2701915 ((Gotcha. Thanks))
"If you say so sir..." Noble told him, "...but I'm not really in-"

"Nonsense!" Lapidary interrupted as he checked off a few more items on his clipboard, "As long as you are with me, you are one of us!" He looks up and eyes the white stallion, furrowing his brow as he did so.

"Though....your attire may need...cleaning...." Noble raised an eyebrow at him and gazed down at himself, noting some of the old dings and dirt that clung to his armor and weapons. He looks back and shrugs.

"Could you just put that stuff in my saddle bags? Or do you have your own?" Lapidary narrows his eyes before shrugging.

"Let me make sure everything is here first my stalwart companion...."

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Revenant hissed lowly. "Who speaks? Show yourself and you may live. You will die if I must search."

The changeling approached the body of Smithy, chainsaw at the ready. "And you, I told you to follow my orders. Odd how even a changeling, a so-called mindless beast, knows when to withhold action, is it not?"

((Crap, I gotta call it quits for tonight, exams and all. I'm pretty happy this got off to a nice start. Hopefully this is the first of many nice nights in this RP. Goodnight everybody.))

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They both salute. "Recon Sir. What do you need?"

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((I guess I can have this be my last post. Goodnight.))

Smithy's body sat upward and stared at Revenant. His mouth moved when words became audible, but the voice itself seemed disembodied.

"Name's are pointless, right now. It's the end of everything, and I'm loving every minute of it. So come on, play my game. Tell me how you're gonna treat this precious morsel. We both know he means nothing to anyone, and he's all mine if you won't have him."

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The pony gave a quick salute back, "The name's Captain Chain, Steel Chain. If you're with Recon, then we got a green flare off to the West, roughly. You'll find Captain Drought there, along with some other squads. Feel free to give 'em some relief and help out with whatever. Recon can always use some rookies for doing some busy work."

((Hey guys, feel free to continue the RP without me for right now. I'll catch-up with everything tomorrow, if anything happens, of course.))

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"Yes Sir!"
They take to the air.

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Revenant smirked. "And I suppose you may live. Possession, I see. An effective tool. But one utterly moot when the vessel is naught but so much meat and bone. Tell me, spirit, what is this end of all things you speak of? Say such quickly, for I am eager to hear screams that are free from the din of Canterlot."

The changeling planted the teeth of his weapon on the haunches of the pegasus. "We have as long as he lasts. I do enjoy a good chat."

((Sorry for not posting yesterday, guys. School exams really exhausted the ever-loving crap out of me. I guess six hours of exams and physics labs does that to a person. But yeah, it's about -20F where I'm at, so no school today, lucky me.))

2702340
As the two headed west, the green flare slowly came into view, and with it, the sight of an old town. As they neared the perimeter of the town, a white stallion pegasus flew to the pair from the crowd. Bearing some scraps of armour and a crimson cape, the pegasus spoke loudly, with a clear sign of authority in his words.

"You lost, rookies? What regiment are you in? And who sent ya for that matter?"

2702184
After making one final check of all the inventory, Lapidary turned back to Noble. "Everything is in order, oh Noble one. Now, shall we see what this great, wide world has to offer? I know I want to soak up as much of the Outside as I can before these two weeks are up." Lapidary then struck a pose and pointed to the gate. "Look out world! Lapidary is on his way, so you best be ready for a true stallion with a mission!"

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The voice gave a slight chuckle, "You ask for what brings the end of all? Surely you remember what happened on the first fortnight oh so long ago. Or were you still but a hatchling when The Abhorant arose? Regardless, I'm sure you know well of the stories either way." The voice sighed for a moment, seemingly reminiscent of those times.

"Such fine work, it was, but nonetheless a shame I had no real part in it. I simply reveled in the aftermath, and that's just no fun. A being like me needs a bit more than to simply feed on distraught and misery, I take it as a personal hobby to cause it, whenever I can." Smithy's body looked at the blade of Revenant's weapon.

"Speaking of which, I have a plan of sorts. But I shall give the choice of what becomes of it to you. Slay this mousel now, and I shall simply find another outlet to complete my plans; or spare this vessel, and let me have my fun. I can't guarantee any incentive to choose either path, but I take it you're not the purest of souls, and it surely has been a while since you last wet your blade. So the choice is yours, a little blood now, or much more in due time?"

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"Captain Chain sent us Sir! We're to do a further check if the area, and assist where necessary."
They both salute. By their tone of voice, it's clear that they have their own thing to do, and are only acknowledging you out if protocol.
"Don't worry, we know what to do. Sir."

2715978 ((It's okay. sometimes school just...gets in the way.))

Oh boy...this is going to be a long two weeks...isn't it.... Rolling his eyes, Noble walks behind Lapidary and begins to pack the items into his saddlebags. Lapidary, hearing this, turns around, only to gape at him in horror.

"Umm...what?" Noble asks him.

"Are you MAD?" Lapidary states, "One just doesn't put such treasures all willy nilly inside of their bags! One must be CAREFUL!" He rushes over and, before Noble to could stop him, he begins to rifle through his bags, either removing or rearranging everything inside of them.

"Noble one! Why have you placed these artifacts HERE! They should go over THERE, away from such...such...." He pulls out one of the food packets and examines it.

"What is this?"

"That's our FOOD," Noble says, snatching it away and replacing it, "And it's Noble, not Noble one, got it?" Without so much as smirking, he continues to place the valuables inside of his bags once more.

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"Well, you can start by helping me get things in reorganised; my second in command went to look for one of her squad and now she's taking too damn long to report. I got a feelin' that somethings wrong around here, so I'm doin' a sweep of all the buildings. Hope you guy's can fight." As he finished his orders, the pegasus flew to the ground, unsheathed a short sword with his mouth, and began approaching some buildings.

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"So you'll be that way, then? Hmph, fine. Let's just go then." His tone turns slightly more optimistic as he looks to the south, "Oh, I can hear Manehatten calling me now." He seems to drift off a little as he speaks, "Such a wondrous and glorious city, lost to both time and the beings of the Outside. Such a majestic city of lights and glamor. All this work of creating this expedition will definitely be worth it. I just hope that the artworks and artifacts we return will be enough to convince the throne that Manehatten's reclamation is worth the time and resources." Lapidary sighs for a moment, then turns back to Noble.

"Regardless of what we return, I hear it's a wondrous vacation spot this time of year."

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They stare a look, and clear their throats.
"We...have also lost one of or number. Let us go find him, then we can meet up with you. Wouldn't take very long."

2715978
((Sorry for taking so long myself.))

Revenant lifted his eyebrow. "You speak true, I have not spilt blood in some time. It is more necessity than choice, but such is a life of deceit and trickery."

With a flicker of his wings, he lifted the blade from Smithy's body. "Very well, if this is a deal of blood you seek, I shall oblige. If you speak true, we are not so different, you and I. Tell me though, what involvement has The Abhorant in all this?"

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"Um...vacation?" Noble asks him with a chuckle, "I highly doubt that...but I must admit that it sounds interesting." He hikes up the bags on his back and takes the lead forward, Lapidary quickly following from behind. The crowd around them twists and changes every so often, but they stay largely in the same formation of a line. Noble also notices that, every so often, a pony, or a group of them, would break off from the crowd and begin to make their way in another direction. The guard looks up and around himself and eyes the glum surroundings for a time.

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"Alright, just be quick about it. You know where to find me." And with that, Drought went on to scout around, leaving the two to themselves.

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The voice began to almost break into a hysterical laugh. "That's the kicker, isn't it. Me, a near-omniscient being, and I haven't a damn clue its motives. It's a tough nut to crack, that's for sure. I'm not even sure I could control it, even if I could find where it's hiding, if it's hiding. But hey, I like a bit of mystery every now and then. And uh, you might want to get back into your little disguise. I'm leaving soon and it'd be a terrible shame if it was Smithy that was the one to uncover your secret."

"So, until we meet again." There was a slight cracking sound as the voice went silent and Smithy's body fell to the floor. The sound of hoofsteps drew near.

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Revenant hissed, green fire covering his body and putting on the mask of Jade Feather once again. A swish, click, and Vendetta was clamped onto her back as if nothing ever happened.

"Well met, spirit. Until we meet again..."

2717266
After a fair bit of time of traveling on the path, Lapidary began to study the map and spoke with a slight hint of worry, "My my, these folks get more and more gutsy every year it seems. We're close to crossing the safety perimeter, and the crowd's not even close to dissipated." Lapidary looked rather worried, but tried to hide it as he put his map away.

"Nonetheless, Manehatten is still a fair journey away. Hopefully we'll be there in good time."

Not even a few minutes later, the sight of buildings came into view just over the horizon. "There so soon? That was a quick journey... wait, this isn't Manehatten. The buildings are much smaller than they're supposed to be. Well, this might be a nice place to stop for a bit. Care to take the detour, Noble?"

2717389
A few moments later, Captain Drought walked into the building Jade was in and yelled, searching for her. "Jade? Jade!" His voice was somewhat muffled due to the fact that a sword was in his mouth. "Where in Tartarus are ya? You better not be dead!"

2717289
A few minutes later, the two land near him wit a third in tow, also fully armored.
"This is Grey. He'll be helping us. Now then, what do you need us to do?"

2717507

"Over here sir!" Jade called out. "I found Smithy, but he's unconscious!"

A gleam sparked in Jade's eye as a horrible idea came to mind. Laying up against the inside of the doorframe, she drew Vendetta and licked her lips. "In here, captain!"

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2717571
"Ah, good timing." The Captain said to the three. "Apparently we got a casualty, help me with the body, would ya." Drought then proceeded to enter the building and head to where he heard Jade's voice. "What's the report, soldier?"

2717598
"It's bad sir," Jade said loudly. "He's lost a lot of blood, looks like there's someth-AAAAAHHHH!"

Jade grinned, hoping her scream would draw the hapless captain closer. Just a little closer, she wagered...

2717711
The Captain, hearing the scream, ran into the room. "What's going on!?"

2717739
Jade said nothing. Instead, a mental nudge triggered Vendetta to scream to life, teeth whirring as the pegasus leaped at the captain.

2717766
"What are you doing!" Drought yelled as he jumped away from the teeth of Jade's weapon, slashing his own sword at his attacker as he did so.

2717782
Jade remained silent, focusing all her attention on the captain. She narrowly dodged the blade of Drought, parrying with her chainsaw, then chucked the weapon at him with all her might.

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2717766
The three flyers follow behind the captain, and are far enough behind to avoid the attack.

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Drought tried to dodge yet again, but was still glanced by the flying chainsaw on his right foreleg. He fell to the ground as he clutched his wound.

"You crazy bitch! I think it's time to knock some sense into ya." He quickly scrambled to his hooves and shakily tried to balance himself on his three good legs.

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2717846
The flyers nod to each other. Time to observe. Dropping their disguises and putting up illusions in one smooth motion, they shimmer out of view.

2717921
((My posts may be delayed for a while))
Jade glared at the captain, green flames flaring up as she shifted back to her changeling self. "Nay Captain Drought, the only sense I shall have now is for your blood. It has been too long for me."

Revenant's horn flared, magic grabbing hold of the inert chainsaw behind the pegasus and drawing back towards himself, slashing out wildly as it passed Drought. As soon as it had returned, he fired off a bolt of magic and held Vendetta at the ready.

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((Shit, sorry for the delay, guys. Life really got in the way with the exams, my dad's furnace going out, and some stuff about the internet (among other things). I'll hopefully get things back on track soon, just maybe not until the weekend. Sorry guys.))

2766912
(Don't worry, I understand. Take the time you need.)

2766912
((My computer's been out for a week, so no problem compadre. Life just does that sometimes, so just roll with the punches and you'll be okay! ))

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2718230
((Hey guys, just giving an update, things are still a bit jumbled at my end, but next week' looking a little better. I'm planning to pick things back up then. K?))

2850613
(Kay.)

2850613
((Ey, no problem. We've all been there. Hope to see you sooner than later.))

2850613
(Sounds like a plan mate. Good luck!)