-goggled vision. The large man did not. No kitty kitty, meow meow. Not the one we seek. Will you be my neighbour?

Deadloop flitted silently back to the motorcycle and put on the helmet and trench once more. She pressed a button and began talking as she rode out to the Iso City road, "Just an assignment reminder Deadloop, two more power people showed up, a young guy and a little boy, possible competition. Also, shake the kitty's hand, that train wreck was impressive."

The goggles had revealed large amounts of expelled energy, however there were no clues as to where the ones who had used it went. No choice but listen to the message's suggestion and start looking in Iso City. Hades would be there. She liked Hades. Hades made her think of the river Styx, which made her think of the band Styx, which made her thankful that she had not had to listen to one of their songs in five years.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Officer Renqua of the Iso City 5th precinct read over the fax he had just recieved:

Attn: 5th precinct
Amber Alert

Female minor dissapeared from hospital, amnesiac patient, and identity unknown. Circulate photograph and contact information. If located immediately contact #453-667-921-194.

This was followed by the face only picture of a pitiful girl wearing some kind of furry ears from a costume. She had deep green eyes, and brown hair, and looked so tired and hurt in the photograph.

Some arse probably got her hooked on dope, the policeman thought with a mix of sadness and anger. He began making copies to ditribute to the patrol officers so they could spread the awareness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Genoff's leg hurt. He had sent Tawa in charge of a five man team in federal agent attire to base the investigations in Iso City. The rest of his physically able men and himself had busied themselves contacting the precintcts and spreading the fake amber alert. Using Scan's codes he had even managed to arrange it so several television news networks would air the story and the picture.

Weariness was finally creeping onto the calm, strong face of the captain. He did not want to be doing this. Once the lives of those he was responsible for were secured, he was done with Scan and his madness.

Hades stepped out of the taxi and onto the streets of Iso City, North Fenris. The place was much cleaner than Assington yet also much smaller and not so advanced. Of course that mattered little, he wasn't here to compare nations but to hunt down a little cat girl.

Withdrawing his hand held computer, Hades attached the device to a bracer upon his left wrist and opened it. Now that he was in Iso, hopefully a little mission update would be available. Logging into the computer, Hades transmitted the necessary codes and waited.

Gathering his suitcases and other necessary equipment, Hades checked into the quiet motel and moved into his room. Within seconds of entering his room the computer blared an alert regarding a new message. Hades grinned as he read on. It appeared he would be working with Deadloop and another, yet to be named. He didn't mind working with others as long as they were competent and he'd worked alongside Deadloop enough to know this was the case.

Latest information stated the girl allegedly caused a train wreck not far from her prison installation, causing Hades to whistle. It certainly took a powerful psychic to derail a train. It seemed she may have company as well, their nature undetermined.

Hades would simply have to wait, Deadloop would be here soon and if he was lucky the target would just fall into his lap.

The two person hunter team of Wolf and Cat, received the information about the bounty for a 'cat-girl' from one of their various clients. As the perpared Cat, a lady with the flow and grace of her buisness namesake looked over the information while Wolf, a relentless and lithe man, prepared the various gadgets that the team used.

Finishing pre-op work, they headed out to grab their bikes and set off for Iso City where they were to meet up with two other hunters going by the monikers of Deadloop and Hades.

Liam waited patiently as the train rolled along to their destination. He became bored rather quickly and decided that he needed to entertain his mind. Immediately, he began constructing and deconstructing machines and mechanisms in his mind as he visualized all the pieces. It was quite helpful to keep him distracted, a trick he had taught himself on Ftang - useful for more than just entertainment - and it also helped him in his mechanical skills.

OOC: Heh. Deadloop reminds me of Haruko of FLCL fame!

IC:
Soon, the bell for the last thirty minutes before reaching Iso City ringed out in the train, telling passengers to get ready to get off. Thirty minutes later, Jacen and Liam were both off the train and into Iso City. Now, Jacen hoped he'd meet up with the girl...who's only current description is a psychic signature.

Natalie shurgged as Yuri offered to explain what 'girlfriend.' meant. "Sure, I guess." She nibbled happily on the candy bar, the taste of chocolate invigorating to her tastebuds, which had sat unused for these four long years. As this thought crossed her mind, she pulled back the shirt's sleeve, staring at the tiny red mark on her arm where the IV needle once was.

She rubbed it with one finger, half listening to Yuri as he explained the term 'girlfriend.' This... Was how I used to eat?

As Yuri continued explaining the difference between girlfriend and friend that is a girl, he noticed the marks on Natalie's arm. Reaching over he asked, "May I?" Asking if he could help deal with the marks, but he knew it would be harder as they were long-enduring injuries.

Natalie giggled softly, sheepishly. "No, it doesn't hurt, so it's okay. But, thanks."

She looked out the car window, watching as the scenery zoomed by. "Jimmy-sama... What's in Iso City?"

A vision flashed in her head, the corridor where she had killed those soldiers. Blood was everywhere, the bodyless head of one of the soldiers staring accusingly at her. The vision ended as quickly as it had begin, and only took the span of an eyeblink. Her skin crawled with goosebumps. More people who want to hurt me...? She half answered her own question in her head.

Jacen and Liam disappeared into the crowds of Iso City, just an elder brother and his younger hyperactive kid brother strolling around, or so people thought. So far, they found nothing of value, either psychically or otherwise. Then, Jacen had a feeling of something slightly...familiar slowly approaching.

"Hmm." Jacen thought, looking up.

"What?" The kid asked.

Jacen smiled. "Hey Liam, you want a piggyback ride?"

"Do I ever! Yay!" The little boy cheered.

"Ha ha. Climb on, then." Jacen grinned and lowered himself so that the boy could climb on. "All right, hang on tight."

"Ok!" Liam hung on with a smile.

Jacen moved into an alleyway away from the main sidewalk and streets, and then powered the Force into his feet. And jumped.

"Whoa!" Liam yelped as Jacen wall-jumped up to the rooftops of the buildings. It was a bit tough with a seven year old, but he's done it before with his own cousin Travis with tree-jumping.

Roof or tree-hopping is a very common skill in Coredian Jedi circles. Heck, it's one of the fundamental skills learned at the Academy, even if nothing else was ever learned. Jacen landed on the rooftop, and then jumped onto a slightly higher roof and then a third higher roof and then stopped. From this height, and he hoped the kid didn't get scared, he could reach out into the Force and find out where the girl is coming from, then move to intercept...

"Wooo!" Liam said as he hopped off Jacen's back after the short ride. "That was awesome," he said as he peered out over the city. It was quite large, at least in Liam's mind, but he was unable to see most of the closer buildings due to the ledge of the rooftop. Wanting to get a better view, Liam hopped up onto the ledge and sat down, dangling his feet over the edge. "Is that her?" Liam said pointing to a random person on the street. "Is that her?" he repeated pointing to another person who looked completely different. "How about that?"

Jacen felt a little alarmed and prepared to use the Force to hoist the boy up if he fell. Then relaxed slightly as he sat down with him but remained on guard. "Nope, none of them are. What we need to do is use our powers to find her. We have to sense her through the Force. You said you had some training with a Jedi, didn't you?"

Liam nodded as his hair blew in the breeze. He remembered back to his brief two year stint on Ftang where he had found out he was to become a jedi.

"Remember when this Jedi told you to 'reach out' with your feelings? To not use your eyes to see, but the Force?" Jacen asked as his shirt fluttered in the same breeze.

Liam dug through his teachings. Yes he had learned that - way back at the beginning of his training. It was a hard concept to grasp at first, especially because he had no idea of what the force was - but he grew to understand what it meant. "Yeh..." he replied slightly disappointed, knowing that she wouldn't be so close if he had to use the force to find her.

"Remember that training...remember...and begin reaching out..." Jacen coached as he too reached out into the Force. He would help the boy if necessary...

Liam sat on the ledge, but his feet became very still as his whole body relaxed. He closed his eyes and ears to the known world and opened his mind. The force ran through his body and he began reaching out... trying to touch someone.

The combined Force-scanning of the two boys reached throughout the city and beyond, searching for that one elusive yet somehow familiar signature...

Jimmy turned slightly as Natalie asked him something about the city, he didn't quite catch it all as he had a window down but it sounded like she was asking what was in Iso City. He didn't really know.

"I'm not sure what we'll find there really. Yuri was heading there and I don't have to be anywhere so I figured it would be just as good a place as any."

Flipping over a national road map within his lap, Jimmy took quick glances at the map whilst keeping the car on track, this continued for a minute or so before he closed the book.

"We're about half an hour away from Iso City. Yuri, do you have anywhere we can stay when we get there?"

"Well, I did have a room at a hotel booked." Yuri replied, "Thought I'm not sure how three people will fit in a room intended for one."

The gas station clerk shook his head, flipping on the TV in the gas station. That girl sure was... Weird. He thought to himself, recalling the girl with the catears. Flipping through the channels, he stops on the locally filmed sitcom. The sitcom is abruptly interrupted...

"We interupt the programming to bring you an urgent Amber Alert..." A voice said, an image of Natalie appearing on screen. The voice continues, "Female minor dissapeared from hospital, patient suffers from amnesia, identity is unknown. If you have seen this girl, please contact #453-667-921-194. Thank you, we now return you to your regularly shecduled programming."

The clerk's mouth dropped. That girl from before... Same hair, same eyes... Same ears! It's her! I... I gotta call 'em! He picks up the store's phone, dials an outside line, then dials the number displayed. "Hello? Yes, about that Amber Alert just now. I saw her, she was in this store not fifteen minutes ago..." He gave the voice at the other end all the pertainet details, trying to recall as much as possible about the girl and the two men with her...

Once they arrived within the borders of Iso City, Yuri was able to give accurate enough directions, enabling the trio to arrive at their destination with ease. Before Natalie had jumped out of the car, Jimmy through a hat over her head.

"Tuck your tail in as well. I imagine there will be those looking for you, I saw the military guys near the train crash."

Gathering everything he deemed necessary, Jimmy ushered the others out of the car and locked the doors.

"Yuri, do you think we may be able to upgrade the room?"

Iso City was certainly a clean and friendly looking place, not a city Jimmy was used to and he would have taken more time to appreciate it if he wasn't so concerned about the mess he'd managed to climb into.

"I'm not sure, I'd guess it would depend on if they have something available that could be upgraded to." Yuri replied

Jacen and Liam searched through the city, until...

Jacen's arm suddenly shot out to point at a hotel a few miles south. "There. Found 'em. Piggyback again!"

"Yay!" Liam climbed up on Jacen's back. The Jedi made a running jump and began roof-hopping to the hotel.

Natale did as Jimmy wanted, placing the hat over her head and tucking her tail into the sweat pant legs. It wasn't very comfortanle, and her tail still sqiurmed inside her pants, but Jimmy wrapped the jacket around her waist, which further concealed the tail even better.

The trio enter the hotel, Yuri going up to the clerk and giving him his details. Above the clerk, on the TV, Natalie's Amber Alert was displayed again. Natalie pulled Jimmy's sleeve and pointed at it, about to say something, but Jimmy quickly shushed her, stopping her from blowing their cover...

Jimmy remained silent as Yuri checked in, quietly observing the clerk and the surrounding buildings. Without warning his attention was drawn to Natalie as she pulled upon his sleeve, indicating the T.V. with her image on it. Keeping her quiet, Jimmy reached out with his mind and connected with the clerk, just in case.

Thanks to his meddling, the clerk wouldn't notice Natalie's appearance. She was simply another girl, never seen her before and nothing worth remembering. The fact that this was on the news meant someone big was chasing Natalie and they couldn't afford to allow someone to call them in.

"Do you think we could upgrade the room to something bigger?"

"Hmm, let me check."

...

"Sorry, we don't have anything bigger available. There is a fold out couch in the room though."

"Right, thanks."

Jimmy handed the man some extra cash to compensate for his and Natalie's presence. With all that taken care of, the trio left reception and Jimmy relaxed his mental powers.

"That was quite close..."

"I agree, and thanks for the cover-up." Yuri commented in a low tone.

Jacen and Liam jumped down to an alleyway near the hotel, now that they had a good feeling of where the girl was. "Ok. We'll enter the hotel and book a room. Then we watch for her."

"Ok." Liam said.

"Right. We're two cousins if anyone asks." Jacen said and Liam nodded.

"How can I help you?" The clerk asked as they came to the desk. Jacen could sense a psychic suppression about the clerk. Mind trick. "One room. For me and my cousin."

"Ah. That'll be 100 credits, fifty for the child." The man said. Jacen gave away the money and the clerk handed him a keycard with the floor and room number. As he headed to the lobby to take the elevators, Jacen saw the news report on an Amber Alert of a minor missing from a hospital. For some reason, the image of the girl reminded him of another girl he's seen once before named Lucca. Hmm. Wonder if that was the girl...

The trio make their way up to their room.

Natalie stands in the corner, leaning against the wall, her arms wrapped around herself in a very famailiar posture. "I don't understand... Was that... Me, on that screen? Why was I there?" She slide down to the floor, confusion setting in.

"It likely had something to do with whatever you'd experianced that caused both the bullet wounds, and no offence intended, but your present naivety." Yuri replied, "I'm guessing that some buearcrate that had been getting the pay off to hide you or make sure you were hidden is trying to cover his backside and re-find or capture you."

"Don't worry, I'll do everything I can to keep you safe thought." He added as he paused to think, "You might like to take a bath to relax." He suggested

((OOC: lol Nice cameo there, CW. :P))


Natalie blinked, looking up at Yuri. "A bath? What's a bath?" She did actually smell rather rip. The mix of blood, sweat, dirt, grime, and train exhast mixed to form a not so pleasent perfume for her.

Yuri showed her to the bathroom, Natalie looking at the bathtub within the hotel room with curious eyes.

OOC: Hehe, thanks.

IC:
Jacen and Liam headed to their room, which was ironically on the same floor as Natalie and the others, though on opposite ends. There, they will just hang around and scope out the area, keeping an eye on people with the Force. Jacen knew that the person was close, but he didn't want to spook her.

Yuri proceeded to draw Natalie a bath, using both the hot/cold knobs and a small amount of telepyronics to heat the bath to the perfect temperature. "For you." He said

Natalie looked curiously at the water, then moved to stepped in. Still fully clothes.

Luckily, Yuri stopped her. "Whoa. You have to take off your clothes first."

Natalie makes an 'Ooh.' face, nodding her head as she takes off first the shirt, and then her pants, seemingly not bothered by Yuri's presense or the open bathroom door. Dispositing the clothes into a pile on the floor, Natalie now climbs into the bathtub, standing up in it. "Umh, it only goes up to my calves." She reports, looking to Yuri for help.

Yuri blushed scarlet at the fact that Natalie was disrobing in front of him. "You sit, or lay down in the bath tub." He replied to her statement.
"Also, it's generally considered a social faux pas to disrobe in mixed company." He added, his face still redder than a tomato.

Natalie tilted her head to one side, eyeing Yuri oddly. "Social faux pas? That's a funny saying!" She sits in the water, and oohs as she feels the warmth of the water. "Ooooh! It feels good!"

Even though her mind had been made to forget, her body remembered. Her hands seemed to act of their own accord, picking up a bar of soap and lathering up in her hands. "Ooh. This is familar." She begins to hum a tune (http://premium1.uploadit.org/BetaVerisonX//Elfen-Lied---Lilium.mid), turning her head away to get at her neck with the soap.

If Yuri was still watching her, when she turned her head, he would notice a barcode on the back of her neck, along with a series of numbers. The barcode was like those found on things you buy at the store. The Barcode is obviously of a high quality, due to the fact that it's still bright and clear, despite the fact that it's probably been there since she was a little child. Then it was gone, covered with suds as she washed that area of her neck.

As he backed out the door to prevent his head or perhaps other, more intimate, parts of his anatomy from exploding of an attractive nude girl playing in the water, he noticed an odd barcode looking mark on her neck. Retreating to the other room, and willing for the swelling to disappear, he pondered what it might be or mean.

Liam was thrilled by his ride over to the hotel on Jacen's back. As Jacen opened the hotel room door, Liam ran in excitedly and lept onto the bed with ease. The second he hit the bed's surface, he was thrown into the air by the spring bed. He continued jumping up and down and bouncing until he had drained all of his restless energy. At which he point he laid down against the pillows and turned the TV on it.

"Haha! What's on TV?" Jacen asked as he lounged around.

"Boring..." Liam said as he had flipped to the news and an amber alert was being reported. He watched unattatched for a minute before changing the channel to something more interesting.

Bored of the news on TV, Liam hopped off the bed with remote still in hand and proceeded to the door. With some effort he was able to open the room's door to the hallway and exied the room. Looking both ways down the long empty hall, Liam decided to proceed in the opposite direction that they had entered from.

Still grasping the remote in his tiny hands, Liam walked down the hall and looked for something interesting and amusing to do.

"Hey Liam!" Jacen called after him. "You have the remote!"

Liam didn't hear Jacen call after him as he continued down the hall. Innocently, he began knocking on each door he passed to see if there was anything interesting to do inside. But rarely did he wait around to find out as his short attention span drove him to move onto the next door.

Jacen sighed and headed out after Liam. "Even Travis wasn't this bad..."

An invisible wall went up right in front of the boy. The Force usage was small, but it could be detected by a fairly close and competent psionist.

OOC:
*Hint* *Hint*

Liam walked head long into the wall which knocked him over on to his behind. Not being able to figure out how to get by it, Liam got up and knocked on the nearest door with remote still in hand.

ooc: lol

Yuri had finally stilled his body's reaction to Natalie when he both heard the door be knocked on, and saw that same something as he peered throught the peep hole.

Looking down, he spotted a small boy with a television remote in hand. Opening the door a bit, he asked, "May I help you?"

Liam merely stared back at the man without saying a word as the innocent expression of a child still clung to his face.

"Who is it?" Natalie called from the bathtub, finishing lathering herself and going through the rise stage now. Her vectors deploy, one grabbing hold of the curtain rod, and she tries to use that to pull herself to a standing position.

Except the rod doesn't hold, slipping off its holdings, causing Natalie to fall from a semi-upright position. She screams, and in her panic, sends out all of her vectors, trying to grab hold of anything. A hole appears in the bathroom wall as one Vector pierces it and holds steady, catching Natalie before she hits the bathtub, which would harm her frail body.

Panting, Natalie pulls herself fully upright...

"Oh, great..." Jacen breathed. He went to the door. "Thanks for finding the kid. He's pretty hyperactive." Jacen chuckled. He noticed a strong aura around Yuri, and a couple of strong presences inside the hotel room...and a sudden increase in psionic activity in the room. Huh? What's going on?

"Excuse me please." Yuri said as he heard, saw and felt the problems in the bathroom, slamming the door in the face of the man and his son. Hurrying over to the bathroom, he looked at Natalie, "Are you hurt?" Was his first question, closely followed by 'crap' as he saw the damage to the bathroom. His other question was, "What happened?"

Natalie was shaken, but unharmed. "I-I-I-I... I slipped. I'm okay..." She puts one hand over her chest, although as a means to cover, rather to try and catch her breath. She retracts her Vectors. "I'm sorry." She says, seeing the hole in the wall caused by her vectors.

Liam simply looked around confusedly.

"It's okay, you did nothing wrong." He said, comforting her.

Natalie nodded "Thank you. Umh, who was at the door?"

"It was a man and his son." Yuri replied

Hmm. Looks like we found our friend. Now how to get them to trust us, or rather, me... Jacen wondered.

Liam knocked on the door again, "You have a hole in your wall."

Natalie heard the boy, and turned and looked. Tentatively, she pushes the hole with her fingers, and the hole crumbles more, revealing that her Vector had went striaght through, and she could see the hallway just outside. Peering through it, she spies the two. "Umh... Hi?" She says through the hole.

Liam waved to her innocently with the hand that was not gripping the remote. "Hi," he replied.

"Uh...hi." Jacen said sheepishly. "I'm Jacen, this is Liam. We're just visiting this city."

Hang on...this is the girl from the Amber Alert! Jacen thought, but gave no obvious sign of recognition.

"Natalie, you should dry off and get dressed, alright?" He suggested

He then headed to the door, "I know there's a hole in the wall, unfortunately it's not fixable at the moment."

"Natalie, you should dry off and get dressed, alright?" He suggested
Ah. So her name is Natalie. Cute name. Jacen thought.

He then headed to the door, "I know there's a hole in the wall, unfortunately it's not fixable at the moment."
"You know what happened?" Jacen asked.

Natalie nodded to Yuri, steeping away from the hole, using one of her Vectors to grap a towel and dry herself off.

She then begins to dress, slipping on the white sweat pants and the tee-shirt. She leaves the restroom, finding Jimmy sleeping soundly on the bed. It seemed that he missed the whole ordeal with her in the bathroom. She shrugs, ad looks towards Yuri and the door.

"Yes I do, and who might you be?" Yuri asked, slightly suspicious as the man reminded him of a doctor he'd particularly hated during physio.

"He already said his name was Jacen," Liam said to the man.

"Yes I do, and who might you be?" Yuri asked, slightly suspicious as the man reminded him of a doctor he'd particularly hated during physio.
OOC: He's actually 19.

IC:
"Jacen Masaki." Jacen answered truthfully. He had a feeling this guy was suspicious about something...

"I didn't ask his name, I ask who is he." Yuri replied to the little boy.

ooc: Yuri is only 16/almost 17

"Where is the other two?" Liam asked as he ignored the man's comment and peered past him into the room.

Seeming to sense Yuri's suspicion, Natalie comes up behind him, her inivisble arms deploying to either side of Jacen, not touching him... Yet. "Is something wrong?" She asks.

While Jacen gets two Vectors all to himself, only one moves above Liam.


((OOC: Jacen should be able to sense her vectors, but not see them.))

Now here was the turning point. If Jacen lied, Yuri would get more suspicious. But if he told the truth, there's no telling what may happen. He also detected a sensation around the girl Natalie uncurling around himself like invisible hands. Very strong...

How to answer this... Jacen thought. He lowered his voice to Yuri. "Would you believe me if I said I was a Jedi Knight?"

"A what?" Yuri asked as he had no idea what in the whosit a Jedi Knight was. The term knight was both a strike against and for the man.

Leaning back, he wispered to Natalie, "I'm not sure, they know too much, yet not enought." As he spoke he noticed the something from Natalie was surrounding the man.

"What do you mean we know too much?" Liam asked as he heard Yuri's comment despite his whispering, "Know too much about what?"

"Where is the other one?" he said as he now saw both Yuri and Natalie.

"Things you have no good buisness knowing." Yuri replied, his suspicions mounting at the odd behavior of the man and his son.

While Yuri was becoming more suspicious, Natalie was becoming more curious.

"How do you know about the other one?" She asks Liam.

Ah, good. Pop culture isn't his suit. Jacen inwardly smirked. Obviously not a fan.

"Basically...I'm someone..." Jacen paused, trying to get the right idea across. He prepared to counter the 'vectors' if necessary, slowly reaching out into the Force for the water in the bathroom. "Like you. We both are." He pointed to Liam and himself. He didn't want a confrontation, that much was clear from his voice.

Liam shrugged, "There is another person in your room."

"You arn't like me at least, or like Natalie." Yuri replied, "Your colour is wrong, and what are you doing in the bathroom?"

"I don't mean on the outside, I mean what's in here." Jacen tapped himself. "You have strength. I do as well. No accident it was to meet like this."

Natalie blinks. "Color?" She asks Yuri, retracting her Vectors, feeling no threat from them like she did back in that place.

"Your inside colour is off as well, or different from Natalie's. I've never seen my own so I couldn't say." Yuri replied, "Also what do you want?"

Feeling a presence around him disappear, Liam relaxed and listened in on what the two men were talking about.

ooc: going to bed, be back on tomorrow morning (afternoon). Feel free to move the plot along and CW is allowed to use Liam if he needs to.

"Yes, you are grey as is sleeping beauty. He and the boy are green." Yuri replied to the question from Natalie. "I'd guess I'm blue too as thats the colour of the something from me, but I'm not sure."

Tilting her head, Natalie says, "But green is a nice color? A lot nicer then grey." She sulks, folding her arms over her chest, wishing she was green.

"Your inside colour is off as well, or different from Natalie's. I've never seen my own so I couldn't say." Yuri replied, "Also what do you want?"
Oh. An aura detector. Interesting. Jacen thought. "I sense you don't trust me. Understandable. It won't do to say I've come to assist you, right?"

Knowing them, they're highly suspicious of authority figures, so better lay off the orders from the Council to protect Natalie for now.

"No it wouldn't." Yuri agreed. "And it's closer to a mother-of-pearl colour, but I simplified it to grey for convience."

"No it wouldn't." Yuri agreed. "And it's closer to a mother-of-pearl colour, but I simplified it to grey for convience."
"I see. Just to put it simply, there's an Amber Alert out for Natalie here, you know this." Jacen said. "However, you and I both know (or at least I suspect) that they're not doing this alert out of the bottom of their hearts. My grandfather, who is a Master of the psionic arts, has seen fit to send me to assist her and by extension, you guys, in evading the authorities."

"So you're here for purely altruistic reasons?" Yuri asked, "Unfortunately I don't quite believe you, so what's the hidden motive?"

Natalie frowns at Yuri. "Well, I believe them. Why would they lie?" She looked towards Jacen. "You said your name is Jacen, and you're a... Jedd's Eye Knight?" She asked, a warm if somewhat naieve smile on her face.

"It's just that someone appearing out of no where, offering help because his grandfather said so, is a bit suspicious." He replied, "But if Natalie trusts you, I'm willing to give you a chance."

"I understand." Jacen nodded. "Evading authorities does that. If you want, I can give you proof of my words straight from the old man himself."

"Sure, but since I don't know who your grandfather is, it's not really that great an endorsement." Yuri replied

ooc: Last post/night

"Sure, but since I don't know who your grandfather is, it's not really that great an endorsement." Yuri replied

ooc: Last post/night
"The Old Man runs a council of psionics known as the Jedi Masters (ie, my elders)." Jacen said, opening a secure holo-pager and speed-dialing to Jurai by way of a hyperwave tranciever at Coredia. "Will take a few moments to connect, so I'll explain."

"The Jedi Knights are people who have discovered how to access a conduct we call the Force. Now it is believed that the Force is created from life and vice versa, which is probably why Liam and my auras look green. Now we use this power to act as guardians for peace and justice in our Galactic Republic. Kind of a combination of federal police and diplomatic corps with psychic powers added in for good measure. You understand so far?"

Natalie raises her hand. "No. I don't get it." The blank expression on her smiling face show that any further explination would probably be lost on her as well.



((OOC: Is it just me, or is Natalie developing more and more into Mihoshi from Tenchi Muyo? @_@ Totally not intentional...))

OOC: Damn, I go to work for 10 hrs and this skips forward 4 pages...

IC: Jimmy awoke with a start as his unconscious senses reacted adversely to the presence of foreign psychic activity. Sitting up immediately, Jimmy heard voices in the next room, there were some people at the door. Crap.

It was odd but Jimmy kind of felt responsible for the others, despite only recently meeting them. Natalie was powerful but niave and still learning much about the world around her and Yuri may have a head on him but he certainly wasn't strong enough to put up a long fight against other psychics or armed forces.

Getting off the bed, Jimmy composed himself and walked into the front room and stopped directly behind Yuri and Natalie, his height making him clearly visible behind the others as he lay cold eyes upon Jacen and Liam.

"Is something wrong?"

Jimmy's voice was stern but not overly imposing, he was simply letting the strangers know he wasn't about to tolerate any trouble. Especially since he could detect ability within both strangers, although it was different.

"There is the other one," Liam said as the third person appeared and he beamed at them.

With all the naivety and innocence in the world, Liam, with remote still in hand, walked pass the people at the door and into the room. Plunking down on the bed he tapped the remote and the TV turned on.

"So you are goverment, and goverment people are a cause to worry." Yuri said with finality.

"So you are goverment, and goverment people are a cause to worry." Yuri said with finality.
Will take a while to get them to trust me. Jacen sighed. "One way to put it, I guess."

The pager beeped and an old man with a cane appeared as a blueish hologram. "Jacen?"

"Gramps." Jacen replied. "Found Natalie, the girl you sent me to look for."

"Ah, very good." Alex Masaki said. He saw other people around. "I presume these are her protectors?"

"Yes. Don't trust me and all that." Jacen nodded.

"Understandable, considering your situation." The old man with white hair and beard nodded. "Who are you two? I sense ability within you." He asked Jimmy and Yuri.

OOC: The old man looks like Count Dooku.

"Who are you?" Yuri asked of the spectral image.

"Ah. Alexander Masaki, this boy's grandfather. As he probably told you in an attempt to get you to trust him, I'm a Jedi Master." He answered.

"None of which gave me much reassurance, and you haven't as well." Yuri replied, "You keep appearing to expect that your name has some meaning, but it doesn't."

"Of course. Words have no meaning here." Alex agreed. "Only actions will determine whether you trust us or not. But I still believe it's polite to introduce yourselves after I have done so."

"My name is Yuri Ramirez." Yuri replied