Tempest

The stark contrast of a red beam against the placid green of the night vision, was enough of a startling development to warrant Camellia to freeze on the spot. ”Wha-!?” She felt her nerves tense so suddenly, her breath seizes in her chest, that she could barely start to comprehend what happened next. There was a shockwave of sound that pierced the rain, soon pursued by a loud rumble as many windows shattered, brick, steel and mortar giving way to a relentless kinetic force. The impact had caused fissures in the streets below, with what few citizens unfortunately out for the evening in the neighborhood driven into a panic by the sudden jettisons of steam into the air. The force that ravaged this building as a result of whatever the beam had been, spread outward to the other adjacent structures, the strength of the gust enough to even crack windows on this side of the street.

Camellia meanwhile had been thrown by this wind, losing her balance to fall over the edge of the rooftop. As gravity took hold and fifty-five stories of hotel began to surge passed her, she was greeted by some sort of mechanical device – a drone perhaps? Cam would barely get the jist of what it had said before she fell further in her descent, however – OW-1 would be able to ascertain the dying voice in the rain yelling something akin to ”ittle busy!” before she was seemingly gone into the dark. A moment or so after this, the konatsian’s phone would plop atop the top of the orb, bouncing off of it in a comedic manner to land crookedly on the corner of a nearby balcony.

The screen would come to life as a call-in waiting picked up, activating speakerphone per Cam’s personal settings, and soon the sounds of whirring machinery filled the other end of the line. ”Hello? The bloody hell, is that rain I hear? Cam? Cam, are you there?” The sound of Sage’s voice filled the void where the whirring had momentarily stopped.

Somewhere twenty stories below during the midst of a freefall, there would come a prominent THWIP! against the fury of the downpour. Inside the attacked hideout turned dystopian ruin of a structure, the down saiyan was on the verge of becoming stalked by a rather suave yet dangerous looking konatsian in a fine tailored suit. A switchblade was drawn from inside his coat pocket, while a nod was given to a pair more of other suited thugs who drew rather archaic firearms, readied them and took aim upon the girl’s divine companion. ”Looks like your road ends here, bitch,” stated the thug with the knife, now looming over the girl with a sadistic grin spread over his face.

The metallic crack of an arrowhead piercing the room above caught the attention of the gun toting thugs, providing Lilith with a second’s worth of a distraction, before a prominent crash of glass erupted through the room. The knife wielding thug was taken by surprise, as Camellia would come swinging in through the remains of a nearby window, colliding with the thug violently before the two would tumble through a hole to a floor below. ”Of all the nights!” some would be able to hear, before the man was rocked with a series of hard kicks and punches, his squeals of pain soon to follow as the rain continued to fall.

Restrained Might: ON
- cellphone boops OW-1!
- Camellia takes out the knife-toting thug w a graceless entrance/non-kp combo!

6/6 KP
1/6 MP
0/250% DMG
TWC: 1,158

On the other end of the line, the mousy haired konatsian had done his best to keep a keen attention on what was being spoken. Though the more OW-1 went on to reveal themselves, the less likely poor Sage’s coffee had been to stay behind his lips. Soon it was all over his fourth monitor. Whether it was the news Cam had taken another tumble, being called by her sister’s name, or the very idea he himself was having a conversation with a genuine AI would remain a mystery.

”Fascinating! Several questions have come to mind, actually. But - Ki users, you say? Well, I pers-” The chatter became indiscernible with a static, moments before the clarity came back. ”-ogues, that nasty group? Or the girls? Whole different story...” There came a bump, the phone took flight through the air – as would the voice still trailing along on details lost to the rain and wind.

”Hello? Friendly voice?”

Onward the device would fall.

”Hello!? Ach, blasted-”

The phone would find it’s mark upon Zuqetta’s crown, the impact hanging up the call. With one finalizing plop into the growth of a nearby puddle, a static sizzle would rise from the now useless device. The rain would continue its relentless pour onto the gritty metro, yet the claps of thunder overhead would not be able to stifle the sound of a lone man’s scream from the ruined hideout.

The crook that had been taken down by the blond konatsian sat with ragged breaths up against the wall, blaster on the broken tiles near his side, while he clung to a limp arm as he tried to nurse it. She lurked over him like some big cat waiting to finish off its meal before eating, those damned eyes never left him. ”What the hell was this girl’s problem!?” He couldn’t understand it, the merciless nature in how she forced him into this position, arm seemingly broken in however many places for all the pain he felt.

”Where is the meet?”

The thug would wince to stare up at her, almost bewildered by the very question. ”The wha-!?”

Broken wrist seized firmly, before the archer would wrench it upward over his head, against the hairlines which threatened to worsen. The grunt would scream again in pain, this time agreeing to answer, so long as she let go of his damned arm. Camellia would acquiesce this request after a moment’s worth more of his childish whimpering, her mood over these unexpected developments having soured. It wasn’t bad enough the argument she had with Cynthia earlier that day, but now this entire operation was possibly in jeopardy now thanks to a few amateurs from Lux. She cast a glance to where this all started, an emptied crater, while the whispered cries of the last lackey went unheard. They could hear the rest of the place threatening to come down.

”The buyer. Where are the other supplies going?”

No answer. Camellia would scowl, then apply more pressure to the wrist with her boot.

”AHH! F-Fruco! Fruco Harbor!”

The girl would scoff, then kick the blaster out of reach as she turned to leave the derelict structure. Well, that was going to be a bit of a drive, meaning this night just got a whole lot more interesting.

”W-Wait, you’re just gonna leave me here!?”

”That’s the idea.”

The unmistakable sound of earth giving way could be heard, before a rumble took the rest of the room to cave in, a sharp exhale of dust and debris to follow the blond out into the weather. The rain was as unforgiving as it had been prior to her uncanny entrance into a dying fray. With most of the other goons now scattered like cockroaches, Cam’s focus became trained on the next step of the plan. Figure out what was going down at Fruco Harbor, when the new meet was likely to happen, and just who was making so big of an investment to warrant this much muscle. Something big was in the works, a tempest set to brew before it aimed to bring all its might to bear.

Cam would make an approach across disordered earth and debris to the street, toward those she still suspected were amateur vigilantes out of the City of Light. It certainly would have explained their unusual attire to boot. She eyed the one on the ground only to arch a brow at her queasiness, then turned a glance to her friend with the lighter colored hair. The konatsian would offer her nothing but a hard stare through colder rain, yet easily mistook her for someone she swore to have seen before. No, trick of the light perhaps? Cam would speak up, tone rather stern to reflect how her own night was going.

”Can’t say I’ve ever seen an entrance like that. You lost or something?”

TWC: (+812) 1,970

OW-1 Lilith Zuqetta

To say that Cam would start to get some unusual vibes from this duo was an understatement. The first girl, there was something about the way she carried herself which seemed...different. The mannerism in which she apologized, the way the rain seemed to barely tarnish her form with its moisture, was unlike anybody her age that the konatsian had ever encountered. At least, that’s what Cam took from this girl in blue, some lost delusional teen or young adult out here with a friend. The other one didn’t seem all that much older, and that’s what the silent one was beginning to deduce about this pair. The unusual clothing, the odd mention about a place that struck little familiarity to the local of a world that had, until recently, been cut off from the rest of the stars.

Namek?

How far away was that again?

”Camellia.” The name was given dryly when Lilith offered her name, before her attention rested upon a surprisingly recovered Zuqetta and her question. The konatsiant had to offer a scoff at them. ”Something like that.” The quick arrival of the bot and seizure of this saiyan’s attention were enough to warrant a glimpse to the soaked dirt near where the girl had been laying, eyes coming to eventually find where the remains of the phone sat lifeless. Cam would scowl. The blond made to step passed the divine girl to kneel beside the puddle, snatch the device from the dirtied waters, then rise as she made to inspect it further. ”Seems this night is just full of problems,” she would mutter under her breath; Sage was going to give her an earful for that. Another lecture over protecting tech just waiting to happen.

Second one this month.

Cam would return her focus from the phone to Lilith.

”Did you hit your head during all that? Yes, you’re in Dharatan.”

Had these girls truly never been to the city?

Or worse.

Did their parents not know they were here?

A flick of the bow in the other hand, it would emit a small shower of golden sparkles before it compacted itself, when Cam would return it to a place among the backside of her belt. She shoots Zuqetta and the bot another glance after its retaliation against the shooter, a noticeable tension rises at the sight of this machine’s ability to gun the criminal down. Her brow would furrow in thought over what to make of the drone, whether it was a potential threat or asset given its level of sentience.

The saiyan’s curiosity in the Wonderbot didn’t go unnoticed either, she seemed awfully smitten with the thing. Enough so that Camellia wasn’t keen on spoiling Zuqetta’s moment. The other ambient conversation would continue midst her own silence, enough so she’d glean bits of information here and there. Something mentioned about Sadala and this other girl being a ki user. Did that make her someone like the fabled Kashvar, or maybe the old Royal Guard? Or was the konatsian right in her suspicion, that they were nothing but kids making up stories? What was their deal? Mentions of places most of her own people hadn’t heard from or news about in over twenty years, almost as though they believed it to be true.

Cam would turn to Lilith, all this confusion masked by a placid composure of professionalism.

”This place is going to be a hot-zone soon – a lot of people are still looking for the psychopath those goons work under. Best none of you get roped into a bigger mess when the authorities show up.” The konatsian makes to pocket the phone, before offering a scan of the streets for any more of Trevelyn’s thugs. They had grown quiet after OW-1's retaliation, save the idle chatter under a flickering street lamp. So, she had names to go off of, and a few tall tales and agendas to boot. It wasn’t much of an explanation for what had cost her several nights in preparation, but it was something to go on. Cam wasn’t sure what a bunch of teenagers, and some rogue television camera could do to make up for it. Though there was possibly something she could offer in turn.

”I know a place you can crash until the rain lets up.” She would shoot a thumb over her shoulder, and give a nod down the street. The weather probably wasn’t an issue for someone the rain barely seemed to touch, sizzle off of, or a friend no longer sick, by Camellia’s observation. But who was she to let three victims of circumstance be thrown into Dharatan’s corrupt system? A gesture of kindness, nothing more. ”Or you’re welcome to stay here in the mud, up to you princess.” The konatsian would offer a wave over her shoulder, as she turned to start down what remained of the street.

TWC: (+813) 2,783
OW-1 Lilith Zuqetta