Like any other day, the streets of Versepolis between the silver structures are packed with civilians pacing both ways on the ground, their own personal roads whereas the pods soar high above in their own aerial lanes as audible from the roars and whooshes. The traffic doesn't seem to catch all the snow though as there is still some that reach down to the city's ground, caught on either the roads or the people walking over it, many of whom are adults whether it be young or middle aged, the majority dressed in professional attire like suits for even still work must be accomplished. There are still some teenagers lounging about in their casual hoodies, though there are fewer families with younger children or seniors.
While the streets are still occupied on both sides, it'd be a lie to claim there isn't a discernible reduction in activity, for the streets were once difficult to traverse due to how dense the pedestrian traffic was whereas now there was plenty of space between groups which more of resembled a suburban town's streets, far from the grand societal hub of this metropolis. Weeks ago it'd be difficult to see further ahead or behind as you'd be battling against the river of people, though now you have plenty of space to sprint if you so desire. It still of course was not barren, but it wasn't even half full, a pace perhaps too casual.
Instead of a sea of incomprehensible chatter that produced its own white noise, the gossip was sparser, enough that specific conversations could be keyed in on pretty reliably. One of these conversations between two pacing men dressed in wool blazers over their regular office apparel of buttoned shirts and dress pants can be heard as one of them remarks, "You know I feel like I've been simultaneously doing more work than ever and nothing at all, you know what I mean?"
The man beside him turns his head towards his colleague before nonchalantly recalling, "No I think I sort of get it, like it's a lot of tedious busywork right now and it's kind of clear Iyonca isn't planning this very efficiently, but it is what it is."
Approaching them from the other side of the street is a man dressed in a coat similar to many others, a long brown coat down to his knees, though with a bald head that the snowflakes rest on. The initial speaker's tone jumps up in an abrupt rant: "Exactly, they have no idea what they're doing! They're basically wasting our time like I know these gov jobs have always been a bit, I mean you know, but like not like this bad. This is intern shit we're doing."
Passing the two workers, the man in the brown coat has his hands in his pockets with his head low, kept to himself for he has no company. Despite his coat being pretty baggy, he has an incredibly lean shape, decently tall though his face is slender almost to a skeletal point with sunken cheeks. While passing the two, he overhears the colleague agreeing though more calmly, "I mean you're right, I'm surprised they're actually letting us continue to run on schedule, Jazme told me Y.E froze their increment cycle completely so they don't really have a schedule anymore.
At last the man in the coat comes to a stop seemingly in the middle of the street before he turns towards a barren alley between towers. He just stares in silence at the relatively narrow alley as the worker scoffs, "Honestly they may as well freeze us too, we're not hitting our target at this rate at all, it's sweet what Iyonca is trying to do but he's way in over his head and it's probably just going to lead to more crashes. That's all we're causing right now."
Again the man in the coat begins pacing, but now towards the alley against the flow of the pedestrians, choosing to instead take a seclusive route as the colleague sighs before following, "Yeah true, I don't think he knows how layered our testing process is because there's certainly no way we'll get it through, I hope he doesn't try urging us to rush or we're going to have another Tanner incident, and I don't want to spend the next four months changing millions of E.P.I's, that was headlining everywhere."
"Oh yeah tell me about it, I was surprised he wasn't straight up imprisoned for that, security defense mishaps can be punishing," retorts the worker though his voice fades away as the man in the coat strolls deeper into the isolated alley, though it is pleasantly clean as there's no litter scattered about. His yellow eyes trail to the floor, his chapped lips parted for breathing, using his pocketed hands to jerk his coat tighter around himself. Right between two gargantuan skyscrapers whose tops can't even be observed from the ground, the man just carries himself deeper into the alley, near about halfway until he stops to swivel around, facing one of the walls composing the alley where there stands a visibly distinct frame against the wall, almost like the outline of a door, subtle enough to easily walk past without noticing.
He however takes a few steps up to the door before again stopping in front, waiting for a few patient moments before the wall within the frame suddenly bursts into a nanite silver cloud, one that quickly dissolves to provide visibility to the newly cleared door for the wall is no longer present and what's left is an entry into an interior hallway which the man resumes his stroll into.
The hallway itself has a generic office appearance in that the walls, ceiling, and floor are all a smooth white with balanced lighting emitting from all surfaces. The corridor is decently long with several closed doors along the walls though better distinguished by not only the frame but the board itself being either dark gray or a wood-like brown. The whole hall though is entirely vacant with no distant chattering or any general sign of life, and even as the man steps deeper into the hall the door frame behind him which he stepped through quickly secretes particles like mist over the door which solidify to enclose the hallway once again therefore silencing the winds of the outdoors.
The man does not glance back at this automatic closing though but instead pursues onward, all until coming to a stop to one of the gray doors on his right. Upon standing before it, once more the door bursts into another cloud that quickly dissolves, allowing simple passage through.
Where the man enters next seems to be a storage room in that there are several racks with hovering shelves carrying a variety of equipment ranging from seat cushions, terminal boxes like old desktop towers, and various other supplies likely for the very office being intruded on. However the man does not show any attention towards those individual items but instead walks around the shelves, hearing the door behind him once again shut with that signature whoosh, closing him in again. Navigating through the white room with lighting that is evidently dimmer than the hall's, he eventually reaches the back side of the storage room, ignoring the contents the room has to offer to instead put his focus on another gray door in the back. Once more he comes to a stop at the door, but rather than simply standing still, he draws both hands out of his pockets.
Upon pulling his skeletal right hand out, for you could nearly distinguish the individual bones holding it together, he grabs the cuff of his sleeve with his left hand to pull it back, revealing his wrist which houses a strange metal cylindrical contraption bolted into his skin surrounded with rectangular plates, the surrounding skin left a numb purple from the somewhat disturbing implant not done cleanly or likely sanitarily.
Regardless, the man folds his sleeve's cuff just behind the device, allowing it full exposure, tilting his wrist to have the face of the cylinder point to the door. The face of the cylinder then suddenly flickers a gray light twice before all the sudden the gray door before him vaporizes into another cloud, one he steps through to find himself not in another large corridor or room but rather a small closet space, for in fact it'd likely be hard to fit a few people. Though perhaps the intent of the space was not like the other rooms, as after the man turns around to face back at the door, a flat blue holographic panel projects in front of him, shaped similarly to an elevator panel.
In fact it very much was, as the panel provides a series of buttons listed by numbers indicative of the floors they'd be pointing to, with the button tagged as '0' being specifically green. An interesting note is that not all the buttons are positive numbers for while the vast majority are above the '0' button, a few sit beneath it in the negatives, and it is one of these that the man's finger presses on: '-6.'
The holographic panel promptly vanishes and a second later the frame of the back door secretes mist to fill the door, but before it does, the floor abruptly becomes dropping with the man standing on it.
It isn't a violent drop though, but rather a slow, intentionally engineered one, the descent of the elevation pad. The man shows no concern to the fall either, but instead takes a couple steps backwards to rest himself against the wall, releasing a fatigued sigh as his head lifts up, his yellow eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.
Though it is only about ten or so seconds before the pad's plummet decelerates to a smooth halt, and so the man pulls himself off the wall and paces onward off the platform, for there is no door directly in front but rather the pad has landed against the wall of a room vastly larger than the storage space. Though it isn't simply a room but a hallway, it is vastly larger than the office corridor traversed above. The gray metal walls dimly lit, multiple times wider apart than the corridor, compose the tunnel that the man has found himself in as he glances both ways.
Placing his hands back in his pockets, he spins to the right before continuing his walk in the otherwise desolate tunnels for once again there's no signs of life, and in fact the tunnel seems far less friendly as the walls aren't clean but instead there's visible markings scratching it up but far more blatant is the rampant corrosion browning the walls, a display that would not be so easily found on the surface. Yet the man pays no mind and instead just strolls down the tunnel, slowly drifting to the left side where there can be seen a visible door against that side of the wall. His footsteps echo for what sounds like infinity in both directions, as there is no visible end on either side, but rather it's as though the tunnels may very well extend forever. Every step is sharp in contrast to the otherwise silent, every sound made regardless of volume feeling exaggerated, even just the tugging of his coat to readjust himself.
Once reaching the door, it vaporizes at his presence, letting him step once more into a small closet space, however this doesn't prompt him with a hologram before the floor itself starts to raise automatically. It only rises for about three seconds however before decelerating to a full stop, rising up to the floor of another room perfectly as it slots in like another tile, allowing the man to step off and glance around to find himself inside some sort of long control room given that along the wall ahead of him are various terminal machines behind hovering chairs. Across the wall as well is a wide window screen that provides view for a vastly larger tunnel than the one just trekked through, for it's more than a story tall and decently wider, however the tunnel itself has an oddly more cylindrical shape opposed to the other tunnel's harsher edges. Light is also not produced balanced off the walls but rather in a lengthy single strip that runs down the whole tunnel, which does technically illuminate the tunnel though far worse than any of the other rooms, as dark spots loom all across the tunnel in a manner that would likely be unsafe to traverse on foot.
After panoramically examining the window for a few peaceful moments, the man resumes his walk down the control room alongside the tunnel before turning to the opposite wall where he approaches an open door frame into another corridor, although the tightest that he's walked through, better lit at least albeit not as strongly as the office.
This corridor however is not nearly as long, though he doesn't even reach the full end as he instead takes a left turn to stop in front of yet another door, and as the door senses his presence and vaporizes he grumbles seemingly in discontent, though shakes his head once the cloud dissolves to let him enter the next space.
This space however is not just another tight room or hallway, but rather the room the man steps into is colossal in comparison, the size of a warehouse that rises multiple stories tall. The room is far better lit than the tunnels as well, but perhaps best of all there's at last presence in that voices light up the room, and not only voices but people to match them scattered around the facility. This facility in fact appears like a subway yard as on one end of the room are rows of long vehicles resembling trains lined up, and on the far other end seems to be a huge closed arched door that would lead to the tunnel which now can be identified as a subway tunnel, though the resting trains don't seem to be the focus of the expansive group as instead the warehouse seems to have been redesigned into more of a camp where multiple booths are scattered around, defined by tarps to enclose the spaces into makeshift rooms.
The man strolls down the room in the general direction of the door to the tunnel, gazing around to find that while the function of a train yard is no longer primary, there is still focus on vehicles as in the center of the room are a fleet of black semi-truck pods all with scarlet red insignias plastered on the side resembling a spider with distinctly long legs stretching to the edges of the face, the backs of which are open with ramps leading to the floor, aiding a group huddled at the center who lead the transport of strange crates stacked up by the trucks, bringing them inside the pods. In general there's a decent population inside the room, whether it be the ones inside the booths along the walls or otherwise roaming around, many of whom are visibly armed with rifles either attached to or hovering around their hand. The man's focus however is planted on the trucks in the center, as in fact his stroll slows down to get a better observation of the crate transfer, intrigued by the activity going on in this lively albeit secluded environment.
"Hey Ekitai, wait up!!" suddenly shouts a voice that breaks the man's attention, prompting him to turn towards one of the booths he's passing to find a bearded man in his forties run up to him from said booth. The man was dressed in jeans with holsters dangling against his hips and a white tank top beneath a casual gray hoodie, the tank top allowing visibility of a tattoo over his left breast of what appears to resemble a spider.
Immediately Ekitai takes a cautious step back as his right hand slides towards the inside of his coat, though he pauses before curiously squinting at the man to which his eyes light up and widen as he exclaims back, "Oh shit Yoddo I haven't seen you in a while!"
As the two men converge, the one known as Yoddo extends his arm to bump into Ekitai's shoulder as a playful greeting to which Ekitai smiles through a wince and bumps his own arm into Yoddo's shoulder to which he laughs before recalling, "Yeah man it's been ages, like decades or something hasn't it?"
As Ekitai subtly rubs his shoulder with a nod he confirms, "You were basically a teenager the last I saw you, little delinquent Yoddo with high dreams of being an underground legend wasn't it? Man you were like a kid back then, you were scared you wouldn't grow any more but looks like you did!"
Chuckling from the remark, Yoddo nods his head before admitting, "Oh yeah guess I did, not sure if I could say you look any different though. Just the same old man I remember, but looks like you're holding yourself pretty well."
"Hey now, next time I see you, you might be the old man," playfully retorts Ekitai to which Yoddo laughs back with a snippy, "Maybe", though after making this jest Ekitai's face quickly sobers up as he once again gazes behind himself to view the lively warehouse room.
His smile washed out, Ekitai's tone also dampens more sternly as he asks, "So I know I can't do my dealings like usual since Rodger…well yeah…I'm guessing you know. But why'd I have to come all the way out here just for a little exchange? An alley would've probably been fine really."
The conversation moving forward to serious concerns, Yoddo sighs with a drop of his head to inform, "Well as you'd probably guess, a lot of outposts had to shut down, most of the smaller ones just didn't have enough people to run it. And we can't really afford to just send people out for dealings like that anymore either, we're kind of going through a lot of restructuring and whatnot."
He then raises his head to more optimistically uplift, "But hey, it's been too long since you've actually been to any of our bases, sometimes it's nice to go in instead of just ordering out, you know? I mean right now we're kind of just trying to figure everything out, but we are doing some pretty super shit on the horizon, I can tell you that! Honestly it'd be great if you started visiting more often, you're like a legend you know, it'd be nice for morale around here."
Subtly Ekitai's head lowers with an apprehensive frown, clearly unsure what answer to give to such a request, for while there is a glint of longingness in his eyes, there's an equal resistant sense in the scowl he gives himself as though internally he was having an argument. Though the conclusion of such is left vague as he lifts his head back up and pivots around, simply asking: "So do you have my supply on you? I hope I didn't come all the way here for a missing order."
A reflex of a frown is cast on Yoddo upon the somewhat cold disregard, though he's light on his feet to smile with two nods before assuring, "Yeah yeah I got it right over here, come on," before he waves and turns around to begin strolling towards the booth he came from which Ekitai follows into.
"I was given quite the grocery list, I guess your recipes have changed a good amount," remarks Toddo as he guides Ekitai under the tarp functioning as the confines of his booth. Ekitai glances around to find three shelving units forming the perimeter housing a variety of contraptions ranging from oddly shaped metal devices like boxes or wands as well as a great stash of containers like huge jars and boxes all properly sealed.
"Heh yeah well you know, the tastes get boring when you just stick to them," retorts Ekitai as his eyes wander between the three tables fit closer to the center, parallel to the shelves, the one directly ahead having a curved shape with a chair in the back, presumably the main one.
That main table is at the very least the messiest among the three as it's full of randomly scattered vials and jars, green powder covering other containers as five small knives the size of fingers are just oddly laid out side by side, for there's truly no cohesion in this workstation. However on the surface there is a small white bag shaped as a ziploc bag, no larger than the size of a palm. It's that bag that Yoddo focuses on, picking it up and dusting off some of the green powder that had gotten onto it, though luckily the powder didn't appear to stick. At the same time further back in the warehouse, another person enters through the same passage, one also bald though in a beige golf jacket, appearing somewhat hazed.
"You know even now I still don't get it, a battery in iron and maybe some therms is all I've ever really needed to get by and then some, I mean if you just need ammunition then why go through the effort of making everything so complicated?" Yoddo innocently wonders as he spins around to face Ekitai before taking a step towards him, ready to make the transaction.
An eyebrow raised from the intriguing question, Ekitai turns his head to firstly gaze around at the booth, the various gizmos lying around whether it be on shelves or tables, before raising his head up. In his own head he contemplates, "I dunno, I guess just shooting people got boring?"
Somehow that response warrants a chuckle out of Yoddo, surprising even Ekitai who lowers his head once again, though Yoddo clarifies quickly upon noticing the confusion, "I guess there's that thing that separates the legends from the rest of us, whatever that insanity you got is."
He then extends his hand to offer the small white bag, "Honestly I have no real idea what you're going to do with this, I wish I'd have kept up with you more but I guess we all got our places. I'm not sure how things have changed for you, but good luck and I hope this helps somehow."
Humming from the oddly kind wishes, Ekitai nods his head and extends his own hand out to grab the white bag, allowing Yoddo to let go, completing the transaction as the bag is taken to Ekitai's side who wishes back, "Thanks, and good luck with everything you got too. And yeah, I'll try to see you again before twenty years pass, I want to catch you before retirement."
Laughing from that jab, Yoddo shakes his head and quips back, "Nah I'm not taking an early retirement, I only get better with age, you'll see. Next time you see me maybe I'll be legend status too."
Softly chuckling back though more mellow, Ekitai nods while placing the bag inside the inner pocket of his coat, and after doing so he returns his hands to his side and pivots around, raising his hand to wave while departing, "Take care Yoddo, really."
Just like that, Ekitai begins to stroll away back the way he came, though Yoddo's eyes burst wide in shocked remembrance, lighting up as he takes a step forward and blurts, "Oh shit, wait one more thing!" to which Ekitai stops stunned, perplexed as he's once again prompted to turn around.
Face to face once more, Yoddo is given full attention, who frowns with his head low before delivering in a voice suddenly gloomy, "So this one time we made an exception and managed to scrape together what you needed…but this is going to have to be the last time we can get you these drops. Probably forever…."
From perplexed to disturbed, Ekitai's eyebrows scrunch as he takes another step forward, questioning in an equally grave tone, "Wait, what? What do you mean, what happened? Oh wait, is it supplies, you need me to go on another resource quest, raid some retail and get you all stocked up for business?"
Sighing and shaking his head, Yoddo raises it to stare Ekitai in the eyes to explain, "It's something like that but not exactly, it's not just any kinda resource we can just steal, it's people, Ekitai. I mean we're down like half the syndicate, more than half really, it wasn't just lowly suppliers like us but management too, all the smooth cross-world flow shit I'm too dull to understand is kinda messed up now. And of course this isn't the first time we've had to deal with hits to our numbers, I mean you remember those wars way back when, we've basically been reborn like ten times over. But more than that, for a while now we've basically been running as a glorified shopping service, we run purely off customers paying us for what we give them, and now we've just lost half of them too."
He takes a step back to lean against his desk as he gazes around at the warehouse aimlessly while elucidating, "I mean sure the average junky doesn't really mean anything to us, but we lost heavy hitters, ya know like the politicians, whole world presidents, and I guess it's some cruel irony to say this but without them we…well…we're really nothing."
He takes in a deep breath and again focuses back on Ekitai to conclude, "The syndicate isn't going to survive the way it's been, sure there's been some surges in demand but in the long run we're just not going to be able to function this way, I think a lot of us have kinda been realizing it but we just never addressed it since, well, I mean it kinda just worked. But now we're doing some pretty heavy restructuring, and one of the big things is we're no longer doing deals, no more resource transferring, no selling, not to people outside or…well…inside the syndicate. I'm sorry Ekitai, as I said we made an exception for you this time because you are different, but even then we can't keep this up, so this is going to be the last time we can sell you something like this."
Immediately after the explanation, Ekitai is quick to open his mouth for a reflexive response, but he freezes in ponderance for a few moments with a low head before raising his head again and delivering a reflective response, "So…that's it? Nothing you can do about it? I mean I guess if it's from the upper echelon then yeah there's probably nothing that can be done…but damn…I mean I've basically been leaning on y'all for…I don't even know how long. Definitely longer than you've been around, that's for sure," to which Yoddo briefly smirks though that joke passes over which leaves him back to a frown as he listens, "But huh…I guess I understand, so me being part of the syndicate doesn't…yeah I get it…yeah…."
Noticing the defeat wallowing in his voice, Yoddo perks up to mention, "Well I mean hey, like you being part of the syndicate still means something, you know you're allowed in the base, you're still one of us, it's not like we're kicking you out, and I mean I'm sure once things clear up everything will make more sense, it's just right now it's all over the place. I know it sucks, for as much as we love to rebel against the world and pray for its downfall, now we're getting dragged down with it. But I know it'll all work out, as I said we've been killed more times than I'd know, but we're still here aren't we?"
Sighing in acceptance to the valid point brought up, Ekitai nods his head and agrees, "You're right, I guess half the time I check in on y'all everything's going to shit, but there's a reason I've signed here. I'll keep that trust."
Smiling gently from the compassionate display, Yoddo nods his head and wishes, "Good luck Ekitai, I don't know what you'll use that last batch for but I'm sure as hell it won't go to waste."
"You know I will," assures Ekitai with a soft smile before he then spins around once again, immediately dropping to a frown as he begins his stroll away. He places both hands back in his pockets, leaving the booth as Yoddo walks around his desk to seat himself, returning to his own work.
Ekitai on the other hand ambles his way down the warehouse in the direction he came from, his back slouched, as while he did technically get what he came here for, it came with troubling news that'd complicate his adventures moving forward. His eyes linger to the floor, his somewhat oversized brown shoes stepping one ahead of the other, frowning in apparent misery as what was once a reliable vendor has seem to fall apart all within days, as for the first time he'd have to worry about how to supply himself with the means of carrying out his escapades.
"Wait no, what the hell, you can't do that!" abruptly yells a vaguely familiar old man's voice towards the center of the warehouse, immediately piercing Ekitai's mind as his head perks up instantly. He stops in place and turns towards the source of the voice, oddly coming from the back of the truck pods stationed by the crates being moved inside.
Curiosity taking hold, especially as any distraction would be perfect at this time, Ekitai trails off towards the voice only to hear it again cry, "No, that's not right, no wait no no no!"
Reaching around the back of the closest truck, Ekitai tilts his head in intrigue as his mouth opens to ask, "What's going on-," before being interrupted by the old man shouting, "After everything I've done for you, you can't just do this to me!" To specify, the old man who stands at the base of the truck's ramp is the one dressed in the beige golf jacket over a buttoned green blue shirt, his head bald though with a groomed mustache and goatee. He wildly waves his hands at a few younger men who were pacing up and down the ramp, responsible for the moving of these crates, both dressed in casual black hoodies though fitted with holsters.
"I mean come on now, think about it really, everything I've done for you every step of the way, I mean I got my hands dirty for you all, I've given you everything I've had, I mean the backdoor funding was a pain to keep clean, I've done all of this and you're just fucking me over?!"
One of the younger members taking the crates shrugs his shoulders with a nonchalant, "Play is play, don't know what to tell you, we're just doing what we need to do. You have your own military, no? What are you scared about, do you have no confidence in your own world? Come on Mr. Gray, no sense of nationalism?"
"That's-....," the man known as Mr. Gray begins to contend before grabbing the sides of his head, digging his nails in grueling distress, stumbling backwards before muttering, "There's no way this is happening ... .there's no way…there's no way."
"What's happening?" steps in Ekitai with his hands still in his pocket, his head lifted in curiosity, to which both younger men on the ramp as well as Mr. Gray take notice with the turn of their heads. Ekitai stops beside Mr. Gray before gazing up at the two boys, nodding to them before greeting, "Makko and Leonna, I see you've grown a bit since the last I saw you."
"You…," murmurs Mr. Gray under his breath as he drops both hands, warranting Ekitai to face him innocently.
"You piece of shit…it was you…you made everything fall apart…," Mr. Gray grumbles as his hands make fists, "You're practically a traitor you know that? I should be asking everyone in this room to gun you down with the shit you did, you ruined my life, you ruined Jerry's-."
"Oh come on Gray, you ruined his life," interrupts Makko, one of the younger men currently standing beside a floating crate. He shakes his head before walking deeper into the truck, leading said crate as he appends, "There's no way you haven't realized that yet."
Despite the list of threats given all at once in this greeting, Ekitai simply releases a sigh before raising his head to Leonna, choosing not to engage with the angered old man but instead asking, "So what's got him fired up now? I didn't even think he'd be off-world at this time."
Shrugging his shoulders, Leonna simply clarifies, "Mr. Gray here's mad we put his address on the list of spots we're raiding, but can't blame us. He's been hoarding syndicate resources for years, if anything we're just…recollecting what he borrowed. Chin up Gray, you're going to make us all feel bad for beating on an old man like that."
Only bewilderment furthers in Ekitai's eyes though as he tilts his head slightly before querying, "Wait…raiding? I thought the syndicate was freezing for restructuring, I was told by who I thought would be my new dealer that they're not selling anymore so I figured they just stopped everything, but damn y'all doing raids…it's been years, brings me back."
Nodding his head in affirmation as Makko reappears to step down the ramp to collect the next box despite Richard's scowling, Leonna answers to Ekitai's perplexion, "Oh damn yeah that's stiff, I heard they had to stop those dealings, but yeah it's all been happening all at once, I mean for these raids we've just been tasked like days ago. Yeah we're going through pretty major restructuring, they're diverting all the resources we used to pawn off to any random gizos and we're keeping them in house for these attacks, turns out we have quite the inventory so may as well use them you know? Especially now when worlds are in disarray, hardly any world didn't lose some heavy leadership, it's prime time for the syndicate to get back to their roots and scavenge from the chaos. Honestly Earth 3 didn't even get hit that hard, we just figured we might as well put it up on the list, like I said to recollect some of our old toys."
He leans back against the crate he's leading, raising his head up to reminisce, "Man it's been so long since we got any real action, now we're practically going to war with worlds. Time to give the syndicate some weight to its name again."
"You psychopathic shits!" cries out Mr. Gray to which Makko who's once again exiting the truck laughs, jesting back: "We're all psychos dumbass, that's what this is all about," which only bolsters Mr. Gray's temper to cry out, "You're making a mistake, you have no idea how much of this syndicate came from me, me! You assholes have no idea what's coming to you, we'll set you on fire and send you back to the rat's pit where I found you! You carry this out and you'll really understand that without me, none of this is anything!"
"Sounds like Gray's feeling that boost of patriotism now isn't he," remarks Leonna to which Makko jests back, "Looks like it's going to be a bloodbath, at least we won't be wasting this equipment!" He then turns to face Ekitai before suddenly offering, "You know I just realized, it'd be one hell of a trip if you came with us actually, and since you'd be in an operation with us they'll give you whatever the hell you need or want, we got all the juice. So you keep your stream of supplies, and we get a legend back in action, sounds like a win win! What do you say?"
Abruptly pulled into the center of attention, Ekitai steps back in shock from the sudden proposition, clearly bewildered on how to act. All he can do is leave his jaw hanging open, though Mr. Gray is quick to berate, "So now the traitor is actually your war hero? Is that really how you're playing this, rallying everyone against me-."
Leonna chuckles to interject Mr Gray's rant, turning back to him to then declare nonchalantly, "Well Mr. Gray looks like that makes us enemies of war, the syndicate against you. Which means right now you're standing in enemy territory, deep in enemy territory. We said most worlds we chose happened to be ones where the leadership's gone right? We could always make yours a little easier if we apply the same rules. But I also think it'll be more exciting to see you out there so why don't you turn around and carry yourself on out of here, it looks like today's going to be a busy day for the president!"
In reaction Mr. Gray protests, "You hear me you-," to which Makko and Leonna synchronously place their hands on their hips right above their holsters, immediately shutting Richard's voice. His mouth does remain open, wavering, revealing his grinding teeth. He stands in place for a few seconds, his eyes darting between Makko, Leonna, and finally Ekitai, before finally he grunts to reveal his decision: turning around and beginning to storm towards the exit door.
Ekitai frowns as he watches the old man take his leave after being practically kicked out, turning his head to hear Makko sneer, "Thanks for putting all your cities in the sky, the sight of it all falling to the ground will be super!"
Though Ekitai turns back to Mr. Gray who gives no response, and takes off after him in a hurried partial sprint, huffing in physical exertion.
Bitter given his clenched teeth, Mr. Gray swings both fists side to side in his walk, much slower than Ekitai who reaches him in seconds to catch up, "Hey Richard, that was pretty wild to-," only for the man to interject, "Shut the hell up Ekitai, please. Don't even try to act like you care, you were more than happy to put me down for whatever sensitive fling you ran into. But look at you, you're being praised now, everything worked out for you now didn't it? What luck you have."
Regardless Ekitai runs in front of the man, stopping his advancement or rather retreat. Grunting again, Richard raises his head before wondering, "What, you want to just get it done and over with now? I guess you got your permission to do whatever, who gives a shit about rules and loyalty now right??"
All the sudden an image is brought to Ekitai's head, the very image of the old pirate king's miserable frown, his head low over the metallic wooden bar table, having just come to the epiphany that his old crewmate had come back to put him down. That pained look of heartbreak had cut deep enough to leave a scar, that look of betrayal, to see a traitor not only stand before him but succeed so gracefully.
Shaking the image out of his head, Ekitai is quick to clarify as his eyes daze over to the trucks, "No no, this isn't right, I'm serious. I…know I made a hefty betrayal pitting myself against you, but I never thought the whole syndicate would do something like this, this kind of backstab never happens to a patron like you. And the guy I just talked to seemed to have no idea of this, I don't know if they even know what they're doing."
"Yeah well, guess I don't know either," admits Richard in a grumble, reeling Ekitai's attention back to hear the man who lowers his head, "I'm sure you heard the news, it's basically confirmed now every Exhuman on every world is gone, and you know damn well Jerry wasn't normal like us. Worst of all it was in the courtroom, trying to clean the mess you put us in. I was trying everything to put back a life for him, hell I was actually planning on throwing myself under the bus to try getting him free, really I do feel bad for the kid I do. I fucked his whole life up, back when I was a nobody but even when I got places that I didn't need to drag him to I still did, he should've never had come with me on that day, but I couldn't even get a chance to save him."
Wiping his eyes first as though trying to hide back tears, Richard continues though still without eye contact, "The trials ended up getting put on ice for some time, I guess right now they're pretty lucky to still have a president, but I assume once things calm down I'll be back on the chopping block. So now of all times I really do NOT need the syndicate coming back for us, even if we hold them off it's sure to bite me back and then I'll be done for no matter what. God dammit…why did I never just take my ticket out…I really had no good reason to stay in this business for as long as I did…it's actually over…everything I've built is all going to fall just like that, cannibalizing itself, and now everyone on my world is going to suffer….."
Just like that, images flash through Ekitai's head at shutter speed, not of the pirates he was once a part of, but the worlds they've encountered. Images of the cavernous city come to mind, the old father cradling his toddler wrapped in rags on the side of the street, the shop owner carrying the revolver in a desperate glare beside the black-eyed young boy clinging to the teal jar in fear, the man in the bandana pointing his old comrade's gun right against his own forehead, his finger on the trigger, fully ready to follow his team. A world plunged by raiders.
Those images fade away, leaving Ekitai frowning in clear sympathetic misery, opening his mouth seemingly to reassure only to be interrupted by the distant shout of Leonna's voice: "HEY EKITAI, LET THE OLD MAN PASS, MY TRIGGER FINGER'S GETTING ITCHY SO BEST HE DOESN'T OVERSTAY HIS GRADUATION! COME ON OVER HERE, LET'S PLAN HOW WE'RE GOING TO ROYALLY DROP THIS WORLD!!"
Before Ekitai can try to squeeze any words out, Richard shakes his head, wipes his eyes, and sidesteps around Ekitai to continue onward to the exit while muttering, "He's right, go back to your syndicate buddies, I'm sure they'll love to congratulate you for drawing first blood on me, looks like it all worked out for you." Left dumbfounded, Ekitai's jaw just remains open, watching the man drag himself to the door and depart from the warehouse room. The conversation shuts prematurely before he could make any difference, Ekitai just huffs out a heavy breath in disappointment before spinning around and strolling his way back to the trucks.
Returning back to the trucks where the two men stand, there still being a great quantity of crates left to pack as they may very well be here for years simply loading, Ekitai comes to a stop by the ramp and to be again greeted by Makko, "So Ekitai, you onboard? There's some more logistics, of course Earth 3 isn't the only spot we're hitting up and right now a handful of our bases are coordinating different sieges on different regions, but hey we're definitely one of the more fun ones! As I said we'll get you set up with everything you need, of course we're not heading out today exactly but we'll Connect you all the details as they come in. We're still organizing the team too, but hey if you're in you'll be one of our top gunners!"
Still baffled by the scheme he wouldn't expect out of this organization after they had abandoned these types of missions for long now, Ekitai just stands there in silence, his lips parted as though ready to feed out a response, but none come to him other than a thoughtless, "Uhhh…."
He then turns to gaze around the warehouse, reminding himself of the many guards patrolling around with lethal arms, as since he's in the middle of the room, he's practically surrounded. He then raises his head to the ceiling, recalling the complicated route to reach here, needing to get stuck in multiple elevators separated by tunnels and halls, doors and rooms. In a way he was trapped in this yard, frowning at that discovery. He returns his gaze back down to the two waiting for his response, his head fixed though his eyes quickly dart to the holsters on their hips, their hands right beside it.
Taking a deep breath to consider his options, Ekitai releases said breath in a defeated sigh, lowering his head and obliging: "Can't say no to an adventure like that, can I?"
"Hah let's go, we're baking now! Come on Leonna, let's fetch celebration lunch, feeling some Chikin Kyodai," exclaims Makko in excitement, stepping down the ramp to bump Ekitai in the shoulder playfully, and as Ekitai rubs his shoulder again he turns to face Leonna who also walks down the ramp with an enthralled, "I knew you couldn't say no, you've been craving some adventures I know and this is going to be one for the ages, I'm telling you that. Here, come join us for Chikin Kyodai, we can talk more about the gig, show you what we've got so far, you'll be surprised what we whipped up so quickly!"
Nervously chuckling in response to that additional offer, Ekitai lowers his head which he scratches the back of with his hand, now being forced into an immediate situation. Thinking on his feet as his eyes dash from side to side, he casually rejects: "Augh sorry guys, I still got a lot left on my plate lined up, and I'm well full myself, I was just planning on wrapping up here and heading out. Thanks though, we could always grab another time."
Frowning from the surprising rejection as both Makko and Leonna stop to face him, Leonna takes a moment to ponder before nodding his head and acknowledging, "You're missing out but damn that's fair, we know you got a hell of a lot going on, we'll catch and throw another time then. We'll Connect you the plans later, anyways as I said we're still streaming the plan in so we'd need to update you either way."
Leonna then turns to nod at Makko before resuming his walk away, signaling: "Let's go," and passing Makko who waves back to Ekitai with a cheerful departure, "Good seeing you, we're going to shake the Superverse with this one!" He then turns around and catches up with Leonna, murmuring between each other though their words are no longer comprehensible.
Watching the two men walk off, Ekitai lets out a heavy sigh of relief, knowing he was in quite the close call. He observes them take the door he entered through, completely vanishing from sight. With his business concluded in the base, he takes his own step for the door, though he suddenly freezes himself midstep as a thought crosses his mind.
Firstly, Ekitai takes another sweeping panorama of the base, noting the guards off in the distance either patrolling or lounging about, as well as the clusters most of whom are in their own booths functioning like work stations. As Ekitai takes a few steps away from the trucks, he confirms that while the room is definitely populated, said population is spread decently far, and now he's practically alone in the center.
Then, he spins back towards the truck that the two men had been loading, the back door still open, the ramp still extended down. He takes one more glance around himself before cautiously strolling back towards the truck, and then up its ramp.
Climbing up the short ramp, Ekitai enters the back of the truck which he finds to be decently packed with crates, stacked up three times with narrow aisles in between for access. He slowly begins strolling deeper into the truck's body as his right hand lingers by his coat's pockets at the ready while his other hand remains in his pocket, only his eyes inspecting the crates around him. While the actual count isn't feasible to muster, given that there's four rows of crates stacked up to three, there were at least twenty crates, definitely more, as this was no small gang ambush but rather verging on a militia assault.
While this was certainly insufficient firepower to combat a world's military defense a few weeks back, at a time when they were going through massive reforms to adjust themselves from the incredible losses, this could at the very least shake them up, perhaps even penetrate through some walls. If anything, the carnage that would be capable with equipment of this quantity would not be insignificant, many lives could be claimed even if the whole world doesn't eventually surrender, for that hope was still rather ambitious despite the current situation.
Regardless, standing around all this gear, Ekitai frowns in knowing the destruction that'd follow, glancing one more time out the back to confirm his isolation. Then, after a deep breath for confidence, his hand runs to the inner pocket of his coat, and he begins rummaging through as his forehead scrunches, his eyes squeezing in concentration.
After a few seconds of combing, eventually Ekitai reels his hand back out of his coat, now holding onto a single flask tightly gripped, a flask with a transparent, glassy casing that exposes the inner substances to be a vibrant lime green liquid that glows as though radioactive.
Especially with the truck's own lack of interior lighting, the green light of the flask illuminates Ekitai, casting him and the nearby cases in that bright green. It reflects in his hesitant eyes as he just stares down at the flask, conflicted, for there is anguish plain on his face.
He then extends his arm forward, drawing the flask above the stack of crates right before him, and upon positioning it he slowly begins to rotate the flask from upright to its side. As the flask is tilted, the liquid within begins to crawl towards the opening, gravity at play to prime the liquid for pouring, the stream targeted directly into the center of the crates.
Just a few seconds or a few degrees tilt, and the liquid would surely escape through the gap, a liquid who'd be more than capable of completing the task.
That's when Ekitai tenses his jaw and abruptly jerks the flask in the opposite direction, upright once again.
Immediately he begins heavily ventilating, breaths rapid as his heart races, using his free hand to grab onto his chest. He glances back at the truck's door, though again there's nobody visible from beyond, not yet at least.
Returning his gaze back to his flask, Ekitai tries to control his breathing with a heavier breath before stuffing the flask back in the inner pocket of his coat, concealing it again and pulling his hand out to reveal it empty. He gulps one more time before stuffing both of his hands inside his pockets before turning back for the door, strolling up the aisles once again now on his way out. Past the crates, he walks through the remaining empty space of the truck, aware that it'd eventually be filled with more equipment too, equipment that'd carry out atrocities.
Despite being fully aware of what lies ahead, for that confliction remains on his face in the form of a guilty stare, Ekitai shakes his head and continues down the ramp, strolling towards the exit door. His head blares like a battlefield, knowing what horrors he was permitting to occur, yet he was equally aware of how senseless a sabotage here would be, as it'd hardly result in impact. Just destroying a few crates would make little difference, even if he were to trash the entire base which would be far more bombastic it'd still only puncture a few holes in a plan that's been set among multiple bases, thus in a way this one stronghold wouldn't be necessarily required for the raids to play out.
That sense of powerlessness eats at him like leeches, frowning in his own inabilities, as in the end he was only a single member of the syndicate, an organization that spans across the Superverse, one he himself had no hope of putting a decent resistance against. All he could do is simply walk away yet again, tugging at his coat to readjust it though that hardly brought additional comfort.
On his departure he hears the voice of Yoddo call out, "HEY EKITAI, HEADING OFF?!" to which Ekitai glances over to the booth he was at earlier to collect his final package, finding Yoddo seated at his desk, waving at him.
Ekitai smiles weakly and nods back, answering in a fatigued voice: "Yeah heading off now, take care now Yoddo."
Smiling gleefully at the response, Yoddo nods back and remarks, "See you old man, can't wait to see you again, make the most out of that little guy!"
"Of course," quietly assures Ekitai though his voice wasn't loud enough to be carried to the booth, as he was more of speaking only to himself. Regardless, he faces forward once again upon arriving at the door where he stops in front, allowing it to dematerialize into a cloud in his presence.
After taking one more glance behind himself at the base of the organization he had remained pledged to for generations, he finally turns around and continues beyond the door.