Earths Pawns (reboot)

Following Ella, Adolph moved into the building behind her, revolver drawn.
Was kicking in the door entirely necessary?
Choosing not to pursue an answer for that question, Adolph chose the left door.

"Understood. Beginning search."
Carefully, he knelt down to look beneath the door, scanning for feet immediately behind the door. Seeing none, he carefully began to swiftly yet silently push the door open. Hearing a slam, he looked behind himself to see Ella entering the other room after kicking it in.
Was kicking in the door entirely necessary?
Seeing nobody inside, he moved onto the adjoining rooms. Subtlety was now gone, but he still chose to do clear the rooms the silent and cautious way. Seeing nobody, he made his way out of the rooms when something dropped in front of his face, nearly causing him to collide with it. Leaning back, he realized it was a black, furry spider, and his skin crawled with the thought of having the quarter-sized spider on his face.
A close call...
An idea came to him, and he realized it would be worth trying. Reaching out, he grabbed the fuzzy spider with his gloved hand and caged it with his mechanical fingers, careful not to crush it.
"All the rooms are clear on this end."
He walked into the entrance room, and waited for Ella to return as the spider squirmed in his hand.

The King nodded his head.
"Yes, go and do that."

 

Brad was on lookout duty while Ella and Adolph stormed the abandoned building, checking for possible threats. He tried to hide his disappointment but he wasn't doing a very good job. With yet another heavy sigh, he started muttering to himself.
"Oh sure, take the new guy with you to check the old building. I mean, I'm the one rocking a shotgun over here and I got stuck with guard duty? Are you serious, bro?"
He groaned and started talking to himself a little louder.
"Maybe it's because she thinks I'm not stealthy enough. But I can be stealthy! I mean...it didn't work out the last couple of times I tried it, but I was so close that second time!"
He was now loud enough that anyone nearby could clearly hear him.
"I can totally be stealthy! I've got ninja skills, bro! Subtlety is totally my middle name."
He turned to Zoe with a smile.
"Come on, help me out here. I can be plenty subtle, right?"

 

Adolph acknowledged her with a slight nod, turned away and walked to the door, storing away his revolver before doing so.
"If you traveled the whole way without getting any sleep, then it will only make sense to make me take first watch."
Opening the door, he beckoned for the rest of the group to come.
"Get in. Now."
Waiting for everyone to come, Adolph looked back at Ella.
"I shall need to step out later to setup a decoy rifle, in those trees. I left my last one at in the yard of your previous location before unexpectedly leaving."

 

Brad briefly thought about giving a proper explanation, but he just shrugged it off and gave an evasive answer.
"Eh, I'll explain it when we've got a little more time. Right now, we've gotta stay frosty."
Right after saying it, he realized she might not know what that meant, either.
"...I'll explain that later, too."

He gave Zoe a reassuring smile and nodded.
"Yeah. Your mom's real good at what she does so if there's any bad guys in there, she'll clean 'em up in no time flat and we can move in."
He then gave her a gentle pat on the head.
"I know it don't look like much, but home is where the heart is, you know? At least, that's what a lot of people say. Heh...my memory's pretty bad, so I don't remember much about what "home" was like growing up."
He tapped the top his head with a wide smile on his face, trying his best to lighten Zoe's mood.
"I guess I hit my head too many times. That's what happens when you're not careful, so make sure you're more careful than me when you grow up, okay?"
He laughed a little until he heard someone approaching.

After giving Adolph a brief glance and a nod, he turned back to Zoe and motioned towards the door.
"See? They're done already. Let's head inside and make ourselves comfy."

 

Brad shook his head, a slight smirk showing on his face.
"Nah, I'm good with that. I mean, I was gonna ask if you need help with anything, but if you insist then sure, I'll turn in for the night."
He briefly glanced towards Zillis. Even though the two of them bickered all the time, he really did care about Zillis and he couldn't help being concerned for him, even though he seemed alright for now. He shook off his worries and gave a slight nod to Ella.
"If you're taking care of him, Boss, I know he's in good hands."
He snapped off a quick salute before walking out.
"If you change your mind or something comes up, you can go ahead and wake me up. Take care, Boss."
With that, he let out a yawn and set off for bed.

 

Leaving the outpost, Adolph made his way to the the outskirts of the woods and set down his decoy rifle amidst the brush. Carefully, he attached the thin cables to the control axes plates and calibrated it.
This shall catch the attention of any hostiles.
Returning to the outpost, Adolph strung the control cables from their spool along the way. Reaching the outpost, he looked up and saw a vantage point for standing guard.
A clear view of the landscape, and little resistance for the decoy's control cables.
Throwing the spool through the window, he walked around the old structure and entered it.
"Ella, I am ready now. You should all get some rest now."

"Ah, is that so?"
The Machinist popped out from among a pile of parts.
"What is it? And don't bump into that invisibility solution like last time. This one uses a different base."

 

Brad nodded back to Ella.
"You got it, Boss."
He smiled and motioned for Zoe to follow.
"Come on, I'll tuck you in for the night. Your mom will be in right after she finishes up here, okay?"
With that, he led her out of the room and after putting her to bed, he found a place to lie down and quickly drifted off to sleep.

OOT: Kind of a short post, I know, I'm just not sure what else to do right now.

 

On the bridge of the Caedes, General Octavius paced in front of the engineer Sykes. The machine was now running, but most of its functions were disabled.
"This game is getting old," the general calmly stated as he paced in front of the bloodied, beaten engineer. "It is simple:tell us how to engage the weapons, and you will stop getting beaten. Simple. Quite simple."
The engineer slouched as he sat on his knees, hands tied behind his back.
"Go to Hell!"
Octavius stopped pacing, and with a sigh, rubbed his eyes.
"This is going to be a long day... Lieutenant! Do you have the intelligence extraction tools ready?"
"Yes, sir." The man presented a leather pouch to Octavius. Taking the pouch, the General opened it and examined the tools that were more commonly known as "torture tools".
"Get the engineer strapped down. I will be doing this personally."

OOT: We will now assume that there has been a time-skip. One long enough for Ella's group to get a sufficient amount of rest, but not so long the first watch is finished (presumably six to eight hours).

Meanwhile, at the outpost...
Adolph was bored.
He realized he was bored when he began counting the number of leaves and blades of grass he saw. Stretching, he let his body relax before taking a look at the clouded sky.
Less sunlight means I my eyes get some rest. Getting advanced vision from a vampire has its issues.
Looking at the clock on the wall, he could tell it was nearing the end of his watch. It had started sometime that morning, so it should end at roughly three o'clock, if not four.
That was when he began to hear it.
A deep rumble reverberated through the house. To his tuned senses, only Adolph would have been able to hear and feel it. On alert, Adolph scanned the horizon, looking for the source of the sound and vibration. However, his vision was partially obscured by the trees to his left.
Blasted trees... what is that?
Eventually, he began to see movement. It appeared to be a fanned-out army marching through the plains, and the rumble slowly increased in intensity so that even the average person could hear and feel it.
The King's men...at least a six hundred, and another hundred on riding horses. But that is not the source of the sound.
At last, he saw it.
Slowly rolling behind the army, a giant wheeled machine followed them. On the side in bold, sharp print, the word Caedes adorned the thick metal armor of the mobile fort. Quickly and silently, Adolph ran down the stairs where everyone slept and woke Ella and Brad.
"Wake up," he quietly hissed to them as he shook them. "You must see this."

Meanwhile, in Greenforge
Beatrice had grown suspicious of Adolph's absences. For some reason, he kept on running on odd errands or staying out for past the time she had expected. And now, he has been gone for half of the day. Lust, whom she knew as just an acquaintance that went by the name "Cassandra", seemed to hold some sort of connection to this. Having left Stralman to do repairs to the house, she decided to confront Lust on the matter.
"Cassandra, I need to talk to you about something that has been bothering me."
"What is it?" Lust held the book she read down from her face as she lay on her back on the bed Adolph had used the night before upstairs. The repair work warded her away from the comfortable couches downstairs, causing her to resort to using Adolph's repaired bed for a relaxing point.
"I have this strange feeling that you know something about Adolph and his disappearing as of late. You said that he just 'had to go do something' earlier, but I am beginning to doubt it is just something little."
"You think I know something about it? Don't be silly. He is a mercenary, and he has to make money somehow."
"But here? Nobody in Greenforge has anyone they need killed. And even if they did, those people are too far away to just be back in a day. Besides, he tells me when he is about to go do something for a contract, but this time he didn't."
"You are quite innocent... in some ways." Lust laughed gently. "Perhaps he gets tired of having to tell you everything? I know I would if I were him."
"I want him to be honest with me on these things. If he thinks I'm being too clingy, I want him to tell me! And what do you mean 'in some way'?"
"Never mind. Look, just leave him be. I owed someone a favor, and so I loaned Adolph's help to them."
"What! Is he even getting payed?"
"You know, I never thought to ask that part."
"You! That is unbelievable! I'm going to find Lunara and ask her to send me to him right now!"
Stamping her foot, she turned around and stomped towards the door. But at that moment, Lust instantaneously jumped up and grabbed her from behind, securely locking her arms around Beatrice's neck.
"Let me go!"
"I can't let you go with where he is!"
"Why not!?" Beatrice struggled against the goddesses's solid grip, before slipping out somehow.
"Adolph could be in a dangerous position right now! And what can you do to keep from being just another liability? You should have noticed by now how restless he is without doing something. At the very least, letting him go and do his work will calm his mind!"
After being told this, Beatrice saw the reasoning Lust spoke and stopped arguing.
"I understand now. Can you at least tell me what he is doing now?"
"Yes, I can. You remember that group you were with recently? In that one town before you came here? He's helping them right now. After we left, the town got attacked by a strange phenomena. A locust swarm. Those people are escaping, and they need someone that with a good aim at long ranges."
"The town was attacked? I can see now, but who in that group is supposed to be a friend?"
"My friend is just someone that keeps tabs on them, and she felt that Adolph's aid would be helpful in this case. Is that all you would like to know?"
"I want to know one more thing: How will I know that he is in trouble?"
"If he is in trouble, he can come back at any time. I gave him an amulet that Lunara had that will send him back immediately. And if he does not come back by midnight, I can have Lunara send me to him. It may not look like it, but I do have some combat experience. You might have noticed with that lock hold I had you in."
"You mean the lock hold that failed because your over-sized bust gave me too much room to move around?"
"...Shut up. That doesn't matter, especially with men! Point is, I know how to fight, and I have feminine strength not found in a normal woman!"

 

OOT: Right. Been out of the game for too long. Let's go!

The Mechanist took the schematic and looked it over, turning it this way and that.
"This is rather rudimentary technology. It appears they have simply increased the propulsive force applied to the shell. Oh, does the shell itself have it's own propulsion system? What about impact force? How have they fashioned the munitions to not devastate the landing zone and prevent the contents from damage?"
There was a glint in the young man's eyes. Then his brow furrowed and he turned back to Victoria?
"Mobile Fortress?" He questioned. "How would that work? Is it travelling on wheels? What kind of power source does it have? What kind of armaments? What fortifications?"
He started scratching his head in frustration. "How can I build something to fix a problem when I don't know what the problem is? Gah!"
The Machinist turned and slammed his palms down on a nearby table, knocking small pieces of machinery onto the ground. He stood there for a few moments his head drooped.
"I need a cup of tea..."

~~~

Omnes rested his back against his carriage, staring out at the military force moving across the countryside.
He was biting his nails. Now, most people would think this was a nervous tick from a glance, but those that truly knew Omnes (and there were very few) knew he only did this when he was extremely annoyed.
"What is that Neathandral doing?" He spoke, his voice as rasping as ever. "So many potential specimens and he's going to roll over every single one of them!"
The scientist swung his fist back against the side of the carriage, the impact causing the wood to snap inwards.
"I will not have scientific discovery be halted again by some knuckle-dragging plebian!"
He clambered back into the carriage and yelled for the driver. "Driver! Get me to the that town on the double. And so help me, if I get there after that behemoth I will tear out your organs and feed them to you!"

~~~

Alistair was always a light sleeper, on those rare occasions that he did. He could hear the rumbling a mile off and was already making preparations to leave.
Before he did though, he had one quick stop to make, looking at the near empty bottles of pills in his hand.

 

As if in response to the Machinist's questions, a thud could be heard outside the castle's walls. It was the second message shell from Octavius, and it contained even more detailed schematics of the long range artillery and the design of the gyro-guided message shells, as well as the design schematics for the second stage timed propulsion mechanics of the shell and a sample canister of the gaseous propellant.

Adolph felt somewhat annoyed by this reaction after he took care to be quiet with waking her up.
Next time, I shall slam pans together to wake her up, or perhaps just throw water on her.

Seeing her dress, Adolph looked up at the ceiling, averting his eyes from Ella. He was only used to this sort of thing from Beatrice, and even then he would look away.
Women always seem to be under dressed around me.
Looking back down after he was certain she had dressed completely, she had already left the room, beckoning him and her comrade.
"I was the one who woke you up. Of course I will come."
Leaving the room, he looked out the window and pointed to the giant machine. He had a suspicion it was a captured Forge creation, but did not know for certain.
"I do not know exactly what that thing is, but it cannot be good if it is surrounded by an army of the King. Those unfortunate enough to be confronted by the machination will have no chance of victory. Regardless, it is of no concern to me, though I do wonder who that could be."

The engineer panted as he tried to recover from the pain. Two tiny holes had been drilled into the sides skull and small metal probes sealed the bleeding holes. The probes rested just above and below the back of each eye. Other such probes dotted his nearly naked body as he lay entirely strapped to immovable weights on the floor. General Octavius drank a glass of water after stopping to take a short break. Looking down at head engineer Sykes, he decided to chat with his prisoner.
"Do you know the difference between the education of a doctor and a torturer?" Not getting a response from the tortured man for a few moments, Octavius answered his own question. "Basically none. Both of them try to keep their subject alive, both of them use tools and both of them have an advanced knowledge on how the human body works." He set the glass down and crossed his arms. "But as you can tell first hand, the same knowledge works in very different ways."
Kneeling down, the general began prodding the little probes on the man's body, causing the bound man to wince in pain.
"One kind of doctor uses needles much like these to help people feel better, using them to poke just the right places to stimulate the nerves. One bad poke, however..." Here, the general pushed the needle-tipped prod on the man's leg, causing him to scream in agony while suddenly causing his leg to go numb. "...will render a person unconscious, or even ruin part of their body. Don't worry, you'll feel pain again in that leg soon enough." Reaching for the probes on the engineer's skull, Octavius began to grip them gently. "Using a similar principal of that which those kind of doctors use allows me to understand how the nerves work, and allow me to easily use them to cause you great pain, while not actually harming you seriously." The calm general began wiggling the four prods around, jabbing the nerves behind the man's eyes and forcing a silent scream from the man." All you need to do is just answer my questions. Your engineers are already telling bit by bit us how this great machine that you built works. Make it easy on yourself and just give in."
To this, the engineer Sykes glared at the general though the pain and mouthed the word "Never".
"So be it."

A group of six horse-riding scouts were chatting amongst one another as they kept up with the Caedes. They had already scouted ahead and had no other assignments at hand.
"Hey, where are we going?"
"I dunno for sure, but I think to that one town we passed by before getting that rolling castle."
"Yeah, I overheard one of the officers talking about testing it out that city."
"Seriously? That's crazy! Yeah, I want to see what it can do but an city that had actually given us supplies without attacking...?"
"Hey, careful with what you question. Personally, I feel the same way. I think the rest of us feel the same way too, but be careful who you talk about this around. There's this ladder-climbing snitch that just wants to rise another rank, and he'll use you as a means to get promoted."
"Ah, right. Thanks for that."
It was at this moment that they saw an outpost a relatively short distance away.
"Hey, wanna check it out? There might be a pretty girl there."
"Well, we are scouts, it is our job to check it out. Especially when we desperate bachelors hope to see a girl in the middle of nowhere."
With all of them agreeing to scout the outpost, they began riding off to inspect it in hopes of something interesting to see in hopes of easing their restlessness. They began to close the distance between themselves and the outpost that was now occupied by a group of travelers seeking shelter.

 

The Mechanist didn't look up from the desk, but replied in rushed monotone.
"Milk, four sugars. Some of those delightful cream filled biscuits if possible."

~~~
Alistar stepped into the small shop sequestered in the corner of the outpost. It was one of those places. The kind you generally didn't know existed unless you needed it. And need it he did.
The walls were lined with numerous worn wooden selves, all of which were littered with a multitude of different ingredients and medicinal compounds. They were on no particular order and weren't set out to look entice any customers.
The man at the counter was old and gruff looking, the kind you'd want to avoid in a dark alley. He watched as Alistar approached the counter.
"I need some more of the suppressants." Alistar explained in his usual curt manner.
The man at the counter frowned. "You're not saying you're out are you lad? Ye Gods! That was a month's worth I gave you last!"
Alistar placed an almost empty pill bottle on the counter, along with a small wooden box. "I've been busy. I needed it."
The man rubbed his temples. "Damn it, kid. Have you any idea how much that stuff costs to make? If it weren't for what your parents did for me in the past, I'd charge you double!"
Alistar was nonplussed. "Can you do it or not?"
The man sighed, but leaning under the counter and pulling out a small pouch.
"That's all I've got. The Empire has made getting the ingredients next to impossible. Don't know when I'll be able to get more."
Alistar picked up the pouch, and emptied the contents into the box.
"You should relocate your shop, Gil. That rumbling isn't likely to be anything good."
Gil gave a wry smile. "I reckon you're right, boy. Hey, give your folks my regards when you see them next."
"I'll tell them you said hi." With that Alstar turned around and left the shop.
As he was part way down the narrow street, Gil stuck his head out of the door.
"And tell 'em their tab's up!"

 

Adolph cracked his neck from side to side as he looked at the massive machine through his smoked glasses.
"Agreed. Fortunately, it is not our task to concern ourselves with stopping that thing. It will certainly be foolish to do so when it is unnecessary to intervene."

Considering his options, Adolph shook his head.
"Get someone else to do that. Should we have trouble from those scouts, we will need to a distraction. I will be unable to use that distraction from the door." Adolph pointed in the general direction of where he had placed his decoy rifle in the woods, as if the wall were transparent. "Should the scouts try to do something to us, I will use that distraction to make it look like we are being attacked, and that is when everyone shall make a break for the woods."
Leaving Ella with that response, he headed upstairs to where he left the control cables for his decoy rifle, carefully adjusting the rifle's aim. Already, the scouts were close enough their group had broken up and began circling the structure. Although it his manipulate a bullet's trajectory and power, the rifle was too far away to use his bullet-manipulation magic on it.

 

The Mechanist continued inspecting the blueprints for the shell, occasionally taking a buscuit from the tray, dunking it in the tea and taking a bite.
After a while the frown he had on his face was replaced by a look of perfect clarity.
"Aha!" he fumbled with the drawer on the table and pulled various rules and a compass. Then he began drawing on the schematic with swift and measured strokes of his pencil.
"If we shave this off of here...add a little more to this...There!"
He turned to Victoria holding the modified drawing up for her to see.
"See? Simply had to modify the tip to for better penetration and alter the shell's interior to carry ordinance. I'd have to build a prototype and run some tests, but I believe this should do the trick.
He wore a look on his face akin to a child that had managed to colour inside the lines.
Then he frowned again. "Shouldn't you be serving the King?"
~~~
As the scouts approached the outpost, a carriage came barrelling over the hill behind them and was gaining rapidly. As it passed the rider at the back of the group, a hand shot out of the carriage's window and grabbed the man by the head. With a jerk, his head was torn from his shoulders, his body falling from the horse as it did.
"If you value your petty lives," came the raspy call from the carriage as Omnes leaned out of the window, "you will turn around and return to your master like good little dogs."